#the spin looks lovely regardless but I want to have more control over what the end product will look like

[disgruntled-lifeform]

So my current wheel spin is this Merino/Silk blend and it looks lovely right?

Well, I need some help from my fellow spinsters(affectionate).

I have noticed that the lovely blue silk has a tendency to get hidden and muddled in the spin.

I try to hold the fibre with the silk more top-facing and it sometimes barberpolls when I do but mostly it ends up somehow as the core of the spin.

When I draft too thin, the silk just gets muddled but I don't want it too thick as I'm aiming for a 2 ply worsted for my final product.

I have been pulling sections from the braid and then splitting that section in half and spinning with it that way so that I don't thin the silk out too much.

Does anyone have tips for coercing your fibre to present in a certain way?

Am I even making sense?

[astrolynnworld]

candy

pairing: chris x reader

summary: you keep teasing chris at a party and he deals with you immediately

warnings: smut, stoned chris & reader, teasing, rough sex, exhabition, little bit of degrading, breeding.

a/n- requested by @cutiepatootie36273 <33

word count: 1,009

i drunkly shift through the crowd of the party as i look around for chris

to no surprise he’s in the corner sharing a blunt between a few friends.

i squeeze my way into the circle and latch myself onto chris

“oh there you are baby!” he exclaims as wraps an arm around me

they continue to pass the blunt around in another rotation while chatting it up, not really acknowledging my presence

the music, controlling the vibe of the function, starts to tone down into a more slow r&b vibe.

“ooo i like this song!” i say as i slowly start to back up and body roll on him as a bit of fun

when im drunk, i get really feely touchy. and not only was i drunk but i felt a bit of contact high from all the smoke air that his friends were blowing around me

regardless, chris knows how intimate i get when im intoxicated. so i wasn’t surprised when he told me to “don’t start”

“whattt? im just having fun” i playful roll my eyes

at this point him and his friends has finished the blunt so when his friends dispersed into the kitchen to grab some water, he stayed back.

i turn around and continue to sing the lyrics of the song in his face while pointing and slowly shaking my hips side to side as if im an artist at a concert

he just stands there. leaned up against the wall, looking down at me. admiring me

“you’re so pretty you know?” he slightly bites his lip with a faded eye glare

i look up at him with glossy eyes, “you don’t say huh?” i laugh

“come on let’s go outside” he asserts while grabbing my hand and pulling me to the door of the party

i follow him blindly and watch as he leads us to a nearby street light where we can still hear the music from the party

“why are we out here?” i ask

“i don’t know, i kinda don’t really want guys having their eyes on you.” he replies

“babe?” i laugh indicating that he’s being ridiculous

“im so serious. i really got a good look at you and i know other guys will want too as well if they haven’t already. i cant deal with that, im gonna get mad” he continues

“is someone a bit jealous on wether or not another guy will eye fuck me?” i say in a seductive tone as i wrap my arms around his neck

“please. i’m the only one who can fuck you” he says

“then do it..” i respond in a whisper

he looks down at my eyes then looks back up to get a view of our surroundings

“you’re such a fucking tease. you know anybody can walk out and catch us right now.” he says with a fought back tone of craving

“isn’t that apart of the fun”

he stares me at me, mouth slightly agape as he processes what i say.

then a smirk erupts, “you’re so fucking nasty.. i love it”

he shifts me over to where we are not directly under the street light and starts kissing me.

passionate, deep, needy kisses.

all over my lips, neck, and ears

“fuck you smell so good.” he lets out before going back to kissing me

he walks me backwards to a nearby car that’s parked on the side of the road without breaking the kiss

he leans me against the car and puts his hands in my pants to start rubbing me through my underwear

“baby you’re fucking soaked. do you like when i take charge like this?”

i nod my head while looking up at him through fuzzy eyes

“so pretty baby.” he says before he starts kissing me again

he then spins me around and bends me over the cars trunk

he pulls my pants down and aligns his cock with my hole while pushing my head onto the car

he slides his cock into me while grabbbing my hands behind my back

he thrusts into me deep letting a moan escape my lips

“you drive me so crazy baby.” he says through gritted teeth while continuing to do this deep thrust that always sends me over the edge

“look at how much you’re mine baby? bent over on a strangers car getting fucked outside in public.” he continued to thrust deep and hard

“someone can walk outside right now and catch us. catch you being a dirty slut who likes to get fucked in public” he starts to pick up the pace

i can’t even think to speak, the only thing that escapes my lips are the breathy moans that form from the pleasure

“right baby? you’re a dirty little slut who likes to be fucked in public” he continues

“y-yes chris. i-i’m you- your dirty little slut.. who li-likes to be fucked in pub- public” i try to speak out while i feel the tightness in my stomach start to build into an orgasm

“fuck baby. you’re getting so tight for me, are you gonna cum my love?” he asks

“y-yes. i’m gonna cum .. pl- please don’t stop chris” i moan out

he continued to thrust into me faster and deeper

the pressure on my cervix sends me over the edge into a squirting mess

i moan out his name as my shakes from the orgasm i just produced.

he starts to slow down

“fuck. i just came in you baby” he says fearfully

i look back and stare at him

“i didn’t even mean too. i just forgot to pull out, i was too into the moment” he continues

“i think it’s fine.. i have plan b’s at home” i try to say comfortably

“if not.. we’d make amazing parents!” he jokes

“yeah yeah. none of that please” i laugh back

he bends down to give me a kiss

“i love you so much. don’t know what id do without you” he sincerely says

“i love you too, chris”

————————————————————————

[solurae]

four eyes (more to love underneath the frames) : prologue

nerd!miguel o’hara is the talk of the town and i wanna put my own spin on it :D sooo expect a little bit of everything hehe :DDD - HAHA AS I WAS WRITING THIS I REALISED I GOT TOO INVESTED SETTING THE SCENE SO I MIGHT MAKE THIS A SERIES! i’ll just say this is a prologue hooray

IF YOU WOULD LIKE A SERIES PLS INTERACT!!! FEEL FREE TO ASK TOO TO SHARE YOUR MIGGY THOUGHTS AND I WILL HAPPILY INDULGE US BOTH :3

a distinct pair of black, rectangular glasses were adjusted by miguel’s middle finger before it glided across the pages of notes he wrote from the lecture for his genetics class. a class that you both happen to share, but neither of you knew that yet.

miguel o’hara - a man so deep in his books that he might as well be the dean of the dean’s list - payed no heed to anyone or anything that could hinder his focus. the furrowing of brows indicated further analysis rather than the annoyance towards second year business majors. no, he wasn’t the annoying, stuck-up person who would ask more questions than give answers. he thinks they’re wasting their time anyway. he was always the last person to leave the lecture theatre. miguel would be huddled by the professor, covering the whiteboard with punnett squares or outlining control variables for the next lab.

he was only person in your genetics class that had a real chance of passing the course, the scowls of your peers and your friends could attest to that.

you wouldn’t say you were on the same boat as everyone though, your friends were always nagging you to help them but you couldn’t even figure out how you understood some of the content. this specific course was an integral part of your degree and the best chance of impressing the school, you had to give it your all.

you would be lying if genetic sequences and chromosomes weren’t the only things you had memorised. you loved the hue of brown locks that would shine from the tall windows of the theatre, the curls which your eyes would follow forever if he happened to sit in front of you. the pout of his lips as he’d scratch his hair in response to a lab practical that didn’t make sense, only for him to make sense of it hours later.

his eyes were red. it was his most defining feature, and a key factor to why - to your advantage, if you really think about it - people steer clear of o’hara. as much as it increases your chances of befriending him, let alone being with him, your classmates and other students weren’t so quiet about their dislike for the irish-mexican spectacle.

he’s so quiet. too quiet.

he looks like a freak! look at his eyes, bro. what is he some fucking vampire or something?

no wonder he’s on the dean’s list because he isn’t on anyone else’s for sure.

god he’s just so…

weird.

miguel was extremely fit, which was what confused a lot of people when they found out he wasn’t a copy-paste jock that still thinks they’re in highschool like most men of his stature were. his build put them to shame regardless. after being bombarded by women and men of every cohort - only for miguel to ignore them or coldly decline - word spread like wildfire and soon enough people were disappointed that the former heart-throb of first and second year turned out to be a major loser. some people would go out of their way to show how much they don’t like him, and these are people miguel’s never even spoken to. they would “crash” into him walking across campus, try and trip him over and even go as far as sitting on the other side of the room if it wasn’t so clear already.

but he didn’t mind. he was always at the library, the lab or the cafeteria closest to the lab anyway. it bothered you to see him alone and quiet unless he had a question or an answer, you genuinely wanted to be friends with him.

but as the story goes, it’s always these type of men that have a part of themselves they keep under wraps. you just know that there’s more to his brooding and stoic nature, the carnelian shades of his eyes lured you closer as opposed to keeping you away.

you decided to do honours for two reasons: a better resume and the fact that miguel unsurprisingly decided to do it too. you had a thesis in your head and you had all year to test it out.

miguel o’hara was more than just some nerd and you were gonna need more than glasses to prove it.

🩷 — PART ONE!

[bl33df0rm3]

✎"So that's what you're into? I see." Afab!reader x Genshin men's favorite kinks (Smut, 2nd Pov) This is the second part in this series click here for part one.

-‘๑’-Note; This is meant to be inclusive for all readers including black readers so things like "Easy to bruise skin." and "You feel your face turn red (As a black person my face does feel hot but I don't get red). Along with easy to go through hair won't be added, if you need those details in fanfic's then this blog is not for you<3. This can be the same for Chubby readers<3

✎Author's note; I'm not doing this in any order these are just what came to mind, if you have any character you want me to cover (Max of 5 at a time), I gotcha. Also this is afab reader but the readers gender isn't specified. If you wish to translate my works please dm me&lt;3 (MDNI BANNER CREDIT CLICK HERE)

Cyno; Choking

The look on your face was, to say the least perfect to think that the same lips that smiled at him bit down in pleasure. The same mouth that has laughed at all his jokes before hand, being grabbed and clenched down on the side as it gasped for air. Cyno found it mesmerizing to say the least, usually while you two became one he was watching where you connected over and over again. Though this time he couldn't break his eyes away from where his hands met your throat, a smile dancing on his face. His brows eyes meeting yours in the midst of things, sure it didn't show on your face but he knew you well enough to know you were embarrassed darting your eyes away from him. He didn't understand what was the best part, that you gus got to spice up your love life? Or the face that you gave him control over you as his grip got tighter, maybe that's what it was. Regardless before he could finish himself, he knew better to have you finish before him what kind of man would he be if not?

His mind went of the rails as you lunged your finger into his arms, those same pretty fingers that begged to touch him.

Ayato; Oral(receiving)

Being married to Ayato wasn't all sunshine and rainbows all the time, more then you'd like your husband was out doing work it was annoying but you too still adored each other. Usually when you did get to spend a private evening with each other he felt like making it up to you was his main priority. Tonight was different it was his birthday the first one you were sharing with him as a wedded couple. His eyes were half lidded as you made sure none of your hair was in the way, no matter how short or long it was, the groan that was pulled out of him almost filled the room. He attempted to sway you against this activity before, seeming weak in front of anyone was always a no. Your head bobbing down in almost a melodic like pace as you looked up at him from time to time, letting the sweet sounds coming from him pour out. The deep, labored breathing from him was almost hypnotizing, your hands gripped his thighs as he pushed you down. Sure this was the first time, but it sure as hell wasn't going to be the last one.

Xiao; Praise

The bed creaked under the weight of both of you, he groaned through his teeth you felt, warm, tight comfortable to him it made his worries seemingly disappear from his mind for the time. Matter of fact it was the fact when he did visit you, the pleasant vibe that beamed over you when you made his a snack and told him you were proud of him. Which was the way you two ended up here, you riding him with him being displeased with your speed leading him to start buck his hips into you deeper. It wasn't the sex that made him travel to cloud nine it was the words that were pouring out of your mouth, spewing profanities combined with you telling him how good you felt. It made Xiao's mind spin, every time you told him he felt amazing, he was pleasing you, the light of his life. His hands trailed to your waist if his force before was rough this was unbearable he was practically drilling into you at this point. You could only mumble those sweet words to him but they were clear as day, a blessing on his ears.

If this keeps up he might have to come visit you more often.

Thoma; over-stimulation

Your body trembled in his grasp now matter how hard you tried to stay still, to stop shaking your body gave him that reaction he was craving four times over and he hadn't even taken his clothes off. His eyes glanced down at your bare body before his hands went back to work pinching your nipples as the other worked on your clit. Your nails leaving crescent moons on his shoulders digging into them, he didn't even flinch his eyes were fixated on you. The pants and moans that turned into please from time to time were perfect, your body bending to his will trying to keep up. Don't get it twisted he wanted to just slip right into and pound you until the sun came up, but that was worth the wait. For the meantime he began to grind against you before he readjusted his hand so his thumb could still be placed on your clit as two fingers slipped into you. The gasp that came from you brought a smile to his face.

Tonight was going to be a long night, but sex was more enjoyable when you played with each other till you couldn't take it anymore.

-‘๑’-Note; The end? I need more idea's for them lmao, i was scraping my brain for the rest of these.! If you want this series to continue please give me suggestions. I'm on my way to work on other prompts(if you have those please go in my ask box)

[icey--stars]

Heyyy I saw you're taking requests again and your recently posted a new fic (which I lovedddd) and I thought I'd share my idea with you too. You don't have to write it right away, I saw your posts that you are really busy these days so whenever you get to it, you get to it...I just wanted to share my idea

So I was thinking an Azris fic where the two have had their mating ceremony and everyone knows and everything. Azriel still works as a Spy master for Night and Autumn, working for the security of both the courts. But Rhysand being a controlling shit, tries to get Azriel more time in Night cuz he's still iffy about Eris. And Eris does the same so it becomes a tug of war. In the middle there is poor Azzy...working OVERTIME for both courts and going through his magic like crazy

One day, when the poor bat is at its limit, Azriel just collapses from exhaustion and draining his magic from his siphons. What do you think the reaction would be like? I think there would be guilt from both Rhysand and Eris but also a bit of a blame game

Anyways, you're welcome to take the story and spin it like you want. And even if you don't feel particularly inspired by it, it's completely fine (cuz the most recent one I saw from you was VERYYYY angsty too so I get why you might not be in the mood for ANOTHER angsty fic)

Still love your work and can't wait to read whatever you post about Azris

-🌹

Tug of War

Rhys and Eris get a tad possessive over their bat and fail to realize that he is trying to please both of them- well that is until he passes out. - 2.7k words

Author's Note: I deeply apologize for this being so late!!! I was incredibly excited over this idea so I actually don’t know what made me take so long xD. maybe the time skips I put in there messed me up, but regardless, I hope you enjoy! I won’t say this is my proudest work, but I hope I at least made your amazing idea come true <3

Content Rating: Teens and Up

TW: don’t work yourself to passing out because your mate and brother want you to be with them more than the other. that’s called people-pleasing and being a self-sacrificial fool. (don’t be like Az)

↢ 『 ☾ 』 ↣

Azriel

“Can you check on the Illyrian camps for me tomorrow?” Rhys asked as Azriel handed in his third report for the week.

Azriel internally let out the loudest sigh of all possible. He was already running on reserves at this point. But he also knew how much work Rhys and Feyre had on their shoulders. And Eris. He still had to check on the town of Redwood for him later today since there had been rumors of some sort of rebellion for some stupid reason.

“Sure,” Azriel replied. “What in particular?” He hated the Illyrian camps, but so did his brothers. He was just glad Cassian was willing to take over the Valkyrie training for the next week.

“Ironcrest and Windhaven. I want an update on the training programs for females to make sure they’re actually being trained and not thrown to the wolves,” Rhys explained.

Azriel dipped his head. “Right. As long as there isn’t much for Autumn I’ll try and spend a day there watching the training,” he replied.

Rhys hummed. “How is Autumn at this point? Much work coming from Eris?”

“I’ve got to check on a town today for rebellion rumors,” Azriel replied, cracking some of his knuckles as he backed away from Rhys’s desk. “Then write a report on it.”

“We’re not working you too hard, are we?” Rhys asked cheekily. “Being spymaster for two courts has to be exhausting sometimes.”

“I’m managing,” Azriel replied. “But I’ve got to be off. I’ll get to the camps tomorrow.”

“Sounds good, Az. Are you still going to be able to make it to a family dinner on Friday?” Rhys asked, standing up from his chair and walking around the desk.

“Probably,” Azriel replied. “Hopefully Eris can come along too if he’s not too bogged down by paperwork.”

Rhys grinned. Azriel was too tired to notice that it looked incredibly fake. “Great. Tell him that Cassian still wants that arm wrestle, ay? And to bring some Autumn whiskey. I know that stuff has grown on you.”

Azriel rolled his eyes, offering his brother a grin. “Live in Autumn long enough to drink the shit nightly and it will,” he replied. “Anyway, I’m off, Rhys. It’s noon already.”

Rhys smirked. “See you later, Az,” he said, waving.

Azriel quickly made his way out of the River House, feeling exhaustion weighing heavy on him as he winnowed into Redwood. Honestly, while he knew both of his High Lords were busy, that doesn’t mean everything needs to be done immediately. It seemed to be some sort of tug-of-war situation over his time. He understood it, of course. His mate deserved his time and his brothers were still a little unsure over his mate so they likely wanted to keep checking on him.

He was doing his best, but he truly was exhausted.

Azriel slipped into an alleyway in his shadows after hearing voices and refocused on his task ahead. It’d be fine, he supposed.

–––––

A week later, it was most definitely not fine. He had eyebags, his siphons were practically drained since he’d been using the energy he’d normally spare to use for magic as day-to-day energy just to survive the sheer workload he’d been given.

Now it was time for another family dinner. This one was luckily one Eris could attend in between his busy schedule.

Thank the Cauldron or he wouldn’t have had his mate to catch him when he almost stumbled face first into a wall after tripping over the edge of the carpet in the living room of the House of Wind.

“Az?” Eris prompted once he’d rebalanced.

“I’m fine,” He said, waving Eris off.

Eris seemed suspicious, but once they entered the dining room, the look quickly vanished.

“Az!” Cassian shouted happily as he entered.

