#the rankings could change ofc

[galaxynajma]

Just finished ‘shiver: junji ito selected stories’ and it was so good

Really liked how after each story there would be a comment from junji Ito talking about the inspiration for the story

If I had to rank them it would be

Hanging Blimp( balloons)

Painter

The Long Dream

Greased

Honored Ancestors

Marionette Mansion

Fashion Model: Cursed Frame

Shiver

Fashion Model

Used Record

[wyniepooh]

Coach

patrick zweig has an interesting approach to coaching; it becomes even more interesting when it’s with you.

coach!patrick zweig x tennisplayer!reader. You desperately need a coach to help you, coach zweig seems to want something else 🤘🤘 (and you don’t mind ofc). Mentions of being broke #relatable. I imagine this to be set either before the challengers match, or after, either way works.

If it were up to you, you’d say that the place was a little sketchy.

if it were up to you, you would’ve left the moment you saw the lone beaten up car in the lot and the acrylic chipping off of the concrete ground.

But in the end, it really wasn’t up to you. The continuously decreasing numbers in your bank account was a constant taunt, a bullying reminder that if you wanted those numbers to change— to rise— you’d need a coach to push you into the championships.

Even if that coach choose a training spot that looked damn-near abandoned.

“hey. uh… patrick. patrick zweig,” he extended his arm.

You took his hand, giving it a firm squeeze as you dropped your bag onto the bench beside you. you smiled. “Shouldn’t I call you coach zweig?”

he smiled, chuckling at the ground, then shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. “whatever you want."

he cleared his throat, “so uh… what’s your plan here? I mean- what are your goals? why do you play tennis?”

You pulled out your racket and a couple of balls, setting them on the ground before quickly throwing your hair up into a ponytail. “Why are you coaching tennis?"

His arms crossed over his chest, and your eyes flickered to his biceps for a quick second before returning to his gaze. The silence was long, but surprisingly, it wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward like silence usually is. he smiled, and laughed again at your innuendo as he bent down and picked up your racket.

Grabbing the handle from his extended hand, you grinned. “That’s exactly my goal, too.”

You bounced the ball as you walked towards the court, closing your eyes for a moment to feel the sun on your skin. The sun was hot; burning, even, but the wind offered a cooling solace. His crisp voice snapped you back to reality.

“So, let’s see your serve.”

The next hour completely diminished whatever doubts you had about patrick zweig. Despite his rather tattered clothing that proved he was a low-ranking player with no sports sponsorships on his back, and despite his racket that seemed to be slightly crooked— he knew the fucking game.

And he also knew just how to provoke you.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

Hunched over the ground with your hands on your thighs and sweat dripping onto the green floor, you panted, “what?”

“You’re getting sloppy. Having stamina is crucial to the game, you know.”

You chuckled. “I can keep going. No problem.”

“Then prove it," he tossed you another ball, your slippery hand barely catching it in time, "come on, keep going."

Your next hit bounced off the net. Your next serve was out. After the ball attacked the net yet again, you threw your racket to the side, curses spilling out from under your breath.

“Thought you could keep going?”

“Give me a break," you muttered as you crouched down to stretch your legs that didn’t need stretching.

“No.”

you groaned. “come on, coach, I’m in a slump. Give me five and I’ll get back on it.”

“You don’t get to slack off in a real game. And based off of how gently you just threw your racket, you probably can’t afford to, either.”

Your body snapped up. “the fuck did you just say?”

He laughed lightly, raising his hands up by his head defensively as he walked closer towards you. You mirrored his movements, stepping closer until all that separated the two of you was the net, flowing freely with the wind.

“Look, all I'm just saying is, I don’t usually get many students signing up to experience my coaching. Not because I’m not good," he swatted his arm as he spoke, his other arm using his racket as a cane, "fuck no, but because my going rate is pretty low. the lowest, even. I’m just making an observation.”

You rolled your eyes, furrowing your brows slightly as you rested your hands on your hips. patrick had a grin about him, a stupid, annoying smirk that almost made you believe he knew something about you that even you, yourself, didn’t know.

Walking a couple steps closer to him until you felt the harsh scratch of the net against your knees, you whispered, “don’t assume anything about me.”

Your eyes subconsciously fluttered to his nose, then his lips, before coming back up to his eyes. smoothing out your brows, a layer of subtle desire spread behind your stare. you muttered, “Maybe I wanted you to coach me simply because I like you.”

His expression softened with feigned surprise. “Oh, do you now?” His face came closer to you.

you finally had an opportunity to ponder over his face; his messy stubble all unkempt and long, the sweat on his forehead soaking his dark curls so perfectly on his face. or a moment, you weren't sure of where to go or what to do. In the end, he broke the stare-off with a murmur, “show me how much you like me, then.”

you didn't know if the heat spreading to your face was from the bright sun, his words, or from the blooming ache in your stomach. Either way, you stepped back with haste, grabbed another ball and prepared to serve.

A loud grunt came from you as you made your hit, and patrick reciprocated your energy, returning the ball with the same brutal force and speed.

Maybe he did poke at a sore wound. Yes, you were broke and young and desperate, but wasn’t he in the same situation? did he think you wouldn't notice the absolute state of the rented court and his shabby shoes?

But whatever it is that he did, it worked. Your feet were off the ground in an instant, and you heard the smack of the ball against the concrete before you even saw it. When you came back down, you immediately became aware of the sweat dripping down your face, your back, your legs, and the absolute relief of it all.

“There it is.”

You looked up. Patrick was smiling, widely, with that same old grin, like he was so proud that his trick had worked. as you began walking off the court, you couldn’t help but laugh, albeit dryly, at the whole situation. grabbing a towel from the bench and swinging it over your shoulder, you chimed,

“Hey, uh… coach, how much are you charging again?” you looked down at your feet, fidgeting nervously with your fingers as you mustered up all your strength to meet his eyes.

you tried to hide your shock when you finally turned your head to look at him, catching the sparkle of blue and a hint of something else in his eyes. he was standing close, really close, close enough for you to smell him and see him and practically feel him.

your eyes followed the movement of his arm as it reached towards your shoulder, his hand grasping one end of the towel and dabbing the fabric against your temple. he dropped the cloth, fingertips dancing over your cheek as he grazed a stray hair behind your ear, barely breathing a response,

“How much are you willing to give?”

-

a/n: I DO NOT PLAY TENNIS NOR DO I RLLY KNOW HOW IT WORKS. love the art appreciation but I feel like we need to step it up w the pat fics as well so I’m taking one for the team 🫡

[gelu-the-babosa-multiversal]

The idea of Heatwave being a Wavewave sparkling but mainly from Soundwave tears me up. So I'll submit you all to my PAIN!!!

The idea of Soundwave growing up in the pits, fighting for his life, becoming a top gladiator but still being seen as the lowest of the lowest, but then, this Sparkling appears in his life. A little red bot who seemingly was abandoned or was not picked when it emerged from the All Spark.

That being their first meeting, Soundwave was not yet the Soundwave we know so he didn't know what to do. His best hope was that the little bot would end just like him, surviving on its own... or just die with no pain. After all, there was no one else but him, just him, and Ravage too ofc but really no one else...

So, imagine how stupid must he have felt as he took the sparkling from the ground and was unable to put it down. Ravage in the background wheezing as she realizes what has happened ¨Oh yea, that's how I adopted you too HAHAHAHAH¨

And things well get hard. Why did he do it? Was it some left kindness on him? Did he lose his mind? or maybe, he just compasioned...?

Time passes, he keeps fighting, Ravage keeps being annoying but is still there for him, and the Sparkling now going by the name Heatwave, was there too looking from afar. Soundwave had decided that the little Bot would not participate in the arena, he would just watch and learn.

Heatwave was amazed at the way his ¨creator¨ fought other bots who were bigger than him and much more robust in comparison. Tho he didn't wish to become a gladiator just like his creator, but he still wanted to show how strong he was helping others.

Time passes, they're a small ¨family¨ for all they can say, but they are very strong and united. In every fight, Soundwave participates in the entertainment of the upper classes, he kept in reserve credits so that one day Heatwave can leave the pits and form a real life outside the misery. It would of course be a slow process, but Soundwave knew that he could do it.

A big surprise was when Heatwave shared with him that he wanted to become a Rescue Bot, a particular job that didn't really fit in any of the class rankings that Cybertron had been using... it was a job that came with intense training that if failed, all the blame would go to the bot who failed and not to the institution who trained them. A job that was more chosen to do for the pure of one spark than the want to win something. Such was that it was known that the High Council would prefer losing 5 Rescue Bot units than one Council member.

The job was clearly going to be a dead sentence, but after a long discussion, there were not many options like the Rescue recruit institutions offered to give a semi-normal life to low-class citizens... at least, for the time Heatwave would be trained he would have a home with basic needs, and once out of training and to the practice, the payment would be enough to even feed Ravage.

Soundwave still didn't want to say yes. to give Heatwave permission, but, Heatwave was just hotheaded, he was promising that with this he would be able to give Soundwave the life he could not grow up with... the life he gave to Heatwave...

Soundwave still saved credits as he kept participating in the arena, just in case.

Time seemed to fly through this change. Heatwave met his assigned team and close friends, Soundwave met new bots too, aspiring and strong allies for both of them. Yet, their ideals seemed to change as their lives grow appart.

They still saw each other, they kept communicating, and Ravage always reminded one or the other to call. But things just can't stay calm forever. The pits and many parts of Cybertron considered for the lower cast were being destroyed, homes and families being displeased so the upper class could take those areas. Slowly, a revolution was being armed with strong bots taking the lead. One in particular, Megatronus, wanted Soundwave as his second in command as he saw potential in him.

Soundwave wanted to decline at first. This could endanger Heatwave in many levels if it was known that they both were family. Megatronus seemed to understand, and it seemed that someone else would take Soundwave's place as SIC... is it wasn't for that one call...

The call that changed forever Soundwave's perspective on life and on his own decisions. It was from the Rescue recruitment system that chose Heatwave informing him of... the red bot dead, with the rest of his team...

Rescue Sigma-17 had been deployed to help another unit very far away, and as it seemed that the job was being completed, the communication began to cut. In short, all signals were lost and no vital was detected. Both units had been gone enough time to be declared deceased...

There was not going to be any effort on further location or send a 3 unit with more equipment to help or to at least know what happened. There was not going to be any effort on finding Heatwave's body for a proper funeral, his stuff as the stuff of his team would be tossed or given to their creators. That being said, Soundwave and Ravage received nothing but a big box full of credits, enough to live a luxurious life in the middle class...

It had a note from Heatwave. Just like Soundwave was saving for an emergency, Heatwave had been doing the same. Probably not eating or working extra to have this amount of credits...

... Soundwave tossed all that in their faces not accepting a damn. As fast as he could he went to Megatronus and began their plan to attack...

...

...

...

At light years far away, after more tragedy had occurred. A small ship floating in the middle of nothing received a message that redirected t it to a planet called Earth.

Landing, four bots from stasis had awakened to see the beauty of an organic planet and to encounter a figure not many would be able to talk to, Optimus Prime.

[baldursgate3tempobsessed]

Hihi! I went on anon cause my main blog is strictly sfw, but I promise I'm an adult(29). Anyways, I had this idea of Ascended Astarion teasing Tav/Reader in front of a mirror. He can't see himself, but loves the way Tav/Reader shudders under his touch and them getting more and more embarrassed because all they can see is themselves getting riled up by seemingly nothing, but when they look down, ofc they see his hands working magic across their body.

Lol ty for the clarification and ask! I've been needing some nsfw practice!

Ascended Astarion nsfw under the cut, 18 + warnings. Like this is not implied smut. It is smut, graphic. Possessive, obsessive, manipulative, bad vampire man who loves you. As much as he's capable of. Morally gray human Tav from the start to here. It's only downhill from here baby, m/f angle. But if that doesnt fufill the dream let me know and I can make a gender neutral/ gender nonspecfic no prob! And probably less intense too because this is angsty~~~

Like I went ham, this is a whole ass fic now💀

You frowned at yourself in the bedroom mirror, adjusting your hair for the umpteenth time. It still didn't look right, despite what felt like hours of practice that you'd put into the intricate style.

You sighed as let one of your braids fall down, dissatisfied with what you saw. You didn't exactly look the part of an all-powerful vampire's consort, or at least not with the company you've recently been keeping. But it turned out a significant part of taking over Baldur's Gate was trenched in politics, meetings, balls, social events created for the sole purpose of mind games.

It was exhausting, or at least it was for you. But Astarion seemed to take to it like a duck to water. This life suited him, one of power games and subterfuge, and more often than not, murder. Not that you minded. You were just happy that he was having fun. That he was finally free after all of those years of torment. Even if he was using that freedom for… less than savory ends.

But despite his goals, you had sworn to him that you would never stray. And you intended on making good on that promise.

You just wished that he didn't insist on you being there for all of his "business". You hadn't realized how literal he had been about the whole sitting in his lap plan. It had taken a half-hour conversation to even convince him that no, you would not be doing so in the nude. He still hadn't given up on convincing you off that plan, but you highly doubted that it would help with your current level of heightened insecurity.

Maybe you were worrying for no reason. It wasn't Astarion who made you feel out of place. Well… it was, but not because of anything he did. Just… who he had become. He was so different now, so much colder to everything and everyone but you. More calculating, less forgiving, and just perfect for working with the most dangerous individuals in the mortal plane.

You seemed to be the only living thing he could relax around anymore, the only person who could soften him. It was strange really. You used to remember his softer side, before the ritual. The way his heart would hurt for children and animals alike, despite his failed attempts to hide it. His soft spot for Karlach, those who were brave and brazen, always willing to do the right thing despite the risks. The kind smile he used to have, reserved for beautiful things like the sunrise, the sunset.

Gone, all of it. It was a fact that you didn't like to think about. What you both gave up, things could have been; there was no point to it anyway. It was over. You gave Astarion the choice, this is what came of that. So here you were, obsessing over your appearance in preparation for a meeting with a high-ranking devil.

How things had changed.

You had no idea if you would ever find a way to match up with the company he kept around these days. Maybe it was your own fault for surrounding yourself with otherworldly creatures, but it was hard not to feel inadequate.

It didn't help that whenever you even slightly alluded to that insecurity, Astarion was more than ready to remind you of your… "options".

"You can join us whenever you'd like my treasure," Astarion would say with a creeping grin, "Just one bite, and we can be sure you'll be mine forever. Would that be so bad?"

It was a tempting offer, one that you kept insisting on refusing. You loved Astarion more than anything. But… you wanted that love to stay your choice. An obligation you maintained of your own free will. It's not that you didn't trust him… but to be a spawn had too many implications for you to handle.

"What has you pouting sweet thing?"

You startled when hands suddenly settled on your hip, gripping through the thin fabric of your nightdress. You looked back, relaxing the slightest bit to see Astarion smiling down at you, amused at the fact he'd managed to sneak up on you through the mirror.

"You said you weren't going to do that anymore," You whined as you leaned back into him, your eyes turning back to the mirror. You could see the fabric of your slip indented under his hands, ghost-like without his actual image reflecting back.

"I lied," Astarion said simply, leaning down to breathe you in from the crook of your neck, "Now what are you thinking about pet? I can tell something's on your mind."

You bit your lip, debating for a moment if you should tell him or not. But it's not like he would let it drop, and he was way too good at being able to tell when you were lying. Might as well come clean.

You sighed, "I don't…I don't know if I'm cut out for this."

You expected him to huff at you, maybe even laugh. But instead, the grip he had on you tightened, hard enough to make you gasp. You could feel his fangs scraping against your delicate skin, scratching hard enough to cause pinpricks of blood to bead out.

"And why would you ever think a thing like that?" Astarion asked, his voice harsh and low, "Where else would you be if not by my side hm? Please, enlighten me."

You gulped, your heart rate starting to pick up. You hadn't meant it like that, "That's not what I meant-"

"Then what else could it have meant?" Astarion shot back, his hands digging into you, surely ready to leave finger-shaped bruises. Suddenly he was using that same grip to drag you backward to the bed, effortlessly settling you between his spread legs.

All while managing to still be right in sight of the mirror. You could feel your cheeks redden as his hands started to wander, unceremoniously tugging down the straps of your nightdress to reveal your chest. That was another thing about life after the ritual that had been a surprise, just how different Astarion's sex drive was. It's not like he was a prude before, far from it, but now he was insatiable. Always ready and willing to touch you whenever the urge struck him. Often enough for you to eventually come to the thrilling, if not slightly disturbed realization, that… he was training you. Training your body to always want his touch.

And tonight was no different. You could already feel yourself getting wet, and he had barely done anything yet. But then suddenly he was pinching your nipple harshly, hissing in your ear, "I expect an answer when I ask you a question darling."

You bit back a moan, trying to remember what you were even arguing about as he started to play with your breasts, "I-I didn't mean it like that. I just… I don't want to embarrass you."

It was humiliating to admit but it was true. Not many people of Astarion's caliber insisted on a singular lover. There were so many people after him now, people with more power, more beauty, and grace. You didn't match up. You couldn't.

"Nonsense," Astarion dismissed, his hands wandering down to tear off more of your clothing, "Look at you. You were made for this life. Made for me. You're gorgeous."

