#we haven't finished plotting but in the MEANTIME

[nakedinthetrees]

Special Comfort

Xavier x Reader

Warnings:🔞MDNI🔞, smut,fingering, cock warming, brief use of pet names, brief use of “Y/N”, female reader + brief description of female anatomy

Word count: 3181

The weight of 100 suns seemed to be selfishly pushing down on your eyelids, constantly obstructing your view of the bright television screen ahead of you. It was late. Excruciatingly late considering you'd been up since before the day's sunrise. The easy option was to turn the TV off and fall into the plush comfort of your bed, letting your mind carry you off to sleep. Sleep however, was a luxury at the moment. You dragged your eyes from the obnoxious light of the television to the clock on your wall, observing the time before finally stopping at the front door to your apartment. Xavier still hadn't returned from his last mission.

The two of you had been wrapping up your day when Xavier decided he was going to check up on a lead about a strange spike of energy in one of the nearby ‘no hunt’ zones. “It's just a small spike. Besides, the locals have said they haven't had any strange encounters aside from the wanderers we fought today. I'll just do a quick scope of the area.”, was his response when you insisted on going with him. Despite knowing full well of his capabilities, you couldn't help the dark cloud of anxiety slithering around your mind and tightening your chest . “Get some rest. I'll come by once I've finished things here.”.

So here you were, curled up in the corner of your couch, having given up on calling Xavier after several missed calls, eyes restlessly flickering from what was supposed to be your distraction to the door. You couldn't even remember what show you had put on and your brain was too tired to try and follow the plot. A sudden beep and the click of the door unlocking had you on your feet in an instant. Xavier allbut shuffled through the door, his shoulders slightly slouched and head lowered, exhaustion clearly written on his features. “Hm? You're still awake?” Xavier asks in his usual soft tone, his head lifting to take you in properly. “Did you really think I'd be able to sleep when you haven’t answered a single one of my calls since you left?” You say with a tad more bite than you had intended, moving to close the distance between yourself and Xavier, not thinking twice as you wrapped your arms around his waist, pulling him into you. Falling naturally into the normalcy of your lives outside of work, Xavier wasted no time returning the embrace, his cheek resting against the side of your head, “I'm sorry if I worried you, the energy flux must have interfered with my phone's signal.”.

Xavier's body relaxed against yours, his breathing slow and steady as his fingers drew absentminded circles on your back, arms increasingly tightening around you. “Mn… Xavier I have some dinner set aside for you in the fridge. I can heat it up for you if you want to shower in the meantime.” you offer, palms moving to gently push at his chest in a silent plea to release you. At first all you are met with a long sigh, brushing his nose against the shell of your ear as he nuzzles into you that has a shiver working its way down your spine. When he finally pulls away, his blue eyes have a gentle lightness to them, the corners of his mouth pulled into a warm smile, “That would be great. I won’t be too long.”.

True to his word, Xavier emerges from the bathroom a few minutes later, to your surprise in only a pair of sweatpants, his hair still slightly damp and occasional dripping water onto his shoulders. You sat with him as he ate his meal, singing praises of your cooking and vowing that he’d cook for you next time… with the condition that you could at least supervise him. By the time the two of you made it to the couch, you could hardly keep your eyes open as if your body suddenly remembered it was riddled with exhaustion. Xavier seemed to notice, sharing a similar sentiment, he pulled you into his side as you sat on the couch, an arm wrapped around you from behind and his other hand resting atop your thigh, while your head proved to be his favorite pillow.

It would've been so easy to let sleep take you in this position, lulled by the warmth of Xavier's body heat, if it weren’t for sensation of his fingers trailing absentmindedly up and down your inner thigh, a touch so light and gentle that it's hardly noticeable except for when his fingers recede up your thigh, fingertips just barely nudging the hem of your sleep shorts. It was hard to hide the slight trembles his touch manifested in your body. “Are you cold?” His hushed whisper sounded in your ear, hot air fanning against the sensitive nerves there, painting a delicate blush against your face as a result, “N-no. M'not cold just… fidgety I guess.”. Xavier hummed in response before taking a long inhale and slightly tugging your body closer to his, “In that case… would my heating pad be able to help warm me up instead?”. You couldn't help the smile that formed on your lips at the nickname, remembering when you had first dawned the title of his heating pad. It wouldn’t hurt to play heating pad considering the long day you both endured.

“Sure.” you respond in a hum, shifting your position, meaning to wrap your arms around Xavier's neck however, it takes you by surprise when his hands move to rest firmly at your sides, pulling you directly onto his lap, back pressed flush against his chest. A gasp of his name leaves your lips as you recognize the hardness pressing against your backside, “Xavier… what were you really asking when you asked me to be your heating pad?”. His breathy sigh fans across the back of your neck as he nuzzles into the warm part where your neck and shoulder meet, “Is this alright? After today's events I think I need a more… specific method of comfort.” You could already feel the thumping in your chest growing faster given the insinuation, now accentuated as Xavier wrapped an arm around your middle, returning his other hand to its spot atop your thigh, running his fingertips meticulously along your skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. “I promise we won't go further than this…” he hums beside your ear, his lips pressing against it in feather light kisses, “For now just… let me hold you like this for a while.”.

As if on command your body practically melts beneath his touch, allowing your head to roll back, resting on his shoulder, eyelids fluttering closed with a breathy sigh of your own as his kisses trail down your neck to the pooling warmth at the base of your neck, lighting up your senses in such a way that has your body forgetting its need for sleep, awakening a new yearning akin to setting a pot of water on a low simmer, needing just a bit more heat to... A trembling hiss escapes Xavier that has your eyes opening in an instant, peering up at his flushed face and half lidded eyes, only then once you register the need within those eyes, do you realize you’d rolled your hips against him in an unconscious effort to ebb those flames. “Sleep…” Xavier's voice lulled in a soft plea, but you refuse, having stoked the festering need that was quickly growing persistent, you don't fight your body's wish to grind against him once more, feeling the stiffness behind you twitch against the boundary of his loose sweatpants.

The noise the movement had conjured from Xavier was enough to have your stomach doing backflips, a simple shift of his arm and Xavier had your rear pressing firmly against his lower abdomen, his palm now planted possessively over your stomach, “I thought you were too tired to even keep your eyes open,” Xavier nudged, his playful tone completely lost in the breathy whisper, “but it seems you're insistent on testing my restraint.”. Sucking your bottom lip between your teeth, you contemplate your next words carefully, “I was tired, but how can you expect me to sleep when you're…” You pause, letting your hand drift to his clothed thigh, giving it a firm squeeze and turning your head in time to catch his parted lips with your own. “I'd be a terrible heating pad if I didn’t ensure your comfort-”, you whisper against his lips only to be pulled back in almost immediately, your body rocking forward as Xavier gives his own tentative push of his hips into your backside. His kisses are slow yet hungry as he surges forward, chasing your lips in your attempts to pull away for air.

It takes another squeeze of his thigh for him to finally relent, resting his forehead against your own as you breathe in each other's air, “Whether you feel tired or not, you're body has already exhausted itself today… it needs to rest.”. His eyes find yours and it near stuns you how Xavier's eyes portray the pleading of a puppy, while simultaneously having an intense undertone of desire. “And what about you? Will you be able to sleep properly like this?”, Xavier averts his gaze at the question, the space between his brows creasing as you give another roll of your hips, his grip on your thigh tightening as he bites back a broken sigh. You wouldn't be letting him off the hook easily and that fact was becoming increasingly clear. “Hmm… I promised we wouldn't need to go further than this, but…”, “...but?” Your voice draws out in a purr as you shift your attention down to his jaw, peppering tender kisses along it as you wait for him to continue, perhaps giving a solution to both your needs. Instead of picking up where his thought had left off, Xavier again busies his lips with yours, taking your face in his hand, cradling your jaw as means to draw you closer, his vigor reignited.

The kiss went into a endless cycle of deepening, quickening, then slowing again all while Xavier continued to guide your hips back into him, muddying your mind and distracting you from anything that wasn't him, until a certain pressure manifested between your thighs that you hadn't realized had been spread open. You moaned into the kiss before you could stop yourself, hand shooting downward to grip Xavier's wrist as his middle and ring fingers gently stroked your clothed folds, having already pushed away the loose leg of your pajama shorts. “Mmn… I won't take my chances with hurting you, so you'll need to let me prepare you properly first.” Xavier hummed between kisses, his lips having already found your neck again, “Unless you want me to stop…”, “Xavier…” the simple whine being all he needed, his mouth descending on your earlobe as his fingers masterfully moved your panties to the side, sliding the tips of them up and down your revealed sex, gathering the arousal that had manifested there, using it has lubricant before pushing his fingers into you oh so slowly.

Back arching, your hold on his wrist tightens, a whimper escaping your lips, and as if your emotions are intertwined with Xavier’s, his breathing grows labored as his fingers work in and out of you in a methodic rhythm. Your body becomes overcome by pleasure, hips writhing into his hand, yet despite this the fire in the pit of your stomach refuses to be soothed. The unbearable greedy ache between your thighs was enough to make you go mad. A burning so deadly you may as well have been dancing on the sun’s surface. You needed more. “Haah… You… you're clenching onto my fingers so tightly. I can hardly move them…” Xavier's voice glides right down your spine and straight to your core, pulling a pathetic sounding whine from you. Giving in to your desperation, you pull Xavier's wrist down, spreading your legs wider in efforts to get his fingers deeper, yet when you’re met with the unexpected pushback of Xavier withdrawing them entirely, tears of frustration begin building in the corners of your eyes.

“Stand up.” Xavier's breathy voice, so direct and intentful coupled with your body practically vibrating with need, you don't have a single bone in your body to argue with him. Behind you the impatient rustling of clothes grabs your attention as Xavier hastily pulls down his pants and boxers along with it. The moment you intend to turn around to face him, his hands are on you; roaming along your soft waist, your thighs, drifting beneath your shirt to caress your stomach, all while his lips paint a trail of wet kisses along your spine, Xavier carefully loops his fingers around the band of your pj shorts and panties in one and sliding them down your legs almost agonizingly slow. “Xavier…” You plead in a gentle breath, earning a soft groan from behind you, “I love hearing you say my name like that…” he praises, hands encompassing your hips as he slowly guides you back down, between his thighs. “Keep your legs closed for me… Just like that…” his lust coated voice rings in your ears, lulling you lower and lower until the firm pressure of his hot cockhead is nudging between your folds.

You can hardly keep it together and if the shaky sigh from behind you is any indicator, Xavier is experiencing the same struggle. “Relax…” being his only word as his grip on his hips shift to accommodate your body weight as he cautiously lowers you down onto his cock. Your arousal coated him with each careful pushing into your velvet walls, ushering him along smoothly, but there was no denying it was a tight fit, your closed thighs leaving you helpless let alone extremely sensitive to each vein that caressed you in their passing. A hiss followed by a mumbled curse sounded in your ear, “You’re so warm… and welcoming me in with such a tight embrace, it’s like you don’t want to let go of me.”.

Your chest was rising and falling rapidly at this point, the pressure in your lower abdomen growing greater as Xavier was near to bottoming out inside you. Just a bit more, you mentally pleaded, fingers gripping into the firm muscles of Xavier’s thighs in efforts to steady yourself before a soft whisper of your name grabbed your attention, “Relax for me, Honey… please.”. It wasn’t until Xavier’s lips met with your ear, the feeling boarding on intoxicating and he peppered the lightest most comforting of kisses along it, that you realized it was your locked elbows and grip on his legs that were stopping you from fully seating on him.

With a deep intake of breath you slowly begin lowering yourself the rest of the way, releasing said air through your descent until your skin was flush with his, Xavier groaning as the head of his cock kissed the wall of your cervix so lovingly.

Your fingers trembled on their loose resting place atop Xavier’s thighs, the warm yet tight sensation in your lower abdomen begging for friction. Upon giving a slow roll of your hips you’re met with Xavier’s grip of your hips tightening, cementing you in place, “Don’t move… not yet.”. You almost want to cry in frustration as your walls clench around his cock earning a delicious noise from Xavier in return, “Xavier please…” you whine, fighting against his hold and continue to grind against him.

Something like a growl rumbled in Xavier’s chest and then suddenly his hand is beneath your shirt, blanketing your breast with such a firm squeeze that had your back arching, a loud gasp extracted from your throat. The sensation of Xavier’s hot, wreckless mouth against your neck and shoulder joined the onslaught of pleasure that was currently wrecking your mind and body, his breathing quickened as his mouth worked sloppily against your skin, “You’re the one… who agreed to be my heating pad…” he mumbled between kisses, “Are you going to be a good girl and do as I say? Or are you going to deny me my comfort?”. His cock twitched inside of you, drawing out a pathetic, needy whimper. God, was he trying so hard to hold back, to bask in the feel of you, “Answer me, love. Can you do that for me?”. Xavier hummed, massaging and kneading your breast, reveling in the sultry mewls it made you produce. Turning your head, you give him a brief nod before capturing his lips once more, the kiss heated and messy, yet Xavier returned it in fervor.