As soon as Cassian had barged through everyone to come over and likely hug Azriel… he paused right before with narrowed eyes. “What’s wrong?” He asked, looking Azriel up and down.

“I’m fine, Cass,” Azriel replied, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll rest tonight. Now get over here,” he commanded, opening up his arms for an armload of Cassian.

Cassian seemed a bit more hesitant, but wrapped Azriel up in his arms anyway. It wasn’t every day Azriel asked for a hug.

Eris still looked suspicious of him throughout the dinner, as did Cassian, but Azriel wasn’t spymaster for no reason. He had skills in hiding when he wanted to hide– whatever that may be.

“Oh, Az,” Rhys called as Eris and Azriel were about to make their way out. Azriel turned to look at his brother with a brow raised in silent question. “You think you could check the camps again to make sure the changes I ordered were actually implemented?”

Azriel internally groaned. “I’ll get to it,” he promised.

Eris seemed a bit tenser beside him, but Azriel was too tired to figure out the reason for it. “Still going to have time for the council meeting, Az?” He asked.

And fuck, right. Council meeting at noon, right. Some sort of new military policies as well as taxes.

“I’ll make it work,” he mumbled. “Camps can be done in the afternoon since the training sessions run late afternoon too.”

“Right,” Eris said, raising a brow. “I didn’t so much mean it that way, Az. I meant, will you have enough energy?”

“As I said, I’ll make it work,” Azriel promised. “Even be back in time for dinner probably.”

Rhys grinned at him. “Come visit me before you leave the Night Court, ay? Nyx wants to see his uncle a little more.”

Azriel nodded, holding back a yawn. He had to make this work. If his mate and his brothers were ever going to stop fighting over him, they’d each have to feel as if Azriel was giving them enough of his time. “I’ll come around,” he mumbled.

Rhys chuckled. “Go sleep, brother,” Rhys ordered. “I can tell you’re tired.”

“I’m fine,” Azriel insisted, wings flaring a bit behind him. “I’ve survived far worse than a little sleep deprivation anyway.”

–––––

Azriel barely slept that night. It was just one of those sleepless nights where his mind ran wild and nothing, not even Eris laying on his chest, could calm it. He had them from time to time, but this was possibly one of the worst times to have it. But regardless, when he woke up, he acted as if he’d had a semi-satisfactory sleep. He managed to conjure a well enough lie to Eris about having trouble getting to sleep for a little bit but eventually did. It worked to explain his eyebags anyway.

He and Eris prepared for the council meeting. Azriel kept having to go over the details in his head again and again, seemingly unable to keep his mind focused. He just had to survive today. And then tomorrow. He’d be fine even if his limbs might as well start shaking.

The council meeting almost put him to sleep with how boring it was, but he managed to keep up enough to support Eris throughout it. His mind was foggy, though.

The camps weren’t much better. He was just glad they were actually following directions at least for him. He should’ve probably stayed a while after to make sure, but his shadows were also weighing with his exhaustion. Most were lazy and some plain refused to go farther than a fingertip’s length away from him.

“Final thing,” Azriel muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes as he winnowed to the front of the River House. His head went dizzy and he swayed for a few moments, wings outspread for balance before he finally reoriented himself. He was surely fine, right? (He knew that was a lie but he had responsibilities.)

“Az!” Rhys called from the doorway happily, holding Nyx on his hip who was babbling excitedly and reaching out for Azriel.

Azriel smiled and reached over to take the little toddler from his father’s arms to nuzzle. “How’s my favorite nephew?” He asked, managing to put on a happy tone.

“Azzie!” Nyx screamed happily, wings outstretched in his excitement. “Play with me!” The toddler ordered.

Azriel smiled. “For a little bit,” he promised.

They all went inside and Azriel settled on the floor with Nyx to grab figurines and stuffed animals and play whatever imaginative game the toddler had managed to conjure this time. He had to admit, there was a migraine pounding in his head, only worsened by the toddler’s excited screaming.

Slowly, Nyx began to tire and then whined about being hungry. Rhys chuckled and moved to pick up the little one for dinner. Then his brother turned to him and smirked, “Oh, someone is here to pick you up.”

Azriel’s brows furrowed in confusion and he turned to see the front door opening to reveal his mate with that signature smirk on his face. Eris looked all too happy to have surprised him.

Azriel blinked slowly, taking in the information slowly and then began to stand up to greet his mate but his head began to spin and his limbs failed to obey. And then… nothing.

–––––

Eris

Eris had to admit, seeing his mate attempt to stand up and then collapse nearly sent him into a heart attack as he sprinted to catch the falling Illyrian. Rhys seemed equally alarmed, handing Nyx off to his mother before walking over.

“Az?” Rhys asked, poking his brother’s face.

Azriel didn’t stir which only served to alarm Eris even more. He tugged on the bond, but only found deep-rooted exhaustion. He knew his mate was tired, but tired enough to pass out? That was a whole new level.

“Do we need Madja?” Rhys asked, still concerned.

Eris hummed before shaking his head. “I think… I think he literally just passed out from exhaustion.”

Rhys seemed alarmed now, looking down at his brother’s head cradled in Eris’s lap. “Holy shit,” the High Lord muttered. “He was that tired? How hard have you been working him?”

Eris reeled a bit at those words, raising a sharp gaze to Rhys. “Excuse me? How is this my fault?”

“Well-”

“Don’t even start,” Eris cut in. “I honestly do not want to hear you attempt to place all the blame on me when you have also been giving him equal amounts of work to do. He was barely paying attention in my council meeting and then you put the camps on his shoulders-”

“This isn’t my fault,” Rhys growled defensively.

“Incorrect,” Eris said decisively.

“Well it’s not all my fault,” Rhys corrected, sighing. “Fucking hell…” he muttered.

Eris sighed as well. “It seems we need to coordinate a bit better before our bat decides to pass out again,” he mused.

“I didn’t think he’d work himself this far,” Rhys muttered. “He’s normally good at judging his limits, has even managed to judge Cass’s and I’s limits better than ourselves.”

“You know Az,” Eris muttered. “He works his ass off for the people he cares about.”

Rhys sighed, rubbing his face. “You’re both staying here tonight,” he said.

Eris shrugged. “Fine,” he agreed. Guilt was beginning to plague him, though. How did he manage to work his bat so hard that he passed out? He had been, he’ll admit, trying to get Azriel to spend more time with him. Guess he forgot Rhys was just as possessive over his family. And thus came their present situation: Azriel collapsed in a heap on the floor with his wings thrown every which direction and toy figurines digging into his sides.

“We pushed him too hard,” Rhys mumbled, but it sounded as if he didn’t mean for anyone to hear the words.

Eris sighed, reaching to grab the wood figurine to make Azriel a tad more comfortable. “We’re not making this mistake again,” he said.

“No, we’re not,” Rhys agreed. “Halve the work we give him?” The other High Lord offered.

Eris nodded while standing up and hauling Azriel into his arms with a grunt. “Tuck his wings, won’t you?” Eris asked, unable to stop his mate’s wings from dragging on the floor while he was just trying to hold Azriel’s obsessively large frame in his arms. They were of equal height, yes, but one of them was much stockier.

Rhys quickly moved forward, carefully and respectfully tucking Azriel’s wings where Eris could hold them off the floor. “His bedroom is this way,” Rhys said, leading the way through the hallways.

Azriel’s breathing was slow and calm as Eris set him down on his side in the bed. He took a moment to make sure his bat wouldn’t be sore from any positioned limbs before sighing and glancing back at Rhys standing in the doorway.

“Let’s let him sleep,” Eris recommended and, without waiting for Rhys’s response, used his own power to put out the faelights and walk out.

Rhys took one last glance at his brother before closing the door. “Are you sure we don’t need Madja?”

“Unless he hit his head on the fall, no. Which I’m pretty sure I saved him from,” Eris reminded him. “He’s tired. The only solution is sleep and I doubt he’d want a healer’s attention anyway.”

Rhys sighed and nodded, walking toward the living area. “Sorry for the immediate blame,” he mumbled quickly. “That wasn’t exactly fair.”

Eris hummed. “Forgiven,” he replied. “I’m pretty sure we can share the bat just fine.”

Rhys scoffed in amusement. “Guess we’ll let him rest for now.”

—————

Azriel

Azriel awoke to sunlight in his eyes and he groaned, rolling onto his stomach so his wings covered his face. Then he sat up quickly after remembering what happened before he had… passed out? He felt tired still, but maybe a little less exhausted than before.

He glanced around, relaxing at the sight of his room at the River House. And with Eris in the armchair with a book in his hand. Eris silently bookmarked his page and set down the book to look at him.

“Feel any better?” Eris asked.

Azriel sighed and turned to sit down facing his mate. “I’m-“

“If you start apologizing I might actually slap you,” Eris deadpanned, standing up as well to make the threat even easier to accomplish. “Do you feel better?” He repeated after reaching the bedside.

“Yes,” Azriel replied begrudgingly. “What happened?”

“You passed out from exhaustion,” Eris replied calmly. “Your brother and I moved you here.”

Azriel squinted a bit. “Which one?” He asked. Rhysand and Eris did not get along very well so he doubted it was-

“Rhys,” Eris replied, chuckling at his immediately confused and shocked facial expression. “And we’ve agreed to limit the amount of work we put on our poor bat before he works himself to death.”

Azriel huffed. “I’m fine,” he mumbled.

“You are somewhat fine now. About sixteen hours ago, you were not. And that falls on Rhys and I equally,” Eris replied firmly.

Azriel hummed. “Why do I feel like you two had an argument?” He asked, glancing at his shadows for confirmation.

“We did,” Eris replied before his shadows could even skitter to his ears. “And then we dealt with it like civilized High Lords. Relax, Azriel. Us changing your workload is to prevent your self-sacrificing ass from doing this again. And you are going to tell us when you are overworked, got it? If you don’t, you won’t like the punishment.”

Azriel huffed in disbelief. “I wasn’t being self-sacrificing-“ he protested.

“You were. Stop denying it,” Eris cut in. “You were trying to give us both your attention and we were fighting over you like a piece of meat. But we also need you now to tell us how much work is too much, Az. No more doing it all to make us happy. That isn’t how this works.”

Azriel sighed in defeat. “Fine,” he muttered. “I’ll try.”

“Good,” Eris said, finally climbing into bed and running a hand through his hair. “Now, would you like a bath and then some relaxation time with your everloving mate?”

Azriel snorted at Eris’s words before asking, “Don’t you have to go back to Autumn?”

“My court can run itself for a few hours, Az. More than if needed. Even then, your only worry for now is to get back your energy so you don’t pass out.”

Azriel chuckled a little. “Alright,” he relented. “A bath does sound pretty nice.”

↢ 『 ☾ 』 ↣

A/N: hope you enjoyed!! :D

Tagged in all ACOTAR Stories: @bunnymallowo, @officiallyunofficialperson, @margssstuff, @rebloggiest-reblogger, @inpraizeof, @graciereads, @eos-princess, @bubybubsters, @fieldofdaisiies, @skyesayshi, @lilah-asteria,

Tagged in all Azriel Stories: @ladylokilaufeyson5, @marina468,

[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

Fighter!Sihtric NSFW alphabet

Note: HCs based on my fighter fic : part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7 - part 8 - part 9 - part 10 - part 11 - part 12 - part 13.

template source.

Warnings: 18+!! smut.

pairing: Modern!Sihtric x you (f)

summary: -

wordcount: 2k

Masterlist

A=Aftercare - What they do/act like after sex.

Sihtric just wants to hold you and check in with you. He'll kiss you all over and snuggle until he falls asleep when in bed at night. If you had sex during another time of the day he'll want to cuddle for a moment and check in, and then continue the day. He is also a big fan of praising you. He'll help you clean up and get dressed too and Sihtric will never say no to a shower together afterwards, and he always asks if you want anything to eat or to drink.

B=Bondage - Are they into BDSM, and how far they’ll go if they have a green light.

Sihtric doesn't mind spanking you a little from time to time or pinning you down (big fan of pinning you down), but overall he's not much into BDSM. He thinks you're way too precious to handle that roughly, even though he knows you could take it, but his anger issues would also make it not the smartest idea to try out some BDSM. He does love to fuck you hard and fast sometimes, but other than fucking you with a head spinning pace and switching positions, he's overall rather vanilla actually.

C=Cum - pretty self explanatory.

He doesn't want to cum anywhere if not inside you. His breeding kink is almost absurd and he wants to fill you up at any given time. The fact that it would not result in pregnancy does not bother him anymore, nothing makes him prouder and his ego bigger than knowing you're full of his seed regardless.

D=Dom - Are they dominant, submissive, a switch?

Sihtric is dominant, but nowhere near as dominant as he thinks. He's actually more cocky and stubborn than he is dominant, and his dominance happens mainly in your daily life, outside of the bedroom. He does like to take control when it comes to sex, but your fighter melts at your touch instantly and if we're being honest, you could totally take charge whenever you want to. He's obsessed with you and wants to please you above all, so he's really more of a submissive. But obviously he will never admit that.

E=Edgeplay - Similar to ‘Kinks’ except it’s a lot riskier than usual kinks (knifeplay, breathplay, etc.).

Again, Sihtric's rather vanilla. He's terrified to accidentally hurt you and that thought completely puts him off any edgeplay and most of the BDSM stuff. However, if you would deny his orgasm it could completely make him go wild (in a good way).

F=Fantasy - A fantasy of theirs (ex: a teacher/student fantasy).

Apart from loving the fact he can fuck you in every city around the world if he wants to, he mainly has a thing for car sex. And not in his car, no, no. The only thing Sihtric may love more than you is his car, and the thought of fucking you on the hood of his beloved Bugatti gets him hard more than once a day. He just has no idea how to ask you if you're up for it, because that car has caused trouble in your relationship before.

G=Got Caught - How they react when they get caught having sex.

He'd be a little embarrassed if someone would actually walk in on you two, but then will get all cocky about it. He will also headbutt anyone who dares to look at you while getting caught. But the thought of someone only hearing you both doesn't phase him. He actually loves it when people can hear you, because it strokes his ego by letting them know how good he fucks you.

H=Hot Spots - A place that drives them crazy when stimulated (EX: neck).

Kissing that spot right underneath his ear will drive him crazy, but then his neck is a sensitive spot in general. Also his inner thighs will get him worked up without failure. Don't place your hand on his thigh if you don't plan on taking off his sweatpants after.

I=Intimacy - How romantic they are, or can be, before, during, or after sex.

Sihtric is an absolute hopeless romantic… at times. When given the time and right place he will try to set up something romantic with candles for example. But even without candles and such he can make it feel romantic as he loves to keep his face close to yours and look into your eyes in between kisses. He especially loves to show you how much he loves you before and after his fights, so he'll try his best to make it perfect for you, but that doesn't always mean candles and rose petals and hottubs. Sometimes it's sex in a dressing room while he's still sweaty and bloody from his fight just moments earlier, but his sweet nothings and desperate 'I missed you,' and 'I love you,' whines still make it intimate in all the right ways that candles could never do.

J=Journey - Their ideal way of leading up to sex.

Sihtric likes a chase and he loves to rile you up. It arouses him when you talk back to him, because he thinks it's cute when you try and act all tough. He knows you're tough, way tougher than him to be honest, but riling you up riles him up too and he loves it. Not giving into him right away only makes him want you more.

K=Kinks - I’ll list a few of their kinks, be they the normalized ones or kinkier kinks.

Again, he's really not very kinky apart from being a tad dominant and becoming a growling and begging mess when you deny his orgasm a few times.

L=Location -  Where they like to have sex at, do they like risky locations, etc.

Anywhere, any time. Hotel rooms, bathrooms, dressing rooms, showers, the beach, his car, his gym, the couch, the kitchen… literally anywhere, he does not give a shit. If Sihtric wants you, he'll get you.

M=Masturbation - How they are when they get themselves off, what they get themselves off to.

Sihtric has some spicy photos you took of yourself that he has in a secure folder on his phone, which he'll use when he's away from you as it's the only option. It works, but he prefers to just have sex with you or have you jerk him off. 

N=NO - A few things that they will absolutely, under no circumstances, ever do.

Sihtric will never share you with one (or more) people, he's as possessive as they come. The idea of someone getting off to you makes his blood boil. But since he is so possessive, that also means he is extremely loyal to you and would also never want to do something with another person.

O=On’s - Their top turn on’s that they have (things that’ll get them super horny super quickly).

Truth be told, you don't even have to do anything to get Sihtric horny. You can just look at him and he'll already want to throw you over his shoulder and carry you to bed. But being a little bratty and showing him you're not intimidated by him always gets him going immediately.

P=Position -  Their favourite position to have sex in.

Prone bone for when he's feeling dominant and a little rougher, and the lotus position for intimacy. He also loves the cowgirl position. Sihtric loves to lay or sit back, his arms behind his head while biting down on his lip as he watches you ride him and take all of his length so well. His eyes never lie and you know he could never get enough of watching you on top of him. And you can never go wrong with the classic missionary.

Q=Quickie - Do they like it, do they prefer quickies over actual sex, etc.

Sihtric loves quickies and would never say no, but he much rather takes his time with you.

R=Rough - How rough they are, or get, when in bed.

Sihtric can be a bit rough, but once again he would never want to hurt you and his roughness happens mainly when he's been riling you (both) up. He softens instantly once you kiss him.

S=Stamina - How long they can go before they tap out.

Come on now, Sihtric is a professional fighter and a gym beast… if anyone taps out, it's you (and there's no shame in that).

T=Toys - Do use toys, do they own them, what kind, etc.

Sihtric is way too cocky to use toys on you nor does he use any himself. When it comes to you, he's the kind of guy that sees a toy as competition and it hurts his ego. Because what do you mean a toy can make you cum much faster than he could? If you'd explain the idea of perhaps using a vibrator while he fucks you for extra stimulation, he might consider it. But it would truly take a lot of time for him to be willing to give it a go, and he'll throw mantrums about it (a man tantrum).

U=Unfair - How much they tease you, how they tease you, etc.

Sihtric teases you a lot, but he's rather impatient so the teasing actually backfires all the time. He likes to whisper filthy words to you and to send risky texts, telling you what he'll like to do with you, working himself up in the meantime while you can keep your cool a lot longer than him.

V=Volume - How loud they get when having sex, things they might say, etc.

