#what if i was angel in disguise sent to tell you that your life has value and you were a hockey player (and we were both butch)?

[insertive-not-assertive]

i dont think i talked about it, but maybe i did- only doodle i made for the city of angels au. an angel comes down to earth and falls in love with a hockey player

[youraverageaemondsimp]

“Thou Shalt Not Covet.” // Angel!Aemond Targaryen x Fem!Human!Reader

Summary: An angel's duty is to protect and guide humans; never to desire them, for it is a sin. Yet Aemond, the most trusted angel of God, finds himself yearning and desiring for you, a human.

WARNINGS: nsfw, mdni, smut, dubious consent(?), afab! human!fem!reader x angel!aemond, masturbation (m.) unprotected p in v sex, tiddy sucking, fingering, cunnilingus/oral (f. receiving), forbidden relationship, body worship, blasphemy(?), creampie, cumming inside breeding kink, slightly disturbing content at the end, religious themes. + NOT PROOFREAD

WC: 4.5k

A/N: so I'm officially breaking my hiatus with this piece, I know I haven't posted for over two months and I apologize for that! Exams and everything practically ate my life away! // divider creds to @cafekitsune

God's most trusted angel, Aemond Targaryen, was no ordinary angel. He was sincere, always performing his duties without fail. He was respected amongst his peers, the most obedient angel of god.

Lately there have been rumours about the curse of being God's favourite, whispers about the old tale that all knew very well started resurfacing, the tale of the fallen angel. An incident that is now used as a way to warn angels from disobeying God and trudging the path of temptation.

Must all angels that were favoured by God fall into the way of sin? It has happened before, it might happen again.

Aemond decided that he would never be like that, he wants to prove that he is nothing like the fallen angel and how being God's favourite angel is not a curse, but rather a blessing.

And he did just that. Until a day arrived when he was sent to the land below on an urgent mission.

Aemond was reluctant to descend down to the land of people but he had to on the order of God, his mission was simple, to guide humanity through the famine that was occurring along with the drought that was caused by the devil to wreak havoc amongst the villagers. Messing with God's treasured creations has always been the devil's hobby after all.

And so he disguised himself as a human, helping men, women, children alike to recover, he blessed the land with fertility so that the land could produce crops once again. It was not an easy task, he had spent many weeks on the land, learning how humans function and go about their life which was quite a contrast to angels.

He also learnt how frail the human body is, how much energy is required to perform tasks and an unfamiliar feeling of hunger which he never felt when he was an angel. Every sensation was new to him but he overcame all the difficulties in order to finish his duty.

At least, that is what he had thought…

“Ser?! Are you okay?!” A voice shrieked in shock as he blinked his eye open to see an unfamiliar face with the look of concern staring down at him. You noticed how pale his face was and how dull his features looked, his lips were dry and chapped.

You were just taking a walk through the forest in search of medicinal herbs when you encountered this man lying unconscious in the middle of the path which made you panic thinking he was dead. You sighed in relief when he opened his eye.

“What happened to me?” He asks confused and you furrow your brows, “You fainted.” You tell him and he sighs “Why? I have been eating well though.” He mutters to himself and you clear your throat, you noticed how his face showed signs of dehydration earlier so you end up asking him a question “Did you drink water?” to which he replies with a “No, why?”

You pinch the bridge of your nose in disbelief, “Water is an essential thing to survive, you fainted because of dehydration.” You explain his situation to him and he lets out an annoyed sigh, “Ugh, why are human bodies so frail and require so much material to sustain oneself?” He grumbles and you stare at him confused.

“Whatever, drink this.” You give your pouch of water and he drinks it greedily unknowingly, emptying the entire sac, he hands it back to you. Aemond tries standing up but immediately stumbles, however you catch him just in time so he doesn't fall. “It seems the dehydration was worse than we thought, my house is nearby, let me take care of you.” You offer him help and he just simply nods, “Lean onto me okay?” You instruct him and he does as you say. You lead him to your house.

It was a small house amidst the woods but not further inside, you opened the wooden door with one hand and pushed it with your foot and led both you and the man inside. You opened the door to your small bedroom and took him inside, helping him lay on the bed.

“Please rest comfortably.” You smile at him and he nods, “I will go and prepare medicinal tea so you can recover.” You inform him before getting up and reaching the exit.

“Wait!” He calls out and you turn around with a questioning look, “May I get your name?” he asks politely and you give him a small smile, “It's Y/N” You tell him and he smiles back at you, “ ‘Y/N’ such a pretty name.” He mutters to himself before looking at you, “Thank you Y/N.” He appreciates you genuinely which makes your heart flutter and you give him a nod. “What is your name?” You ask out of courtesy “Aemond.” He replies with a slight smile and your eyes widen, “Oh like the angel!” You affirm and he nods, “Like the angel, yes.”

“You have such an amazing name, that too it being after God's favourite angel.” You compliment him genuinely and he nods shyly. You take that as a cue to leave the room and prepare the tea for him.

Tying your beige apron; you quickly pull out the jar of dried hibiscus petals from the wooden shelf before taking a few of the petals and grinding them slightly, you added those grinded petals into the bot of boiling water and let it simmer for a minute before blowing off the fire and straining the liquid into a wooden cup.

You carry the hot beverage into the room only to find Aemond asleep, ‘his body must've been overly worked without any water’ you smile to yourself before placing the cup down onto the table, the slight noise startling and waking Aemond up from his slumber.

“Oh I apologise, I did not know that the noise would startle you.” You say in a slightly amused voice and he shakes his head, “It's alright.” he replies. “I bought the tea, you can drink it when it cools down.” You point at the cup on the table next to the bed and he nods, “Thank you.” He appreciates your hospitality.

You give him a small smile and he returns it, and then the room falls silent, awkward tension filling the air. You clear your throat in an attempt to break the tension before speaking up “So… I've never seen you around this area before or in the town, are you new here?” You question him.

“Mhm, I just recently got into this town after hearing the news of famine spreading here.” He answers truthfully, he had been going around the area into multiple villages and towns, solving the famine.

“Ah yes, there has been a shortage of food supplies since our land did not produce any crop this year.” You say sadly, thinking about how all the once healthy people in the town now look starved and unhealthy because of the shortage of food.

Aemond notices your sadness immediately and he grabs your hand, wanting to reassure you but the moment his skin comes in contact with yours, he feels electricity shoot up his spine that makes him retreat his hand immediately.

“Are you okay?” You ask concerned, reaching out for his hand. His breath hitches when you touch him, you examine his hand thinking something happened to it, all the while he's trying to control his breathing.

Why does his body feel hot when you touch him?

He gives you a quick nod and pulls his hand away from your grip and grabs the drink in order for the gesture to not seem rude, but luckily for him you don't dwell on it too much.

“Famines and Drought occur when the devil wants to mess with God, something he does for attention while thousands of people are affected.” Aemond grits his teeth, thinking about the reason why many humans are dying and you look at him confused, “And in these times of difficulty, many forget to pray, because all of their time is spent surviving, which further weakens the protection of the land.” He continues.

“So what do we do?” You ask confused.

“Pray, I was going to go to the centre of the village and start praying so that the rain falls tomorrow, but… I ended up like this.” He says embarrassed.

“Do you think God will really help us?” You question and he's shocked and offended by that question but he holds his composure, “He will. Have faith in him.” He tells you and you nod.

“Since you said you were new, you are free to stay in this house, besides you need to recover as well.” You offer him and his eye widens, “I can't, you've already done too much for me.” He refuses but you shake your head, “It's alright aemond, I was starting to stray from the path of God due to the recent problems, but after meeting you, I'm somehow comforted that everything will be alright, a feeling which I haven't felt since the start of the drought.” You admit honestly and he stares at you in awe.

And so you let him stay in your house.

You and Aemond have gotten undoubtedly closer, realising how you both held the same values and opinions, you helped Aemond spread the word of God and soon just like he said, the rain fell and the land began to recover.

You both were currently looking outside the window as the gentle drizzle of rain fell elegantly outside, making the lush greenery of the trees stand out and the smell of wet mud provided a deep comfort to your soul.

“You were right, Aemond.” You smiled at him and he smiled back, using his angelic powers in his human body exhausts him out, especially since the body of the human is so frail and weak, so he often has to recover in your house, but you just thought that it was because of dehydration like the first time.

You looked outside in awe, meanwhile Aemond stared at you instead, your face extremely beautiful as if you had been specially crafted by God himself, your eyes shone as brightly as the stars in the night sky and your hair that cascaded down your back like a waterfall. He couldn't stop admiring you.

He watched as your lips parted when you let out a satisfied sigh, wondering how they'd taste, would they be sweet as they look? He wanted to taste you.

His eye widened in realisation at his own behaviour and thoughts, mind spiralling down a hole knowing that he shouldn't be thinking this way, his closed his eye and took a deep breath, trying to push off all the feelings away but when he opened his eye back again, he was faced with you who looked at him ever so concerningly.

The warm feeling in his heart only growing stronger each and every moment. “Aemond? Is everything alright?” You ask and he nods, “Yeah everything is fine, it's just..” ‘I wanna kiss you.’ He wants to say it so badly, “I just feel under the weather.” He lies.

He lied.

Aemond never lied.

You find it odd but brush it off and leave the matter at that, focusing on the rain outside once again watching as the droplets trailed down the window.

Aemond feels hot on the inside, a burning sensation of itchiness that urges to be scratched, he excuses himself and goes into the bedroom, saying he needs rest, once again, a lie, he shuts the door to the room and you're left alone in the living space.

Deciding not to think much, you began cooking lunch, making soup for the hundredth time.

Aemond leans against the door, breathing heavily as his body grows hotter and hotter every moment, there's a weird sensation between his legs that makes it hard for him to focus on anything else, he looks at the bulge in his pants and touches it, wincing at the electricity that shoots through him.

It's painful.

He knows that whatever he's feeling is wrong.

But it's too painful to bear.

He closes his eyes trying to collect himself but he cannot contain himself, and so he slowly grabs the bulge giving it slight squeezes for it to stop the feeling but not enough to make it go away.

Why is the human body like this?

Why couldn't he control his desires like he did when he was in his angel form?

He slowly pushed his hand down the material of the breeches and held his cock, he grips it which makes him choke out a moan at the sensation.

It felt good.

And so he slowly starts stroking it up and down, curiously experimenting by brushing his thumb against the tip which causes him to whimper, he clasps his own mouth shut at the noise he made but doesn't stop stroking himself.

Muffled noises of soft moans fill the room as he touches himself wondering why the feeling isn't going away, he strokes himself faster which causes him to throw his head back against the door with a loud thud.

“... Aemond?” Your voice makes him stop all of his movements, “Y-yeah?” He replies, trying to sound normal, “I'm making soup, is that okay?” You inquired for his opinion and he replied a choked “Yes.”

He hears your footsteps walk away from the door and he continues to stroke himself, the memory of you calling out his name doing wonders to his imagination as he pictures you moaning his name beneath him, he rubs himself faster, grip tightening on his cock envisioning that he's fucking into your cunt instead of his own hand.

And before he can comprehend the imagery; he feels an immense amount of pleasure shoot through his entire body, making him see white and let out a loud muffled moan of your name o as he feels the wet liquid spurt out of his cock and onto his hand.

He's trembling by the time he's done, looking down at his now unclean hand, white liquid dripping down his palm, the situation of what he had done weighing heavily upon him, the feeling of dread seeping into his body- and so he lets out a soft sigh.