The world itself seemed to melt away as all you could focus on was the feel of him against you, in you. You were puddy in his hands, his touches varying between mind numbingly gentle and needy and finally by the grace of some higher power, Xavier began thrusting his hips upward in slow, passionate movements. “Yes…” you breathe, laying your head back onto Xavier's shoulder as you let him take complete control, the speed of his hips gradually growing. The sounds of your shared pleasure echoed through your apartment, the small space of your living room becoming increasingly hotter, then the strong pull of a coil tightening in your core that had been creeping up on you had you reaching your hand behind Xavier's head to fist the hair at the nape of his neck. “X-Xavier..!” you moan out, as your hips desperately roll back against his, meeting his thrusts, “That's it, Honey… let go for me, don't hold back.”.

Taking his words as permission, you let out a cry of ecstasy, pussy fluttering around his cock hungrily as you hit your peak, hardly registering the hoarse “Shit…” that came from Xavier as he watched you unfold with love drunk eyes. The feeling of coming down from your high was akin to being carried on a soft summer breeze, your breathing finally began to slow and steady, and the thin layer of sweat that had formed on your body had finally registered. Humming softly you nuzzle into Xavier’s neck taking in both his scent and warmth. It wasn't until you felt the twitch of his cock inside you did the realization of Xavier's still uneven breathing hit you. “Xavier, you didn't finish?” you ask, suddenly feeling guilty for not fulfilling your duties.

Xavier gazed down at you, his usual warm smile making your heart skip a beat as you stared back at him, “I hope you don't mind that I may need a bit more extensive care tonight.” and before you could respond, Xavier had lifted you off his lap, making you stand momentarily before quickly scooping you into his arms, bridal style and heading in the direction of your bedroom. “Why would I mind? I'd be a terrible heating pad otherwise.” You giggle, pressing a kiss to Xavier's neck as the two of you disappear into the bedroom.

I am so anxious about posting this, but I hope you all like it! Please let me know what improvements I can make with Xavier and the other boys in the future 🖤

Tag list: @loakstahni @quicktosimp @xylianasblog

[mynameismad]

What have I been up to?????

Hey all! I'm sure you're all cycling rapidly through the stages of grief like I am, but I thought I'd just check in and let everyone know what's going on with me and when they can expect more comics!

GOOD NEWS: I got a concept art job! I've been working freelance for a client for about two months now and things are going great! Honestly working on short assignments with weekly deadlines has been an amazing break from the slow, constant march of longform comics. I am surprising myself every day and haven't been this excited to learn and grow as an artist in a very long time. Moving forward, I would like to find a full time job in games and stay there, rather than continuing to hustle full-time in comics. I've paused my Patreon for the foreseeable future.

THAT BEING SAID: I will always be making comics!!!!!! I love them a lot, they've been good to me, and I have all these ideas in my head that NEED to be let out. I want to start making them in my own time, rather than as my main source of income. We'll see how long it takes to find true stability in concept (maybe never, lol) but in the meantime I will keep drawing my silly little guys and posting them online for everyone to see. I have to! I have to keep going and making the art I want to see in the world! We have to keep going!!!!

SAKANA: hoping to get back to the fish boys sooner rather than later. I've been stuck on whether to end the latest chapter right away or get a few more pages in there. We're moving into a HEAVY part of the plot, which will be trickier to write, so I've been procrastinating lol. Please don't take my extended absence as proof that I'm walking away from the story: I've just been busy with a new job and I don't know exactly how to get to the next chapter yet!! (also, jsyk, the Webtoon mirror is something I was doing for fun! not a priority!!)

RR: I actually have a few different projects started for RR! Chapter 2 is like 9 pages in, but then I paused and started work on a 20ish page minicomic, which is like 7 pages in. I'm going to finish the mini first and hopefully upload it to itch.io. For Chapter 2, I created this really elaborate environment in an effort to force myself to learn Blender, but then I got a job....so I have no time to learn Blender lol. Still trying to figure out whether to simplify or push forward.

OTHER: yeah...I am a comic artist at heart so obviously I have a million things I want to do. But SAKANA and RR are the highest priority right now!

UPCOMING: I am pursuing other freelance work for shorter, more manageable projects! If you need somebody to redline all your thumbnails, critique the first draft of your synopsis, or make a 20-40 page comic, please keep me in mind!

In closing: I'm locking my twitter accounts tonight and moving away from the platform for now. I'll be here, Instagram (@/mad_rupert), and BlueSky (@/madrupert). Thanks for sticking with me, let's hold onto and support each other in the coming weeks, months, and years! Let's keep going!!!!! I love you all so much!!!

[narcjsistx]

𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄! | itoshi rin x fem reader

part thirteen: symbiosis || BAND AU, A BIT AGED UP

plot: after your band's last concert, a few days after Rin's, an online competition arises about who is the best bassist. A whole new challenge is created by the new fandom who loves you, but people don't know that you and the bassist of Blue Lock haven't spoken in about 3 years since you broke up, when you were sixteen

02: PAST, YESTERDAY

characters presentation || last part || next part ; words: 1k

𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ; take a look, trust me!. you can find the other parts of the story by searching in the section dedicated to bllk

The lesson had just ended, Sae had already finished hers a few minutes ago, but by now it had become a habit for her to wait for you: weeks had passed since you went to her house for the first time, and from that moment on every afternoon you spent the your time playing in his garage. But there was one peculiarity, one that made you a little uneasy

Across the room, putting his bass back, was Rin Itoshi. At the end, he had seriously started taking classes, and so you had found your friend's younger brother in the same class as you; you hated to admit it, but he was good for starting so recently. Maybe it was an Itoshi family trait knowing how to play instruments without too much effort, another beyond the eyelashes

You never spoke during lessons, but you observed each other a lot: every time you looked up you found his big teal eyes staring at you, and every now and then you stared at him without realizing it. Every time one pecked the other, he would look away, only to look back again a few seconds later. You didn't know why you did it, but it had become practically normal by now. You found him interesting, and maybe he found you interesting

You pick up your bass, walking out of the room, Rin a few steps away from you; When you reach the hallway, you notice Sae. He's usually always in great shape, but today he seems a little tired

"Are you okay?" you ask approaching him, and Rin joins your duo "Nii Chan was sick before he even came to his class" he says, and Sae glares at his brother "It's not true, I just have a bit of a headache. Let's go" he says as he heads towards the exit of the music school. You look at him a little perplexed, and you notice how Rin is too; you look at each other for a few seconds, then you both shrug and follow Sae. Surely Rin knows more, but you think his brother has a fever

On the way to the Itoshi house, no one dares to speak: from time to time Sae sneezes, and you and Rin look at each other more and more perplexed by the reddish's pedantic behavior. Usually you and Sae always chat on the commute, but since Rin joined your duo the conversations have become rarer and rarer. Maybe Sae is ashamed to show his brother that he talks to a girl, you don't know this, but by now it has become almost normal to remain silent

Once you get to the garage you place your bass in the usual place, but you notice Sae climbing the steps that lead to the first floor "Wait for me here, Y/n. I'll take some medicine and we can start... in the meantime you try something with Rin, he hasn't yet never tried with anyone" Sae says, but before you can reply he has already closed the door. A strange silence envelops the garage, while you turn towards Rin embarrassed: again, you find him already looking at you, but this time he didn't hide it. You don't know why he does it, but you can't help but be a little embarrassed by his behavior. Plus, he's not one to talk much, so that makes the situation even weirder

"Um... can we try what we did with our teacher today? That song with the low notes" you say, picking up your bass, trying to limit eye contact. You plug your bass into the speaker, and only then do you hear Rin nod as he settles down too. Timidly, you start by giving the first notes of the song, tapping your foot to give yourself the time, but unexpectedly Rin starts playing, significantly anticipating the notes with which he technically should have started. You look up in surprise, continuing to play as you observe how focused he is, completely engrossed in the song. You smile almost spontaneously, and you don't even know how to explain the reason for your sudden joy

Perhaps, you have found the second person with whom you get excited when you play. Rin's concentration, his precision, his perfect timing... they are like gold to you, rare gold that you want to protect and possess. You increase your concentration, spinning around as you play, and Rin seems to start moving too, while a genuine smile breaks out on his face. It's all so unexpected but perfect that the song almost fades into the background, while this time it's you staring at him without shame, waiting for him to notice you

And when he looks up, the bass still clutched in his hands, you feel as if the notes he plays hit your heart in a lethal way, but this too is the effect of the music. Your gaze intertwines with his, and you almost don't notice how the song ended, as if your hands had played it automatically while you were concentrated on something else

"You're really great, Rin!" you say, approaching him almost without noticing, your hands unexpectedly grabbing his "Play with me!"

“Rin, Y/n, Sae can’t… oh” says a female voice from the door, Mrs. Itoshi’s. Both you and Rin turn around awkwardly with your hands still intertwined, but quickly break away when you hear the lady, who however smiles at you tenderly "Were you two playing? You're good" she asks giggling, and you look down in embarrassment “It was us, mom. How's Nii Chan?” Rin asks, but you notice a bit of embarrassment in his tone of voice "I came to tell you... he has a fever. He can't play this afternoon, I'm sorry Y/n" the lady says, but you look up shaking your hands "It's not a problem, Mrs. Itoshi! I can go home, I'm sorry Sae has a fever" you say already putting your bass back in the case, but a hand grabs your wrist, stopping you. You look up, Rin's slightly unsure teal eyes looking at you "Stay. We can... we can try another song" he says awkwardly

You swallow a lump of saliva, more awkward than him "Oh, okay" you say, your voice shaking, but his hand still hasn't left his wrist. It's as if, for him, interrupting contact wasn't possible... actually, it's the first time your skin has touched. And you can't ignore the little shivers down your spine, the same ones you felt while playing with him in a completely symbiotic way. You want to stay here with him, for him, to also feel the thrills of emotion and once again the excitement

TAGLIST: @x3nafix ; @kittenish0 ; @littlejapanesesightseeingtrip ; @pan-kojiwa ; @pookalicious-hq ; @kaz-0e ; @sof888a ; @chugging-bleach ; @matchablossomsss ; @lovelymeguru ; @thebestsetter ; @yamsverse ; @princesssae ; @yuukigyatgyat ; @azharyy ; @rwbie ; @bubybubsters ; @swagkittybear ; @syarc0re ; @rink1sser ; @frogsrules ; @hwaassaa ; @chuuyalvover ; @poemzcheng ; @poisonedst4r

[coolnonsenseworld]

I've made this recap, because I've felt that this year wasn't as prolific for me as usual and if I made the best ten/twelve kind of thing, I would have to bring up the Calendar (again), Mythos Klance Zine which is still in the making, or Commissions which I still haven't revealed, but they deserve their own space. So instead! I made a recap. Do I feel better now? Not really 🤣 I've done a lot more work that wasn't sketching this year - I made PDFs, wrote and once I started a piece I tried my best to finish it - and it translated into this. And once I think of all the progress I've made - it matches my expectations. I worked on things that were difficult for me previously and I'm proud of that. But I guess I will always miss sketching day in and day out and creating my own pieces and having more time and mind space for personal projects. I wish for next year to keep people entertained and share what I've created, and to not get drained in the meantime lol.

I also made a goal list for next year. I will have to improvise adapt overcome accordingly, but on it we have the Space-themed klance desk merch set which I was sharing lately on Patreon, hopefully with icons which you can download for your phones/tablets, taking commissions once again, including traditional, sewing and finishing a pattern for Cuddler toy keychain, finishing HEX and starting Cursed Love (Ancient AU), recording sketchbooks and/or sketching, make a plot-full Winter Wonderland continuation (with winter wedding), and a few more, and I hope any of these make you as excited and inspired to start a creative new year as me! I'm sure there is a lot more to come.

And here is a question I think everyone could benefit from while thinking of the ending 2023 and incoming 2024 - is there something that would truly make your next year simply happier?

[femmescripter]

The Maxley/Trigun/DuckTales(2017)/Darkwing Duck Crossover REDUX That You All DEFINITELY Didn't Think of Or Ask For...

But since it's Thanksgiving(or Friendsgiving for those just celebrating with close friends) you have no choice but to accept it and be grateful! So there!

As you're all familiar, back in September I came up with the idea of a Maxley story that crossed over with the 2017 DuckTales reboot, Darkwing Duck and took some inspiration of the concept of Independent Plants/plant hybrids from the anime Trigun. Well I'm here to share three important things concerning this idea. Important Thing #1: I am, in fact, going to make this a full-length story. I'm already working on the chapter concepts and other related notes. Important Thing #2: Regarding the plot redux, there are two major changes. The first change concerns Max's mother. Instead of my headcanon OC, Vanessa, as his biological mom I'm going to go with the comic character Glory-Bee. She's theorized as a possible candidate for Max's mom. And I wanted to set this story truly apart from the rest of my work and stretch my writing skills by working with a lesser-known, barebones character like Glory-Bee. Important Thing #3: As a result of the first major change this means that blonde!Max is back in action. So, if anyone enjoyed my blonde!Max headcanon AU shorts you'll be happy to know that the alternate blonde pretty puppy will soon be in his first feature-length story! Plus I thought this would be a neat way to make Max the "Vash" of the story since Bradley is basically Knives/Nai in terms of personality. So that's about it. I just wanted to share these three major plot changes with you all. And don't worry - I haven't forgotten about those other two Maxley stories that won the poll. I'll be working on them to publish after I finish my current miniseries! I'm properly refreshed from my break and ready to bring Reaching Out & Moving Forward to a close. And I'm actually brewing up something else to tide you guys over in the meantime. So stay tuned for that. Until we meet again, take care!

