#very unlikely will i leave this site… ever

[xazse]

MORE PUPPY GIRL HYBRIF MORE

WENT A DIFFERENT ROUTE WITH THIS! And I think this is what you wanted? Or if you meant something different let me know!!!

And btw I made Satoru in mind as a hybrid who’s a little clueless about females, esp females of a different species. And he has scent glands lol.

Can’t stop thinking about WolfHybrid!Gojo who’s new to Suguru’s household, he had not known it would come with you as well: A PuppyGirl!Hybrid. At the facility Satoru was at he had not met other hybrids of different species, only been around other wolves in case they became aggressive or overly possessive. This means it’s his first time meeting a female hybrid, he’s cautious at first, you’re a lot smaller than he is and he finds himself liking that.

Suguru is situated on the couch while Satoru is on one side and you’re on the other. You’re just as curious, leaning over Suguru’s lap to take little sniffs of Satoru, you determine from staring at him that his hair is unusually white, his ears are pointy unlike your floppy ones, and you think he smells nice, like really nice. Satoru’s body language begins to show he’s nervous when you start getting even closer to sniff his neck, he’s not sure what to do with himself besides sitting stiffly and occasionally meeting your eyes while you do your thing.

Suguru gets up to excuse himself to the kitchen to make something to eat, he encourages you two to become more familiar and aquatinted with one another. You’re so bold as you move to rub yourself all over Satoru, you’re loving just how woody he smells. You smoosh your head and ears all over his chest, mewling and soft rumbling can be heard with Satoru’s excellent hearing. Satoru feels incredibly weird as you press your full weight on him. His pants feel tight like they’re 10 sizes too small for his throbbing body. He can’t quite put his finger on why he’s having this reaction, in the facility he was only taught the basics of his primal needs: nothing about females were ever taught in depth so he really isn’t sure how to handle you.

You don’t seem to have noticed the tent in his pants nor has he. He does however notice the little shorts and tight tank top you sport, he can see the fat of your supple skin.

You’ve even started licking him in a show of your welcome, you go from licking his face to licking on his very sensitive scent glands. His groan is so caught within his throat it’s deeply lewd.

He again hasn’t noticed how you’ve managed to slip into his lap and have both of your legs on either side of him, he doesn’t notice how he’s slowly bouncing you on the throbbing area that’s causing him trouble. Satoru is on cloud nine, his head is heady as it falls on the back of the couch while soft whines leave both of your lips. Suguru comes back from the kitchen to ask what type of meat should he use for the two of you to discover the site in front of him, he’s quick to pull you up from Satoru’s lap not wanting you two to do something like that so early. He’s holding a needy you with one arm around your tummy and Satoru hasn’t stopped staring at you with so much lust in his eyes.

Suguru’s gaze drops to the front of the hybrids pants to see a large wet patch.

[reasonsforhope]

"Doctors have begun trialling the world’s first mRNA lung cancer vaccine in patients, as experts hailed its “groundbreaking” potential to save thousands of lives.

Lung cancer is the world’s leading cause of cancer death, accounting for about 1.8m deaths every year. Survival rates in those with advanced forms of the disease, where tumours have spread, are particularly poor.

Now experts are testing a new jab that instructs the body to hunt down and kill cancer cells – then prevents them ever coming back. Known as BNT116 and made by BioNTech, the vaccine is designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of the disease.

The phase 1 clinical trial, the first human study of BNT116, has launched across 34 research sites in seven countries: the UK, US, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Turkey.

The UK has six sites, located in England and Wales, with the first UK patient to receive the vaccine having their initial dose on Tuesday [August 20, 2024].

Overall, about 130 patients – from early-stage before surgery or radiotherapy, to late-stage disease or recurrent cancer – will be enrolled to have the jab alongside immunotherapy. About 20 will be from the UK.

The jab uses messenger RNA (mRNA), similar to Covid-19 vaccines, and works by presenting the immune system with tumour markers from NSCLC to prime the body to fight cancer cells expressing these markers.

The aim is to strengthen a person’s immune response to cancer while leaving healthy cells untouched, unlike chemotherapy.

“We are now entering this very exciting new era of mRNA-based immunotherapy clinical trials to investigate the treatment of lung cancer,” said Prof Siow Ming Lee, a consultant medical oncologist at University College London hospitals NHS foundation trust (UCLH), which is leading the trial in the UK.

“It’s simple to deliver, and you can select specific antigens in the cancer cell, and then you target them. This technology is the next big phase of cancer treatment.”

Janusz Racz, 67, from London, was the first person to have the vaccine in the UK. He was diagnosed in May and soon after started chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

The scientist, who specialises in AI, said his profession inspired him to take part in the trial. “I am a scientist too, and I understand that the progress of science – especially in medicine – lies in people agreeing to be involved in such investigations,” he said...

“And also, I can be a part of the team that can provide proof of concept for this new methodology, and the faster it would be implemented across the world, more people will be saved.”

Racz received six consecutive injections five minutes apart over 30 minutes at the National Institute for Health Research UCLH Clinical Research Facility on Tuesday.

Each jab contained different RNA strands. He will get the vaccine every week for six consecutive weeks, and then every three weeks for 54 weeks.

Lee said: “We hope adding this additional treatment will stop the cancer coming back because a lot of time for lung cancer patients, even after surgery and radiation, it does come back.” ...

“We hope to go on to phase 2, phase 3, and then hope it becomes standard of care worldwide and saves lots of lung cancer patients.”

The Guardian revealed in May that thousands of patients in England were to be fast-tracked into groundbreaking trials of cancer vaccines in a revolutionary world-first NHS “matchmaking” scheme to save lives.

Under the scheme, patients who meet the eligibility criteria will gain access to clinical trials for the vaccines that experts say represent a new dawn in cancer treatment."

-via The Guardian, May 30, 2024

[starlightsuffered]

Be Professional (Part One)

Warnings - name calling, hate sex, thigh riding, light choking, denial of orgasm mentioned, disobeying, cocky

Timmy

Pairing - Timothée Chalamet/Fem!Reader

"Working with Timothée has been so awesome," I lied through my teeth.

"She's very talented," Timothée interjected.

"That's so sweet," | replied.

"Wow," the interviewer said. "The chemistry between you two is crazy! I'm so happy you all got along so well."

We nodded pleasantly. I could not wait to be done with this interviewer, who seemed dead set on seeing me and Chalamet as a couple.

I had disliked him from day one on set. I'd overheard him asking the director why an amateur like me had such a large roll in the movie.

I'd walked straight up to him and said,"because l've actually got talent, unlike some people who rely on celebrity connections and good jawlines." He'd looked stunned at the time, but later he came over to me in the food line and said, "So, you think I have a good jawline?"

He'd continued to tease me, l'd continued to loath him. He couldn't act professional to save his life. I suppose he didn't have to, with how popular he was, there was no way he was getting tossed off a set. It made me furious.

"So y/n, this is your first movie. However, your costar Timothée has many parts under his belt, would you care to tell us your favorite?"

"Um," I was nervous. I didn't know any of his movies, all I knew is I wanted to smack the smirk off his face. To anyone but me and the crew, it would seem like an encouraging smile, but we knew better. Timothée and I had been reprimanded time and time again for our "petty squabbles" as the director put it.

"I mean, how can you pick," I said with feigned laughter. "They're all masterpieces."

"Wow, y/n, thank you so much," Timothée said with mock gratitude that the interviewer couldn't clock.

"I think that about wraps up all the time we have for today. It was a pleasure to meet you all."

I was more than happy to leave. I grabbed my purse, and was ready to go back to my trailer.

"Y/N, could I see you in my trailer for a moment?" Timothée asked.

"No thanks," I said, but then that fucking interviewer had to stick her nose into things.

"Oh my goodness! Secret costar gossip in the trailer!" She squealed. "I'm so putting this on the site."

Shit. Now I had to go. There was no way l'm risking my reputation for this. I decided to put on a smile and play along. I took Timothée's out stretched hand and followed him to his trailer.

"So you don't know any of my movies huh?" He crossed his arms and smirked.

"Does that bother your fragile little ego, that not everyone cares about your film history," I chuckled.

"No, but it bothers me that you don't," he said, taking a step closer. I preferred fighting with him at a distance, up close it was undeniable that he was the most beautiful person l'd ever seen.

"You want everyone to have you on their mind 24/7," I scoffed.

"Maybe I do want that from you. What are you going to do about it?" He demanded.

I yanked him to me, crashing my lips against his. At first I told myself it was to shock him, so that l'd finally have the upper hand, but then it started to feel good. His lips were perfectly slotted against mine as he kissed me with a hunger I'd never experienced.

His hand went to my neck, applying gently pressure as he sucked on my lip. I couldn't help but groan and he let out a dark chuckle.

"So speechless now," he cooed.

"Shut the fuck up," I growled, yanking on his hair to get his lips back on mine. I put all my anger and frustration into the kiss. I hoped he felt it. Why in the world was this so hot? Why did it feel like I was being consumed by a fire.

I gasped as his hands went under my top. He grabbed handfuls of my breasts, kneading expertly. He pulled his hands out and began undoing the buttons on my shirt. I was panting with need as he continued. As soon as he had it off he was removing my bra as well, and for some ungodly reason, I was letting him.

He dipped his head, capturing my nipples between his lips. I cried out at the feeling. A large hand came up and closed over my mouth. He knew people would be around, possibly even that interviewer.

"Shit Chalamet, your really know your stuff," I said, begrudgingly giving him a compliment. He popped off my nipple, and began pulling down my pants. I couldn't help but notice that he was still fully clothed. What was his angle? Was he trying to embarrass me? I couldn't help but not care as his fingers went into my panties.

"Well ook what we have here," he gloated as he pulled his fingers out. They were covered in my slick.