What has he done?

He quickly finds a cloth to wipe himself off and uses the water in the bowl beside the table to wash his hands, he sees his own reflection in the water, feeling disgusted at what he had done.

But it felt so good.

He quickly leaves the room to find you crouching down, tending to the fire as you prepare the soup on top of the heated slab. “Need help?” He asks and you flinch, looking at him with a flushed face, “Hm? O-Oh no need.” You look away quickly. He frowns wondering what happened, you stand up and reassure him that nothing has happened and push him towards the table to sit down. You slightly rub your thighs to ease the tension between them.

You couldn't focus; After all- you just overheard what he did inside the room, the muffled moans, the strokes, and when he called out your name. You heard it all.

The wooden doors aren't really good at covering noises.

A few days passed by quickly after that, the town began to see changes as the crops began sprouting quickly, and soon Aemond's mission was finally completed. Which meant he had to return to the heavens.

But he did not want to.

He actually feels guilty returning to heaven after what he did with his human body.

He was slowly putting his clothes away, ‘packing’ to leave when the door opens which reveals you. Your eyes glance over to the sack of clothes and you quickly realise what's happening.

“You're leaving.” It wasn't a question, but rather a statement which leaves your lips weighed heavily with sadness. Aemond felt something inside him crack as he looked at your solemn expression.

“I have something I want to confess before I leave.” He speaks up and your eyes glint with hope, wondering if he'll confess his feelings to you finally- “I'm an angel.”

…

…

“Aemond, now isn't the time to be joking.” You furrow your brows but he shakes his head, coming closer to you and holding your hand, “I am not, I came here on a mission to solve humanity's problems and now I have to return to the heavens.” He can't stop speaking, no matter how much the voice inside him tells him that he shouldn't be revealing his true identity to humans. “Aemond, this is not funny-”

“I'm not trying to be funny, I am not lying, here I'll prove it to you.” He lets go of your hand, and moves to the window, and your eyes widen as the sudden sunny weather darkens and rain begins to fall.

You shall not reveal your identity.

You shall not flaunt your powers.

“Is that enough for you to believe me?” He asks and you're shocked, “Are you really..?” You question and he nods. The air shifts and you realise that you're in a heavenly presence which makes you scared- “Be not afraid.” He tells you and your breath hitches in your throat.

He moves closer to you again, caressing your cheek, “I'm telling you all this because- I don't know, I don't want to leave you behind.” He admits truthfully. “But if you're an angel, then we can’t-” You try to speak, but he cuts you off, “I know.”

“Truth be told, I have no idea what it is about you that made me hold such feelings towards you, but all I know is that I want you, I desire you, I need you.” He grips your shoulders, hands digging into your flesh.

You must not seek out a human.

You must not engage in worldly pleasures.

The atmosphere is filled with silence and tension as you look down, unable to form a sentence as your thoughts feel too complicated to process and Aemond just stares at you.

‘Do it.’ he hears a voice at the back of his head.

‘You want her, so do it.’ It encourages him.

‘If you want her, you must claim her.’ It's evil.

‘But I have to return to the heavens.’

‘Will you truly be happy in heaven?’

‘I'm not sure.’

‘Without her? Will you be able to continue to live without her?’

‘I do not know..’

‘If you do not claim her, she will fall in love with another mortal man, will you be able to stand it? Watch down from the heavens with the realisation that she was never yours?’

‘But I must not, I will soil myself, I do not want to give into the worldly pleasures.’

‘Hah, you're a fool, do as you wish, just remember that once you leave, she will never be yours, she will belong to another man.’

‘Stop.’

‘-She will be touched by another man, kissed, caressed, hugged, all the things you want to do to her'

‘Stop.’ Aemond tries resisting the anger that fills him when he imagines another man touching you.

‘She will get fucked by another man, and you'll watch it happen.’

“That's enough!” Aemond screams which startles you, “Aemond?” He looks at you, and your eyes widen when you realise something in his eye has changed, his pupil resembles that of a reptile. “What's wrong—” You're cut off from your words as he presses his lips against you, electricity courses through your body when you feel his soft lips against yours.

His lips move messily against yours, and he tastes just like honey, you try to resist wanting to tell him that this is wrong, and rationalise that he'll be cast out from heaven if he engages in intimacy with you but you aren't able to form coherent words because of the way he's constantly cutting you off with messy kisses.

“I want you, I need you, I can't let you be with any other man other than me.”

You're conflicted on whether you should encourage this but you remain silent, and aemond takes your silence as an agreement, he slowly slides off his robes and fully shows himself naked in front of you.

He's working on your clothes next, pulling them off you in swift motions before you're left standing bare just like him, he cups your cheek and tilts your face towards him, “Aemond… you'll be punished.” Your voice is laced with concern. “Look at you.. Always concerned for me, it doesn't matter anymore, I've made up my mind.” He pushes you towards the bed and onto it before climbing on top of you.

He places the soft pillow below your head for comfort before he trails soft kisses on your face, down to your neck, breasts and stomach.

“Beautiful, my beautiful lady.” He mutters against your skin, pecking and pulling it between his teeth. “Your body is so beautiful, your frame, everything about it is so beautiful.” He praises peppering kisses being placed on your breasts. He watches in awe as your nipples harden and poke up, and so he wets his lips before opening them and taking your nipple into his mouth, sighing softly in satisfaction.

His tongue swirls around your nipple, playing with the bud and flicking it up and down, the suckling noises that leave his mouth are sinful that makes you wet down there, you grind up against him to feel at ease.

The room begins to get hot and your small gasps and whines fill the air, accompanied by his grunts of satisfaction, that he finally got to touch you like this. He leaves your breast with a pop before focusing his attention onto the other one. “Aemond…” You wail and he looks at you, “... need you down here.” Those words leave your mouth unexpectedly as you rub your clit and he immediately listens to you letting go of your breast.

He travels down until he's directly faced with your cunt, he watches in amusement as your essence drips out of your hold which he licks up and brings up to your clit and suckles on it. “Hggnh!” You arch your back in pleasure as you feel tingles all over your body, your cunt pulsing around nothing when you feel his tongue play with your clit.

He nibbles on your clit, his teeth slightly poking it which makes slight pain shoot up your body. His tongue moves up and down, from your hole to your clit, he sucks on the flaps of your cunt harshly that causes you to whimper.

You feel his finger prodding at your opening before he slowly pushed it inside, “Fuck Aemond!” You let out a whine when you felt how his finger was stretching you out whilst his tongue worked magic on your clit.

He slowly pumped his finger in and out, letting you adjust to it before pushing another one inside which made you shriek but he hushed you with a kiss to your clit, and soon enough- the slow licking of your bud and the pumping of his fingers made you reach your peak. You clenched your eyes shut at the impact of your orgasm; feeling as if your whole body was set on fire, you saw plain white as your whole body quivered because of him.

He pulls his face away and draws back his finger only for him to put his fingers in his mouth, loving the way you tasted. He climbed upward until he was face to face with you and kissed you, making you taste your essence.

“So beautiful.” He says softly as he sees your dazed expression and messy hair, the way your lips are parted slightly as you take deep breaths.

He couldn't contain himself anymore.

He wasted no time in lining himself against your entrance and slowly pushing inside, you gasped when you felt how big he was, but you didn't stop him but instead held onto his shoulder as he pushed it inside inch by inch.

His hair cascaded around his face, making him look angelic, he closed his eye; gasping for air when he felt you clench around him. The way your walls were wrapped around him drove him insane; he couldn't hold back any longer as something in him cracked, his pace was messy and fast, almost desperate as if he was waiting his entire lifetime for this.

The sound of thrusts echo in the room as he speeds up, your back arches in pleasure when you feel him hit a certain spot inside you, his hands grip your waist as a leverage as he constantly thrusts deep and deeper inside you.

He feels like he is in heaven again, the feeling of you finally being his and how you're squirming underneath him, moaning his name, not anyone else's.

“You feel so good.” He grunts, “so fucking good— my love.” he places a kiss on your breast, before looking at you once again, your eyes staring directly at him. The sight of you beneath him, legs wrapped around his waist as you try to grind into him, indicating that you want him too makes him go feral.

His thrusts soon become sloppy, he knows he's gonna finish in mere moments, so he angles his thrusts upwards— hitting your sweet spot multiple times— making you see stars when you peak.

He's almost blinded when he feels his orgasm hit him, the intensity of the sensation being way too much to handle, he lets out a loud moan as he slowly rides out his orgasm all the while pumping you full of his seed.

He pulls out moments later and lays down beside you, trying to catch his breath, and you pull him closer for a hug.

Everything goes quiet for a few moments as you both try to recover.

Only for the silence to be broken by Aemond agonising screams.

“Aemond?” You panic not knowing what's happening.

Aemond feels as though his entire body was on fire, and then the flesh on his back distorts as his white angel wings spring out of it, you stand there in awe when you look at them, they're white feathers, but soon that emotion of amusement is replaced by pure horror when you see it be forcefully get ripped apart from his back by an invisible force of nature.

You scream in terror, while Aemond tries to bear the pain, he knew this would happen sooner or later, but he couldn't help but scream as the pain of having his wings ripped apart and pulled from his back is agonising.

Maybe the curse of being God's favourite was real.

And what Aemond is facing right now is God's punishment for trudging the path of temptation.

“Please- it hurts.” Aemond croaks in agony.

You feel helpless, not being able to do anything except watch, you just cradle his face, his hand grips onto yours tightly.

And soon it's done.

You could only watch as tears dripped down from his eye.

His once beautiful angel wings were ripped apart, the feathers all over the room and the only thing that remained of it were the scars of the wound on his back.

The scar that indicates the two wings were pulled out.

An angel without wings.

A fallen angel.

— !  ݈݇- thank you so much for reading! i hope you enjoyed it <3 comments and reblogs are appreciated greatly ♡

[ninadove]

Nina reads Dracula 🦇

September 29th

Long one today, but Quincey’s here, so everything is right in the world. ❤️

First of, the boys are going grave-robbing as a gang! 🎉

"The more we talked, the more puzzled we got, till now I can say for myself that I'm about up a tree as to any meaning about anything."

"Me too," said Quincey Morris laconically.

"Oh," said the Professor, "then you are nearer the beginning, both of you, than friend John here, who has to go a long way back before he can even get so far as to begin."

GDHSKSKSKS THE BURN. Completely gratuitous too, John hasn’t even spoken yet.

Therefore may I ask that you promise me in the dark, so that afterwards, though you may be angry with me for a time—I must not disguise from myself the possibility that such may be—you shall not blame yourselves for anything."

🥺

"That's frank anyhow," broke in Quincey. "I'll answer for the Professor. I don't quite see his drift, but I swear he's honest; and that's good enough for me."

[Sigh] ❤️

"Would it not be well to hear what I have to say?" said Van Helsing. "And then you will at least know the limit of my purpose. Shall I go on?"

"That's fair enough," broke in Morris.

Spoken like a man who immediately thought VAMPIRES after eavesdropping for two minutes and a half ❤️

"There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age they may solve only in part. Believe me, we are now on the verge of one. But I have not done. May I cut off the head of dead Miss Lucy?"

I love the way he asks like a kitten eyeing your food. I can has head of dead (<- important precision) Miss Lucy? 🥺

His voice broke a little, and he went on with a voice full of pity:—

"But, I beseech you, do not go forth in anger with me. In a long life of acts which were often not pleasant to do, and which sometimes did wring my heart, I have never had so heavy a task as now."