Sihtric doesn't hold back his sounds of pleasure, but he prefers to whisper and moan into your ear, because he knows it drives you wild and he loves to feel you clench around his cock whenever he does. He loves to praise you and is obsessed with calling you his wife in bed ever since the wedding, just to remind you that you belong to him.

'My wife is so good to me,' he'll moan, along with, 'I love my beautiful wife.'

W=Wild Card - a random letter for the character of your choice.

Sihtric is always clingy, but he gets extremely clingy and soft with you when he's tipsy, and then all he wants to do is to make slow and sweet love to you. But he often has a drink too many and then he gets either aggressive (to others) or emotional, and that's not a good mood for sex.

X=X-Ray - How they look with their clothes off.

Sihtric is like a sculptured god and it's honestly unfair. You could never grow tired of seeing his physique. The scars on his skin, his toned abs, his veiny arms and those biceps always make your mouth water. As do his thighs and most of all his hands, even when they are bruised from his fights. You love to kiss his bruises as you get to drag your lips all over his body when you do so, and he loves it too. And in regards to his size? No complaints there.

Y=Yearning - How often they need to have sex.

Sihtric would love to have sex at least once a day, but his schedule won't always allow that so it's usually at least four times a week. But when you both have time off together he'll surely make up for the days you couldn't have sex.

Z=ZZZ - How quickly they fall asleep after having sex.

Sihtric falls asleep rather fast if it's in the evening/at night, mainly because in the evening he likes it a little rougher and faster than in the morning for example. In the morning he likes it slow and intimate. He'll still doze off afterwards in the morning, but not for too long. It also depends on the day. If he's had a long day he's naturally tired already, if he had quite a relaxed day he can stay up for a few more hours just to cuddle with you.

taglist: @foxyanon @alexagirlie @sihtricsafin @neonhairspray @gemini-mama @lexwolfhale @sigtryggrswifey @skyofficialxx @djarinsgirl27 @m-a-s-h-k-a @verenahx @mrsarnasdelicious @diiickbrainn @little-diable @maii777 @urmomsgirlfriend1 @dixie-elocin @elle4404 @bubblyabs @succnfuccubus @hb8301 @willowbrookesblog @apolloanddaphnis @jennifer0305 @carnationworld

If you want to be added/removed from the taglist, message me 🖤

[agenderduck]

thinking about how duck and red are two sides of the same coin, opposites yet exactly the same. duck is a square, a cube if you will. he desperately wants to be in control of something, anything. deep down though he wants nothing more than for the trio to be a family because that is where he feels most safe and secure. duck’s can’t live without their flock. he acts out of fear though he’ll never admit it. any slip up on his end could lead to the trio separating again. so he clings to his clipboard and does his visual inventory by compulsion. duck does it to feel some level of ‘control’ because what choice does he have? he hates feeling weak, but most of all he hates the thought of his friends being anywhere but with him.

red on the other hand is a rhombus/diamond, a square slightly tipped to the side. on the surface it seems like a different shape but they have the same amount of sides, and the same dimensions. red says he wants to be dead because in his eyes its the only way he can gain some level of control over himself, though true death will never be an option for them within the cycle. those sweet moments of darkness might be nice for a second but then before he knows it the lights are back on and the house is spinning again.

transport and electricity highlight how duck and red will never have the same courage yellow has to confront his discomfort with the cycle. both will inevitably continue to run from that discomfort. red runs from everything all the time, like duck’s death, or the three of them being a family. he runs from his discomfort with the cycle in transport, and it is far from his first time doing something similar. red is too beaten down to question things like yellow does. deep down he cares for the other two, realistically he can’t live without them, but he wishes he could. red associates them with the house often, and the things he himself can’t be. duck on the other hand runs by desperately trying to hide the fact that hes terrified behind his ego and abiding by the rules. he is consistently beaten down and devalued by it, duck has long since given up questioning why these things happen to him. why would he fight back when bad things will continue to happen to him regardless? the trio could be split up for all he knows,it could put their little family at risk. so when yellow starts questioning things in electricity,duck is not just worried that his friend is acting differently, and out of the norm its also a reminder of the fact that he will never be able to do the same.

they’re not allowed to feel much of anything, forced to put forward the often worst parts of themselves, forced into character types they don’t want to play. red and duck bicker, but its not out of any disdain for each other, quite the opposite really. they respect and care for each other deeply, though they would rarely ever admit it. red, because of his general avoidance, and duck because he assumes its already implied. they huddle together when yellow starts acting ‘wrong’ in electricity because the sense of familiarity they have with each other is comforting. both puppets love and care for yellow, but fail to truly understand him and his point of view. as long as they’re in the light the trio’s interactions with each other will be hollow and limited. for duck and red the only time we see them truly open up around each other is in the dark. only then do they realize they actually like looking at each other. ‘my housemate has really pretty eyes actually…. why am i only just now realizing that.’ they see each other in the fridge scene in a way they’re denied most every other time. they realize that they genuinely enjoy each other’s presence and appearance all while barely being able to see each other. its both intimate and sad. the scene is abruptly interrupted when red and duck question where yellow is who shortly after appears to have come back down stairs, accidentally letting the light back in. anything that was just said goes straight into the shredder. the trio will never be on the same page ever. no real change will ever be made for duck and red with their egos and vulnerabilities getting in the way. so while duck and red have the potential to make each other better on paper, they will more than likely continue to make each other so much worse, they are puppets bound and choked by their own strings.

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

To Erase the Past aka Words of Radiance thoughts

Why yes, I was awake until 5:00AM finishing this book, thank you for asking and understanding

Why no, I'm not okay

I'm so proud of Shallan

I'm so disappointed in Moash

I'm so thankful for Kaladin

I'm so triggered by Tangerine (I know this isn't his name but that's what I'm calling him, throw him into the pile with Capsule)

I've become a Dalinar apologist

YOU KNOW THE DRILL

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

Lets GOOOOOooOOOOoooOooooooOOOOo

So last night, I'm whooping and hollering. Sweating. Fist pumping. Being trampled by the last sequences in the book. It's 3:00AM. My roommate who fell asleep downstairs finally makes it up to his room. He looks into my room, eyebrow raised.

Him: I could hear you downstairs.

Me: Okay?

Him: ......it was bad

Me: ...

That is a quick summary of my thoughts of this book. I feel like between these two books I've read like 2 trilogies.

BITCH I KNEW JASNAH WASN'T DEAD, I FUCKING KNEW IT. I EVEN SLAMMED THE BOOK SHUT AND STOOD UP LIKE "I BET YOUR ASS SHE IS IN SHADESMAR SOMEHOW"

*sits down and takes a deep breath*

So apparently Shadesmar is the mythological kingdom of the spren

PATTERN IS AMAZING, I loved him. Ok ok ok when he was first introduced and Shallan and Jasnah were like "damn I'm kinda disappointed." and Jasnah was like "He's a little..."

and Shallan was like *nods sadly* "He's a little retarded?" and Pattern is like spinning in circles in the corner of the room and trying to get up walls but keeps like, slowly sliding down

I almost spat my water out

ok ok so Kaladin is a Surgebinder, Shallan a Lightweaver, Dalinar a Bondsmith and Renarin (wtf this kid is so weird bro) is a...Truthwatcher

Ok I'm sorry, let me consult my notes because my mind is ALL OVER THE PLACE

Very early the glyphs appeared and honestly, we all knew it was the Everstorm. Dalinar FINALLY knowing he wasn't crazy was just so good. There was a moment after the first set appeared and Dalinar is listening to the people in the room. His inner dialogue is to have a straight back and head up despite his exhaustion. Telling himself to be in control. And I'm like DAMN this man really is a leader amongst men. The way he carries himself is just so GENERAL like and so so good!

Even though Dalinar apparently had the fewest pages dedicated to him this book, it really felt like he was looming over the story with how much of this seems to center around him (uniting Alethkar) and how many of the character's POV's intersect with what he doing.

Jasnah? Thinks Dalinar may be one of the best men she has ever known. Syl? Loves Dalinar and thinks he's a good man. Kaladin? Has several moments when he realizes that yes, Dalinar IS a good man and he MUST live. Hell, he was almost part of a plot to kill the king because he and that crew he met were like "Bro, Dalinar should be the king. We all know it." And at first Kaladin was like WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE WE CANT KILL THE KING WERE PROTECTING HIM WTF ARE YOU- wait...Dalinar the king instead?

Kaladin was like

Sadeas was such a bitter ex boyfriend. When he asked his wife to activate all her spies to find something to hurt Dalinar with I'm like BRO WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING DAMAGE DUDE. Admitting to himself that even if Dalinar was the Blackthorn and was still the conquering warlord, he'd kill him regardless because he wanted to be at the top was telling because I was really wondering if he'd ever admit it.

((Adolin sniping tf outta him was so fucking satisfying. Holy SHIT))

Shallan. Ooooouuu girlie! GIRLIE!!! The CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!!!! I liked her in book 1 despite many people saying she was a weakness in the book because Dalinar and Kaladin were just much more INTERESTING than her POV. Brandon Sanderson said "lol ok BET" and look what we got. A cesspit of trauma and growth. The goal? To find Urithiru because it holds secrets of the Voidbringers. Oh, and marry Adolin. Oh, and infiltrate the Ghost Bloods. Oh, AND SAVE THE ENTIRE WORLD NO FUCKING PROBLEM

HOLYYY FUCKKKKK THE REVELATION THAT SHE KILLED HER MOTHER HOLY ACTUAL FUCKKK!! Her dad was PROTECTING HER by making everyone think he did it! I sat back in my chair like yo WTF Shallan. You murked your mom AND your dad. Holy fuck. And I guess her mom tried to kill her because she said Shallan was "one of them" and had powers at a younger age? When we meet Pattern, this isn't the first time Shallan has. Hints to it but Shallan's brain just

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETT

dissociation

The flashbacks were so good. Seeing her brothers (RIP to Heleran, Balat is NUTS he abuses animals and pulls legs off crabs). Her father was horrible. Being surrounded by all the constant yelling, the fear. Being put in her corner and not speaking. Her humor helping her brothers. Despite how afraid she is, it is SHE that holds the family together. It was SHE who got her gambling brother free, who made her brothers laugh.

OOOOO When she was about to join the caravans, there was a line she said...

"What would you do, Vathah," Shallan said in a loud voice, "to erase the past?"

And it's pitch black and you hear the screams of the caravans being attacked by bandits and she's standing on the sand and she's Lightweaving an illusion that she's a QUEEN and her hair is blowing around her and now KNOWING her past I'm like holy FUCK that was so GOOD!!!!

(I was also like holy fuck THERE's Gaz!)

oMg when Jasnah was "assassinated" I did indeed gasp. When Shallan watched the guy stab her in the chest with a knife I was like NO FUCKING WAY BITCH but Sanderson was clever. By NOT having her in the rest of the book and bringing her back in the EPILOGUE it didn't feel like we were cheated. Because Jasnah's death was a huge motivator to Shallan and a catalyst to her change in the book.

yo Shallan is so smart. This bitch infiltrated the Ghostbloods with ALMOST ease because of her abilities. WHEN SHE WENT TO THE HERALD AND AMARAM WAS THERE AND SHALLAN WAS IN THE CORNER like

I'm like this bitch is about to be a fucking PROBLEM

watch for that dark haired cunt in a rimmed hat

rumor has it her name is Veil

ok random gear switch

Sadeas CASUALLY talking about killing Dalinar and Elhokar? BRO what is your DAMAGE???? I get that Alethi are super ambitious and war driven but WTF Sadeas

OOOOOOMGGGGGG

WHEN SZETH CAME BITCH

OOOOMMMMFFGGG I SCREAMED

The chapter was entitled The One Who Hates

like excuse me bitch?

One of my bookmarked notes in my audiobook is "No spren guides him. WHAT????? HOW SWAY????"

We learn later on the nature of his blade but STILL. In the moment I was freaking out. Kaladin has that dream and knew something was wrong. He and Adolin and Dalinar are f.i.g.h.t.i.n.g. f.o.r t.h.e.i.r l.i.v.e.s and Szeth is flying around, sending Adolin flying up to the ceiling and he cuts Kaladin's arm and it goes grey and I'm just reading this chapter

UNSTABLE

UNWELL

My heart was beating so fucking fast. Dalinar is like

"YOU TOOK MY BROTHER FROM ME. YOU WILL NOT TAKE THE KING, YOU WILL NOT TAKE THE ONLY THING OF HIM I HAVE LEFT"

And Szeth is like

"I'm not here for him, Highprince. I'm here for you." Then Dalinar CATCHES the Shardblade in his bare fucking hands and Kaladin and Szeth fall midair from the window and then Szeth flees after Kaladin heals and shows his powers and I'm SHOUTING at the spine of the book

(Adolin sitting outside his father's room the rest of that night because he was scared Szeth would come back to kill his father was just...UGH I LOVE the relationship Adolin and Dalinar have. Adolin idolizes his father so MUCH)

and and and

that part with Shallan (I am so frazzled I'm so sorry I've barely had any sleep and this book HAUNTS me do you understand it HAUNTS me...I had a dream last night about this book)

"Can't run, can't run, can't run....

FIGHT."

And she attacks Tyn and kills her with a SHARDBLADE

Oh I'm sorry? Hello? WHAT???? WTFFF BITCH???

A SHARDBLADDDEEEEEEEE????!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!? I just got goosies again bitch omg I'm actually panting hold on give me a moment

ok sidenote but The Stormfather is kind of a dick???? And to be fair, I'm going to assume after as many Desolations as there were that the spren are tired of helping humanity maybe and that's what Stormfather is talking about. Like "bro this is not my first, second, third or even eightieth rodeo. everytime it's the same and SOMEHOW humanity still finds new and clever ways to disappoint me. So...HELP YOU? lmfao" And I know we'll learn more about it so I'm willing to accept that thought process for now but at the end when he's talking to Dalinar (EXCUSE ME IS THE STORMFATHER DALINAR'S *SPREN* NOW???????????) I was like this Stormfather is a little bit of a bitch. This was my INITIAL reading because my adrenaline was still through the roof after

KALADIN FOUGHT SZETH AND SHALLAN TELEPORTED THE ARMY TO URITHIRU

but after thinking about it I was like yeah no I get it. He's seen this movie in theaters so many times and has to pretend to be excited but he really is just pissed his friends keep forcing him to come

Sebarial and Wit were iconic. Their insults were so fucking good. During the end when they were all making their way to the Oathgate and Sebarial was drunk and Palona was reading a book and Dalinar was like ????

AMARAM GOT PUT IN HIS PLACE bye bitch

Aladar, Roion (r.i.p you cowardly prince, you actually did us a solid in the end, and I underestimated both you and your kin. salute) and Sebarial joining him to form a force of 30k against the Parshendi that were SINGING THEIR LITTLE HEARTS OUT for the apocalypse

KALADIN REALIZING THAT ELOKHAR WAS DALINAR'S TIEN ARRGgggggg *squeezes stress ball*

Then Syl. My glorious Syl.

"YOUT WILL MATTERS NOT!" Syl shouted. "YOU CANNOT HOLD ME BACK IF HE SPEAKS THE WORDS! KALADIN! SAY THEM!"

BITCHHHHH I was *unhinged* Then Kaladin lit up like a fucking Christmas tree

I am so disappointed in Moash. I want to say I get it but like...MOASH. REALLY? After all that? After being Kaladin's friend and OH YOU KNOW him giving you a Shardblade and Plate because he trusted you and now we're here

Though he did get 1/18th of a brownie point for not letting anyone else touch Kaladin. Then he lost 1,476,998 brownie points for punching Kaladin so hard that his ribs broke INWARD. "Oops I hit him harder than I meant to." Are you fucking kidding me Moash. Are you? Because you're an EMBARRASSMENT. I hope when we see him next it's ON SITE. Count your fucking days, bro

So...Szeth's weapon was an Honorblade, a weapon of the Heralds....? And two of them are back? The one that Amaram snatched up (Herald of War) and the one that saved Szeth (Herald of Justice). They are returning. So now Szeth is just a normal human being with a normal life...? I'm very VERY interested in Szeth's development and where he goes. I want him on our side so bad and idk how tf Brandon Sanderson plans to do it but I just need it to happen

Adolin murdering Sadeas was SO satisfying. Sadeas going on and on and ON. That isn't it SO CONVENENIENT that the head of Dalinar's guard and Adolin's betrothed are both Radiants and that Dalinar has an ulterior motive. And Adolin is like WHY SADEAS? WHY are you like this. What is your damage? And Sadeas is like WELL if Dalinar stays alive then I can't be more powerful, so lololololol

And Adolin is like

OMG I FORGOT tO MENTION ADOLIN's DUEL

amazing. so good. captivating. unexpected. Adolin grappling from behind and they won!

"Dalinar growled softly. It was a sound Kaladin had never heard from him, The growl of a beast on a chain. It surprised him. " ooohhh?????

And no one standing to help and Kaladin like "literally hold my beer" then when he asked for his boon I was like welp FUCK here we go

Then he was thrown in jail and I was like YUP that tracks

I absolutely LOVED his book. Truly. I liked it better than the first if that's even possible. It made me appreciate book 1 even more because of the world building and set up.

side notes from my audiobook bookmarks:

Kaladin mentions Dalinar's eyes a lot mmmhmmmm

"Dalinar Kholin slowly stood up. He moved like a rolling boulder. Inevitable, implacable." oh. OH?

PATTERN CAN READ DAWNCHANT what a g

"I wouldn't want you to go flying off on me. You know, flying off in an angry tirade." Wit is a legend, I love that he seems to be all knowing and everywhere he needs to be for certain characters. WHO/WHAT IS HE?

Renarin is...I don't have words. What in Damnation are you doing, man? Because he's llike WERE ALL GUNNA DIE WERE ALL GUNNA DIE then they don't so like...how reliable are his Truthwatching abilities?

Shallan and Kaladin EYEBALLING EACH OTHER????? Thinking about each other????? HMMMMMMM???