The compliments mixed with the harsh feeling of his hands ripping your nightdress in two was quite the experience. You could feel his own hardness pressing into your backside, twitching as he threw your ruined clothing to the side.

Then he was gripping your chin, forcing your head back up to stare into the mirror in front of you, "I said look."

You obeyed, eyes widening at what you saw. It was so strange to see yourself like this, fully exposed with your legs spread apart, flushed and panting. It nearly gave the illusion that your very image was what was causing the wetness between your legs, instead of the invisible man toying with you.

You swallowed, your throat dry as Astarion's hands wandered lower, a feather-light touch tracing up and down your slit, "You are everything. The sole reason that I'm the man I am today. There is nowhere else you should be than right here."

"But-" You gasped, your words interrupted by a sharp slap to your inner thigh. You could see your skin start to redden in the mirror, a perfect imprint left in it's wake.

"Darling, are you questioning my judgment? What on earth made you think that was a good idea?"

You frantically shook your head, moaning when his fingers delved deeper, playing with your slick folds, "I-I'm not. I didn't- I'm sorry."

You whined as he roughly pinched your clit, his other hand moving upward to do the same to your heaving chest.

He was starting to grind his hardness against you, a tease of more to come as he murmured in your ear, "There's my good girl. Was that so hard?"

You shook your head, gasping as he finally dipped his long fingers into your cunt. You were already so sensitive, humiliatingly close in a matter of minutes.

"So gorgeous," Astarion sighed, staring straight ahead to the sole image of you, whimpering as he finger-fucked your pussy, "So needy. Can you see how wet you are pet?"

You could, you were leaking around his fingers, that needy, intense feeling getting more and more intense by the moment. It was so embarrassing seeing yourself like this, enough so that you snapped your eyes shut.

A bad idea. Astarion tutted at you, landing another sudden and hard slap to your thigh, "None of that. I told you to look. Or else."

You snapped your eyes back open, watching yourself whimper and gasp as you were played with, the harsh movement of his hand jostling your breasts. You weren't going to last much longer, not with the image of you being taken apart, the feeling of him inside you, the mean edge to your love's words.

"You're such a silly little thing, aren't you?" Astarion growled, fucking you harder and faster. You were so close, but you weren't stupid enough to come without permission. Not after what he did the last time, "Doubting me. Do you really think I don't know what's best for you? What's best for us?"

"No," You whimpered, your hips arching backward to rub harder into his erection, "You're right, I-I'm yours. C-Can I come now? Please?"

"Beg me and maybe I'll think about it," Astarion meanly laughed, relishing in the gush of slick his harshness coaxed from between your legs, "Beg and apologize. Apologize for doubting us. For doubting me."

You could barely get the words out through your own gasps, tears prickling in the corner of your eyes, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean it!"

"Good girl," Astarion huskily laughed, using a clever thumb to rub over your swollen clit, "Now tell me you love me."

"I love you," You said easily, meaning every word, "I love you more than anything.

"Tell me you'll never leave me. Ever."

There was something else behind that promise. An obvious implication that your fucked-out brain was too distracted to see.

"Never," You promised, reaching back for you him. You curled your fingers into his hair. pulling his head down to press his mouth against your throat. An open invitation, "I'll always be with you."

Astarion groaned against your skin, his fangs so close to piercing, "Precious pet, how could I ever want anything else? Come darling, you've earned it."

Then he was biting you, the brief flash of pain the perfect trigger for you to fall over the edge. You came with an embarrassingly high-pitched whine, slumping back into Astarion as he drank from your throat.

You looked as much of a mess as you felt, the stickiness between your thighs glistening in the light. You watched yourself, whimpering as Astarion slipped his fingers out. Just to tap them against your lips, forcing them into your mouth to suck on.

You moaned around them, light-headed as Astarion popped off of your throat. You sighed as he licked at the wound, enjoying the brief moment of rest. You weren't naive enough to think that you were done yet. Not when Astarion was still hard, his cock pulsing against you.

"See?" Astarion huskily laughed, licking the blood off of his lips while he played with your tongue, "You're perfect. Perfect and mine."

[lvnesart]

Are you planning on drawing your Fatui ragbros AU again?I have brainworms about Fatui ragbros and I really like yours

Like if Kaeya and Diluc accompanied Childe to Liyue i could totally see them being typical little brothers and ewwing Childe every time he hits on Zhongli

(and also death glaring Zhongli when they eventually find out he’s Rex Lapis before Childe does)

I have some scattered ideas here and there, but I'll expand on what you mentioned:

Childe was actually really lucky Arlecchino declined his request to take them into his ranks. They wouldve been annoying (Diluc following and spying on him vs. Kaeya straight up cockblocking them by showing up a dinner with news that Urgently requires the harbingers attention ofc)

(If they had gone along, Kaeya would've seethed at finding out that he's come face to face and had conversations with the God of Geo. In this AU, Pierro himself trains Kaeya, so I imagine there is a planted seed to detest the gods and restore what once was)

Fortunately, since they're under Arlecchino (not her kids necessarily) she stations them where she feels they are needed: Mondstadt.

Which is basically where we meet them in canon with a few small changes to their stories to hide their fatui identities muah

[mournings-stars]

all i've ever known

part 3 and second part of the prelude "little songbird" to my orpheus and eurydice angst fic "doubt comes in"

includes: heaven lucifer ofc, a little lore, some blending of greek mythology, still a little ambiguous but not really, luci is still a hopeless romantic, lots of fluff warning: yall may hate me in the next chapter (which may also be the final one)

part 4 (prelude pt. 3) part 5/finale (semi-alt ending)

tags: @lxkeee @viannasthings @majonla

Peace in Heaven brought peace on Earth, everyone knew it. Which was why, usually, there was no discord among the angels.

Today, however, there had been. You went down to Earth because of it, hoping to escape the lectures that ensued after the other Virtues learned that you let Lucifer help you change the seasons. Only lower ranking angels seemed to be truly upset, but the talk of balance, respect, and entitlement had started to make your mind go numb. You were confident in upholding your virtue. You were never prideful, you didn’t boast, you always looked for what you could do better. You’d never cheated, and you didn’t think of this as such, but it was becoming a debate. 

You had no reason to listen to any of the younger angels, but once the sky started to change you knew the conversation had reached higher up. The sky darkened, and you knew it meant the other Virtues were arguing. When thunder rumbled, you knew the arguing had reached the Ophanim. It started to rain, the Cherubim must know too. 

You thought to get home before chaos could erupt on Earth, but the moment you took to the sky, lightning struck. No matter where you went, it was nearly impossible to dodge and as the storm grew stronger, you knew that you weren’t strong enough to outrun it. You needed to hide, finding somewhere to cower and cover your ears as you hummed a song to try and soothe the Earth. 

But nothing worked — nothing would work when things were just as bad in Heaven. 

“This is ridiculous,” Lucifer told Sera and Emily, the youngest of the Seraphim, who was always by Sera’s side, as they sat in a meeting room. “The seasons have always been this beautiful—“

“We all know you think Humility is beautiful,” Emily said, laughing to herself as Lucifer raised a brow. 

“Virtues were made to be beautiful,” Sera said, looking at Emily pointedly as the other two Seraphim snickered. 

The meeting was interrupted by Temperance, bursting through the doors despite warnings from other Virtues. “There’s a storm on Earth,” she said, panicked. The Seraphim looked at her, confused. “Humility is missing—“

Before she could even finish, Lucifer was standing to leave. Sera stood as well. “You can’t fly in the storm if it’s that bad,” she told him. “Humility can control elements. It’s what Virtues do—“ Even they heard the thunder when she said that, making them all pause. 

“We can’t control this,” said Temperance, and Lucifer didn’t need another reason to leave, flying down as fast as he could. 

It was worse than when you tried, Lucifer avoiding lighting left and right as he looked around The Garden. He called your name, but it was drowned out in the sound of the storm, which just kept getting worse. There was no stopping a storm when it was born from all of Heaven in debate, which meant you must’ve been waiting it out. 

And that meant he had no idea where you’d be; you knew Earth better than he ever could, how could he possibly find you — how could he possibly find somewhere to wait this out—?

A golden leaf caught his eye, whipping in the wind. It shimmered despite the lack of light, heading in a deliberate path. He followed after it, swerving and dodging the storm and fighting against the winds pushing him in opposite directions. 

The leaf led him to a small cave, warm light flickering from within. As soon as he entered, the leaf turned to dust and he made his way toward the glow of fire. 

He called your name. “Are you there?”

He heard the sound of footsteps. “Lucifer?” He couldn’t help the smile that came when he realized you recognized his voice. It widened when you walked over to him, glad to see you weren’t harmed by the storm. “Goodness, you’re soaked.”

He laughed at your concern, “I’m alright–”

But he followed you as you took his hand and led him deeper into the cave. “We should get you warmed up.” You sat him down. “I’d summon you a blanket, but everything is so out of balance, I don’t think I could even do that.”

“Is that why you didn’t create a portal?” He tried to summon a blanket when you nodded, but his powers were just as confused as yours, gold sparking from his fingers and creating a blanket of moss all across the cave. 

“This is very beautiful… and soft,” you attempted to compliment, “but not exactly the blanket I was thinking of.” Your reassurance was met with laughter, making you smile as you asked, “Is that why you came down? Because I didn’t come back up?”

“Temperance was worried,” he said awkwardly, holding his hands over the fire. He wasn't going to tell you that he was worried, too. It wasn’t his place, but he couldn’t help the concern that came the moment he heard you were in a storm even you couldn’t control. 

“I see…” You nodded slowly. “You shouldn’t have come—“

“You might’ve been hurt—“ He quickly stopped himself, looking over at your coy smile and sighing. “I was… concerned; Temperance isn’t the type to panic.”

“Yes, of course.” He gave you a pointed look and you continued, “Temperance losing her… temper is always cause for concern.“

“Very funny,” he groaned, making you laugh to yourself. 

There was a long pause before you said, “Thank you for worrying about me.” Then, “I’m glad I don’t have to wait this out alone.” And you were glad you’d be waiting it out with him. You couldn’t deny that you enjoyed his company, even if it caused the lecture that led to this in the first place. 

He smiled as he removed his robe, the sopping wet garment making him colder than he needed to be. Luckily, his suit was dry. You waved your hand when you noticed him shiver, a warm breeze circling through the cave and making him sigh. “Thank you.” You gave a smile.

“How did you know to send a guide?” He asked, referencing the golden leaf. 

“If someone says our true name, it’s like a call,” you explained. “I couldn’t hear you, but I knew someone was out there and needed help… There’s a reason we don’t give our names to everyone, but it can be useful.”

“Why me?”

You shrugged. “It felt right… you feel very familiar—“

“Do I?” He grinned, a look on his face that made you shake your head. “I thought the same thing,” he then said, laughing to himself. “Like we should know each other.”

You smiled very gently, looking over at him from across the fire. “I’d like to know you.”

“Would you?” There wasn’t any teasing laced in his question, if anything, he seemed surprised to hear that from you, so you nodded. “I’d like that, too.”

And suddenly, bright and warm, sunlight seeped into the cave, brightening the mossy surroundings and illuminating the small area. You both frowned, standing and looking out from the entrance. The storm had stopped, only a light drizzle falling from the sky as the sun beamed down on you. In the distance, you could see the rainbow that came after every storm, telling you it was truly over. 

“How odd,” was your observation, making Lucifer chuckle. You left the cave, flying up into the gentle rain to look around. The world felt calmer, and the winds were singing the song they always did, circling around you and heading on their way. The plants were still thriving, not a single one broken or hurt. It looked as if the storm never happened. 

Lucifer watched as you went to the burrows and hollowed tree stumps, checking on animals, soothing them if they were frightened, or bringing them out of hiding to show them it was safe. He couldn’t help but smile; so much care went into your work — you didn’t even think of it as work, he could tell by the way The Garden brightened as you continued to check on it, how winds and birds sang, how animals followed you. They could all feel the love you had for the Earth, and when you sang, he could feel it, too. 

You sang a very quiet tune, the same one to change the seasons, but it only made the gentle winds help to dry off a poor animal you were holding, which you lovingly showed to him, calling him over and letting him hold the animal, too. 

And since that day, Lucifer was much more forward. He was sure of how he wanted to know you now, and he only hoped you felt the same. He held up on his promise of gifts, even giving you replicas of the flowers you made while fall took them away. If you said you missed hydrangeas and he’d create one for you by the next time you met, encasing it in a glass jar where it blossomed endlessly, along with any other flower you mentioned. 

But your meetings were few and far between. You had to prepare to change autumn to winter, and spring after that, leading to you spending most of your time in your greenhouse, creating new flowers or practicing frosting them over. You found yourself creating flowers you knew Lucifer would like, setting aside several to give to him. 

One day, after several hours of work, a pale yellow bird came swooping in. You recognized it, laughing as you said, “Hello, little songbird,” and picked one of the many flowers you set aside for Lucifer to hold out to the supposed bird. “What do you think?” With a soft poof the bird transformed into the angel you suspected. Your wings fluttered. “What a surprise!” You smiled as his red cheeks tinted gold. 

“You don’t actually seem all that surprised that I’m here,” he said, taking the flower from you and sticking it into his lapel. 

“Were you hoping to surprise me?” Before you could take your hand away, he took it gently in his, kissing the back of it as he always did when he greeted you now.

He looked up at you and shrugged. “Maybe.”

You quickly took your hand away from his as your cheeks shined, making him stifle a prideful laugh. “Well, I’m happy you’re here — does that make up for the lack of surprise?” You asked as you went back to your work, now burying seedlings in golden dust. You didn’t tell him the many flowers set aside were for him, hoping to space them out so you had a reason to see him more often. 

“That’s even better,” he answered surely, the gold of his cheeks growing before he cleared his throat. “I thought you might like some company — of course, Sera said to leave you alone.”

“And you’re not listening to her, because…?”

“I wanted to see you,” he said simply, looking around the greenhouse and spotting the flowers you set aside. 

His visits to the greenhouse became more frequent, sometimes aiding, sometimes distracting, but you enjoyed them either way. After turning autumn to winter, his kisses on the hand became brazen, then casual, kisses on the cheek as he held your hand. His visits, though still spontaneous, became scheduled and prepared for. He’d make you dinner some nights, or come over for lunch, where you gave him the flowers you set aside and asked his opinions. 

There were days you went down to Earth together, flying and playing in the snow. You’d throw snow at one another, or race each other through a beautiful blizzard. Your wings were made to handle the elements, so you often won, but he was quick to make a portal appear in front of you and send you back several feet so he could have a lousy win. But as a prize, he simply asked for a kiss on the cheek, which you couldn’t deny, shielding it with your wings as you did. 

There was a day when a blizzard became too hard to see through, so you went to that same mossy cave you did before, the only place where it still felt like summer; the warm breeze you created having never left. 

On the mossy cave walls, you traced your hand along it and watched as flowers blossomed wherever you touched. “I can’t wait for spring,” you told him. 

“I’m sure it’ll be beautiful,” he said, watching the flowers you made bloom. “It always is.”

You smiled, cheeks slowly becoming gold. “What flower will you collect this time?”

“I’m not sure yet,” he told you, and he told you that, because he couldn’t tell you that Sera forbade him from doing so, saying he’d become a distraction by being so forward, yet not outright trying to pursue you. 

So when spring did come, and you witnessed the first bloom alone, you collected a small bouquet before heading back to Heaven and straight to Lucifer’s doorstep. You knocked, waiting patiently before he opened the door, smiling immediately. “It’s you!”

“It’s me,” you laughed, holding the bouquet out to him with fluttering wings. “I brought something for you, since you weren’t there to distract me…”

He was speechless, wings fluttering behind him as he looked at the bouquet in awe. He carefully waved a hand around it, encasing it in glass before snapping his fingers and transporting it to his office. 

He looked up at you and said, “thank you for the beautiful gift,” hand taking yours as he leaned in. 

But he didn’t kiss your cheek. Instead, he placed his lips tentatively on yours as his fluttering wings involuntarily lifted him from the ground. 

You were too shocked to do anything before he pulled away and said, “I’m sure you have important work to do.”

“Your work is far more important than mine.” He laughed, squeezing your hand before he let go. “I’ll see you at the Celebration, right?”

“I couldn’t miss it.”

And just a few days later, another Seasons Celebration came around. It was the same, angels rejoicing; singing, dancing, indulging in heavenly spirits. 

And, again, Lucifer arrived late, but he went straight to you. You let the pale bird he’d taken the form of whistle a tune that you hummed along to before he appeared, smiling as he offered his hand to dance. 

Maybe it was the confidence alcohol gave you, or you attempting to crush the nerves that stopped you from doing anything when you went to visit him, but you took his hand and pulled him forward, planting a very deliberate kiss on his lips. He didn’t waste time, hands going to your waist as he kissed you back. His arms circled around you, wings shielding your faces and privatizing the moment as your hands went to his cheek and shoulder. 

“Finally,” muttered Patience, making you laugh before pulling back. 

