#trying to keep all my clots in but.... its. hard.

[yelloworangesoda]

im playing tainted eve wth c section and spirit sword so my game keeps crashing grggrgg

[awfulwriter123]

Babysitting (Rhea Ripley x Reader One-shot)

Hey everyone!! Quick thanks again for all the love and support! You guys are awesome ❤️. This idea hit while spending time with my niece earlier this week. Hope you guys enjoy, criticism, tips, blah blah blah you guys know that whole deal. Happy reading everyone!! ❤️❤️

Warning's: None just pure fluff. S/n = Sister's name, sh/n = sister's husband's name, n/n = niece's name

"Sit Barry!" You told Barry so you could put his and Luna's food bowls down so they can eat, When he finally sat down you put down the food bowl's to which Barry started eating like he hasn't in a week, while Luna just ate slow and calmly unlike her brother.

"I swear your spoiled, the lot of you." You sat down at the kitchen table for a second when you heard your phone ringing, expecting it to be your lovely girlfriend calling to tell you she landed and she should be home soon.

What you didn't expect, was it to be a call from you sister, you couldn't help the confusing smile to break out on your face, that didn't stop you from picking up the phone, could've been a emergency for all you know.

"Hey sis, something wrong?" You asked with slight concern in your voice. "What i can't call my sister and see how she's doing!? haha!" You caught the somewhat nervous laugh at the end of that sentence.

"Is everything okay s/n?" You were now very concerned thinking the worst. "No no no, everything's okay, i just wanted to call and ask a favor, if that's okay?" You breathed a sigh of relief that it was nothing bad, but now you were curious.

"Shoot s/n, what's up?" You heard shuffling on the other line guessing she was moving around or something. "Me and sh/n got some ticket's to a music festival and we wanted to know if you would be okay to watch n/n? mom and dad are going out for their anniversary tonight and you the only other adult who i trust with her honestly."

You let a grin come across your face that would put the grinch to shame, you LOVED your niece and spending time with her was always fantastic, so you didn't even think twice with your answer. "Yeah i can watch her, what time should i expect you guys to come back and get her?" You asked as you got up to tiddy up the house a bit, wasn't messy but you just wanted to be safe.

You heard s/n let out a sigh of relief. "Hopefully we'll be able to get her before midnight, with traffic and stuff its hard to tell. Can i come drop her off say 4:00 or 4:30?"

You looked at the clock 3:34. "Yeah that should be good, see you in a bit sis! Love ya!" "Love ya too, see you in a bit!" You hung up the phone and quickly got to making sure the house was nice and clean for when your niece got here.

~ Time Skip ~

" Hey roadrunner!" You quickly picked up your niece as she ran at you at full speed, it was easy to see why you gave the 2 year old that nickname.

"Hi auntie!!" She practically yelled while repeated kissing your cheek while you were laughing. "Okay! Okay! I get it you love me!" You said and she finally stopped and just put her head in the crook of your neck while giggling.

"Hey y/n!" You looked up to see s/n and her husband looking at you two with smiles on their face's. "Hey guys! How you doing sh/n?" "Im good, just trying to keep track of these two crackhead's" He said as he pointed at your sister and niece, to which he promptly got hit in the arm for by your sister.

"Oh shut up you still love us!" "Damn right!" He replied as he kissed her cheek and you rolled your eyes. "What sis jealous~?" "No, you two are just ridicules with how lovey dovey you are." They both laughed at that.

"Where's rhea at anyway, working?" Your sister asked as your niece picked her head up from your neck. "Rhe rhe!?" She said excitedly looking around. To which all you laughed at her eagerness to see her aunti 'Rhe rhe'

"Auntie Rhe rhe ain't home yet roadrunner, she should be here soon tho." Her face quickly lit up in excitement at that. "Okay we gotta get going, here's a bag of stuff, just some clothes and toy's for her to keep herself occupied, call if you need us or if anything happens alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, go have a good time love bird's i got her!" You laughed to them. They quickly said by to n/n and gave her kisses and waved by as they pulled out of the driveway as you walked back into the house with your niece still in your arm's. "Wanna watch monster's inc?" You've never seen anyone nod their head as fast your niece.

~Time Skip~

You sat on the couch sending a video of n/n running around with Barry and Luna to s/n. You didn't know how a 2 year old could have this much energy.

Now your niece was cuddle up into your side out of breath from running around with the dog's and watched the movie that was coming to a close here soon.

You looked at the clock reading 5:17. Rhea should be home any minute now. You didn't think that rhea would be upset that you said yes to watch your niece without asking her first, she said wwe were giving her some time off cause of how hard she was working lately. So you have a few more days together just the two of you.

Just as that thought left your head, the front door opened . The dogs jumping from their spot on the floor, and Barry barking like a madman. N/n quickly got up from her spot against you on the couch to take a quick peek around the corner to see who it was.

"Hey! Easy Barry, watch the nail's dude. God I need y/n to remind me to cut your nail's tomorrow." "Rhe rhe!!" Your niece quickly ran at rhea, effectively latching herself on to her leg's.

"Hey koala!! What are you doing here?" She asked as she unlatched n/n from her legs to pick her up and hold her. "My sister and sh/n wanted to go to a music festival, they didn't have anyone else to watch her, sorry. She have asked you first." You said sheepishly as you rubbed your arm nervously.

Those nervs all disappeared as rhea planted a quick kiss on your lips. "Hey it's alright, I dont mind watching her, don't worry your pretty little head babe." She smiled at you to which you gave one back.

The nice moment was ruined when you heard a low growl and n/n grabbed her stomach. "Hungry!" She said while pointing at her stomach to which you and rhea both laughed at.

"Let me see what i can make for dinner." You turned to walk to the kitchen, but stopped when rhea lightly grabbed your waist to put her front to your back. "Hey it's alright babe, let's just order pizza." N/n quickly threw her arms up in the air yelling. "PIZZA!!!" You chuckled lightly. "Alright alright, pizza it is." Rhea pumped her fist with a quick and quiet "Yesss!" Then her and n/n high fived.

"I can't even with you two." You shook your head while laughing at them, as you left to get you phone to order. "You still love me babe!" She said to as you walked away. "Keep telling yourself that ripley!" You replied, before you turned the corner to head to the living room all you heard was a. "What!?" From rhea, which caused you to giggle lightly.

~Time Skip~

You threw n/n's shirt she got dirty while eat into the laundry, seriously you did not know how a kid can get so messy while eating pizza. After doing that you walked back into the living room to sit on the chair to which Luna immediately sat at your feet as 'Cars" was playing on the tv.

You looked over to the couch to see rhea laying down with n/n on her chest cuddling into her, to which you smiled and took a quick picture. Rhea heard the click of your phone and turned her head to see your phone pointed at her, to which you took another quick photo.

"That's my new home screen." You said while giggling, to which rhea only smiled while gently shaking her head turning back to the movie. N/n laughing and giggling quietly as the movie played.

~Time Skip~

You didn't know how long you closed your eyes for as you yawned to look at your phone, 9:56. You would think that s/n and sh/n would be on their way here soon.

You turned your head to see rhea and n/n in the same position as you saw them last but this time, they are dead asleep. You quietly adn quickly took a quick photo on your phone and you got up and grab the blanket from the back of the couch to put over them so they were extra warm.

Your phone quietly buzzed in your pocket and you pulled it out to see a text from your sister. S/n: 'Be there in 45 minutes to get her. Hope she was good?' You quickly sent her the pictures you took earlier while replying. Y/n: 'She was great.'

~ Last Time Skip (Sorry for all these) ~

When you heard the car pull into the driveway, you quickly picked up n/n's bag, which you packed up for her, and walked over to where rhea and n/n were sleeping on the couch.

You decided to try and get n/n out rhea's arm's without waking her, as she looked like she need the sleep after working so many days in a row.

As you got n/n out of rhea's grasp you saw her flutter open and look at you take n/n from her arms. "Sorry babe, s/n and sh/n are here to pick her up. I didn't wanna wake you."

She sat up while yawing. "It's okay y/n, here i got her." She quickly took n/n back as she walked towards the front door and quietly opened it and you followed her out and saw s/n standing there smiling.

"Hey rhea, sis. Thank you guys so much for watching her." She gently took n/n from rhea's arms and gave her n/n's bag. When you three heard a whine and look towards n/n.

"Hi momma." She cuddled into her mom's neck. "Hey sweetie. Have good time with auntie rhe rhe and y/n?" She asked while rubbing her back.

N/n let out a quiet 'Mhm' while nodding her head. She looked towards you and rhea and asked in her tired voice. "Can i come over again tomorrow?"

You and rhea both laughed lightly, rhea walked up her and gently rubbed her back while asking. "How about make a next weekend, Okay?" N/n excitedly shook her head yea while s/n laughed lightly.

"That's alright with me lemme talk with sh/n and we'll plan it?" "Sound's good!" You replied with a smile on your face. As they pulled out of the driveway you and rhea waved as they drove off.

You two went back into the house and started heading upstair's to your shared bedroom. "I didn;t know you loved babysitting so much rhe rhe~" You lightly teased her as you changed into your pj's.

"Only for that crazy koala." She replied with a smile on her face as she slid into bed, you not too long after her. "I prefer her nickname to be roadrunner." You said with a grin on your face.

"It is too damn late to get into an argument over her nickname, get some sleep." She told you while pulling you into her chest, and you did not have to be told twice.

You thought it was safe to say, that THE Rhea Ripley, The eradicator, LOVED being a babysitter.

[thecoffeelorian]

Writing Test Run...

//...I would like, if possible, to get a slight peek into others' interests and preferences when writing a short story about vampires/Midwestern Gothic/minor pandemic horror, so.

Here is one rough draft of my short story's introduction, of which I hope you will rate in the poll below for my research purposes.

Thank you.//

Okay, first things first—I’m not gonna bite anybody as soon as I meet them. Not only is that the calling card of the Old Carpathians, but I also don’t share their ideology thanks to my beliefs being a lot more complex than mere “vamp supremacy”. So, if you can remember to keep from putting my name into any sentences with those nutjobs as the subject, I��d really appreciate it. Especially in the days to come. Second, by now, you’ve probably heard all of the stories about recent events, both the ones containing cold hard facts and the ones more along the lines of anti-social media rants. As I don’t exactly host my own conspiracy-theory laden podcast or support a single person who does, I’m not gonna give a shred of legitimacy to the stories that sound a lot more like tabloid fodder, let alone a lot less than actual news bulletins. Those are total bunk no matter what those Mortals insist upon, so I won’t think about them one moment longer. What I will do, however, is recall as many facts as I can so that others don’t have a problem figuring out what’s true and what’s false... so here goes. Yes, there was a virus that affected the clotting factor of the average person’s bloodstream, because not only is that same virus still ongoing as I write this, but I was also one of those previously infected. I can also say that yes, a high percentage of the global population—namely, an estimated 66.7% of all humans from 0-99 years of age—passed away from it before any significant research about treatments or cures could begin. We will mourn their loss, but not without celebrating their lives. For the ones still alive, however, I have this to say—no, not only are the Vampires among us NOT spreading this virus by feeding on the human race, but as of this day forward, any and all members of the First Communal Hall are hereby off limits to any dumbass looking to make a name for himself by trying to hunt them down. I say this because we’re currently working on vaccine development in a few secured locations in order to stop this thing in its tracks, so if you don’t want a front-row seat to the collapse of society, please remain calm, keep your weapons in storage, and kindly allow us to do our jobs. If you’re going to keep on being foolish, on the other hand, and have already decided to stir up a little trouble for whatever reason you've cooked up in your brain—let me say this. I’ve just learned how to defend myself, as well as my immediate social circle. I’ve also just learned how another person can be found dead in an alley with what will easily be written off as “normal animal bites” as their official cause of death. And if it ever comes down to having to act as a piece of toothy life insurance against anybody who comes after me and mine, please be warned in advance: You try to sink any of your teeth into me, be they long or short, I will not hesitate to do the same to you. After all, once a certain handful Vampires decided to band together and use a little of their own blood as an experimental treatment against this virus...something really interesting happened to me. I became one.