"My, my, someone sure is wet, I wonder what that is from?" he tutted. I wanted to smack him.

"Why aren't you naked," I snapped.

"Why would I be naked?" He asked with mock surprise.

"Aren't we going to.. you know?" I suddenly felt very embarrassed.

"Y/N," he said, putting a hand to his heart. "Fucking in my trailer? That wouldn't be very professional," he scolded, using my frequently said phrase.

"What?!" I could have cried from how frustrated I was.

"Maybe, sometime, I'll take you somewhere where it's appropriate to fuck someone's brains out, but for now," he went to get a chair. He sat on it, and patted his thigh.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm very serious, just like you've always wanted me to be."

"And how is this professional," I snarled.

"You're just sitting on a coworkers lap," he shrugged. "After all, we're suuuuuch close friends, right?"

"I hate you," I said as I positioned myself on his thigh.

"I know, that's why this is so fun," he chuckled.

I began to rub myself on his jean clad thigh, needing release. His fingers went to my nipples, and his green orbs were glued to the wet patch I was creating on his pants.

"Could you at least," I tried to get the words out without moaning. "Move your leg?"

"Beg," he demanded, and I stopped moving all together.

"What did you just say to me?"

"Beg me," he said again. I stayed still, there was no way in Hell I'd beg him. When it looked like I was going to stand firm, Timothée reached down. He put pressure on my clit rubbing it fast.

"Holy shit!" I cried, and then the feeling was gone. He'd stopped, knowing how it would feel to lose that contact.

I had tears in my eyes from the denied release. I needed to come so badly that it hurt.

"Please," I whispered.

"Please what?" He smirked.

"Please, help me come," I whimpered.

"Why of course," he obliged, and began bouncing his leg while I rode his thigh. It felt amazing.

"There you go," he crooned. "Look at you, so helpless. You're getting a stain on my pants. Do you know how much those cost?"

"Fucking, entitled, egotistical, prick," | gasped as I continued to ride, he just laughed.

"I'm close," I warned.

"Say my name when you come," he ordered, but I was determined to be infuriating. The bulge in his pants was the only thing that proved to me that this was affecting him at all.

"Chalamet," | gasped as I came undone. He stilled his leg, but I continued to move through my orgasm.

When I finally came down, I was happy to see a scowl on his face. He bent down to grab my clothing, and shoved them in my arms.

"Get dressed. I do NOT like being disobeyed. Some time I'm going to take you to somewhere, and I'll have you screaming my name."

"Sure you will," I said as I got dressed.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

I’m glad I decided to leave Wattpad and stop using it as my main posting platform when I did years ago, because looking at it now, the censorship and the unfairness the platform gives its users are insane.

apparently your book could get shadowbanned if it contained violence, even if you rated it properly and gave your readers proper trigger warnings for them to decide for themselves if they wanted to go ahead and read it or not.

porn is allowed there but it has to be porn with plot. so porn without plot is banned if one of your readers decided they didn’t like what you wrote and reported your book to the platform. 🤡

listen… I wasn’t going to put 2 platforms against each other (if you like Wattpad and are okay with how they treat you as a writer and/or reader, then good for you), but meanwhile over here in AO3 we don’t have to deal with any of these censorship issues (and I hope it stays this way)

AO3 has a team of lawyers protecting its users.

AO3 doesn’t let any ad pop up on their site ever, because it’s a non profit organization, not one of those big corporations where you have to subscribe and pay for premium service if you want to keep using the app without an ad popping up every chapter.

AO3 — unlike Wattpad — is run by fans. for fans.

AO3 thrives solely on volunteers and donations because people appreciate how fairly it treats its users and how the platform refused to let censorship stop anyone from creating art.

you can write the wildest, most fucked up works on AO3 without having to fear your works might be reported. as long as you tag your works properly and make sure all the trigger warnings are there for your potential readers to decide for themselves if they want to read your works or not, you’re good.

*hence the “Dead Dove Do Not Eat” tag, which is very common on AO3.

just… if you’re looking for a sign to join AO3, I think this is it.

[estellardreams]

[Demon King Red AU belongs to @purble-turble] (Lore ramble incoming below)

Okay so... This idea kept circling around in my head and I finally decided to draw it.

Before the question on Lady Bone Demon on the DKR AU, I was always curious on what could've happened if she was ever released.

... At least I'm glad she wasn't. Because if she was then it would've horrifically backfired very quickly.

Taking place mid-season 2 in the timeline, Lady Bone Demon is eventually released by Spider Queen due to discovering the digging site. One thing led to another, she got the key, and released her. Cue the og possessed DBK fight being replaced with a possessed spider queen fight.

This would last for the finale of season one and the opening season two special in terms of time. Once that crashes, LBD retreats into Bai He, infiltrating King Red's council as assistance to return his darling to him.

Now, her main goal at the moment is to grow strong enough to destroy her biggest threats. She assumed King Red wouldn't be a problem.

She was so, so wrong.

King Red was unlike anything she was expecting. Arrogant, paranoid, obsessive, and extremely intelligent. She couldn't even sneak around without cameras glaring her down. Not to mention her and Macaque getting increasingly aggressive with each other over "this bastard put me into this mess" (aka Macaque sided with Red for, one; Wukong and two; to avoid LBD's deal. And LBD for needing to go through the trouble of getting released (even if it was by chance) and jumping between bodies in an attempt to find her perfect match) type of dynamic.

But once LBD regained enough of her power and helped Red "achieve" his destiny of getting his darling MK back, she turns on him.

As the two fight, she begins to take in some of his power, growing stronger by the sheer fierceness of the fire. Her form stabilized rapidly and just as she was able to physically remain out of Bai He's body, the two strike at the same time...

Causing a cataclysmic soul fusion. Macaque rushes to rescue Bai He and brings her out of harms way, hiding from the smoldering figure.

There's no more King or Lady. A new being remained.

And they were even worse than anyone could've anticipated.

So yeah... Mini plot aside on this hypothetical they can control both fire and ice. Though the fire is now blue and the ice is extremely cold. They're two extremes fighting for balance with their only anchor being to shape the world into an image they desire.

Although LBD isn't fond of MK, Red absolutely is and that part overpowers hers, making them absolutely obsessing over their love. To the point that once they got him back, he was locked up in a room of nearly impenetrable ice for his safety. The space is well hidden in the fortress that many rescue attempts have failed because of it.

And Macaque, oh Macaque... His plan backfired in the worst way because not only was he now FORCED to work for his new ruler, but also anytime he tried to escape or step out of line he'd get punished severely. With Red's half being okay with using physical force (though preferring technology to subdue) and LBD holding seething anger towards the shadow monkey for abandoning her, you get a recipe for pretty severe physical abuse. Think of broken bones, frostbite and second degree burns.

And then you got everyone else, who were all forced to evacuate lest they get swallowed up by the raging blue fires and ice spikes taking over the city. After all, you gotta destroy everything to start over, right?

Which leaves us with this turnout: Megapolis and many surrounding lands have become uninhabitable, both MK and Macaque are tortured in the fortress, and there's an extremely powerful soul fusion of two demonic figures with their worst traits amplified and bouncing off of each other.

The Monkie Kids are mainly hiding out wherever possible, most of the time at Flower Fruit Mountain in an attempt to avoid the carnage. Now, their only hope is to find the samadhi fire to vanquish the Lady Bone Demon from King Red... Then, they gotta deal with the other problem.

Not a perfect plan, but it'll hopefully work out, right?

[Edit: Okay I think I'll just call this the Charcoal Bone King AU it's got a nice ring to it anyway]

[nights-at-crystarium]

As a twitter/tumblr user since 2010-2011, I believe I have sufficient grounds to say that currently we as a community are living through the scariest, shittiest time yet. This post isn’t trying to fearmonger, no I’m not leaving tumblr until it literally keels over, but I suggest that we don’t put all our eggs in one basket.

If twitter/tumblr stay usable, great! In the worse scenario, you’d have kept posting on a new platform and stayed ahead of the curve.

This post shares my personal experience with three potential “new”* fandom places, and is aimed to help fellow content creators. I’m an artist fully depending on internet to survive, my reasoning may not apply to you if you’re a hobbyist. Do your own research, it’s always healthy. * Pillowfort and mastodon have been around for 5+ years, bluesky is ~2 years old.

Discovering new people to follow kinda sucks on all three platforms, twitter and tumblr are eons ahead, but, given the recent chaos and uncertainty, I’m willing to be patient, keep posting on those, and feel safer than I would’ve otherwise been. More baskets good, one basket bad.

All three have poor visual customization, don’t expect custom tumblr themes.

This list starts with the least popular, but most human and easy to join, and what I personally trust the most. All three allow nsfw if labeled properly.

✦ Pillowfort is a barebones tumblr. Intuitive, cozy, but currently very, very small. Be patient with its clunkiness or lack of some features, it’s made by an AO3-like team. I’d personally love if the fandom crowd managed to redirect its attention to it instead of the sus bluesky.

Joining: is free, invite-only, but the waitlist is nearly instant.

Lurk around on their official tumblr: @/pillowfort-social

✦ Mastodon, for me personally, is impossible to explain directly. I’ll use several comparisons.

- Discord but all servers can interact. You’re still on a server curated by some human(s) that might tell you what you can and can’t post, BUT, if you don’t like that server’s policy, you can move to a new one while keeping your followers. - Email, users A and B may be registered on different domains, still they can talk. It’s a weird comparison, but fediverse (please I’m not explaining THAT but it’s a good thing) in general looks like another email story: unlike big sites that come and go, it might stand the test of time. - Someone compared mastodon’s structure to xiv’s dc and servers, if you look at its domain names that way, it might be easier to understand.

Depending on user, mastodon may feel gatekeepy/snowflakey. I haven’t spent enough time on there to form a proper opinion yet, but a warning’s due.