“Come home with me,” Lucifer blurted breathlessly before his brain could even stop his mouth. He cleared his throat, pausing for a moment, in shock of what he just said. The other Virtues were snickering, Sera looked appalled, and Emily choked on her drink — all while your hands simply fell and brows raised in anticipation of seeing what he might have to say to fix that. He shook his head to get his thoughts in order and quickly remembered Sera’s warning, adding, “Would you like to… For dinner…?” as he moved his hands to your hips, then your hands to make sure he wasn’t coming on too strong. 

“For dinner?” He nodded as you quirked a brow at him.

“Or whatever you want,” he said just as dumbly as his first suggestion, his composure leaving him as his eyes flitted between yours, a small smile coming to his lips. 

“I want to dance.” His smile widened. You lowered your voice and asked, “How about you take me home after that?”

His hands went to your face as yours gently held his wrists, his thumbs stroking your cheeks. “Whatever you want.”

[kyunniebuns]

Oki so I saw tjat you were open to brajnrots so I hope you enjoy them urbjdbfk sorry if it's long but I need to get these out before I go insane sibddnjdjdb 😅😅

I kinda think that Jinwoo would tease the hell out of their partner if they start getting super flustered after their second awakening, ESPECIALLY if reader was with them pre-awakening and was kinda shy woth affection before too (shout out to my shy peeps akbdjbd) ofc he's respectful about boundaries but it doesn't mean he enjoys how cuter his s/o has become wjbdjdnd Not only that, I think Jinwoo would definately use their new height and stregnth to his advantage too! Like if his s/o was taller and could lift him before when hugging, what stopping him from picking up his s/o to cuddle now?? Mf has the audacity to be smug to 🙄🙄

I think he even finds his s/o' weight on him incredibly comforting, especially with the fact that his s/o trusts him completely no matter how he's changed. This is especially so if his s/o knows how terrifying he is as a hunter, and is not phased in the slightest

(Jinwoo has jumped from E to S-rank. Having to fight his way up tooth and claw, doing whatever he has to survive. A man that even monsters fear. Here? He's just Jinwoo. nothing more nothing less. Safe and content with s/o acting as his guiding light during his darkest of hours. Before, he was worried how he couldnt protect his s/o's happiness when he was an E-rank. Now? He finally has the stregnth to protect them and his family, and will do so with everything he has)

Acheivement unlocked: Jinwoo's s/o has now become his weighted blanket sjdbudnd

Jinwoo pissed after a raid, eyes glowing purple, emitting an aura that even scares his shadows: The world is harsh and cruel.... Jinwoo 10 min later, eyes normal, deadly aura gone, cuddling s/o with his head nestled into s/o's shoulder: s/o soft and gentle.

Wdym he can't have his lovely s/o on his lap while he's on his rare breaks in the privacy of his own office??? Unless there is a s-rank dungeon suddenly appearing or an emergency, this man will be enjoying his BREAK.

Don't get me started on his shadows too sksbudbj. I think it be funny if his shadows also start acting like puppies for s/os affection too. Yeah sure they can absolutely decimate enemies but to their Monarchs beloved, theyre lovable guard dogs. (I think that they would be even more charmed If s/o is actually aware how dangerous they can be but still treats them so kindly)

Jinwoo would also get secretly jealous if his shadows gets the privilege of using his shy! s/o's lap as a pillow too (kinda like how a small pet sits on their owners lap or large dogs put their heads on their owners lap for pets too). Especially if its BEFORE he gets the privilege to abdjdbdnkd

I bet once this man gets a taste of using s/os thighs a pillow , he is a changed man. Brain alterd. dbjdbd

The man's personal heaven? His head nestled into s/o's lap with their fingers running though his hair. If his s/o stars humming? Man's purring in content.

(Anyways, if you read it, thanks! I hope it makes you feel a fraction of how happy I feel when I read your works ajbdjdb)

Cheer,

//Warning: kyunnie having a mental breakdown over Jinwoo NO BECAUSE I GENUINELY THINK JINWOO'S LOVE LANGUAGE IS BEING A TEASE!!! HE'S A BIG OL GRUMP AND AWKWARD BUT I GEN THINK HE LIKES TEASING BY TOUCH!! YOU CAN TELL WITH THE WAY HE INTERACTS WITH JIN-AH LIKE SQUEEZING HER FACE OR PINCHING HER CHEEKS IT TELLS A LOT!!!! I GOT THE IDEA OF A TOUCHY JINWOO JUST BY SEEING HOW HE ACTS AROUND JIN-AH AND KYYAAAAA PRE-AWAKENING RELATIONSHOIP EBHJGRWFE!!!!! I LOVE THAT IDEA SM BECAUSE THERE'S A CERTAIN POETIC ROMANCE TO IT WHEN YOU'VE SEEN YOUR BELOVED AT THEIR LOWEST POINTS AND LOVE THEM UNCONDITIONALLY REGARDLESS!! My fave novel of all time is tgcf and there's a whole interactions between the main cp like this!! “That person saw me at my worst", Hua Cheng said. "Then I'm very envious of that", Xie Lian replied.” IF IT'S A SITUATION LIKE THAT IK JINWOO'S ATTACHMENT WOULD GO BEYOND THE ROOFS AND HEAVENS!!!! Jinwoo would first be oblivious to his sunshine's(reader is giving me sunshine vibes, and I love sunshines sm) at first but he slowly started noticing from the jumpy reactions and the shy expression!! He'd test out the waters by his body language likelike purposely moving closer to reader unexpectedly, grasping hands, lightly brushing a finger on their ear— And when he confirmed his suspicions he went "Oh?" like lIKE HOLLYY SIJJDBE WN CFEAAAAA KGGRAAAAA!!! HE'D BULLY THEM A LOT AND CHUCKLE EVERYTIME HE CATCHES SUNSHINE READER GO BBRRRR BRAIN LAG WHHEEEE PRINCESS CARRIES USED TO BE A DISTANT DREAM NOW JINWOO CAN DO IT ANYTIME HE WANTS!! HE EVEN LETS THEM SIT ON HIS ARM PERCHED SO CUTELY LIKE THIS!!! IT GETS READER SO FLUSTERED THEY HIDE THEIR FACE ON HIS NECK AND HE'S LIVING FOR ITT!!!!

(Source: How to win my husband over) BUT WE CANT FORGET THE JINWOO THAT GETS TIRED AND ALL PISSY AFTER DEALING ITH GATES!! Ik our boi gets annoyed over some sht but he doesn't voice them out most of the time!!! His best therapy is when he has reader cuddled up on his lap or him laying his head on their while they tousle their hair around. I Genuinely think Jinwoo's soft/sensitive spots are on his head!!! Fingertips brushing across his scalp tickles him in a pleasant way that he just goes Zzzzzz..... Jinwoo is the type of boyfriend that looks so expressionless and stiff but put his lover and his eyes immediately turn into the most gentle lovestrucken-fool look in an instant that whoever witnesses it thinks their lives just flashed before their eyes because wth the hunter coULD DO THAT KIND OF FACE??????? HELLLOOO!!!! I am an intj simp and coincidentally I have so many intj husbands that I did not ask for but goddamn the consistency. The patten I see with INTJ's ik is that they love acts of service!!! From brushing your hair away from your face, holding their hand out to you so you wont get lost, instinctively doing something to help you WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING. And my god, they have the most MOST INTENSE EYE CONTACT EVER!!!! Jinwoo has proven that side in the manhwa I do not need to pull up panels for this surely YA'LL KNOW WHAT I MEAN PEOPLE. If Jinwoo is whipped, HE IS WHIPPED!!! He mostly keeps a straight face BUT CANNOT CONTROL HIMSELF FOR HIS BELOVED( lets be fr he doesn't intend to in the first place he's that downbad and I love it mWAH) Cuddle session breaks with sunshine reader is a must if not he will wreak havoc in the office or the gates or something WHEEZE OMG THE SHADOWS WHAKJSDEQBKWEF, HE'S A PETTY BASTARD I TELL YOU!! HE'S CHAOTIC AS HELL!!!!! HE DEF THROWS BERU AN EYE-ROLL WHEN HE GETS PATPATS FROM SUNSHINE READER AND IT ENDS UP WITH BERU HAVING A MENTAL BREAKDOWN ITS SO SILLY JWHNFWEPIOEJFND, HE MAKES HIM DO FOREHEAD ON THE FLOOR PUNISHMENT 2 DHWEJAFKE HE'S A PETTY BASTARDDD!!!!! HIS BIGGEST RIVAL IS TANK BECAUSE HE IS THE FLOOFIEST BOI IN THE SHADOWS AND IT JUST MAKES JINWOO GO INTO A TANTHRUM ITS SO SILLYYY!!!! AFTER THE WHOLE SULKING WO GOES TO SUNSHINE READER'S LAP AND GRUMBLES LIKE A TODDLER!!!! Also the thighs man, he had done it once in E-rank days nEVER MOVED ON I TELL YOU, THAT'S WHY I KEEP SAYING LAP SINCE EARLIER WHAHDHWGR. The first time he did it he felt like he was thrown into heaven literally and figuratively he's such a silly simp AGAIN YES, JINWOO'S MOST SENSITIVE SOFT SPOT IS HIS HEAD!!!!!! OUR SILLY LITTLE FLOOFY BASTARDD!!! He purposely messes his hair up so sunshine reader would be forced to fix his hair, and when they look away he begins ruffling his hair up again for more attention— ALSO EARLIER U APOLOGIZED FOR MAKING SOMETHING LONG BESTIE DON'T I MADE IT LONGER IT'S OKAY DON'T FEEL BAD DAFOHLJMWLEJDNM Also owejii uueeee, now I'm all shy and flustered aisupohdjqbl,emfdn AAAAee ee er w ddw sakjlsdlafrgshdf I'm so glad it makes u happy uueeeeeee, I honestly just write for myself but I'm glad it makes you happy too uueee<3333!!!!! Ty for activating my jinwoo braincells that should have beem stayed dormat anywei!! (They never rlly sleep anyway i just keep them in my head)

[spookie-bitch]

Perfect To Me

Pairings: Lady Lesso x Fem!Reader Contains: Comfort, fluff TW: Age gap (legal ofc), perfectionism AN: Requests are open <3

You would've never considered yourself a perfectionist, or even an overachiever. You knew that nothing was perfect and that people made mistakes. Despite this, your subconscious seems to exclude you from said people, and your school work from said nothing.

Staring at the bird pecking in rankings, you’d usually be surprised that you went down a rank. However, today was different. You absolutely flunked the challenge in Professor Castor's class. You were so tired you couldn’t bring yourself to do anything but stare in despair.

Your name next to the 2 felt like a punch to the gut. The first to lose. The longer you stared at the rank, the more it sunk in, and the worse you started to feel. Anxiety started to wrack its way through your mind.

“Did everyone know?” “They probably thought I was pathetic.”

You ran your fingers through your messy hair, your hands shaking. The sleepless nights spent studying are shown in your disheveled appearance. You might have normally cared, but right now, you had bigger problems.

As you walk to your dorm room, every hushed voice and whisper felt personal. They were talking about you. They thought you were a failure. You felt like a failure.

Closing the wooden door behind yourself, you feel tears of shame and irritation build in your eyes. You refused to let them fall—crying wouldn't fix it.You leaned your back against the door, sliding down until you were sitting on the cold floor. The room was silent, but your mind was anything but. A million thoughts raced through your head, each one louder than the last.

You buried your face in your hands, trying to steady your breathing. You couldn’t let this break you. You had to get up, keep going, prove that you weren’t a failure.

Pushing yourself up and off the floor, you grab one of the textbooks on your bedside dresser. As you plop down on the bed, you open the textbook to the page marked by your notes. You spend the whole night going over them. Hours tick by and the pages start to blur together into a heap of meaningless words. Despite your best efforts, you can't seem to retain a single thing you've read.

Your eyes grow heavy and begin to burn as the first rays of morning light shine through the window. You hear the soft hum of activity outside your dorm room as the campus starts to wake up. You shut your eyes tightly, rubbing your forehead in a worthless attempt to soothe your oncoming headache.

You get up with a groan, putting your books back into your bag. You change into a fresh pair of clothes, not bothering to brush your hair or really do anything else. You were so drained that you didn't care how disheveled you looked.

“At least now I look how I feel,” you thought to yourself, glancing into the mirror.

A few minutes later, you make your way to your first class of the day, your mood only worsening by the looks cast in your direction. The day only got worse from there, if that was even possible at this point. By your fourth class, you were ready to quit.

“Let them turn me into a tea kettle,” you thought, “at least nobody would expect anything of me.”

You found the corner of the dimly lit hallway, your shoes clicking on the stone of the floor. You did not want to deal with Lesso today. You always felt weird around her and you didn't like it.

Sitting in your seat near the front of the class, you were almost sure she would comment on your appearance. She was blunt, and spoke her mind, but to your surprise, she said nothing. She merely glanced at you, something you couldn't recognize flickering behind her emotionless eyes.

“Probably disgust,” you thought to yourself, your eyes lingering on her for a moment longer.

Five minutes into the lesson you zoned out so hard you could no longer hear the clicking of Lesso’s cane as she paced around the front of the room. What you did hear, was the loud thwack of the cane hitting your desk, pulling you out of your daze.

“Pay attention, Miss y/n,” scolded Lesso, the only noticeable emotion detectable in her voice being mild annoyance. And then she went on with the lesson. You’d expected her to send you to the doom room or something, but you were let off with a gentle scolding.

You zoned out again, wondering why you hadn't gotten in more trouble. Lesso wasn't exactly known to be nice, or even lenient. You were more than sure she saw that you still weren't paying any attention, but she didn't acknowledge it.

You didn't hear when the wolves howled, signaling the start of your trek to your next class, too busy in your own head.

A quiet voice broke through the fog. “Shouldn’t you be heading to your next class?” You looked up, blinking as Professor Lesso stood before you, her gaze sharp yet strangely soft.

“Oh, I’m- I'm sorry professor, I-”

“Are you okay?” She cut your stuttered out sentence off with three words you never thought you'd hear from her lips. You could hear something alien in her voice—concern. It was faint, but it was there. You started to feel weird, her presence starting to fully register.

You swallowed, feeling the weight of the question press down on you. Your chest tightened.

“I'm- I'm fine,” You finally said, your voice barely a whisper. It didn't sound believable, not even to your own ears.

“You don’t look fine.” Her tone wasn't harsh, but it was firm. You could tell by the way she said it that she wasn't looking at you, but rather in you. It made your face flush, suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable.

“I just…” you started, your voice wavering as you tried to find the right words. “I’m tired. I messed up. She knelt slightly, bringing herself closer to your level, her posture uncharacteristically open.

“You push yourself so hard, y/n. Too hard,” she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. The way she spoke your name made your breath hitch. There was an unexpected protective edge in her tone that made your heart skip a beat.

She reached out, her fingers brushing lightly against your cheek. You found yourself wanting to lean into the touch, but you resisted the urge. Lesso’s thumb grazed your skin, and you could feel your pulse quicken. She was so close, closer than she’d ever been, and you could feel the tension between you, thick and electric.

Her touch was gentle, almost hesitant, as though she was unsure if you’d let her in. The contact was soft, but charged with something unspoken.

“You don't have to be perfect,” she murmured, her thumb tracing gentle patterns along your cheek. You found yourself learning closer, pulled in by the intoxicating blend of strength and gentleness that made you feel both safe and unsteady all at once.

Her breath fanned softly against your skin, your heart pounding.

“Lesso…” you whispered. You weren't exactly sure what you were asking for, but the way she looked at you—like you were something precious and fragile—made you want it more. She didn't respond with words. Instead, she closed the distance between you, her lips meeting yours in a gentle kiss.

You melted into her, your hands finding their way to her collar, pulling her closer. With her hand still on your cheek, she cups your jaw and tilts your head back ever so slightly, deepening the kiss. Her touch was gentle and soothing, so much so it brought tears to your eyes.

As Lesso's lips left yours, the warmth of the kiss still lingering on your lips, you felt a tear trickle down your face. Then another, and another. Lesso gently wiped the tears with her thumb, her face softening. With her other hand, she gently grabs your wrist and tenderly tugs you out of your seat, standing up straight.

She wrapped her arms around you, pulling you into her chest.

“It’s okay,” she whispered into your hair, her voice gentle and reassuring. You let your tears fall, silently sobbing into her chest. After what felt like forever, but you were sure it was no longer than five minutes You sniffled, trying to regain some semblance of composure.

“You’re perfect to me,” Lesso whispered, her thumb grazing your cheek again. Her arms tightened around you, as if trying to shield you from everything. “You're enough, sweet girl.”

[an-unexpected-sideblog]

In the LOTR books, Frodo hands Aragorn’s crown* to Gandalf at the Minas Tirith coronation. In the Jackson film, it’s Gimli. There’s plenty of good Doyalist explanations for this change, but please consider my Watsonian headcanon based on the following facts:

- Gimli is kin of the King of Erebor, and must accordingly be a high-ranking representative to have been sent to the Rivendell council meeting

- Gimli is the only dwarf at the coronation

- Thus, by rights, it would probably be more politically polite for Gimli to stand off to the side looking regal and official - the way Legolas does with a small group of (presumably) Greenwood elves

- A foreign noble handing off the crown could be seen as politically dicey at best or insulting at worst, to either or both parties

UNLESS (unless…)

- Consider that there hasn’t been an actual king in Gondor for nearly one thousand years (!!)