[dompler91]

raps

tw// SH(birefly), slurs(none racial), hypersexuality(implied)

im not special just another fuckin faggot

life is a drag and my body im just draggin

i should win an award for not being in all the special classes

play this shit outside i dont want to appeal to the masses

roll up in a shitbox janky ass hitbox hard knocks no locks small cock crusty socks music rocks hit the docks

like im

hittin the blunt, try to outsmoke but youre the runt, im eatin and sleepin and fuckin all those ladies cunts

fuck you all, im gettin tall, i know how to ball, work at a mall my names saul the fuck is wrong with me ill just say shit to rhyme when it dont rhyme at all

to all you pricks: suck on my prick, im getting bricked, bitches want this

himbo bimbo depends on where the wind blows through my open window full show makin dough gettin nekked for it though

mugshot, look hot, wipe snot, let the blood clot while hes sitting on a cot, fuck cops

again, fuck you all, i dont give a shit, you got me here that was your own poor judgement stupid bitch

i dont even care if shes pregnant, if its wet she get the wet, rollin and pollin wearin nets

shoutout to the mets: i never played sports, i was the fat ugly r[]tarded type sorts never got picked never got hit on always got hit on this is the same shit ive always been on

im the same faggot, ill tag it, i bag it, sweat raggin in the summer- honestly? fuck your offense my defense is self expression

enter mr great depression way im droppin value like im rotting inside out- where the fuck is MY clout?

others got what they want, ive never got a croissant, ok maybe im lying but i need a good song, faggot!

stick to your damn lane keep it in your head man sick in the doodle keep going like its a damn shame

call me your majesty i win at no pageants see, i was not supposed to be here im about to be an emergency, the urge to see, blood drip, life slip, blade clip, suck dick

i hate myself i hate myself i hate myself, eyes off that shelf go fuck yourself dont ask me for a goddamn story

talk to me and ill get you gory cause youre whorey and slutty hit you like a nutty buddy

nobody wants to see me party, ferarri, potty, im just sayin shit, doodoo fart, peso

my mom called to ask "do you have a new dude" smart, but she has her ways so i gotta tell her im gay yo, thats my issue bro.

court dismissed, faggot.

[NOTES- these lyrics arent for or by me. theyre actually by @dookdizawsum, i helped write them and got permission to share]

[whumble-beeee]

Hello!

24) have you ever killed? would you?

For a whumpee, whumper, and caretaker of your choice :)

-void

This ask game

I already had Stan answer this question here, so I think I'll let Lana, Vaughn, and Declan answer now!

DECLAN

"Ah, yeah... Not proud of it, it was an accident back when I was first starting in the bounty hunting game. Supers can be a hard bunch to dispatch sometimes. And no, it wasn't my gun, before you ask."

He pulls out the revolver and inspects it proudly, gently running his thumb over the barrel.

"I never shot a person where I didn't intend to. And I made sure to know exactly where to shoot so I can hurt, disarm or disable. But never kill. There's no honor in murder. I remember those that I killed and I learn from the experience to make sure it never happens again."

The intensity that his gaze had taken on suddenly softens back to its regular shine.

"And I mean, ya don't get paid if you bring in a corpse. Not killing just means I'm good at my job."

VAUGHN

Vaughn groans obnoxiously when you ask him the question, fully rolling his eyes and throwing his head back. "Ugh, yeah, back in the Netherlands when I was a doctoral candidate. They told me my intended project was too unethical, human experimentation isn't legal, whatever. I went ahead with it anyway. Then it turns out one of the subjects had a blood clotting disease I didn't know about and they bled out. I nearly got charged with murder, gross negligence, whatever they charge you with when you torture someone. And I got kicked out of the entire university! It was like this entire thing."

He laughs to himself. "I got the hell out of there before they could do anything about it though. It's a lot easier to get away with this sort of thing in the US. I also met my girlfriend here, I got a pretty stable job, so win-win! I do miss the Netherlands dearly, though. I hope I can one day go back, but I'm basically a fugitive, so it doesn't seem like I'll be able to in this lifetime."

LANA

(cw: gore)

"It's entirely possible, I suppose," she giggles thoughtfully. "I don't really keep track of that sort of thing. Minor details. I've never had a subject die in my care, but sometimes they try to escape, and then sometimes they get dragged back, sometimes don't. Like I said, it's really none of my concern, I always make Mitra-the-intern do all the paperwork."

She seems content with her answer, but then she jumps slightly when she remembers something.

"Oh wait! I lied, dumb blonde moment," she rolls her eyes with a lighthearted smile. "There was this one time a businessman was just horrible to me, calling me sweetheart, talking down to me because I'm a woman who dared to challenge his authority. He was like a low-level gun smuggler too, he was quite a brute. But he made a joke to his meathead buddies about what my name spelled backwards means, how a pretty girl like me would only be useful for something like that. So of course I shoved a live grenade down his throat."

Lana pauses for a moment, just reveling in the memory.

"Yes, they treated me much better after that. It was the first time I realized how easy it is to take advantage of men and girlboss your way to the top. I can't believe I almost forgot about it!"

[wytfut]

A whiners report, POV.....

Greetings all..... at this very moment in time.... I'm recooping from again another back surgery. To no ones fault, even my own suppose. Time take its toll.

This time has been a journey, more involved than I ever thought would happen to me ever again. I feel at times that my medical incidents seem a bit slanted towards me at times as in picking on me. But thats just my POV. I'm sure it is not.

I won't mention my surgeons name, as I like the guy and I think everything that has happened most likely was out of his hands, and he is very good at his craft. But other than Being very hands on with every patient, he doesn't have a lot of control over what happens to his patient. And so it is....

My medical issues have spanned mostly from 2000 to now. 4 hip surgeries, 2 carpal tunnel, a blood clot incident, a heart attack, and previous back procedures.

My father couldn't handle any morphine products and accordingly, we'd tell hospital personnel, who pretty much ignore us. He'd become outrageous, and out of control, living his nightmares. I've even went so far to tell them that if they insist he have morphine of any kind that they had my permission to tie him in his bed. This always brought a strange look from the person I'd be talking too. But anyone who had lived Delmars nightmares with him cannot describe what they saw. The most common was for him to leap out of bed ripping out his IV's, stitches, etc. .... even dislocating his brand new hip, falling over the rails he couldn't get down.

With my latest, I'm noticing I maybe affected also my morphine, same as my Father. I've had nothing but tons of vivid dreams and at time discerning, what is reality, and what is dreaming. Even when currently I'm only taking 1 hydracodone at bed time.... I get a bit blurry during the day. I've also noticed that I can't really read right now.... maybe a little bit. But my eyes keep jumping around (old EMT days.... "ping pong ball eyes")

When I came out of surgery, I remember nothing of any conversations. .... I seemed to come around to reality about 2 days later, ...... no matter what I said or did.

So Dec. 6 after surgery, a lot of things I was told was said, which I have no recollection. Barely holding my head up.... And a nurse put an ice pack on my new wound, and I went to sleep the next 2 hours.

When I woke the ice pack was warm and sweaty. ... Apparently I frost bit my new wound. So much so that it felt as if my back was on fire.... I was very surprised and got a reply to my questioning "we told you no more than 15 minutes....." absolutely do not remember this.

I got home, Patti wasn't happy that I wouldn't even try the ice pack, but I just couldn't stand it. Between the burning and itching.... no way was I going to do it.

Other conversation after surgery from what I understand was how to wear my back brace. I remember a foggy moment of some sort of conversation. I remember a part where someone (PA?) said I wasn't wearing it correctly. In my pile of papers once I was home, no mention of the back brace, but I remembered somethings. No bending, no twisting, no lifting, ..... pretty much the norm, that I bite my cheek with when hearing. I've had this conversation with my surgeon in the past, and he too chuckles at my point of view.

All of those requests, are impossible, unless you have someone assigned/attached to your hip. I know they sound reasonable, but its really not. Maybe I'm just hard headed, which I can admit to easily.

But I did indeed piss myself 3 times the first night waiting for help off the nurses call button.

Here are my favorite ones where the rules are exempt:

How do you use the toilet? How do you wipe? both of these require bending over and a bit of twisting..... but they do say sitting up is okay... but you are bending over to get there.

Getting in bed.... you are again bending over, and twisting too. Even if done the proper way prescribed....

I'm an old guy. I get up at least 4 times every nite. The toilet is not 10 from my bed. I'm not going to put on that brace, for less than 10 feet 4 times a night.... its just not practical, and I think maybe a bit over board for moving about to get that brace back on and off.

Did I mention that you don't need to wear the brace in bed. I'm good with that, as my wound was screaming by the time I got home. But there was no instruction that I remember on sleeping position. One of my past PA's had very specific instructions on sleep position.

Apparently twisting in bed is ok, bending ok, etc. .... I have no idea.

I even remember someone saying that when sitting if you wanted to take off the brace for a few minutes is was allowed. Condition of my wound..... it was a lot of a "few minutes"...... I even called my surgeons office trying to get this all straight in my head..... couldn't do it.... too much drugs.

I know... its all petty, and I'm just venting from this longer than expected process.

3 nights ago, I woke up with a new chest pain. My pulse was fine. The tempo felt good.... but I couldn't take a full breath without shooting pain. All of this upper right chest, front to rear.

I monitored it until around noon and had Patti haul my butt in. I noticed walking across the kitchen I was struggling to keep my breath.

I had a blood clot. I'm very familiar with blood clots (5 in 2000, and a monster in Xmas 2019) over the past 20+ years. But everyone has been different. Each medical team has treated it with its own interpretation of "how its supposed to be done".

For those that don't know..... like a lot of medical issues, blood clots in the wrong place (all of mine have been in the heart lungs area) can kill you.

I spent 24 hours in the hospital. Got home completely wasted. With what felt was at least a couple days lost recooping from the original surgery.

Feeling pretty good right now. Still not a lot of appetite. I'm currently not on any meds for this procedure. except I'll be taking my last Hydracodone at bed time. We'll see how it goes tonight, I'd like to be off of them, .... but if issues arise, I'll ask for another script.

Not very many folks will read this.... and that's ok. But for those that want to know how I'm doing.... here ya go...

As for my back issues? ..... I'm excited. it appears they are all gone. It doesn't mean something else may not show up down the road, but this time, I'm really excited.

[beauseakiia]

Father Son Bonding(but not really)

This is an angst fanfic I wrote mostly for shits and giggles [double thumbs up]

Characters: Clotted Cream Cookie and Elder Custard Cookie

There is light emotional abuse(mainly just Custard insulting Clotted but putting a warning here just in case)

Anyways onto the actual fic, I hope you guys like it :D

Things have been incredibly rough for the Republic. With Elder Canele in prison for embezzling funds and selling what was essentially poison to the Lower City, and Elder Mille-Feuille missing after escaping incarceration for leading a religious cult of thieves, the rest of the Convocation had been getting the side-eye from the public. This on top of the destruction of the Republic from Dark Enchantress. Rumors and speculation swirled as the Convocation worked to fix the mess left behind by the White Masks and Dark Enchantress. Clotted Cream had been working hard to try to fix everything as fast as possible. Being the Consul of course, most of the responsibility fell on his shoulders and there was a lot of pressure to rebuild what was destroyed and get back on track with preparing for the future war.

At some point after Dark Enchantress’s attack ended, Clotted Cream learned that his father, Elder Custard, had fled the Republic during the attack and wasn’t sure when or if he’d be back, leaving Clotted feeling a little betrayed even though he wasn’t surprised. This also added more problems to the already long to-do list, with now a third Elder missing in action. Although deep down, Clotted Cream felt some relief that Custard wasn’t there, hovering over his shoulder and criticizing his every move. So he took advantage of Custard’s absence to get the more urgent things done without his father’s interference. Though, all good things must come to an end.