[rose-sophia-isabella-rogers]

A Tide That Turned Everything: Chapter I - Separated, Hurting, Broken

Summary: Aleksander is alive but he paid a price for surviving. Because of his actions Grisha are hunted and executed. They find a place where they can be safe. There you meet with Alina, Mal and Prince Nikolai. They plan to bring the country back together and destroy the Fold. In the meantime Aleksander gathers his own army. The question is, on which side will you be?

A/N: Here is another fic about General Kirigan and Reader! It's the third part in series about Reader being a Tidemaker. It concentrates of the events in season two of the show. I hope you will like it! As usual, I don't own anything from "Shadow and Bone". But I've almost finished reading the books! The only one that remains is the "Rule of Wolves". But this story still only focuses on the TV show. Also, English still isn't my first language, so if you see some mistakes, let me know. Enjoy!

Chapter Summary: Kirigan is searching for you and nothing will stop him from finding you. Nikolai tries to save his country. Alina tries to gather Morozova's amplifiers. And you? You try to mend your broken heart. Which may be difficult with everyone not trusting you and news you hear from David.

Pairing: Aleksander Kirigan/Reader, Ivan/Fedyor Kaminsky, Alina Starkov/Mal Oretsev

Characters: Aleksander Kirigan, Reader, David Kostyk, Genya Safin, Fruzsi, Fedyor Kaminsky, Alina Starkov, Nadia Zhabin, Mal Oretsev, Nikolai Lantsov, Zoya Nazyalensky, Tamar Kir-Bataar, Adrik Zhabin

Word Count: 4428

merzost – magic, abomination, unnatural creation, something from nothing moi tsarevich – my prince, son of tsar milaya – sweet girl There is a slight plot from third episode of the second season and also a bit more from the fourth episode. Inspired by prompts: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089683705/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089584620/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089683695/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089684424/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089559821/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089683637/ https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/207306389089559895/

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added or removed):

@budugu

@intothesoul

@mizelophsun11

@pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy

@zeeader

Aleksander and his followers have set up a base in a house of an aristocrat family. Yes, he has survived. But paid a price for it. He created creatures of shadows with merzost, but because of that his health is falling. He's coughing, often with black substance, has headaches and has scars on his face that can't be healed. His condition deeply worries him. But something troubles him even more.

One day another group of recruits arrives. Aleksander immediately goes to greet them and looks at their faces. He's happy to see David and tells him that. Then, he returns to looking around. However, he doesn't see what he wants.

'Was [Y/N] with you?' he asks David, who's retreating with Genya. They stop. The Durast shakes his head with sorrow.

'I haven't seen her since the day we left the Little Palace after…' he doesn't finish. But Aleksander knows what he wanted to say. He nods. He walks to Fruzsi, another Tidemaker.

'Ask everyone who has arrived whether they have seen [Y/N] [L/N] during the last weeks,' he orders her. Fruzsi is surprised by this, but nods. She comes to his room an hour later.

'And?' he asks, expectant, hoping.

'No one has seen her,' Fruzsi answers. Aleksander's shoulders slump. He sighs, and runs a hand through his face.

'Tell the search parties to look specifically for her,' he orders. 'I want her found. As soon as possible.'

'I know she's close to you,' Fruzsi says, frowning. 'But shouldn't we focus on-'

'She's not close to me,' Aleksander interrupts her. 'She's everything to me.'

Fruzsi is surprised, guessing what he means. He turns away from her.

'With all due respect, sir…' she says slowly, '… why her?'

Aleksander turns to her. There's something in his eyes Fruzsi has never seen.

'Why anyone else when she exists?' he asks. The Tidemaker lingers only for a moment longer. But her place is quickly taken by someone else…

'Fedyor!' Aleksander says, happy and relieved. The Heartrender smiles and bows his head to his general. Kirigan walks to him and the two shake hands. The Darkling notices the tiredness and sadness in his friend's eyes.

'Ivan…' he says, his smile falling.

'Is alive,' Fedyor says. 'That's why it took me so long to get here. He's wounded and scarred. Healers are putting him back together at the moment.'

'I'm glad to hear it,' Aleksander says. 'He… he did well in the Fold.'

Fedyor nods. He bites his lip, hesitating.

'Any news of [Y/N]?' he asks. Sorrow fills Kirigan's eyes. He shakes his head.

'Not yet,' he answers and sighs heavily. He walks to his armchair and falls on it. He runs a hand through his face.

'I need her, Fedyor,' he says. 'Every time I turn my face, I expect to find her there. And I find nothing. It physically hurts. I've never known I'd meet a girl like her.'

'[Y/N] is one of a kind,' Fedyor agrees. Aleksander shakes his head.

'It's more than that,' he says and smiles softly. 'When I told her about my past, what I did, what I fear… she looked my demons in the eye and… smiled. She fell for the very thing I thought she'd fear.'

'I haven't met a kinder heart,' Fedyor says with a smile.

'Kind,' Aleksander says. 'Compassionate. Understanding. Gentle. That's who she is. That's why I fell for her. And I failed her. When she needed me the most, when they were throwing Grisha out of the Little Palace, I wasn't there. I even insisted she stayed there. She should have gone with you, like she wanted. But now she may be dead. And it's my fault.'

'She's not dead,' Fedyor says strongly. Kirigan looks at him with doubt.

'How can you be so sure?' he asks.

'Everyone knows she's important to you,' Fedyor answers. 'I think that if they had managed to kill her, they would have made every Grisha aware of it.'

He has a point, Aleksander must admit it. Hope reignites with him once more. Fedyor smiles.

'Fear not, General,' he says. 'She might look like a fragile flower, but her stem is made of steel.'

Aleksander can't help but smile. He nods. Fedyor's eyes suddenly light up.

'What about the gift you gave her for her last birthday?' he asks. Aleksander instinctively touches a ring on his finger. He sighs deeply.

'The problem is, I gave it to her so she would call on me if she needed help,' he says. 'Until she says my name while touching the necklace, I can't use my matching ring to track her. Believe me I… tried.'

'Well, we have David now,' Fedyor says. 'Maybe he could think of something.'

'He'd need something that belongs to her,' Aleksander explains, remembering how the Durast made the ring and necklace.

'And we don't have anything,' Fedyor sighs. Kirigan shakes his head.

'We will get her back, General,' the Heartrender assures him.

'I know,' Aleksander says and a look in his eyes darkens. 'I promised her. That the world can't keep us apart. And that there's nothing I wouldn't do to keep her by my side. I fully intent to keep that promise, Fedyor. No matter what.'

*

In the meantime, Alina and Mal have teamed up with a privateer, who's just turned out to be Prince Nikolai Lantsov. Together, they hunted the Sea Whip for Alina. She now has two amplifiers. She tried to destroy the Fold, but failed. After that, they head for the Spinning Wheel, a place where apparently Grisha have found a safe heaven – the Spinning Wheel. There, Alina reunites with Nadia… and Zoya. But the conversation with Zoya goes well, to Alina's surprise. They are now allies. After they walk their ways, Nadia joins Alina's side, uncertain.

'Someone else is in here you might be interested in,' she says.

'Who?' Alina asks, frowning. Nadia simply grabs her arm and drags her somewhere. A few corridors later the Sun Summoner sees a familiar back.

'[Y/N]!' she exclaims happily and runs forward, freeing herself of Nadia's hold. You turn around, surprised. You huff, when Alina falls into your arms. You hug her back slowly.

'Saints, I'm so glad you're okay!' she says, pulling away. You force a smile.

'Thank you,' you say. 'I'm happy you're alive as well. After I heard what had happened in the Fold…'

'I made it,' Alina says, smiling, and looks over your shoulder. 'Thanks to Mal.'

You turn your head and see a young man, looking both familiar and unfamiliar. He notices you and his frown tells you he has the same situation with you.

'Mal, look who's here!' Alina calls him, waving at him with enthusiasm. The man joins you, looking at you with interest.

'I hope you remember our dear friend from Keremzin, [Y/N] [L/N],' Alina says, looking between you two. Mal's eyes spark with recognition. He smiles broadly.

'How could I not?' he says and chuckles. 'You almost cracked my skull open once!'

'You definitely deserved it!' you laugh and go in for a hug. You hold each other tightly, then pull away. In a moment Mal's brows cease with worry.

'No offense, but you look awful,' he says. You smile wryly. You're well aware of the dark circles under your eyes, puffy eyes, pale face and so on.

'Well, I sleep with my one eye open,' you say. 'I'm not exactly welcome here.'

'Why?' Alina asks, frowning. You give her a look.

'I was one of Kirigan's most loyal Grisha,' you explain. 'No one here trusts me.'

'But you didn't know what he's planning,' Alina says vehemently. The corners of your lips lift slightly.

'How can you be so sure?' you ask.

'Yes, how can we?' a voice asks. You turn your head and see a young man in a uniform. You bow your head.

'Moi tsarevich,' you greet Nikolai. He stops by Alina and Mal's side.

'So?' he asks, eyeing you. 'How can we be sure we can trust you?'

'Nikolai!' Alina scolds him. You look tsarevich in the eyes.

'I didn't know Kirigan had planned to expand the Fold,' you declare. 'In fact, we haven't been close for a long time.'

'Why?' Nikolai asks, frowning. You smile wryly at him.

'I've been asking myself this question for months,' you answer. Nikolai eyes you again.

'I trust [Y/N],' Alina says strongly. Nikolai looks at her and they exchange a look. Finally, he nods and smiles at you.

'Alina's friends are mine friends,' he says and takes your hand in his, then kisses it. 'Pleasure to meet you, Miss [L/N]. And I'm sorry for the suspicion.'

'Charmed,' you say, smiling slightly. 'And it's perfectly alright. I understand.'

'Come, we have a lot to catch up,' Alina says, taking your arm and you start walking. Soon enough she tells you what happened to her. She tells you how Baghra warned her about Aleksander. How she escaped. How she met with Mal. How they found the Stag. But then Kirigan found them. He killed the Stag and joined Alina with its bones. He tried to harness her powers for himself. He used them to expand the Fold. But there Mal and three rouges from Ketterdam saved her. She and Mal escaped to Novyi Zem. There they met Nikolai.

'And that's about it,' Alina finishes her story a moment later.

'You've certainly been busy,' you comment. Your friend sighs. There's sadness in her eyes.

'I still can't believe I let him fooled me,' she says. 'I… I honestly thought we share some sort of connection, you know?'

'Yeah,' you answer quietly, now sad as well. But Alina quickly becomes angry.

'I still can't believe how cruel he really was,' she says with venom. 'All those people he murdered… because he wanted more power. How could someone be so cold-hearted?'

'Behind every cold-hearted person there is a kind heart which has been treated with coldness for a while,' you say quietly. Alina looks at you with surprise. But you don't say anything more.

'What about you?' your friend asks. 'How did you escape from the Little Palace?'

'I didn't,' you answer after a moment. Alina frowns at you. She looks you up and down, no doubt wondering how you can be here if you hadn't escaped from the Little Palace. You avoid her eyes.

'When the First Army raided the Little Palace, I focused on getting everyone else out,' you start. 'Especially the children. So, when I was about to evacuate myself… it was too late. I was caught.'

'[Y/N]…' Alina says, horrified. You force a smile and shake your head.

'It wasn't really for a long time,' you say. 'I escaped.'

'How?' Alina asks. You're silent for a moment. You try not to think about the time you were a captive. About what they did to you…

Darkling's whore… Filthy witch… Stupid serving girl…

'They were careless,' you answer. 'Thought they broke me. I used it against them. Then I found out about this place. Others weren't exactly thrilled to see me but they took me in. I guess my sorry state made them pity me.'

'[Y/N]… what had they done to you so they thought they broke you?' Alina asks with worry.

'Hurt me,' you answer after a moment and force a smile at her. 'You should rest. You've had a tiring journey.'

'But-' Alina starts, frowning.

'I'll see you later,' you say, hug her briefly, then walk away. Your heart is hammering in your chest. You don't look back. You don't think about what you told Alina. You don't think about it so much, you bump into someone.

'Sorry!' you apologise. The person turns out to be Zoya. She looks you over.

'How are you looking worse and worse every day?' she asks. You smile wryly.

'It's my hidden talent,' you answer and attempt to walk past her. But she grabs your arm. You look up at her. There's seriousness in her eyes.

'You're not alone,' she says, confusing you. 'Kirigan had us all fooled. I know it's hard for you, you were his personal servant and then his trusted Grisha. I know you must have certain attachment to him but… you have to let it go. He murdered innocents. And would do it again.'

'You… "Attachment"?' you repeat with disbelief. 'Zoya, I… He was the first person who saw I'm more than just a plain serving girl. Every time I struggled, he was there to help me. He saved me every time I was in danger. Do you remember Tsybeia? Even before it turned out I'm a Grisha he was always kind to me and protected me. And now… everyone tells me what he did, who he is. But I can't just forget about all the good stuff he did.'

Zoya looks at you. Suddenly, her eyes go wide. You stiffen. You know she realised your secret.