"He danced with the slayer of kings" HOLLLLYYY FUCK IM *UNHINGED* RN DALINAR YOU ARE TRULY A GOAT AMONGST GOATS <- actually quote from my bookmark

Gallant not fleeing the battlefield is actually iconic

Shallan and Dalinar looking out below and people teleporting to their location and saying "Life before Death, Radiant" is, I fear, legendary

Ok phew I'm so tired from this post, I needed to spit my thoughts out before reading book 3 (which is apparently about Dalinar and I am already such a Dalinar apologist that I can't WAIT)

ok bye *snooze*

OH!! AND TANGERINE BEING EItHER RETARDED OR A GENIUS ON ANY GIVEN DAY bro WHAT and THAT is what you're going off of? THAT is why you're assassinating everyone???? Bro you are FUCKED

[wide-nose-and-wonderful]

Hello. Wanted to give some much needed love to the Snow Fall fandom because well, I adore Mr. Franklin Saint. Please enjoy the creative works written by yours truly found down below. Yes, I’m aware that my writing may not vibe with everyone. It can be very long, detailed and angst filled often times. Regardless, I'm super proud of these stories I've created and put into the fan fiction world to share with other fans of the show. Hope whomever comes across this page enjoys the reading experience. Be aware, these were written by a Black woman, with Black Women in mind. Either way, happy reading.

Authors note.

-Wide Nose And Wonderful. 💙

🌴Saint Eye Candy 1, 2, 3, 4,5 6,7. 

🌴Saint Comedy 1, 2, 3, 4,5.

🌴Writer Confessions 1, 2, 3, 4,5 6.

🌴Memes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

🌴Voting Polls 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Angst, Soft Smut, Use of the N-Word, Established Relationship.

28,827 words | Summary: You’ve seen the worst parts of him and the best parts of him and vice versa. That’s why you made a good pair, but the recent knowledge of his new life path has torn you both apart. However when tragedy strikes, it might be the thing you need to take another look at the Franklin you fell in love with.

PART (1) (2) (3) (4) COMPLETED.

Established Relationship. Drama, Hurt, Angst, Use of the n-word. Mentions of Suicide and Death.

8,220 words | Summary: Being Leon's baby sister, you were almost like a forbidden fruit, but Franklin kissed you that night at the amusement park. Since then you couldn't get him outta your mind. The day of Andres funeral you decide to approach him and let him know these growing feelings, unaware the world is about to come crashing down in the worst way.

 ONE SHOT! COMPLETED.

Established Relationship, Hurt, Comfort, Fluff, Use of the N-Word.

7,821 words | Summary: You loved your brother Leon dearly, but damn could he be super over protective! No guy you brought home to meet your mom or talked to was ever good enough for you according to Leon. Hm. Not even a childhood friend who went by the name, Franklin Saint? Never in a million years would you consider it. Well, until one night. Prequel to RockABye Saint.

ONE SHOT!  COMPLETED. 

Established Relationship, Hurt, Comfort, Soft Smut, Use of the N-Word.

8,093 words | Summary: With life spinning out of control and the war ragging in the neighborhood, you come to find that you are alone more and more under the watchful eye of Peaches. Being without Franklin has started to get to you. Can he convince you that brighter days are ahead?

ONE SHOT! COMPLETED.  

Established Relationship, Hurt And Comfort. *Reader Request

7,524 words | Summary: Pleasure would take a back seat, that and personal desires. Maybe in another life he could chase them. But it wasn't another life. Survival now depended upon caution and precision. Taking three bullets to the body gives a lot of time for reflection. In the midst of his recovery, Franklin Saint thinks back on his actions, and what it would mean going forward in the new world he created. 

ONE SHOT! COMPLETED.

Fluffy, Slow Burn, Soft Smut, Use of the N-Word, Drips of Angst.

37,829 words | Summary: You have a very wild imagination. But what happens when imagination bleeds into reality? Will you rise above it, or crumble and fall?

PART (1) (2) (3) (4) (5). COMPLETED.

Established Relationship. Goofy, Fluff, Brief use of the N-Word, Some Sticky Smutty Fun. 

4,444 words. | Summary: Literally this is really just a what if. What if Franklin was set in the present day, or hell maybe not even present day, but present enough that he could facetime? So, I decided to write about it and share it. There really is no plot, just shenanigans as usual from our favorite King Pen.

ONE SHOT! COMPLETED.

PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR CLAIM ANY OF MY WRITING. -Wide Nose And Wonderful.

[callsign-relic]

hi!! liveblog! its. very long. 3 episodes! but mostly im yelling about episode 2 because character intros <3

SEASON 2 EP 1!!

newwww season let's go BABEY!!

oh shit it starts out like RIGHT where it left off.

blackarachnia seems to be back to normal... smart move leaving during the initial confusion

Megatron smackin Scorponok and Waspinator fhksbffbfkjfk??

uh oh!! its not over yet!!! quantum surge...

"sneaky ball of legs"... i LOVE all the weird nicknames and monikers so so so much. every new one is a delight 

OHHHHHH TARANTULAS IS STILL IN HER HEAD... OHOHOOOO SO FUCKED UP

OHHHHH SOOOOOOOO FUCKED UP HES CAUGHT HER IN A WEB IN HER OWN BRAIN...

also ehehehe... big spoder.

side thought. i enjoy tarantulas but i would NOT want to be a tiny around him. hed eat u (a win in ANY other circumstance) bUT i feel like hed be so nasty about it. so truly awful. 0/10 experience.

ITS THE FIRST EP OF THE SEASON- HOW ARE THERE SO MANY UH OHS ALREADY- OH MY GOD?????

whats happening to everyone!!!!!!

DID TERRORSAUR JUST DIE? he fell in the lava!!!!! TERRORSAUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! D:

what IS happening to you Megatron?!?!?!

CHEERING YELLING at Tarantulas and BA being stuck together for the time being. 

"h-hey! im uh... gorgeous!" RHDKFHSK RATTRAP

OH SHIT they got fancy robotic beastmodes????

cheetor can FLY????

oh no the poor boy

RATTRAP HAS WHEELS... he looks like a cat toy xgufkghckgjx

oh my god. what about the predacons

waspinator is the same...

OH GOD. Megatron... somehow MORE intimidating than before

oh tarantulas has also undergone some changes (??)

oh shit yeah. rhinox was alseep for all that

WHAAAAAAAAAAT was that OPs spark?????

spinning rattraps wheels... how scandalous Dinobot :3c

oh shit is scorponok also gone???? ARE THEY ACTUALLY FR DEAD??? i dont know what to do about this! IM USED TO THEM COMING BACK...

CHEETOR YOU CAN FLY NOW YOULL BE FINE

these new forms are strange but also REALLY fun mechanically.

OH!! cheetors got a tail whip(?) ill miss the guts gun but this is pretty neat

hmm. its interesting that now cheetor actually looks more cheetah-like in his bot mode more than his beast mode, with the prominent spots and all- oh. his butt is still spotted in beast mode.

"rrroyalty! youve come for me!" aw inferno...

AW HE KINDA DID COME FOR HIM ACTUALLY. THEY'RE RETREATING NOW

new forms has its ups and downs i suppose. learning how to control them is one issue lmao

OH????? OH TWO NEW CHARACTERS??

HELL YES HELL YES HELL YES!!!!!!!!!

fuck!!!! i just remembered. WHENS MY MANTA RAY BOY APPEARING. that didn't look like a manta ray environment. so i assume not yet...

oh god. is this going to be another situation where it turns out that the character/s that ignited my interest in the show for to only appear really late in the runtime... PLEASR. IVE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH THIS WITH TFA BLURR, SHOCKWAVE AND SWINDLE... PLEASE................. also tf armada...

i mean ill have a good time regardless but AUGH,,

anyway. terrorsaur and scorponok are GONE gone it seems DDD: 

im significantly more sad about one than the other hskfnndbd sorry scorponok

id say the same abt OP but uh. with Optimuses track records in other continuities... he's probably fine.

S2 EP2

:0 what are the Fuzors.

YES lets go new character intros!!

i love that Megatron has like. rollerblades now. i take back what i said about him being more intimidating. hes got rollerskates.

what does waspinator know? what does DINOBOT know?

HRJDFHKDHD Dinobot sneaking up on the camera HFJFHFKDNFKDNFKD REALLY GOOD!!!!!!

THE DISCS... Hkdfhjs i wrote that and then waspinator said it half a second later bskfbdksn

WHAT is the significance of the moon- "EARTHHHHH........"

WHAT!! what do you MEAN the discs give a record of the future!!

oh fuck i forgot they got sent back in TIME

awwwwwww NOOO waspinator oh my GOD hes been UNMADE- HE GOT CUBED?????

HE GOT CUBED!!!!!!!!!

Tarantuachnia!!!!!!! i cant. merge their names. tarachnia.

i love that she keeps kicking tarantulas' body along LMAO

oh waspinator is fine :]

HRJSOSJDKNEKBGKEBGKE AWWW NOO BABY... "oh Suuure! dont MIND waspinator! waspinator just LIE HERE and SUFFER... drag HIMSELF to CR TANK..." awauauauuaujhdgfhhtn4nmdmx

Tigatron: after you, my lady <3

aw... off they go............ 

oh!!!!!!!!!! we're getting THREE???????? BOTS??

RT: crack the egg and say hello! 

or not :( one's a dud. 

this is how OP comes back... or Starscream.

PLEASE not Starscream.

critical scanner damage!! 

WHOS THIS!!!! 

THE VOICES. i love them!!!!!!!!!!! 

HRJDKFHDKWMFNEK THE ONE THAT JUST WOKE UP AND IS LIKE "I bet i can THRASH yer tail" HELLO????? oh my GOD what is he. that was a cobra tail thing. it ALSO HAD A FACE. WHAT IS HE!!!!!!!!!!

also whats the OTHER one

WOLF

WINGED WOLF?????????????????

hes like. a deviantart creation. 12 year olds cool wolf angel oc. i love him.

scorponok... TWO. scorposnek.

TARNATION! whys he a COWBOY!! i was like. oh he's got an accent- NO!! HES A COWBOY!!!!

wait actually hes a scorpion and a snake, those ARE desert-y cowboy animals. fair ig

inferno: "FOOL! pain is my friend! allow me to introduce YOU to it!!" hehehe

oh my god hes THWACKIN him around by the tail ahdjdbs??

awww angel wolf is standing up for the cowboy! even though cowboy just tried to beat him up!

oh my god. dinobot and him have the potential to be great friends. they have similar values.

a knight and a cowboy... what a combo to introduce.

wait.

WAIT

IS THIS SILVERBOLT? hes all chivalrous... 

i know you mentioned him when i first asked abt beast wars. is this your boy...

"what? you TRUST this tinhorn TOAD?" 

hes so dramatic. I LOVE this cowboy- QUICKSTRIKE!!

YESSSSSSSSS I WAS RIGHT HE IS SILVERBOLT!!!

hes FR a deviantart OC. the way he DESCRIBED HIMSELF im HWEEZING he's fantastic. "PURE, STRONG AND FAST..." he was even framed dramatically by the moon!!!

OHHHHH i love both of them. 

Quickstrikes design with all his scorpion legs on one hand is uh. A Choice though LMAO

rattrap: "primal's been vamped. dinobot's DISSAPPEARED. stripes and the bird lady are on some world CRUISE" dhdkdjjsksnfme he says it like theyr on holiday

rhinox is going offline?? 

awhh... Rattraps gettin left alone... :((!!?!

WAIT NVM CHEETOR IS STILL HERE WHAT ARE YOU COMPLAINING ABT.

Ehdjfodjskdjdkgnlsbdkdndhdk sir?????? YOJ SENT HIM AWAY 

oh my GOD Dinobot is Hamleting again!!!

"to be or not to be..."

whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them... fun fact back in highschool i had that whole soliloquy memorized.

my god hes having a crisis out here. just like hamlet 

HES *STILL* SOLILOQUIZING

the discs ARE a mystery though. very very fun. 

oh hes HIDING them

yesssss... YESS................ hes BACK! MY WEIRDBOY!

i LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!

oh this is FASCINATING. 

Megatron: "Teamwork and cooperation, those are the Predacon watchwords..." 

QS: "how about backstabbin, and treachery?"

so so so fascinating that Megatron fully knows whats needed for a cohesive team (teamwork and cooperation), but those aspects so often go against the values of the characters that he'd align himself with. 

the cobalt kitty! i love the fact that they give themselves silly monikers as well.

silverbolt............ hes too nice for the predacons

MEGATRON CAN FLY TOO

giddyEUPP!! YEEHAW!!!!!

im torn. im discovering that i actually do not like Quickstrike very much.

its been like. less than 15 minutes after hes been introduced and im just like. oh youre terrible and annoying.

but . BUT. i know im gonna have a GREAT time when you're onscreen because some FREAK SHIT is gonna happen. also i still really like his silly cowboy accent dhfjdbe,,, but i but i do not like Him.

oh god. rhinox is in danger.

Dinobot is hiding the disc 👀?

BIG GUNS!!!!!!!!!!!

rattrap is so FAST!

OH SHIT. Tarantulas can still control BA!! 

so fucked up!!! SO FUCKED UP!! awful awful man!!

"yoo hoo! waspinator here too!" HES SO CUTE.

OH NO. SOME MORE COWBOY BULLSHIT IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN.

is that a CLOCK? what a cool clock design

whaaaaaat is going on with Rhinox!!!

oh these cowboy shots are really cool actually.

i LOVE the dramatics

to be continued!!!!!!!!!! FUCK i forgot this was a multiparter!!

in that case ill include the next ep in this set too

S2 EP3

HRJSHSJS SO many shots. THEY DECIMATED THAT ROCK.

they really are out numbered atm

TRANSMETAL TARANTULAS ZOOMIN whskfbemrhek??????

awwwh... SILVERBOLT

OHHHHHHHHHH THE NEW BOTS ARE FUZORS. because. theyr. fusions................ okay yeah fair hajfkfksmfbekgb,,

where's Black Arachnia...

Rhinox!!!!!!! Is he going after OP?!?!

Megatrons room again... OH THERES HIS RUBBER DUCKY 🥺

SB: "These Maximals are Fools!" ehkrjfke

UH OH MEGATRON FIGURED IT OUT THEYR GOIN FOR RHINOX!!

doggybot! oop. there he goes.

RHSJDODJEKNFKDNFKE THE SUDDEN  CUT TO DINOBOT BOPPIN UP AND DOWN AS HE GETS TRANSPORTED BY RATTRAP whdkfkflfn

oughghhh... Tarantulas and Black Arachnia's dynamic is So so so messed up here its great

HE GOT SQUASHED AGAIN

she's so SNEAKY <3 

awhhhh BUPPY. hes got puppydog eyes!!! HES CUTEEEE

awh silverbolt... he's had the idea of defecting put into his head >:3c

rhinox went somewhere where all are one...

LETS GO! ITS PRIME TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!! i assume anyway

the cowboy musical stings are actually Really good. LIKE REALLY GOOD. i came around on those. it works so well.

of COURSE they gave Quickstrike fucking cowboy spur noises for his footsteps.

"WELL THATS JUST PRIME."

LETS GOOOOOOO

hes got a HOVERBOARD??

i wonder if the creators of the show just happened to be watching a ton of western movies when making these episodes. why's there so much cowboy stuff.

SB: consider that my resignation, Megatron!

HECK YES

"well, i like your resume" LMAO??? his resume contains: Megatron Yelling

LMAO?? RATTRAP TOOK OVER OPS QUARTERS.

black arachnia >:3c ohohoho im so excited to see what she does.

i assume that the new transmetal forms were partially made in order to sell new toys LMAO. i wonder if others will get transmetal forms later on as well :0

i actually prefer the look of their og forms (i. love animal), but i really like the functionality and fun designs of these new ones...

I really like Tarantulas and Cheetors new forms in particular !! I think only Tarantulas looks definitively Cooler in my books, but that's also because his design was pretty Silly before imo. stripy....

ahdkfhsk SORRY I TALKED SO MUCH THIS ROUND,, THERE WAS JUST SO MUCH TO COMMENT ON,,,,

id have just done eps 1 and 2, but 2 and 3 is a two parter... anyway ill probably have a longer gap between liveblogs again so im not just. taking up So Much Space on your blog and in your askbox shfkfbdndn o7

- init

[jazlynriddle]

Welcome to your life - Pt 3:

It's My Own Design Ch 20:

Summary:

Ominis fought to control his expression, to keep his hands from trembling. Five years. Five years since he'd seen his parents, and this. This was the reason they'd given him the honour of their time? This was the reason they'd sought him out at Hogwarts?

The bitterness welling up within him was thick enough to gag on.

New year, new allies, new responsibilities, new avenues of revenue, and new aspects of their own Ancient Magic to explore. As the Keeper and their partners enter their last year at Hogwarts, it remains to be seen if the new school year will bring with it new problems or adversaries, but they are confident in the strength of their relationship with Sebastian and Ominis. The three of them would endure, no matter what befell them.

And if they were wrong?

What a joke, they would suffer no alternative.

Warnings: Sebastian x MC x Ominis! Drug Addiction! Spoilers! Slow-burn corruption! Dark content! Fucked up 1800s orphanages! MC has no love for Anne or Solomon! Dubious happy ending (it's happy for MC, Seb and Ominis at least).

You can also read on AO3! (chapter specific warnings below)

Notes:

Warnings: A bit more torture but mostly plot and world building.

Finally, we're back to moving the plot and story along. I revamped a bunch of JK's lore, threw some of it in the trash bin, and came up with my own spin on the rest and created goblin culture, hopefully ya'll like the world building here =D

Also, if anyone's thirsty for pain, I posted a short ass alternate sad ending for Sebastian's questline titled Let's Go, Together. Go check it out if you want to cry.

God, I'm exhausted, I got food poisoning, I think I'm getting a cold too, greaaaat-

I'm also writing another Sebinis AU that features the Keeper as a historical cameo, so readers of this series will (hopefully) understand why the Keeper in that AU is... past-tensed. Good lord, it's already like 20k words and it's still like in the world building and slow... er, medium burn part. If you like Peter Pan (and no, not the Disney version) you'll like this one xD I'll probably upload the first chapter of that new fic next weekend, so please look forward to it! =D

And, at this point, I should probably just fix my upload schedule for this series to once every four weeks, it's been like that for ages now and I can't seem to make my chapters shorter than 10k words x')

“This is all I could find. Seems like he didn't have much left by the time I went after him.” The Keeper dropped a small pouch on the table between them and Mrs. Taylor, their tone slightly apologetic.