Clotted Cream sat alone in his office, planning out the Republic’s next moves in preparation for another meeting with the remaining Elders to further discuss the future. He had plans for the ongoing reconstruction of the Republic to bring it back to its former glory, orders to continue the manufacturing of Pearl Candies and recruiting more manpower to the Pearl Legion, Paladins and the navy, setting up search teams to go out and find the scattered pieces of Soul Jam, and planning out possible elections to appoint new Elders to the Convocation to replace Canele and Mille Feuille.

“There you are, boy.” A sickeningly familiar voice boomed suddenly, sending an involuntary jolt through Clotted Cream’s body, shaking him out of his train of thought. He looked up to see Custard standing in the doorway of his office

“Father…” Clotted Cream was less than thrilled to see him. His voice was colder than usual. “You finally decided to return to the Republic.” 

“Hmph, I had other business to attend to outside the Republic. Don’t tell me you were too incompetent to run the Republic without my guidance.” Custard began walking up to the desk. 

“I’ve run the Republic just fine,” Clotted Cream shot back. “The Convocation has already set plans in motion to rebuild everything lost and get the Republic back into shape so we can continue preparations for the upcoming war against Dark Enchantress. All things considered, things could be much worse but we’ve much to do and not a lot of time to do it.”

Custard glared at the blond, who was still seated at his desk. “I do not appreciate your tone, boy,” he growled.

Clotted Cream forced a fake smile. “Truly, I believe I’ve been quite polite considering the stunt you pulled, leaving me and the republic behind in the middle of a siege. Conveniently, after you attempted to keep the Soul Jam to yourself knowing full well the Ancient Heroes would not take too kindly to that,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

“They were momentary lapses in judgment. I was doing what I thought was best for our house.”

“So abandoning your own son and the Republic during an attack is a lapse in judgment? I expected a little more tact coming from an Elder…”

Custard slammed his hand on the desk,“You have no right criticizing my actions with how many mistakes you made!”

“Mistakes I made??” Clotted Cream stared up at his father, feeling rage boiling up inside of him. “Truthfully the only mistake I’ve ever made is listening to you.”

“Excuse me?!” Custard exclaimed. “You had better watch your tongue, boy.”

Clotted Cream stood up, clenching his fist at his sides. “No I won’t because it’s the truth. I’ve spent my whole life bending to your will, doing everything you’ve commanded me to do. I underwent all of the training and teachings you forced me into to make me the perfect candidate for Consul, all while berating me and my ancestry for any little flaw I had. And yet, I did it. I finally became Consul.” He gestured widely to the office they were in. 

“And you wasted no time going around bragging about your ‘achievement’ of raising me, yet the second no one’s looking, you turn around and criticize every. Single. Thing. I do if it’s not to your exact demands. Nothing’s ever good enough for you!”

“If you’d listen to me and do as I say, there would be nothing to criticize!” Custard snapped back.

“I DO!!” Clotted Cream shouted, causing Custard to step back. He had never raised his voice at him before. 

“I DO listen to you! And for the most part, I do as you say! But I draw the line at your demands that would’ve put us in even more political strain with the kingdoms then we already were in. With everything else, I did what you told me to to the best of my abilities and everything ran pretty smoothly all things considered. But of course, one little mistake or unaccounted for event and suddenly I’m just too incompetent to be Consul. You blamed me for an ambush from a group no one even knew existed in our Republic even when I took every possible precaution I could!” He was shaking at this point. He lowered his head and took a few deep breaths.

“I am sick of the constant disrespect from you.” Clotted Cream muttered, his voice low and shaky. “If you didn’t think I was fit for this job, then why did you even push me into it? I worked my ass off to meet your expectations and yet, no matter what I do, I’m still not good enough. What more do you want from me? I have managed to keep everything in working order, the Republic has made giant leaps in terms of technology and strengthening our armies under my leadership. Everything I’ve done has been for the betterment of our Republic, because if the Republic falls,” Clotted Cream lifted his head to look at his father.  

“There would be no more House Custard. Whether you like it or not, I have to prioritize the Republic as a whole if we want any chance of surviving this upcoming war.” 

Custard glared daggers at the blond. “Are you done with your little temper tantrum?”

Clotted Cream just stared at Custard, fighting back tears. That sentence cut into him like a knife. Temper tantrum. That's what he thought about his feelings. Even though it wasn’t surprising, it still hurt on top of everything else.

“Tch, I’ll come back to discuss things when you can act and speak to me like a damn adult.” And with that, Custard turned on his heel and walked out the office, slamming the door behind him.

Clotted Cream crumbled, falling back into his chair, holding his head in his hands. And began to sob uncontrollably.

“Why did I have to end up here…”

================================================

Crosspost on AO3 and deviantart(both under same username)

[pr1ncesspopstar]

Landslide - FFXIV Write 2024 - Day 11: Surrogate

!Spoilers for the Sorrows of Werlyt Questline!

!TW: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse!

Ao3

-

“What are you doing making all this racket at such an ungodly hour, sweet girl?”

Allie jumped from where she stood, nearly burping her head on the open cabinet door above her head. She stood to attention, straight and narrow. An utter contrast to Halditar, tying the knot of a robe she clearly just threw on to come investigate. Red hair tousled a frizzy, lopsided mess, she may have looked humorous if her glasses-less squinting didn’t come across as scowling to the young au’ra.

“I’m so sorry, I’ll try to be more quiet in the future…” she genuinely apologized. She nursed her hand closer to her body, unintentionally hiding it from the healer. Said healer just shook her head.

“None of that now. You’re not in any trouble. I was already flitting about with insomnia and your dad’s barely stirred. I just figured it best to investigate, is all.” She reassured the young girl. And that eased the worry off of Allie’s shoulders. She tried not to let it eat at her, how hard it was not to expect… the worst, out of an interaction still.

“So, what is it you’re doing?” The roe asked once more. Allie held out her hand, showing the long crimson gash split just off center down the length of her thumb. It stung still, weeping both blood that puddled lightly down her palm and drainage trying its best to clot the flow.

“I cut myself while changing the nib on my fountain pen, and was looking for disinfectant, is all. I thought it was in the cabinet beneath the sink, but I couldn’t find any, so I was searching the linens and other cabinets too...”

“Damn, you really did a number on yourself.” Halditar said once she leaned in to where she could clearly see. “But as you’ve already figured, nothing a little bandage and medicine can’t fix. I’ll help. Keep looking here and I’ll go make sure we didn’t leave it in the kitchen or somewhere.”

Before Allie could insist she was alright to do this on her own and bid Halditar to return to sleep, she was down the hall, descending the stairs to their kitchen. A worm of guilt ate into Allie’s stomach for troubling her. But with how her thumb was burning with pain, the more she dug through boxes and opened drawers, having someone else to cover where she was going to search next. Especially as the search continued with nary hide or hair of the healing balm. Maybe Halditar fared luckier.

She stroked the skin, doing anything she could to stop the pain and bleeding. Each step down the stairs was light and quick, a scurry more than a walk, following the single golden light at the bottom. Long shadows danced along the floor from the chairs of the dining room table, flickering from the faintest light the lamp on the table could make.

“Any luck on your end?” Allie asked as she rounded the corner. Halditar shook her, filling a glass with water in a quiet flow.

“No, but I have the next best thing if you can give me a moment. Take a seat.”

Allie did as asked, curiosity overtaking any frustration as she watched whatever it was Halditar was doing. Steam climbed the walls of glass as she poured in a slow, certain crawl, confirming it was warm at least. From the shelf above the stove, she grabbed one of many glass bottles and poured in an equal amount to the water, the clear liquids merging flawlessly. With a swiped dish towel in hand, she sat across from the younger girl, holding out her hand.

Allie’s injured hand was much smaller and softer than Halditar’s as she placed it on her palm. Calluses and scars were abundant where she only had nicks. Allie's nails were long and pointed, claws really. Halditar’s were short and square. And warm, Halditar’s hand was very warm.

“This might sting a bit more than normal disinfectant and stink like no other, but in a pinch vinegar is as good a cut cleaner as any,” she said. It was hard to believe a dash of vinegar in water could be an effective substitute for medicine, so carefully made and mixed to do the same. But she couldn’t complain. One of them was a sage, and the other was not, after all.

At the very least, it felt like a disinfectant. Allie’s breath hissed in through her teeth at how sharply the dampened dishcloth felt dabbed onto her injury. A sharp stab that felt like it could blossom into fire at any moment. She apologized for her nails digging into Halditar’s skin, but she shushed her and assured her it was fine. After cleaning the wound and wiping the blood away from her palm, they only needed to wrap the cut in gauze. Something they had plenty of lying around, from how often the trio dealt with injuries from Gaius and Halditar’s sparring, and Allie looking after the children of Werlyt and how clumsy they could be.

“There we go. I’m sure you won’t, but try not to move it too much. You know how to change the dressing with one hand?”

“Yes. Thank you, Haldi,” Allie said, smiling and examining the flawless wrapping she had received. The healer nodded, rising from her seat and ruffling her hair. That large, warm palm was a comforting pressure as it brushed her scales and horns.

“Now let’s both try to get some sleep, yeah? Not only does it do the body good, but it keeps Gaius from scolding us for sleeping in.” Allie giggled, wanting to argue, but she knew she had some immunities as his daughter and that the sage would have defended her right to sleep in even if it didn’t. She followed the older woman back upstairs, thumb still aching slightly, but mind was free of worries.

-

Allie couldn’t help herself but to scream in delight. The racing wind drowned out her voice as the seagulls above screeched. She was certain her white hair was a mess, fizzy from catching flecks of water and salt the waves tossed in the air for her tousled bangs to catch. But it was so hard to care when in the palm of her hands the rough-hewn rope gave her complete control of their speed. Their small boat cut across the bright blue ocean that Werlyt hung above with ease, only feeling the smallest kick beneath the wooden bottom from each passing was.

“Good on ya, catching the breeze like that! You’re a natural, Allie! As good as any Limsan sailor worth their salt!” Halditar laughed from behind her.

“Thank you, Captain!”

“Oh, ‘Captain’ now, am I?” The responding laugh was low and warm, just like the late summer sun on her skin and scales. However, down in the gulf it was cool, no more hot than a spring day compared to the sweat-drenching heat usually felt when playing in she played in the streets with the children or did her chores. It was a wonder what a minor change in scenery did to make the heat just melt away.

“Guess that makes you my ‘First Mate!’ So where shall I plot our course, First Mate Allie?” Halditar asked. Allie instantly knew, turning her gaze out further on the horizon.

“Let’s figure-8 the island’s once, and then return to the docks!”

“Aye aye!” With that, the boat turned. Allie mixed the sail to catch the wind as they went. Before long they’d skim by the surrounding islands, she’d long wondered what lay on, able to glance at how untouched they were before going back to home.

How this little adventure came to be was almost just as surprising as her sprouting joy for the sea and the boat. It had just been an off-hand comment she made while walking alongside the Warrior of Light as they carried home groceries. Expressing an enjoyment and admiration for the colorful sails of the boats that took to Werlyt’s waters during the day, especially in the warm months when those that sailed purely for the joy of it, untied their vanity boats from their posts and took off. When asked if she’d like to try sailing, she had just given a simple ‘sure.’ In her mind, it would have only happened if someone ever offered it to her. It wouldn’t have been something she went out of her way to do, much less soon.

Yet as soon as the groceries were safely across the threshold of the house, not even put away, Halditar had taken Allie by the hand and led her to the docks and convinced a fishing pal to lend them their boat for a quick spin. It had all been so sudden; she had barely any time to object. And now that they were out on the open water, she was so happy she didn’t. The raen couldn’t remember the last time she felt such a thrill, enough to curl her toes and flick her tail.

Instructions from behind interrupted those thought, “Start lowering the sail. We’ll be sailing into the wind for a moment and don’t want to have our momentum stalled. I’ll tell you as soon as we can put ‘em up again.”

With an ‘aye!’ Allie set to work.

Before they had set off, Halditar had given her a crash course in how to manage the mast and all that came with it. At first it had been overwhelming, so many ropes and places to knot and how, the words just spun in her head like the sail the first few minutes she tried working with it.