Day I-don’t-know-how-many of asking for Van Helsing’s backstory

"For her—I am ashamed to say so much, but I say it in kindness—I gave what you gave; the blood of my veins; I gave it, I, who was not, like you, her lover, but only her physician and her friend. I gave to her my nights and days—before death, after death; and if my death can do her good even now, when she is the dead Un-Dead, she shall have it freely."

Ok, let’s pause here for a second. I understand why so many authors directors artists etc. have developed an erotic fascination for vampirism. I see the themes, you see the themes, we nod in understanding.

But I have to wonder why the blood transfusions were not co-opted in the same way?

Like!!! We keep going back to them!!! Van Helsing in particular is so uncomfortable about the implications of sharing his blood with this young girl who was another man’s fiancée! Arthur compares it to an actual wedding ceremony!! John and Quincey let their own blood be drawn because they also loved her!!! WHY ARE BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS NOT ROMANTICISED IN THE WAY VAMPIRISM IS.

Can you imagine the creative possibilities? The poetry of giving such a fundamental part of yourself without expecting anything in return? And pushed to its extreme — the devotion that has you wasting yourself away when there is no hope of saving your lover? COME ON don’t tell me it’s not fascinating!!!

"Come to me, Arthur. Leave these others and come to me. My arms are hungry for you. Come, and we can rest together. Come, my husband, come!"

Oh oh.

"But of the most blessed of all, when this now Un-Dead be made to rest as true dead, then the soul of the poor lady whom we love shall again be free. Instead of working wickedness by night and growing more debased in the assimilating of it by day, she shall take her place with the other Angels. So that, my friend, it will be a blessed hand for her that shall strike the blow that sets her free. To this I am willing; but is there none amongst us who has a better right? Will it be no joy to think of hereafter in the silence of the night when sleep is not: 'It was my hand that sent her to the stars; it was the hand of him that loved her best; the hand that of all she would herself have chosen, had it been to her to choose?' Tell me if there be such a one amongst us?"

Oooooooof

There, in the coffin lay no longer the foul Thing that we had so dreaded and grown to hate that the work of her destruction was yielded as a privilege to the one best entitled to it, but Lucy as we had seen her in her life, with her face of unequalled sweetness and purity. True that there were there, as we had seen them in life, the traces of care and pain and waste; but these were all dear to us, for they marked her truth to what we knew. […]

"And now, my child, you may kiss her. Kiss her dead lips if you will, as she would have you to, if for her to choose. For she is not a grinning devil now—not any more a foul Thing for all eternity. No longer she is the devil's Un-Dead. She is God's true dead, whose soul is with Him!"

🥺🥺🥺

Then we cut off the head and filled the mouth with garlic.

Whiplash

And now onto Mina being cute:

"I was only entering my diary."

"Your diary?" I asked him in surprise.

"Yes," he answered. "I keep it in this." As he spoke he laid his hand on the phonograph. I felt quite excited over it, and blurted out:—

"Why, this beats even shorthand! May I hear it say something?"

Baby girl… Baby… ❤️

"You helped to attend dear Lucy at the end. Let me hear how she died; for all that I know of her, I shall be very grateful. She was very, very dear to me."

MINAAA 😭😭😭😭

"But do you know that, although I have kept the diary for months past, it never once struck me how I was going to find any particular part of it in case I wanted to look it up?" By this time my mind was made up that the diary of a doctor who attended Lucy might have something to add to the sum of our knowledge of that terrible Being, and I said boldly:—

"Then, Dr. Seward, you had better let me copy it out for you on my typewriter."

I love her your honour ❤️

"You do not know me," I said. "When you have read those papers—my own diary and my husband's also, which I have typed—you will know me better. I have not faltered in giving every thought of my own heart in this cause; but, of course, you do not know me—yet; and I must not expect you to trust me so far."

OH SHE SPEAKS LIKE VAN HELSING ERGO LIKE DRACULA

"I know that Lucy told you of me; she told me of you too."

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

And back to Seward:

I was so absorbed in that wonderful diary of Jonathan Harker and that other of his wife that I let the time run on without thinking.

“Wonderful” certainly is one way to describe it, yes.

"That is a wonderful machine, but it is cruelly true. It told me, in its very tones, the anguish of your heart. It was like a soul crying out to Almighty God. No one must hear them spoken ever again! See, I have tried to be useful. I have copied out the words on my typewriter, and none other need now hear your heart beat, as I did."

Mina continues to be the real MVP

And back to Mina:

Fortunately I am not of a fainting disposition.

Oh trust me, I know.

The world seems full of good men—even if there are monsters in it.

THANK YOU YES THAT IS IN FACT THE POINT

[Still traumatised by the 1992 movie]

I remember how much "The Dailygraph" and "The Whitby Gazette," of which I had made cuttings, helped us to understand the terrible events at Whitby when Count Dracula landed, so I shall look through the evening papers since then, and perhaps I shall get some new light.

WHAT A WOMAN.

< Prev 🦇 Next >

[porcelainforte]

Can I please get a Wally x reader where the reader has a secret identity as a supervillain who uses their powers to bully others into getting what they want, ruining events and claiming the neighbourhood as theirs. They don’t hurt anyone physically (emotionally yes). They are loud, bombastic and fun like a Disney villain. When they are not disguised, they are a nice, peaceful and helpful neighbour who always tries to lend a helping hand to throw others off their tracks. I would imagine the neighbours planning to get back at the supervillain not knowing that the culprit is just 2 feet besides them, comforting them while baking a pie. You can choose the superpower and name of the villain. I wanted the neighbour to be more new to the place and just help around until they heard of Wally Darling and gotten to know him. I would imagine them having cute moments where they are just having fun and some moments where Wally does talk about how bad the villain is and they actually feel sad about what they are doing but they know they can’t stop right now. While when they are in their supervillain disguise, they tend to ignore Wally to not make it worse for them. I could even see a moment where the supervillain just intimidates Julie into giving up some of her pies but Wally stands up for her and he get a dark glare back and just…….goes away for about a week. Wally does find out after a while (you can choose how he finds out). I’d imagine it would all lead to a confrontation as the supervillain captures Wally’s friends and traps them in one of their houses and “challenges” Wally to a fight and Wally just calls them out and says he wouldn’t want to be close to a bully and it would spark a redemption arc in the reader. I really hope this is ok. I really want it to be a several character story but if you can’t do it, understand but please tell me.

Omg sorry for taking too long 😭 I’ve been busy and I haven’t had the chance to open tumblr! but anyways, here is part one to this story! Hehe

Bad Apple! pt1

In the small neighborhood, everything seemed peaceful until one day, a mysterious figure with a red mask and red outfit began terrorizing the residents. Bad Apple, as everyone called them, would appear out of nowhere and demand their neighbors to do what they wanted by force. If their demands were not met, the Bad Apple would ruin the neighbor's parties and fun events.

Bad Apple wanted to claim and have everyone under their control, and they would always appear with their signature red mask and red outfit. Their voices were loud, and they often laughed, especially when their terrorizing was successful.

The neighbors became fearful, but they found comfort in knowing that the Bad Apple had never physically harmed anyone. However, they still felt powerless against the Bad Apple's intimidation. That was until you arrived in the neighborhood.

As the new neighbor, you quickly became a friend to everyone. Whenever the Bad Apple caused disaster, the neighbors would run to you for comfort. It became clear that you had a calming effect on them, and your presence alone was enough to calm the tense atmosphere in the neighborhood.

You were an angel sent from above!

…

But as an old saying goes, looks can be deceiving.

The truth was, you had been leading a double life. By day, you were the kind neighbor everyone knew and loved, and by night, you were the Bad Apple, spreading chaos, ruining parties, and causing mayhem. Your mask and outfit hidden your true identity, allowing you to be both the villain and the hero at the same time. It was a strange and somewhat confusing concept, but it had become second nature to you.

Despite your true identity, you c ouldn't bring yourself to cause any real harm. You knew that physically harming someone would only lead to real damage and consequences, so you made sure to avoid that as much as possible. You had become the master of intimidation, using your loud voice and forceful presence to get what you wanted, while never crossing the line.

But as you continued to play this double life, you couldn't help but feel conflicted. You enjoyed the thrill of causing chaos and being the center of attention, but you also loved the feeling of being loved and admired by the neighborhood, especially from one certain somebody. It was a strange and conflicting feeling, and one that you would have to come to terms with in your own time.

“Oh hey Julie! Do you need help in baking? Sure! I’ll come in a bit”

“You need someone to rehearse your role with? I’ll be right there Sally!”

“Wah! Eddie! Are you okay? Here let me help you pick those up!”

“Umm.. Frank? I don’t think mixing bleach and rubbing alcohol is a good idea.. Oh no you spilled some here let me help!”

“Poppy! Those might stain your feathers! I’ll carry them for you!”

“This is very delicious Barnaby! We work great as a team!”

“Howdy these boxes are a little bit heavy for me.. I’ll go wipe the tables instead!”

Everyday was like this for you, always being a helpful hand to everyone. They all appreciated it and loved you for it and you didn’t mind helping as well, until you were going back home from Howdy’s shop. You helped him carry all the imports to his shop and let's just say your back needed a little massaging.

You were walking towards your home but suddenly you felt your legs turn jelly and flopped to the ground.

“Man, carrying those boxes will always be a sore” You groaned.

As you struggled to stand up after helping Howdy with his imports, you suddenly felt a strong grip on your elbows. Before you could react, someone had pulled you up off the ground and into a standing position. You looked up, dazed, to see the face of a stranger looking back at you with an expression of concern.

"Are you okay?" The person asked, their voice monotone but their tone was laced with genuine concern as they supported you under the arms.

You looked up to the figure and saw a male with royal blue hair. Blinking, you tried thinking if you’ve met this person before.

“Umm.. have we met? I don’t think..”

“Oh I don’t think we have, this is my first time seeing you in person :)” His voice trailed off. “You’re new to the neighborhood afterall, I’ve been busy and never got the chance to meet you when you came”

“Oh” was all you could say. The blue haired individual took notice of your silence. Oh no, are they mad at me for not meeting them sooner? The person thought.

“Hey, I’ll make it up to you! My name is Wally :) Wally Darling”

“(Name) and it’s nice to meet you too!”

“Would you like me to accompany you home?” Wally asked.

“Hmm , why not?”

The two of you then started walking, talking to each other. Your home finally showed up and you were about to bid goodbye. You reached to open your door until Wally grabbed your hands.

“Hey wait neighbor, the reason why I was busy because I was making this for you” Wally said as he gave you a music box. Your eyes sparkled as you took the gift from his hands.

“Did you craft this yourself?” You gasped as you noticed the small details of painting on the music box.

“I did, but I asked a little help from Frank for the mechanics of the music box” Wally said, giving you a small grin. “I hope you like it neighbor, I tend to give welcome gifts to new neighbors”

Little did you know that your gift was the only thing he spent the longest time on.

You grinned back, wanting to embrace him but stopped yourself. “Aahh! Thank you! I love it! No one has ever voluntarily given me something before!”

“Oh? what is that supposed to mean?”

You quickly smacked your hand on your mouth, “Nothing! Anyway I really gotta rest up, thank you Wally have a great night!” With that you closed the door and immediately ran to your room. You placed the music box on your bed and turned it on. You weren’t familiar with the tune but it was very lovely to your ears. Your cheeks couldn’t help but brighten up as you listened to the music it was playing.

end of pt. one

[ambrial-blog]

The Urgent Letter.