- No Steward would have worn the kings’ crown

- You gotta put something official on the new king

- Doesn’t that crown look an awful lot like the guard helmets? Not particularly ancestral or ornate?

My headcanon is that Gimli forged Aragorn’s crown himself. His smithing would be unparalleled by any Man in Minas Tirith, and he likely insisted on offering the work of his own hands to Gandalf/Aragorn as a proud craftsman! That would be his honor to provide and present such a gift for his friend.

(*In the books it’s stated that the previous Gondorian king left the crown in the royal tombs before he went off and died in battle, so later Faramir could pass that same crown to Aragorn. Known jock King Ëarnur sounds too impulsive to do that to me, but regardless, that’s official book canon! And ofc Gimli doesn’t even hand the crown off in the books, so this is all just Movie Conjecture.)

[bellewintersroe]

okay i'm glad! then i'm sending this in if you ever get back in a BoB mood, but no pressure :)

can i request headcanons on how some of them would react (i was thinking mainly Liebgott, Roe and Speirs, but absolutely feel free to add anyone you want too like Luz or Malarkey) if the Easy company gets dispatched in a town near the sea/has to sleep in a beach or similar, and the sweet and kind nurse that is always dispatched with the second battalion (who everyone is crushing on ofc hahaha) as soon as all the high ranks are gone just, takes off her uniform (so she is like in her bra and underwear) and just bolts it towards the sea, calling for the others to join her and play around in the water, because she just loves the sea that much?

i just thought something fun and light could be cute, since the boys definitely need some fun time :)🫶🏻

heyyyy omg so sorry it’s taken so long to reply but thank you thank you thank you for your request! I love this idea sm!! I have altered it slightly to make it more realistic (don’t ask why cos I bend the rules all the time) but I hope these head cannons are okay!!! &lt;3 <3 <3 <3

Band of Brothers x Nurse!Reader Headcannons

General HC’s for 2nd battalion + some more men reacting to their well loved nurse having some fun in the water.

So first let me set the scene, you’ve all just been told you’re being shipped back off to the pacific and morale has somewhat dropped again.

theres so much anxiety snd tension in the air that nobody really can unwind, so after one particularly gruelling training session, 2nd battalions nurse decides to have a little fun…

It’s a boiling hot day in Austria, the lake looks so inviting, and she’s such a sweetheart she just wants to boost morale. All the men absolutely adore her, if they don’t have a crush on her they find her endearing and a comfort to them.

“fuck it.” She mutters, stripping off her uniform as she runs closer to the pier, dropping each piece of clothing behind her.

One by one all the men’s heads turn and then suddenly begin whooping and whistling in excitement. Joe Liebgott:

Stunned to see you stripping off, in fact he remains frozen with his jaw dropped for a few moments. He’s so used to seeing you all covered up and oh my god boobs.

“Close your trap, Joe, you’re trapping flies.”

wouldn’t take much convincing to get in, I think he’d be super playful with you, splashing you and dunking you.

deffo splashes you a little too much, but when you’d jump on his back and he feels the press of your boobs against his bare back- uhhhh his brain turns to mush.

“It’s so nice, isn't it Joe?”

“Uh- yeah, so nice…” deffo gets a boner.

Eugene Roe:

Maybe a lil different scenario, I feel like if there was a group of you he’d probably sit on the side watching and laughing in amusement.

he’d watch you strip off and immediately avert his eyes out of respect but ohmygodogogososo he’s blushing- he hasn’t seen a woman like that for years.

you’re already super close, so to be able to have downtime together creates something more… intimate.

if you’d jump in at the end of the day, the sun setting when it’s just the two of you I don’t think it would take much convincing to for him to get in the water.

you’d float further back from the surface with a smirk as he undressed, jumping in and purposefully splashing you.

would be a little more shy, especially if there’s more men around, but the second you joke about how he might need to give you cpr and the kiss of life he’s smirking and acting all cool and omg.

his hands would snake lower and lower down onto your butt and everybody would be none the wiser around you guys if there was others there.

who knew Roe could be such a flirt?

Ron Speirs:

Now this guy being your literal superior probably wouldn’t linger around to see you, 2nd battalions own nurse, strip off to go for a swim whilst all the horny men giggle like children from the land.

he’d deffo know he had to be more respectful, but let’s change the time a little, it’s just after the German army surrendered, you’re both wasted.

Rob asks you like ‘so what were you doing in the water the other day?’

You’d tell him in return you were just having some fun and he should’ve tried it. Ron, in a celebratory mood, and captivated by how fucking beautiful you are just thinks ‘fuck it’ and makes the decision to go on a ‘walk’.

You end up pushing each other into the water.

for a moment you’re probs shocked that this is literally Captain Speirs you’re swimming with, but things get… heated and there’s no time to think about being intimidated.

you’d deffo probs have the hottest, spontaneous sex with him in the water lmaooo.

George Luz:

You just know this man would be the first one to jump in with you OMG.

he’d be so excited like finally, somebody’s just as fun as he is…

Probs like that kid on holiday that takes it too far and dunks you to the point you’re so out of breath.

I feel like you two would physically play fight to playfully drowning each other. Would be chaos central and anybody who tried to come near you would get a face-full of water.

Don’t be surprised if you wake up the next day with bruises.

kinda sweet tho, you’d lay on the beach together the same night and he’d be all sweet, apologising and checking he didn’t take it too far?

Don Malarkey:

Everybody knows Don needs this time to unwind and just have some fun.

for the first time in months he feels more like himself, the two of you already have a very close bond so it makes you both so mutually happy to the see the other so care free.

I think he’d be laughing like crazy, probably throwing you off the dock and then jumping in after you, cos even tho he’s playing around he doesn’t want to be too rough with you.

would happily shove any of the other men in the water so that the two of you are left standing on the land together.

When he see’s you in your wet bikini oh my godddd- his brain turns to mush and he practically avoids even making eye contact with you he’s that nervous.

when you sit on his lap later that evening he’s done for.

he’s a little stunned cos you’re always so sweet and innocent… but it feels like a dream come true for Malarkey.

[wintersera]

Idk if ur ask are still open but do you mind writing cockwarming g!p gamer girl Gigi or winter (or both 🤩🤩idek how that would work tbhh) because they spend most their time gaming and staying up late and barley having time for you so you just sit there watching them play till they can't take it anymore and at the end they prove they still have love for us in the sloppiest, kinkiest, longest, dirtiest, slutiest, (i think you get it) sex ever just making us feel loved but also being so rough and dominate using us however they like 🫣🫣🫣🫣

Also Can I be 💩 Anon (idk I think it's funny)

cw: cockwarming, dom!winter WOAH, sub!reader

LMAOO 💩 anon??? feeling bad bc i let these imagines collect dust since i’m so focused on the stepcest jiminjeong fic 😭 but anyways!!

gamer minjeong,,, you have me interested. and gamer aeri?? i would write about her but i dont really see her as the gamer type hmmm maybe one day.

being sick and tired of minjeongs endless gaming sessions every damn day. like yess baby get that 5k on val!! but let me suck your dick while you’re getting that ace. saying shit like “minjeonngg, its been days when are we gonna have sex?”

her hitting you with the “just one minute i’m trying to plant the spike” like come on,, doesn’t hurt to have a little under desk support once in a while :((

and it was another day just watching her furiously tap at her keyboard- insulting people down the mic bc they didn’t defuse the spike, or they whiffed all their shots on a standing person…

ouhh,,, so sick of her paying sm attention to some silly characters on a screen that you get up from her bed, swivel the chair around, take her cock out and stroke it gently “mmm,, waittt y/n i need to buy shieldss waittt”

getting her rock hard was no issue. she’s a loser for gods sake, getting her hard came easy she also cums easily. you salivated at the sight of minjeongs massive cock, her precum pretty much oozing from her tip- man how you missed the sight “y/n pleeassee- i need to rank up,, please” she looked up at you with those cute puppy eyes you adored, and as much as it was working, you stayed calm. having an unbearable itch for her cock made it more easier for you to not give in.

“let me just,, ah- fuck okay. god, jeongie i forgot how big you were” to her surprise, you were already straddling her lap.

“ahh.. go on, keep playing” a steady sigh slipping out from your mouth,, her cock twitching inside of you?? seeing that she was pretty much over the edge by the way she was gripping her mouse. jeongie carried on playing like normal, a good 40 minutes of a new ranked game, but she was bottom fragging so badly that it made her jolt in her seat whenever she’d fuck up her shots. funnily enough, her moving in her seat wasn’t ideal bc she moaned every time she thrusted a little into your pussy 😭😭 (LEWSERR)

the more she moved in anger, the more she felt her cock getting harder- in which made her realise that she did, indeed, miss having sex with you. at least she was patient i guess? still focusing on her game because her new priority was winning so she could fuck you good.

jeongie ended up top fragging somehow? gaining 10 more kills and finishing up with a win!!! and with that happiness in mind, she stood up, carrying you with her cock still inside you “okay, mmm okay,, i’ll do it now” taking off her nerd ass glasses off of her face as she walked to the bed, your legs still being around her waist.

keep in mind that she still looks like a complete nerd rn, a biggg ass grin on her face bc she ALSO ranked up!! but then it suddenly changed, from nerd minjeongie to a surprising, but very dom looking gaze. you could see fire in her eyesngmgng making your cunt clench around her cock “…you’ve been so patient with me, you deserve a reward” she would ofc take it slow, her carefully rocking her hips and kissing you everywhere making you feel all loved. yk kissing your lips, deepening it by slipping her tongue in 🫣 breaking it to kiss you neck,, then your collarbone, and then peppering your chest with kisses too like,,, omg. her hands would be caressing your thighs, maybe even drawing some circles on your upper thighs bc shes just so loving like that (jeongie is definitely a thigh girl,, im not projecting i swear) would squeeze them every so often bc it gets both you and her going.

further into it she’d get so worked up. the way your moans would sound so sweet to her that her brain automatically switches off,,, no thoughts behind thoses eyes bc now she’s pounding your cunt so roughly. her hands that were playing with your tits where now squeezing and fondling them aggressively- she’d make you such a mess that it would literally end up with you looking so fucked out. leaving so many hickeys on your neck to prove that she still loved and appreciated you. her thrusts became erratic and messy, like your arousal was everywhere on the sheets and everything,, mmm being so pussy drunk that she’d take your legs and put them on her shoulders and rubbing your clit so roughly, but with care if that makes sense?

her face basically said everything. biting her lower lip and her brows furrowing, she was close to cumming. the way she was gripping onto the sheets and moaning so loudly your neighbours could hear, it made you grow closer to. finally jeongie came- her high pitched moan sent you overdrive, your pussy clamping down hard on her that no drop of cum leaked out as you milked her dry 😭

by the end she was exhausted as fawk.. having to work hard for val and working hard to please you GIRLY WAS OUT.. PASSED TF OUT!?!? but you were happy nonetheless,, finally getting minjeong to fuck you after god knows how many days.

—

mhngng gamer minjeong come over rn i need you badly,, also lawl if this is bad OOPSIES i think i lost my smut writing abilities

[changbunnies]

Crave, Part 2 (18+)

♡ Pairing: Romantic Demon!Hyunjin x Human Fem!Reader

♡ Genre: supernatural au, demon au, age gap relationship typical in monster fucker fics, coworkers to lovers and love triangle vibes :')

♡ Word Count: 6.5k

♡ Summary: "The more a thing is perfect, the more it feels pleasure and pain." - Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy. In which Hyunjin, a demon from the nine circles of hell, finds himself impossibly infatuated with the very human he once set upon himself to destroy.

♡ Warnings: this is a part 2! read part 1 here, more immoral behavior and thoughts + ideas from hyunjin ofc, supernatural abilities, themes of possesiveness and jealousy, more talks of sinful acts / feelings from the perspective of a demon, reader's age is not specified but it is implied to be at least mid twenties.

♡ Notes: sorry ya'll it took longer for this to come out than i intended, i wasn't feeling well so i was resting ;v; and tbh i still don't feel well but i really wanted to keep writing so i powered thru to get this done!! this part is story focused but dw, explicit smut is coming next <3 the focus here is building up their relationship so that the smut feels like a natural development and they aren't just instantly in love lol i hope you enjoy it!

♡ Disclaimer: please read responsibly, and remember that this work is fiction and meant strictly for imaginative fun. the idols used in fics are more accurately faceclaims and personality outlines for imaginary characters, and should not be interpreted as factual representations of existing people.

How do you make a human fall in love? A question that is perhaps simple in theory, but Hyunjin hasn't wooed a human in centuries, and much has changed since he last blended in with society. In the modern age of technology, sin is at the most rampant it's ever been. The common man can access all manner of sin from the palm of his hand with a single device, and it has made the act of integrating into human society an unnecessary practice for demons. 

There's a plethora of human sin to feed from at any given moment, and obsolete is the need for a demon to blend in with the humans that walk the earth, no longer required to be a snake in the community garden just waiting for their moment to strike and consume. Though an outdated method to obtain their wants, integration with humans can still be done, if only the demon in question wishes to do so- and as Hyunjin has come to realize, he does if he wants to win over the object of his desire. 

Despite how long it's been since Hyunjin walked among them, he wasn't ignorant of modern human culture; he still had to be well-informed if he wanted to be effective and efficient in sowing the seeds of sin in feeble minds, after all- his work in the second circle required such knowledge, and it was also a benefit when it came to deciding which soul he would drink from to sustain himself. 

He knew perfectly well how to use most modern technology, knew how to dress in a manner that was unique to his own tastes but suited the trends of the era, and whatever "pop culture" knowledge he lacked, as it was called by humans, he could blame it on things such as "preferring to stay off social media," or "not watching much tv or playing much games," and most would take it as a fair, reasonable enough excuse, even if the person asking questions of him could not relate to his answer. 

In the last century especially, most of Hyunjin's public outings were limited to a few hours at most, spending that entire time scoping out who'd sustain his cravings the most. Nightclubs in particular were an easy place for Hyunjin to get a quick fix of the lust he needed, sustaining him well enough when his preferred love-drenched lust was still being built to its peak. 

Despite all his experience in human matters, there was something that posed a problem for him initially. Since moving into your lavish suite, you worked from home- a luxury Hyunjin assumes you have from a high ranking position within whatever company you work for (especially if this is the kind of place you can afford to live in on a single salary.) But if you only ever left the house long enough to run errands, how was he supposed to meet you organically? And further still, how does he meet you in such a way that makes contact with you consistent, that makes you want to talk with him and be in his presence? 

He could, theoretically, stage a meeting, pretend to be a neighbor entering the building at the same time or "accidentally" bump into you while shopping for something he has absolutely no use for, only to then charm you the moment your eyes lock with his. The problem with that approach is that charming you defeats the purpose of what he wants; for you to have genuine, real love for him, and only him. And asking you out after meeting you just once, in a situation where you have no reason to connect with him further, could be uncomfortable or off-putting in the eyes of women. What woman likes to be hit on by a stranger while she's grocery shopping? 

Hyunjin's human form is attractive, sure, but looks can only carry him so far when it comes to making a woman fall for him. His appearance is useful for one night stands, but he needs to show you more substance than that if he wants you to desire him beyond the physical- and he was sure based on his observations of your character that you weren't vain or superficial enough to fall for him based on looks alone. 

Thankfully, he didn't have to ponder on these questions for much longer, because only a few short days after you finished all your unpacking and decorated your apartment to your liking, you returned to work. He could tell easily enough what your destination was when your routine suddenly deviated; for the first time since moving in, you had turned on a repeating alarm for 6 A.M, and your choice of business casual clothing and subtle, office appropriate makeup told him all he needed to know. 

Hyunjin followed you there, naturally; presence hidden, lingering in the shadows with the intent to best establish how to infiltrate your work environment. As he expected, you held a high ranking position inside a corporate office- head of human resources for one of the many subsidiaries of some conglomerate Hyunjin had never heard of, as typically there is no need or reason for him to be well versed in human's business dealings. 

Becoming someone you work with directly would be the best route, he was sure. Whether on equal ground or as someone answering to you on a team, it was the option that gave him the most opportunity to create a connection with you, and maybe be the start of one of those sappy office romances that humans seem to enjoy in their media. 

It was fine if there were no employment openings- it'd be simple for Hyunjin to create one by exerting his influence over a human's mind. He'd pick out whomever you liked the least, someone who bothered you either overtly or simply by being an inefficient worker, and he'd take their place. He could plant the idea of a career change, a desire to move across the country, or simply get them fired should the gentler, subtle approach be deemed too time consuming for Hyunjin's taste. 

Of course, Hyunjin knew jack fucking shit about how your job truly works or what would be required of him if he was on your team, but that was fine too- it would be easy for him to fake his performance when necessary, and charm any who questioned his work abilities. He wouldn't enjoy lying to you directly if there was ever a need for it but, well.. The ends justify the means, don't they? And while he wouldn't charm you for love, certainly it wouldn't hurt to do so to make him appear a better worker than what he would be in reality, right? 