'And you love him,' she guesses and crosses her arms. 'Tell me, if he handed you a bloodied hand, would you take it, only because it was his?'

You stare at her. Tears well up in your eyes. You smile sadly, a bit brokenly.

'I honestly have no idea, Zoya,' you whisper and turn. You walk away, trying to blink away the tears. And you definitely don't think how much you miss Aleksander. Nor how much you wish he was alive.

*

The night falls. It is a relief to you, because you finally are away from the judging eyes, hurtful whispers. But the sleep never comes easily. Your thoughts are always a mess. Today as well.

You lay down in bed and try very hard to fall asleep. Your thoughts drift to everything that happened that day. You sigh and hesitantly grab the necklace on your neck. Pain clenches your heart.

Aleksander…

Suddenly you find yourself in Kirigan's chambers in the Little Palace. Everything is just like you remember. You look down at yourself and see the clothes you were wearing as Aleksander's personal servant.

'I did miss the sight of that band on your arm,' you hear. Your heart stops. Oh, how you longed to hear that voice. You turn around and see Aleksander leaning on his table. He looks just like he did when you last saw him.

'Yet I still preferred to see you in your kefta,' he says, slowly walking towards you. 'It suited you. It was meant to be yours.'

'Sometimes I wish I've never discovered my powers,' you admit. 'Then I would just admire you from afar. I wouldn't feel this pain now.'

'Do you really?" Aleksander asks. You think for a moment. You smile sadly and shake your head.

'Not really, no,' you answer. 'Because it was worth it. Being with you was the happiest time of my life. Even though you insisted on hiding it from everyone.'

Aleksander stops in front of you. He hands his head.

'Will you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?' he asks. You're quiet for a moment.

'I don't know,' you answer honestly. Aleksander nods, understanding. He looks up and reaches toward your face, but hesitates. His hand hangs in the air.

'I hate seeing you sad,' he says.

'Then come back to me,' you say, tears filling your eyes. 'I just want to see you. Hold you. Hug you. Touch you. Kiss you. Cuddle with you. Love you. Then I'll stop being sad.'

Aleksander looks at you with pain. He hates to see you like this.

'I want this too, milaya,' he says. 'So much.'

'I waited for you,' you say. 'Like I promised I would. Part of me still does. Even though it's impossible for you to return to me.'

'[Y/N]…' Aleksander whispers. He slowly reaches out to you again. When you don't flinch away, he cups your cheek. The moment he does, your clothes change into your kefta from the winter fete. He smiles softly.

'I didn't even tell you that you looked magnificent that night,' he says quietly. 'Beautiful. And your performance… You were extraordinary.'

You smile. You waited so long to hear those words. You lean into his touch.

'It's hard without you,' you say.

'I know the feeling,' Aleksander says quietly. You touch his hand that is on your cheek. You turn your head and kiss it.

'Everyone is sad to be gone from the Little Palace,' you say. 'They say their lost their home. But I lost mine before the First Army attacked us.'

'Because I was your home,' Aleksander says quietly. You nod. Kirigan presses his forehead to yours. He closes his eyes.

'I wish I was kissing you instead of missing you,' he whispers, his voice shaking from pain. You close your eyes, fighting with tears. You fail, obviously. You can feel them falling down your cheeks.

'Did you think of me?' you dare to ask. 'When you were in the Fold?'

'Yes,' Aleksander answers, clenching his jaw. 'I wanted you to be by my side. And then I wanted to come back to you.'

'Why didn't you tell me?' you ask. 'About your plans about Alina and the Fold? The real ones.'

'Because you have a compassionate heart,' Aleksander answers after a moment. 'You'd disagree with my plan. Maybe leave me.'

'You don't know that,' you say, shaking your head.

'Wouldn't you?' Aleksander challenges you. You're silent.

'I don't know what would I do,' you say and look him in the eyes. 'You robbed me of that choice.'

Kirigan looks down. Maybe he's actually ashamed a bit.

'But I know I wouldn't leave you,' you add. Aleksander's head shoots up. You cup his face.

'I promised you to be with you for better and for worse,' you say. 'No matter what would happen, I would be with you.'

'And then maybe you would die in the Fold,' Aleksander says flatly. 'This one time I wouldn't have been able to save you.'

'Maybe I would have saved myself,' you suggest with a small smile. Kirigan sighs and shakes his head.

'Sometimes I really can't with you,' he says. You grin at him. But then your smile falls.

'Kiss me?' you plead. You don't have to ask twice. Aleksander cups your face and kisses you.

'We shall be together again, my darling, I promise,' he whispers.

'I want this more than anything,' you whisper back. 'So much.'

'Be patient, [Y/N],' Aleksander pleads. 'For me. Please.'

'I'm waiting,' you whisper. 'I'll be always waiting for you.'

Kirigan opens his eyes. He's met with the wall of his room in the residence. He sighs heavily and sits up. His finger caresses the ring on his finger. Then, he lifts it to his lips.

'Please, [Y/N],' he whispers. 'Call for me. Call for me and I'll come for you. I swear. I will always come for you.'

*

You, Tamar (a Heartrender) and Nadia watch Alina training her new abilities. She thrusts light at her target… but even though it's impressive, it doesn't even reach it.

'Absolute rubbish,' she grunts. Nadia scoffs and gives Tamar a look.

'It's the second amplifier,' the Heartrender explains. She walks to pick up a mannequin. You three follow her.

'With the Stag, summoning came like breath,' Alina says. 'This is like… reining chaos. Crossing the Fold was a disaster.'

'Hey, we'll get you there,' Nadia comforts her. 'If it helps, I could hit you with a switch and call you "stupid girl".'

'It may come to that,' Alina sighs. 'How is it I'm overwhelmed by the second amplifier and at the same time feeling the lack of a third?'

'Well, for now, let's focus on what we can fix,' Nadia says.

'Your aim, for starters,' you suggest. Alina gives you a look and scoffs. You all go back.

'As leader of the Second Army, I need more,' she says. Ah, yes. You had a dinner with the Lantsov family (you were so not happy they've arrived). During that Nikolai announced he and Alina are engaged (yeah, because you didn't see how she and Mal look at each other) and that from now on she's the leader of the Second Army. Not everyone was happy about it (ekhm, Zoya).

'I need to learn the Cut,' Alina says, turning to you. You stiffen.

'That was Kirigan's way, to lead with fear,' Nadia protests. 'You can lead with your heart. The Second Army will be better for it.'

'You make a good point,' Tamar agrees. 'But I wouldn't completely reject fear. Can't tell you how many have taken one look at my girls and… reconsidered. I don't know how the Cut works, that's a top-shelf Etherialki move, but I do know how to direct power. It's all about intention. I like to picture the face of the person I want to crush. Try it.'

Alina positions herself and exhales. She closes her eyes. Soon light surrounds her. A moment later she grunts angrily, waves her hands and light shots forward. You all look at the effect with wide eyes.

'Well, it's not the Cut, but… it's effective,' Tamar laughs. Nadia suddenly straightens up.

'Wait a moment,' she says. 'We do have here someone who's managed the Cut.'

She and Alina look at you. Tamar looks at you, impressed. You gulp.

'Once,' you say. 'I did it once. And I have no idea how. I… didn't exactly plan it.'

'Well, what did you think about then?' Tamar asks and you stiffen. 'What did you feel?'

You see in your mind Aleksander and Alina talking together, laughing. You remember the pain and hurt you felt. You were so overwhelmed you just had to let it go. And slashed the dummy.

'Anger,' you finally answer. 'I felt anger. The kind that was killing me.'

Before anyone can ask you more, you hear footsteps. You turn and see Adrik, Nadia's brother.

'I know, not to be disturbed, but they need you in the war room,' he says to Alina. She nods and looks at others. Tamar and Nadia turn and start walking. Alina grabs her jacket and follows them. But then she notices you're not following.

'[Y/N]?' she asks. You shake your head.

'My presence will not be welcomed there,' you say and smile. 'Go without me.'

Alina hesitates, but eventually nods and leaves. Adrik is behind her. You turn to look at the dummy the Sun Summoner hit. It has a hole coming from the arm to the stomach. Almost like the Cut.

You leave a few minutes later. You take a few turns, heading toward your room, when…

'David,' you say, surprised. David with his hands spread is being led by Tolya (a Heartrender and Tamar's twin) somewhere. They stop, hearing your voice. The Durast's eyes go wide.

'[Y/N],' he says and goes pale. 'Oh, Saints, you're here…'

'Why are you…?' you start but then remember. David was the one who made the collar for Alina. They don't trust him here.

'Come,' Tolya says and continues to take David away. You're left there, stunned and shocked. You can't believe your dear friend is here. And that he is a prisoner, while you walk free…

Later you come across Alina on the corridor. She smiles at you. You look at her, troubled.

'I need to ask you a favour,' you say.

'Anything,' Alina says at once. You gulp.

'I need to see David,' you say. Alina blinks.

'And you need me for…?' she asks. You sigh.

'For getting through the door,' you say. 'Alina, just because you trust me, doesn't mean others do. Please. I need to know if he's okay.'

Alina nods and walks with you to Nikolai. The prince isn't happy but he grants you your request. A moment later you enter David's cell. Alone.

'[Y/N],' he says, straightening up at the sight of you. You smile.

'How are you, David?' you ask.

'I'm… fine, thank you,' he answers. You frown. He's terribly stiff.

'And not exactly thrilled to see me,' you point out. David sighs.

'Forgive me,' he asks. 'Of course, I'm happy to see you. But if he finds out you're here…'

'Who?' you ask, blinking. David stares at you. He stares at you with disbelief, when he sees you're not fooling around.

'You… you don't know?' he asks.

'About?' you ask, confused. David shifts, uncomfortable. He doesn't know if he should say it. But you won't let it go, he just knows it.

'Kirigan is alive,' he finally says quietly. You stumble back and hit a table with your back. You stare at David, shocked.

'No,' you say, your lip trembling. 'You're lying. He can't be.'

'I would never lie to you about this,' David says softly. You stare at him. And see no deception in his eyes. He's telling the truth.

You bring hands to your mouth and let out a sob. You close your eyes and cry. You cry for the first time since the raid. These are tears of anger, sadness, pain, sorrow… and joy.

'How?' you whisper, looking at David again. 'How did he survive?'

'He created something in the Fold,' he answers, wincing. 'Creatures made of shadow. I guess they helped him. But he… he paid a big price for it.'

'What price?' you demand.

'He's troubled by coughs, headaches, pain,' David answers. 'I… I fear only merzost could cure him.'

Your heart aches. You don't know how you feel about all that.

'[Y/N]… that necklace I gave you… where is it?' David asks. Your heart speeds up.

'I don't know,' you lie. 'I lost it when the Little Palace was attacked.'

'Are you sure?' David asks. 'Because if even by accident you call him… he will come here at once for you.'

'Me?' you ask, raising your eyebrows. The Durast looks at you. He hesitates again.

'The priority for him and his Grisha is finding you,' he finally says. 'He… Every day with no news about you is making him more agitated. He insists that he needs you by his side. He more or less admitted that there was something going on between you two.'

You're quiet. You shake your head.

'I'm not the one he needs,' you deny and leave. You stop a few turns later. Your hand reaches to the hidden necklace under your kefta. You stop your hand mid-air. You shake your head and resume walking. You must let go of Aleksander. For your sake. And for others'.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts! Reblog, like and comment if you could.

This can also be found on Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49965037/chapters/126151432

[aroundthewaygirlao3]

Hiiii everyone! Didja miss me?

Yes, I know, I know. I STILL haven't finished Princess Material. I've hit a plot snag that I'm trying to write my way out of. I WILL finish it, but my brain needs time to work it out.

SO in the meantime, this little brain gremlin popped up, begging to be written. I went to see Matt Nathanson, my favorite male artist, in concert this weekend for my birthday, so his albums have been on repeat. There's this one song on his last studio album that was just so Portwell coded to me.

For a minute there we were perfect Crash and burned but it was worth it We made the beautiful people wanna be like us And that's enough Some heart's gotta break to let the light in Took some time but now I'm smiling I loved you even before I knew what love was

Everything else felt so unimportant Back in your Boston bed

And when the sun is getting lower And your wildest days are done And they ask you about a photograph From back when you were young Well baby, you don't have to tell 'em What you did when we were us But when you think about it I hope you blush, just a little bit

When I play it back, it's like a movie And all the best parts still move me Yeah you gotta admit we looked good back then Always sneaking off from the party Everybody knew it didn't matter We were burning like a blue flame in a furnace I could have powered the city every time you kissed me

Just between you and me Part of me will always be in love We're better off no doubt What's it matter now?

But when you think about it

I hope you blush

So yeah, that became the inspo for this fic. Don't know how long it will be, but I've got a bit written ahead, so it should be updating pretty steadily. And maybe working on something new will break my block on Princess Material! But for now, enjoy.

When Gina's teenage daughter discovers an album of Polaroids from Camp Shallow Lake, it piques Gina's curiosity about her long lost first love. Still reeling from the private details of her very public divorce, she reaches out to EJ, if only to confirm he, like everyone else, was better off without her.

But when she finds out EJ's also divorced, navigating single parenthood to a teenage son of his own, will this random nostalgia trip result in something real? Or are some things better left in the past?