It’s been months, who the hell am I fooling. decades is more like it. . I thought I could do this on my own. that he had best intentions for me, but I was wrong. I see that now. I can’t do this on my own. ��He is getting stronger by the day. “you should’ve seen the way his eyes pierced through Johanna’s disguise.  he knows something is up. I can’t hide from him. I’m afraid,  Angel if he finds out I’m writing this letter. he is peering through a scrying mirror. and already knows of my deception. He breaks down every chance he gets. Even as I continue to write this down I can see his shadow lurking within doorway. He has broken into the Hazbin Hotel. Has stolen Alastor’s magic. ”Check your rooms for his sentient shadow. you can extinguish it.  And I can only imagine what It is thinking.  Its a carnivore so be weary.

Everything now is askewed,  He tells me I’m making things unnecessarily complicated when I start asking questions. and at times I wonder if he’s right.  his mid games have become frighteningly acute. As I write this my hand is trembling. “you and I both know who put Stolas into that coma. But everyone is searching me. hunting me down.  but they’ll never find me. Striker has made sure of that.  you know as I continue writing this letter I have to ask myself why am I bothering. but  If I am to disappear I want to know the truth of what they think of me.  Angel, and Joe.  I know I am asking a lot but I need to find them. I need to know if he is right. I know he isn’t- but I’m starting to believe him. Moxxie and Millie: should be in the Envy Ring: dealing with Moxxie Maffiso boss or back in Wrath on Mildred’s family farm.  My Loony,  is my greatest disappointment. because I never got tell her how much I loved her- not like she’d hear me out. But, regardless of what she thinks I still want the very best for her. ”In the mail, I also sent packages out containing a personal message from me.  “If you can Angel,  tell them that I’m sorry, and If you get ahold of Loona tell her that Daddy misses his little girl. I’m tired and I’m losing myself. everyday I feel a piece of myself disenagrate. Striker is more then he seems,  he is ancient hybrid.  The Cowboy,  remembers things so differently then how they happened. ”Am I losing my mind,  your my last hope sugar-daddy”

PS, I need to know that state and condition of I.M.P.  That company has  been my life work, and despite it burning down during the failed assassination attempt. that, was the catalyst of it all.  Now, Stolas rests in a coma. Possibly blind by the burning flint. I have this feeling that Moxxie and Millie are keeping my company afloat. ”I need them if I am to break free of these chains that bind me, I can’t trust the Cowboy- I keep getting mixed signals.

I am trapped. if I escape. I know he will hunt each of you down. He has the overlords in his pocket. I don’t know how long I can keep this charade up.  Johanna has become dangerously close. I can’t seem to catch a break, everyone wants me dead.  Striker is the only one standing in the way. And your in his way.  Angel, your the only stopping him. but won’t last forever.  But knowing you, you’ll think of something. I promise to end, the pimp’s life- even if it means my own. Signed Blitzo, the Loveless Harlequins.

[marysittingathisfeet]

A Juxtaposition Comparison Between Jesus And Satan

A friend’s son had posted on his Facebook page that according to his view, most Christians were not following the correct Jesus. You could only refer to Jesus as Yshua otherwise you were worshipping Satan himself. He is not alone. There is a growing cult that is pushing this ideology forward. So why are they confused? It is because of the two verses below. One is referring to Jesus and another is referring to Satan himself.

Revelation 22:16: “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

In Revelation Jesus is THE bright Morning star. This verse in Revelation shows that Jesus is both man and God. First of all he is a descendant of David, but he is also the source of the brightest light. John 8:12- Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Satan as a created being has no light of his own except what God gave him.

Ezekial 28:12-14 tells us- “‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you:  carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.

So Satan does have some light. All those glittering jewels and gold, but his light is a reflection only. He is not a source of light, but he can mimic light.

2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us that - And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

In Isaiah Satan is a (little a) morning star. One of many in the sky, but only one is the Bright Morning Star that heralds in the new day. In the King James Version and New King James Version the verse says- Lucifer, son of the morning. He is great at disguising himself. He is also good at mimicking God.

This is not the only comparison in the Bible between Jesus and Satan. Both are called lions. Lions are big, fierce, and scary. They are known as the king of beasts. Their roar can be heard for 5 miles.

Revelation 5:5- Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

1 Peter 5:8- Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Revelation of Course is referring to Jesus.

Genesis 49:8-10 also refers to Jesus. Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

1 Peter is of course referring to the being who would like to be God. What is the difference between the two lions then?

One is the true king, and the other is not. Like in the Lion King when Scar ruled, the Pride lands fell into ruin. It was only when the son returned and reclaimed his throne, that the Pride Lands flourished.

God is a lion who is fierce and fights for His people. Isaiah 31:4- This is what the Lord says to me: "As a lion growls, a great lion over its prey and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against it, it is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed their clamor- so the Lord Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.

Satan can roar, intimidate, and frighten, but in essence he is a weak lion. Jesus spiritually removed his teeth (his power and authority) when Jesus rose from the grave. At that moment, the war between heaven and hell was won. Jesus will return and when he does he will reign from Jerusalem.

Revelation 22:12,13- “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Jesus will rule from Jerusalem for a 1000 years. Revelation 20:4- And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years". 

Where will Satan be? Where will the being be who deceived so many over the centuries be? Revelation 20:1-3- And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

Don’t worry. Revelation tells us that Satan gathers a great army, but this army will be consumed by fire from heaven.

Revelation 20:10 Then the devil, who had deceived them was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever.

So contrary to cartoons, Satan is not going to rule hell and there won’t be a big everlasting party. It will be an eternity of torment.

[itsyourchoicedevotionals]

Glaring Reminders

“Woe to those who in their greed buy up house after house to make one grand estate until there is no place for anyone else and only the landowner is left! This is what Yahweh… said in my ears. “Truly many of your houses will become devastated and your large, impressive mansions will have no one living in them!” Isaiah 5:8-9TPT

Lou and I have developed a fascination with videos looking inside desolate, vacant European castles. What caused these families to abandon their castles, leaving everything behind? Various YouTubers trespass inside these castles being very careful to disguise the castles, and exact locations. Vines, mold, and other forms of decay are slowly eating the castles from the outside in, reclaiming the once prized treasures back down to the earth from whence they came. Truly we can’t take stuff with us, often can’t leave stuff to others when we die.

To me, it’s amazing the opulent grandeur and millions of dollars in antique furniture, paintings, porcelain creations, ming vases, etc. left untouched by human hands for ten, twenty, fifty years, such selfishness left to waste away. One place had a full suit of armor, minus the helmet. I look at the furnishings thinking, ‘those owners’ children could’ve sold these treasures in upscale auction houses for $100,000 plus for one piece, rather than abandoning them to be reclaimed through time to rot. Isaiah 34:12-13NIV “Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a kingdom, all her princes will vanish away. Thorns will overrun her citadels, nettles and brambles her strongholds. She will become a haunt for jackals, a home for owls.”

As I read the first few chapters of ThePassionTranslation of Isaiah I thought, ‘this is like reading the daily newspaper.’ Globalists desire to own the entire earth with only a few million slave inhabitants. News tells of Bill Gates and the Chinese gobbling up US farmland. Farmers cry because although they desire to buy these farms, they can’t compete with money in evil land grabbing. Was greedy gluttony for lands what the people of our text had done?

Are the castles sitting in decay glaring reminders of what happens when people ‘lord’ it over the poor? Many castle owners could’ve received these lands, once belonging to the poor, for their military service to the royalty of their nations. Inside these castles are filled with pictures of military men. It’s probable they swallowed the peon’s land and now pledged their military protection becoming ‘lords.' Servants were paid a pittance. Those working at the castles were sent to live on the top floors, furthest away from sources of heat and cool summer breezes.

“In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” John 14:2KJV. Living at God’s house in our own private mansion is one of the promises of Jesus. No earthly castle could ever hold a candle to what awaits us in heaven. Angels assigned to us at birth, serving us all our lives, will still be our servants in heaven, see Hebrews 1:14. All this is a portion of our reward for loving God, loving people, believing Jesus Christ is God’s ONLY Son and receiving salvation. These “mansions” will never be taken away from us or lost to decay.

Living according to Yahweh God’s ways will give us the most joy and peace on earth, and delightful pleasures beyond our wildest imagination in heaven— “…it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him—” 1Corinthians 2:9ESV.

Where will you spend eternity? Heaven with love? Or the decay of a life spent self serving? It’s your choice. You choose.

LET’S PRAY: Heavenly Father thank You for giving us glaring reminders of what a selfish life produces. Help us to serve You and love like You love, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

by Debbie Veilleux Copyright 2023 You have my permission to reblog this devotional for others. Please keep my name with this devotional, as author. Thank you.

[katharkness]

Another interesting thing, in…I think it’s late 1 Samuel, might be early 2 Samuel, King Saul goes to visit a medium - a woman who can call up the dead for a chat. (To clarify, I don’t think there’s any textual indication that mediums were women, just the particular one Saul visited.) It’s noted in the text that Saul had previously had medium-ing banned and prosecuted/driven out the mediums, and while I don’t recall the phrasing, it’s framed as having been a righteous act. So he has to go in disguise to see this medium, and he asks to speak to the prophet Samuel, and the poor woman recognises him but goes ahead and calls up Samuel. And it works. Saul asks Samuel, why isn’t God talking to me any more? Samuel then gives Saul a right chewing out, pointing to various times when Saul specifically disobeyed God (possibly including the exact moment with the medium?) and explaining that God doesn’t favour him any more. I think he might’ve finished up with telling Saul he was about to lose his upcoming battle, but I don’t remember too well.

What can we learn from this regarding ghosts and speaking to the dead? Well for starters, we know that it is POSSIBLE, but we are forbidden from attempting it. I don’t know that this account verifies that normal human people are able to summon a spirit/ghost from Heaven without divine approval, seeing as Samuel, being a prophet, delivered God’s words in life and it certainly reads like he was delivering divine judgment in his return-from-death, so I think it’s plausible and within textual interpretation that God intervened to allow it to work. But whether it would work for you or I, we’re expressly told not to.

Another story is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. (Not the same Lazarus who was raised from the dead, this is a fictional Lazarus.) Given this is a parable, we should think a bit more closely about what it means, but parables are meant to be real-life events framed to tell a message, so it’s reasonable to assume that even though the events of this tale didn’t happen, it’s a reasonable conclusion that the setting is accurate to reality.

The parable (my paraphrase): there’s a rich man, and he eats well every day and enjoys his riches. At his gates, there’s a poor man called Lazarus, who has sores on his body and eats the scraps from the rich man’s table. Lazarus dies, and angels take him to Heaven with Abraham. The rich man dies and goes to Hell. The rich man is in torment, and looks up towards Heaven, and sees Abraham and Lazarus. He calls to Abraham and asks him to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and lay it on (the man’s) tongue to provide him a brief moment of relief from his torment. Abraham says no, in life you (the rich man) had good things and Lazarus bad, now it’s Lazarus’ turn to have good things, and also, there’s a chasm between Heaven and Hell none can cross. So the rich man says, well then can you send Lazarus to my five brothers to warn them of what they’re heading towards. Abraham says, your brothers have the Law and the Prophets, if they won’t believe that then they won’t believe anything, even a man returned from the dead (this is fairly certain to be foreshadowing Jesus’ resurrection).