No matter what his hypocritical justifications were, he’d do anything necessary to make you his, even if it meant having to lie at times. It was a foreign feeling, being conflicted about lying when typically lying came second nature to a demon, but he supposed his infatuation for you is what makes it feel different. Is that why truth was considered a godly virtue? It was the first time in his life that just the thought of lying, before it could even be an act done in the first place, felt.. wrong.

Maybe because on some subconscious level he recognized that love woven from lies isn’t true, no matter how much he’d wish it to be. Even if you fell sincerely in love with him, would it still satisfy him to have gotten there based on tricks and lies? When he determined that the answer to that question was a firm “no,” he vowed he would do his best to keep lies far from his lips when it came to you, even if that made his goal more difficult to achieve. Strange, how this was easily the most human he’d ever felt. 

In a way, it is almost natural to feel this way, to be met with internal conflict for the first time in ages; most demons are born directly from human sin, after all. What is he, if not the physical manifestation of a human who has fallen from perfection? More powerful than a mere human though he was, his proverbial soul still held an innate inclination towards sin, the struggle with temptation and decadence inherent to his very being, as hypocrisy and corruption went hand in hand with sin, hand in hand with the very human condition he would oft wrongfully deny he felt.

And that wasn’t the only human emotion that came to him when he watched you at work for the first time. Most of the morning was spent rather uneventfully, Hyunjin’s time dedicated entirely to scoping out the environment and determining where he’d best fit within your corporate world. He observed the people on your team, who was designated where and what their duties were, keeping track of what feelings and opinions you had for whom, looking out for who he would be able to effectively replace.

Without warning, he sensed it, felt it, tasted it- love, seeping out of your pores, heart suddenly alight and a smile that should be reserved for him lingering on your lips. Jealousy pricked Hyunjin’s skin before he could even fully process the scene before him, a deep fondness in your eyes as a man that Hyunjin could only assume was from another department approached you with a smile of his own.

Shit. It was expected that he would find out who you loved eventually, but he didn’t anticipate that it would be here, in the very environment he was setting up to be the stage for your romance with him. The man asked you questions and talked in ways you’d expect to hear between friends or coworkers- “how’d the move go?”, “are you settling in well?”, and “you should invite me over sometime!”

It was the last statement that made Hyunjin’s eye twitch with suppressed anger, not much liking the idea of the person you’re in love with being alone with you in your apartment. Every time you giggled at something he said or blushed when the man held your gaze, it nearly made him sick with envy. Fuck him, he didn’t deserve you, Hyunjin thought, I'm better than him in every conceivable way, that should be me.

This man didn’t love you the way you loved him; Hyunjin could tell, could feel the platonic affection that radiated from him. And instead of being happy about the implication that Hyunjin would have no rival for your affection when he pursued you in earnest, it almost made him more pissed off. This guy didn’t even know how fucking perfect you were, didn’t seem to notice the way your eyes sparkled with affection, how your heart raced when he hugged you, or the bashful smile that lingered when he invited you to share your lunch hour with him.

He’s a complete fucking idiot for not being head over hells for you- you, who’s only sin is lust, who is beautiful, intelligent, humble, and positively radiant in presence without even realizing just how much value she truly has. It’s okay, he has to remind himself, it’s a good thing his one-sided rival doesn’t share your sentiment; because when Hyunjin shows you how beautiful you are, treats you with the reverence you deserve, your heart would surely shift to beat for him instead. He’ll make sure of it.

You let out a sigh as you comb through the next resume that found its way to your desk, exhausted from the amount of interviews you've conducted today. This was probably your least favorite aspect of your job if you were being honest; being the head of human resources put you in charge of all recruiting efforts, scanning through countless applications to determine who was the best fit for the company, but you never enjoyed doing it. 

It always makes you feel guilty to determine someone else's worth based on a flimsy piece of paper and interview first impressions, where nerves are almost always at their peak as the person sitting across from you makes their best conscious effort to impress you. It is also not a job you can delegate to someone else on your team, unfortunately; your place at the top of the HR department made all hiring decisions entirely up to your own discretion. And apart from the guilt of knowing you couldn't hire everyone that walked through your door, it was so tiring to go over the same questions multiple times a day with a myriad of strangers. 

Hwang Hyunjin was the name of the last person you'd be interviewing today (much to your relief) and you hoped he'd be the person to wow you in the end, as you have lukewarm feelings to who you've met thus far. Despite the impressive credentials on most resumes you reviewed, none of the people you'd met seemed to be a good long term fit for the company; some of them would likely only be good as temps, needing to be let go unless they showed substantial improvement in the areas they were lacking in. 

It was a terrible thing to judge someone based on whether or not they were able to calm their nerves or had enough charisma, but when working for corporate conglomerates you can't afford to be meek. It was okay to be shy and reserved in your personal life, many people in the office were, but for the sake of professionalism you're required to have the ability to put meek tendencies aside. If the interviewee couldn't speak with confidence, then you had reason to believe they'd crack under the daily pressures of speaking with representatives of other departments or when handling sensitive negotiations. 

Unfortunately, you don't typically have the luxury of giving applicants the benefit of the doubt or the ability to give them the opportunity to change your first impression of them. You take a glance at the clock hanging above the door to your office, opposite of your desk; it's just a few short minutes until you meet your last applicant, and you pray he'll be the person you've been looking for. Despite how desperate you are to fill the hole in your team after Mina's extremely abrupt resignation and move out of the country, you still don't want to hire just to fill the gap she left- you want someone capable and confident on your team. 

You take one last passing glance at the man's resume, making sure you're familiar with his education and work history, not wanting to be mistaken on any of the details listed. A short succession of knocks are heard on your door a few moments later, and you look up from the resume you're rereading to see Nayeon opening the door just enough for her head to come into view. "M-Ma'am, H-Hwang Hyunjin, uh- he's here for his interview," she speaks in a timid voice, face flushed the brightest pink you'd ever seen on her. 

Your brows furrow ever so slightly in wonder and concern at her out of character demeanor; Nayeon is among the most confident and well spoken employees on your team, and you've never known her to stutter or appear so off kilter. "..Right, send him in," you say after a moment, wondering if her attitude shift is due to the stranger you'd be meeting shortly; if that is the case, you'll have to talk to her about it once the interview is over- you wouldn't want to hire someone the people on your team are uncomfortable around. 

She nods and opens the door further, the silhouette of the taller man coming into view just slightly behind her. "Right in here," she mutters, stepping to the side and motioning for Hyunjin to enter your office. It becomes immediately apparent what the reason for Nayeon's abnormal behavior is; Hwang Hyunjin is easily one of the most beautiful men you've ever seen in your entire life. 

Black hair that just begins to touch his shoulders tucked neatly behind his ears, a few strands left untouched to frame his face, accompanied by wide circle glasses that seem to further enhance his beauty. He's dressed well, his suit modern and sleek but not overly formal for the setting, his accessories tasteful and understated, as they should be in an office environment- just a simple, long chain necklace and small, almost dainty hoops on his pierced ears. 

The reason that a man this gorgeous would even be applying to work here when he could easily make a fortune being a model is beyond you. You're quick to correct the initial surprise on your face, hoping that the man you'll be interviewing didn't notice how struck by his beauty you were when he stepped in. And how could you even know that he did notice you had a reaction to him- and not because of any overtly obvious expression of attraction, but because he could hear the beating of your heart with his inhuman ears, its steady rhythm taking a sudden, erratic jump the very moment he first stepped through the door. 

Nayeon is quick to close the door behind Hyunjin once he has stepped fully inside your office, leaving you in privacy for what will likely be the most difficult interview you have ever conducted, and not for the reasons you would've otherwise expected. "Have a seat," you speak clearly, as if your heart wasn't stuttering just mere moments ago, motioning for Hyunjin to take one of the chairs sitting opposite of your desk. "Pleasure to meet you, Hyunjin," you say after he's taken a seat, politely holding out your hand to shake his.

"Likewise, ma'am. I'm grateful to be considered for this position," he responds with a smile so effortlessly charming that you have to once again remind yourself that this is a professional setting and you shouldn't be thinking about how handsome the potential new addition to your team is. If you were a worse woman with lesser morals, you'd hire him on appearance alone- his flawless skin, plush, soft, almost inviting lips, and the little mole that sits daintily under his left eye are all positively bewitching to look at. 

You collect yourself after a brief mental scolding, deciding to get straight into the most pertinent questions you have once he's settled in his seat, opting to waste no time in getting straight to the point. While this approach does make the interview more tense for the applicant, you find it best to go about it this way to make sure they're truly ready for the sort of discussions that will be expected of them should they get hired. You don't expect perfection, but more accurately determination- if they can maintain a confident air about them under pressure, that's typically a good indicator to you they'll be a good fit for your team. 

Equally, you don't mind if they stumble over their words a few times throughout the course of the interview as long as they show the ability to bounce back from any slip ups. Error is expected at some point, as we are all human- you just want to assess their ability to come back from a mistake when speaking, and to see if they are able to maintain their composure in situations that may not be the most ideal or comfortable. 

The ease at which Hyunjin answers your questions has you convinced that he's perfect. He speaks confidently, coming across as self-assured and charismatic, not at all stuttering or faltering when you ask him to speak candidly with his own words. You appreciate a well rehearsed answer of course, but you like to ascertain whether or not the person you're considering for the job is able to maintain confidence when not using an internal script or reciting their memorized resume. 

Some struggle to do so, losing confidence in themselves the moment they are expected to go off the cuff, while others find it to be a trick question of sorts, as if you're baiting them to say a flaw that would place them out of consideration for the position they're applying for. What you value most on your team is adaptability- it's okay to falter for a brief moment, as long as they are able to collect themselves quickly and continue where they left off. And Hyunjin's ability to do just that is utterly astounding. 

He has an almost effortless sort of confidence and charisma about him; something unique and special that you don't often see, a state of being that isn't learned, but rather is innate to who he is. Even when he briefly pauses or lets out a small "hmm" as he thinks about his answer to your question, it never feels like he's struggling to find his answer- more accurately, it seems that he already knows what his answer is, and is just pondering on the best way to phrase it before speaking. 

It seemed that even his unrehearsed, unfiltered answers were nearly perfect, his ability to speak leaving you almost in awe. Truly, in the year and a half it's been since you were promoted to head of human resources, you'd never conducted an interview where the person you were speaking to seemed this effortlessly natural and comfortable in what is otherwise a tense situation. Honestly, you'd be a fool not to hire him right on the spot- his ability speaks for itself, and you're confident that any weaknesses he has can be corrected quickly and easily with more experience in the work environment. 

So you congratulate him, smiling as you once again hold out your hand and welcome him as part of your team. And Hyunjin smiles too as he takes your hand in his, knowing that this is just the start of what is his grand plan to make you his.

In the months it’s been since you first hired Hyunjin, he’s come to learn so much more about you than he did just lingering around in your apartment, and with that has come an even deeper appreciation and desire to have you. Your good nature, which he knew you had from little interactions at shops and cafes, was now able to be fully seen by him- from the way you cared about your team, treated them like equals despite the fact that you were their superior in rank, and how you encouraged and fostered true friendships between everyone on your team. 

You held so much sincere care for everyone around you, and you lead with compassion and kindness at the forefront. If someone was sick, having an off day due to mental health, or simply felt the pressures of life weighing them down, you always met them with compassion, encouraged them to get better, and never made them feel bad about themselves for any small slip ups that occurred while they were struggling with something. 

Of course, in this line of work it’s vital that they show up always ready to do their utmost best and show others the best versions of themselves, but you weren’t some militant manager that expected people to always be at 100%. It’s unrealistic, and hypocritical to expect perfection, so instead you always did your best to accommodate them when they were low, and that consideration resulted in your coworkers and employees having a great deal of respect for you, and caused them to always put in their best effort. 

By extension, your care for your team resulted in equal care towards you, and it seemed they greatly missed you when you were absent due to your move. They had fine enough leadership while you were gone, sure, but it wasn’t the same without you- the one who made them feel comfortable, secure, and made them want to perform well at their jobs. What Hyunjin felt watching you was something akin to pride- and it was strange, as he had never felt pride for someone else before, usually not even for himself. 

He just liked seeing you succeed, if he had to guess; he liked knowing the woman he desired was not only beautiful in body but also in soul, just as he suspected her to be when he first came to put aside his anger and truly know her for who she is. What a happy accident it was, that he happened to be gone when you finalized your move to suite 13; because otherwise how would he ever have known what it was like to care about someone other than himself? To understand what it is that makes a human God’s greatest creation? 

He gets it now, he thinks- why God prioritized humanity, why he loves them despite how flawed and drenched with sin they are. And again, it occurs to Hyunjin how hypocritical he was before, and continues to be even now, how foolish it is for him, the very embodiment of sin, a being who is supposed to uphold depravity and ruin, to be infatuated with you, who is the very image of benevolence.

Hyunjin got to see so many new sides of you, sides that didn’t make themselves known within the 4 walls of your apartment, sides that made him fall for you more and more. A demon can’t experience love the way a human does, but he thinks this is the closest to love a creature like him will ever have. Obsession, longing, desire.. Isn’t that all a manifestation of love? Perhaps one does not need a true heart and soul to experience what love is, maybe all that one really requires is feeling. 

Most sins are a feeling- lust, pride, envy; all are an emotion you feel strongly within your gut, a natural reaction that cannot be prevented from pricking your skin or making your stomach twist. It’s innate, woven into the DNA of every creature with higher understanding. With all that mind, who is to say a demon can’t love? Maybe it won’t be felt in the same way a human feels it, but if love is a feeling, and sins are a feeling, then what truly prevents him from knowing love? 

As equally as he learned about you and himself, he also learned about the man you had developed feelings for- Yunho. According to Nayeon, who was apparently a wealth of information when it came to the subject, you met Yunho in college and have been friends with him since. You grew quite close in your time studying the same major, and as fate would have it, you both ended up working for the same conglomerate after college. 

While you ended up here, promoted to head of the department when the opening became available, Yunho worked for a different subsidiary within the same building; so while you technically worked for different companies, you shared the same CEO, and had ample opportunity to meet and talk during the company lunch hour and maintain the friendship you had in college. 

Well, he imagines you would’ve still been friends with Yunho regardless of where the two of you ended up in life after graduation, but still seeing him daily certainly didn’t help you get over the college crush you had on the man. And you had tried to move on- you’re not stupid, you know Yunho doesn’t feel the same way as you, but your relationships never worked out as you’d hoped, and you’d always be left still battling your unrequited love for your best friend. 

Though you are always professional, it was obvious, at least to the other women in the office, that you had deep feelings for Yunho. They could always tell in the way your face changed when he was near, displaying a timid smile that only ever showed up for him, the flush on your face subtle but recognizable to those who knew you well.  

And by extension, it became increasingly obvious to the rest of the office that Hyunjin was down bad for you, and hated seeing you with Yunho. His face too always changed when Yunho arrived, though in an entirely different way from you- Hyunjin would be positively seething with jealousy, always failing to mask the frown of disapproval when Yunho stepped into your office to talk and invite you out for lunch outside the building. 

And Hyunjin, who was always a gentleman anyways, was even more so when it came to you- holding open doors for you when walking somewhere together, carrying stacks upon stacks of heavy paperwork so you wouldn’t have to do it, memorizing the way you liked your coffee so he could get it for you and you could focus instead on your work. The only time Hyunjin ever wasn’t smiling, it was when you were giving your affection to Yunho, and it was painfully obvious how bad he wanted you. 

If Hyunjin was trying to keep his feelings a secret, well.. He failed to do so at every turn. Everyone in the office could tell how he felt, and while they would never admit it, most were just waiting for the day he’d ask you out, as it seemed to be more and more inevitable that he would. Some who had been your coworkers since long before you were even promoted and knew of your unrequited feelings, hoped that Hyunjin could be the person to finally give you the happiness you deserve. 

Even you yourself began to suspect that Hyunjin liked you as more than a friend or coworker, because why else would he go so out of his way for you? Why else would his face change whenever he saw Yunho? You can still remember the way his smile dropped when Yunho stepped into the room when you were having lunch with your team, how Hyunjin subtly clenched his teeth and tightened his fists, how he’d practically glare at the man before replacing his expression with the most forced smile you’d ever seen him have for the sake of professionalism. 

Were you being delusional? To say Hyunjin is fucking gorgeous is an understatement- he’s practically ethereal. And while you wanted to move on from your stupid school girl crush on Yunho that continued to grip you all these years later, wasn’t it too much to fantasize about Hyunjin being the person to finally make you happy? He could have anyone, and you couldn’t understand why he’d want you of all people when he could easily bag someone more impressive than you. 

You did well for yourself, but you didn’t consider yourself particularly desirable.. Maybe years of unrequited love and failed relationships made your confidence tank more than you realized, at least when it came to love and romance. And while there were other couples in the office, you worried it’d be unprofessional of you to date someone who you are technically the boss of.. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about the power dynamic instead of worrying about whether or not you were desirable enough for Hyunjin to want you? 

God, you really needed to get your priorities straight before you did something stupid; and certainly you were just reading too far into things. But still, while your feelings for Yunho didn’t go away, you still couldn’t deny that your heart would race whenever Hyunjin smiled at you, couldn’t ignore how goosebumps would erupt on your skin when his hand lingered on yours as he handed you a perfectly made cup of coffee, couldn’t help but linger on the the thought of what a perfect lover he must be.