A Portwell Future Fic inspired by Matt Nathanson's Blush

[dandylion240]

Ugh I feel so drained from one day back to work after having four days off. It wasn't enough. I felt so much more refreshed and creative then I have for a while. I spent some time outlining some future stories to finish some hanging plot lines to finish off my current stories so that I can move on to the kiddos.

I also have a pretty good idea on some of my TS3 stories. I'm working on the the reboot of gen 3 of the Van Winkle Legacy so while I work on that I'm going on to the next gen of Glitter. It'll follow the kiddos that we haven't met yet so knowledge of the previous gens won't be necessary. I'm hoping to start that in January as I have quite a bit of set up to do. In the meantime I'll do some character profiles so that you can meet everyone. As the last generation got a bit big I decided to split the kiddos into 4 worlds so that it's a bit more manageable. Some of the previous generation might show up and some might not. It depends if I still have the sims as I did lose a few.

I'm hoping to have at least one TS4 story and one TS3 story running on my blog. But who knows if I'll manage it. RL tends to sap the energy right out of me.

[whumpalicious]

Being back on the fmab train is a mood. I restarted watching a few months ago and really should watch more now that I'm thinking about it. (Also need to find out where to watch fma '03 while i save up enough money to buy the dvd set)

I've been hyperfixating on Natsume Yuujinchou currently 😄

Also, this is an fmab/anything you want infodump space if you choose to accept it.

Ooh I also kinda wanna watch 03 again. It's actually the first one I saw, but the end depressed me so much I haven't watched it again lol. Not fully at least, just some of the good scenes once or twice (5th labratory, Greed's death... even the Nina episode hits just a bit harder in 03 I feel). I have forgotten quite a bit of the plot tho so it has crossed my mind to watch it fully again too. Not sure if I'm ready yet, but let me know if you do find a site😂😂 In the meantime I'm, yet again, watching a fmab reaction series from someone on youtube. I tell myself I won't rewatch the series again and then do this which is basically the same thing lol. It's just too good.

Hadn't heard of Natsume Yuujinchou before, but I just looked it up - it actually looks quite fun. And I know you and I have pretty similar tastes when it comes to shows etc so I might give it a try someday! Will write to you if/when I do, of course, we can scream together😉 Is it a bit whumpy too, or is it more soft?

And I will accept the infodump space actually!! I have Thoughts. You know that I sometimes write fics right, but somehow I haven't ever written anything for fmab yet, which is kinda a crime. I have soooo many ideas for whump fics, but nothing has made it on paper yet. I am not sure if those will either anytime soon, but while I was thinking about that I saw some crossover fics and a thought occured. Why not a star wars crossover? I suddenly had the mighty need to write about Ed kicking Palpatine's ass tbh. And then the ball got rolling and I have something of a fic planned now. It has been so fun to think about how Ed would react to the sw universe and all the bullshit that's going on there. I think that there's potential for lots of chaos. And, of course, some whump going on as well. Because let's be real, it's still me😂 I don't know if it'll ever get to posting phase, because this thing has the potential to become very long, and I don't want to put the pressure on myself to actually finish it. But we'll see where it goes! So far I'm having fun, even just imagining what he could fuck up hahaha. I think he'd also be sooo interested in the concept of the Force, and I am really looking forward to describing that in depth. I've already got some ideas hihi🤓

[acertaincritic]

Episode 7:

I wasn't interested in the Sunfire plot at all but I still enjoyed this episode decently. It helped that we also had Ezran there.

I like the twist with the dragon in the end and how it ties back to Aaravos at last.

However, I don't remember it being foreshadowed - we only saw this elf was corrupted in this episode, right? Unless I missed something, which hey, might've happened, since I honestly blocked this Z plot in previous seasons in my mind lol.

However, this reinforces my conviction that the writers just... arbitrarily decided they need to have 7 seasons when they didn't have enough material for all of them. Or I'm guessing, one writer in particular decided that.

Now that we're near the endgame, things are finally moving just fine.

But before this, we had two filler seasons. They could've been combined into one without losing any substance.

Alternatively, they could've just been... Better written? Have Karim actually scheme for the sunseed while pretending to go along with the queen instead of trying to be king, failing, trying to use a moon assassin, failing, then just being handed the seed over? There could've been more of an arc for the queen - she only got a stub of one in this season, resolved within one episode. The dragon mom could've had an actual shadow corruption arc, where maybe the heroes would've had to pause their search and instead fight to subdue her so she could be healed. That could've been a season finale!

And so on.

I just think there were so many unused possibilities. My memory is far from perfect, but I remember shooting ideas how to rewrite those seasons so that they still finished in the same place. I'm all the more certain that it could've been done now. There's no rule in writing saying that you can only have exciting things and character arcs happen near the end. If anything, when having a multi-POV story that's divided into chunks, it's a good idea to move the center of gravity from one character to another. It would be fine to make Callum fans like me wait if we got some great arcs for other characters in the meantime. But it feels to me like those characters - Amaya, the Sun Queen - haven't been allowed to start being wrong or flawed enough to have a full season-long arc. Karim wasn't allowed to be threatening or look like he was winning enough, either.

Idk just go read The Stormlight Archive to see how it can done I guess.

Anyway, grumbling about the past aside, I'm quite happy now.

[humankk]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

@floofanflurr tag me it is time, it is my duty (it's really not)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Let me count. ... ... 3

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

25,257... woah

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Undertale...

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Bonk! (good name, I know, 57 kudos, I am so proud)

2. They're trying (They sure are! look at them)

3. Now I kind of want some ice cream (...yeah)

4. I only have three

5. help me

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yesssss..... well, most of the time, but I like answering comment...

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I, don't know? I have like three and two are oneshot that's happy and another is unfinished but probably would also be happy

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

the Bonk one? Like... kinda?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really, people are polite these days... my dear commentors are a delight... for now(???Is this foreshadowing something?????)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

...Not, here.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I have not! But I wanted to, and is wanting to... there is one that's like Undertale and My hero crossover that I have been planning (read, throwing plot in a document that hasn't been opened for at least 3 months now) for since like... 2-3 years ago, I want to throw Eri in the hole (cmon, someone gotta do it, child with time power she fits the theme!)

Mx. Floof also talked about cross fic crossover... I kinda want to do that too, but like... maybe after I get the fic to a point where I established more lore first, and character, and. things.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope! ...I don't think so! ... I would probably be a bit happy if my fic is good enough to be stole but also please don't do it.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! Not yet... I could probably translate some to Thai but I, as a Thai person, honestly don't know how to pronouns... in Thai, for the NB characters that is... mostly, for the other characters too, I don't think I could replicate all caps Papyrus does because we just don't have capital letters so the closest thing I could do is add a lot of exclamention marks. Which... uhh... yeah.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really! Sounds fun though.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Hm, I haven't think about that, that or I forgot (<-aromantic) Alphyne is nice, canon one and stuffs, Soriel is nice too.... I honestly don't really have a lot of opinion on ships as long as it isn't like, the horrible ones(tm) just... if they're happy then that's cool, good for them (both the characters and the readers and authors)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The MHA crossover... okay not really like EVER but like, as you can see I haven't touched it for months, it'll probably be in... a while (I planned on it being like, long, and the story plan haven't even got past Snowdin like, linearly) I guess the other fics are like, oneshots I do in a meantime for fun (then They're Trying happened... as a oneshot, and I suddenly wanted to continue it so I guess they're getting to the surface now... like eventually) Oh OH! There's also the immortal Vampire child Chara thing... I want to do that, but a lot of thing isn't really planned enough to make yet probably... and I don't think if I do it it'll be a fic? Maybe I'll do a comic... or an askblog... that would be fun... but it sounds like a lot of work............

16. What are your writing strengths?

Not sure, maybe internal dialogue?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

P A C I N G and making it clear what's going on... probably (helps me with Pacing, the speed is all over the place sometimes I just speedrun sometimes I hyperfocus on a timeframe... or maybe that's okay, I don't know)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I have thought of... writing a fic where it's just Undertale but Frisk talks in Thai and they just, know dogshit about English, that would be fun... though you probably won't know what's going on and I probably can't do the whole internal dialog thing with them and.... pronouns... and also the alphabeth looks like อย่างงี้ so you probably can't even READ it, I can't really decide if I should type it in english in what it SOUNDS like? but then you can't throw it in google translate to know what they're talking about? and I also don't want people to HAVE to throw it in google translate to know what's going on? ...maybe I should stole the intent reading thing from Floof, that would probably helps a bit... making it Chara's pov and they just have to read Frisk's intent and emotion to figure out what they're trying to say, maybe they can send some back to helps them communicate with the monsters... or something

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Undertale, if I has wrote any before it's not in English and I don't remember it

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

...I love all of them, Bonk is fun and is kinda like my start... They're Trying is like... the current one I am very attached to, since it's the only multichapter one

tags?

...well I don't know, just whoever see this, that writes that is, I am sure there aren't a lot, my usual mutual mostly... it's like 3am in US now I don't want to tag now okay? but yeah if you see this feel free to do it I want to read those I might like... study it under a microscope or something (...what?)

[the-indie-owl]

Finished Reading Felix Salten's "Bambi"

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK, IF YOU ARE ONE OF THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE ONLY SEEN DISNEY'S ADAPTATION AND NOT HAVE READ THE SOURCE MATERIAL, THIS POST MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS SO PLEASE BE WARNED.

So I have recently finished reading the Original Book of Bambi after being in such a Cervine mood when re-watching the Disney films for the Past Two Months.

I felt like that when reading a Non-Fairytale Book for the very first time felt like something that I wanted to try on something new to rely on reading some books. Even after taking a brief look at The Russian version of the Source Material, it seems like something from what I knew when watching the Two-Part Movie live action adaptations that Human Ballet Animal version felt a more accurate approach than Disney's version when visiting the book.

For starters, I am not really a big fan of the Upcoming Soulless Disney Remake nor the Upcoming Garbage Horror B Movie (nor would I even want to see it) as I have been in the Bambi Fandom Two Years ago as I've seen that "Half" of the Fandom cares more about Fetishization or Crossovers in General for that Matter (*cough*, *cough*, Stephen King's Carrie, *cough*) while the Side of the Fandom are the ones who have read the Source Material and even done their own interpretations of the Other Characters (most likely the Deer characters) that never been fully adapted and were left out in the Disney universe (with the exception of Geno, Gurri, Boso, and Lana in the Comic Adaptation of "Bambi's Children").

But I really wanna talk about the Original Book version since a lot of People don't really know much about it since whenever we tend to think about "Bambi", most people would only think of the Popular Disney Version (yes, there are others that have seen Other Adaptations as I am aware that there are possibly more Bambi movies out there than both the Soviet and Disney ones).

Without any further, here are some personal plot points in the OG Book that were completely left out or missing (again, major spoilers to anyone who has never read it before);

So the Book actually has a lot more Story Plots than the Movie itself to make it more easier, simpler, and even shorter than how the book handles the story (presumably I believe that's the reason as to why that the Midquel exists for a reason as a suggestion to a "Part 2" of the story). In the meantime, both the Book and the Movie take a huge approach through a Deer's POV of Wildlife (that being Bambi himself) since both versions do teach Kids the Lessons and the Values of Life (how it can be Beautiful in both of a Dark and in a Light way) since Life can take you through many strange places around the world as you go to blend within the feels of reality.

Aside from the fact that the Disney movies has its Supporting Animal Characters, the Book has a lot more Animal Characters that haven't been fully adapted or were just left out (in terms on how that some of them might've been replaced). There's a Hare called "Friend Hare", in the Movie, it's Thumper. There is an Owl in the Book but he's just known as "Screech Owl", yet, in the film, it's "Friend Owl".

The Other Characters from the Book that we've never seen are the Magpie, The Two Jays, The Pheasant Couple, A Squirrel, ect. Did I also mention for a fact that there are actual other Deer characters that were also completely left out with the exception of a few?

The Book however explains that the Stags that we see are actually known as "The Young Princes" with Bambi's Father (which we all know him as "The Great Prince of the Forest")'s actual title is "The Old Stag" (which is more different than what Disney changes his title in the adaptations). On the other hand of the differences of being Titular Ruler of your own Animal Kingdom, while the Movie explains that being a Prince means you'd have to watch over and protect your own People, the Book however does it quite differently that being a Prince of the Forest doesn't mean that you have to be a Watcher but rather, it's something more different as the book explains to gain more wisdom as you grow.

Also, I wanted to say on how funny it is when people tend to ship Bambi/Ronno as crack, when in the book, Ronno was actually a lot older than Bambi as he was actually a Good Guy and hold no hated guts nor was a bully like how you once thought he always was (Aka, in akin on how the film portrays). However, as Bambi and Faline grew, he did challenge Bambi to see on which Buck would be the perfect mate for Faline (similar in nature on how Deer mate in RL) (but I'll get to that point later on). Ronno also had a Partner named "Karus", in which that both Ronno & Karus were actually the Young Princes in the Stag group, being very respectful towards the Animals in the Forest (including Bambi) until when Bambi grew older (again, gonna get to that part very soon).