What can we learn from this? Given how other parables work, we can assume it’s a reasonably accurate glimpse at Heaven and Hell, but what about ghosts? Abraham tells the rich man it’s impossible for Lazarus to take a day-trip to Hell, but does NOT say it’s impossible for Lazarus to go to Earth. Also, the rich man thought it was possible enough that he asked for it. This indicates that it is possible for those in Heaven to return to Earth - or perhaps to be SENT to Earth. My own speculation is that those in Hell cannot, but that’s a guess based on the rich man’s petition.

The Bible also talks about demons and demon possession multiple times in a very factual manner. There’s also a time when Jesus is accused of channeling Beelzebub to do his miracles, and Jesus responds that Beelzebub wouldn’t be expelling demons, but he does not say that humans CAN’T be empowered by demons - and in Acts there’s at least one occasion of a guy who does exactly that. So there’s demons around. There’s a documentary film by a chap called Gary Bates that makes a very good, very convincing argument that most people today who experience alien abduction are actually experiencing demonic visitation. Film’s called Alien Intrusion if you want to check it out.

There’s also a variety of factors such as carbon monoxide poisoning, mold inhalation and psychiatric conditions that could make someone THINK there’s a ghost when there’s actually nothing there.

So my conclusion is that possible ghosts fall into three categories: not a ghost but something mundane affecting perception; a demon; or very, very rarely, a messenger from God.

If ghosts don’t exist, why did the disciples think Jesus was a ghost twice without Him correcting them? (walking on water and after His resurrection) Something I’m trying to figure out

Okay, we're using two different definitions of the word ghost, I see.

The disciples thought Jesus was a spirit or apparition, which do exist. When I say "ghosts don't exist" I mean that the spirits of the deceased don't hang around on earth after death trying to scare the pants off people.

[muddyorbsblr]

masterlist

AO3 Library here

Collections/Celebrations

500 follower celebration 1000 follower celebration Song-inspired Stories Drabbles Masterlist

Tales Reimagined

Events

14 Days of Valentines 2023 [Community Project] Kinktober 2023

Series

a heart like yours – Loki x Reader (eventually) // Steve x Reader (briefly)

On a mission to Sorsogon, Philippines to apprehend a healer performing extreme acts of vigilante justice, you get compromised with a curse placed on your heart. Now the team must break the curse or risk losing you forever.

relinquish the crown – dark!Loki x Reader

Loki surrenders his claim to the throne on one condition: He be betrothed to you, as was once tradition in your family’s ancestry. You…are Thor’s daughter.

secret notes – Loki x Reader

You’re an Avenger leading a secret life as a faceless content creator, singing covers on YouTube, choosing songs that you specifically dedicate to Loki. It’s the best way you can get your feelings out without risking getting hurt. So what happens when you start going viral and suddenly your teammates are so keen to find out who “The Lonely Avenger” on YouTube really is?

man of the month – Loki x Reader

The Avengers are making a calendar for charity and you're the designated photographer. Will you be able to keep your thoughts and hands to yourself around the guys as they make their attraction to you known? Will they?

rules of conduct – Loki x Reader

SHIELD has decided that it would be in everyone's best interest if Loki were more acclimated to the ways of Midgard/Earth since he has been residing there for the last few years to make amends for his attack on New York. Stark decided to draw names out of a hat to see who would be stuck with the task. Your name was drawn.

let me hear you – Loki x Reader

A curse has been placed on the entire world wherein the only ones that can speak your name are those that love you completely. And if they break your trust, your name gets wiped from their memory completely.

Multi-Part (5 parts or less)

talking in your sleep – Loki x Reader part 2

Loki returns from a recon mission to discover you hadn't slept since he left. Four days ago. based on the prompt "i haven't slept for four days"

sworn fealty – King!Loki x Asgardian Soldier!Reader

You're the soldier designated to tell King Loki that Lady Sif and the Warriors Three have left for Midgard to bring Thor home.

the right partner – Loki x Reader

You had no intentions of joining Stark's party, considering that your ex had just dumped you two days ago and he was already announcing his new relationship. And then along came Loki, offering to be your date for the night…

onyx – Loki x Reader part 1 part 2

You're stuck in the Avengers Compound because of an injury from your last mission, and you come across an adorable and affectionate little kitten.

Oneshots

what's today again? – Loki x Reader

Thor tries to wake you up to keep you from getting fired, but you refuse to believe that it's not Saturday, so he calls his brother for help.

revisiting Stuttgart – Loki x Reader

You presented Loki with an idea to go around places where he had less than favorable memories and you two can make new, better ones together. You start with Stuttgart, Germany. part of the Invade Me Chronicles

heaven sent – Loki x Reader

The guys try a bunch of angel-themed pick up lines on you to see which one makes you fold.

little darling – Loki x Reader

You find out that Loki made a joke about you being helpless without him because of your height, and you attempt to exact your revenge

men like you – Loki x Reader

prequel to 'revisiting Stuttgart'. You were tasked to perform crowd control in Stuttgart, Germany, disguising yourself as a gala attendee. This is how you and Loki met.

mission first, right? – Loki x Reader

You're plagued with doubts when Loki goes radio silent in the middle of a mission after being tasked to acquire intelligence in the possession of a drop dead gorgeous woman.

lavender haze – Loki x Reader

When a video of you and Loki goes viral, the world weighs in on your relationship. One comment in particular grates at Loki because it came from your mother.

excuses & opportunities – Loki x Reader

Loki has some questions about the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe. Part of the Winter Warmers Collection

observing. learning. fantasizing. – Virgin!Loki x Reader

Loki's just been made King of Asgard and he needs to make sure that he tells you vital piece of information about him before you hear it from gossip mongerers among the realm

all wrapped up – Loki x Reader

You unwittingly gave Loki advice on how to seduce you. Part of the Winter Warmers Collection

all i could give you – Loki x Reader

It seems that the entirety of Asgard had forgotten that today was supposed to be a day of celebration. Everyone but you, at least.

what makes a princess – Loki x Reader

Morgan asks a question about Jane's royalty status that leads to her revealing one of Loki's secrets

timeless – TVA!Loki x TVA!Reader

While doing some research to help out Mobius on a 'moonshot project', you and Loki come across a startling revelation about your lives. All your lives.

slipping between future and past – Timeslipping TVA!Loki x Reader

You give your friend a few pointers on what to know about Yule, and come across a familiar looking stranger in your bookstore.

a helping hand – Crime Lord!Loki x Reader (friendship/platonic)

When Loki enters the office and sees you visibly shaken with your eyes swollen, he takes it upon himself to find out what's wrong and how he could help

gestures & rain checks – Loki x Reader

It feels like your friends are getting plucked away from you one by one as their respective (or in Nat's case prospective) partners make grand gestures to ask them to be their Valentine.

bad feeling – Loki x Reader

Loki's entrance into the Avengers Compound depends on your approval

Multi-Part (5 parts or less)

a startling realization – Oakley x Reader part 1 part 2

Oakley returns to campus after a trip with his mates and steadily comes to realize he's developed feelings for you

Oneshots

just another memory – Oakley x Reader

It's a few weeks before graduation and your best friend, Oakley, has some questions about what will happen afterward.

Collections

the 'one look and they'll know' collection – Tom Hiddleston x Reader

The stories that follow the couple of 'one look and they'll know', before and after that fateful day on set that kickstarted their relationship; includes the Soccer Aid Hiddles collection

Multi-Part (5 parts or less)

feels like mine – Tom Hiddleston x Reader part 1 part 2 part 3

You wake up in a bed that isn't your own, living a life that seems to be pulled straight out of your wildest dreams

Oneshots

don't make the sounds – Tom Hiddleston x Reader

During a press junket interview, Tom uses one of the questions addressed to him to his advantage and distracts you from your peculiar mood.

Oneshots

you deserve better – James Conrad x Monarch Scientist!Reader

When all the plans you'd made for today go down the drain, the last person you expected shows up at your door to try turning the night around

Non-Writing Stuff

the SAS vernacular – a visual dictionary of all things SAS

the horny bitches initiative – master post of all the horny bitches cuts

monthly wrap-ups – master post of all my monthly wrap ups

story recs navigation post

photo gallery directory – where we can find all the high def mango peach pics

thots & theories – i'm not always whoring out, sometimes there are other thoughts in this thotty lil brain of mine

[cutiepisenpai]

Day 10. Praise - Rengoku (Guardian Angel)

Guardian Angel! Reader x Rengoku

Warnings: Smut of course, vaginal fingering, vaginal penetration, creampie.

Your job was to watch over your assigned human, to guide them and keep them safe. You had been watching him for a few months now, watching as he fought hard to protect others civilians, other demon slayers and especially his own brother. The demon he faced at home was a greater advisory than any he would face out in the world. You decide after a few months that what he needed the most was someone to be there for him as he was for others. You took on a human disguise and 'met him by chance' at a Ramen shop when he was heading home from a mission. You struck up a conversation and became quick acquaintances.

You assumed a human life as far as Kyojuro could see, you acquired a home not far from his own estate so it was easier to be nearer to him.  And although eating isn’t necessary for you, you did learn to cook and would regularly invite him and Senjuro over for meals. He cared so deeply for his brother's health and safety, you even offered to have him over when Kyojuro is away on missions. Most of the time he declines saying that his father needs help, in your opinion their father needs to be bashed in the head but as a guardian you can’t resort to violence. In only a  few months you have grown close to him.  

Today you are following him at a distance as you always do, watching him carefully and making sure not to be seen. You have done this many times when his missions are more dangerous. Unfortunately for you since you are traveling as a human you have to hide like a human and Kyojuro has amazing senses and has almost caught you a few times. He is going solo on this mission and although this is not uncommon for a Hashira and you are sure he can handle any demon, you still worry about his safety. You are nearing the area where the demon was spotted and just in time as the sun has started to set. You decide that now is a good time to go and find a lookout where you won't be in his way and just watch from a distance. 

You don’t like that he chooses to fight like this. It is rather reckless, but also beautiful. He moves quickly and swiftly, slicing into the demon. You were so captivated watching him fight and he so involved in his fight you both fail to see the demon sneaking up on him from behind. You move without thinking sheading you human disguise large white wings expanding as you zip towards him. Kyojuro finishes off the demon he was fighting turning to see your transformation as you take flight towards him and rip the demon to shreds in an instant. And now that you have revealed yourself to him you both stand their in an awkward silence.

“Are you a demon?” Kyojuro asks, hand on the hilt of his katana.

“Quite the opposite actually. I’m a guardian angel sent here to look after you.” 

He removes his hand from the blade letting his hands hang at his sides. “An angel? Well that makes sense, your beauty is like no other!” 

“Thats is very sweet of you Kyojuro. But you aren’t supposed to know or see me like this So I will be reassigned.”

With this news the smile leaves his face, you can tell so easily that he doesn’t want you to go. You never want to disappoint him, you are suppose to make sure he is safe and happy. He doesn’t say much after that just suggesting that you two head back, but it is quiet and uncharacteristic of him. The walk back is quiet when normally your time together is spent with lots of talking about just about anything, finally you arrive at the gate of your estate and you both stand there not ready to leave yet so you invite him in. 

“Do you really have to leave?” The sadness in his eyes could break your heart.

You move to sit closer to him taking his hands into yours, "it's not a choice I would willingly make. I don't want to leave you."