Before long, though, the intuitiveness of the design came through. She understood now even with all the ease air and warships provided, there was a reason traditional means of navigating the ocean was still as strong as ever.

And if there was ever a moment when the sea threatened the nip back, a gust too big for her small body to fight against, or a knot too complicated Halditar was quick to lock the rudder and rush to help her, her own weight more than enough to command the sail with ease, and showing Allie ways to tie knots she didn’t even know were possible, quickly too.

It was so different from how she had learned before, doing things on the fly, having to read the feeling on her skin and horns and environment all the round rather than having instructions to follow to a T. And though it may have not been right to compare the two, she knew she was enjoying herself far more now than she ever had following instructions.

“It seems like we caught some attention! Up on the cliff side!” Halditar’s call guided her to the railing by the cliff. Several tiny figures jumped and waved their direction. She couldn’t hold back a laugh, and then a shout that echoed far across the waves as she freed one hand to wave. She wasn’t sure if they could really hear or see her, but her heart filled with warmth.

Their small trip around the islands was complete. They set back toward the docks. Allie found her steps wobbly afterward, having gotten a little too used to her sea legs on their little stint. Something Halditar promised happened to so many, holding the girl’s shoulder to help her walk as they returned home.

-

The next time Allie saw Halditar, it was walking through the front door with a massive bag upon her back. Perhaps not an unusual sight if the Warrior of Light had not been away on a long trip. Allie jumped from her spot on the couch, smiling as she rushed to the roegadyn. Before she could greet her, the warrior scooped the teen up in a great big hug, shocking her with a gasp.

“There’s one of my favorite girls! How have you been, Allie? I hope you haven’t been worrying too much about old Gaius.” Allie giggled, nodding her head as she collected her bearing from the sudden affection.

“I’m happy to see you again, Halditar. Father will be, too… How was the Azim Steppe? Did you have any trouble with your business there?” Allie asked, following behind the tall woman as she walked in, removing both her boots and her bag from her back, setting it upon the kitchen table. It sounded heavy, far more than what she Halditar usually traveled with, that much Allie was familiar with. The Warrior of Light traveled, well, light, as far as the young girl had known.

“Well, Sadu nearly reduced me to a bloody smear on the grass, but she does that every time I swing by,” she waved it off as if the mention of her near death meant nothing. And perhaps with the amount of times it nearly happened, she had a right to be so lax over it. Though as Allie was about to voice concern, she opened her bag and smiled down at the young au’ra. “But I can speak of all that later! First, I’ve brought you some things I think you’ll really enjoy.”

Allie tried to get a word in, to insist the gift could wait, and that maybe Halditar could rest first. She eased Allie to sit in one of the dining room chairs, disregarding any “no”, while Halditar sat across from her. Allie sighed, but smiled kindly, patiently. However, she couldn’t deny that she was a little excited about the gifts, and her tail swayed through the back of the chair as she unpacked the massive bag.

The gifts for Allie were underneath the ones for her father. They composed mostly of a heavy woven blanket to match the new leather chair in their living he had quickly grown fond of, and a collection of small knick-knacks Halditar had gotten because they reminded her of him, mostly things with some leader symbolism, and a few things to tease such as charms that would invite luck and ‘forethought’ into someone’s life. Seeing such, Allie expected her gifts to be much the same.

It was a shock then, when the first thing Halditar pulled from her bag was a hairbrush. A lovely hairbrush with a small, round handle. But the hairs on the brush were unlike anything Allie had seen before, having a curl and softness to them that reminded her of a sheep’s wool.

“I got a lot of advice on what I should get from my friends Cirina and Cocota. I’m really hoping you’ll get good use out of these,” Halditar said as she handed off the brush to its new owner. Allie looked at it in her palm. It was quite small, and would take minutes to brush her hair with… Perhaps noticing her brow furrowed in confusion. The redhead chuckled and offered an explanation. “It’s a scale brush. Made of wooly boar hair so it’s softer than a normal brush, good for stimulating blood flow on your horns, getting dust and dirt out from in between the scales, and loosening the peeling come shedding season.”

Allie blinked in surprise. She did not know they even made brushes just for au’ra. Curiously, she lifted it to one of her horns and rubbed it in gentle circles around the base. A rustling sound rang hollowly in her head, as she felt the many curls easily slip into spaces she had resisted picking at when they felt oily and gross. She couldn’t help but shiver in delight. What a wonderful feeling…

“There’s also this, for your claws. It’s a quartz file, not a glass one! It’s harder than your claws so it can stand up to them, even make them sharper. No more fighting with that nasty nail trimmer to keep your fingers orderly.” The next gift Allie found hard to believe.

Even as a child, cutting her nails had been an ordeal, needing clippers strong enough to cut through metal. Often ending with her sobbing, and Alfonse having to take over to snip them down to an ‘acceptable’ size by Garlean military standard without making her scream or bleed. Nearly an adult, she now recognized the practice for what it was. Cruelty, seeing how au’ra had a nerve running through in their nails. But they couldn’t just grow out forever, so she trimmed as carefully as she could.

So with a grain of salt she took the file from Halditar. It made a soft, almost magic sound as she ran the tip of her thumb claw against the hard surface. It was like a little crystal bell. Beautiful, but not worth much…

Until she saw dust on her finger and ran the shaved tip against her finger. The dulled tip showed the file had shaved it down. Allie was wide eyed now. This miraculous little thing existed?! And it was all hers now?!

“Oh, and can’t forget these,” As if it was the Starlight’s Feast, her nameday, and Little Ladies’ Day all at once, Halditar produced more gifts yet. This time as little ceramic pots that when Allie opened the top off of, she found various liquids of different colors, consistencies, and smells. Each color coded and decorated with an unrecognized symbol, ones the gift-giver was more than eager to explain.

“The green pot is a special soap for when you go into shedding or a little dry. It softens what’s dead to get it to peel away quicker and hardens up the new scales so they aren’t so tender the first few days. The red pot is an oil for everyday use, to make your scales and claws shinier and healthier. And the purple one is a wax for winter, to prevent your scales from drying out. I was told it’s also good for the lips in winter, too.”

“Is all of this really necessary, just for my scales and such?” She couldn’t help but ask, feeling overwhelmed and a bit conflicted, she had to admit.

The gifts were lovely, truly. But she had gone on so long without these things in her life, she saw little reason to introduce them into her life now, useful as a few certainly would be. As if expecting such a question, Halditar’s response was swift and certain.

“Of course it is, sweet girl,” the words came with such kindness and assurance, and a gentle pat on the top of her head. “Your claws, scales, horns, and tail… It’s all a part of you. I know how hard you work to keep yourself clean and presentable. You want to be proud of it. It’s like the skin on your face, or…”

She moved her hand to twirl one of the short red locks that framed her face. Full of curl and bounce, those flaming locks always made Allie think of the saying ‘a girl’s hair is her crown.’ No one wore that statement more true than Halditar. “The hair on my head! It deserves and needs as much love and care as the rest of you. To be something you’re proud to wear and love. And while they may come from a place far off, these kinds of tools are important to your kind. They are something to be cherished.”

Allie was silent for a moment. Halditar’s voice lacked the usual excitement and mirth she associated with her tone. At this moment, her voice was gentle. A tone only ever afforded to her by her siblings or her father. It let her not only soak in the warm, soft contralto of the hero’s voice, smooth and light, but her words.

Halditar spoke from experience. One could see the kindness and hurt in her eyes. A type of hurt left in the past, but well remembered. Her father wore it often, a look that said ‘I will do all I can to make sure no one will endure what I have.’ That someone as proud as Halditar had known neglect in some shape or another, cruel or otherwise, self-inflicted or not… It made Allie’s chest ache, both in sympathy and relief. She wasn’t alone in this long bottled feeling she couldn’t share.

“It’s like my crown…” she couldn’t help but blurt out. Thankfully, the older woman understood. The redhead nodded and made those pretty locks of her glint like rubies in the sunlight.

“Aye, your horns are your crown. And your scales, claws, and tail jewelry. Which fits nicely into my last gift for ya…” Halditar’s eyes glinted with joy again, the most Allie had seen yet. If Halditar saved it for last, this must have been a showstopper. Its presentation certainly was nothing to sneeze at, a black lacquered box with an oriental flower design on the lid. Beautiful, Allie would have complimented if the contents of the box hadn’t stolen her breath away.

It brimmed with jewelry, packed nearly to the top with pieces of gold and silver and all other precious metals set with designs and cut stones that gleamed and dangled and would dance in the light. But it was more than that. While there were traditional pieces that she would love, rings, necklaces, hair decorations, and the like. There were pieces she could recognize or tell where they were supposed to go. Until she recalled the rest of her gifts.

Sure enough, these unknown pieces would decorate her tail or horns beautifully. They were pieces only she, as an au’ra could wear. Caps with dangling gems and rings for her horns, bracers for her tail. Some were simple and elegant, some she could only imagine wearing at a ball. And all of it for her. Allie looked up at Halditar with a slack jaw. Thinking at any moment she might wake up from a dream.

Instead, she just asked with a grin, “So, I cleaned up this treasure hunting haul pretty nice, eh?”

There was no stopping what followed. A small sniffle became waterworks of tears she tried to wipe away with her palms and sleeve. She tried to say she was okay, apologizing for crying, and that she was so happy, but it just came out as incoherent babble. Though, Halditar didn’t seem to mind or worry. Crossing from her chair to the other side of the table to kneel before the girl and pull her into a tight, loving hug. Allie burying her face into the offered shoulder until the sobs passed. Halditar gently shushed and reassured her, not moving from her spot until Allie was finally done and pulled away from her.

“Better now, sweet girl?” Halditar asked.

Allie nodded, swallowing down hiccups and giving a smile, knowing how weak it probably looked with tear-stained eyes and wet cheeks. “I-I am… I don’t know what came over me. I was just so surprised and happy I couldn’t let it out in any other way! Really, I can’t thank you enough for all these wonderful things, Haldi!”

“Your joy and enjoyment of all this is thank enough, dear girl. It’s my job to spoil ya, after all!” the Warrior of Light teased with a grin and a light boop to Allie’s nose. The white-haired girl laughed, unable to resist tossing her arms around the one she came to love as a second parent. Halditar gave a hug that Allie would always remember, one that was warm, and large, and soft.

When Gaius returned home for dinner that evening, Allie jingled with every step she took with rings on her tail on jewels hanging on her horns. He hid a smile behind his book, finding the sound beautiful, and the sight of his daughter all but shining in delight even more so.

[bloodxbat]

Have you tries phoning Out Of Hours for the pain/migraine? As for the period pain that's not supposed to be normal. Apologies if that sounds round just concerned about your wellbeing.

You should look into going to Sandyford for that. I say go straight there because they can hopefully deal with your a lot quicker than even trying to even waste time phoning GP. Plus you can make appointments with Sandyford online about this sort of stuff! (I've literally done it about 2 weeks ago for myself because of bleeding and honestly they are a lot fucking nicer there)

Thank you for the concern lovely it means a lot <3

no i haven’t i was diagnosed with chronic migraines and perscribed sumatriptin which barely works i told my Dr that but he said just keep persisting with it 🙄

i was also diagnosed with PMDD but told me they wouldn’t do anything about it because nothing really works, they said its worde because my hormones are so imbalanced? i tried the pill but i can’t go on it because of blood clots and all that jazz

Drs have basically been useless theyve told me i just need to deal with it basically

i’ll need to try Sandyford have been meaning to for a while its just getting there thats the hard part lmao i live in a village in the middle of no where basically theres no transport so hopefully i can sort something out.

[sharpsuite]

   Pressure is necessary to encourage blood CLOTTING and decrease blood flow. That doesn’t make the process any less uncomfortable. He doesn’t so much as complain though, only focuses on his breathing and making sure to keep it steady. It’s all he can do at this point besides watch Pat and the changes in her expression.