Aside from the fact that we all know who Bambi's BFFs are in what terms that Disney tries to suggest us of a Bunny and a Skunk, Thumper and Flower were sadly never a thing in the Book as Bambi's friends were mostly Fawns around his age. However, while Friend Hare was turn into Thumper for a reason with Flower being an Original Character for the Film, Faline and Another Deer (who was her Brother), "Gobo" were actually long childhood friends of Bambi as their own Mothers actually have known in each other for a very long time. That's right, you heard Me, in the Original story, Faline had a Brother and that Brother was indeed a Very Friendful Deer (much to his sister's dismay of being more "childlike"). Gobo was actually the only Deer who was captured by the Hunter as a Fawn, but was brought and carefully raised by the Hunter as he grew up living with the Human (believing in the fact that not all Humans are bad since Half of the World that we all live in is filled and invested by Half of the Good/Bad of Humanity as our Neutrality is still running even to this day).

Now, for the Part about their own Mothers, needless to say is that Faline and Gobo's Mother is called "Aunt Ena" (suggesting that somewhere down the line that perhaps Bambi's Mother and Ena are Sisters, making both Bambi, Faline, and Gobo equally as Cousins). Granted, I'm not too sure about the "cousin" part as I am deeply aware of the fact if Salten was trying to do the whole "Blood Relation in Nature of Animals is not Illegal because Animals have No Laws unlike How We Humans have" thing, but I am assuming that Bambi's Mother and Ena are perhaps long-time friends, therefore, it wouldn't specifically make Bambi and Faline cousins if you're one of the few that's gonna think it's too much of nature with incest, but I believe that the relation between the Two Mothers is left completely unexplained in the Book (so I don't think that Bambi and Faline are truly cousins are not as some would suggest that).

On the topic of Bambi and Faline's romance, I will say in the least that like Simba/Nala from "The Lion King", it's sad that we don't get to see enough of Bambi's romance with his love interest (Faline) in the Disney films when technically the book version expands more on their relationship.

They started off as childhood friends (like in the film) but only when do the Two Fawns are in a Trio with Gobo, playing with other Fawns and even having some playful time in the woods. There were also Other Deer such as Old Nettla and even Marena were also part in their lives as they did play an important role in the story (Old Nettla is an elderly figure who doesn't deserve to have fawns of her own while Marena ended up becoming Gobo's Mate until his Death by the Hunter).

Eventually (like in the film), Bambi and Faline do see each other again when they're both Adults when Bambi starts to recognize his childhood friend while instantly being in love with her but unlike in the film, Faline was unaware of Bambi's blossomed crush on her. If Disney wants you to believe that Ronno is the Secondary Antagonist, you might want to re-think again because during Mating Season, Ronno and Karus were also in love with Faline as well as they even challenged Bambi for a duel for Faline's love just in the movie until Bambi eventually wins. Aside from what I believe was cut down from the original story is that (if I do remember correctly) was that Bambi and Faline were on their Mating Night during their Honeymoon.

So to speak on their behalf of their Romance, it was actually a lot more generically more "Lovely" rather than "Cute". Considering that Faline has been described as Playful and Childlike, there always has been a potential for Bambi and Faline to become Lovers given on how that their Chemistry was really sweet and innocent when Faline was like the special one to be friends with a Prince like Bambi as when they met again as adults, Bambi did grew fond of her as the Book clearly states that He loves Her "with all of his Heart". So you can say that in the least that their Dynamic does heavenly work as the "Childhood Friends to Lovers" trope like Christine and Raoul from Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of The Opera".

Anyways, back on Track; I think that we seriously need to take about the Most Important Character of what Most of the Animals fear and see him as "The Devil" would none other be "Man" himself.

Given through the concept of the idea based on what Nature tends to portray Humanity through an Animal's POV, An Animaltaker is a Caring Angel Guardian. A Hunter is a Huge Threat. But what is that Man has in common with both in the Book and in the Film?

While we never get to see on what Man is truly like as a Character, he is only referred by Two Options;

A Regular Hunter whose just doing his own Hunting Job.

The Audience, in which this is what we are aware if our own Kind is the Main Villain of the Story.

The reason as to why I'd bring Man up is because the same thing cannot be said towards this Hunter from the Book (or at least, what he was originally referred to similar in the film).

In the book, Man was actually only referred to as "He" is what most of the Many Animals referred to him in the book. Only then, do "Man" and "He" whom most of the Animals call to is quite similar in how Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" when the Animals simply refer to "Fire" as "The Red Flower".

While Man was probably one of the few Disney Villains that scared a lot of our childhoods, the He in the book was actually describe pretty neutral. Just a regular human hunter just doing his own hunting job.

What's interesting though is that while a Hunter is still the biggest threat to all of the Wildlife, he was actually the one who raised Gobo after when he found him straitened during the Winter time (yeah, compare to the One who burnt down all of the Forest by stupidity, this one on the other hand takes up a caring approach towards an Animal after he tried to shot it), as it turns out, Gobo was actually taken care of through his new life with Man. So there's like this "Conflict" between One whose raised by Humans and the Others who are shocked but are still feared/hated by Men. There's also a part where one of He's hunting Dogs is scolded by the Animals for being one of the domesticated ones to obey their own Human Master, while catching a Fox.

I think we can all agree that this would possibly be the most accurate depiction of Reality of what Half of Nature's Animals could see the Neutral Complex in Humanity whenever we Humans hunt or care for a creature. And how life is up to you to make your own decisions.

As for the plot of the Original Story itself, it's almost the same as the Disney movie, but the Source Material does take its own Nature story in an Individual way while still exploring the Harsh Reality of Nature within how an Animal's Life deals within the Animals themselves. With its many characters and more plot points, the Story is more of a re-telling of a Child's life from both Childhood and Adulthood as half of the Book tends to explore both Bambi's Childhood and Adulthood alike as well as his relationship with his own Parents (something that Disney gave his own Childhood more screen time as we only see Bambi's Adulthood half through the movie, which cuts down the Whole Last Part of his Adulthood). As both endings due have Bambi becoming a Father with the birth of his Children from Faline (Geno & Gurri).

However, the only man difference is how on what Disney is telling you what their own version of how a Great Prince of the Forest is vs. How Salten tells you truly on how being a Ruler of the Forest is like to gain Wisdom in order to gain Power while being Protector of the Forest.

In conclusion, while so far that the Many Changes within Disney's classical film compare to the Other Bunch of Disney Movies (that most of them are drawn from the Old Century Stories that Disney popularize to this day), I would say that Disney's take on Salten's Bambi is the largest of the pop culture today with Most People not knowing the Original Story (in fact, it's sad to say in the least on how that the Popular Adaptation overshadows the Source Material. With the Disney version still taking a Dark approach with a Cutsey Animal feel to it inside of a Mashup, the Book's approach on Nature is much more Accurate and More Realistic without any Adorable "Feel" behind to it.

However, aside from the fact that both Books are Good, does that mean I'll prefer the Book over the Famous Adaptation that is more familiar with? Well...Not really, tbh, in fact, while both can be flawed in their own way, they can actually be both unique in their own way.

So for the Book's Rating, I'd give it a 8/10, because it's still a Good Story compare to the Movie (which is still a Cinematic Masterpiece) IMO.

[tmwcs]

His and Her Perspectives - Chapter 4 (18+ only)

Chapter 4! This isn't the surprise btw, i just happened to finish editing this draft and decided to post before going to bed. Another smut chapter, so minors DNI. Again, i warned HHP starts off a little bit slow and lots of smut is in it, but trust me the storyline and developing plots are coming soon, just like MGR and MRE arcs. HHP just starts off by continuing the series with day to day events of you and Heeseung, so that's why we haven't reached the good parts yet, but we're really close.

Pairings: A handsome stud MGR/MRE/HHP Heeseung and you.

Warnings: Again, smut...like very detailed smut. Another chapter of you getting ruined by the stud Heeseung. Rough sex, unprotected, breeding kink, contemplating of stopping and continuing sexual act, waking up to sexual acts (non-penetrative) and some curse words.

Again, a couple (or maybe just one more) chapter(s) and we get to the good stuff, in the meantime...you get rammed loved by your man.

-Begin Read-

The trip to the valley felt like an eternity, the four-hour drive was exaggerated by the slurred traffic and lack of scenery, only up until the last hour of travel did the view become memorable by the charm and beauty of nature and the widespread of vineyards.

The girls made the trip worthwhile; you enjoyed listening and chiming in on the jokes and harmless gossip that led to minutes of hard laughter and wide smiles. Emily had fit right in with the girls, and you enjoyed seeing that she was used to the circle of friends. Though you didn’t let it show, you kept wondering how Heeseung was doing in the separate car with the guys, especially seeing as he volunteered to drive.

He must have felt so sour about being separated from you, that being behind the wheel was one way to take his mind off it. That, and the fact that he was able to fluctuate the speed of the vehicle to be either next to or behind you and the girls. Though he didn’t attempt to catch your attention or look through to wave, his eyes remained ever glued to the road, however, you had an inkling that he used his peripheral vision to view you through the window.

By the time you guys had arrived at the rental, it was near dawn. The boys immediately went to the nearest store to grab everything they needed to start grilling, while you and the girls took out all the luggage and designated rooms.

The house was large, huge in fact. It had over six bedrooms and bathrooms, all were spacious and tastefully decorated with romanticized bedding and upholstery. It was all very vintage, with a range of pink and nude damask patterns and threaded wallpaper to match.

The living room was the largest space in the entire house. It had a large window wall that overlooked the vast acreage of the valley, all covered with rows of grapevines neatly displayed and ready for harvest. The living room had been furnished to fit the details of a home theater, with a large tv mounted on a wall, hanging above an elongated console set, with three large sets of couches facing it. Each sofa easily seating at least six people.

The open floor concept of the home theater shared the kitchen that was located on the opposite end. There was plenty of counter space and a large island that overlooked the main living space. It was truly the perfect spot to stay in for a large group.

After picking out the rooms, situating the luggage and unpacking, everyone decided to link up with the guys outside, seeing how they fared with the BBQ. The night was filled with laughter, drinks, and games as you all enjoyed the warm night air, dining on the large picnic table on the patio right outside the living room.

During the entire dining event, you and Heeseung sat across from one another. Sitting next to Emily, you engaged in friendly and humorous conversation as he propped his arm on the table by the elbow, resting his face on his hand. His free hand, however, would brush up against your leg as he reached down, causing you to glance over to find him facing you. His handy baseball cap, as always, covered his eyes, leaving only his nose and his smirky lips exposed. Each time you felt the touch of his hand on your kneecap, he earned a quick glance from you, sometimes with a slight smile and chuckle accompanying it, causing his smirk to grow.

You did enjoy yourself with the group, however, it was quite challenging seeing as how Heeseung was dressed all in black, which only enhanced that mysterious vibe he was unleashing with the cap covering his eyes. His ensemble marked with the scent of his cologne made him irresistible. You did a good job to keep composed and act as if you weren’t affected, but found it internally humorous after noticing how the girls, including Emily, took turns to take a minor opportunity to flick a glance at him at some point in the night. You didn’t mind at all, you took it as a form of a compliment, seeing as how you noticed their boyfriends, to include Jake, all doing the same to you.

Seeing the reaction, you both earned from everyone else, it almost felt as if you and Heeseung had belonged to one another. You both gave off a similar vibe when it came to the peak standards of attraction and sex appeal, Heesueng being more mysterious and masculine while yours was more charming and natural in the feminine aspect.

His face remained in your direction, you’re unsure if he noticed the looks from the others at all. You pretended to not notice him facing you, only viewing from your peripherals or the occasional glances, did you noticed that his face went from leaning on to his hand as he straightened his head and began rubbing his index finger along his lips. All the while tilting his head slightly back to show his gleaming eyes staring at you beneath the shadow of his hat. The smirk increasing against his suggestive rubbing of said finger caused you the knot in your gut to formulate, enhancing the tingling and numbing sensation to emerge as you kept yourself together, yet internally you were moaning your heart out for him.

Had it not been for your constant conversation with Emily by your side, your composure would have faltered, displaying your weakened state, especially since his free hand remained on your leg the whole time.

Once everyone was done feasting, you all decided to watch a movie. Regardless how late it was, the frequent consumption of alcohol with dinner had everyone develop a spry state of inebriation. Though you didn’t consume not nearly as much, two glasses of wine did give you a blissful buzz, as did Heeseung.

After cleaning up the picnic table and washing the dishes, you all gathered on to the sofa sets. You and Heeseung had the center sofa to yourselves since each couple gathered on the other two to share the unfinished bottles of wine and liquor leftover from dinner. You were content with the buzz alone and it seemed Heeseung was as well, so you both enjoyed sitting next to each other as the lights were all turned off and the movie began playing.

Halfway into the movie, you noticed each couple falling asleep, some remained on the sofas, while others were cuddling and sleeping on the massive plush rug in the center. Once you noticed it was you, Heeseung, Jake and Emily that remained awake, you shifted to sit on your side, with your back facing him as you leaned in on your hand, propping it with your arm against the back rest of the sofa. Heeseung’s arm was extended and rested along the top of the connected backrest, his hand inches away from the back of your head. You felt his fingers pinching a grab of your hair and twirling it around his fingers. The reflection of the window wall showed that his face remained in the direction of the TV, yet the details of his eyes under his cap remained inconspicuous and you wondered if he was actually looking at you.