They kind of felt like they’d gotten more out of this than Frederick's wife, but if she really needed the money, it'd probably be helpful regardless, the pearls should at least fetch a decent price. The Keeper wasn't exactly an expert, but the yellow tint to the pearly sheen made them likely to be natural pearls, and the gold ring was decently heavy.

“It's alright, I'll come back to give you your share after I sell off what you've found.” She nodded, accepting the pouch and, as she did so, a blue flame burst into being over her hand, startling her.

“Don't worry about that, it's just the contract. Evidence that I've fulfilled my end of the bargain.” The Keeper assured, taking a sip from their glass.

“I- I see.” The lady's smile became uncertain. “Is he-”

She cut herself off and shook her head. “Nevermind, thank you.”

“You're welcome.” The Keeper answered with a level gaze, amused that she clearly wanted and didn't want to know what had become of her husband. Perhaps they'd gotten used to reading that on Ominis’ more controlled face, and could spot it easily on hers. “I look forward to receiving my pay.”

At the clear dismissal, Mrs. Taylor nodded and stood. “I'll be in touch.”

With a last uncertain glance, she left the Phantom’s Flask, and the Keeper moved over to sit at Alasdair's counter, where the bartender gave them a wry smile. “Congratulations on clearing another job. How was your visit to the Rogues?”

“Rowdy.” The Keeper answered with an amused snort. “Think I prefer this place. Drinks are better too.”

A wide smirk covered Alasdair's face. “Flattery won't lighten your tab, kid. Out with it then, what do you want?”

“I don't suppose you know where I might be able to acquire two-way mirrors like Owl's, though I'd prefer a set of three that are linked.” The Keeper asked, stirring their drink idly with the straw.

“Well, starting out with the tough requests, hm? Two-ways are rare enough already, a set of three-way mirrors would be even harder to acquire.” Alasdair chuckled. “But I'm sure you've already guessed as much.”

“Can you help me or not?” The Keeper huffed, not particularly in the mood to play.

“There's only one merchant I know who could have something that rare, but they're involved in an ongoing fight with a fairly powerful enemy, so you might want to be careful when dealing with them.” The bartender warned. “It's not the type of beef you want to get dragged into.”

“Noted.” The Keeper cocked an eyebrow at the man. Well, all they were interested in was trade, so they didn't see how that would be a problem.

“They rent a room on Tuesday nights to do trade, come by during opening hours and you'll find them in room sixteen.” Alasdair jabbed a thumb towards the stairs. “Wear your mask.”

That bad, huh.

The Keeper nodded as they finished up their drink, sliding the glass over to Alasdair and making to stand, when he asked. “Have you ever met a vampire?”

Eyes widening, they shook their head, a vampire, eh? That should be interesting.

“Well, greet them with a bow and don't tilt your head to the side or raise your wrist. Might take that as an offer.” The corner of Alasdair's mouth quirked upwards in amusement.

“I'll keep that in mind.” The Keeper huffed as they stood. “Thanks as always.”

“See you soon, kid.”

The streets of Diagon Alley were about as cramped as one might expect on a Sunday in the middle of the Christmas season, and Sebastian was starting to worry that he wouldn't make it to Gringotts on time for his first lesson with Borgok.

Which would be a pretty piss poor way to start his apprenticeship, so he took a breath and began to shove himself through the crowd. Ignoring the glares from the surrounding shoppers, Sebastian elbowed his way to the bank, huffing and puffing as he struggled against the flow of traffic.

When he finally made it to the large white doors, the bank itself also turned out to be crowded as all hell and, for a moment, Sebastian was worried that he wouldn't be able to find his mentor. Only to breathe a sigh of relief when he spotted the heavy-set blacksmith standing near a counter, speaking with another of his kinsmen, and he quickly waded through the sea of people and goblins.

Fortunately, Borgok seemed to spot him as he made his way over, saving him the awkward task of interrupting the conversation, and Sebastian stopped a few steps away. Leaning against a wall to catch his breath, Sebastian waited for Borgok to finish his discussion, and the other goblin left after a few moments.

“Master Borgok.” Sebastian greeted when his mentor turned to face him, giving him a slight bow of the head in respect.

It still felt odd to regard a goblin with deference, but he knew that this was something he had to get used to, goblins weren't the enemy, and this one would make him more useful to the Keeper. He needed to be useful, needed to take the pressure off them, they were already carrying so much of their future, it wasn't fair for both he and Ominis to need them so much.

The Keeper’s breakdown on Friday had reminded him that they weren't mentally invincible either, even they needed rest, and Sebastian knew that he only got to spend more time with the Keeper than Ominis, because most of it was when they were working.

And they were always working.

Which obviously meant that Ominis was left alone more often than not.

Sebastian had managed to get Ominis to talk about what was bothering him during their walk by the lake, and he'd felt rather stupid when the blond had hesitantly admitted that he was feeling lonely. Of course he was, the throuple could usually spend at least a few hours and mealtimes together every day during previous holidays, this was the first time they'd left Ominis alone for days in a row.

It wasn't fair that Sebastian's own needs were being met - purely because he and the Keeper conveniently took pleasure from working together - and Ominis’ weren't.

So, even though Sebastian loved watching the Keeper work, loved how hot they looked when they were focused, loved how good it felt every time they gave him one of their approving nods. He decided that he was going to do his best to reduce the amount of time that the Keeper needed to spend on work. Ominis deserved to get his relaxing dates with them too.

Hopefully, learning about goblin silver and how it worked would allow him to give the Keeper more time to rest and relax with him and Ominis. It was with this determination in his heart that Sebastian met Borgok's gaze, and a sharp toothy grin of approval spread across the goblin's face. Okay, still kinda unnerving, why did goblins have to have such creepy looking teeth-

“Sebastian, glad you made it on time, punctuality in the face of unexpected adversity is a sign of dedication.” Borgok chuckled, and the pink that had been leaving Sebastian's cheeks immediately returned. “Come, follow me.”

The hefty goblin turned and took a few steps over to the counter and Sebastian followed him with some trepidation.

“Nodrog.” Borgok greeted the goblin behind the counter, who was wearing the uniform of a security guard.

“Borgok, busy morning we're having, innit?” The guard chuckled wryly. “What can I do for you?”

“This is Sebastian.” Borgok gestured at him, before introducing the goblin. “And this is Nodrog, you'll have to get clearance from him to enter the employee's section of the building.”

Sebastian nodded at him in greeting, deciding to go with the standard. “Good morning.”

“So, this is the apprentice, bit younger than I expected.” Nodrog eyed Sebastian critically and he fought to keep his expression neutral, chanting in his head, don't get mad, don't get mad, don't get mad.

The goblin behind the counter then presented him with a ledger and a quill. “Here, you'll need to sign this every time you enter and leave.”

Taking the quill obediently, Sebastian found the first empty row to scribble his name on and, after passing the ledger and quill to Borgok, the security guard offered Sebastian a gold necklace in their place. “And you'll need to wear this.”

The golden chain was not very long, and its links were thick, broad squares, weaved together in an intricate interlocking design. Most prominently, was a curious pattern along the side that was large enough to be seen at a glance, it looked almost like letters, though Sebastian couldn't quite recognise them.

“It's got an identification number on the side. And it's how we'll know you're working here.” Nodrog explained, and Sebastian nodded, taking the chain and fastening it around his neck, rather surprised to find that it wasn't quite as uncomfortable as he'd thought it looked.

“Alright, that's everything settled. Welcome to Gringotts.” Nodrog pressed something on his countertop and the shutter gate beside the counter opened.

“Come along then, lad.” Borgok quipped as he led the way through the gates and down the corridor behind them.

Sebastian followed him for a short walk, and the corridor eventually ended at a chamber with three doors, which were all - oddly enough - lacking handles. The door to the left bore a bronze sheen, the one in the middle, silver, while the third was made of or possibly plated with gold, and Sebastian wondered which they would be entering. Not to mention, what the significance of each differing material was.

The blacksmith lumbered over to the golden door, and as he did, Sebastian noticed that there was a small keyhole set into the door's frame. He watched with curiosity as Borgok lowered his collar slightly to reveal a necklace that looked almost identical to Sebastian’s and lifted one of the golden keys hanging from it.

Sebastian's eyebrows rose when Borgok moved like he was going to pull the key off the necklace, only for the necklace to elongate. The links of the chain unfolded out of themselves elegantly, till the necklace was long enough for the goblin to easily slot the key into the keyhole on the door frame.

The key turned with a click, and a golden circle that Sebastian had previously thought was merely one of the intricate designs on the door's frame, popped out, becoming what was quite clearly a button. Its job done, Borgok released the key from between his fingers and the links in the necklace began folding back into themselves until the chain was once again hanging comfortably from around the goblin's neck.

With wide eyes, Sebastian tugged lightly on his own necklace, observing it as it elongated and then shrank back when he released it. A bright grin spread across his face, okay, that was pretty awesome.

When Borgok then pressed the gold button he'd unlocked, the door slid to the side, revealing its ornate interior to be a very small room lined with golden grilles and elegant frills. So much gold, Merlin, the goblins really liked their precious metals.

For a moment, Sebastian was confused, until he followed the goblin inside and realised that this was an elevator, a rather rare piece of machinery, though it made sense that Gringotts would have plenty. Sebastian examined the slate of buttons on the side, spotting a few with keyholes beside them, the third of which Borgok unlocked with yet another key, and then pressed, causing the doors to close.

With a deep rumble and a jolt, the elevator began descending and Borgok took a small pouch out of his pocket, offering it to Sebastian. “As you might have guessed, the smithy I manage is in the most secure layer, you will need the keys in this bag to reach it for our lessons. You can attach them to your necklace to avoid losing them.”

Accepting the pouch, Sebastian opened it, finding two golden keys and one silver key inside, and he asked, as he removed his necklace momentarily to secure them to the chain. “Most secure layer?”

Borgok chuckled. “Yes, well, I may have neglected to mention that I'm the head of Gringotts’ Diagon Alley branch Design Department, overseeing research and development of Gringotts’ tools, locks, security and machinery.”

Sebastian's eyes widened, so Borgok was a bigshot. Great, that could be a good thing and a bad thing at the same time, a voice that sounded an awful lot like the Keeper’s echoed in his head, followed by one that sounded more like Ominis, better be careful how you behave around him, but Sebastian himself was pretty excited about this, so he shooed the voices away.

If he performed well and managed to win the approval of Borgok and his team, he'd gain connections and it would bolster his credibility, giving his decisions more weight. Not to mention, the things he could learn from them, this was an incredible opportunity that he could still barely believe had landed in his lap. Thanks to the Keeper, as always.

But your stubbornness will be your ruin, you've never gotten on with authority, you're your father's son, after all, the snide voice of Solomon sneered in his mind, you're unteachable.

Sebastian smothered that one aggressively, it only ever came out when the Keeper wasn't around, and he yearned to have them here with him. They always made him feel more confident and assured, even before he'd fallen in love with them. Having their unflinching presence by his side always made him feel like any endeavour was possible, like he could take on the world.

“My smithy team followed me when I took the position, and your training will begin with them till you have enough of the basics to learn from me.” Borgok continued, unaware of Sebastian's internal havoc. “I will introduce you to the team, and then leave you to their care.”

Sebastian nodded, the keys around his neck feeling uncomfortably heavy and anxiety churning in his stomach. Fuck it though, he was going to do his best and he was going to win them over. He had to. Failure was not an option.

Hopefully Borgok would have enough for Sebastian to do - to keep his mind occupied and quiet - it was always less noisy and easier to think when he had a problem to solve or a puzzle to figure out. He felt the vertigo of motion cease, before the elevator doors opened with a clunk, and Sebastian's eyes widened with awe at the incredible sight that was unveiled.

Outside the elevator was an enormous dome chamber filled with large machinery and workshop benches covered in tools. The warm light from the roaring fires peeking out of numerous furnaces, glimmered across the gold and silver strewn about the room. A dozen goblins or so, were either seated at the benches or moving back and forth across the workspace like a well-oiled machine. Some pushing carts of materials and others carrying tools from one place to another.

He could also see several doors along the walls, and vents snaking their way across the ceiling, along with an absolutely chaotic mess of pipes crisscrossed beneath the grates that made up the floor. Oh boy, he really didn't envy whoever's job it was to remember which pipe went where, that looked like an absolute nightmare to manage, maintain, and repair.

If Borgok tried to give him that job, Sebastian would pack his bags and leave.

Said goblin beside him chuckled, and Sebastian jumped, reminded that he was standing in the elevator doorway, staring like an idiot.

“Quite something, isn't it?” Borgok wore a proud smile as he ran his gaze over the room.

“It's incredible.” Sebastian agreed, stepping out of the elevator and returning his attention to his mentor.

“That it is, you should've seen how it looked before I got here.” The blacksmith laughed to himself as he shuffled over to a row of silver lockers beside the lift landing.

“However, the first lesson you must learn is that everything that inspires awe, is also dangerous.” Borgok rapped his knuckles against a pigeonhole locker with the number thirteen engraved on it. “You are not to descend the steps into the workshop, until you have donned the protective gear from your locker. And take off those useless robes, wizarding fashion will cost you an arm down here.”

Sebastian approached his locker and spotted a small keyhole beside the handle, quickly guessing that one of the keys hanging around his neck would likely fit. He tugged the necklace out from under the cotton tunic - that Borgok had instructed him to wear in advance - and pulled on it, still rather taken with how beautifully the necklace stretched, and attempted the smallest silver key, which fit perfectly, and he opened the locker to examine its contents.

At the sound of another locker opening beside him, Sebastian peered at Borgok, watching the goblin don the gear inside his own locker, and Sebastian shucked his robes quickly to copy his mentor.

In a few minutes, Sebastian was decked out with a small pair of goggles that sat snugly over his eyes, a face shield that could be flipped up to sit atop his head when not in use, a thick brown apron that he'd tied around his waist, a pair of safety boots - was that steel covering the toes? Fascinating - and a pair of gloves.

The gloves weren't as thick as he'd expected, but had a mesh design that felt incredibly sturdy. He'd bet good money that these gloves would stop a knife from taking off a finger and Sebastian wondered if he could get a pair of these for the Keeper. He could also feel the pulse of magic in his gear, and he noticed several runes embroidered into the waist-tie of the apron and the wrist cuffs of the gloves.

He was honestly a tad surprised that they would have gear within a human's size range, he'd already given Borgok his shoe and glove sizes, so those were customised as he'd expected, but the rest were adjustable. A rather strange choice of investment.

Finished donning his gear, Sebastian lifted the face shield and closed his locker, hearing it lock automatically, and looked at himself in the reflective surface of its door. Huh, Sebastian grinned, maybe if he showed up looking this professional, Ominis might actually trust him.

He snorted to himself in amusement, yeah, if the blond could actually see him maybe, shaking his head, he descended the stairs to join Borgok.

Fortunately, the goggle lenses seemed to be made of crisp clear crystal, and Sebastian could easily take in the sights as he followed his mentor across the chamber, his steel-toed shoes clanking against the metal beneath them.

“This chamber is the common workshop. Those five doors lead to the workshops for specialisation teams focused on a different aspect of smithing.” Borgok explained as they walked, gesturing to the doors spaced evenly along the dome's walls. “There's the Material team, the Forging team, the Finishing team, the Tooling maintenance team, and my team, the Design team.”

It was a struggle to focus on his mentor's words while goblins bustled around them, and Sebastian's eyes were constantly flickering back and forth as yet another curious machine caught his attention. Wait, was that a cart of platinum!? Sebastian's jaw went slack, an entire cart full!? He suddenly felt rather nervous, if he messed up something here, he might end up costing them more money.

Ugh, was this what being responsible felt like? Sebastian sighed, not fun, but he supposed doing good by his partners was worth dampening his excitement.

“And this is my office, you can seek me out here if you have any issues that your assigned teacher can't address.” Borgok continued as they arrived at a brass door, whose frame was like an oval cut into the wall, and Sebastian thought it a curious design choice.

The goblin unlocked the door with yet another key, and Sebastian frowned as it opened, wondering why he wasn't hearing any jangling, despite the many keys hanging from Borgok's necklace. That, and how his mentor kept track of where each key went, Merlin, there had to be at least ten hanging off the goblin’s neck.

The inside of his office was surprisingly modest, in contrast to how shiny most of Gringotts seemed to be, and it felt less industrial than the workshop outside as well. It was more akin to a Professor's office back in Hogwarts, with a large but low desk on the other end of the room, though it was made of steel rather than wood, and covered with small gadgets, papers and tools.

Borgok lumbered over to it and Sebastian followed him, past an even lower coffee table, surrounded by short yet plush, comfortable looking couches and armchairs.

“Take a seat, while I call my team to the room.” The goblin gestured towards the short stool in front of the desk as he walked around it to sit in the high-backed chair behind it.

As instructed, Sebastian took a seat, though it felt more like he was crouching on the short stool, and Sebastian watched curiously as his mentor reached out to flip up the covers on four... pipes? The four brass pipes were sticking out of the desk and, leaning forward, Borgok spoke clearly and evenly into those four pipes at the same time.

“This is Master Smith Borgok, could the Masters of each department please come to my office? Thank you.” Finishing his announcement, the goblin closed the four flaps and leaned back in his seat to face Sebastian. “They should arrive in several minutes. For today, I will have you spend an hour following each of the four Masters around as they go about their work.”

Sebastian nodded slowly, and his expression must have looked not unlike a warrior going into battle, because Borgok gave him a small smile, saying. “Don't look so worried, they're my friends before my employees, and I can assure you that you will be treated no differently than one of our goblins.”

“Thank you.” Sebastian returned his smile, grateful that his mentor was taking the time to ease his nerves. Still, he'd had enough bad experiences with adults to remain wary, though he supposed he was already considered one himself, by all technicality.

“After you've taken some time with the other Masters, you can come by my office, and we'll speak for a bit about any observations you've made.” Borgok continued. “Though some of my friends might be... strict, I hope you'll be able to learn much from them, though it would probably be prudent to give you some warning.”

“Warning?” Sebastian echoed warily.

“Yes, see, amongst goblins, we men commonly handle interactions with Wizardkind, your people aren't very... tolerant towards our women.” Borgok flashed a wry smile. “Of course, I don't understand it, I think our goblette ladies are absolutely lovely, but humans seem to find them rather... scary.”