An actually good and hopeful thing about mastodon AND tumblr: the two might start interacting in future. Ever lamented that your fav asian artists don’t use tumblr? If they use misskey, or any other place on the fediverse, it might be possible to follow them directly from tumblr in future, and vice versa.

Joining: is free, however some servers close for new members sometimes, and have human moderators reviewing your request.

✦ Bluesky is a twitter without Musk: today’s average internet user reads this, drops everything and already looks to register there. It’s still sus, but people flock to it like crazy. Most likely to become the next big fandom place in my eyes, even if I’m not happy about that.

I personally have no good feelings about bluesky. Same as twitter, which I hated even before the 2018 tumblr exodus, yet the crowd decided to make it The New Fandom Place, and, grudgingly, I had to give up and also join them in 2022. During the year I haven’t stopped despising twitter, yet, I can’t deny that it helped me survive. I estimate half of my patrons, and, hell, even tumblr audience, comes from twitter. So, if bluesky ends up being the next hot shit, I’ll have to keep up because internet pays for my living.

Joining: is free but hell, invite-only, the waitlist is a lie, your best chance to join is a direct invite.

This’s all I’ve got to say for now. If you have a correction or an addition, replies/reblogs are welcome!

Screenshots of the current interfaces under the cut, you may spy on my profiles o/

Pillowfort

Mastodon.art

Bluesky

[dixonsbrat]

𖥔 𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄: 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 𖥔

summary ; rafe begins to push you away when he realises the true nature of his feelings towards you.

pairing ; rafe cameron x pogue!fem!reader

notes ; this series will contain mature themes, such as : p in v sex, fingering, oral sex (f and m receiving), swearing, physical altercations, potential nightmares and anxiety, arguments, drinking and drugs. if i forgot any please let me know.

do not transfer, translate or share my work to any other sites.

living in the outer banks came with its ups and downs, but nothing was ever quite as consistent as the love and adoration that you and the pogue's shared for one another. you thought the world of your friends, and they had become such a viable part of your life that the thought of ever losing them made your soul ache.

so, having to stand there before them as they took in the sight of you and rafe, knowing exactly what was running through their heads and what they thought about the entire thing, you were fearful as to what this new revelation might mean, and whether or not your friends would remain your friends now that they knew it was you this entire time.

kie is the first to break the silence, raising her hands as her lips curl in contempt, she turns away, “I think I’m going to be sick.”

the rest of your friends stare wide-eyed with a mixture of bewilderment and disgust across their faces, and you slink back, wrapping your arms around yourself as though it were a shield. though you knew nothing would save you from the judgment radiating from your friends as they narrowed their gaze on you.

behind you, rafe toys with the cuff of his sleeve, the anxiety and worry written all over his face matching yours as his eyes fall on you before quickly pulling away. you couldn't help but wonder what it was he was worried about. you? himself? or the fact that you had been caught and it was only a matter of time before others found out too?

john b steps towards you with a sympathetic half-smile, "what's going on?"

if there was anyone that was going to understand, it would be john b. after all, he had been the one to fall for sarah.

you open your mouth in an attempt to explain before becoming very aware of the dryness in your throat, but you push the words out regardless, "listen, i know how this looks-"

"isn't it obvious?" jj exclaims, cutting you off. he lifts his shoulders into a lazy shrug and points at you, "it was her. she was the one sarah heard last night. right?"

the breath in your throat hitches as he puts you on the spot, and with all eyes pinned on you, an overwhelming waves of fear crashes down over you. gnawing at you and clawing its way up until you could feel it wanting to be expelled from your stomach.

he only gives you a couple of seconds before he paces towards kie, his arms stretching behind his head out of frustration, and your heart falls heavy. you knew jj would take it the worst.

"is that true?" pope steps forward, though, unlike the others, he doesn't approach you with the same attitude. instead, he's calm, wanting to get to the bottom of the situation and resolve it rather than point fingers.

"it makes so much sense now," kie heaves an unbelieving sigh. "he's the reason you always had to leave early, right? and why you were always disappearing?"

"of course it was," jj matches her tone. "she's been sleeping with this asshole behind our backs, and god knows for how long."

"you have no idea what you're talking about," rafe says, his jaw tightening as he inches himself between you and your friends, almost protectively. "though you have a lot to say for someone that shouldn't even be here."

it's then you realise rafe was right. jj wasn't supposed to be there, and neither was john b, and had they not been then none of this would've happened.

"now, if you excuse me. i have a dinner i need to get back to," rafe straightens his tie before moving to head back down the hall, but he only gets so far before jj's hand presses firmly against his chest and stops him short.

you watch as he lifts his head a little to try and meet rafe's height, and after leering in, he says, "i'd have half a mind to let you walk away right now."

a smirk tugs at the taller boys lips, unimpressed by the threat. something in his expression changes, and a steely determination glimmers in his eyes. he exhales loudly before lowering his head, "oh, i'd love to see you stop me."

your heart feels like it's about to jump out of your throat when the security guard from before makes his presence known from the top of the staircase, "is there a problem here, fellas?" in his hand, he firmly grips his walkie-talkie as he slowly descends the staircase, his eyes fully trained on jj.

"no, sir," jj mockingly salutes the man before straightening rafe's suit and pulling away, "we're all good here."

the guard takes one more look at the rest of you before heading back to the main room, and as your friends turn back to you, you're overcome with the sudden urge to get out of there before they start interrogating you again. you needed to put distance between you and your friends, and fast.

your legs carry you as fast as they can out the front doors of the club, the humid air teasing the hairs on the back of your neck as it washes over your skin, wrapping you in a comforting hug.

it's not long before the others are following after you, calling your name as you reach the edge of the beach just behind the club. you knew you shouldn't have walked away, but you couldn't handle the way they were looking at you.

their eyes were burning into you with judgement and what you could only assume to be disgust as you stood beneath their gaze. making you feel so small that you were sure to disappear.

you never meant for them to find out this way. you never meant for them to find out at all, but perhaps this was for the better. now, you didn't have to tell them yourself or constantly worry about them finding out. though, what did this mean for you and rafe?

taking a deep breath, your shoulders shake, and your heartbeat pounds in your ears as you come face to face with your friends once more. all you wanted was for them to at least try and understand, but with their accusations constantly being thrown at you, you could feel yourself growing heavier and heavier.

"what are you doing?" sarah asks as she climbs down the small rocky drop with john b's help.

"i... i needed some air," you sigh, shakily.

an intense silence then falls over you as your friends stare, the same aggrieved expressions on their faces as they gathered before you.

"before anyone says anything, i just... i need you guys to know that i never meant for this to happen. it just did." you shrug, a desperate attempt in hoping they would take your feelings into consideration before putting you on blast.

sarah and john b look to one another before she says, "then why didn't you just come to us?"

despite knowing that what you had been doing was considered the ultimate betrayal against the pogues, an inaudible gasp leaves your lips at the audacity of her question.

"how could i?" your throat tightens with emotion. "you were all saying such horrible things. i mean, was i supposed to announce it before or after kie went on about me having no respect for myself?"

kie scoffs, shaking her head and points an accusing hand in your direction, "we wouldn't have said those things if we knew that it was you!"

"okay, yeah, you're right. you probably wouldn't have..." gritting your teeth, you fight back the tears that were pricking at your eyes, as a mixture of anger and hurt boils up inside, "but that doesn't mean you wouldn't have still been thinking them, or maybe even saying them behind my back."

"c'mon, y/n. you know that that's not true," john b mutters from behind jj, though his eyes glimmered with guilt because both he and you knew that for the most part, it probably was.

kie opens her mouth once again, but pope steps in to stop the situation from escalating further than it already had. though the damage had already been done, and the chances of you ever bouncing back from this were slim. you knew that there was nothing you could do or say that was going to stop them from seeing you a little differently, you just needed them to know that for you, nothing had changed and they were still a main priority to you.

"why don't we take a break? just leave it for tonight and talk about it tomorrow?" pope suggests, trying to push jj towards kie and john b to calm him down.

"good idea. why don't you listen to your pal here, stop putting your noses where they don't belong and head on home?" rafe says, taking you all by surprise as he approaches the group once again, and his snide tone causes your friends to stiffen and narrow their eyes.

sarah steps towards her brother, anger and confusion littered across her features, "how did this even happen?"

"it's none of your business," he scoffs, a smug smile on his lips as he stares down his little sister.

"i just - i don't get it. i don't get why you're hooking up with a kook, and not just any kook, but rafe fucking cameron!" jj balls his hands into fists. "does he have something over you? is he... is he forcing you? because they're the only things i can come up with as to why you would do this..."

"i'd watch my mouth if i were you, maybank," rafe steps towards him once more.

"why should i? i wouldn’t put it past you." he snarks.

"because you have no idea what you're talking about."

"oh, i think i know exactly what i'm talking about," jj nods as his upper lip pulls into a snarl. "i bet you enjoy taking advantage of women, right? messing with their heads and making them feel special just for your own pleasure." he digs a finger into rafe's shoulder.

"jj, stop it!" you try to push between them only to have jj swat you away and you stumble back into the sand.

by the time you regain your footing, rafe is shoving jj back by his shoulders, "i told you to watch your mouth. i meant it."

jj doesn't respond but rather moves to plough rafe over and the two end up tumbling around in the sand. hands gripping at one another's shirts as they both try to land blows into the other's face. kie and pope almost get knocked over in the process and even then the only one trying to get them to stop, besides you, is sarah.

the two of you scream at them but your pleads fall on deaf ears as jj finally manages to pin rafe down, evading his swinging arms as he holds fists of his shirt so tightly that his knuckles turn white.

"just fucking stay away from her," jj bellows, his protecting side coming into play as he shoves him further into the sand.

rafe doesn't fight back, instead, he laughs and licks the blood that had pooled on his bottom lip menacingly, before looking up at the blond, "you really think that this was all me? that she doesn't want this too?"