As if sensing you were thinking of him, you hear a knock on your door, breaking you out of your thoughts and seeing Hyunjin crack open the door. “May I?” he asks, and you smile politely with a nod, motioning for him to enter your office. “Hey Hyunjin, what’s up? Need something?” you ask and he shakes his head, sitting on the chair in front of you. “Nothing work related, though I do want to ask you something,” he replies, and immediately your mind wanders to delusional territory again, though you quickly try to shut it down. 

“What is it?” you ask, trying your best not to fill your brain with the thought of Hyunjin making a move on you. Be professional for God’s sake. “I was wondering,” he starts, looking at you with that charming smile that is so natural to him and you always have to stop yourself from folding over, “If you don’t have any prior obligations today, would you like to have lunch with me?” 

Oh no. He’s adding fuel to your delusional fire. “Just us?” you ask, trying to mask your hope or the way your heart is picking up speed. You really want to be chill about the invite, but you really can’t help but hope the invitation means something more. He’s perfect, how could you not? You’re only human, after all. Isn’t it natural to want someone this fucking beautiful to want you? 

“Yes, just us. You don’t have to consider it a date, but.. I would be happy if you did,” he smiles, head tilting to the side in an almost playful display, and your heart jolts. He’s not just playing with you, right? He wouldn’t, would he? But you have to ask, “You make it sound as if you want me to consider it a date. Are you saying you like me?” 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, ma’am,” he replies without hesitation, confidence fully on display. It’s as if the possibility of you saying “no” has never crossed his mind. Well, you’d probably be confident too if you looked anything like him; you don’t imagine he’s been rejected often. And well, you certainly won’t be the person to hit him with his first rejection either; you’ll have to ask a third party to handle the necessary paperwork if things go well between you and Hyunjin, as the head of the department can’t approve and oversee her own consensual relationship agreement, but it’ll be worth it, you think. 

After all, if someone this beautiful and seemingly perfect wants you, why deny yourself the opportunity? Even if it doesn’t work out, maybe he’ll be the person to finally help you get over your stupid crush on your best friend that’s been going nowhere for years. Apart from his beauty, he’s always been chivalrous and attentive towards you, a true gentleman in every sense of the word. And even if it's only for a brief time, you think he can make you feel happy, desired, truly cared for.

You’re about to tell him you’d love to, when your door unexpectedly clicks open, your eyes moving past Hyunjin to see Yunho standing in the doorway. Hyunjin immediately scowls, having half a mind to rip him apart once the day is over, though he does his best to temper his aggravation. Can’t let himself lose face in front of the one he loves after all; he’s not sure you’d still be up for a date with him if he displayed his jealous, possessive tendencies this early on (not that he did a very good job of hiding them to begin with.)

“Shit, sorry- am I interrupting a meeting?” Yunho asks, and Hyunjin rolls his eyes, turning his gaze back to you instead. “No, nothing like that,” you answer, shifting your gaze back to Hyunjin, who for the first time looks concerned that you’ll turn him down. It’s subtle, but his eyes are softer, nearly pleading, though he tries his best to not display the desperation that lies underneath- the desperation for you to affirm that you like him too, that you want to go on a date with him, that you want to give him a chance. 

“Oh, good,” Yunho sighs in relief, knowing that sometimes your work bleeds over into the lunch hour. He glances at Hyunjin, a slight frown forming on his face. He’s never spoken to the guy, but Yunho would have to blind to not notice that Hyunjin hates him for seemingly no reason. “Well, uh- I’ll let you get back to whatever talk you’re having. I’ll see you for lunch when it's over?” Yunho asks, and you can see Hyunjin swallow, hands tensing as he waits for your reply. 

Please don’t reject me, his body practically screams, and you almost can’t believe that the confident man that you know is looking this nervous over potential rejection because of you. “Thanks, but I’m actually having lunch with Hyunjin today. Maybe next time?” you answer, smiling at Hyunjin to reassure him that yes, you are going on a date. No, you won’t be picking Yunho over him, despite the history that lies there.  

Relief instantly spreads through Hyunjin, and he returns your smile, his confidence returning as if it’d never left in the first place. “Oh,” Yunho blinks in surprise; that’s.. unexpected. You’ve never prioritized someone else over him before. Huh. He feels.. strange. Jealous..? No, that can’t be right. Why would he be jealous? Hyunjin stands, offering his hand to you, which you accept before you stand yourself. 

“Are you ready, ma’am? I know this cafe you’ll just love, but we have to hurry if we wan’t to make it back before the hour is over,” Hyunjin smiles, turning away to face the door, and subsequently, an almost bewildered looking Yunho. You miss the way Hyunjin shoots your best friend a smug, almost triumphant smirk; a smirk that says I’ve won, she’s mine. And even as Yunho watches the pair of you walk towards the elevator, hears you tell Hyunjin he can call you by your name when it’s “just the two of us,” suddenly he feels incredibly stupid. 

Even as he’s left standing there, watching the elevator doors close with just the two of you inside, he can feel his gut twist as Hyunjin shoots him one last smirk, one that affirms something Yunho is just now realizing- there was a reason Hyunjin hated him. All this time, Yunho was a rival for love, and he just lost the race without ever having actually participated. 

He scoffs, laughing at himself in near disbelief. What an idiot he’s been, and what a moment to realize it. He knew you had a crush on him, but what did he expect? That you’ll always be there, just waiting for the day he’d finally miraculously return your feelings after all these years? Of course you’d move on eventually; and maybe Yunho didn’t want to admit he found your infatuation with him to be a comfortable ego boost, now hit with the epiphany that his newfound jealousy over the loss of your affection is ugly and twisted. 

And truly, Hyunjin had him beat. Somehow, he knew that this was the end of your feelings for him. How ironic it is to lose due to his own complacency, his expectation that you’d always be there no matter what relationships you found yourselves in. How arrogant and selfish he’d been, assured that no matter whom he slept with or pursued, you’d be there just waiting for the day he’d finally ask you out. And now Hyunjin has you, and he’s certain he’ll never let you go.

[ephemerasnape]

➔ A Bone To Pick - Victor Rookwood discovers who's behind all the smutty audios about him - and he's pissed. (Also can be considered a sort of disclaimer for my audios in general.)

➔ Bait & Switch - Ominis and Sebastian discuss a serious problem they're having in this Public Service Announcement to the fandom.

I've created quite a bit of Hogwarts Legacy material (most of which is adult-oriented). The following stories and audios are predominantly 18+, explicit, and x female!reader or listener where you are MC (with a few exceptions). Although much of my stuff is x reader I do not use Y/N or MC by default as I personally find both distracting.

Listing of all audios with links to ao3

All my Daddy Rookwood AUDIOS!

Chatbots!

My ao3

Socials / RookwoodGroup.org

Discord: Unrestricted Section

Rookwood Groupies Group on Tumblr

My Commissions

Rules & Disclaimers! There are no fucking rules, are you kidding me? This is fanfiction, it's a no man's land of degeneracy. Exercise a modicum of independent thought and live a little.

Victor Rookwood Headcanons!

List of all Victor Rookwood Audios!

Fanfiction (there are a few more on ao3 that are not my favorite)

🌟 = recommended!

🌟 A Quick Word - (Rookwood x You - 5,000 words.) Explicit - What could transpire if you would only allow Rookwood to have a word with you at the Three Broomsticks as he requested.

A Wicked, Wicked Man - (Rookwood x You - 3,300 words.) Explicit, Rape, Violence - “Perhaps you long to be treated like the disobedient little whore you are.”

🌟 Rough Night - (Ashwinders x You, Rookwood & You - 6,600 words.) Explicit, Gang Rape, Violence - You lose the battle with Rookwood and his cronies that takes place during Wand Mastery. Includes a version with a female reader, and one with a male reader.

🌟Under the Hog's Head - (Rookwood x You - 2,800 words.) Explicit, Rape - "I don't think you're in any position to bargain, little one."

How Dunstan Trinity Lost His Eye (Dunstan Trinity & Victor Rookwood - 1,100 words.) Gen, Violence, Gore

🌟 Devoutly to be Wished (Anne Sallow x Victor Rookwood) - Explicit - Anne Sallow is dying. When she receives word from Sebastian regarding the likely progenitor of the curse that's killing her, she feels she must uncover the truth.

Micro Smut: Upstairs at the Three Broomsticks (Rookwood x You) Explicit

Micro Fic with Fanart: Ephemera Snape's Revenge (Rookwood x Me)

A Five Hundred Galleon Whore (Rookwood x F!OC - 3,200 words) Explicit, Noncon, Dubcon - Epilogue to Paying the Piper. "You can cooperate or I can let all the men in my ranks take their fill of you."

Audios:

↱ Daddy Rookwood audios now live here! There were just too many!

Fanfiction (more on ao3)

🌟 A Change of Heart - (Poacher x You - 2,500 words.) Explicit - You encounter a Poacher camped in a remote area all by his lonesome. Easy kill, right? Wrong.

🌟 Last Man Standing - (Poacher Executioner x You - 2,000 words.) Explicit, Rape, Violence - “You're lucky you're not a wizard... I would have snapped your neck already if you were."

🌟 Rough Night - (Ashwinders x You, Rookwood & You - 6,600 words.) Explicit, Gang Rape, Violence - You lose the battle with Rookwood and his cronies that takes place during Wand Mastery. Includes a version with a female reader, and one with a male reader.

How Dunstan Trinity Lost His Eye (Dunstan Trinity & Victor Rookwood - 1,100 words.) Gen, Violence, Gore

Encounter on Phoenix Mountain - (Poacher Stalker x You - 1,300 words.) Explicit - A solitary Poacher Stalker corners you in Phoenix Mountain Cave. What's a girl to do?

Under the Hog's Head - (Ashwinders & Rookwood x You - 2,800 words.) Explicit, Gang Rape - "I don't think you're in any position to bargain, little one."

🌟 Paying the Piper (Ashwinder Scout x OFC - WIP) Explicit - The newest shopkeeper in Hogsmeade is met with an unpleasant surprise when a handsome young Ashwinder shows up at her door demanding payment. COMIC!

Masked Man (Ashwinder Scout x OFC - 1,100) Explicit, Quickie, CNC - "This is what happens to pretty little shopkeepers who don't pay their due."

The Poacher's Prize (Poppy Sweeting x Poachers - 1,800 words) Explicit, Rape, Violence - Poppy pays the price for her betrayals!

Dawn of Regret (Poacher Executioner x You - 1,900 words) Explicit, Rape - “Ye wanted to seduce a dark wizard,” the Executioner purrs, running his tongue across your lips. “Well, haha, it worked!”

Audios:

The Pledge (Rookwood & Selwyn x You - 4:50min) - Explicit, Gang Rape - Silvanus Selwyn catches you, but Rookwood gets first dibs...

Comeuppance (Ashwinders x You, Rookwood & You - 5:55min) - Explicit, Gang Rape, Lesbian, Violence - You are subjugated by Ashwinders and Poachers..

Rookwood's Revenge 2 - The Ashwinders (Ashwinders x You, Rookwood & You - 4:55min) - Explicit, Gang Rape, Violence - The Ashwinders take their revenge on you under Rookwood's watchful eye.

Executioner Monologue (2:43min) - Biographical monologue by Poacher Executioner - SFW

🌟At the Mercy of Macnair (Poacher Stalker x You, 4:12min) - Explicit, Rape - You've been caught in a bandit camp. You're bound, gagged, and helpless, but where's the fun in just leaving you be?

Battle Royal at Horntail Hall (Poppy Sweeting x Poacher Stalker, 2.23min) - SFW - You and Poppy get caught sneaking into Horntail Hall and are immediately recognized.

All in a Day's Work (Rookwood x Ashwinder!You - 2min) - Explicit, Dubcon - "The boss wants to see you."

Paying the Piper Excerpt (Ashwinder Scout x OFC - 1:19min) SFW

Lip Service (Ashwinder Scout x OFC - 1:46min) Explicit - Oswald's first blowjob from my fic "Paying the Piper."

Harlot of the Highlands (Poacher Executioner x You - 4:37) Explicit - You sneak into his tent at night looking for a special kind of trouble.

Quick Handjob (Ashwinder Scout x MC - 0:40) - Explicit

Tête-à-tête (Ashwinder Scout & MC - 1:18) - SFW - An Ashwinder Scout pleads for his life.

Fanfiction:

The Dark Sacrifice - (Ominis & Sebastian x You - 1,800 words.) Explicit, Noncon - Sebastian asks you to meet him and Ominis at the catacomb to make a dark sacrifice. Little do you know it's going to be you.

Another Secret for the Undercroft - (Ominis & Sebastian x You - 5,200 words.) Explicit - "I know I’m not as good as Sebastian,” Ominis hisses, “I’m better.”

Talk to Me - (Ominis x Reader - 1,685 words) Explicit - After visiting the Scriptorium, you can't stop thinking about Ominis speaking parseltongue. Smut ensues.

Audios:

Today's the Day (Ominis & Sebastian x You/MC - 2:18min) - Explicit, Gang Rape, Violence - Sebastian and Ominis make you pay the price after learning of your alliance with Victor Rookwood..

Bait and Switch (Ominis & Sebastian & ? - 2:15min) SFW - The boys discuss a serious problem they're having. Fortunately, Victor Rookwood has a solution.

Talk to Me (Ominis x You/MC - 2:44min) - Explicit - After leaving the Scriptorium, you pull Ominis aside, having been entranced by his use of parseltongue. (God, I hate this audio so much!)

A Moment Alone (Sebastian x ? - 1:10min) - Explicit - Sebastian thinks he's alone in the Undercroft..

Sebastian's Pleasure (Sebastian x You - 0:40min) - Explicit - Just Sebastian finishing inside of you...

Pigtails' Revenge (Piers Pemberton x You - 2:09min) - Explicit, GN!Listener, Violence, Dubcon - Piers Pemberton punishes you for stealing his Demiguise statues.

Goblin Supremacy (Ranrok & Rookwood x You - 4:59min) - Explicit, Rape - "Prepare to be conquered for goblinkind, little witch."

A Moment Alone (Sebastian Sallow x Peeves - 1:10min) - Explicit - Sebastian thinks he's alone in the Undercroft..

Ephemera Snape's Revenge (Rookwood x Me - 2:33min) - SFW, Gore

After Dark (Fastidio x Reader/MC - 4,000 words) - Explicit, Rape - "You're on my time now."

Listing of all audios with links to ao3

All my Daddy Rookwood AUDIOS!

Chatbots!

My ao3

Socials / RookwoodGroup.org

Discord: Unrestricted Section

My Commissions

☙ Asks, Requests, and DMs always open! ❧ (Please, I'm bored)

[avengerscompound]

Shared Experience - Chapter 1

Shared Experience - A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Rating:  E

Warnings:  Canon typical violence

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Rose Astor

Word Count: 1951

Summary:  Rose Astor met her end in 1920, joining the ranks of the living dead two years after the birth of Steve Rogers.  A century later the two meet in battle - a beacon of light clashing with a creature of the night.  Despite their differences, the two bond over their shared life experiences.  Can a vampire become an Avenger?  Can two such different beings create a life together?

Chapter 1

Present Day:

It had been over a week since Rose had last fed and she was starting to feel it.  Vampires didn’t feel hunger the same way as mortals.  It wasn’t a pain in the stomach that gradually worsened the longer it went without being addressed, but rather an almost feral need to consume.  The hunger clouded her mind and started to overwrite every other thought so that everything she looked at was either potential food or an obstacle to getting to the food.  It wasn’t just her mind that was affected though - there was a physical change too.  Her skin was paler than normal, and pulled tight against her bones, making her look gaunt and closer to dead than alive.  Her fangs were more prominent, and her eyes were red.  She hid them under sunglasses that were far too dark for the night and risked drawing people’s attention.

Thankfully, as far as most of the world was concerned, vampires didn’t exist.  Unfortunately, some humans weren’t so clueless.  All over the world were groups of monster hunters who would love to take out a creature of the night like her.  While they tended not to hunt the cities, it didn’t mean they couldn’t be found there.  Wearing dark glasses at night was a sure way to draw their attention.

Rose liked to push herself.  She was a reluctant vampire at the best of times.  Some took to the condition like they were born to it.  Rose had survived, which was more than many.  Most Vampires died within the first year of their turning.  She hadn’t succumbed to the depression of being turned into a monster that some do.  She hadn’t fumbled at one of the rules and accidentally fallen asleep where the sun reached, or in a spot mortals could find.  She hadn’t been killed by a monster hunter - though she had met a Bloodstone, one of the most famous monster hunters.  She hadn’t starved, or been caught feeding.  But she still didn’t love her role as a nightwalker.  She didn’t like feeding on people.  She’d been so social in her human life, and to have the humans, who were once her peers, now be her food sickened her.  She would drink blood from bags if she could get it, but it tasted terrible and never sat very well.  It was also difficult to get, even if she did compel someone to get it for her.  Most of the time she’d find someone who was willing.  Maybe not to donate, but to get close enough to her she could make it seem like she was just giving them a hickey.  It was the easiest way to get by.  If she stayed well-fed, she didn’t need to drain someone completely.  If she didn’t drain them, there was no body to get rid of, and she didn’t have to live with the fact she’d murdered again.