   “ I didn’t run into them! “ He pauses for a moment and then clarifies. “ Not BOTH of them. The one you’re touching I did but the other one I didn’t. “ Which doesn’t make that much of a difference but Chishiya feels inclined towards correcting the errors to make sure the facts were true. “ It was an established gunfight. I agreed to play. “ He closes his eyes for a brief second, allowing a more extended sigh to leave his lips. “ Maybe not the best idea I’ve had considering I’m not very good with guns. Niragi’s so badly injured that I figured it would balance out. He’s dying anyways. It’d be more satisfying if I got to be the one to finish him off. “

   SHOCK hits his system when he hears the sound of fabric tearing, forcing dark eyes to open as he stares at her. What is she doing? He knows that answer. WHY? That answer evades him. Despite the hellish landscape, she’s always been careful to keep up her appearance. The finest clothes, the finest jewelry. He’s never cared for that but he can respect her dedication to it. But here she is, ruining her clothes and reducing them to scraps for him. This doesn’t benefit her. This isn’t selfish, but SELFLESS.

 Wanna tell me what on earth you were thinking? Her words draw his attention back and he doesn’t say anything for a moment. “. . . That Niragi made a good point. We’re disgusting, and yet we keep craving the need to feel alive. More than so many others. At the expense of them. “ He draws in another shuddering breath when she presses the fabric to his wound.  “ I think…I must have been jealous. It’s my working hypothesis at least. “ He manages a half chuckle. He can’t quite look at her, gaze averted.

   He should tell her that its pointless. Ripping her dress for him had been pointless, sitting here with him is pointless. The King of Spades will know people are gathering here, so he’ll come hunting. It seems CRUEL to crush her hope when she’s trying so hard and he can't find his voice. If the king of spades isn’t enough to send her running, nothing is. “ Whose the one making stupid decisions now? “ He manages a smile, his eyelids starting to feel heavy and lowering a fraction.

@sharpsuite ♛ ; she had arrived a second too late, just in time to watch the final bullets fly by but too late to do anything to stop it. time seems to still and rush by all at once, all sounds and shapes around her merging into one and, before she's even aware of it, she's kneeling on the ground beside chishiya, heart thudding against her chest as that white hoodie that's become familiar to her rapidly turns dark red. she's seen enough blood, enough death in her life that nothing should shock her. yet she finds herself unable to process the sight, unable to say anything other than what have you done?

" not that bad? " the sentence comes out in an incredulous huff of air. how can he say that? she's in no condition to give him a witty response, her hands coming to press down over the wound. there's two of them, but the one further up his chest looks like the most urgent one. somehow, it's not the blood that scares her the most, but his voice; still as calm as usual, but rougher, like it's on the verge of breaking. she's never seen him break before. she never thought she would.

" fuck, chishiya. " it's his smile that makes her kick back into gear, some of the fear replaced with anger. anger is what keeps her alert, the fuel that makes her take action whenever needed. " you know, first lesson is to run away from the bullets, not straight into them. but i thought it was obvious enough that someone as smart as you could figure it out by yourself. my mistake, really. " talking keeps her occupied, distracted from the urgency of the situation as she pats over her own body in search of something, anything that could help. she's not wearing a jacket. all this time in the borderlands, and her love for fashion never subsided, although she'd switched some of her previous wardrobe choices for more comfortable and practical pieces. her love for dresses remained. she reaches for the skirt of the dress she's wearing and rips the fabric apart. it's dior, one of her favorites, yet she doesn't hesitate. " wanna tell me what on earth you were thinking? "

once she has a few decent-sized pieces of fabric in her hands, she covers the wound with them for some added pressure. yet the blood quickly begins to seep through the fabric, reaching her hands once again. his words have her looking at him in confusion, almost not understanding it until she remembers. the king of spades. one of the two remaining games, which she should be helping the others beat, or at the very least hiding from the king and his assault rifle. " i'm not leaving you like this. " she shakes her head, like it's an absurd suggestion. " i'll patch you up. "

[is-the-bug-video-cute]

hello! I have a phobia of both ticks and leeches, and I've been trying to work through it--do you have any fun facts about them you could share?

I love ticks in the same way I love lionfish, tigers, and cassowaries. They're incredible animals, as long as they stay far away from me!! Leeches are more trustworthy, and I've honestly considered getting them as pets someday...

Fun facts about ticks:

There are a lot of tick species in the world, and a lot of them are incredibly beautiful. My personal favorites include Amblyomma variegatum and Dermacentor rhinocerinus, but honestly, once you've recognized the beauty of one tick, you'll be able to find it in them all.

Ticks aren't really their own order of arachnids - they're just extremely specialized mites. Some ticks are in fact so specialized that they can only survive on a single host species. One of these is Ixodes heathi, which is now critically endangered because its host (Burramys parvus) is critically endangered.

Ticks can get ticks! It's not unheard of for males to find females who are engorged and ready to mate, and instead just start feeding off all the blood she's worked so hard to collect. This is called hyperparasitism - parasites parasitizing parasites.

When a female tick is ready to lay eggs, she'll usually search for a secure and comfortable microhabitat - typically under leaf litter - and lay them all there. However, Argasid ticks go the extra mile to secure the health of their babies - females of this family will lay smaller clutches, each in a different spot, over the course of several years!

The american dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, has an alarm pheromone that it secretes when it's in danger. The pheromone attracts other ticks, making them cluster around it and protect it - you could almost call it a form of altruism :)

I usually only write 5 facts, but here's a bonus: A lyme disease vaccine based on mRNA is currently in development and it has shown a lot of promise so far!

Fun facts about leeches:

Parents often carry their eggs around until they hatch, and a lot will keep carrying their babies long after hatching to ensure they survive. Some species, like the kangaroo leech (Marsupiobdella africana) even have a dedicated pouch for their babies :)

Leeches have eyes and they are tiny and adorable.

Leeches are an important part of modern medicine! Though we have figured out many other ways to improve circulation and prevent blood clots, nothing is more effective than leech therapy. They're especially helpful in preventing amputations in diabetic people, but any place on the body with poor circulation or in need of draining (such as hematomas and places that have just been operated on) will benefit from leech therapy.

Leech bites are completely painless and they don't carry any diseases that are dangerous to humans. On top of that, leeches are often quite specialized and only a handful will actually feed on humans.

Not all leeches look like greenish worms. Some, like Croatobranchus mestrovi, look downright angelic.

[lepusrufus]

To bargain for immortality pt.1

It's here fellas, the mutation sequel that I've mercilessly teased you with!

Content warnings: gore, torture, blood (like... lots), just a bunch of puking up blood, Miranda being her usual mad scientist self, torture in the name of science, Nicole be sick af (both literally and of crow mommy's bullshit), a little bit of blood drinking as a treat, medical procedures.

////

Tic toc tic toc

God that clock is so annoying.

Nicole wasn’t nervous. No. She chose this, at least for the most part. She had a long conversation with all her family, Alcina and Esteria both assuring her that it would work. It’s been years since the beginning of the experiments and by this point the process was almost perfected.

Miranda knew what she was doing.

That mattered little to her nerves though.

She instinctively pushed herself further into Cassandra’s side, who’s grip around her waist tightened ever so slightly.

The waiting was downright tortuous.

She, along with Cassandra and her two sisters were in her infirmary. The room mixed the ancient decor of the castle with modern medical equipment in a beautiful way. Not that anything less would be acceptable. Not that the familiarity of her workspace brought her any comfort either.

All their eyes snapped in the direction of the door when a heavy set of footsteps, with two lighter ones, were heard down the hallway outside. Soon the door opened with a barely audible creak and the two matriarchs entered, followed suit by Mother Miranda. Her presence alone was enough to make Nicole’s breath get lost somewhere in her throat, on its way to an exhale. The black wings, even partially folded as they were, did their job of making her look so much more intimidating than she was. Not that she needed them to begin with, a look from those icy gray eyes more than enough to send anyone to their knees.

Mother Miranda was, in all ways that mattered, a goddess.

A goddess that was about to infect her with the same thing that failed countless times in the past. The same thing that made the crawling mindless beasts used as guard dogs in the undergrounds. Or that made all the lycans.

Nicole gulped, a gesture gone thankfully unnoticed to anyone other than her painfully dry mouth.

But Miranda didn’t spare her a glance. She simply busied herself with some tools she had brought on one of the metal tables. With each clink the room seemed to close in on her slightly more, until Nicole felt as if she somehow ended up in one of Heisenberg's death traps. Spikes moving closer and closer until they would pierce her body and leave her in a messy pool of blood and entrails.

She shook her head and took a long inhale. No. This was going to work. She was not about to lose her family over a pesky thing such as mortality. She was not about to lose Cassandra. If getting infected by the Cadou was what it took to spend eternity with her lover then so be it. Possible side effects be damned.

Mother Miranda finally seemed to have finished, a now empty flask labeled Cadou sitting on the desk behind her while the parasite was writhing in her hand, thin whip-like tentacles extending frantically around itself. She called her over with a nod, and with a deep breath and a parting hand squeeze from Cassandra, Nicole forced her legs to take her across the room. Her steps didn't waver, she'd be damned if she'd show any hesitancy in front of this.

"Shall we begin."

It wasn't a question really, merely veiled impatience. Miranda did not like her, plain and simple. The fact that she was there to begin with was already a miracle. Miracle that wouldn't have happened were it not for the Ladies themselves asking for it.

"Yes of c-"

Before her words even had time to completely slip out of her mouth, golden talons plunged into the base of her sternum.

"Hopefully this can teach you that I don't like people going behind my back."

Nicole let out a choked gasp, hands instinctively wrapping around Miranda's arm, weakly grabbing at black robes. Ironically enough, those very talons were keeping her upright and, when they were removed from her flesh with a disgusting squelch of blood, Nicole curled in on herself, falling to her knees.

"Wha-... cking ki-... -er!"

Cassandra's voice reached her ears broken up, barely passing through the deafening ringing. Miranda also gave a reply and then seemed to address someone else but her much calmer tone meant that it only sounded like a vague mumble.

Not that Nicole particularly cared at the moment.

She curled into a ball, her hands almost clawing at her chest trying to find some sort of relief. It seemed as if vicious tendrils were making their way into every vein and muscle, tearing their way through any tissue they found. Her chest felt as if it had a hot iron pressed directly onto the skin, searing pain radiating in a cruel pulse matching her frantic heartbeat. By that point she was either sobbing or heaving, something that involved shallow breaths for sure. Her lungs were protesting fiercely, emptying of oxygen and then refusing to refill if not with great strain.

To make everything worse, the pain seemed to shift, now engulfing her spine and sending jolts that made her head spin and want to throw up despite her jaws being clenched shut so tightly that she was sure she'd start to taste copper soon.

She was only vaguely aware of hands shifting her body and soothing words that fell on deaf ears. She was now on a softer surface, but that did nothing to alleviate the assault on each of her senses. Probably she had thrown up at a certain point as her sinuses felt like being scraped by sandpaper with each shuddering breath. Her mouth too had a lingering taste of both bile and blood that made her stomach turn all over again. She would give anything for her body to finally shut down.

Why was she still awake and conscious god damn it. There was only so much her body was supposed to take before the brain shut down and she was reaching her limit of how much agony she could endure at a moment.

Please please please just pass out please.

She didn't though. Her body seemingly deciding to feel every single bit of the infection process, complete with the unending waves of pain and nausea that hit her more than she wanted to count. Any bit of sanity left in her would've probably disappeared had she tried.

---

It took two days for the agonizing pain to subside. Another two for Nicole to be able to form any kind of coherent sentence. Cassandra's soothing voice was of immense comfort, always there to tell her how well she was doing and how it would all be better soon.

God she hoped.

On the fifth day, her stomach still lurched at any movement too sudden. Her lungs seemed to fill with blood, courtesy of the still gaping wound at the bottom of her sternum, with any inhale too deep. The fact that she got used to the coppery taste rising up in her throat was disgusting in and of itself. At least there weren't jolts of pain shooting through every nerve and muscle in waves anymore though. That was something.

The fog in her brain was still clearing. It was hard to focus on anything, and each time Cassandra, or anyone else, asked her a question they would have to repeat it at least three times. It was beyond frustrating, the mind that got her through med school drunk half the time was failing the insurmountable task of saying whether or not she'd like some water. Glorious.