"shut tht hell up!" jj yells, his flash of vulnerability giving rafe the upper hand and he's quick to kick him off before pinning him down.

"rafe, let go of him!" you cry, the shrillness in your tone taking him by surprise and when he sees the way your brow had etched together with fear and the desperation in your eyes, the determination in his dissipates.

he looks down at the boy within his grasp, knowing fairly well that he didn't want to let go. he wanted to show jj what happens to people that pry in other people's business. that he should've kept his mouth shut instead of insinuating that what was going on between you and him was sinister. that he would never ever hurt you or force you to do something you didn't want to.

but alas, you had somehow wiggled your way into his heart and he didn't want to be the monster anymore. he wanted to be someone you could be proud of. someone you wouldn't be ashamed of and have to constantly apologise for.

so, with that in mind, he releases his grip on the boy and shuffles away in the sand.

john b and pope are quick to help their friend, offering him their hands as they pull him up and make sure that he's okay. other than a cut on his cheek and a slight red mark under his eye, he seemed to be okay, but that doesn't stop you from wanting to check for yourself.

"jj..." you reach for him, your hand barely grazing his shoulder before he shrugs it off.

"don't." he mutters, his eyes glazing over slightly. kie is at his side before you could even say a word, disappointment in their eyes as she lifts his arm around her shoulder and the two of them start to stagger away.

a ball forms in your throat and you gulp it down along with the rush of fear that had ignited within you. was this it? you wondered. was this the moment your friends finally decided they were done with you?

"guys... please..." you cry, not wanting things to be left the way they were.

sarah and john b wait a moment, staring with uncertainty. you thought that if anything, they would be the ones to understand considering they went through the exact same thing when they got together. the only difference was that while sarah didn't ridicule your friends daily, she had only hurt kie.

"maybe just give us some space to wrap our heads around it all?" the blonde suggests, the ghost of an apologetic smile tugging at the corner of her lips before she and john b follow behind jj and kie.

pope is the last to leave, giving the same excuse that he had before about needing to get back to his dad and with tears now blurring your vision, you turn back to rafe, who all but tightens his jaw as he takes in your devastating appearance.

the only thing worse than him hurting you was your friends hurting you... because of him, and he knew it. despite loathing the pogues and thinking the lowest of them he knew that they were your friends — your family — and he didn't want to stand in the middle of that.

he had been trying to tell you from the start that being with him wasn't good for you. that you deserved better, and that's exactly what he was going to give you. so, instead of consoling you, he picks himself up and after one last painful look your way, he too walks away.

choking on a sob, you feel as though an unseen knife had plunged itself into your heart, as you watch your friends, and the boy you loved, disappear into the night. leaving you behind with nothing but the consequences of you own decisions.

[amuseoffyre]

Thinking again (thanks to the dead bird site) about Stede rebooting his worst day ever, aka the traumatic flashback he has multiple times across both season, only this time he gets the acceptance and approval he has craved for his entire life.

The Worst Day Ever is the day his father teaches him to kill, slaughtering a goose and spraying blood all over little Stede's face. He then grabs his son by the arm and drags him out to verbally excoriate him and tell him he is worthless and useless, "a soft-handed, weak-hearted, lily-livered little rich boy".

Faced with the prospect of killing for the first time sends Stede into a panic spiral including that flashback.

It's referenced again throughout the season, but especially in 1x02, loosely in the fever dream in 1x04 (he was scared of geese for Christ's sake!), and 1x09, when Stede is struggling with his guilt, self-recriminations and self-doubts and also being confronted directly by Chauncey.

But the most significant return of the Worst Day Ever flashback is immediately after Stede kills Ned Low, his first real deliberate kill.

Our man is very much Not Okay. The fact that this memory is front and centre shows exactly how much that day - that moment - impacted on him decades on.

He does his usual thing when he's upset - isolates and closes himself away somewhere else, shutting himself down and using the tried and true conceal-don't-feel approach.

The difference this time is that someone comes after him to offer him emotional support, comfort and care (much like Ed did on the beach in 2x09, and this time, more kisses as well). So for a little while at least, Stede is distracted and wrapped up in Ed's affections and can put Ned's death to the back of his mind.

But the trouble arises when they get to the Republic and suddenly, for the first time in his life, he's being praised and celebrated. And, of all the people for him to gravitate towards, he ends up choosing to spend his time in the company of Blood-bucket Bill, an older man in a blood-smeared leather apron, who keeps telling him how cool and amazing he is.

And, after Stede kills in front of him, we get another twisted up mirror of the Worst Day Ever. Instead of his dad dragging him out to humiliate him, Bloodbucket Bill grabs him by the arm and hauls him up and tells everyone "the Gentleman Pirate is the fuckin' dude"

And as the episode continues and Ed leaves, Stede retreats to the bar with Bill, trying to take comfort from the man who has been telling him how good he is all day.

"At least you like me for me," he says to the deranged blood-smeared groupie. "Bonnet, I'd fuckin' die for you" Bill tells him and you can see that it isn't bringing the assurance Stede thought it would.

And to ice the cake, even when he's holding onto those last little vestiges of "yay I'm cool", Izzy shows up and dismisses Bill with three words and Bill doesn't even try to stay. "I'll fuckin' die for you" becomes "yes, right away, Mr Hands".

And the framing. omg the framing in the scene. It is, once again, a deliberate and pointed call back to Stede's Worst Day Ever. Once again, an older man is looming over him and Stede is just waiting to have emotional strips ripped out of him again ("have you come for your victory lap?"). This is the first and only time I can think of Izzy looking taller than anyone, especially Stede.

But unlike the horrendous abuse he got from his father, the abuse Stede expects yet again, the same old patterns happening over and over, Izzy changes the script and tells him "I think you're good for him. You balance each other out".

And if not for a group of his crew - his family - choosing to leave him as well, it might have been enough. But when he's already fragile over the loss of one person precious to him and reassured that he's good for people after all, the threat of losing more of his beloved people pushes him straight back into the reckless behaviour that has filled the rest of his day.

(brb wailing into a pillow that we won't get to see him have a chance to process any of this stuff)

[skz-celine]

✯ RELATIONSHIPS W SKZ HYUNG LINE !!

the relationship types celine has with the hyung line ! of skz

✯ CHANNIE && CELINE : rank 3 in popular relations ( their public affection is very rare but due to her constant shown for gratitude towards him and whenever affection does happen, fans are mclovin it )

pin board . now playing : good looking - suki waterhouse (click to listen)

you can describe their relationship as very close best friends or comfort people of some sort. bangchan was there for celine when she'd first joined, and she was knowingly there for him during his stressful breakdowns.

celine really appreciates how welcoming he was during the ordeal, despite the other members being skeptical of her arrival, he was always there to help her and treat her just as he treated the other members.

celine is very affectionate with bang chan despite fan belief of her being reserved to not cause conflict within the gossip sites. she knows her boundaries and where she stands. yet she also knows that she isn't gonna let rumors stop her from expressing her gratitude to her leader.

she often hugs him, massages his temples, or just checks up on him, making sure he is hydrated.

but that part is just the outer view

together, chan and celine are like siblings, constantly doing things to irk each other playfully.

she'll often just randomly jump on his back at times leaving him old man surprised

he's often caught picking on her, causing her to constantly say "stop it Christopher" in English leaving him laughing

overall they have a wonderful relationship

✯ MINHO && CELINE: rank 8 in popular relations ( their public interactions are very limited fans have to pinch at something to even grasp at their relationship with each other tbh. most of the videos about them are about them being mutual cat parents )

pin board . now playing: two birds - regina spektor

minho was one of the skeptical members when celine first joined. despite his whole idgaf facade, he's actually very considerate; especially to those who care for him and vice versa

he saw the struggle chan went through as well as the chaos the fans created against him when one of the members left.

overtime he's grown a little protective over celine but only very subtly showing it.

he cooks for the members , always making sure to give her a piece of the food before the guys

i honestly think he's such a gentlemen, and so does celine.

at first, he'd be quiet around her only giving small little glances and glares whenever she'd speak but overtime yk something made him warm up to her and now they're silent family

oh and also he doesn't ever really call her "celine" he usually calls her by her real name

✯ CHANGBIN && CELINE : rank 6 in popular relationship ( this woman will publicly goon over changbin's muscles and people are here for it !. it's not as popular due to the other good relations she has with the boys)

pin board . now playing : mrs. magic - strawberry guy

I absolutely love these two together as they sometimes can be like an old married couple or like two high school sweethearts, you never know what you're gonna get that specific day its always like a surprise.

they can bicker a lot like sometimes playfully she'll be like "seo changbin ! why're you kissing up to the versace prince" It's always false vex, she would too, who wouldn't?

sometimes, they can be the loudest duo in the group, having scream-offs ( ft a laughing jeongin and a half-deaf hyunjin. )

let's not forget the random moments when they're doing vlogs and he's like wiggling his eyebrows, flexing his biceps. Then the camera pans to celine's face, a smirk evident as she pretends to be infatuated with the view, giggling, and stuff.

changbin's initial reaction to celine is a little iffy as well although, unlike minho, he'd actually interact with her because changbin is someone who'd be very very people-pleasing and like he cares about others' feelings especially if he knows they did nothing wrong and his feelings are prejudiced.