Sebastian's eyebrows raised, even more so than goblins!?

“And our culture is normally one of express honesty. Humans in general seem to think that ‘polite’ means lying. In contrast, when we goblins feel a certain way, we will make no attempts to hide it, out of respect to those around us. The more we care about each other, the more effort we put into being our authentic selves.” Borgok explained, and Sebastian felt something stir inside him, he really liked the way that sounded.

“However, humans... they take offence too easily, and when our women show anger, it can put them in grave danger.” The goblin sighed. “So, us men, the physically stronger and less... ugly by - human standards - handle interactions with humans. And I won't lie, it's... painful to suppress our emotions the way humans do.”

Sebastian winced in sympathy, he knew what that felt like, that sounded rough indee-

The door slammed open with a clang that echoed through the room, and Sebastian jumped, spinning around to stare with wide eyes as a foot hovered in the doorway for a moment. Before it lowered to the floor and a goblin - just a tad shorter than Borgok - entered, wearing an admittedly, rather terrifying scowl.

“The blazes are ye doin’ callin’ me in the middle o’ engraving!?” The goblin's voice was slightly higher in pitch, though no less rough than Borgok's, with a hooked nose that pointed upwards rather than down, long brown hair tied up in a tight bun and twice as many wrinkles as the average goblin. “You gonna do me last twenty hours o’ work if I botch the batch, eh Borgok!?”

“Melain, my friend, please, we should give young Sebastian a chance to get used to dealings with fine ladies like yourself.” Borgok sighed, and Sebastian blinked, so that was a goblette. Merlin’s beard, she did look terrifying indeed, were those tusks peeking out from her lower lip!?

Another goblin shoved past Melain, this one was a little taller than her but also had long hair - blonde this time - in a braid, another goblette, from the wrinkles and long fangs. This one flashed Borgok a sharp grin, revealing two rows of teeth that were even more jagged than his, as she scoffed. “And that's our problem, how?”

“Rozen is right. If the boy wants to learn from us, he'll have to get accustomed to our customs.” Came a flat and uninterested statement from a bespectacled goblette with her black hair in a messy bun, who strolled past the others, staring at a clipboard in her hands as she absently took a seat in one of the armchairs. “Jason managed without any coddling.”

“That's very kind of you to say, Loleu.” The next person to enter was - to Sebastian's surprise - a human. The man's voice was deep, and his warm blue eyes followed the goblettes as they seated themselves.

He was also intimidatingly tall, at least a head taller than Sebastian, and he was large and muscled, with cropped dark brown hair that was almost as messy as Sebastian's own, wearing the same apron around his waist and the same gloves too. He had a strong square jaw that made Sebastian think of muggle soldiers, and there were numerous scars crisscrossing across the thick arms, showing under his rolled-up sleeves.

A part of Sebastian wondered if he would eventually look... like that, after working here for a while. Would Ominis and the Keeper like that? If he had big muscles to touch? It would be pretty cool if he could carry Ominis bridal style one day.

Catching Sebastian's curious eyes, Jason grinned broadly and strode towards him, saying. “Hey there, Sebastian, right? I'm glad to see the gear fits! I thought it should - from your shoe and glove sizes - but one can never really know in the wizarding world.”

Jason chuckled as he offered his hand for a shake, and Sebastian couldn’t help but feel some relief at seeing a gesture he knew how to respond to. Standing and taking the hand, Sebastian smiled. “So, I have you to thank for the gear. You have my gratitude, I must admit, I'm surprised to see another human.”

At his words, the three goblettes on the couch began to snicker and Jason chuckled as he released Sebastian's hand. “Not quite, I'm a werewolf.”

Sebastian's eyes widened and Jason gave him a rueful smile. “The Ministry doesn't make it easy for my kind to make an honest living, Master Borgok was kind enough to give me a chance when he saw the craft I was trying to sell.”

Sebastian followed the werewolf's grateful gaze to the goblin in question, and Borgok shrugged. “I didn't have enough coin on me, so I offered to teach him, in exchange for what I needed to buy. Saved me the embarrassment of showing up to my mother’s without a gift.”

“Luckily for me.” Jason chuckled. “I trusted his word and let him leave with the artpiece, even though I was raised to see goblins as uncivilised. And it was the best decision I've ever made.”

“We simply see no point in denying merit when we see it. Effort should always be met with equal appreciation, and it is an insult to give more - or less - than fair, in exchange for work.” Borgok paused with a bitter smile. “That's all we ever wanted from Wizardkind, to be viewed with the appropriate recognition for our hard work and efforts. But humans value results over effort. I will never understand such a way of thinking.”

Sebastian felt something clench in his chest at those words, that's right, that's all he ever wanted too. For his uncle to respect him, for his efforts to be recognised. Did it matter if he failed? He was trying. Could Solomon not see that? Did he not care? Sebastian could have had everybody in Hogwarts admire him and it wouldn't have been a substitute for his uncle's recognition and support.

He bit his lip, heart aching, until he thought of the Keeper. They hadn’t given a fuck when he failed, and so spectacularly at that. They saw how much he cared, how hard Sebastian was always trying. Always. Trying to be strong and confident, trying to look and feel like he knew what the fuck he was doing. Perhaps it would hurt less if he could just show his honest feelings without need for hiding, like the goblins did.

They may look scary, but their hearts weren't very different from his own, it seemed.

Maybe it wasn’t so strange that Ranrok's Loyalists were all goblin men, they were the ones who had to endure humanity's farces and toxic masks. It made Sebastian feel a strange guilt, that those goblins had just been infected by human poison. The same poison he himself had been choking on. He'd been taking his anger out on people who were in the same boat that he'd been in for years.

“Because the goblin way makes sense.” Loleu muttered, flipping a page on her clipboard and pulling a... pen, out of the mess pretending to be a bun on her head, to scribble something on the clipboard. “Jason made an excellent recovery and great progress under our care.”

“My dear, you'll make me blush.” Jason grinned sheepishly.

“Maybe I want to.” Loleu tossed back with a smirk, as she shoved her pen back into her bun.

“Urk- gross. Yer flirting'll give me hives.” Melain stuck out her tongue and Rozen snickered.

“It's not flirting, get your head outta the gutter.” Loleu rolled her eyes. “So, what's the plan, Master Smith?”

Borgok cleared his throat. “Yes, first, let me introduce my Masters.”

Sebastian sat up a little straighter and followed Borgok's palm as he gestured from the left to the right.

“Rozen is the Master in charge of Raw Materials, she handles refining and smelting raw ore from the mines, for use in forging.” The blonde goblette gave him a rather unsettling grin, but Sebastian bowed his head respectfully. He was just going to have to get over his discomfort, Jason managed, he could too.

“Jason is the Forging Master, he manages our forgers and they handle the conversion of ingots into the rough designs my team and I develop.” The large werewolf waved cheerfully, and Sebastian grinned back at him, he had a feeling the man would be a fun teacher.

“Melain is the Finishing Master, her team makes the finishing touches on every piece of work that leaves the forges. Engraving, polishing and all the detailed work.” The brunette goblette gave him a curt nod and he already felt like she would be the scariest teacher in the group.

“And finally, Loleu, our Tools Master, ensures that our forge is running around the clock. Maintaining or replacing any machinery or tools necessary for us to work.” The bespectacled goblette didn't even look up from her clipboard, simply sending a small wave in his general direction.

With the introductions done, Sebastian glanced at Borgok who moved his hand towards the blonde goblette, saying. “So, for starters, I'll be handing you off to Rozen, she'll introduce you to her line of work, before handing you over to the next Master.”

The blonde goblette sighed and stood. “Come on then, lad. Time's a wastin’.”

Giving Borgok a nod of farewell, Sebastian followed Rozen out of the room, his earlier trepidation returning as he did, still not entirely sure what to expect.

Returning to Borgok's office four hours later, Sebastian rapped his knuckles on the brass door and waited for Borgok's invitation. “Come in.”

Dutifully pushing the door open and poking his head inside, Sebastian saw the Master Smith scribbling on some papers at his desk, and Borgok spared him a glance, before returning his attention to his work. “Please take a seat on the couch, I'll be ready to speak with you in a few minutes.”

“Yes, Master Smith.” Sebastian nodded as he closed the door behind him and took a seat on one of the couches, slumping into the low cushion with a tired sigh. Merlin, that had been more exhausting than he'd expected.

His long tour had begun with Rozen had showing him to the Refinery Chambers, which - contrary to their name - were not mere chambers, but in fact expanded rooms so large that he wasn't even able to see the ceiling.

The Sifting Chamber held mountains, and he meant mountains of reddish-brown grains of iron, silver and gold. Apparently, they would grind up the raw ore transported from the mines and then use magnets to sift the iron from the dirt, and large gallons of water to wash dirt from gold and silver.

Rozen had given him a mask to wear over his nose and mouth, so he wouldn't choke on the fine dust, and Sebastian had commented that that would be a rather... fine way to die. Which had earned him a round of laughter from the crew nearby and a couple of hearty slaps on the thigh from Rozen. Which kind of hurt.

The Chemical Chamber had been rather pungent but was apparently vital to cleaning impurities from the precious metals between the various phases of smelting. Said connected Smelting Chamber had been extremely hot, enough that he could feel the burn on his skin despite the protective charms on his gear, and Rozen had told him that the temperatures in the coke coal forges reached almost half the heat of the sun's surface itself, according to recent muggle findings.

Sebastian had been admittedly awestruck when Rozen handed him a monstrously heavy ingot of pure gold, he'd almost dropped the tiny thing when she first passed it to him. However, the most exciting part of that hour had been watching the first phase of the process of enchanting the silver ingots to convert them into Goblin Silver.

Apparently, goblins could hear something that humans couldn't, or at least Sebastian hadn't heard shit when Rozen tapped a silver ingot with her hammer and went. “Ya hear that? When the silver sings like that, ya know it's good fer enchantin’.”

She'd tossed the ingot into a crucible with moonstone, before removing her glove and pricking her finger with a needle from her pocket, adding a drop of her own blood to it. Before handing Sebastian a stack of already cooled enchanted silver ingots, which had a blue sheen reminiscent of moonstone itself, to carry with him to his next stop.

He'd been relatively unsurprised by the addition of goblin blood to the mixture, their race had always been the least unsettled by blood magic.

Then, she'd dropped him off at Jason's forge, where the man had happily invited Sebastian to watch him forge a shield that'd been commissioned for a noble family, from the ingots that Sebastian had carried over. The werewolf had shown him how to get an ingot safely clamped between tongs and slide it over the burning coal furnaces to heat the metal evenly, before it could be hammered into the appropriate shape.

It had been rather amusing, how excited Jason had been to introduce one of the newer machines in the forge.

Apparently, the Power Hammer was based off a state-of-the-art piece of muggle machinery, it linked a spinning clutch with a hammer that would bounce on leather springs once engaged. It had been invented by a muggle designer named Christopher Bradley only a year ago, and Jason had chuckled as he described how enraged Borgok had been that a muggle had out-designed him with such a brilliant tool. One that would significantly reduce the amount of magic needed to power the process.

The werewolf had instructed Sebastian to lower his face shield as he hammered the metal into shape, folding it several times to improve its durability.

Sebastian had then asked, as Jason hammered away without anything protecting his face. “Why aren't you using a face shield?”

“Because I know what I'm doing.” Jason had answered with a grin.

“I'm a quick learner.” Sebastian hadn't been able to resist shooting back.

“That's what Greg said.” Jason had laughed, before turning to the side and shouting to be heard over the hammering of metal. “Hey Greg!”

“What?” Came the reply from one of the goblins nearby, who'd lifted his own face shield to reveal a large scar over his left eye.

“Tell the kid how you lost your eye!” Jason had called back.

The goblin cackled and flashed the wide-eyed Sebastian a sharp grin, shouting back. “Corner o’ coolin’ metal snapped off while hammerin’ and flew in me face!”

At his words, Sebastian had eyed the red-hot metal that Jason was hammering warily, and the werewolf cheerfully added. “Besides, if I mess up and injure myself, that's fine. But if I mess up and injure you, well, bugger me. So, keep that shield down.”

He wasn't sure if this was all a joke, but Sebastian kept his face shield down till Jason handed him off to Melain. Who quickly gave Sebastian her own variation of the same warning and told him to stay outta her way while she finished scraping, polishing, and engraving a goblet of goblin silver.

He'd watched with fascination as she sang in Gobbledegook under her breath, while etching little runes that glowed under her chisel. This was apparently the last step in enchanting Goblin Silver, which was why Jason was able to handle forging, despite not being a goblin. The main components were goblin blood, added during the smelting, and then runes charmed with goblin song and etched by goblin hands.

Sebastian was slightly disappointed that it wouldn't be possible for him to just make Goblin Silver for the Keeper, but he supposed if it were that simple, it wouldn't be so damn rare and expensive.

The blonde goblette hadn't given him much instruction or introduction, so focused she'd been on her work, but he'd found it enlightening to watch her all the same. While the Raw Materials were taxing and laborious to refine repeatedly, and forging required both immense strength and aim, finishing was no less difficult, and demanded intense focus and finesse. Not to mention, the amount of pressure there must be on the finishers to not waste all the work that had already gone into an item.

Loleu had dropped by to pick him up, correctly guessing that Melain was too caught up in her craft to remember his existence, and the black haired goblette had brought him to her workshop. Which... looked like an absolute nightmare. Machinery laid about in varying states of disrepair, an entire stack of spanners and hammers, a pile of screws and bolts was heaped in one corner, with another pile of nuts and gears in the other.

The messy room was apparently the equivalent of a spare parts scrap pile, and Sebastian had thus discovered - when Loleu asked him to pick up a handful of nuts for her - that the necklace of keys hanging around his neck would stay plastered to his chest even if he leaned forward. Which explained why he heard no jangling from the keys.

Loleu had then, absentmindedly told him that the necklace was charmed to stay against his chest so that the keys and chain would not get caught in any machinery or grinders, which would be quite... bad. Sebastian had swallowed at the unsettling thought, and then wondered if the goblette had a second pair of eyes hidden in her hair, since she'd been staring at her clipboard the entire time.

He'd watched as a seemingly endless stream of goblins came into the room, one after the other, to ask for a specific sized screw or nut or a size-sixteen Box-Head Ratcheting spanner or a replacement for a Steam-Powered Mechanical Trip Hammer Piston Assembly. Whatever the hell that last one was.

And every single time, she would simply check her clipboard or skip it entirely and just walk to one of the many piles of scrap, rummage through it for a moment, before returning with the requested item. She'd occasionally ask one of the other goblins in the room to retrieve something from storage, but the sheer amount of things that that goblette seemed to remember herself was somewhere between impressive and daunting.

Sebastian had made a mental note not to let any secrets slip around her. All in all, an exhausting four hours and he felt like, while he'd gotten a good look at what the work here entailed, he still wasn't sure where he fit in all this.

“Alright, my apologies, I had to get these signed as soon as possible.” Borgok sighed, catching Sebastian's attention, and he watched as the goblin set aside his quill, before placing the stack of parchment on a tray. “Come, take a seat.”

Sebastian dutifully made his way to the desk, while Borgok pressed several buttons on the side of the tray and the stack of papers vanished in a shimmer of gold particles.

“So, tell me, how was the tour?” Borgok smiled as Sebastian sat down.

“Incredible really, I never realised so much went into even just preparing the materials to be used.” Sebastian answered, thinking of the construction they'd done on the castle. “I've done conversion of metal ore into usable materials, but only with magic and on a much smaller scale.”

“Yes well, it's less practical to use magic for mass production on the scale Gringotts requires for minting and crafting.” Borgok's smile became bitter. “It also doesn't help that we're denied wands that would make using magic for mass production less dangerous for my goblins.”

Sebastian grimaced at the reminder of the role his people played in the oppression of the goblins, before frowning. “Dangerous?”

“Yes. The amount of magic needed to control fire at the heat of coke coal for example, would strain any goblin's magic and it would only take a slight loss of concentration for it to go wild.” Borgok explained. “A more extreme scenario would be, if an atmosphere change caused the amount of necessary magic to increase while the goblin is already tired, it could require them to strain themselves past magical exhaustion. It's just not practical without wands.”

“I see.” Sebastian nodded slowly. “That's why there isn't much use of magic in the process."

“That is one reason, yes.” Borgok smiled wryly. “Another is familiarity with the Material. And indeed, I was very impressed that you'd managed to craft a blade entirely with magic, but no doubt you noticed that the quality of your metal was nowhere close to the ingots we craft.”

Sebastian blinked. “I thought that was because I was inexperienced.”

“That is not entirely accurate.” Borgok shook his head. “Wizarding magic is capable of... short-cutting a great deal. But a problem that comes with being introduced to crafting by the use of magic, is that you don't learn enough about what you're working with first.”

Sebastian's expression must have shown his confusion, because Borgok chuckled and elaborated. “Essentially, a wizard who already knows how to make a good table, can find a way to make a good table with magic. However, if you simply learn the spell from him, without first knowing how to make a good table, your table will not be as good as his.”

Oh, that made more sense, Sebastian nodded thoughtfully, that was not unlike what Professor Weasley taught about transfiguration.

“In that scenario, the quality of goblin smithing, and even muggle smithing, will always be superior, because knowledge and experience informs what you can do with magic.” Borgok concluded. “There is a difference between lazily enforcing your will on reality, as Wizardkind do, versus moulding reality by working with it, as we goblins do.”

Sebastian hummed thoughtfully, perhaps he should redo the metalwork for the dungeon cell doors, once he was better at forging. The Keeper had done woodwork during their time in the workhouses, so they'd been relatively confident about the wooden doors they'd crafted after additional research and Rackham’s guidance.

However, Sebastian had handled the metalwork for things like torch holders and cell doors, and while it was probably enough that the metal wasn't breakable with inmates’ bare hands, he would feel better having done his best to improve them.

“And that's why you want me to learn all the aspects of forging.” Sebastian nodded.

“Correct.” Borgok gave him an approving grin. “I chose to teach Jason forging because I saw in his art, the hard work, dedication and meticulous attention to detail necessary for a forger.”

The goblin jabbed a finger at Sebastian. “And I chose you, because I saw in that dagger the resourcefulness and determination to make do with what little you have. Your dagger did no more and no less than what you needed it to do, with the bare minimum in skill, experience and materials. That efficiency and creativity is necessary for a designer.”