It was boring and lonely despite her physical closeness to humans.  The act was intimate but it highlighted her inability to be close to people again in any real way.  So when it got too much she stopped feeding, seeing how long she could go before the beast took hold.  She liked to draw the attention of hunters.  She liked the struggle for survival when the battle ensued.  It felt fair that way, and if she could take out a hunter it might save a creature that didn’t deserve their wrath.

Of course, there was always the risk that she’d give in and feed on an innocent, but in the last hundred years that had yet to happen.

Tonight she could smell blood.  She always could, in the state she was now - under the skin, safely enclosed in arteries, veins, and capillaries.  Salty and iron-rich and not yet starting to oxidize.  This was different.  It was freshly spilled and free-flowing from multiple sources nearby.  It made her mouth water and her fangs pop out, and despite the rational part of her mind screaming that it was dangerous and stupid to go after the scent, the feral animal part couldn’t resist it.

She followed the scent and the sound of fighting down an alley and into one of the main boulevards.  The street had broken out into complete chaos.  It was a superhero thing.  The kind of fighting that Rose tried to actively avoid.  She had powers - compulsion, strength, the ability to jump so high it resembled flight, and the ability to create and control a mist that shrouded the area around her.  She cared about the fate of the planet and the creatures on it, despite how apart from humanity she felt she didn’t want them all wiped out.  She also didn’t think superheroes would take too well to her kind.  The idea of vampires seemed so diametrically opposed to what superheroes fought for.

Seeing it up close as hungry as she felt it was too hard to resist.  The superheroes were all either in the air or at the far end of the street fighting a bunch of people that seemed to be dressed like different kinds of animals.  At Rose’s end, it was mostly people fleeing to safety, but one of the villains, a man dressed as a tiger, seemed to be snatching children from the crowd and using them as shields.

He was also bleeding.

Rose ran at him as fast as lightning, grabbing him from behind and biting into his neck.  The guy didn’t even have a chance to react before his blood was pouring into her mouth and she was drinking it down.  The children screamed as his body began to sag, and he released the small girl he had been holding.  As the life began to leave his body and the flow of blood slowed, she dropped him to the ground and looked at the cowering children in front of her.  “Where are your parents?”

One of them pointed down the road and she went to herd them in front of her, hoping to get them somewhere safe.  Now she had fed, that need for blood backed off again and she could think clearly.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something flying toward her head and without thinking she put up her hand to block it.  It hit her hand hard enough to shatter bones, but that didn’t hurt as much as the way it burned her skin.  She threw it to the side and right away the itchy feeling of her bones knitting together spread through her hand.  On the other hand, the burn was still stinging like she was holding it over the fire.  She had only felt that lingering pain once before when she’d taken hold of a crucifix not long after being turned.  The mark had burned for hours and she still wore the cross-shaped burn in her hand today.

“Step away from the children.”

Rose wheeled toward the sound of the deep, masculine voice, and found herself face to face with Captain America.  He held out his arm and flexed his hand, and his shield returned to him, flying in from the side.  It had been the shield that she’d deflected, and it was the faith people put into that shield that had burned her.

“I was saving them,” she hissed, bracing herself for a fight.  She was strong enough that she thought she could hold her own against the super soldier, but if that shield was a faith object and he was throwing it around, there was a real risk of him taking her out.  Not to mention one of the Avengers was an archer.  An arrow to the heart worked just as well as a stake.

“What did you do to Tiger?” Rogers asked.

“Your job,” she said.  Behind her, the kids were running again, though she was no longer concerned about them.  She knew that they would be his priority over her.  She risked a look over her shoulder and ran, dashing to the side and leaping up the side of the building.  She heard him shout behind her and as she reached the roof, an arrow went whizzing by her ear.

“That was a warning shot,” Hawkeye yelled.  “Stay where you are.”

She froze and began to draw in mist around her, cloaking her from his gaze.  “She’s enhanced.  I’m gonna need help if you want to pursue her,” the archer called

If there was a response to him, Rose didn’t know, she’d taken off again, using the mist to hide her movements.  The arrows flew through the air, too close for comfort, and she snatched one as it reached her, nearly hitting her in the arm.  She kept running and easily jumped the space between buildings.  Even with the mist, she was a target up here,  She could hear footsteps behind her, keeping pace with her preternatural speed, and she knew that there were at least two Avengers who could both fly and had technology that could keep track of her, she just hoped if they did try to use technology, they’d try heat sensors.

“Stop running!”  Captain America’s voice made it through the thick fog.  He was panting from exertion and she kept telling herself that if she just kept running, he would tire before her.

She dropped down the next gap between buildings into an alley, leaving the mist above her as a shroud.  The jump was poorly planned, and she hit a dumpster when she landed, creating a loud crash and drawing the attention of Captain America.  He landed much more gracefully beside her as she was pulling herself out of the trash.  She didn’t stop to square off, she just ran.  Perhaps she could win in hand-to-hand combat, but not with that shield.

“Last warning!” he called, taking after her.  Before she even reached the end of the alley, the shield struck her in the back.  She screamed as her spine fractured when it connected with her.  Her legs gave out and she went sprawling out on the tar.

Steve stepped up over her as she tried to drag herself along.  The bones were knitting, but they wouldn’t knit fast enough for her to get away.  “You broke my spine,” she hissed.

“Stop trying to move,” he ordered.  “Let me help you.”

He tried to help her roll over and she clawed at him, tearing at his armor with her bare fingers.  “Just stop,” Steve repeated.  “You’re caught.  There’s nothing you can do.”

He rolled her over onto her back and she looked up at him.  This man was only a little younger than she was and looked about ten years older.  Of any human on the planet, he shared the most in common with her.  They both grew up in New York in the early twentieth century.  They both lived through World War II.  They both went through a transformation that turned them into something else.  Yet Steve Rogers was a hero and she was a monster.

He held his wrist to his mouth. “I need a medical evac here.  I caught her, she’s injured.”

She looked up at him with alarm and shook her head.  “No, no, no…” I can’t go to a hospital.  I’ll be fine in a second.  I heal.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“If I don’t go somewhere dark, you’ll kill me,” she said.  “You chased me because of what I did to that asshole trying to use children as a shield.  What you end up doing to me if the sun hits my skin will be far worse.”

Steve Rogers narrowed his eyes at her and called his shield back to his arm.  “What the hell are you?”

// NEXT

[selunesdreams]

Eating Crow Chapter 1: The Little Flame of Treviso

“No scars. A talented assassin.” He observed, fixing the cuffs of his shirt. She pulled down the collar of her jacket, revealing gashes along the side of her throat. He let his eyes linger curiously. “My second most valuable asset is my face. I protect it.” "What other scars does she have? What other scars could we give her?” “Hmm.” He ignored Spite’s lust for violence - or maybe it was just plain lust. “What’s your first?” “My aim.”

Pairing: Lucanis x Fem Rook/OFC x sometimes Spite??

Summary: Born to renowned assassins and raised in the heart of Treviso, Fiamma De Riva hasn’t known home in a very long time. Orphaned, she was taken under the wing of her cousin, Viago, and quickly ascended through the ranks of the Antivan Crows.

After being sidelined for a well-meaning mistake, she abandoned the life she once knew to pursue the Dread Wolf alongside Varric, the only person left who still believed in her.

Now living under the alias “Rook,” Fiamma is rallying forces against elven gods. But when she must return to those she once called family for aid, she’s tasked with rescuing the Demon of Vyrantium, Lucanis Dellamorte, who might force her to reckon with the legacy she’s abandoned… and bring her dangerously close to the edge

Word Count: 3.2k

A/N: Welcome to my Lucanis fic! Mind the tags, grab a cup of coffee, and get cozy. If you're new to my fics, I LOVE lore. I usually get wrapped in dnd lore, but have been a Dragon Age fan for 13 years or something like that (that's terrifying to read back to myself) and you know...lore comes with the territory. I might get a few things wrong, feel free to (kindly) let me know. This is an 18+ fic, MDNI!

Things of note: Rook is Fem, human, mage, Antivan Crow. I like writing storylines and tension, but there will be smut! I don't know how the tags/warnings will evolve, but it's reasonable to expect some messy Spite consent stuff? Please read on AO3 if you need to track warnings, they will be inevitably detailed better there (or just want to be real sweet and give me hits/kudos/comments).

There will be spoilers! I am starting this right at the Sea of Blood quest where you get Lucanis. I suspect it will take me some time to flesh things out so hopefully that gives you time to finish the game!

─── ⊹⊱♤⊰⊹ ───

“You can’t be serious.” 

Fiamma De Riva paced Neve Gallus’ office, bright blue wisps parting for her as she changed directions in the small room. The detective had made cozy conditions out of a not-particularly welcoming space. She’d give her that, but the scattered papers and books set her on edge. Perched atop her desk, Neve sat with one leg crossed over the other. Her dwarven-crafted golden prosthetic glinted in the soft light as she bounced her foot in the air impatiently. 

“Rook, we’ve all got tough decisions to make. I know a family reunion isn’t the move you were hoping for, but we need an assassin.” 

“You have me!” 

“We need another assassin. You might be the Little Flame of Treviso, but we need something bigger, we need-”

Fiamma could hear the weariness in Neve’s words as she touched her forehead absentmindedly and winced, forgetting about the nasty cut gracing her forehead.

Fiamma felt a pang of guilt - if she’d told the mage to stay behind, perhaps things would have ended differently. She might not have gotten hurt and Varric…

Varric.

She shook her head, swallowing hard. Varric was going to be fine. Nobody else seemed worried about him. Why should she be? 

“You need the Demon of Vyrantium.” 

Neve offered a smile, holding out an opened letter. Fiamma took it apprehensively, her fingertips tracing the wings of the Antivan Crows’ seal.

“I’ve already arranged a meeting with his grandmother, First Talon Caterina Dellamorte, and your cousin, Viago.”

With a resigned sigh, she tossed the envelope aside and crossed her arms, averting her gaze. “I hate that you’re right.”

Neve pushed off her desk, squeezing Fiamma’s shoulder on the way out.

“If it’s any consolation, I usually am.” 

─── ⊹⊱♤⊰⊹ ───

Fiamma arranged for them to meet with a former friend, Teia, in Treviso, prior to meeting with Viago and Caterina. It would soften the blow of returning home to be greeted by a friendlier face first. 

“You made it. I hear you go by Rook these days.” 

“It’s good to see you. Neve, meet Andarateia of House Cantori.”

“No need to be formal with friends. Teia, please. Come, Viago is gathering the others. He’s happy you’re home.” 

“I somehow doubt that.”

“He’s missed you. You broke his heart when you went away.” 

“And he broke mine when he had me waiting on Caterina like a handmaid instead of protecting our city.” 

Teia sighed, proceeding to lead them through the city.

“When you said the others, did the others include Illario?”

“Oh, please, Fi-Rook. He doesn’t bite.”

“He might as well.” 

Fiamma glanced around at their surroundings, the dilapidated buildings, the quiet streets that were once bustling with life, romance, and joy. 

“I hate seeing Treviso ground down like this.” 

“This occupation will not last. The Antivan Crows remain. And one day, I will see a knife through every would-be tyrant’s throat.” 

They took a zipline to the Crows’ headquarters. Fiamma swung from the bars, enjoying the wind on her face as the city skyline swept below her feet. She landed with a cat’s grace, greeted by the familiar thud of cobblestone beneath her boots. She’d never admit it out loud, but she missed this. 

“A casino. Nice.” Neve said as they walked across a narrow beam.

“The Cantori Diamond.” Fiamma sneered. 

“Watch it.” Teia called back to her.

Vaulted ceilings and plush furniture awaited them in the meeting chamber. Fiamma eyed the empty goblets near one chair, wondering which was full of the diluted poison Viago dosed himself with every day. Paranoid bastard.

“Two years.” Her cousin growled as they entered. 

“Nice to see you too, Viago.”

“Did you finish that contract? To stop your Dread Wolf?” 

“It wasn’t a formal contract. I left, remember?” Fiamma asked. “When you called me an embarrassment to our house? But since you asked, no, not yet. Things are more complicated.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? Crows always finish the job.”

“We just can’t take initiative, right? My run-in with the Antaam taught me that.” She bit back.

“Don’t let him scold you too much. Vi was worried about you.” Teia interjected to ease the tension.  

Viago lowered his head, clearing his throat and kicking at the polished ground under his boots. “Fiammetta-”

“It’s Rook, now.” 

From the corner of her eye, she watched as Illario shifted his weight from foot to foot, watching her with a pained expression. She’d deal with that later. 

“Rook. You remember Caterina Dellamorte.” Viago said.

“A pleasure.” She gave a slight bow. Despite changing the First Talon’s linens and bringing her breakfast on her balcony, Fiama had acquired a fondness for her. 

“Have you finally returned home, Fiamma?” Illario interrupted, and the thin smile Caterina began to offer vanished. 

“I’ve come to ask for assistance. My current target is a pair of elven gods - that’s what they call themselves, at least. They’re ancient blighted mages. I need our best. Someone who brought blood mages and Venatori to their knees.”

“My grandson.” Caterina said, her brow furrowing. 

“Lucanis Dellamorte is dead.” Viago said, “He was killed a year ago now. If you’d remained home, you’d know-”

“Dead?” Fiamma blinked. She never thought it would be possible for anyone to best the Demon of Vyrantium. Not unless foul play was involved. Despite his occasional smugness, she found no pleasure in the news. Particularly since there wouldn’t be another assassin on offer even half as good as him. Her eyes flicked to Caterina, to offer condolences. The First Talon would never admit to playing favorites, but in the time Fiamma spent in her home, and being courted by her youngest grandson, it was clear Lucanis was who she favored to take her place. 

“What I say doesn’t leave this room.” Caterina said, “The body our people brought back was not my grandson. It was dressed in his clothing, but it had been altered with blood magic to have his face.”

“My cousin is still alive?” Illario hissed, “And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“His ship was attacked. We knew someone sold him out…so you kept your suspicions to yourself?” Viago was clearly surprised by the news. 

“But you’ve brought it up now. Why?” Neve asked. 

“I’ve had eyes on the Venatori ever since they took my grandson from me,” Caterina answered. “They were hunting your Dread Wolf. And what you did to his ritual threw them into disarray. They made mistakes, and now I have a location. The Ossuary. Where the Demon of Vyrantium is kept. Find this Ossuary. Find Lucanis, and you’ll have your god-killer. And I’ll have my grandson.” 

“Come. Caterina arranged a boat. One of our mages will meet us there.” Illario said, leading them to the docks.

“A boat?” Fiamma asked, following him down the steps. 

“Did you think the Venatori would keep a normal prison? Or that one could hold the Demon of Vyrantam? The Ossuary lies beneath the sea. A fact I learned mere minutes ago. Maybe she thought I’d act too rashly trying to save him.” He said bitterly, his eyes meeting hers. “Seems everyone enjoys keeping me in the dark.”

“Illario-”

“I would have words with you upon your return.” He commanded, “Right now, I need to learn whether my cousin is still alive.”

A small boat rocked in the gentle current by the dock, a lantern affixed to its bow. A Crow in a purple hood watched them warily, waiting.

“There, you take the boat.”

“You’re not coming?”

“You play the alluring hero. You’re the one who needs redemption so badly.” Illario was on edge, but there seemed to be more to it than a broken heart and family drama. “Someone has to make sure we weren’t followed.”

As the boat pushed away from the dock, Fiamma watched him disappear into the streets of Treviso. She didn’t miss him. Most times, she didn’t like him. But she knew how he felt about his family, and her heart ached for him, even just a little. 

─── ⊹⊱♤⊰⊹ ───

By Lucanis Dellamorte’s count, he had been in this underwater prison for a year. 

Give or take.

It would be beautiful if he were here for any other reason. When he’d arrived to start the contract assigned to him, the views were breathtaking. 

Occasionally, he’d prayed the enchantments keeping the Ossuary in place would fail. That he’d drown and get lost in the fade, or wherever he was bound to go. What would happen to him in death? And Spite, the demon who shared his body and consciousness? They had an agreeable ally ship, if only because they were both imprisoned and stuck with one another against their will. 

He’d scratched a mark for each day in his crystalline prison. With no weapons, he used his fingernails, sometimes scraping until he bled to carve a line deep enough. He had to remember. He had to survive. 

The days Calivan didn’t send for him, he scratched to the left. The days he was tortured, on the right. Eventually, the right became so crowded, they all blurred together. 

A familiar voice caught his attention outside, interrupting his ritual.

“We don’t have to fight. We’re just here for Lucanis Dellamorte.”

“Come to save us?” Spite asked eagerly. “Took them long enough.”

But who was it? Not Caterina. He’d know it was her in an instant. Not Teia…

“Razikale, Dragon of Mystery. Lusacan, Dragon of Night—” As the Ossuary Guard began his incantation, Lucanis sensed Spite’s excitement.  

“Hear your faithful call—” 

“Now, now!”

With the guard distracted, the defenses of his prison were weak enough that Spite propelled them over the top.