To your surprise he leans in and kisses you. You know you shouldn't, you are already in enough trouble but you kiss him back anyway. His hand travels down your arms and your hair stands on end. Your lips move slowly for a long time, before your lips part. Your tongues move together, swirling and probing as he pulls you closer into his lap. You pull apart for only a second before he pulls you back in to kiss you again. You pull back giving you both a chance to breathe you lean your forehead against his.

“Kyojuro, you need to know that you are amazing and enough. You do so much for so many people. You are loved.” 

He kisses over cheeks and neck before talking into your neck, his words are muffled.

“I can’t hear what you’re saying.”

“You can’t leave. I need you to stay here.” 

Those words could break you. You didn’t want to leave.. You wanted to stay with him more than anything. He doesn’t give you a chance to respond before repositioning the two of you so that your back is flat against the tatami mat floor and he is hovering over you. His lips are on your again as he undoes the tie of your yukata. His hands grasp a hold of your breast massaging it in his hand. His thumb rubs over your slowly hardening nipples. Releasing your lips from the kiss, taking his attention to the other parts of your body.

“So sweet, smart Kyojuro. You’re so perfect for me.” 

You see the blush forming on his face with each word of praise. But he deserves to hear just how amazing he is. 

“I love your kind eyes and bright smile.” 

He kisses along your neck and down your shoulder. 

“Your determination, strength, and dedication. You have so much love inside your heart.” 

His kisses trail down your chest before taking a nipple into his mouth. His hand makes its way down between your legs and you are moaning at how glorious his fingers feel. 

“I wish you wouldn’t doubt yourself. You are a remarkable slayer and inspiration to many.” 

His fingers press into your warm, wet entrance sliding inside with ease. His thumb covers your clitorious soft stimulating it with light circular motions. Your arousal grows as he curls his fingers quickly a second finger slides in both now caressing your insides. 

“ So good… Kyo..” Is all you can get out. 

Before you get a chance to get off completely he draws his hands away, quickly shedding his uniform and climbing back on top of you. He is facing you again staring deeply into your eyes. You can feel his stiff cock pressing against your thigh. 

“I want you. I want you to stay here with me…” His gaze is intense. “Stay here… stay with me.”

“This isn’t allowed.. If I stay.. I will be cast out. Tainted, corrupted, unworthy.”

He gently grasps your chin tilted your head up into another kiss. “ You are precious, a jewel to be cherished. You will be perfect to me., no matter what.”

He slowly inserts himself moaning together, fully enjoying the feeling of being pressed together. You wrap your arms around his shoulders and he begins to thrust slowly at first, whispering how much he loves you. You are already on the verge of release, you sing more praise and words of encouragement into his ears. He thrusts speed up until you are shaking beneath him, you both cum praises and moans fill the room. You fall asleep safely wrapped in each other's arms.

[peachycoreroo]

overtime | fushiguro megumi

summary: you’re stuck working overtime with your co-worker megumi and offer to help him when he gets frustrated with the paperwork. not the kind of help you were thinking of, but you’re not complaining.

pairing: office employee!megumi x fem!reader

genre: smut, mini plot ig

word count: 2.9k

warnings: megumi cussing out gojo CDBHJ, uhh cocky and confident ‘gumi, dubcon-ish? but not really bc you want it, one (1) spank, dry humping, handjob, oral m! receiving, one (1) line of degradation, praise, finger sucking, making you gag on purpose, use of ‘bitch’, inappropriate use of work space

authors note: here’s my piece for the a man in uniform collab by @atsupup, thanks sm for letting me join sweetpea!! so,,,shy blushy megumi has my heart but this is what my brain came up with so here it is,,,,not really proofread itS 2AM RN OK here’s a link to my masterlist

“well, i’ll be off. have fun finishing the papers! and don’t forget, i need them done by tomorrow!”

and with that, he was gone - leaving you and your colleague alone on the twelfth floor of the company building.

shyly, you peered over to the other side of the office, right next to the door. fushiguro megumi could only be described as beautiful, even while he sat there – black suit pants, jacket thrown off to the side, white dress shirt, loose navy tie – with a scowl on his pretty, angelic face.

“fucking gojo. always the same with this entitled asshole. it was his stupid fucking mistake, so why do i have to fix it?”

trying not to stare at your office crush while he was openly cussing out your superior under his breath, you tried to concentrate on the documents in front of you. maybe, it was a blessing in disguise that you had to work overtime with the man you’ve been lusting after since you’ve started the job two months prior, because it’s the first time you were able to admire him without other people intervening every time, as if on purpose.

a conversation just never came to be. you’ve greeted each other in the early mornings and bid goodbye at the end of a long, draining day of work, but that was about it. having him here, alone with you, truly felt like some high being finally took pity on your dull love life and decided you deserved a minuscule glimpse at the possibility of a chance with fushiguro megumi.

the sudden silence in the empty office space after said man just cursed for five minutes straight, brought you back to reality as you carefully peered at him over the rim of your overly bright computer screen. what you weren’t expecting was to be met with two magnificent, blue eyes already locked on your form at your designated table, right in front of the huge, floor-length windows of the bureau.

paralyzing panic flooded your chest when you realized that your crush was staring at you, so without knowing what else to do, your eyes snapped back to the papers that were responsible for the extra time you had to stay. a light, smooth chuckle echoed in the vacant space, your face heating up embarrassingly fast as a result.

was it always this unbearably hot here? you couldn’t tell if you were honest, brain all jumbled up from hearing such an attractive, carefree sound leave the usually stoic black-haired man. desperately trying to cool down, you looked questioningly at the windows behind you, the first three buttons of your blouse coming undone in the meantime. official work hours were over anyway, what’s the harm in making yourself more comfortable?

“they don’t open for safety reasons. the air conditioners aren’t just for show, you know?”

the teasing undertone in his statement sent goosebumps down your spine, the temperature of your face now skyrocketing and traveling up to the tips of your ears. it completely slipped your mind that there were air conditioners here. fuck.

“u-uh, yeah, i know! just wanted to, uh, to look out the window! yes, that’s what i wanted to do!”, you exclaimed, a bit too loudly, the stutter solidifying your totally convincing lie.

“sure”, megumi retorted, barely able to keep in the snicker bubbling in his chest as he got up from his desk chair and grabbed the remote in gojo’s office. “so… do you want me to turn it on or not?”

“y-yeah, would be nice.”

once again, a grin creeped onto megumi’s soft –insanely soft – lips when you stammered. as a beep, indicating that the cooling was now starting, resonated in the room, you couldn’t help but take a deep breath to refocus. this wasn’t the time to be flustered. it was already 9 p.m. and you weren’t allowed to leave until you were finished.

with an exhausted sigh, you slicked back your hair, before slumping down the chair to avoid the temptation of throwing glances at megumi instead of doing what you were supposed to.

it was arduous. the buzzing of the air conditioning, the clicking of the keyboards, pens being dragged across paper and the occasional low ‘fuck’s from your black-haired co-worker were the only sounds bouncing of the walls as the hours dragged on.

but while you were nearly finished, the man across the room wasn’t as lucky. that one mistake was in too deep, meaning he had to redo every single page, making his blood pressure rise with every word he had to correct. as the minutes continued to tick and it seemed as if fushiguro didn’t even make a dent in the paperwork, he couldn’t hold back his little frustrated outburst of rage.

“i’m gonna fucking kill him!”, he practically yelled out of nowhere, sending the countless documents flying onto the floor as he threw them with all the strength, he was able muster. you couldn’t help but flinch at the unexpected eruption of emotions out of the man that was normally so calm and collected. the only times you’ve seen any reactions from him was when gojo satoru was involved, the disdain for your cocky, playful bosses’ actions and pranks never truly concealed by megumi.

when you finally allowed yourself to steal a glance at the man, the sight of him – black locks disheveled and breathing heavily with an irked frown on his face – only fueled your daily fantasies about him, the mental image of him looking positively ruined offering the perfect material for your nightly escapades with yourself and your trusty vibrator.

at the lewd visions flashing in front of your eyes – lively, as if they were happening right this moment – you quickly shook your head, before abruptly standing up, interrupting the fit of the man across the room.

cheeks heating up one more time at his undivided attention being directed at you, you made your way over to him, praying that you wouldn’t run into a table or trip over a cable. when you arrived at his side of the spacious bureau, you carefully knelt down, mindful of not flashing him in your short pencil skirt and picked up the seemingly never-ending papers of the floor.

when he recognized what you were doing, he instantly got on his knees right beside you to help, only making you freeze in the process. the unforeseen proximity and the scent of his woody cologne reaching your senses caused your senses to tingle, a lustful haze clouding your mind and traveling down to your core. it was utterly humiliating, the way your underwear became more and more uncomfortably damp at the wetness seeping out with every passing second in his close vicinity.

if you were perfectly honest, you didn’t even know what made him so unbelievably attractive to you. normally, you opted for the loud, extroverted, asshole types of guys - just like your superior. but ever since laying eyes on the almost cold, at all times composed fushiguro megumi, the single thought of wasting your precious time on another male made your skin crawl.

unintentionally, the pace at which you picked up the mess in front of you increased, the need to put some much-needed space between you before you jumped him like a feral animal in heat threated to suffocate you.

with that, you abruptly got back up, avoiding eye contact as you laid out the papers on the desk beside his. “can i help you?”

“help?”, megumi asked, puzzled.

“yeah, the order got messed up. i’ll sort them, ‘m finished anyway.”

the mans blue eyes gave you a once over, halting on the tight stretch of your short skirt over your ass and your tights-clad thighs before repeating, now more confident: “help?”

you questioningly looked back at him, only to catch him just as his gaze snapped from your ass back to your face. was he just…?

at the scent of woody cologne invading your senses again, your thoughts evaporated in a blink of an eye, only to find the black-haired male in dangerous proximity.

“i’d love your… help”, he whispered, sending goosebumps down your spine at the weird emphasizing of ‘help’. with a curt nod, you reached out for the papers, just to stifle when you felt two large, warm hands land on your hips.

“mmm, work can wait. i need something else more urgently right now.”

your heart practically leaped out of your chest at the physical contact, but before you could react, you found yourself being pressed against the desk in front of you, ass flush with his hips.

“what a nice, empathic girl you are, sweetheart. offering to aid your poor co-worker in need. your proposal definitely won’t go to waste, baby. believe me”, megumi lowly purred as his large palm found its way to your back, keeping you in place while his hips tested the waters by lightly grinding against your behind.

your poor, overwhelmed brain shut down as soon as you felt his semi-hard cock against your drenched underwear through his dress pants, his velvety voice calling you ‘baby’ echoing in your head. the black-haired male triumphally grinned when he felt the little roll of your hips as you tried to meet his movements, a lustful haze blurring your judgement. maybe, you shouldn’t be doing this at work, but how could you deny the single most breath-taking man you’ve ever laid your eyes on.

megumi continued his movements, relishing in the little whimpers and sighs of satisfaction you were letting out. as he let his gaze roam your figure slowly, he couldn’t stop himself from frowning when your perfect ass was hidden from view, making him reach out and bunch your skirt up at your waist, but the sight only made his palm itch.

with a firm spank his hand collided with your ass, a surprised squeak leaving your lips, hips twitching back against his already fully hard dick.

“fuck. keep moving your hips like that, yeah. what a good girl”, megumi ordered, your drenched cunt fluttering at the praises thrown your way. trying to elicit more words of affirmation from the man’s lips, you started grinding back harder, a choked-out groan betraying just how turned on he undoubtedly was.