✯ HYUNJIN && CELINE : rank 7 in popular relations ( royalty duo, doesn't quite interact on camera despite the fact they're always taking pictures and doing art but their relationship is sweet )

pin board . now playing : buddy holly - weezer

hyunjin and celine's relationship can be described as "omg we look so good right now, let's take a picture"

these two are insane when they're together it's like they have an ego boost when sitting next to each other, their vibes radiating off each other and then just posing or whatever.

hyunjin is a traditional artist who prefers painting and celine likes doing sketches, doodles, and chalk pastel art but mostly, digital art.

so they'll be doing their respective art styles often drawing in the same room with each other as maybe d4vd or frank ocean plays in the background

when they're sat together on a plane they'll have their respective headphones on and be using the DJ app in sync, celine gets mad at hyunjin for skipping the song every few seconds or after the most popular part or skipping through the movie they decide to watch ( she'll for sure tell stay on bbl about his behavior "your behavior is so ughh !!" )

there isn't much to say for their relationship besides much

SKZ.CELINE , 08 / 2024 . this is a work of fiction but I do ask to not steal the oc or the relations as they are made for celine

< back to masterlist

[vilz]

hello obviously there isn't anything i can really do to control this (unfortunately i deleted a bunch of posts BEFORE turning off reblogs on them) but i would prefer that people did not circulate my posts from this blog any more... i appreciate that people are kind to me about my art, but that is just my request i suppose. this blog is unprivated now, and if you'd like to see what is still up you can look at them here. my ask box is also open but i will not be making any art posts here from now on. here is a little preemptive faq:

why did you leave?

i didn't feel comfortable or happy posting on this blog any more!

do you still make art? do you post it somewhere else?

yes. but i've been pulling away from posting very much online, and the things i'm interested in drawing nowadays are generally more private, so i won't be directing anyone there or anything. i don't consider my new blog to be a continuation of this one.

i know your new blog!

that isn't really that surprising since i didn't honestly put great effort into concealing it or anything. we are probably not friends, so i hold no sway over you, but i would still prefer you did not share it or treat me as if i am still "vilz who posts fnaf art". i'm just a whatever blogger who blogs about whatever things. also to be frank i do not think my new blog has anything that interesting for people who followed for the kind of art i used to post here. this is not an invitation to say "it is interesting!".

we are friends!

if we have not been in direct, mutual conversations i highly doubt that. i'm sorry if that hurts anyone's feelings.

why did you delete all your self ship art?

people seem to enjoy my self ship art a lot, which is very flattering, but i don't want people to be looking at them any more. i realize that they are still rebloggable and are still circulating around, which is nobody's fault but my own, but i would prefer they were not shared any more. i can't really do anything about it and i also don't blame anyone for reblogging those posts since it's obviously not something they would know, but yeah.

i saw your art on pinterest!

i did not and do not consent to my works being put on pinterest. the art from "vilz" has not been uploaded by me to any other website besides tumblr. if someone is posting my art from here on a different platform, they are doing so without permission.

i saw you on magma!

i still join magma boards sometimes lol. it's a fun site.

what about your ocs?

they are still my ocs. sometimes i still draw them. currently, i do not have any plans of posting my oc art online ever again. i would prefer that people did not reblog the oc art i have posted to this blog.

what about your fics?

all of my fics are still up on ao3 anonymously. they are: small mercies obscura floriography baying of lambs scrape bitch, bastard, bullshit almost human a dream, recurring countdown i'm very flattered and happy that people have left kind comments on these. thank you very much for reading the words of an amateur and for sharing an experience with me.

are you going to finish your uncompleted fics?

i would really like to say yes, because i care a great deal about aspects of them, but it's looking pretty unlikely. i lost all my files (and my calmlywriter key !!! always save your emails and receipts, everyone!!!) and also it's hard to feel motivated about them now. i guess i will leave this up in the air just to soothe my own feelings but in reality the answer is Probably Not.

are you going to post new fics?

i might, because i've been in a writing mood lately, but please don't expect anything. if i do, they will be anonymous on ao3. i will not post about them here or on any other blog.

i really liked your posts and blog!

thank you. i'm glad that people could feel that way about the things i made and thought about stuff i care about. irregardless, i would prefer that people did not share my old posts from this blog.

i will do it anyway.

i cannot stop you, so there isn't really any point in pleading. i just thought i'd make a little info post for people who are inquiring. after this, there won't be any "posts" from me. if there are relevant questions or messages i might reply to them or just update this post.

thank you for reading and for enjoying my blog. goodbye !!!

[wixxid]

IVORY  · PART V

Fandom: Dune

Pairings: Feyd-Rautha x Atreides!Female OC

Words: 2,238

Warnings: dark themes, violence, death and mention of cannibalism

Summary: Your pride and loneliness gets the better, as you choose to pry in what you should avoid.

Desecrated.

It's tender to the touch. Bruised. The simple trace of your finger is enough to draw a frown. The mottled skin of your throat is obvious. A terrible site to bare witness, but there's more; a scattered mess mares your body.

The powders have no affect in hiding their existence, and so you resorted to covering them with fabric. It's better the people don't see. It's better your father and kin don't realise the damage of only one night. If they did, they might not leave you here, and the point of all this would be for nothing.

A waste.

You've come this far and you've survived. It's not for anyone else but for you to decide when it ends. It could be weeks, years or even decades, but you know this marriage is worth more than your life. It means a future for thousands of others, if not millions.

Turning from the mirror, you nod for the servants to continue dressing you. The early morning marks the hour of your fathers return to Caladan. He and the others are set to leave this planet, and you want them to leave with hope and pride.

Honour.

You aren't going to dress like your new people, nor will you ever behave like them. The void of their culture won't ever touch your soul. Instead, the servants prepare you in one of the gowns bought from home. A statement both daring and bold.

"Is it time?" you question, to which the servant nods. She's the very same to whom had once adorned the bruises you do now. For reasons unknown, you had taken a liking to the woman. "Good."

Taking a deep breath as you left your chamber, you couldn't help but yearn for what freedom you might find outside these walls; if for only a short time. If only to see your father depart this abysmal world. Gathering yourself, it was only your lone servant who guided you through the palace and up to the hithe.

The dark star that cloaks this planet bore light, and you wince as it floods your gentle eyes; having been weeks since you'd taken in anything other than the artificial. Even the air is harder to breath despite being outside; far too poisoned with fumes.

In the distance you see the great ship to which you'd arrived in, still gleaming unlike anything you'd ever seen. A beacon. There's very few in the galaxy who have or ever will travel the vastness of space. In fact, the first time you'd ever done so was to bring yourself here.

"I didn't think you would come," spoke your father. Standing in uniform, he greets you well kept but with a face of despair. The loom that surrounds him is heartbreaking. "I didn't think you would want to see me."

"Then you think too much," you replied with a faint smile. "You're my father - my duke. You're an honorable man who deserves to be farewelled."

"An honorable man wouldn't trade his daughter to the enemy."

His words hit you like a bullet. Painful. The surrounding noise grows overwhelming to the senses. Hypersensitive. You can hear the ships, the soldiers and even the planet itself resonating from all-round. Even the wind across your face feels strange.

But as you look at your fathers rugged face, see his familiar eyes and features, you feel the noise fade away. You can see the burden he's carrying. You know this was as difficult for him as it is for you. It isn't fair or right for him to keep carrying it.

"There is no call we do not answer," you repeat in mantra. "We do what we must for the good of the people." Resting a hand on his shoulder, you give a light squeeze. "We do what we must to survive."

"You're strong, just like your mother," he nods with a chuff. "You always have been."

Stepping forward, he places a soft kiss on your forehead and your eyes close amidst the threat of tears. You want to remember him as he is and as the kind-heartedness that he represents. Steadily breathing, you absorb his gentle touch and scent; to which you won't soon forget.

"We'll see each other again," he promises with a touch of your cheek. "I'll make sure of it."

Nodding your head with a mustered smile, the duke straightens himself before taking a step back. There are no other exchanges as he moves to make way for the ship. It's a quick farewell, anything more would be too difficult; too emotional.

"My lady," utters Gurney. Stepping forward, he takes your hand to lay a quick peck. "As a man of your fathers council, loyal friend and protector, it pains me that my only power now is to wish you well."

"Fate is a complexity, is it not?" you jest upon looking at your retreating fathers form. In all seriousness you added, "You'll protect him, won't you - and Paul?"

He pauses, "With my life."

"Then there's nothing to fear," you mutter beneath your breath. A rush of relief washes your bones, perhaps a premonition. "Thank you, Gurney."

Giving a curt nod, he bid himself goodbye before following suit to board the ship; along with the rest. Watching alongside what few soldiers and groundmen there are, you waited by until the doors ceiled. The tender strings in your heart tug at the site.

Loneliness is cruel.

Yet, a shadow looms on the metal floor of the platform. Piter. The mentat appeared from seemingly nowhere, and to your irritably, is the only one of any importance to see your father and people off on their long voyage.

"Where are they?" you question bluntly, not bothering so much as to look at him. Your eyes are still sharply focused on the starship. "Why didn't they come?"

In truth, it doesn't matter that your new family by law had not shown for the occasion. They hadn't done you the courtesy of it upon arrival, and so what little there is to have changed in their humiliation. You only ask in leu of the open wound it now salts.

"Pressing matters," spoke Piter. "The Baron's time is precious. It's best not to waste what isn't so clearly desired."

"And what of Feyd-Rautha?" you queried whilst turning to face the mentat; heated eyes meeting cold ones. "Is his time as coveted?"

"The answer isn't pleasant."

"I didn't ask if it were pleasant."

"Take the day," retorts Piter as he looks out towards the horizon. "This is your home now - you should see it."

The anger within your veins begins to boil. It vexes you that this twisted man won't simply answer what should be the simplest question. It causes your mind to tick, wondering what it could possibly be to make him so reluctant; secretive.

"Do I have to pry it out of you?"

The threat did nothing to change his monotone demeanor, but you can tell he'd heard you well and clear. A break of silence fills the void between you, until finally there is no more effort for him to conceal the truth. He confesses with a neutral tone.

"Prying only leads you to places you shouldn't be," he states before glancing at your servant. "But this one can show you the way."