A faint knock on the door reached her ears. A redundant gesture really, as she didn't exactly have the clarity of mind to answer. Besides it was hard to catch her in a more compromising state than curled up in the fetal position, covered in sweat and most likely blood clots stuck to her lips.

Esteria came in, her one blue eye that wasn't covered looking at her with all the gentleness neither of her parents had ever offered her. Or it was just the cruel trick of a delirious brain. Either way, light barefoot steps took the Mistress to her bed. She sat in the chair adjacent to it and, with taloned fingers brushing strands of auburn hair out of Nicole's face, she spoke softly.

"How are you feeling today?"

Her voice was just as melodious as ever. It was the voice one imagines they would hear from an ancient being found deep in the forest. It made Nicole just a tad guilty when the only answer she could give was a pathetic whine.

Esteria simply hummed, talons running through the long messy locks of hair sprawled on the sheets.

"Would you like me to braid this for you dear?"

Nicole frowned. The Mistress was an expert at braiding, quick fingers able to make beautiful designs, both simple and complex. Comes with having floor length hair, her hazy mind guessed. On any normal day, Nicole would've accepted without a second thought. But now? Now she was painfully aware of the state she was currently in.

"It's filthy," she croaked, her voice raw and like stones in her mouth.

And it was. Her hair was waist length and right now it was slowly becoming a curse. It was greasy and sweaty thanks to barely being able to move a limb for nearly a week, which meant no showers. Not to mention how she lost count of the times she bent down to empty the contents of her stomach into a bucket, only to have some rebel locks fall in her face and get subsequently dirty. God she felt awful.

Esteria didn't seem to care too much though, as she simply helped Nicole shift slightly and talons started to work at some pesky mats. In no time, her hair was in a comfortable braid that started relatively high, keeping the locks away from her nape which meant just a tad less overheating. Not to mention it kept it in place and away from her mouth that she didn't trust in the slightest right now.

"Thanks," she actually managed to not let her voice crack this time.

"Oh it's no problem. Also," there seemed to be an odd strain in her voice, "Mother Miranda is coming this evening. She said something about an examination."

Nicole couldn't help but openly wince and curl in on herself a little more at the mere mention of the woman. Her chest seemed to pulsate painfully at the memory of the golden talons embedded deep in her flesh. Right now she wanted those hands anywhere away from her.

"What time is it?"

Esteria looked at the clock placed somewhere on the wall behind them. "About twelve. Still got time."

How hard would it be to drag herself to the adjacent bathroom for a quick shower? The only way her situation could get worse was if none other than Mother Miranda came in to see her in that state. She took a deep breath that her lungs protested against and pushed herself onto her elbows. At Esteria's skeptical expression she tried to sound less horrible than she felt.

"I need a shower."

Esteria pursed her lips. "Sorry dear but I don't believe for one second that you can stand for more than a minute. I'll ask a maid to draw you a bath."

Nicole only nodded weakly and let herself fall back into the cushion.

---

It took far longer than Nicole would ever admit to get herself fully clean. Her muscles were sore and protesting at every pass of the soapy sponge. Her hair was a whole other battle and she had to bite down on her pride and ask the maid positioned outside her door for help. It was a tortuous fifteen minutes until the poor girl managed to detangle the long locks enough to be shampooed and washed.

After she was content with the level of cleanliness of her body and the maid was dismissed, she stood there preparing herself to get out of the basin. In the meantime she looked down at the wound at the bottom of her sternum. Maybe wound wasn't the right word. It looked more like a gray and black scar with vein-like tendrils spreading across pale skin. It looked downright gruesome. Miranda really did not try to do a clean job in the slightest. Didn't even think to use anesthesia, like she had with most other experiments, according to Alcina.

She sighed and finally pushed herself out of the water with shaky arms.

By the time Mother Miranda arrived she was feeling slightly better. Why she came personally was still a mystery to Nicole. Maybe some sick sense of satisfaction in seeing her in pain.

Either way, by the time their so-called goddess came into the infirmary and told Nicole to lay down on one of the tables, she managed to shuffle her way over without her body protesting too much. Cassandra also quietly made her way on the opposite side of Miranda, gaining herself a glare.

"Must you hover over her like that?" Miranda's tone was as even as ever, but her eyes betrayed annoyance.

"Does it hinder you?"

Cassandra was not an idiot, the growl she wanted to add into her question was instead replaced by a tone not too dissimilar to Miranda's own, who simply tugged her lips into a grimace.

"Very well."

At first they went through a normal examination. Pupil dilation, reflexes, all things a normal doctor would do. Then Miranda told her to unbutton her blouse so she could take a look at the infection scar.

Nicole couldn't help flinching when thankfully gloved fingers would poke and prod at the sensitive flesh there. Her cold digits felt like hot coals were spread on her chest and nails dragged uselessly on the metal underneath her body for some sort of distraction.

Mother Miranda decided to get a tissue sample and that's when Nicole decided that maybe she would rather spend eternity as a ghost. She squeezed her eyes shut when a scalpel was brought to the overly sensitive skin. It took her back to when she would do autopsies, years ago. Tissue samples were always an integral part of her work. How ironic that she found herself on the other side of things.

It's fine.

She winced when the blade cut into flesh and sent a jolt of pain through her chest. Nicole couldn't help but think of the long days she spent agonizing while her chest felt like it was burning her alive and hoping that it wouldn't repeat. A sigh of pure relief slipped past her lips when whatever fake deity there was besides this woman, listened to her and the sensation died out quickly. She dared to open her eyes, only to see Mother Miranda frowning down at the small vial in hand.

It was quickly given to an assistant and she unceremoniously grabbed Nicole's wrist, dragging the blade across the length of her forearm.

Nicole gasped at the sudden sharp pain, and even Cassandra dropped a few choice words in romanian due to the surprise. No. No no no. What the hell-

Any questions, or less dignified reaction, died in everyone's throats as they watched the skin stitch itself back together. The repairing muscles gave a tingling sensation but soon the only proof that a cut had been there were thin trails of blood.

Mother Miranda chuckled and wrote down something in the notebook she brought with her. "Accelerated healing. That can be of use."

Nicole couldn't help but throw a glance at Alcina, who was sitting in one of the many chairs with Esteria by her side. Her expression was unreadable, a mix of conflicting emotions flashing in her eyes like rapid lightning. She would've tried to decipher their matriarch's probable thoughts were it not for the smell that was starting to assault her senses.

"Ugh what's that…blood… "

Coherent sentences were still not something her brain wanted to do apparently, but judging by how her nose scrunched up in a grimace, Cassandra got the gist of what she meant.

"Um… your arm," she pointed to the still fresh blood slowly dripping from her skin.

Right. Dumbass.

"Or damaged sinuses. Should go away soon," Miranda added from where she was noting something down and giving instructions to her assistant.

Also fair.

She sighed and tried to ignore it. Her sinuses still felt like sandpaper all the way to the back of her throat. Every time she swallowed, it felt like needles scraping the inside of her neck down to her stomach.

Ugh.

Thankfully, Mother Miranda did not linger for much longer. She wrapped up any samples and was out of the room soon after with her assistant in tow. Then, Nicole could finally go back to laying down in bed and feeling miserable.

And miserable she felt. Her body seemed to have decided to rewire itself into its new mutation. It didn't have any effect on her physical appearance, but the insides seemed to want to liquefy only to be mended back together. It was another week of basically living with a bucket in her lap and throwing up blood clots that seemed to invade her lungs and organs. How she didn't straight up asphyxiate was a mystery that she didn't think she wanted solved.

And to top it off, she was starting to think that humidity from some leaky pipe somewhere in the castle was causing a slight mold problem. Almost everywhere she went, there was this faint moldy scent lingering in the air and it was mixing horribly with the coppery feeling inside her still offended throat and sinuses. Nobody seemed bothered by it though, so maybe it was simply a side effect of the infection that was yet to go away. It wasn’t nicknamed the Mold for nothing, after all.

[choccy-zefirka]

The Ending Of Words

Sotha Sil x Reader PWP smut with feelings, set immediately after the Blackwood main quest, but with minimal spoilers. Very self-indulgent, fluffy, and probably out of character; I kindly ask you to suspend your disbelief and try not to think too hard if intercourse between a mortal and a god can ever be consensual.

The sky over Leyawiin and beyond is no longer clotting into blood-red swirls. The fires have been put out. The surviving Ambitions have set forth towards their destiny. And Eveli has devoured all the cake she could find. Elam probably has as well.

With your adventures in Blackwood concluded, you take a breath of air: throw yourself on your inn bed and stare at the ceiling, pondering where the mystery of the Longhouse Emperors will take you next. Your thoughts are interrupted, though, before they can even take proper shape: by a soft, yet persistent knock at your door.

"Come in!" you call out, expecting a courier with news from one of your allies. Perhaps Abnur Tharn has gotten tired of pretending that he was dead. Or perhaps Rigurt has a new cultural exchange idea. Or Mirri and Bastian want to adventure with you...

With how many people, each odder than the next, that you have befriended, antagonized, rescued and assisted over your long travels, you are expecting pretty much anyone. Even Revus Dimnevanni hauling along a giant egg.

What you go not expect, however, is a figure in a long travel cloak — so tall that its limbs get awkwardly entangled in the doorway before it finally steps inside. As the stranger struggles against the low, narrow frame, you spot a glint of metal, escaping from under one of the cloak's folds... And your heart skips a beat.

It can't be. Can it? One of the Dunmer living gods, so far away from home, visiting you in your tiny rented quarters in the far reaches of Cyrodiil? It's probably just a trick of the light; surely there are other beings in Tamriel who are this tall, and have the same quiet, somber bearing, and...

The stranger removes his hood. There can be no mistake now. The metal augmentation framing his face, crown-like; the weary, melancholy features that you grew so familiar with during your not-quite-necessary-for-the-mission walks in the gardens of the Clockwork City... He looks even more narrowed than you remember, with a shadow in his eyes that abated when he takes his first proper look at you.

"I found you," he says simply.

There is a thread-thin crack in his voice that almost makes him sound mortal — but still, you sit up awkwardly in bed, never quite certain how you should greet a god.

Again, he does not let you think this over. He just... sits by your side, and clasps your hands with his metal fingers. You have never seen him this impulsive; your heart lurches once more, sharper this time. Out of the corner of your eye, you try to measure the distance to your discarded weapon. What if this is another shadow?

...But there is plenty of light in your little room, and he does not recoil. He just keeps... holding on to you. A bit stiffly, for lack of practice. And with a tiny hint of... desperation?

"I know what transpired here," he says. "I knew it would, for a long time; and it will again, hundreds of years since. Perhaps even after I am..."

There is a faint, groan-like movement of gears as he rolls his shoulders.

"...It doesn't not matter. It should not. Not to you. I just... Dagon took much from me, and I had to — I had to personally ascertain that he did not take even more. You falling to him was unlikely, but even a miniscule possibility disrupted my thoughts to the extent that I..."

He interrupts himself another time, stuck in his own long-winded speech the same way he got stuck in your doorway. With a tiny sigh, he discards all that verbosity, and mouths the shortest, the most mortal-like words yet,

"I missed you."

You freeze under his touch, uncertain how to act in the face of such vulnerability from a divine being. He notes that, and curls the thin, jointed metal rods that are his fingers. Your hands slip free, and something deep inside you aches in regret.

You try to shrug it all off. To joke, so that everything else fades away in the face of forced, awkward laughter.

"Of course, no-one runs errands for the Tribunal better than me."

He does not laugh. Nor do you, not really.

"It is not that."

He clasps his hands in his lap, his long back hunched over — almost folded in two.

His eyes stare into nowhere — and as you study his face, you find yourself oddly captivated by the silvery-white strand of hair that has escaped over his angular face.

"There is much that I have worked hard to replicate in my city. The animals, the plant life, the change of seasons and time of day at the turn of a cog wheel... The sun is still a work in progress; I do not want a recurrence of the Everwound Wellspring, but I have an idea how to copy the..."