“shit, you’re making me feel so good”, the tall male whispered, before pulling you back up and smashing his lips against yours as soon as he turned you around, now facing him.

the feeling of his – just like you predicted – incredibly pillowy, soft lips against yours had your knees almost give out, arms thrown over his broad shoulders to stabilize yourself.

large palms cupped the underside of your thighs and picked you up with ease, your legs wrapping themselves around his waist as his lips kept attacking yours. with every passing second the kiss grew more passionate, hungry, longing. it felt as if you both were transpiring everything you weren’t able to say the months prior through your interlocked mouths.

as though megumi didn’t turn on the ac just a few hours prior, the heat rose between you both like a forest fire – rapid and contagious. it only just sparked, but it’s already out of control and won’t cease until you finally clench the insatiable greed to have the man currently ravishing you.

too drunk on the sweet taste of his cushiony lips, you didn’t even realize fushiguro made his way over to gojo’s office until he set you down on the spacious desk of said superior and released your lips with a string of spit connecting them to his. impatient, the black-haired male made work of his belt and zipper, only pausing to grin when he saw the way you practically gawked at his obvious dick print in his boxers.

“no need to be shy, sweetheart. go ahead, touch me”, he cockily encouraged, his fingers wrapping around your wrist and guiding your palm towards his painfully hard length. you sharply inhaled as you wrapped your hand around his girthy hard-on through his boxers, teeth digging into your lower lip at the feeling of finally getting to touch him.

when you lifted your gaze to meet megumi’s, you were caught off guard to see his eyes a fraction darker, just like the night sky, his hand leaving your wrist to find home on your jaw, a thumb pulling your bottom lip from between your teeth before slipping in between them.

the low-lidded, erotic look on his face as he watched you glide your tongue along the underside of his thumb made your hips twitch up on their own, a devilish smirk spreading on his bewitching face.

“you’re getting off to this, huh? what a dirty little girl you are, baby.”

without a hint of remorse, he pushed his thumb further down your throat, chuckling cruelly when you gagged but slipped your hand into his boxers to be able to stroke his leaking cock without a bothersome barrier separating you from direct skin to skin contact.

megumi let out a sharp hiss at the feeling of your rapid motions along his cock, his own hips moving in sync with the lazy pace you set. swirling your tongue around his pretty thumb as he essentially fucked your first, your own whines and mewls escaped just from watching a lewd expression – brows furrowed and mouth hanging open as grunts and murmurs of ‘good girl, just like that’ slipped past his soft lips – form on your handsome colleague’s face.

“wanna- oh god, wanna taste you. can i?”, you asked timidly around his thumb, eyes set on the dark blue pair in front of you and panting.

a booming, guttural groan came from somewhere deep inside his chest at such an explicit request leaving you in such an innocent manner.

“you can do whatever you want, sweetheart”, he retorted as he pulled his big thumb out of your warm mouth with a loud ‘pop’, maneuvering himself back to give you space when you moved forward, hopping off the table and getting on your knees in front of him.

megumi would never admit it, but he had been fantasizing about this exact scenery since the moment he first saw you in the office two months ago. many nights were spent imagining your plump, gloss-covered lips wrapped around his girthy length, so when you finally took hold of his throbbing cock and placed a wet kitten lick on his sensitive tip, he couldn’t help but place his hands on gojo’s desk behind you as his voice rose an octave, an enticing whine echoing in the spacious office.

your core contracted shamelessly as a result of his high-pitched mewl, the intense craving to hear those sounds slip past his lips uncontrollably, with you as the cause for the intoxicating euphoria the tall male felt, awakening from somewhere deep within you.

suddenly incredibly set on satisfying the man above you, you took his girthy length in your mouth, tongue tracing the prominent vein on the underside and hands finding purchase on his dress-pants-glad thighs. your head bobbed back and forth as you tried to take more and more into your mouth, your poor lips and jaw painfully stretching to accommodate his fat cock.

“shit, would’ve done this much earlier if i knew what a fucking cock-hungry bitch you were”, he hissed as he observed how eagerly you sucked him off, large hand finding purchase in your hair and using it to his advantage to speed up the languid pace you set.

when you gagged, as a particular hard tug caused megumi’s tip to bump against the back of your throat and looked up at him from under your eyelashes - eyes brimming with tears and glossed over with gluttony and greed -, a long, whiny ‘yes, fuck!’ fell from his mouth. megumi didn’t have enough control over himself to keep from shooting his slightly salty load down your throat at the erotic sight. sneering expression, baring teeth and flexed biceps was all you could make out through the tears that were rolling down your heated cheeks.

the need to finally swallow had you leaning back, taking the dark-haired man’s softening cock out of your mouth in the process before swallowing and stretching out your tongue. with a grin, megumi grabbed your tongue and leaned down, rasping ‘good girl’ before placing a tender kiss on your forehead.

your eyelashes fluttered as you focused your gaze back on his blissed-out expression – sweaty, lopsided grin and dark blue eyes set on your own teary ones.

megumi let go off your slick tongue as he leaned in close enough for his nose to brush against yours and lowly proposed: “thank you for helping me unwind, pretty girl. now how about this: we finish the rest of our paperwork, and then i’ll fuck you on this table till you don’t know where left or right is.”

brain hazy and clouded, you only nodded and contently smiled at him, the consequences of having sex on your superiors’ desk completely slipping your mind, because really, who would care about that when you can have fushiguro megumi all to yourself, finally rewarding you after you just brought him to a mind-blowing orgasm.

tagging: the lomls @thighridingsamu and @weepinglevi​<3

[thestrandedrpg]

MERIDIUM NEWS: MAY

News travels through the air on the island like salt on a sea breeze. Here is the gossip currently circulating as of May 1, 2022. Read on below the cut!

GENERAL NEWS / NOTICES:

HELP WANTED: Tamyra Williams is looking for any volunteers who would like to help her to make her dream come true - a play of her own making that will bring her back to what she knows and loves the most, acting! Volunteers can help both during the preparation and rehearsal stage, during the play itself, or afterward in the clean up. Payment is knowing that the job is well done and the best seats in the audience. Once in a lifetime opportunity, don’t miss your chance now! KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOUR: This feature spotlights something new and/or exciting about a resident. Today's lucky person is Wren! Did you know that she runs a secret starfish hospital where any starfish who's lost a limb may rest and recover until it grows back? There are some who say "what a waste of time, Wren" or "that's natural selection, Wren" or "is that my tshirt you ripped up to make slings with, Wren??" but don't listen to them! Give donations to this little angel in her charity mission.

FARM MENU: In an effort to provide balanced meals to a bunch of idiots who only seem to eat raw mangoes and avocadoes, Farmer Hardy has offered to prepare cooked dishes. First come first served. Unless you disguise yourself and get in line again because let's be honest, Farmer Tomas is a little woo-woo in the wee-wah these days and he can't tell.

- arepas with your choice of filling (fried plantain, creamed saltfish, egg & tomato, brown sugar) - stewed black eyed peas with salt beef and boiled cassava - tamales (sweet corn, octopus, or salted & garlicked oranges for some reason) - something called filliq berry that grows only on Meridium and tastes like blackberry and coffee, only available mashed and shaken with sugarcane water. May cause intense paranoia and fixation on one minor social mishap in your past life. Don't come crying to us if you suddenly remember that time you opened a soda can without knowing it had been shaken up and sprayed it all over your project partner AND the photos of their newborn that they were showing you.

NOTICE: this friday, at the falls, the only and only Theo Delaurier will be hosting a HANDWASHING CLASS. She strongly encourages anyone who cooks food to attend as she has noticed a rise in food borne illnesses. Attendants will be rewarded with some medicinal herbs and a coupon to a free medical exam, in which Theo promises to try very hard not to roll her eyes at you. addendum: if you were part of Kotka's cult, you will be publicly humiliated and turned away. small to medium sized rocks may be thrown. addendum 2: duo don't even bothering with the whole 'we need each other to survive' shit. theo reserves the right not to educate or care for people who attacked her people. 

NOTICE: Maura Gallagher's unfinished school house is now back on the market, free of charge to whoever has no moral qualms about repurposing a dead woman's pet project for their own gain. Interested parties should contact ~wait, did she even have anyone to notify~ Emre Akbar, i guess? If the schoolhouse doesn't suit your real estate needs, her hut is also now vacant. Her signature denim jacket, along with her few earthly possessions, are now up for grabs! Happy scavenging!

FOUND:  A fishing net that when opened out has the words 'piss off' woven on it.  Belongs either to a hunter/fisher with some deep-seated issues about fishes or a spider named Charlotte.  Please see J.George for collection. This time on Meridium Musicale Magica: Another mixtape playlist dedicated to our resident Meridium Pollyanna, Ms Lily Takahashi!  Sent in by her admirer P.A. Rotte.  We got some great bops on this one: Homeward Bound - Simon & Garfunkel Mama, I'm Coming Home - Ozzy Osbourne Country Roads, Take me Home - John Denver Who Says You Can't Go Home - Jon Bon Jovi Won't Go Home Without You - Maroon 5 Almost Home - Mariah Carey Welcome Home (Sanitarium) - Metallica Goin' Home - The Rolling Stone Obelisk Eye never closes! This week our Obelisk Operatives (ObOps) have collected the following mysteries! So pull out your magnifying glass, write in the sand, and let's do some sleuthing. - One ObOp spied Wren Augustine perched at the top of the obelisk itself.  In a feat of engineering, it seems she's trying to build a treehouse balanced on the point, to rival that of Lily Takahashi!  Will she succeed?  We wish her well in attempting to block the Obelisk's lidless eye.  ha hah.  Hahhhhhh Ha.  AAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAA - LAGOON-MULTIVERSES ALERT!!  We've received first-hand reports that the lagoon will take you to new worlds and vistas unlike anything seen on Meridium!  One witness claimed to swim through a lagoon portal that took them to a world of lime jell-o!  The Obelisk Eye isn't sure what jell-o is, but we heard it's both delicious and dangerous.  If you visit another world, let an ObOps know! - The Obelisk's lidless eye gives its coveted EYE SPY award to one Amber Chase!  We have never seen someone on the island so determined to be cute and shady at the same time.  Has our resident investigator Kaz finally acquired a rival to match his own ferreting acumen?  One ObOp spied him burning old notebooks whilst loudly grinding his teeth. Revenge, or defeat? - We spotted the mysterious Sandra, who claimed she was playing a game of hide-and-seek with Amelia.  After following after Sandra for 5 hours, we determined she was not seeking Amelia out at all.  When questioned, Sandra had this polite response: 'I've determined that Amelia hides very well and in fact prefers to stay hidden.  This game will guarantee she remains so, therefore I believe I have done her a favour. Please stop bothering me.' Any other news to report?  Become an ObOp or risk being spied on!   Always remember:   T̶̪͋̓́̂͌̀̾͆͠H̷̺̙̥̟̼̿Ĕ̸̱͇̮̬̄̒̓̍̓̃ ̴̡͕̗͕̱͈̘͛́͋̀̈́̀̚͠͠ͅȎ̶̞̙͈͉͈̙̥͒͒̐̒͜͜B̸̧̪̀̎̃̓̉̌͠͝Ę̴͔͚̰̠͖̠̘͒̌̂͑̓́̓͝L̷̨͇̺̣̜̾̋̊̀̀͜Į̴̛̮͇̭͙̠̣̱̓̏S̴̡̗̦͚̠͖̺͋̉̾K̸͙̜̠̬̟͇͂́̎̀̒̑̇͜͝ͅ ̸̞̗̺͍̥̒̊̊̾̕͝͠͝E̵̯̺̼̤͉͉͆̄̈́́͝Ỹ̷͎̦̟͉̗̞̊͘E̷̖̫̫͂̑̽̋̈́͠ ̸͉͙̥͂̐̈́͛̊͠N̴͈̾͠È̷̬̜̘̘̇̑̈́̍͋͂͌̔͠Ṽ̴̫̰̥͓̱͕͓͆̐̈́Ȩ̸̛̦͈̗̯̘̫͙̇̀̌̾̑͊R̴̼̣̃̈́͊͠ ̸̡̖̝̬̝̊̈̕C̴̰̰̉̄̃̑͒Ļ̶̢̱̬͇̻̈́̔̈́͋̽O̵̼͍͔͂S̴̭͍̆̉͘̕E̶̮͓̯͕̓͌͋̋̉̓S̸̤̞̘͙̘͂̎̎̇̿̽͆̎̊͝!̴̣̪͈̜̲̈́̾̂̐̍̍͊͊͝   FARMER'S MONTHLY EXCERPT:  It's been determined that Meridium rice grows steady and strong with a helping of blood fertilizer.  Tomas Hardy - once a curmudgeonly expert farmer and now a pleasantly confused doorstop can attest to this as a known fact, given his blood was first to fertilize the staple crop.  The question being: will people eat blood-rice?  We'll put Siva to the test and report our findings.It has also been determined that the high ground settlement farm is now yielding mushrooms!  Quite by accident, most of them unfortunately poisonous.  But Sisco remains positive.  Or - our apologies, we mean positively addled. Q: What do you call a post-war French mademoiselle who sent herself through weeks of penance, only to find herself caught between honesty and secrets? A: Film noir Q:  What do you call a 70+ year old French woman struggling to find her way through dark tunnels, even darker phobias, hidden memories trapped in the dark recesses of her mind, and deep dark lagoon pathways? A: Canal Plus Special Farm Menu Item now available:  Saddy Madi! Stop by the farm to request a specialty drink for all your post-beast traumatized needs.  This drink is guaranteed to amp your anxiety, feed into all your worst worries, and help you work yourself to the bone while forgetting to eat.  Simple, clean, natural ingredients: - a jigger of beestings (only harvest from bees who've naturally expired RIP), finely crushed - crushed ice that is NOT derived from Emre Akbar - aloe, lots and lots of aloe - five teardrops.  Use topshelf Madi Byrd tears of guilt, for best taste. Mix well and serve raw and uncooked, at least five feet away from any fire because don't you know by now that fires only leave scars and broken hearts??  