The very moment you had wondered about his eyes, you had suddenly drifted off to sleep. You recall briefly waking in the middle of the night, well after the movie was over. The TV went into rest mode and shut off, leaving the room nearly pitch black had it not been for the moonlight peering in through the large windows. Heeseung pulling you in to lay next to him is what woke you. The feeling of his arm wrapping around your waist as he pulls you backwards, laying you down on your side, facing the back cushions of the sofa, while your back was nestled tightly against his chest. The sound of slumber exhales from the others filled the room as you fell back asleep.

The dream you had was pleasant, possibly due to the glasses of wine you had. It was the first time you dreamed of you and Heeseung, and it felt so real. The stimulation of the numbness and tingling rising from your pelvis to your chest as you felt him laying beneath you, thrusting upwards and fucking his body fluids into you. The rays of sunlight coming into the setting allowed for you to fully view every muscle definition his body secured, which had only made your dream that much better as the visual effect increased the euphoric sensation. It felt so real. It felt too real.

Your eyes remained closed, yet you came into consciousness as you felt your body being pressed and rubbed from behind. His arm was tightly wrapped around your waist, to the point where it became slightly painful. You raise your hands only to be reminded that you were facing the back cushions of the couch, trapping you against him. His mouth leaving you sweet and wet kisses on your neckline, the straps of your fitted summer dress slinked down below your shoulders, fully exposing skin, collarbone, and the cleavage of your cradled bosom. The bill of his hat grazes along your cheek as he continued to kiss the soft skin below your jawline, eventually sucking on it.

You feel his arm loosen around your waist as he reaches up and unties the laced string at the front of your dress, holding your breasts together. Pulling the string loose, you feel the cool air creeping into the center of your chest as the lacing comes undone, allowing the dress to peel down and exposing your breasts. He reaches in through the loose material and takes advantage of your decision to not pair the dress with a strapless bra, giving him full access to the pure nudity of each mound as he takes a handful, massages, and slightly pinches the nipple.

His handling of your chest caused you to bite your lip, desperately trying to hold back the moan. It barely helped, as you did your best and yet, a quivering gasp whispered out from your mouth as he dry thrusted his hips against you. You placed a hand on his arm, which had gone back to you wrapping itself around your waist as each thrust became more intense, you tapped along the hard muscles of his forearm and whispered your pleas to him.

“Heeseung…please…not here. We can’t…” You whispered as quietly as you could, your voice was seeping out in between, the sensation was ridding your body to succumb to his act, and you found it nearly impossible to control it.

“Mmm…wrong name baby.”

Your eyes widened at the low tone that spoke out. He didn’t even attempt to whisper, it was deep and dark just as it always was, but not as Heeseung.

“Ethan…!”

You harshly whispered in slight panic, the moment you did so, his movements became faster and harder. You felt his hand reach down, grabbing on to your mini dress as he rolls it up and snakes his hand underneath and begins to pull down your panties. He nearly rips them as he drags the flimsy material down just far enough, where he lifts one of your legs to feed through it, leaving it to remain wrapped around the other.

Realizing that it was Ethan’s dark persona that was stimulating your body had you worried, knowing how much of a rough lover he is, you didn’t want to risk waking everyone. Yet, finding your voice on the matter was hard, too hard, because the sensation he was subjecting you to felt too good and as much as you wanted him to stop, you felt just as strongly in wanting him to continue. A contradiction that you always found yourself in whenever Ethan was with you.

“Ethan…please…not here. Not here…Ethan.” You whispered trying to refrain from sounding so desperate, yet the slight moaning in between proved only that you were enjoying the feeling, and he saw it plain as day. It was obvious that even though you were concerned about waking the others, it was minimal compared to your body’s reaction and the sound of your voice.

He didn’t respond, instead, he halted the sucking of your neck and lifted his face to seal your lips into a lengthy kiss. His tongue harshly penetrated through every barrier you measly put up, massaging every inch of your mouth. The way he had your body weakened from his motions caused you to lack the strength to build some level of restraint. Every moment you heard someone turn in their sleep stirred you to panic, causing you to try and peel his forearm off your waist, but was useless as you lacked any strength to do anything. The harder he went, the more the pleasure had sucked you dry of any energy within you.

You felt his arm loosen once more, though this time, it was to reach around and undo the button and zipper of his black jeans. Initially shocked out of your pleasured state, just only for a second, you lost the opportunity to harshly whisper out for him to refrain or even suggest going upstairs, as his free hand moves up and presses your face against his, sealing your lips yet again in a passionate kiss.

This was the way Ethan was, he was passionate, sexy, and dangerous. He found it thrilling to take certain risks, and by working you he was slowly getting you to enjoy it as well. Just like he did when he fucked you in front of Samuel. This was the side of Ethan that you did reluctantly enjoy, just as there were aspects of Heeseung’s side that Ethan lacked, yet you loved it just as much.

Once he fed his phallic muscle through the opening of his briefs, you immediately felt the smooth warmth of the skin and the stiffness of the shaft as he begins to feed it between your legs. You felt him wrap his fingers near the tip, guiding it in between and disrupting the neatness of your folds as you felt them spreading. The enigma of your desires rambled inside as you went from desiring him to go on, then suddenly changing heart the moment you felt his tip breaching entry. You reacted by closing your legs as tight as you could, but it did nothing. His muscle was too hard and stiff, it pushed through with ease, and you found yourself no longer wanting to pause, instead, you wanted him to keep going.

The tightness of your entry admitted friction and slight struggle for him to go all the way in, he committed to small thrusts to inch his way in little by little, causing your walls to promote moisture as you feel him entering in deeper and deeper. The more fluids your walls created, the easier he was able to enter, and before you knew it, he was all the way in. His mouth opened wide and covered your ear as he let out a single, deep and gasping moan as he rotates his hips, burrowing his dick deeper into you.

Yet again, the contradiction of your desires pulls and pushes your mind left and right as you began to feel yourself wanting to stop, knowing that the height of your gasping moans rising in volume, no matter if they were whispered out or not. Trying to prevent the risk of waking everyone, you appealed to him yet again, although barely hanging on to your pleas as you felt yourself changing your mind yet again at the immense pleasure Ethan was giving you.

“Uh! Eth…Ethan...uh! Ethan. Uh Ethan please!”

Your moans came out less pleading and more pleasurable as you felt him gaining more depth with each thrust. The last bit of your hesitancy disappeared, and you found yourself back to wanting him to keep going after he slightly lifted your free leg. By sliding his hand up underneath your knee, your leg submitted to a natural bend, bringing your ankle in for him to reach and grab onto. He pulls it around his back side before he slides his hand back up and reaches over to plant it on your inner thigh, keeping your leg spread in place. Now that you were wide open, he was able to speed up his thrusts, which he did sharply, lacking any gradual approach.

Hearing your whispers turning into full vocal moans, he moves his free hand up to cover your mouth, pushing your head back to lean against his throat. The shifting movement of your body jolting upwards from his thrusts admitted your forehead to tap the smooth surface underneath his jaw, upon feeling it, he further tilts your head back as he muffles your moans and gasps. With your head now pressed up against his Adam’s Apple, the stretch of your throat as your facial features fully suspended upwards, he looks downward to touch the tip of your nose with his own. He removes his hand from your mouth just a moment to admit an upside-down kiss as he thrusts into you, causing you to be shifted up and adding depth to the kiss. The hand that remained on your thigh comes back up and once again, wraps around your waist as you feel your dress slowly coming back down and covering the visual of his cock thrusting into you, as if it wasn’t happening. The smoothness and shined coating of his skin, effortlessly going in and out of you almost appeared as if his cock was melting into your entry. The shaft was slick and connected into you, fully swallowed in, and looked as if it was feeding your cavity as it remained tightly wrapped around him.

The wrap of his arm around your waist added to the momentum as you felt his strength lift, push, and pull you up and down, wherever he wanted you as he thrusted. His hand went back to muffling your moans after the kiss, though you’re not sure if it had helped. Thank goodness everyone had fallen asleep drunk, otherwise they would have surely woken up to the harsh gasps that were coming out of you as Ethan fucked you harder and harder. Even with him muffling your moans, you felt his mouth coming near your ear as he teases you with a gesture to be quieter, knowing full well you couldn’t, as evident by the feeling of a smirk forming against your helix.

“Shhh…come on baby. You gotta be quiet so I can keep fucking you.”

His voice low and deep yet quiet as he speaks into your ear, tickling it in the process. All of which was followed by a tender kiss right above your helix as he inhales the scent of your hair, a small and nearly breathless chuckle comes out of him as his breathing becomes heavier while he relentlessly fucks you. It didn’t matter if you both were in a room shared by others, or if they were peacefully asleep and unaware of what he was doing to you, none of it mattered to him, he kept going in harder, faster, and added just as much vigor as he would have if it was being done in private.

The peak of the tingling and numbing emerged and you felt your orgasm approaching. Your gasps and moans increase, his hand that muffled each sound emitted from your lips slightly tightens and adds pressure to your face as he goes faster and faster. His face burrows into your ear, while his lips are in contact with your jawline. He breathes deeply against your skin.

“Come to me…baby. Eden…come to me baby girl.”

The last words you heard him breathed out as your mind faded once you felt yourself cumming.

HERS

The state of y/n’s mind became a paradox of being aware and unaware. There was a deep, dark, and alluring side that y/n felt herself opening up to, as if she could feel herself changing yet a slight bit of her true nature stayed intact. Like a dream, it felt as if she was watching herself in third person as she permits the sensual and sultry side of her take over, the side that was Ethan’s equal, Eden.

Each time y/n had changed, it always submitted her to a state of delusion. It felt real, yet by morning she wouldn’t have any memory of the event, completely forgetting everything the moment she experienced tunnel vision and became dormant.

As her Eden side emerged, so did every dark and twisted desire that laid deep inside y/n’s heart and soul. All of the deep pleasures of sexual desire that she never knew existed, that had stayed hidden and “asleep” for so long. Of all the times she had experienced sexual intimacy with Samuel, never was there a moment where it was as fervor or intense like it was with Ethan, all she ever knew of sex was the slow, romantic, and the mirage of every good girl’s reality of sex. She was withheld from experiencing the vile, sordid, and wicked aspects of it, yet the moment she did, it became the most pleasurable she’s ever felt.

y/n felt herself stepping out of her comfort zone. Every single corrupt and improper image of sexual acts run through her mind, enabling her to move in sensual slow motion, yearning for more. Her moans became more relaxed, though still strong in vibration, they were less whiny and more pleasurable, more desirable, and sexual in nature. With her sultry eyes re-opening, Eden awakens.

Her hands move up, dragging along the curves of her body. She gently taps her fingers on Ethan’s hand covering her mouth, while the other wraps two fingers around the slick coated shaft as it remained fully inserted inside of her. Massaging it, Ethan slows his thrusts as his body quivers at Eden’s touch. With Y/N, Ethan loved having the soft and pure aura to fuck into, hearing the cries and moans of y/n’s good nature breaking and succumbing to his freakish sexual acts.

Then there was Eden, the side that emulated everything about him, the nefarious and sinister side of sex that everyone is aware of, but never truly embraced. People like Vicky, or his past girlfriends, who only pretended to be good and natural, but eventually unleashing their dirty face the moment he was fucking them from behind in their cheerleading uniforms, only to witness a disappointing notion of a forced façade as they let out horrendous vocals of what they thought would please him. Moans that were overexaggerated, thought to be sexy, with movements that were lazy and lacked passionate energy. Every single one of them not only disappointed him, but they lacked a genuine response which disgusted both him, and Heeseung.

When it came to sex, it was his and Heeseung’s love language, something they took personally and sincerely. There was no doubt that every single girl he had been with spoke truthfully whenever they claimed that he was the cause of their best orgasms, he knew he was. He knew how to move, knew how to fuck, knew where to touch and where to kiss during each moment. He knew when to go fast, and to go slow, and was blessed with the stamina to maintain the pace however long he needed to, just to bring them to their knees. It was no surprise that days, weeks, months, even years later, regardless of breaking contact with them, there was always going to be a time where each one would reach out, after repeatedly being disappointed by the string of men that followed after the breakup, they found themselves begging and practically throwing themselves at his feet for just one night.

As harsh as it may sound, he dismissed them in a myriad of ways, never wanting to revisit the atrocity in the lack of their originality. Instead, he continued to search, wanting to find the one that would speak his lingo and return the forbidden pleasure that he would give, but never found her. Settling with Vicky, his life felt dull and rotten, all because his sex life lacked the passion and excitement of the good and bad. He felt frustrated and started to become emotionless as he fell into the state of drudging complacency, until he saw y/n.

That day, when he observed from a distance, he didn’t need to speak with her or hear any statements to justify her goodness and modesty. He could see it as plain as day when he saw her smile, that she was someone who was genuinely pure and loving at heart, someone who was never broken. Ever since, he yearned to be the one to do it to her.

The moment his deepest wish came into fruition, that night of the frat party, he was gifted way more than he could ever ask for when he pulled out a side of her that she never even knew existed.

Eden.