Glancing over your shoulder, you eye the woman; head bowed low. Piter stays while you take your leave of the hithe. You'd expected him to be stronger, but his words of warning begin ring. Perhaps he's right to stave you from the trail you now follow.

"This way," utters your servant.

Following her lead, she moves at a slow pace; an evident lack of urgency. The reason is an evident one. Venturing into the palace walls and traversing the halls, the farther you travel, the more you studied the lithe and pale woman.

The muscles in her neck twitch and strain ever so subtly. A sign of distress. The way she grips her hands together, so tightly, as if she were trying to cling on, only makes you all the more intrigued yet disturbed.

"Where are we going?"

Keeping her head bowed she responds, "We're almost there."

The answer is hardly clear enough to process. Empty. The abundance of riddling and vague responses you've received only adds to your tart aggravation. It's baneful, with how the Harkonnen's have polluted this place with such fear and secrets.

A terrible infestation.

Eventually, the servant stops outside that of a chamber door; similar to your own but far removed. This place is located deeper within the palace, if at all possible. You can see her milky skin prickle and shiver beneath her thin dress.

You order, "Stay close."

Swiping a hand over the console, the door opens wide; revealing a bright illumination as it beams down from the ceiling. As you step forward, your shoes click against the glossy ground whilst the door close from behind; entrapping the two of you.

The channel of light strikes down upon the epicenter of the room, clearly irradiating the psychotic man you'd been seeking; although he's far from alone. As criminal and dangerous as he may be, his blood still belongs to great wealth.

Feyd stands within the down cast of light, muscular arms outreached while servants attend to his requisite. In a warped sense, his marbled pose and aura makes you think of an something akin to ancient; like a god from the old world.

A god of death.

The other servants are quick to stop and turn heads at your unexpected arrival, but Feyd remains unbothered. Evidently, there's not a soul on this planet for him to fear. However, his attendants have paused far too long for his liking.

Feyd turns slowly, clearly agitated at whomever had decided to enter his domain. His sharpened features don't soften upon realising your presence. Instead, he looks you up and down rather analytically.

He rumbles, "What do you want?"

"Respect," you answer simple and low. "Honour."

Feyd's lip twitches in a slight grimace and snarl. It's enough to show blackened teeth, to which you still find utterly unsettling. Feyd waves off a servant, before turning his undivided attention towards you; malicious.

"Honour," he repeats as he stalks towards you; one step at a time. "For who? For you?"

"For us both," you respond as he circles behind you. "The empire watches - waiting to see what will happen next. Now all they see is you - absent from the honour my house was due this morning."

"You Atreides," he drawls with a grumble. A flutter of feminine giggles echo from the far corner of the room. "You're all the same."

Feyd moves from behind you, instead leading himself to a table. It gave you a chance to take in the room. The servants stand predictably petrified, while three others sat lounged on a booth; the strange women are intermingled with one another.

"Would you like some fresh meat my darlings?" he boasted, whilst lifting a knife from the counter. It took you all of a moment to realise he's no longer speaking to you, but to the women on the lounge. "What would you like? A lung? A liver?"

Their own blackened mouths show in a mixture of smiles and grins. Deranged. Their giggles and moans visibly shift the tension. The other servants seem to faulter on the spot; their heads tucking lower and bodies tremoring.

"You," he leers at your own servant. "Come."

"No," you quip without hesitation. The last thing that'll happen in this room will be his hands touching the woman who stands so vulnerably behind your body of protection. "She isn't yours to torment."

"Everything's mine," he replies while approaching his nearest attendant.

You watch the girls lips quiver and eyes widen as his blade thrusts into her abdomen; once, then twice and again. She groans and splutters whilst falling to the ground in a matter of seconds. Butcher.

A pool of blood seeps as he turns to add, "Even you, Atreides."

The violent execution shocks you deep within, and control is hard to fight for as your emotions take hold like a vice. You're trying not to scream. You're trying not to react as to give him satisfaction. Instead, you watch as the girl continues to die, his victim twitching and suffering on the floor; dying then dead.

"There," he gestures matter-of-factly. "My honour."

His reasoning makes no sense. It's all madness to you. Murder. Lifting the dagger, he observes the blood which coats the blade. Transfixed. The gleam in his wicked eyes is unmistakable, but the gravity of it even more so, when his tongue licks a line of blood.

"Because of me," he elaborates. "My darlings are satisfied. Because of me, they're to live another day. There is honour in being master."

Your gaze flickers from him to the three women who sit intertwined on the lounge. It sounds as exactly as he'd announced, but you simply don't want to fathom the truth. These are fowl notions, even for the likes of his kind.

It sickens you more than the memory of his touch.

Listening to the women revel amongst themselves, they seem clearly pleased with their masters slaughter and offering. Feyd gestures and the others are swift to drag the fresh corpse from site; leaving a trail of smeared blood.

Concubines and cannibals.

[bleue-flora]

just a random thought/idea: where I'm from, parents used to make their kids kneel on mongo beans or rice grains for a while as a punishment. I wonder if that's how it feels like to kneel on the obsidian in the cell

Oh yea, 100% I love this. When I’ve gone rockhounding we often wear knee pads depending on the site, because of the sharp rocks, loose and solid, so I absolutely think the obsidian ground is very painful. Especially, because obsidian is volcanic glass so it breaks unevenly with pointy edges and unless they took a grinder to the floor (which even then) it’d be very course not unlike how it’d feel to kneel on beans like you describe, though potentially actually sharp to the point of breaking skin. (If you buy obsidian at a store lots of times the corners are rounded off because they’ve been tumbled (basically sanded down) a little to smooth it out.)

And not to get too engineery, but additionally, obsidian is very hard and not very shock absorbent, meaning it does not absorb much of the energy of your weight leaving the energy and force to essentially rebound back into you. If you’ve ever walked around all day on concrete floors and your legs and feet are sore afterwards this is part of the reason why. The floor isn’t taking a lot of the pressure off your feet like wood does when it bends under your weight. Hence, one of the reasons why we wear padded shoes, especially if you work on hard floors all day, to help absorb some of that energy.

So even without Quackity’s visits and the resulting injuries, Dream’s body would still be in bad condition as a result of the floor alone, not just because of all the cuts from the jagged surface, but the lack of shock absorption. He would likely develop calluses over time to deal with the floor, but there is also only so much you can do if it’s super uneven and sharp. And the result of the forces on his body from a lack of shock absorption would lead him to face a lot of joint strain and likely chronic pain in his knees, hips and lower back as well as muscle pain, posture deterioration and fatigue making it strenuous to stand for long periods of time… in other words, even if the cell wasn’t surrounded by lava, even if he wasn’t starved, even if he wasn’t in isolation, and even if he wasn’t tortured, Pandora’s Vault was still hell and he’d leave that cell in poor physical condition with chronic pain just from the obsidian…

[ardienothesieno]

SPECULATING ABOUT THE WATCHER

Wanted to make my own analysis post, as I've seen some comments on other sites pointing out things but nothing here so far... AND I AM TOO DEEP IN THE BRAINROT TO NOT ANALYZE THIS EVEN JUST A LITTLE BIT. SO.

I would like to mention that I have not played any modded regions! So if there are certain details that I make note of in the screenshots that have explanation in their original mods, please feel free to correct me!!

STARTING OFF WITH THE TRAILER:

Rot tendrils. Rot tendrils on the ceiling... just casually... that's totally not concerning...

The blue lizard only has two toes on each foot!

The background of this first shot looks like it might be on an iterator structure? There are some support beams but other then that it's just clouds.

The spears that the scavenger is carrying are kind of weird... for one, they're white. And one of them has a large, almost pinecone-shaped tip.

Also they have a crack in their face/mask.

what the pole plant doin

The Watcher doesn't seem to have a nose? That's probably just an art style thing, but I thought I'd mention it. Also their eyes are glowing.

Even the title font has implications. whoa.

For one, more rot. The rot has now made a double appearance and that probably guarantees its significance here...

And plants... Leaves and some vines.

The way that the black screen transitions to a white one is very rot-esce to me. Rot triple appearance...

There seems to be some graffiti on the right side of the final shot? It's obstructed by the visual effects in the foreground, however.

Once again Watcher is depicted without a nose BUT THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT BECAUSE THIS SCREEN HAS IMPLICATIONS

Watcher is floating. Normally I'd mark this off as "cool title screen choice" but they're also surrounded by ECHO PARTICLES.

And the warping around the Watcher and the title? THE OUTMOST RIPPLES HAVE GOLD VEINS RUNNING THROUGH THEM. THE VOID IMPLICATIONS...

And this might be a stretch but the palette of this final image is black and gold... void colors...

OKAY THATS MOST OF THE TRAILER

ONTO THE STEAM DESCRIPTION:

Rain World: The Watcher is a DLC expansion of Rain World. Journey beyond to something, somewhere only ever glimpsed. When the world beneath your feet cracks and crumbles, will you hold on to all you once knew? Or dive into the unknown? The wilds that await will be unlike all that's come before. Unknown creatures stalk and climb and dive and hunt. New breeds rip and pluck and burrow and hide. Predator and prey redefined. And through the middle of it all, a lonely lost slugcat trying their best to outlast the ravages of a warped world.

Do... do I even have to say anything?

THE VOID IMPLICATIONS!! HOLY MOTHER OF SCUGS THE *VOID IMPLICATIONS!!!!*

"Journey beyond to something, somewhere only ever glimpsed. When the world beneath your feet cracks and crumbles, will you hold on to all you once knew? Or dive into the unknown?" YOU READ THIS AND TELL ME THIS DOESN'T HAVE VOID SEA VIBES. Journey BEYOND to something, somewhere only ever glimpsed... it feels very void-y to me. And the talk about the world beneath you crumbling-- holding on to what you once knew or diving into the unknown?? If this somehow ISN'T related to ascension I would be shocked

"And through the middle of it all, a lonely lost slugcat trying their best to outlast the ravages of a warped world." This line about the world being warped, as well... I'm thinking this DLC might either have to do with Rubicon, or have to do with the encroach of the void sea consuming the world from below.