Borgok grinned, lifting his chin with a touch of pride. “Design comes before everything else. It is the stage where we decide what an object can and will do, whether it is going to be a cursed helm or a blessed goblet. It is where we decide what runes and enchantments will be woven into it.”

With every word, Sebastian felt his heart climb up into his throat, he hadn't thought it possible for him to feel quite so excited about anything besides Dark Arts. The doors of possibility had never felt quite as wide, could he one day even make something like the relic himself? Hang on...

“And that's why Gringotts is partnered with the Ministry overseeing the Curse Breakers!” Sebastian exclaimed in understanding. “Because goblin craft intersects with the enchantment of physical objects!”

Borgok nodded with a pleased curl to the corners of his eyes. “Indeed, there are none quite as skilled in the enchantment of objects as we are, and thus, reverse engineering it is also our expertise. My Design team works closely with the Curse Breakers to break the curses on tombs or objects they attempt to retrieve.”

Sebastian felt like he was close to vibrating in his seat and had to take a breath to calm himself. Alright, he couldn’t screw this up. He was going to be the best damn student Borgok ever had.

“And that's why you asked if I like reading.” Sebastian chuckled, that had been the strangest question the goblin had asked him while discussing his apprenticeship in the Phantom's Flask.

Borgok flashed him a sharp grin. “Design is a highly theoretical field, if you were hoping to get jacked like Jason, you better tell me now, lad.”

Sebastian shook his head with a snicker. “I'm all for reading and calculations. No worries there.”

“Good.” Borgok nodded and pushed a stack of books across the table. “I think that is good enough for today. I'd like you to read these whenever you have time, and when you are experienced enough, I will introduce you to my Design team. I look forward to monitoring your progress, and I'll see you in my office again next week.”

The goblin raised a hand towards him, and Sebastian took it firmly, his eyes bright as he shook hands with his mentor. This was his path, he just knew it. He would become useful to the Keeper, and maybe even find a way to break Anne's curse if the Keeper's Ancient Magic didn't manage to.

His future had never been so bright.

“Sebastian, could you pass me a jar of E-Pain?” The Keeper asked as they fastened the empty Energy collar around Frederick's neck, before doing the same with the equally empty energy armlet, around his upper arm. Hoping to discover the differences between the collar and the armlet with today’s tests on the man.

“Here you go.” Sebastian chirped, tossing them the jar from the pack beside him before returning his attention to the book balanced in his left hand.

The Keeper eyed him with amused fondness in their heart, which book was this one? Minerals From The Mine-rails... presumably about mined minerals. Their adorable lover had been positively jubilant since his first lesson with Borgok, he'd spent the entire dinner last night and breakfast this morning, babbling about his tour and the books he'd been given to read, and he'd been reading every free moment since.

Ominis had told them not to expect anything coherent out of the brunet for the next two days, and he'd been quite correct. Sebastian had been following the Keeper from one place to another, like a duckling, his nose buried in his books. It was nice seeing his impressive dedication on display again and they'd found it cute that he still wanted to join them for their experiments.

Which was quite alright, since they were still in the process of confirming the collar's functions, they weren’t likely to need his mind present.

Though it was frustrating that, through all this time, the Keeper had only made progress increasing the amount of energy they could extract without tearing the Aura. Going from being able to extract a fraction of a needle's pain to being able to extract two needles worth, and even then, that was only because their skill and finesse had improved, not because they'd found a better method.

Then again, Isidora had been a bloody Hogwarts Professor who'd dedicated her entire life to refining this extraction process for mass usage, and she'd given up on preventing Aura tearing. Then again, she hadn't even noticed the tears.

The Keeper sighed, whatever. That was a problem for later, for now they had to continue testing, so they'd be ready for the big Macnair overload test. That was going to eat into their miniscule stash of C-Pain substantially, but hopefully its significantly greater potency will make that small stash go a long ways. Perhaps they might even figure out how Aura tears worked at the same time.

With that, they drew the E-Pain from the jar and inhaled it, closing their eyes and instructing the energy to inject three seconds’ worth if he disobeys instructions. They'd already confirmed that the collar's instructions could be overridden by adding newly Aligned energy - of any quantity - to an already Aligned energy pool, this included instructions to ‘return to neutral’.

Which made it less worrying that they might accidentally contaminate their Repository, at least they could simply revert it to Unaligned by overriding it. Still, they would try not to mix Aligned Energy with their main Repository altogether, so that they would never have to find out of quantity did make a difference on too large a scale.

Exhaling the Aligned energy, they lowered it into the collar and the man flinched as they did so, though he seemed more wary than panicked today, perhaps he had forgotten his fear of pain. No matter, he would no doubt remember soon. Then they extracted a tiny sliver of E-Pain from the jar and added it to the energy armlet this time, without Aligning it.

“Now, Mr. Taylor, do you feel the warmth around your arm?” The Keeper asked idly, and he nodded slowly. “I want you to imagine the warmth as mist and picture yourself breathing it in.”

“Why-” He'd barely gotten the word out, when he was injected by the collar.

“Do it, or you will experience more pain.” The Keeper cocked an eyebrow at him and the trembling man gasped for breath a time or two, before closing his eyes and taking a slower breath.

The Keeper watched with interest as the armlet emptied and, when he opened them, the man's eyes glowed red for a brief moment, a goofy expression of bliss on his face. Ew, gross.

“What- what was- what was that? Can- can I have more-” Frederick stammered, and they glared at him.

“Did you respect your elf's request for more food?” The Keeper asked rhetorically. “What makes you think I'd respect yours?”

They felt some satisfaction when he flinched, and - itching to hurt the man rather than give him anything remotely pleasurable - an idea popped into their head. It was worth testing out, so they inhaled a sliver of E-Pain, instructing it to inject immediately, before exhaling it and placing it in the armlet, rather than the collar.

The man jolted in pain as soon as the energy entered the armlet, fascinating. So, the armlet could allow both absorption and injection, whereas the collar could only allow injection. They wondered what the difference was, and they took a breath as they thought, before it occurred to them, perhaps it was like that.

After all, there was a difference between breathing willingly and at one's own pace, versus having air forced down the throat. Or as with water, one could be thirsty, but would absolutely still choke if someone just sprayed water into their mouth. Perhaps the same applied to the energies, which would explain why the Fear-Pill they'd given Selwyn hadn't boosted his reflexes, only caused him to enter a waking nightmare, because they'd forced it down his throat.

That made sense, though in that case, what about Aligned energy that isn't being forcefully injected?

The Keeper extracted another sliver of E-Pain and inhaled it, instructing it to inject if subject leaves the cell. Then they placed it into the armlet and gave the man a glare when he flinched. “You're lucky I need to test this further, take a breath again.”

Relief coloured his face and Frederick took another breath and, as expected, the energy was absorbed painlessly this time. So, it was possible to absorb Aligned energy as long as it hadn't been instructed to inject, like drinking water from a rushing river by scooping the water into one's hands, perhaps.

They wondered how that might work with the Imperius curse, so the Keeper drew their wand and cast. “Imperio.”

With the man safely under control, the Keeper added another sliver to the armlet and instructed him to absorb it. The energy disappeared from the armlet accordingly, so the Imperius could force someone to absorb-

“Ugh- what-” Frederick groaned, and the Keeper frowned as they felt him break free from the curse. Interesting, E-Pain could increase one's resistance to the Imperius curse? Perhaps because the positive effect of that energy was a boost in magical capability?

Well, while that might cause some complications during Macnair's test, it was good to know, and as of yet, it didn't seem likely to pose an issue. Now, was there anything else they'd needed to test? The Keeper wondered to themselves, and their eyes wandered the cell as they thought, before catching sight of Sebastian, nose still buried in his book, and they recalled his suggestion of using Fredrick’s own pain in the collar.

“Hm, worth a try.” The Keeper murmured, how would they go about it though? Thinking for a moment, they remembered the note they'd found sitting on Frederick's bedside table when they'd ransacked his room, signed off by one Vanessa. Likely the woman he'd been cheating on his wife with.

No surprise really, the Keeper had a hard time imagining anyone being attracted to this guy, perhaps that might be a sore spot worth prodding.

“That reminds me, Mr Taylor, I dropped by the apothecary you worked at, this fine Monday morning. Seems like nobody's wondering where you are.” The Keeper commented idly, watching the man as he stiffened. “Thanks to you stumbling from the Rowdy Rogue drunk last Friday, your boss thinks you might’ve frozen to death on the way home.”

They flashed him a smirk. “I doubt anyone's going to be looking for you, and it's not like you have someone waiting for you back home, after your girlfriend dumped you. Vanessa, right? How sad, to leave your wife, only to lose your dear Vanessa when the coin ran dry.”

The man flinched, and, pressing their wand to his chest, the Keeper drew a stringy blob of red black smoke from his heart. Nice, that hadn't taken much effort. Now, hopefully-

The Keeper felt a sudden burst of heat travel up their wand, so searing that they almost dropped it, and they watched with wide eyes as the strand of E-Pain they'd been extracting from his Aura, seemed to burst into flame. Orange embers chased the energy up from his chest, engulfing the smoky bubbles and turning it into a bright golden thread.

“Sebastian- pass me an empty jar!” The Keeper called as they lifted the orange energy away from Frederick.

Startling at their sudden command, Sebastian almost dropped his book, but quickly caught it and shoved it under his arm. Before following their instructions, grabbing an empty jar and opening it for them to lower the orange energy into.

He stared at it in wonder and murmured. “What is that? It looks almost like smelted gold.”

“I- I'm not sure. It started as E-Pain-” The Keeper breathed, also leaning closer to examine it with curiosity.

As they did so, the jar of E-Pain in their hand was unintentionally brought closer to the jar of orange energy. There was a clink as the glass of both open jars made contact, and to their alarm, the E-Pain promptly burst into orange flames as well.

“Oh, cool, now we have more.” Sebastian quipped with a grin, before frowning. “Wait, that’s not good, is it.”

“No, it isn’t.” The Keeper agreed and took a few steps away from their satchel. “Come here Sebastian, I think it's proximity, we can't let the rest of my E-Pain or C-Pain catch fire too.”

“What do you think it is?” Sebastian asked as he followed dutifully, eyeing the orange-hued gold in the container. “It feels hot, I can even feel it through the jar.”

“Indeed...” The Keeper murmured, examining their contaminated jar. “I was jabbing at his painful memories of his girlfriend dumping him, and it was definitely E-Pain when I extracted it, but it turned into… this, halfway through extraction.”

Sebastian's expression was thoughtful for a moment, before he suggested. “What if it's anger? I mean, I can imagine him being angry at her betrayal.”

“And anger feeds off pain!” The Keeper nodded. “That makes sense, that's why it turned this jar too, anger is contagious and burns through any other emotion. Hm, we'll need to store them in different places then...”

“I wonder what effects this'll have.” Sebastian gave them an impish grin and the Keeper chuckled, holding up their jar with a smirk.

“Only one way to find out...”

Notes:

In this chapter, Sebastian shows a lot of the results of the slow growth he’s made over the course of this story, overcoming his racism against goblins and stepping out from under the Keeper's wing to begin forging his own path. There is a fine balance to strike between feeling nervous about messing up and determination. Kids struggle with that balance.

And finding maturity is sacrificing enough of one's excitement and immersion in something, in order to be cautious and continue to examine the situation from an oversight perspective. It's not a fun feeling, but it's necessary in order to not fuck up. And the difference between a child and an adult is that an adult knows what it means to feel accountable for one's actions and the impact it makes on your loved ones.

At the same time, one must be careful not to let fear stop them either. Too much oversight distance and one might lose the sense of investment and flee before anything can even be attempted. This is equally as bad as throwing all cares to the wind, though it may not appear to be as immediately dangerous as the dangers of having too little fear.

Fear of failure/loss is slow corrosion, but no less destructive than blind fearlessness. This fear of loss is the one I fail at a lot aha ha ha- But, like every teacher has said; Please, do as I say, not as I do x'D

And a thing that I hope people, particularly parents, guardians and mentors can come to understand, is that there is no replacement for you. A child's love for the person who raised them is one of the few bonds that don't go anywhere, even if they feel betrayed by said parents/guardians/mentors. Betrayal hurts because love is there.

Even if a kid cuts contact with their parent, it's not because they stopped loving their parent, it's because they still love their parent, that's why they have to cut contact, because when betrayed, love causes pain. And it doesn't go away. Ever.

The deepest cut a parent can give, is to hurt a child, then blame the child for forcing them to inflict hurt, and then declare that the child doesn't love said parent because the child isn't changing/able to change.

A good parent/guardian/mentor seeks to discover (through observation and conversation with the child, and research on patterns) what a child needs and form fit their approach to each individual child. You may not successfully discover it, we are human and not all knowing, but a child can feel effort.

My mom never discovered what I needed, she was simply not equipped to do so and like porcupines huddling together in the cold, there was much hurt on both sides, until I found it myself. But she tried her best to not make my pain worse and provide what she could, until I found what I needed. So, while she already had my love, through effort, she earned my eternal respect.

Love is given and will always exist once a child has formed a bond with the person/people who raised/care for them. Respect is another thing altogether, that one must be earned. Through a willingness to be vulnerable and honest to those who need you and rely on you. Acting strong, tough and all-knowing like Solomon only hurts those who love you and costs you their respect.

"I will do what's best for you, even if it hurts you. You can hate me, but I'll do right by you." This self-martyring bullshit is just arrogance and self-satisfaction. It only leaves a scar that will never fade and if you don't put in the effort to communicate, they'll learn the lesson the hard way anyway because they don't respect you. You need to earn respect first.

As for the world building in this chapter, my partner is an engineer and works in a semiconductor company, so I used everything I've learnt from their yapping about their work supplemented with the good ol' research mwahahaha

And hopefully you guys like my rationale for why we don't see female goblins in the Potterverse, the culture, and the new OCs! The OCs not gonna be suuuuper prominent in the story, I don't think, but eh, we'll see... xD Some of them have quirks from my partner's whacky colleagues, art imitates life and all that, my partner and I often joke that our lives could make a decent romcom slice-of-life show xP

Put the two of us and my childhood bestie in a room and you have the most writable trio-of-main-characters dynamic, with my stoic unflappable bestie's deadpan commentary, my insane bouncy and random partner, and my passionate speeches and lame jokes. Speaking of which, I hope everyone's been enjoying the puns in my book titles, I love doing that haha-

[samobservessonic]

We open this issue on a bunch of badniks tormenting a young boy called Tufftee, because like in the early Archie comics, the badniks could talk when the plot requires them to. Once they introduce a larger villain roster, there’ll be less call for them to talk Regardless, Tufftee is interesting because he’s the younger brother of a much better-known Sonic character…

…Sally Acorn!

Now, I’m a big fan of Sally in general, so I’ve been looking forward to getting to this story, which I didn’t realise would turn up so quickly. She only actually appears at the beginning and end of the story, but she’s here! It’s Sally! I also find it a funny coincidence that over five years later, Sally would also be given a brother in the Archie Comics, albeit an older brother called Elias. Now, I do genuinely think that these two characters were made wholly independently of each other and their creators probably didn’t even knew the other character exists (especially since I believe this is Tufftee’s only appearance), but it’s just kind of wild that out of all the characters to randomly give a brother to, both comics chose Sally

Anyway, after Tails rudely awakens Sonic (who is less than happy about that), Sally reveals that her brother wanted to play hero like Sonic and borrowed a pair of his old power boots, which Sonic thinks could still contain a bit of his power. Sonic races off before Tails has a chance to ask what to do and then we get the usual page of Sonic racing through zones, doing action hero stuff. I don't really talk about these parts as much, but I like that they include them as a “this is Sonic doing stuff like he does in the games” thing Speaking of stuff from the games, it’s only a cameo here, but we get our first appearance of the Special Zone:

Now, in StC, the Special Zone has a narrative importance that it doesn’t have in most other Sonic spin-offs. It’s treated as a place within itself and it’s also home to the Chaotix of all people, but we’ll get to that later. For now, Sonic has Tufftee to save

Which he achieves easily enough. We get a few pages of Tufftee being tormented by the badniks, before Sonic comes along to defeat them and rescue him. I love that one of the critters in that panel above straight up looks like someone's pet cat

Tufftee manages to save Sonic at the last minute, which reassures him in his own mind that he’s a hero, even if Sonic isn’t very enthusiastic about it. Also, I didn’t post this panel, but there was a part earlier on where we see that Tufftee couldn’t control the speed that the shoes magically granted him, as a little “there’s more to being Sonic than just going really fast”

We end this issue with the siblings being reunited and Sonic bluntly taking his shoes back from Tufftee, with the warning that they only work for him. Like I said before, I don’t believe we see Tufftee again after this? I can understand why, since StC already has Tails as the younger character working hard to prove himself to his hero, so we don’t need another character basically filling that same role in the comic. Even so, I like it when Tufftee appears with Sally in StC fanwork. Y’know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone make an AU where Sally has both her brothers, Tufftee and Elias, but idk I think it might be interesting? Sally has a lot of middle sibling traits already Also, to wrap us up, I just wanted to talk about the art here, which is a vastly different style to the first two issues. For this issue, we had Casanovas on art duty and, while I haven’t been posting about the non-Sonic stories, this more-detailed style is actually closer to the high-fantasy styles used in the other comics featured in StC at the time. It’s definitely a ‘your mileage may vary’ sort of thing, but I like it purely for the nostalgia of this era of StC. We’ll be seeing a lot more of the fantasy-setting angle in regards to Tails’s backstory at some point as well

[the-broken-truth]

Howdy! It's been along time and I have a request please! May I ask for Mother Miranda/and or Rosemary with a fem/reader who has perfect control over the Ouroboros virus. Sort of like Wesker in RE5. Not like his super speed and stuff since that came from not the Ouro Virus. The reader had been hunted by the B.S.A.A for so long that they can't take it anymore came to the village to die. Platonic Yan, Yan, or whatever you wish. I just like the idea of a reader that doesn't look threatening but is.

Thank you as always and have a nice day regardless. Love!

SORRY, I'M LATE! I'VE BEEN BUSY!