The overwhelming flow of emotion crashed into him like a boulder, he found someone who was just like him, a diamond in the rough. Though he was always aware of his two faces and grew up learning how to control the switch and gain a balance of being both, y/n’s breaking will causing Eden’s birth, was so sudden and new. He knew that he would have to teach her, to take every opportunity to guide her on how to gain that balance, something he developed entirely on his own.

She continues to rub her fingers on his shaft, right at the entry point. Ethan starts to pick up the pace with his thrusts at the stimulation of Eden’s touch and the squeeze of her walls as she clenches. Even though y/n had already cum, it was Eden’s turn to enjoy her soulmate.  Ethan enjoyed fucking y/n and Eden equally, it just felt more befitting whenever Eden was present. Just as y/n felt it more befitting when Heeseung fucked her.

Their personalities weren’t just similar, they mirrored each other, with Heeseung and y/n being the more sentimental types, Ethan and Eden were the zenith of tough love.  

Ethan picks up the pace, his speed, and stamina as strong as ever as he fucks his heart and soul into Eden, feeling her body bucking up from the received impact so easily. Her moans were long and steady as she expresses the desire to receive more. She never tried to be appealing in expressing her desires. Like y/n, everything about her was natural and sincere, she was sexy, genuine and original in her responses to him, which enticed him to fuck harder and feel satisfaction like he’s never felt before. Throughout his entire life, Ethan never lost his bearing or felt himself weaken from immense pleasure, until he met Eden.

She was the only thing that could break him, had she known or was willing to, though he deeply hoped that she wasn’t aware of either. Unlike his Heeseung side, Ethan had a deep sense of pride and masculinity when it came to sex, though Eden was his equal, there were still restrictions that he refused to let even her breach. He was the top of all predators, the top of the food chain, and will always be in control.

An ideal vision of male dominance. He was strong and demanding but never once abused it, especially with his tamed and gentle y/n, the one light of his life. With Eden, he knew he could get away with much more, yet still, he always found himself to insert acts of tenderness knowing that regardless of how rough he fucks, he loved his Eden just as much he loved his y/n.

Since Eden only was drawn out at Ethan’s bidding, Heeseung only had the experience of Eden through a shared moment when he was half and half of his two sides the night of the frat party. Knowing full well that Ethan, even at his slightest presence, was a requirement in summoning and pleasing Eden, he felt it necessary to have his Ethan side to aid in the taming of his wickedly sexy enchantress.

Feeling her walls clench violently, Eden’s gasps harshly spewing out as he ruins her, Ethan feels himself coming close to the explosion of pleasure as his thrusts lose all forms of neat structure, becoming sloppy and rushed as the peak of his orgasm is on edge and the desperation to cum entangles every sensation in his body. Unable to withstand his ruthless performance, Eden bites down her lip and succumbs to his prowess and cums all over him. The clenching of her walls swallows him in deep and pulsates against his shaft, tapping him to orgasm.

A single, yet loud, groan gasps out of Ethan as he releases inside her. The sound of his voice traveling in her ear increased the vibrancy of her pulsating walls, along with the ferocious twitching of his cock as it remains buried inside. The soothed feeling of her man cumming and putting all his children inside of her thrilled her, the thought of him breeding with her only made him more appealing.

The y/n side may have thought it too soon for her and Heeseung to become parents, but her Eden side found sexual and emotional joy at the thought of Ethan turning her into a mother. He never expressed it, but he knew of her feelings on the matter and felt the same.

Someday.

[adventures-in-a-world-of-fiction]

I've been reading my way through a box set of the Sandman comics and I've got to the end of book ten. There are still four books left in the box, but I think they're prequels and other stories set in the same universe (i.e. extra bits) rather than a continuation of the story. It feels like the story have reached its conclusion. I have some thoughts about this. This is not a carefully thought out literary criticism essay or a refined piece of meta or anything. This is just me dumping my thoughts out in no particular order having finished reading the book last night.

Major spoilers below.

I was aware of the major event in The Kindly Ones from having read a bunch of fanfics. After watching the TV show, I start reading fics and while I focused mostly on the TV show fics because that's the version I was familiar with, enough writers are fans of both that they would borrow future aspects of the comics plot even for stories set in the TV show universe, so I picked up a few bits and pieces of what was going to happen. Even with that spoiler, I was caught by surprise by aspects of The Kindly Ones.

I didn't expect it to involve the plot with Puck and Loki. I just expected that the furies would attack after Orpheus's death - I hadn't expected that they would need to be given an excuse. I loved the journey Lyta went on to find the furies, with the transitions in and out of the real world and her metaphorical journey. That was handled beautifully well and I really hope the Netflix adaptation doesn't get canceled before it gets this far because I would love to see that interpreted on screen.

I was really moved by parts of both The Kindly Ones and The Wake. Seeing the deaths of the various Dreaming characters moved me more than I thought it would, and then we get Matthew's show of loyalty and the moment in the cave afterwards where he says he should have stayed, because if he'd stayed and died with Dream, he wouldn't be miserable now. That got to me. I hadn't expected to find myself tearing up over a comic book, but it was really well done.

Having the Corinthian brought back earlier is a great way to foreshadow what's going to happen, and introduce us to the idea of someone being the same person and not being that person at the same time. Corinthian has some of the memories of the previous version of himself, but he's not the same person. He's someone new. The fact that we have the length of a book to get used to that idea makes it easier to understand what happens with Dream and Daniel. The new Dream has some memories from the old Dream and is in some ways the same person, but he's also not Morpheus.

I'm disappointed that we seem to have skipped the scene where Hob finds out who Dream is. The timeline of their meetings is basically spelled out in the comics canon. They had their once-a-century meetings. Then Dream came to Hob in a dream before going to Hell. Then Dream randomly shows up while Hob is visiting the graveyard and they go for a drink - they talk about the dream then, so clearly there haven't been any meetings in the meantime. Hob talks about Dream having some sort of magical powers, but it's clear he doesn't really know what they are or what their limits are. Then we get to The Wake and Hob is told that the Dream King is dead and he is distraught. It can't be true, because the Dream King is his friend.

Somehow, in this scene, Hob knows exactly who Dream is - now that he's gone. It could be that he just knows "in the manner that you know things in dreams" as someone else puts it later one. There's a handful of panels where someone says that he knows they're there for a funeral is the way you just know stuff sometimes when you're dreaming, so it's possible that when Hob's told Dream's dead, he just magically knows that they're talking about his stranger. But in the scene with Death after the funeral, he says that he "figured it out eventually" about who Dream was.

It feels like there's a missing scene between the graveyard meeting and Dream's funeral where Hob works out who Dream was, and we never get to see it. Which is disappointing.

I do love the ambiguity of the ending. Like, the surface-level text of the comic is incredibly clear. The original Dream is dead. There's a whole book focused on the funeral, after all. Daniel says very clearly that he's not the old Dream, the old Dream is dead. It's plain in the text that he's gone.

But in the subtext? Woo boy, that's a different story.

You have Matthew speculating that Dream might show up, "The reports of my death were greatly exaggerated". The whole conversation about the jewel and the facets was about Daniel, yes, but it could also have been about the facets of the current Morpheus, and that killing one facet didn't necessarily mean killing the whole. You have the lines from multiple people about how the only choice was the change or die. You have Destruction saying that it would be okay to walk away to Daniel, echoing the earlier conversation with Morpheus, telling him that it's alright for him to leave. You have the moments with two Destinies with two books, suggesting that the story is splitting. Yes, Dream is dead, but there's another book where something else happened entirely.

And then, most significant of all, when Hob falls asleep at the ren fest, he dreams of Dream and Destruction together on the beach, surprised to see him.

It feels like a completely valid interpretation of the text to say that Morpheus/Dream didn't really die. He allowed an aspect of himself to die, so that Daniel could be reborn into the role of Dream, but the Morpheus part could have been split off. He could have taken the "change" part of the "change or die" message and become something new - something that isn't Dream of the Endless but that still keeps the rest of himself.

It's all but stated in places that Morpheus planned this - and the fact you have Loki realising he's been played is evidence for this. It could be interpreted as Morpheus planning a way to commit suicide that won't leave his realm or humanity suffering for his absence. Or it could be interpreted that this whole thing is a manipulation and that Dream let this happen because he knew he had a way to escape, a way that he wouldn't truly die.

There are a load of fics on AO3 that talk about retired!Dream - that takes the idea that Dream didn't really die, but killed off the aspect of himself that was Endless and became something more human. He gave up a chunk of his power along with his responsibilities, but now he gets the freedom. In most fandoms, I would take this as fandom's fix-it approach to canon character death, but here it feels like a valid interpretation of the text, given Hob's dream of Dream and Destruction together. Especially in light of the final story in The Wake.

The final story is a flashback to Shakespeare writing the Tempest and it has a couple of points where it talks about Prospero breaking his staff and giving up magic at the end. In a conversation with Shakespeare, Dream basically admits that this is wish fulfillment fantasy for him. He wants a story where the great magician can break his staff and drown his book and walk away from magic entirely, because that's something he knows he can never do. This could be interpreted in multiple ways. It could be taken as evidence that the retirement theory is correct, and that all through the last couple of books, this was what Dream was working towards, a way to leave behind his power without abandoning his responsibility. Or it could be interpreted as Dream saying that retirement was never an option for him, and the only way out for him was to orchestrate his death.

I don't know if anything will come up in the next four books to tip the scales one way or the other, but I like that the book leaves it ambiguous. Did Dream commit suicide-by-fury? Did Dream orchestrate his escape and run away with his brother? Depends which way you want to interpret it. Go with whichever answer makes you happy.

[marcelwrites]

I'm still recovering from my night. Hosting private functions is always fun but it does take a toll on you. I saw a couple of kids I knew back in high school, a long time ago now, they're younger than me but look like adults, I still have a lot of the boyishness I had. I haven't aged very much, if at all. Sure, I can grow a great beard now, and I'm well over 6ft tall, but my face hasn't weathered, and the only measurable difference is the few grey hairs that've appeared. I've always said that I'm excited to go grey, I still am, I've got this feeling that I'll still have my boyish looks but a good head of grey hair. It's going to be an interesting aesthetic but one I'm looking forward to. Give it another decade (maybe add another half decade) and I'll finally be there. In the meantime I'm going to rest and save myself for this evening. I should spend at least half an hour on the heavy bagging, toning my body, conditioning myself, working out, but after last night I deserve a rest. Eventually I'll make another iced coffee and get the bar ready for tonight. I just have this feeling it's going to be busy. Better enjoy this while I can because one day I'll be old, actually old, and I'll look back on these halcyon days with reverence and longing. I was speaking to a dear friend earlier in the day and I said something along the lines of every decade is another chapter in our story. They're more like separate short stories, an anthology of loosely collected tales, rather than an intricately plotted novel. Adulthood is merely the frenzied and rushed writing of a young person trying to finish another chapter. We are rare, rarer than we realise, so with that in mind: May our next chapters be beautiful and worthy of the unique gift of our lives.

[bl-recs-and-reviews]

Do you have any posts tagged that are like maybe just short lists? Maybe a favorite titles of a season (year or 3 to 6 month period), a one liner summary, maybe a few show spotlight trends (enemies to lovers, slow burn, relationships that never was that end up with a last episode kiss {or high five lmao}) and your personal score or some thoughts? I tend to watch them when they are done. It looks Like I'll check out moonlight chicken next.

I'm slightly picky when it comes to BL but I find it impossible to actually find a consistent stream of them to watch. Like some of my favorites from 2021-2022 were Not Me, kinn porsche (hard time ranking one of those higher than the other both had issues but were fun) The I told Sunset about you + sequel series, Bad Buddy. On a fluffier level game boys 2 was cute. I thought love in the air was kind of too fluffy for even me but I finished it. Triage seemed cliché and then I saw read ahead the romance had about the same level of intensity as A tale of a thousand stars (not a huge fan, but I at least forced myself to finish it).

Anyway instead of ranting lol, I was wondering if you had like overall ranking posts.

I unfortunately do not... yet.

I have a few WIP powerpoint recs besides the ones I already have (you can check my snow recs tag) which might be more useful in the future if you can't find exactly what you're looking for.

For one liner summaries you can check my bl news tag. You'll find mostly annoucements of shows which sometimes come with the trailer or summary. I am working on a series of posts with lists on them, but in the meantime I can just give you a list of what I would reccomend to you based off of what you're saying in the ask (so basically enemies to lovers, slow burn and a plot):

Bokura no Micro na Shuumatsu

Chains of Heart

I Will Knock You (a slow burn if I ever saw one)

Semantic Error

Eternal Yesterday (this one is just a good one xD)

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us

Love Mechanics

My Beautiful Man

We Best Love

Gaya Sa Pelikula

3 Will Be Free

Indigo no Kibun

I hope some of those are to your taste. The last ones are good shows that might stray a bit from the enemies to lovers, slow burn and a plot, but if you haven't seen them, I say give it a try.

I don't generally do ranking posts because those are very subjective, but I will have an all time favorites list in the near future. For that level of detail in recommendations of shows check @piningbisexuals. She makes a full review of the shows she watches, with a rating, pros and cons and if she recommends it or not, so that might be more helpful.

I am better at personalized rec list based off what you're looking if you put it in an ask. (like I did earlier)

I hope you can find what you're looking for! <3