Other then the void implications, it sounds like we'll be seeing some new creatures that could completely redefine the game. I'm excited to see where that goes.

OKAY. SCREENSHOTS. LETS GO.

I know these are from pre-existing mods, but I'm completely unfamiliar with said mods and don't know if any of this means anything. Just wild speculation, pretty much.

Gonna start with these two because they're kinda visually similar. On the left we have desert!!!! Cacti!! Cactuses!!!!! I've seen lots of people calling the image on the right snow, but that doesnt feel right to me. We saw snow in Saint and I do not remember it looking like... that. The first thing that comes to mind for me is Kingdom's Edge from Hollow Knight, and the drifts of ash that pile up there? If this is the case then it confirms several of my lore theories and I would so love that to be the case. There's also a collapsed structure in the back of the "snowy" image, which looks to me a bit like a train car?

Also I've now seen several people calling these milk... and I can't unsee it now...

I've been told by several sources that these screens are from preexisting mods! I think these are from Stormy Coast, Coral Caves, and Aether Ridge? At least that's what I've picked up from searching through other discussions. I don't have too much to comment on here! I think these rooms are cool, and I really like the fans in the Aether Ridge room!

...oh no... acid region..? I don't know why, but this room gives me Shoreline vibes. Also I do not think bubble fruit are supposed to grow that perfectly--

And finally... what I think has the possibility of either being a huge lore thing, or a complete false alarm. Well for starters it's purple

But there are no iterator cans in the background. We're above the clouds here; in every above-the-clouds show from the base game and Downpour, you can see iterators and communication towers off in the distance. There's nothing here. And I don't think this takes place near or after Saint, because there's no confirmed snow. And I think a lot of these structures would be far worse for wear if this were so far in the future that the planet has warmed again. So. Uh. That's pretty odd.

Again, these all might be from mods that I am unfamiliar with, so please correct me if I'm misinterpreting anything!!

AND THAT CONCLUDES MY ANALYSIS FOR NOW!

tl,dr-- This DLC is gonna be crazy. Also void

[starlightseraph]

final (long) thoughts about the rpf debacle, as i’ve finally blocked all the major accounts involved

regarding david and michael: they seem like two great guys with great chemistry, and they appear to really care for each other. the nature of their connection, their happiness in their relationships, the details of their personal lives, etc are not for any of us to say. we certainly don't need to analyse every thing they do and every flick of their eyes or use 20 year old tabloid bits to create a story about them being trapped and potentially abused and "clearly" wanting to leave their partners so they can fuck. no one dislikes the theorising because it's m/m, anyone who does has issues to work through. 99% of us dislike it because it's invasive, done without any knowledge of the boundaries or comfort of the people it's about.

regarding georgia: idc what other people say, i think she can actually act. i think it's unlikely that my opinion is biased, given that i actually became aware of her before i even knew who david was (merlin, i was 11). do i think she's the greatest actress who's ever lived? no. do i want to fall at her feet to praise every word she types on her ig? no. to me, her public personality is pretty cool and likeable, and she certainly uses her platform for good things. i don't see evidence that david has an issue with the social media stuff that georgia does, maybe a bit of playful annoyance, but nothing too serious. she does actually say good things about him, quite often. when she says things that could be deemed insulting, it’s nothing unique to david, she does that with practically everyone she posts about. i see absolutely no reason to believe that she's abusive, a baby trapper, that her children dislike her, or that david is miserable with her. i genuinely feel that her "stalker" comments were jokes. based on what she and david have said, it sounds like she was acting like anyone with a crush would, texting the object of her affections and wanting to hang out. in my community, completely normal behaviour is called stalkery, just to poke fun at someone for having a crush, sometimes done in a self-deprecating way. as for the peter davison story and its inconsistencies, idk what to make of that. the claims that she got her "david" tattoo right after they met and that she changed ty's name without input from david are completely unfounded. I've seen no evidence for the name bit, and i've actually found evidence against the tattoo story. i'm not proud of it, but i did go digging through paparazzi photos, and she doesn't actually have the tattoo until later. no one, not even the tabloids, seems to have anything about an open relationship or them not going steady before getting married. the first actual records of those rumours is in the blogs that say the rumours have been around for nearly 20 years. all the "evidence" for these last few things that i've seen cited (or even very boldly linked) is from the trashiest of trashy blog sites with 2004-level web design. i take them with a grain of salt, given that not even the daily mail repeats their stories.

regarding anna: i'm ambivalent towards her. i don't see any obvious great talent as an actress or model, but she also hasn't really done anything that has the opportunity to showcase ability in those fields. i also don’t think she has never before seen levels chemistry with the others, but, again, we’ve hardly seen anything. the claims that she got pregnant through a one night stand seem more widely acknowledged, so maybe that was the case. if that is what happened, i have a few things to say. firstly, did neither of these grown adults have birth control? the baby trapping claims imply that she deliberately sabotaged it, which is an incredibly serious claim that we are in no position to make. within this story, michael apparently met her at an acting school graduation and they hooked up. she would've been in her early-mid 20s and he would have been almost 50… the rpf blogs say that they have no personal bias against georgia and anna, and that they're perfectly willing to call david and michael out on their bullshit, yet (to my knowledge) they haven't said anything about this. if they're really so concerned with the truth, and they believe the graduation hookup story, why not call michael out for it?? they were both adults and while i do believe that healthy relationships with a large age gap are possible, it’s still a bit weird given how they would’ve met. also, there are have been lots of (unconfirmed and contested) allegations that michael is a serial cheater, so what makes these blogs think that he wouldn't also cheat on david in this fantasy world view of theirs? i know that at least 2 of the major blogs believe the cheating stories. i believe that people can be bettered no matter what they've done and that they should get chances, but assuming that he wouldn't cheat in this singular situation seems pretty biased to me.

bottom line, we don't know! this is exactly what i’ve said since the beginning, that we have absolutely no place in these people's lives outside of admiring their accomplishments and supporting their work. please, everyone, chill. by all means, write fun stories on ao3 using the likenesses of david and georgia and michael and anna! i find it uncomfortable, but i don't have real moral objections to fiction that is only intended as fiction. i’ve previously said that we don't have a problem with the georgia/anna shipping jokes because they're jokes, and one of the pf blogs said that it was serious because of an ao3 slash fanfic and that we were only fine with it because it was f/f. correction, we were fine with that because it was purely and entirely fictional. not being presented was an investigation into real life.

i've seen lots of these blogs saying that a video of david and michael having sex could be released and the we'd find a way to brush it off or discount it. flipping this and applying it back, i think that david and michael could hold a press conference declaring that they're not in a relationship, and the blogs would work around it, claiming beards and façades.

quick warning to everyone, digital footprint exists. one blog in particular very casually displays her identity, and someone could easily send her graphic sex stories and claims of abuse about real strangers to potential employers or event hosts. this isn't a threat, i really can't be arsed, but it's something to be aware of, that these things can have real life repercussions.

i want to clarify that the only reason i would be bummed if the theories were true is because it would mean that all four of them would have lived in unhappiness. i don’t dislike the theories, while they do claim a variety of disturbing things that i certainly hope aren’t true, because i want to pretend that everything is perfect. it’s the extreme parasocial obsession and complete lack of any boundaries that i object to.

the conspiracy story had been told many times, every single group of devotees to a public figure or piece of media weaves and incredible web of false evidence and imagined narratives. maybe you think that you're actually right this time, that you've become privy to a truth. maybe you are right. but to believe undeterred that this time it’s different and your theories are true is just wishful thinking. if everything is true, great for you, i guess, your favs have been miserable for years, but at least you were right, yeah? it’s a fucking insane mindset to have. until they confirm or deny, you don't get to tell their story for them.

[fatuismooches]

Hii! I was wondering if you could write some more general Columbina relationship headcanons,, maybe like how she might show her affection to her s/o or what her day to day life might include with her s/o! Just general fluff with a non-fragile reader please. My sapphic heart craves for her💛💛 (also if your requests aren’t open you can just woosh this away :D I hope you’re having a good day/night)

♡𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬♡

synopsis: What is it like being in a relationship with Columbina?

includes: columbina w/ gn! reader

notes: Your wish is my command. I've been meaning to write more for the Harbinger ladies because they deserve it! I hope you enjoy this nonnie, lots of fluff as requested. <3

Columbina, Columbina, the fairest of them all. She doesn’t seem to care for many things, and not much is known about her, leaving even the Harbingers stumped. But one thing is for certain, she definitely holds some kind of affection for you. And she makes it horribly known to everyone. Columbina holds physical affection close to her heart. She craves being the little spoon. She likes to make herself tiny too, curling up into a half-fetal position.

She likes to bite you. Yes, I said bite you. Affectionately of course, but nothing can ever truly prepare you for that sudden nick of pain that you never see coming. She often likes to drape herself over your back, so your neck often is the victim of her tender chomping. Luckily she never does it hard enough to leave marks, but it is certainly… enigmatic. Columbina is honestly a strange character in general. Quite unlike anyone else, but if there’s one thing about her, is that she loves to receive and give quality time. You are always with her, and she is always with you. She is genuinely never bored of your presence and could sing a new song of you every day. And if it wasn’t obvious enough, she’s huge on physical touch. No one outdoes her.