[In The Wilds Of The Romanian Village]

"Flank to the left! Target Alpha is getting away! Box her in!" The voice of a man called from behind me as I darted through the shallow snow - my shoes and the bottom of my pants legs gettings wet and weighing me down as I panted with my tears freezing to my face. I have been running for my life for the past few years ever since some dude named Albert Wesker made a virus called the Ouroboros Virus that broke out in Greece, where I happened to be vacationing at the time - people became monsters - Zombies, the living dead - and was attacked and bitten by one but I wasn't infected…well, I was to an extent but I had some kind of control over the virus in my system, and that made me a target for a lot of dangerous people - mainly an organization called the B.S.A.A also known as the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance run by a man that went by the name of Chris Redfield.

The same man that tore me away from everything that I knew and loved.

The same man who was chasing me right now in this forest in Romania.

My [Eye Color] Eyes were as wide as dinner plates, my mouth was completely ajar as my hot air became frozen once it hit the cold air. I turned around the corner of a rock wall only to come face to face with a rock wall!

"Damn!" I barked as I turned to come face to face with 10 armed men with their guns pointed at me. Instantly, my hands went up and panic filled my eyes as my tears flowed down my face. When a familiar voice hit my ears.

"Wait! Wait! [Name]? Is that you?" The voice called out as the person walked from the crowd and my eyes widened even more as I locked eyes with the female. Long blonde hair, wearing a black shirt with an oversized green-gray jacket and a black hat. She looked at me with blue eyes as the snow touched her pale skin - I knew this girl, I knew that face, I know that name.

"Rose? What are you doing here? Why are you with them?" I asked her as Rose walked over to me with concern on her face as I lowered my raised arms.

"I was raised by the B.S.A.A after my father died but what are you doing here? Why are they chasing you? Are you alright?" Rosemary asked me as she looked over to Chris who ordered her to return to his side but Rose just shook her head and turned to face me again.

"I was…something happened to me when I was in Greece and I have some kind of virus in my veins and they are after me after taking my family away from me," I said as I glared at Chris Redfield - who pointed his gun at me but Rose stopped between the gun and myself, this caused my soul to freeze. "Rose, what are you doing?!"

"Chris, you lied to her, why are you trying to get her when she isn't infected with the virus?"Rose asked the large man.

"She has the virus in her veins - she's able to control it, Rose, but what if she can't control it? There could be another outbreak and we won't let that happen; now, either capture her or get out of the way, Rosemary." Chris said as he advanced on me and Rose - I didn't want her to get hurt.

"Stop! I'll surrender if you promise not the harm Rose!" She was the only friend I had left in this world. That's what I wanted to say before I felt a pain in the back of my neck.

A Dart.

I reached up and yanked it out and looked at it before my world began spinning and my vision became blurry. I heard ringing in my ears, and Rose calling out for me before I fell face-first into the snow and closed my eyes - then, I knew no more.

[good-beanswrites]

So, uh, may I request a director's commentary on your attack against me?

Why do you do this to meeee (and masterminding everyone else!!) Lol, well thank you for the ask regardless -- drabble is under the cut with my little commentary in pink!

“Amane, you must – please – !” Shidou’s voice changed from pleading to an icy calmness. “Kazui, hold her still.” 

So uhh I made myself sad realizing that no one would speak respectfully to Amane in this state -- Shidou would either use a placating kid-voice or a completely detached doctor voice. Kazui and Mahiru would also be tempted to use a protective kiddy voice, or they just talk amongst themselves and not directly to her...

Amane struggled from his grasp, but there was no hope of success. Even if her little form stood a chance against Kazui’s strength, even if her uniform wasn’t locking her arms in place, she knew she would not manage to draw up any power with all this pain rocking through her body. Her chest stung so that she could hardly breathe. The throbbing from her right eye made her dizzy.

I'm pretty sure the pain would be so overwhelming that it would stop her on its own, but I wanted to point out that she has so many obstacles in her way -- it really does feel like everything in the universe is against her. I wanted to do a lot more with her relationship with her god in this piece (feeling like he isn't there because everything is against her) but it kept sounding detached from the action. I ended up focusing on her tangible relationships rather than spiritual ones

Through her spinning vision, she could see Fuuta nearby. She was struck with the selfish thought that she wished she couldn't. He looked awful. Shidou had rolled him over so he wasn’t lying facedown in blood, but it still clumped in his hair and over his eyes. His arm was stuck at an odd angle. 

RIP FUUTA SORRY I INCLUDED HIM DIEDED 😭 Though I did include it to drive home the fact that at this point, even though we the audience knows he makes it, Amane is convinced this is the end for him.

“No,” she gasped. “Stop…” 

It was unclear who she was commanding. Shidou? Fuuta? God? Maybe all at once. 

She doesn't blame Fuuta per se, but this and a later line hint that she sees him in control of his fate. She was taught that life or death has nothing to do with medicine -- it's willpower and spirit -- so she's urging him to live as if it's something he can control for her sake. Similarly, she's feeling like she can control her own safety, as long as she makes god happy in these moments (which she currently thinks she's failing at by "letting" Shidou do his work)

The room wobbled as a wave of pain washed over her. Shidou’s hands were around her face. Though seeking her eye, he may as well have been covering her mouth with how suffocating it felt. Amane shook her head violently back and forth in an attempt to stop him.

I love Shidou but he definitely needed to be painted very villainous in this. Amane isn't one of his typical patients, and what would be really comforting to anyone else (speaking with calm precision, having strong and unshakable movements, reassuring hands offering care) is really traumatizing to someone who sees it as condemnation to hell :(

There was the ceiling – then Shidou’s face, far too close – a blood-spattered wall – Fuuta’s ginger hair caked in blood – the ceiling – intense gray eyes – the wall – a broken arm – ceiling – scowling lips – wall – ginger fur caked in blood – ceiling – a screaming mouth – blood-spattered floor – a paw bent the wrong way – ceiling – green eyes filled with fire – 

Crazy about the cat parallels!!! She is reliving her dooming moment over and over again! She cannot escape her "mistake"!! She will forever be haunted by that day, and it's repeating itself a little too perfectly for her liking!! Oh hey do we know what color Ms Momose's eyes are? I figured green was a safe bet

A hand clamped down on her head to keep her still. Her vision swam. She released a cry of anguish. The others probably thought it was from the pain, but she knew how to bite her tongue through pain. No, this was utter frustration.

Obligatory reminder that she's used to physical abuse because I hate myself apparently. I also wanted to highlight that there's a big gap of understanding between her thoughts and everyone else's

Then came a glimmer of hope. An angel.

Mahiru stood over her. Amane only had so many people left in this world who treated her kindly, didn't lead her towards sinfulness... and weren’t beaten to death. With the recent turn of events, Mahiru may be the only one left. 

Between the cat, her mother, and Fuuta, this girl has witness a lot of bloody beatings :( It's impressive she still likes cute things and has fun, colorful dreamscapes seeing how dark things have been to this point in her life

There was some arguing as Mahiru was told to leave, but she convinced the others to let her stay by Amane’s side. She smiled, though tears streaked down both her cheeks.

“It’s alright. I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

That was it. Mahiru had been sent to save her. Everything would be alright.

Shidou’s tone was as cold as the disinfectant he was applying. “Tell her to hold still.”

Mahiru gave her a gentle nod. “Please, you have to listen to him.”

And just like that, the breath was knocked from her lungs. As quickly as her savior had come, she disappeared. Mahiru had turned against her, for the sake of that damned doctor.

Now Amane had nobody left in the world.

I'm still not sure if this part hit the way I wanted to, but at least writing it, I was struck with that gut-wrenching shock of betrayal. Mahiru, who always let other people stick to their beliefs and codes, is turning against her in her darkest moment.

She lashed out one last time before her injuries overtook her completely. Her adrenaline was receding.

“This is for your own good.”

It wasn’t. 

She’d experienced things for her own good. When her mother punished her, she’d repeat the reason for it over and over. When her father brought down his wrath, Amane knew exactly why he was doing so. Her teachers would ask her, when they’d finished giving out their discipline, if she’d learned her lesson. It made sense. It was fair.

Trying to build up a painful dissonance between making the reader think "yeah, this isn't for her own good!! Please, stop doing this to her!! She's right!!" and being plagued with "oh god that wasn't for her own good either... oh... she's not right about that..."

There was no lesson here. 

I was tempted to go into detail that technically Kotoko tried to offer a lesson, and drag the reader through all the awful things Kotoko told her while beating her up, but Amane wouldn't see that as a lesson, either, thinking she and Es are mislead. Including all that for no reason would have just ruined the flow of these paragraphs, but I was sad thinking of what she must have been yelling at Amane, much like her abusers...

One must work towards holiness. Amane had been working her whole life. She’d fought to learn from each punishment. She tried so hard to be good. But now, there was nothing to learn, nothing to strive for. There was nothing at all. Yuzuriha Kotoko was killing her, Kajiyama Fuuta was leaving her, Kirisaki Shidou was dooming her, Shiina Mahiru was betraying her, and there was absolutely nothing she could do. 

Hopelessness was a trial all on its own.

This last line read "Unfairness" until literally two minutes before I posted asdfsd. I was worried it was too melodramatic to say hopelessness, but unfairness kept bugging me since it was SUCH an understatement 😭I figured it was better to lean into the drama than not do her pain justice. I was already drilling it in with that last paragraph summary, so I wanted to keep saying things exactly as they were.

[xslytherclawx-writes]

BATTLESHIP ROUND UP

or "jesus fucking christ chaya how the everloving fuck did you write 78k in three weeks" (i don't know the answer to that. insanity, perhaps.)

fics are grouped by fandom (alphabetical), then by length. there are 29 of them. whoops.

fandoms: Bridgerton Series (Quinn), Cabots Series (Cat Sebastian), Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis), Harry Potter, Mad Men, Miraculous Ladybug (TV), Original Work, Spinning Silver, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The End of the Fucking World (TV), Yuri!!! on ICE

Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn

if i could paint paradise, it'd be you • Hyacinth/Gareth • Modern AU (part of my & kitsunerei88's existing modern American AU) • 1037 words • Rated E • Gregory just had to have a destination wedding. Gareth really isn't disappointed with how things turn out.

tell me darling, do you think we have a future? • Hyacinth/Gareth • Modern AU • 2103 words • Rated M • Hyacinth Bridgerton was not going to be another one of Gareth St. Clair's conquests.

Cabots Series - Cat Sebastian

peering through a window • Peter/Caleb • Time Travel AU • 1405 words • Rated T • Peter wakes up, not next to Caleb, but back in his bed in Cambridge.

Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis

blind dates and bourbon • Edmund/Aravis's Brother • Modern AU • Part of the Ren Faire AU • 1415 words • Rated T • Edmund isn't desperate.

a royal pleasure • Edmund/Caspian • Sequel to "a royal duty" • 1443 words • Rated T • Caspian is adjusting, but Narnia is still strange.

parallel worlds • Edmund/OMC • 2107 words • Rated M • Edmund wanted to tell him, really.

Domestic Policy • Edmund/Caspian • Modern AU • Part of the Model UN AU • 2833 words • Rated T • Edmund and Caspian have been together for five years – half a decade! – and sometimes Edmund still can't believe it.

Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling

drops in the bucket • Percy-centric • 845 words • Rated T • It starts off simple.

Love Matches • Neville/Luna • Victorian/Muggle AU • 1053 words • Rated T • Unlike most gentlemen of his station, Neville Longbottom is the product of a love match.

day after day (we still go on) • Neville/Luna; golden & silver trio • 1349 words • Rated T • After the war, they all live together. It's easier.

a helping hand • Sirius & Regulus • 1565 words • Rated G • Regulus is mostly anxious about starting Hogwarts, more than anything. Sirius helps him out.

you're the reason i can't sleep • Draco/Harry • 2733 words • Rated E • Draco didn't know why he ever thought this would be a good idea.

luck is just the half of it • Scorpius/Albus • 2962 • Rated E • Scorpius spends the entire first month worried that they’ll spoil their friendship. He’s worried about it until Albus pulls him aside to kiss him and tell him (affectionately) that he’s being an idiot. That they’re going to be together forever – as friends or boyfriends or whatever else. That what matters is they’re each other’s most important person.

conflicted looks good on me • Regulus/Barty; Regulus & Evan & Barty & Severus • 5457 words • Rated T • Regulus exchanged a look with Snape. Evan and Barty could be ridiculous, but Regulus was really quite fond of them regardless. Evan was right: Regulus would miss him once he graduated. He made a note to enjoy this year as much as possible. He had to savour it.

pull you from the tide • Regulus-centric • Regulus Lives AU • 10,000 words • Rated T • Regulus wakes on a beach.

Mad Men

damage control • Pete-centric • 1611 words • Rated T • Pete Campbell is a bona fide heterosexual.

Miraculous Ladybug

tying you to me • Lovesquare • 3743 words • Rated T • All the clues they didn't see. (or: for two smart people, Adrien and Marinette are both really stupid sometimes.)

Original Work

just double dare me (and i promise now that i'll stay) • OMC / OMC (scene4scene) • 3665 words • Rated E • They were best friends; they had been ever since Austin had moved there the year before. His hair had been purple back then; Skyler hadn’t been able to look away. And maybe Skyler thought he’d get over all of this eventually. Maybe he was failing fucking spectacularly.

Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik

the witch's get • Mirnatius/Irina • 1200 words • Rated E • Mirnatius knows what he must do on his one night as a free man.

a torturous inheritance • Mirnatius/Irina • 1224 words • Rated T • Mirnatius deserves love not at all.

keep me around to see what i'd endure • Mirnatius/Irina • 1321 words • Rated M • He falls a bit more in love with her each day.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

the tournament • Ahsoka & Anakin & Obi-Wan & Padmé • 1238 words • Rated T • Ahsoka found the ad. She was going to crush Lux Bonteri.

The End of the Fucking World (TV)

P.S. Good luck with everything • James/Alyssa • 1951 words • Rated T • Dear Alyssa, I don’t want to see you again, ever. Because of you, I killed someone. I can’t ever take that back and it’s made me hate you. So whatever you feel about me, you should know I don’t feel it in return. Please leave me alone. Sincerely, James. P.S. Good luck with everything.

so much time to figure out the rest of my life • James/Alyssa • 2010 words • Rated T • Alyssa gets help. [podfic (not by me) available here]

tonight feels impossible • James/Alyssa • 2307 words • Rated E • James and Alyssa have sex on the beach. It's not really romantic.

matching ten dollar tattoos • James/Alyssa • 3606 words • Rated M • There's never been anyone else for James. It's always been Alyssa.

if i went and hurt my body, baby, would you love me the same? • James/Alyssa • Soulbond AU • 3884 words • Rated E • James still can't walk, but Alyssa stays. He's pretty sure the soulbond has something to do with it.

just what it's like to be loved • James/Alyssa • 9025 words • Rated E • James doesn't write the letter to Alyssa.

Yuri!!! on ICE

in which yuri plisetsky breaks his ankle and yet does not learn to chill • Otabek/Yuri • 2804 words • Rated E • Yuri can actually hear the fucking crack.

[notasimpleslater]

I've been going back and rereading all of the articles that have come out since this whole mess began (at least the verified ones- TMZ, ET, the like) and while we're all on the same page that 99% of these sources are actually personal representatives from Ari/Ethan's teams to try and spin the whole story in their favour, I simply cannot believe how bad of a job they're doing of it, especially since Scooter Braun, the apparent ringleader of all of this, is so famous for controlling media -

-narratives for his clients. It truly seems to me that the PR teams would look at how people reacted to what was put out that day and then essentially try and say the opposite when the reaction wasn't good trying to win back public favour, and it wasn't even well hidden or disguised; I feel like literally everyone in the world can see what's going on and that everything that has come out from these 'sources' is nothing but damage control and trying to get a handle on the public's reaction. - -Ethan and Ari are dating, but the public reaction is bad? Ok, we'll say that they're on opposite sides of the country and can't see each other. People are calling that BS? Okay, they're still super in love and want to be together and would 'be seen together tomorrow' if they could be. The public think's that's gross and crass? Okay, they're 'taking amicable time apart'. People are ridiculing them for blowing up their families only to break up a few weeks after it goes public? Okay, their- -relationship is 'still progressing'. What's that? People are poking holes in that story? Okay, they actually haven't seen each other in weeks. What I'm saying is that it seems that they're waiting to see what the general consensus is and then crafting their story around that, which is unintentionally muddying the timeline even more and making them look worse. I don't appreciate how they keep treating us like we're stupid- at this point literally everybody knows that Ari's team- -if not also Ethan's is behind every 'source' coming out, though I will say it's interesting how every 'source' is going above and beyond to paint Ariana in this wonderful, gracious light and talk her up while sort of shitting on Ethan, but anyways. The mature, responsible thing to do (since they're claiming thats' what they're TRYING to do) would be for Ethan and/or Ari to come out and make a statement. But instead their PR teams think they can just trick us into believing what they want us to- -regardless of how unrealistic or unbelievable or outright easily disproven their version of events are. And at the end of the day, I'd expect this from the Grande camp but for all of Ethan's social justice and uprightism that he's displayed on social media I would hope that he wouldn't be content to just sit back and watch this all play out. I understand he may be limited on what he can/can't say and that he's got bigger priorities, but one word from him would reassure me that he hasn't just- -completely given into the Hollywood of it all and that he isn't just fine with everything that's been going on, so long as he gets what he wants.

Thank you for this ask, anon!

You're so right about how everyone can see right through these "sources" that are so clearly damage control. But I think it might be all Ari's team because 1. these articles keep making Ethan look worse, and 2. I don't think Ethan's team has as much power over the media as Ari's does. I think if anything Ethan's team is just advising him to keep quiet until further notice, and unlike certain people (*cough cough* Colleen *cough cough*) he's actually listening to that advice and not making the situation worse. And like I said in another post, he's gonna be in a big Broadway revival this fall, so he can't keep hiding forever. (I don't think Hollywood is gonna change his sense of social justice. This whole year he was reposting activism posts to his stories, and in the days leading up to the news breaking he was reposting stuff about WGA and SAG-AFTRA)

And yeah, I've said it from the very beginning that this whole situation has been handled so poorly. There's been so many differing timelines presented, and there's some things that I'm pretty the tabloids are just straight out making up. I'm honestly at the point where a part of me wants to just move on from this and enjoy watching Ethan in his "Spamalot" era, and the other part really wants more answers.