He was flying.

A lifetime of training and muscle memory returned to him instantly. On instinct, he seized the nearest guard from behind, using him as a shield as another advanced on him with a sword, cutting clean through. With a swift, fluid motion, he propelled the lifeless body into his attacker, sending them into the air to be impaled by a nearby crystal stalagmite. With a running charge, he snapped the necks of two advancing guards, stealing one’s sword. His hand closed around the hilt, the cool metal causing him - and Spite - to shiver with anticipation. He turned at the sound of footsteps, slashing the throat of the final Venatori.

“Lucanis.”

He turned slowly to greet his rescuer, the essence of Spite’s wings retreating into his spine. 

Fiamma De Riva. Viago’s little cousin. She’d been sentenced to serve as Caterina’s assistant as punishment for foiling a Crow operation. Good intentions aside, she’d acted rashly, and whether she believed it or not, she got off easy. 

De Riva had always been pleasant enough. A bit cold towards him, but he didn’t hold it against her. Lucanis could tell her ego was hurt. Even worse, he knew she looked at Caterina’s home, the home he grew up in, and felt he hadn’t earned it. And she’d been right. He’d only earned his place in those halls by birthright, but his place in the Crows…he’d earned through blood and sweat.

But never tears. Caterina had no patience for tears. Poor Illario. 

She’d been given the quarters next to his during her assignment. Despite her reputation for being a bit of a spitfire, living up to her namesake of “Little Flame”, she was quiet. Polite. And she treated his grandmother well. Earned her respect - no simple task. She was possibly the only person who Caterina Dellamorte would listen to regarding her health. If little De Riva had tacked a few more years on to his grandmother’s life, she had his gratitude for it. 

Oh, how Illario had pined for her. She entertained it for some time, before his spoiled nature got on her nerves. But he fell hard. Once, his cousin drank himself into such a state outside Fiamma’s locked door that he nearly failed to fulfill a shared contact. Lucanis had to slap him awake, then pull him along just so he could do all the heavy lifting.  

He’d do it all over just to see his little cousin again.  

“Little De Riva? She looks like a grown woman to me.” Spite interjected, making him acutely aware that he was never alone in his thoughts. 

“I’m only five years her senior. But five years is a sizeable gap when you’ve known someone since childhood.” Lucanis thought back quickly, dismissing the demon’s observations. 

“Dellamorte!” Beside Fiamma, a dwarf woman had her bow pulled tightly, aimed in his direction.

“Rook. He’s possessed by a demon.” She warned. 

“Rook?” Lucanis tilted his head curiously. 

“It’s complicated.” She blurted. “Caterina promised us a mage killer if we broke you out of here. Can I count on you?”

He nodded. “I can still work.”

“Are you really possessed?”

“It’s complicated.” He said, glancing around the room. “I will help you, but I need something from you first. They have a vial of my blood. They can use it to control me. I cannot leave it in their hands. And…I had a contract when I was captured. One of my targets is here. Calivan.”

“Blood magic.” She scowled. “Come on. He’s good to go, Harding.”

“Forget the contract. We need to get out of here!” Harding said, her arrow still pointed at the center of his chest. 

“Crows don’t break contracts.” He and De Riva said in unison.

Harding sighed and lowered her bow. “Alright, let’s make this quick.”

“I’ll owe you.” Lucanis said as they exited the chamber. 

“I’m sure we’ll owe each other when this is all over.” Rook countered.

“Yes. I’d like to be owed a favor by the Little Flame.” Spite growled with delight.

De Riva was an impressive assassin, he thought to himself, as they fought their way through Venatori. He hadn’t seen her fight often, but it was evident she wasn’t out of practice. She’d left Treviso shortly before he’d been captured, where he wasn’t sure, but it was encouraging to see a Crow refuse to give up her work. It was good work. 

“I found it!” Rook’s voice broke him from his thoughts. She held the flask of his blood in the air and his stomach clenched. She was a mage, after all, and with his blood in her hands-

“Destroy it!” He and Spite snarled at the same time. She hesitated, staring at the vial in her palm. 

“Can I trust you? Can you promise me I don’t need to stow this for safekeeping?”

“Not hers!” Spite screamed in his head. “Stop her! Throttle her until she-”

“You can trust me,” Lucanis said evenly. 

Rook’s eyes narrowed. “I hope you’re right.”

She threw the vial to the ground, and with a flick of her wrist, ignited the remnants of his blood in flame. 

“Thank you.” He said, 

“Don’t mention it. Let’s go kill your target.”

─── ⊹⊱♤⊰⊹ ───

Caterina was nowhere in sight when Lucanis returned to Treviso.

“Maker…” Teia breathed as he and Rook entered. 

“What happened here?” Lucanis demanded. 

Illario slammed his fist on the table. “A message. From Zara Renata.”

Spite raged in his skull, so loudly that he didn’t notice Illario approaching.

“I can’t believe it. You’re home.” He said, grasping Lucanis’ thumb and wrapping his fingers around it in a typical Crow handshake. 

“Zara…her people got this close?” Lucanis asked, letting his arm fall to his side as he paced, assessing the room. 

“The woman who runs the prison?” Rook asked.

“The woman who captured me.” Lucanis glanced towards the door. “Where’s Caterina?”

Teia lowered her head and stifled a sob, Viago coming behind her and placing his hand on her shoulder. Something always existed between them, but Lucanis wasn’t sure if they’d acted on it yet.

“The Venatori got her in the confusion.” Viago said. 

“I get two of you back, just to lose the other.” Illario lamented.

“Lucanis…I’m so sorry.” Neve said from behind Rook.

“No…time…to…grieve!”

Lucanis ignored Spite.

“I need to work.”

“You should take some time-” Neve began, holding out her hand.

“He doesn’t need time.” Rook interjected, stepping forward and holding his gaze. “He needs a target.”

Spite’s responding arousal was palpable. 

“I like her.”

─── ⊹⊱♤⊰⊹ ───

Lucanis braced one arm on the weathered mantelpiece, staring into the flames as they crackled on the hearth. He was in the fade. Or something like that. The Lighthouse, Rook had called it. And what a strange place it was. Fiamma - Rook now, as she asked him to address her - had another companion, Bellara, who had been thinking out loud since his arrival. 

“-they’re the same thing. Mostly. Kind of,” she said to Neve from the table. 

“Except one will manipulate you. Or kill you. Or both.” Neve replied. 

The doors to the kitchen opened.

“What’s everyone talking about?” Rook asked.

Lucanis turned away from the hearth. 

“Spite.”

“The demon inside of Lucanis.” Neve clarified. “When a person gets possessed, the demon usually takes control.”

“And they turn into a monster. The spirit just…molds them. However they want.” Bellara added.

Neve’s mouth formed a line. “I’ve heard of abominations being cured by killing the demon in the Fade. That’s not a sure bet, though.” 

“Well, there’s one way…” Bellara said, staring at her hands, “but it’s…well…we’d have to, um…”

“You’d have to kill me,” Lucanis finished. 

The room seemed to hold its breath.

“We’ll find another way.” Rook said. She didn’t seem impassioned about the statement, but it was comforting she wanted him alive. Behind her, Spite admired her with a sinister smile. 

“She won’t hurt you. How sweet.”

Get away from her. Lucanis commanded.

The demon leapt back next to the fireplace, crouching, and Lucanis turned his head to ignore him.

“I want to talk to her.”

The others continued their conversation, but he couldn’t hear anything over Spite’s impatience. 

“Let me talk to them! I want. To talk. To ROOK!”

“ROOK!”

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, Spite channeling all of his energy into the equivalent of a punch to the face. Lucanis pinched his nose, feeling the blood pool between his thumb and forefinger, with a stifled gasp of pain. 

Bellara shot up from her seat, mouth agape.

“Lucanis!”

He held out his hand in protest, his voice calm, summoning years of training to keep himself from trembling. “No. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“What just happened?” Rook asked. 

“He’s throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get his way. He’d do this in the Ossuary. The Fade does whatever a spirit wants. Real walls with chains, not so much. Just…give me a minute. He’ll get bored once everyone leaves.” 

Rook lingered, hands on a chair back, as the others left, eyeing him warily. 

“You’re still here.” Lucanis said.

“Having an abomination in the Lighthouse makes me nervous.” She finally said after several beats of silence.

He bristled. “Well, being an abomination makes me nervous, too.”

He held up a hand to silence her, walking around the table until he was only a sword’s length from her, studying her face. He couldn’t fault Illario for being heartbroken. She was stunning. How many times had she used her looks to her advantage? Was she like Teia, killing only men who deserved it by luring them to their deaths, like a Siren at sea? Or did she use the advantage of her beauty to kill more than just politicians and rapists?

“No scars. A talented assassin.” He said, fixing the cuffs of his shirt. 

She pulled down the collar of her jacket, revealing gashes along the side of her throat. He let his eyes linger curiously. 

“My second most valuable asset is my face. I protect it.” 

“What other scars does she have? What other scars could we give her?” 

“Hmm.” He ignored Spite’s lust for violence - or maybe it was just plain lust - and took a few steps back, dragging his finger along the wood of the dinner table.

“What’s your first?”

She turned to depart, the heels of her boots clicking on the stone floor as she strode towards the doors, throwing them open. She grinned over her shoulder back at him, showing him just how charming she could be. 

“My aim.”

[centrally-unplanned]

I saw this slightly-old post making the rounds recently by former alt-right memelord Walt Bismark, on how the alt-right "won" in the late 2010's - positing that as the cause of why it generally vanished. I agree overall with the vanishing part, its not gone-gone ofc but it waned as a cohesive movement. But I saw a lot of people (and generally not alt-right figures) agreeing with its conclusion and I am a bit more skeptical of those.

Its largely a personal essay so I wont address most of it, but it has a summary of five main points that outline essentially "the agenda of the Alt Right at the beginning" to evaluate success upon. Bismark thinks they won on all five, but overall I think this is playing a trick of inventing an enemy to claim you defeated. Anyway, the points:

1: Shift the “Overton Window” of acceptable public discourse to make it politically viable to openly discuss the interests of white people in mainstream politics, in the same way black people or Jewish people discuss their collective interests. 

This one I will grant a partial victory - there was a legitimate intensification of "white as identity" in politics, a making explicit what was implicit in the 2010's. Now ofc I consider this to be a classic horseshoe moment; the hard left at the time was also extremely interested in abandoning race neutrality and valorizing racial identity as an organizing principle, and did it in a very ham-fisted way that the right capitalized on, so it was an easy battle to win - but that is what it is, ofc the wider environment defined the goals & strategy. I mention it however because I do think this is only partial, and the gap between implicit and explicit isn't that relevant. He mentions as an example of this success:

Affirmative action was of course squashed by SCOTUS and the necessary legal infrastructure is being deployed to burn it down. Mainstream conservatives are mobilizing a lot of resources and energy to this end.

But conservatives have been fighting affirmative action for 20+ years, easily. Here is a 1999 article on precisely such a campaign, I literally just googled "conservatives affirmative action [year]" and I get results each time, 2003 had big cases (the Bollinger cases) on AA, etc. I remember "affirmative action bake sale" memes from like 2006 at my uni! What changed between Bollinger and 2023's Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard is that conservatives had just had enough time to stack courts, and wait for Supreme Court justices to die. That just...takes time to do! The strategy hadn't changed between 2003 and 2023. And meanwhile, did they win? They won that court case, sure. What do you...think the ethic makeup of the next Harvard class is gonna be? Wanna take some bets?

His other listed victories are things like:

"Vivek defended the Great Replacement Theory on national television and remained a major Trump surrogate. The SPLC would have marginalized him for that 10 years ago. Today because of polarization and MAGA closing ranks they can’t do shit."

And like, the Southern Poverty Law Center would have successfully marginalized a Republican politician in idk 2003 are you completely high right now? Strom Fucking Thurmond was an active Senator in 2003! This is the repeated tactic here, the imagined enemies - there was never a time where liberal institutions could consistently force conservative politicians to kowtow, so you can't claim it as a change.

This is why I mention the social justice horseshoe, because he has this point here:

These days you can complain about quotas etc. being unfair to you as a white man and it’s not inflammatory or low status among centrists and conservatives. Even non-woke liberals won’t really hate you for it, just quietly think you’re a bit of a chud. This was not the case in 2015. 

And this is partially correct, I agree there was some norm shift. But that is because in ~2010 there really weren't any quotas against white men, it wasn't a thing almost anywhere outside of university applications, so the complaint would make no sense. What happened was that starting in ~2012 a huge left cultural movement started that just openly supported active discrimination against whites, Asians and men. They were a small minority of course, and never had much power, but they got enough power in certain institutions like non-profits and universities that there was a string of just very obvious cases of clear racial discrimination against in particular whites & asians (both men and women, white women often got it very bad in this wave). And the large majority of people just saw that and went "uh yeah racism is still bad?" and so now you can say that because its actually relevant to say. From that lens, is this a successful cultural victory on the part of the alt-right? In some sense sure, but really its more a cultural failure of the hard left. The status quo just kept on chugging along.

Ugh that point went long, the others repeat so we will go through them quicker.

2: Elevate identity issues like anti-immigration and the promotion of traditional gender norms to the center of Republican politics. 

A fake enemy here - anti-immigration was already a huge issue for Republicans in the 2000's. It had a huge wave under Obama actually, it goes in cycles like that. And it responds to material conditions; it's a big issue again right now because the immigration numbers spiked massively under Biden, its just way worse of a problem now (primarily due to the booming economy of course). Again a partial victory for the first part, I agree its more salient due to Trump platforming it, but I'm skeptical that it is a big shift - people are memory-holing the Tea Party movement really badly here for example.

And the second point is just obviously false, Republicans always cared about that, and they care about it less now, giving up the ghost on gay marriage for example. The Alt-Right coincided with a decline of the influence of the Religious Right, and it shows on this issue, 0 points.

3: Make it socially acceptable to discuss HBD and the resulting moral implications for leveling mechanisms like affirmative action. 

Peak "log off" moment, it was always acceptable to discuss this outside of liberal/professional circles and there it still isn't acceptable to discuss it. Charles Murray wrote the Bell Curve in 1994 and his been an American Enterprise Institute Scholar for this entire span of time. This is confusing churn for change - the mid-2010's had a bunch of big, mainly online fights about HBD, and then everyone just sort of moved on with the status quo pretty much unchanged. Nothing like education policy, even in Republican circles, has shifted over this.

4: Convince conservatives to stop ceding moral authority to liberals and allowing them to determine who on the Right is verboten or beyond the pale. Make it unacceptable among conservatives to “punch Right” or purge people for wrongthink. 

Sigh, again when have Republicans ever ceded moral authority to liberals? Harvard University could not condemn Newt Gingrich in ~2009 and make him change his mind about anything. And "Republicans don't self-criticize while Liberals eat themselves alive" has been a complaint for literally decades, you would hear that as far back as say Clinton and things like the 1999 WTO protests. Its both true and exaggerated - the Tea Party primaried Republican candidates for wrongthink in 2010, and Trump did the same thing! With disastrous results for the Republicans in 2022. I really, really don't think you can look at Trump's Republican party and say they solved the Wrongthink problem.

5: Expose and dismantle the hypocritical attitude that allows neocons to militantly support Israeli ethnonationalism while brutally repressing any white identity politics domestically.

This one is just a lolwut moment, "brutally repressing any white identity politics domestically", like what does that even mean? Name the concrete policy proposals George Bush implemented in 2007 than Donald Trump didn't in 2018 around this topic. Again a fake enemy, they were never repressed by the right, and ofc are still hated by liberal institutions like universities.

Moving on from any specific point, I think its very telling that very little about free trade vs protectionism or isolationism/support of autocracy abroad enters this list. Because beyond immigration those are the big shifts the Trump movement (which is the mechanism the alt-right has to claim for making its impact) has ushered into the party. They didn't change its stance on sexual politics or "race & IQ" or anything, those haven't changed, but meanwhile the party has completely flipped on things like tariffs or opposition to Russian military expansion. But of course those don't align neatly at all with the issues the Alt-Right fought about in 2015.

The reality the Alt-Right can't escape is that they used Trump as their mechanism for change, and Trump never really cared about any of their goals beyond immigration. He used them and then pursued either bog-standard Republican policy or his own mercurial, autocratic whims, eventually channeling all of this energy into election denialism. I really don't think if you pulled aside frikkin Ryan Faulk in 2014, asked him to put down his graphs about Raven's Progressive Matrices of black Caribbean students, and said "Hey 10 years from now all of this energy is being channeled into pretending that a failed real estate mogul didn't lose the 2020 presidential election", that he would look at that outcome and think Mission Accomplished.

I don't want to fully oversell, there are for example wins Bismark doesn't mention (School choice comes to mind, the biggest conservative win of the past decade besides the protectionist swing). The Alt Right was an influential movement, it earned its place in history. But I do not think it is an example of being a "victim of its own success". I think instead it should be understood as part of the "radical froth" of the 2010's, that bubbled over and then evaporated like its more intense leftwing peers did. It made some mark and then got left in the dust.

Net ranking of the 5 points: 0.5 for Point 1, 0.25 for Point 2, 0 for the rest, 1.25/5.