He clears his throat, and finally tucks that loosened hair back behind his ear; under his elaborate arching headdress.

"The one thing that I cannot accurately simulate is the company of another living being — something that my... divine siblings seem to value a great deal. Thankfully, my apostles and other clockwork residents seek it out without my aid; and as for myself, I never thought I would require it, not after centuries, but... But then I met you, and I... I could not even bear archiving my memories of you in the Planisphere. I want to keep them close. Here."

His wire-woven hand rests on his chest. The long cloak slides off, heaping around him on your bed. You notice that the usual pristine white of the Clockwork God's robe has been splattered with mud — the usual welcome of Blackwood. Yet again, this makes him mortal. Oddly... real.

And suddenly, at the sight of something as insignificant as mud — marring the detached white perfection, just as the anguished eyebrow arch, the crinkle of silver skin, mars the impassive divine countenance — you realize that you are no longer afraid. No longer hesitant to face, to name, what has been burning in your chest since you stood in Sotha Sil's garden.

Pushing yourself up so you can reach his face — he is still impossibly tall, even in this huddled pose — you kiss him. You actually do that. You kiss a god.

He sags into your touch: an impeccably aligned construct, suddenly melting into your arms. Then, he winds back up into the thrumming tension of longing, and kisses you back.

As you imagined, on more nights than you would admit — and certainly on more nights that you would discuss in polite Dunmer company — he tastes faintly of metal. With a lingering tang of sweetness that envelops you when your tongues touch.

With the softest, the most blissful "Oh", the great Sotha Sil collapses onto your humble inn bed. He barely fits, and has to bend his legs in the knee, on either side of you, as you hover on top, your hands resting on his chest. The flaps of his muddy robe loosen, like the cloak did. The skin under your touch is warm, alive, not yet claimed by wires and welded plates.

And that living part of him heaves, beats, measures an excited drum rhythm. You caress him in slow, wandering circles, and kiss him again.

"What will Lord Seht have me do?" you whisper, not half an inch away from his cheekbone. There is not a note of reverence in your voice, yet you are long past considering the implications of this blasphemy.

So is he.

"I don't know," he says sincerely — and then laughs.

It must be an all-new, exhilarating experience for him: not knowing.

"I... I trust you completely, as always. Just... keep calling my name like that... Please."

You comply. Readily.

"Seht," you scorch his mouth with his own name, brushing your lips against his in a not-quite-kiss. Your hands, in the meanwhile, wander down, exploring every inch of him. Metal or otherwise.

At times, he tries to assist you, clumsily tugging his robes off. Baring more and more of himself. Blood and clockwork made one. An intricate metal carcass with delicate, mesmerizing patterns: and enmeshed in it, a nearly feverish body that hungers for yours. In a very mortal way.

"Seht... Seht."

He arches his back, metal fingers ripping into the sheets, just as you peel back the rest of his robes and discover how hard he is for you.

You unbuckle your own clothes — thankfully, you were not wearing a lot to begin with, having set fighting aside for the day — and a wave of something much like intoxication washes over you as the living god takes in your naked form with sheer awe.

His eyes, which once carefully studied every notch, every groove on mossy bark so he could recreate it in his metal trees, feast on your mortal imperfections.

His breath hitches.

"Take me."

It is not an order. Not a decree of an immortal lord commanding his servant.

It is a nearly tearful plea.

And you grant it to him. After waiting for a few moments, and murmuring one last "Seht" while he nearly whimpers, you take him into your mouth.

After your lips and tongue bring him to a gasping, panting peak — so messy, so undignified; what would the Canons say — you wipe your mouth and allow yourself the most horrendous blasphemy of all.

"A lovely note of brass in your cum, my lord."

His ears flare a deep eggplant color, and he covers his face with his hands, smothering an embarrassed laugh, while his hair cascades over his shoulders.

At length, he looks up at you. For a moment, you wander if you overdid it and insulted him, but the affection in his gaze reassures you otherwise. You even wish you'd said something romantic instead.

Because... Because would it be lovely if this were truly it. Romance. Not just a lonely god, repressed for hundreds of years, seeking release with a mortal.

"I... am woefully out of practice, but if you explain to me how to make you feel the same ecstasy you shared with me just now, I am ready to learn."

Now it is your turn for a small-voiced "Oh".

"All... All right."

You take his hands in yours. The heat of your mortal touch clouds the metal; and something moist and prickly clouds Sotha Sil's gaze.

Perhaps he is having one of those moments again, where he knows in advance what will happen to you both, and resigns himself to a future that only he can see.

Well, he is in the present now. With someone who... loves him?

You roll your fingers over his cog-like knuckles.

"Let me show you."

[carry-on-my-wayward-butt]

So far what has been the worst thing about being pregnant?

oh so much, so equally.

sciatica, making it so i physically cannot walk without excruciating pain, but only at night when i need to get out of bed to piss. (thankfully i am not a type who needs to piss all the time. yet.)

acid reflux, a constant cold burn in my throat unfazed by tums but is ignorable if im constantly drinking something. so my stomach is always full of liquid, which makes the acid worse, so i have to keep drinking so i dont feel it.

i am So Fucking Hungry. “have less food more often! smaller, more frequent meals!” they say. “because your stomach will get smaller as baby grows!” i dont fucking think so babe. yes i can handle it. yes i know baby is growing rapidly and needs the nutrients and thats why my stomach is constantly growling. baby wants the entire meal, and baby wants another in two hours. pay up or perish. (by perish i mean my stomach will growl so loud you go deaf)

speaking of deaf, the sinus pressure has closed up one of my ears. it’ll go away after birth but the other ear has pulsatile tinnitus that i need surgery for because the sinus pressure and increased blood supply pushed my eardrum back, and i need a replacement prosthetic of some bone in my ear that isnt doing its job.

speaking of sinuses, there’s so much fucking blood in my body that sinus pressure causes nosebleeds, a common pregnancy issue. however, because of allergies i already had prior, my sinuses keep all the blood clotting up inside my sinuses. and because of acid reflux, i’m constantly spitting, so it never has time to settle and properly bleed. instead i cough, snort, and spit up 5-8 BLOOD CLOTS. FROM MY SINUSES. per day. some darker and heavier, most smaller and less dense. i am constantly creating suction pressure in my throat to dislodge blood clots from my nasopharynx. i am always snorting.

my tits are disgusting. i have lymphedema in the breasts, rather uncommon, and it has been completely mimicing the symptoms of breast cancer without having any lumps or actual tumors to show for it. anywhere. they’re simply an angry warm red, feel like an orange peel, hard as dried playdough, and the consistency of a memory foam mattress.

“yr areolas will darken uwu!”

and thats just what i hate the MOST.

things that just annoy me include:

always feeling both exhausted and like i NEED to clean everything. everything. all the time. im noticing dirt and mess that i’ve never seen before in my life. im rewashing perfectly clean items because im not the one who washed them initially.

nesting feels itchy. im exhausted midway through organizing the entire bathroom but i Have To keep going. its compulsive. it feels like an actual rat in my brain trying to claw its way out. and i struggle so badly to ignore it because half the shit i want to do cant be done until mid april. and it’s been scratching at me since like january. it kind of hurts.

also i love kicks but the rolls and swishes feel fucking gross, it feels like there’s a goldfish in my stomach just flopping around nastily. it tickles in a gross way.

i have to sleep on a wedge pillow in addition to my C pillow. both help immensely, but im so blocked off from davyn and it makes me sad. i have to tear my little nest apart if i want to cuddle, and then i can’t for very long because he lays down flat, and the aggravates my acid really badly.

horribly vivid dreams. ive never felt more disturbed by my dreams than i have the past few weeks. it feels so real, nothing like a normal weird dream. the concepts are strange but the environment is so convincing. and it’s usually nightmares.

im really forgetful now and its kind of scary. like genuinely scary because it feels like im losing my mind and its bringing up a lot of... gaslighty trauma from when i was a teenager. sometimes my memory is as perfect as usual, sometimes i forget what just came out of my mouth two seconds ago. davyn is really patient when i get scared.

and i have it relatively easy.

i dont have gestational diabetes, which would necessitate an entirely new diet that i KNOW i wouldnt be able to sustain.

i don’t have blood clots, so i dont have to take those awful shots that bruise the injection site so terribly(i took them after my knee surgery, i switched to warfarin because i couldnt stand the shots anymore after only a week).

i dont have cervical insufficiency, which runs in my family and would necessitate a much higher level of care.

i dont have an Rh incompatibility with my baby, which would necessitate a higher level of care but also one of the most painful shots you can get in pregnancy. in the ass cheek.

i didnt have morning sickness AT ALL, just occasional nausea and not even consistently. some people puke multiple times a day and struggle eating anything. for the entire duration.

i don’t have tons of emotional outbursts, i had one breakdown about davyn eating my banana, one about davyn saying “the pillow is my girlfriend now” because i fixated on the word girlfriend, one because i left soda in the freezer and it exploded, and i cry easily over touching youtube videos a little more easily. thats it. 3 breakdowns and a tender heart. over the past 7 months.

i have it quite easy, and most of all im doing this on purpose.

i’ll say it again every time: reproductive choice is a hill i will happily die on. absolutely fucking nobody deserves any of this, least of all people who don’t know its coming and didnt want it anyway.

i wanted this, and im doing it eagerly. i just also hate it and it sucks and im glad it’ll be over soon and i can have my screamy poopy wrinkly baby on the outside where i can actually LOOK at them and HOLD them and know the tangible fruits of my labor. feels like im wading through a sewer to reach some unknown treasure that im praying will still be there when i get to the end.

make sure your birth control timer is set properly. wrap yr meat. stay aware. etc.

[corruptedconfessions]

Yandere!Barbarian!Bakugo x reader

Barbarian!Bakugo Restraints - “Be a good girl and sit still. You don’t want me to be unhappy right?”

 I changed the prompt to be gender neutral along with the rest of the fic!

If anyone wants to send in more Barbarian Bakugo prompts or requests I would love that. Or ask for a pt 2 smut sequel where he fucks you for the first time k thankksss

Also just to cover all the bases, I don’t mention the readers size, but Barbarian Bakugo is b I g. Like fat gum big but with muscles. Tall thicc man, could probably lift a house (jk...unless?)

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

It had all started with a flower.

Well, it wasn’t quite that simple. But the flower stuck out to you. You had been out in the woods, searching for an herb that you needed. As the village healer you tried to keep a high stock of the basics you needed at all times, and the spring this year had brought a round of illness through the village, so your fever suppressing herbs were running low. Which was how you ran across…him.

He had nearly scared you to death, slumped against a tree, a large gash crossing his entire chest, bleeding out sluggishly onto the forest flooring. You were shocked and frightened by his size, he was well over six feet, built like a warrior, all hard edges and muscle. Still, your kind heart gave you no choice other than to stop to help.

“Are you…okay?”

You hesitantly reached out for him, flinching back when his head suddenly snapped up, crimson eyes meeting yours as his face curled into an ugly snarl.

“Do I fucking look okay?”

He moved, almost as if he was going to lunge at you, only to wince collapsing back against the tree when that opened the wounds that had just started to clot shut. Even more red splattered to the ground, matching his eyes as he gave pained ragged gasps.

“You shouldn’t move, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

He glared at you even more, giving you a look that just screamed ‘no shit’, you supposed it was a little pointless to say that now, but still.

“Here…let me help.”

You ignored the angered snarls that were aimed at you as you moved closer. He couldn’t do much other than glare at you, and both of you knew it, emboldened by this you stepped closer, eyes scanning over his injuries.

“...I can help you with this.”

His gaze sharpened on you, drifting briefly down to your basket that held the herbs and flowers you had been collecting before focusing back on you.

“The fuck do you mean? I don’t need your shitty help you-”

He cried out collapsing in pain when you pushed against the wound on his chest, raising an eyebrow at him as you did so.

“You were saying?”

He growled gritting his teeth as he glared you down. Oh if looks could kill~

“Tch. Whatever. Do whatever you want, peasant.”