In like, a non-Fatui life, I see her liking to sleep in with you until late. Don’t ever try to drag her out of bed, at least not in the morning. She’s literally a demon if she’s woken up before her usual time. Most of the time, you’re looped into this routine too. She has a tendency to somehow have all of her limbs intertwined with yours to prevent you from moving. But there are times when you manage to break free. Columbina will be pouty but make her breakfast in bed. Instant forgiveness. She seems like the kind of girl to love pancakes with whipped cream and fruits and chocolate. Also loves her coffee to be pretty looking. 

If you two do manage to get up in the morning, it goes by very slowly. Inching off the bed a centimeter at a time, the sheets dragging along with you. You carrying Columbina to the bathroom for a very lazy bath and her repeatedly falling asleep again. Lots of bubbles and self-care go on. Also, would be happy to gift you matching hair clips and veils. She would be happy to gift you anything actually. Treasures anything you give her, and probably has a wall in her bedroom for anything you give her. Listening to music together is a must. You two have a few shared playlists for a variety of moods like ♡Songs that remind me of you♡ and ♡Date Night♡. Also tends to steal your headphones because she loses hers sometimes. Her room is super aesthetically pleasing but things tend to get lost with the amount of stuff she has in there. You’ve tripped on stuff more times than you liked to admit. You two like to play cozy games like Animal Crossing late at night, bundled up together. She always makes new outfits for the two of you on there, but she’s also a tease and digs holes in your island sometimes. Speaking of, she would love to have matching clothes/aesthetics with you. Columbina knows all of the good sites and stores to buy from and will make sure both of you look good. Also, I don’t know why, but I can see her playing like, a super elegant instrument, like the harp. She’s literally the embodiment of an angel when she plays and sings!

While we’re on this topic, something Columbina appreciates greatly from you is acts of service. Really, it doesn’t even have to be anything grand, but she values and also notices anything you do for her, even if it’s something small. She might seem off in her own little world to others, but she is quite perceptive as to what goes on around her. Brush her hair and get rid of the knots, help dress her, she even loves having you feed her while she lays on your shoulder. If you couldn’t tell, she loves being taken care of and pampered. <3 And, even though she has a small figure, she likes to share her coat with you. It’s not really big enough to fit the two of you together, but she still loves to do it. Columbina also does the same with blankets and holds you hostage in them with her. She also thinks it’s adorable when you fight for her in battle, standing in front of her protectively. She’s the third Harbinger, yet you still insist on protecting her? Haha, she should be the one doing that as she forces you to take a seat and let her obliterate everyone.

Even in the Fatui she’s rather elusive. It’s hard to catch her, which is kind of a blessing for those in her squad, but it’s kind of a curse as well because she can pop out of nowhere behind people and give them a heart attack. Even you can never predict when she’ll appear. She’s very quiet on her feet. Once you looked up and she was hanging upside down with a smile on her face. You screamed and she laughed. Columbina’s also the type to skip out on Fatui meetings and hang out with you instead despite her high ranking. They’re so dreadfully dull, even boring her patient soul. Pierro has long stopped getting upset. In any case, if she really does have to go somewhere, she still refuses to go unless she gets multiple ‘goodbye and have a nice day’ kisses. Also, if the theory that she’s a fallen angel from Celestia is true, then she gets a bit emotional when you rub her wings. They’re very sensitive and she might accidentally hit you with them.

Though, I feel like she is also the secretive type. She isn’t trying to be malicious, no, but as I said she is elusive. So if there’s something she doesn’t want to answer, she can hum and answer in a sing-song voice to skillfully divert the conversation elsewhere. Columbina isn’t trying to hurt you, it’s the opposite. For all of her airheadedness, she is aware of some cold, hard truths, far more than you may think. So, let her protect you, please. She really does love you.

[seasons-beatings]

Happy holidays, @i-eat-worlds!

From your gifter: For @i-eat-worlds

Summary: Exfiltration gone wrong and Alex gets stabbed.

Contains: Stabbing, a bit of gore, stitches

It was only ever meant to be a simple reconnaissance mission. Get in, set up a stakeout, get some info and leave. It’s just some unimportant grunts roaming around the complex, but they need to break through that layer of security to get to the real intel.

The infiltration is easy.

The exfil, not so much.

At first, it’s more or less a clean break away from the complex, dodging between patches of light from the huge flood lights mounted on the building’s concrete walls. There’s no better time than to do this under the cover of night—for once, Alex feels hopeful that this might be a nice, simple in-and-out operation. It’s just her and Joseph on site, after all, and a smaller team means a lower risk of detection. Maybe it’s not the optimal arrangement of people, maybe Aarav would stand a better chance of doing this completely undetected, but it’s fine. Alex can see just fine and Joseph will be waiting for her when she gets back to the van.

But every plan has its hitches. Along a side route on her way back, Alex bumps into a stranger—for a horrible second the world grinds to a halt. The lighting is likely too dim for him to make out many discerning details about her, but Alex sees the symbol embroidered on the man’s jacket: he’s not just a member of the very group she’s just spent the last thirty minutes scouting out, but he isn’t a grunt. He’s higher up on the ladder, if only by a rung or two.

Just as Alex backs away, trying to retrace her steps and play it off as an accident, the stranger lunges and cold steel sinks into her gut. The sound that rips out of her is something more animal than human, adrenaline kicking in with a dizzying rush as she staggers back and reaches for something, anything-

Alex’s hand closes around a loose, heavy section of rusted pipe running along the brick wall to her right and it breaks free just as the knife pulls out of her stomach and raises for a second strike. By pure chance she gets the first hit in, lashing out with a solid strike to the man’s jaw. The pipe connects with a dull thud and he falls like a puppet with its strings cut, his knife clattering across the gravel.

In the aftermath, everything goes silent except for a faint ringing in her ears. The scuffle was short-lived and far from the main complex so it’s unlikely that anyone heard, but now Alex has a deep, ugly wound in her stomach and a few more minutes to walk before she can safely make it out of here. Blood has already stuck the fabric of her shirt to her skin, thick and warm and unpleasant.

The edges of her senses fuzz into white noise as she takes a few halting steps forward. Every motion sends pain tearing through her and she knows it’s only going to get worse, but she breaks into a sprint. She has to keep going and there’s no telling how long it’ll be until that man wakes up again. It’d be a waste to go through this whole operation just to go down at the very end. Enough pressure on the wound should hold her over for long enough to get to the van, she just has to count on the last dregs of her adrenaline rush.

And yet that, too, fails her. She makes it a good bit farther but ultimately her legs buckle and she sways dangerously before tipping to the side and collapsing against a wall.

The next thing she properly registers is the sound of footsteps crunching on gravel. She jolts, tensing, the motion sending a fresh wave of pain burning through her but she has to get on her feet if it’s a threat.

“Hey, hey,” a familiar voice reassures her. Joseph. “It’s okay. God, what happened to you?”

“Oh, nothing much,” she laughs halfheartedly, voice strained with the effort it takes to keep herself together. “Just had a little scuffle with someone on the way out.”

Joseph’s brow furrows and he reaches a hand down to her. “You don’t look good. Here, let me help you up… Sil isn’t too far away. We’ll get you back and patched up.”

Alex weighs her options for a moment before nodding and taking his hand, pulling herself back up on unsteady feet. She just has to make it a little farther. Once she’s home safe, she can patch herself up. She can fix this.

The world starts to fuzz in and out of darkness. The black fabric of Alex’s shirt hides most of the bleeding, but it’s still glossy and slick under the light. Once they climb into the van and she all but collapses into the closest seat, Joseph seems to take notice.

“Alex,” he presses, a little more insistently, “what happened to you?”

“Got stabbed,” she finally manages through clenched teeth, all of her focus poured into keeping pressure on the wound and staying conscious.

Joseph sucks in a quick breath, on his feet in seconds. It’s not ideal to treat her in a place like this, but he can keep her stable. As long as Sil keeps his foot on the gas they’ll be fine. “Stay there, don’t move.” He fetches a roll of gauze from the medkit and hands it to Alex, along with a pair of scissors. “I’m just going to keep pressure on the wound, okay? We’ll do stitches as soon as we get back.”

“Okay.”

For Joseph, the next ten minutes are spent making sure Alex stays conscious and awake through however much blood she’s losing. For Alex, the next ten minutes could easily be nothing more than a fragment of a dream.

As soon as they make it back to base, they make a beeline for the closest treatment room. Alex insists on walking on her own, still hunched over herself with a wad of bloody gauze pressed to her stomach, and Joseph follows closely behind her to make sure she doesn’t fall. She seems to come back to herself a bit when the door clicks shut behind them, immediately going searching for the medkit and pulling out the necessary supplies—the motions are carried out with such ease that it may very well be instinct.

Judging from the fact that Alex is still up and conscious, the stabbing likely didn’t hit anything vital. When she sits down and peels the fabric away from the injury, sticky with blood, it’s clearly a few inches deep but goes down at an angle. It’s not enough to warrant a sigh of relief from anyone, but it’s a small flicker of hope that this will turn out alright.

It’s not until Alex finally pulls on her gloves and starts cleaning the wound that it’s clear she really can’t do this on her own. Her hands shake so badly, she nearly drops the squirt bottle.

“Alex,” Joseph murmurs, “you might have to let me do this.”

Alex stops, squirt bottle still in hand, staring down at the wound. She doesn’t want to, she can do this. She has to be able to do this. Normally she’d be able to get through this alone and she never wants to be touched more than necessary, but without the adrenaline to keep her going, the pain is nauseating and horribly distracting.

“I can do it,” she insists. Joseph fixes her with a firm look and she glances away.

Can’t she trust him? She just needs to get through this, however necessary. And after all, it’s Joseph. When has he been anything less than trustworthy?

“Let me do this,” he says, voice even softer now. “Give yourself a break.”

Finally, Alex sighs and leans back. “...Okay.”

Joseph treats her with the same care he always has. The lidocaine does its job to ease the pain, and although she’s still sore, the wound stitches up just like any other. In due time she’ll be right back on her feet.