You scowled slightly at him but brushed off the insult, chalking it up to the man probably being scared and in a lot of pain, even if he did put on this tough guy act.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

You spent the entire day tending to the man, running out into the forest and grabbing plants and herbs to help heal him. You carefully made salve for his wounds, tore your own clothes for clothes to wipe him down and wrap him up in. You cleaned his wounds, dressed them, and bandaged them tight. You even gave him plants to chew on to help with the pain, something he took eagerly even if he did bite your thumb.

He was near unconscious by the time you were done, eyes hazy and glazed over. Still he was no longer wincing in pain and as you wiped at his chest it came away clean, showing that the bleeding had stopped. The wounds were still nasty but at least they were properly cleaned and dressed now.

“I’m all finished.”

You sat back, taking in his form, now bathed in the soft beams of the sunset. He almost looked cute like this, rested against the tree, hair glowing and face soft. It reminded you of…

You paused turning slightly to pull a flower out of your basket of herbs-A bright red lily to be exact. You smiled gently at him as you tucked it into his hair, just above his ear.

He snarled at you, snapping his teeth menacingly and causing you to flinch back, but the flower stayed. You couldn’t help but continue smiling gently down at him as you stepped back, meeting his gaze as he glowered at you, a soft pink dusting his cheeks.

Your hands still shook slightly in fright but you couldn’t help but compare his fit to that of a cornered cat. Small, helpless, and yet you always ended up being scratched.

If only you knew how sharp his claws really were then and there. If only you had turned around and left him to bleed out instead of helping him, giving him a fighting chance of surviving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Fire rained down around you, bits of flaming rooftops rained down around you as you ran through the streets of your once peaceful village.

Barbarians. They had swooped in in the dead of night, their war cries piercing the peaceful silence of your village. There was no warning, no mercy, just fire and death.

You dodged the bodies of the people you had grown up with, the people you had loved. You wanted to cry, wanted to mourn, but you needed to keep running, to survive even if they couldn’t. You had gotten lucky, you had managed to hide, undetected as the warriors stormed through your part of the village, and now you needed to run before they came back.

But your luck had already run out.

You had run blindly through the streets, smoke burning your eyes and blurring your vision. You were so focused on the tree line, your only chance of escape that you didn’t even notice the hulking figure standing in the middle of the road, backed turned to you until you quite literally barreled right into him. You grunted as you fell back onto your butt, staring up at the blonde with wide shocked eyes as he turned around. Anger and irritation was on his face until he saw you, a disgusting twisted grin making its place on his blood covered face as he stared down at your trembling form, you stared right back, eyes wide.

It was that man. The man from the woods all those weeks ago. What was he doing here? Was he…was he part of this invasion? Your blood ran cold as he grinned, a cruel sharp grin. His cape blew behind him in the wind, and your eyes couldn’t help but immediately lock onto the decoration hanging from his sword holder.

It was your flower. The flower you had given him. Dried and preserved, pressed between wax and tied to his sword’s sheath. His grin widened when he noticed what you were looking at, his chest puffing out as he stepped closer to you.

“It’s about fucking time. Hows my little bitch doing? You sure made it hard for us to find you~”

You yelped as he leaned down, roughly grabbing your arm as he hauled you off the ground, pulling you against his chest as the arm that wasn’t nearly crushing your wrist wrapped around your waist. You nearly threw up as you were pressed against him, the blood on his chest smearing across your cheek. He smelled like blood, fire, death. The stench strong enough your stomach rolled.

“L-let go of me-!”

Once you were snapped out of your stupor you immediately started hitting feebly at his chest, trying to pull your poor abused wrist from his grasp as you squirmed. Nothing worked, it was like the man was built out of stone, you were unable to move even an inch in his grip and hitting at his chest felt like punching stone. All it did was make him laugh cruelly down at you as he leaned down slightly, picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

“Feisty~ I like that.”

He smacked your ass, grinning and laughing that cruel cackle again when you yelped, jerking in his grip. You squirmed on his shoulder but all that got you was a pinch to your ass and a rough order to hold still as he walked off with you. It was like you weighed nothing to him, he held you up with one arm, you could see from where your head hung upsidedown the muscles in his back rippling as he shifted you.

You were forced to stay limp over his shoulder as he carried you all the way across the village, any squirming or attempts to fight led to pinches to your ass and thighs, hard enough you were sure to be littered with sensitive bruises come morning.

Just as you were starting to get dizzy from the blood rushing to your head you were suddenly pulled off of his shoulder, thrown onto a horse, your captor immediately joining you. A muscled arm wrapped around you, pulling you back to his chest as he yelled out another war cry. You could feel the eyes of other barbarians on you as they joined his cry of victory. You couldn’t help but shake as your ears rang from the noise as it finally hit you as he snapped the stirrups of the horse, propelling the both of you forward. He wasn’t going to kill you, he was going to keep you. Or at the very least take you back to his camp to tear apart before discarding. You couldn’t let that happen! You started squirming again in his hold, tears starting to stream down your face as you shoved at his bloodied chest, hysterical and frightened. The arm that was wrapped around you quickly moved, his hand snapping up to grip your chin tight enough you swore you could hear your teeth cracking under the pressure. Red eyes, bloody red eyes stared down at you as he smirked cruelly, dragging his tongue over his canines as he stared down into your eyes.

“Be a good mate and sit still. You don’t want me to be unhappy right?”

You whimpered weakly, trying your best to shake your head in his grip. He held you there for a moment, making you stare into his blood thirsty eyes, something in your gut told you he was hoping you’d fight back, keep disobeying so he would have an excuse to hurt you. You didn’t give him one.

It seemed to please him anyway as he let go of your chin with an amused chuckle, the tight hold pressing you against him immediately returning as he kept riding off into the woods, his pack of blood covered barbarians following after him.

If only you hadn’t given him that flower.

[starshipsofstarlord]

Hale and Dunbar | Liam Dunbar

Summary: You, a Hale, were born a werewolf, whereas Liam was bitten. You help the new pack member through his transition, becoming more than just his guide.

Warnings: Death

“Scott bit someone?” The information that your brother had just told you was a surprise. He didn’t seem like the type of alpha that would want to create more werewolves, after all, he himself knew how hard it was for the bitten to adapt to their new and changed lives.

“A kid.” Derek said bluntly, closing his car door as he walked towards Scott’s front door, with you hot on heels. “He’s strong, I’ll give him that.”

“And what does any of this have to do with me?” You crossed your arms, glaring at your sibling for an answer, pausing your footsteps momentarily.

“He’s your age (Y/N), and he could use a friend.” You groaned at that, throwing your head back.

“He has Scott, isn't that enough?” Now it was Derek’s turn to glare at you, and he lightly shoved you closer to the door and then knocked.

It was only a minute or two until Scott opened the door, and from his expression, he obviously hadn’t been expecting either one of you.

“Derek, (Y/N), what are you two doing here?” He invited you in, and you squeezed past him as you remembered that the last time that you were in here you were fighting the Oni. Just the thought made you shiver.

“This one needed time out of the apartment.” Your brother earnt himself a growl and a flash of golden eyes on your part as you wandered into the living room, where you saw Stiles talking to a boy you didn’t recognise.

Must be the new beta, you thought.

“Stiles.” You greeted him with a nod, and that was more than enough to make him jump.

“Jesus.” He clutched his chest, not having expected your presence in the moment. “You’re worse than your brother I swear.”

“I mean, I can’t help that your concept of your surroundings is slower than a werewolf’s. But Scott could, but as I’ve been told, he’s already nipped someone.” Your eyes diverted to Liam, he had to be the victim. You could smell the wolf in him, it was distinct. New.

At your gaze, the boy squirmed. You were a stranger, yet you knew all about his forced invitation into the pack, and more for all that he was aware. But he knew that you weren’t a danger, he could hear your friendly - ish greeting with Scott.

“And now, there’s another target on the deadpool. Fun.” You bit your lip, sitting right next to Liam, who watched you attentively. He tensed his shoulders before speaking to you, trying to come across as confident and cocky as he had initially done with the boys.

“You know about the deadpool?” He knew that Scott wanted to keep it on the down low, especially since the benefactor had yet to be found. At his query, you smirked. So new and naive to the workings of the pack and its members.

“I know a little bit about everything.” You spoke, noticing your brother watching you from the doorframe. You sent him a glare, and complied with the reason as to why you had been dragged here in the first place. “Except you. You’re fresh meat that has just hit the agenda.”

There was no way that Liam could keep up his outgoing persona now. Since he was the centre as to why such an attractive girl would come to a house in the middle of the night. You wanted information.

“I - I play lacrosse.” He fumbled over his words making Stiles hide his sniggers behind his hand.

“Let’s skip the basics Dunbar. Who are you really?”

-

They were on your tail, quite literally in your evolved form. The hunters had returned, and were trying to take down all of the packs in Beacon Hills. Satomi’s was near on extinguished, there were a few in hiding, seeing as they weren’t trained to defend their selves.   

But you were, and yet you were still running in the shape of a black dog, avoiding the arrows and bullets that came your way, or at least the ones that hadn’t hit you yet.

The whole town had turned their backs on you, partially because of the Anuke Ite’s influence, but the rest was down the Gerard and Monroe.

There had to be some way that you could lose these stragglers. For sure, you were faster than the lot of them, but you were so incredibly tired from the running and fighting. It was still light out, and the school was in your sights.

Liam would be there, as well as Mason and Corey. You could get help, cry out for it or just damn straight find it on your own accord. If you howled however, it would signal your location to not only the men that were trailing you, but every hunter in training inside of the school. And to say the least, that would not be good.

But you rampaged through the doors anyway, the men would not be permitted to enter with firearms. And if they did, then the sheriff would be called and that would double up the protection upon you.

Liam could sense your presence and quickly ran out of Mrs Finch’s class. He didn’t need to care about what people thought, they had quite clearly already formed their opinions.

He could smell your blood, and so he ran into the girls locker room, realising that was where you had decided to habitat.

The boys locker room would have been a rookie mistake, considering Gabe and Nolan performing as though they were Monroe’s bus boys.

“(Y/N).” He belted as he saw you in your evolved form, trying to lick at your wounds. “Shit.” He breathed, removing his jacket and holding it around you so that you could shift back without being exposed to the cold air. “It’s okay.”

It wasn’t okay, not in the slightest. Even as you transformed back, there was still so much blood, it coming out in black clots. You weren’t healing.

“Li.” You smiled, reaching up and stroking his face that had grown more defined over the time that you had known him. “I knew you’d find me.”

“Always.” He promised, water pooling in his blue eyes as he grabbed his phone and dialled Scott, but the tone just kept ringing, ending in no reply.

There was no time, he reached towards the wounds over your body, unsure of where to start. There were so many holes imbedded and bleeding through your skin, too many.

“I don’t know what to do.” He spoke, he couldn’t ask the school for help, they wouldn’t let you die in peace, they’d ensure you left the world in pain.

“Just stay with me.” With that he pulled you closer. “At least I get to see the rest of my family, it’s been years.”

“You shouldn’t have to die like this, I should do something.” If you left like this, he’d never rinse off the guilt, he’d lose control as he would have lost his anchor.

“If this I had a choice in how my death played out, I wouldn’t change it.” Rubbing your numbing lips together, you grabbed Liam’s hand, frowning as he attempted to remove your pain.

“I can’t take your pain.”

“It’s because it doesn’t hurt.” You sighed, now understanding how Allison had felt when her time was passing. “I’m just happy that I got to know you, that I got to love you. I’ve seen you realise that you aren’t a monster, you’re a werewolf, and a damned good one.”

“Don’t go.” Tears were falling upon your face from his own. “I need you, stay, please.”

“It’s not up to me, just don’t join me anytime soon Dunbar otherwise I’ll have to kick your ass.” A few spluttered coughs left your mouth, along with portions of blood.

“But-“ he has began to speak, but noticed how your eyes were fluttering and your heart was slowing.

If these were his last words, he was sure as hell he wouldn’t make a one sided argument out of them.