DEAR MS. MERIDIUM:

Anonymous islanders are invited to voice their questions, complaints, and compliments to the island itself. Replies are not guaranteed.

Dear Ms Meridium, I need advice.  I've recently had a 4-man palanquin constructed to escort me around the island, and I might also hire it out to others (Hollywood actresses? mothers with babies?) interested in being carried long distances. My problem is finding manpower.  I require four strong tall men, and have succeeded in only locating three men.  A doctor, a man laying on a rock, and someone who has no interest in aiding me.  That's my problem.  Ms Meridium, what I'm asking is for you to procure me a tall man as my fourth. This island is in dire need of height! Regards, I'm Average Not Short

Dear Ms Meridium, Today I found a man, let's call him K. Raval.  No - no let's say his name is Kaz R.  This man was found asleep near the sea stairs, as the tide was coming in!  I'm not sure how he got there, but this isn't the first time I've seen Kraval lie dead asleep in rather odd places.  One time it was near the mouth of a known hog cave known for its hogs, another time I found him flopped so close to the heart tree fire, he could have rolled into it!  I want to offer him a sleeping draught but I'm afraid I might either accidentally poison him or he'll refuse anything I try to give him (on account that it might accidentally poison him, so.  This is reasonable).  Any advice on how to help? Gracias, Hijo de la Madre Dear Ms. Meridium, Hey, long term fan/ first time writer. Quick question- how long can you pretend to be checking on a now completely healthy patient before she realizes you’re into her? Also, what do you do about the fact that she’s a literal goddess? I mean, that thick black hair and those lips- sorry, I’m getting off track. While I’ve got you here, any advice on getting over your childhood crush that just happens to be stranded on the same deserted island as you? Thanks, Hopeless Romantic  Dear Ms. Meridium, Hear me out: Suresh wasn't a real person. He was a composite glob-creature created from coagulated water from all three lagoons, sent here to sow discord and strife. Did anybody bang him? I don't think so. Irrefutable proof right there. EMRE AKBAR WAS FRAMED BUSH DID 9/11 Sincerely, Conspiracy Tunafish Dear Ms. Meridium, What's this I keep hearing about a jinn being responsible for shit on the island? This is such bad mojo because I don't know if they mean Robin Williams or Will Smith. Those are two very different jinn and I need to understand which is messing with my life. Please clear this up for me, someone. Confused, Ain't Never Had a Friend Like Who?? Dear Ms. Meridium, If that Libby chick is teaching piano lessons I think she should offer them to EVERYONE not just her child and that hot Kaz lizard. I want to learn how to play Montero (Call Me By Your Name) on the piano and I think it's unfair that right now I have to just pretend that Iyaz Akbar's leg is my keyboard. Although I would like to do other CMBYN content with him once I find a peach hee hee! Tee hee hee! Cutely, A Precious Pony Who's Swangin

AO-TREE

The latest Meridium fanfiction submissions can be found pinned to the back of the Heart Tree. Let’s check out the latest titles!

TITLE: second chances RATING: G SUMMARY: talia ifrani, emre akbar and madi byrd grew up as thick as thieves, friends for life. at least that’s what they thought - when tragedy hit and talia disappeared, it drove a vedge between the two remaining friends and madi decided to run from the pain and move to america

now decades later they both found themselves on an island that was nothing like they’ve known before - and to their surprise, talia living on it. the three are faced with each other, their past hurts, and have to figure out if their friendship could survive, or if they would all go on their separate ways

TITLE: if i’d only knew you back then (maybe we could have made it work) RATING: G SUMMARY: what if when jupiter george headed to hollywood, she managed to find her father, and most importantly, her sister. the truth revealed much earlier to tamyea williams, the two navigate the risky business of the truth while also trying to find a way to deal with each other - modern!au

TITLE: i’ll fight you i promise (but maybe we will both like it) RATING: R SUMMARY: emre akbar was meant to be more than the villain of the story - he was supposed to be the hero. and yet, a few mistakes later, he found himself being hated and presumed to want to destroy the world. and if that is what’s expected of him, who is he to defy the entire world, correct?

enter kaz raval, the appointed savior, the one who was supposed to stop emre from ever succeeding in his goals. the only problem, they have once spent a summer together entangled in each other before outside circumstances forced them apart. now they have to face each other - except kaz is still as gorgeous and enticing as ever, and it’s much easier to fall in bed with him again than to fight him. to the public, they are mortal enemies. to each other… well, only time can tell (superhero!au)

TITLE: rock on! RATING: T SUMMARY: the castaways is a world-wide known lady singing group. they are on top of the world, touring and winning every award there is. but while everything is shiny from the outside, things are much messier behind the scenes:

the lead singer, libby, is sleeping with their manager AND a guitar player from another band; ilona, their guitar player, gets into a gambling debt and she cannot see a way out; hazel, the background singer, hazel, is studying to be a nurse which means late nights and her twin sister swapping in for her from time to time (without anyone knowing, of course!); the keyboard player, jupiter insists that she can see ghosts and that more and more of them are attending their concert with a sinister plan; lily, the drummer is stuck between a rock and a hard place - she wants to be part of the group, but she fears her reckless, violent past coming back to haunt her and threaten the group; and lastly, the bass player and composer is quickly falling for a fan

what could possibly go wrong?

TITLE: when the stars abound are shining down on us RATING: M SUMMARY: thulani kaba could never explain how his camera survived, why it kept on working. maybe the same magic that kept the people the same age kept the camera working as well. it didn’t matter, it gave him a comfort he’s always been grateful for. it was easier to watch and get to know people through its lenses - and his latest interest, after climbing out of the lagoon and finding a whole new group of people on the beach, was esther achebe. she was strong and fierce and loyal and always seemed to be caring for others - but who would care for her? thulani wouldn’t mind taking on that burden (canon divergence fic)

TITLE: hit me with your best shot RATING: T SUMMARY: lily is a freshman at north beach high and the first one in a hundred years who makes the women vollyball team in her freshman year. she quickly realizes that there is an extremely strong rivalry between the north beach high team and the south beach high one. lily has to prove herself on the team and bond with the other girls //story one of three of high school!au

TITLE: where heroes are made RATING: G SUMMARY: prophecies given out at camp halfblood aren’t the most regular thing, but still, nobody is fully surprised when cian’s eyes turn white and he recites the prophecy for the next big quest. soon a team is assembled, and somehow cian finds himself on it along with iyaz and iyaz’s overprotective brother, emre. the goal is simple - make sure the phophecy never gets fullfilled and evil isn’t released, yada-yada-yada. really, if he could figure out a way to spend some time alone with iyaz during all of this, he would much appreciate that

TITLE: if only i move an inch (don’t you feel the tension too) RATING: R SUMMARY: aurélie gets a phone call that tomas, her cousin has been in a car accident and wants to rush to him, but he lives across country. tamyra offers to drive her friend, who should not be doing so in this emotional state. a sudden pour of rain forces them to stop at the first motel by the side of the road. of course, there is only one room left, and of course, there is only one bed. what a shocker

TITLE: if you just look into my eyes, i might see a shine RATING: M SUMMARY: the first time wren meets her husband, kaz raval, is when she walks down the island. an arranged marriage to form a strong partnership between the two families, but wren wants nothing of the sort and considers running off and hiding away. but slowly the two of them get closer and closer (arranged marriage!au)

TITLE: if only others would stay away RATING: T SUMMARY: hazel beaufort has a problem - not kissing her roommate. it’s getting harder and harder and it seems like madi would like that too - and yet, the outside world keeps interfering

college au that shows five times hazel and madi get cockblocked from kissing, and one time they don’t

TITLE: what the hell to do now? RATING: G SUMMARY: emre doesn’t even remember the time he slept with this woman, and yet apparently he is a father, and with the mother passing on unexpectedly, he gets sole custody of the baby. iyaz is skeptical and wants to do a paternity test, but emre can do it. he practically raised iyaz, he can raise his own child. and if the lady living next door wants to help? even better for him, he’s been interested in aurélie since the two met

TITLE: hold me in the dark (we are here together, don’t be afraid) RATING: T SUMMARY: rarepair!ilona/toni (modern au) - during what was supposed to be a fun trip, the two of them get stuck in a cave system together, cut off from everyone else and low chances of survival. they have to keep the hope alive in each other, while deeper emotions and tragedies come to the surface

TITLE: sing me a song (help me save the art) RATING: M SUMMARY: libby bloom is the art teacher of meridium high school and she loves it. and yet, without any warning matthew alphonsus, the school director, announces to her that the art department will be shut down and suddenly libby feels like she is in a hallmark movie without an actual love interest - except this is her life, and now she has to figure out a way to save this place. and maybe, by the end of it, a love interest shows up too, in the form of the music teacher, tomas hardy. if she plays her cards right, that is

TITLE: one step too close to disaster RATING: T SUMMARY: tomas hardy is ready for his wedding day. the only problem? most of his friends think he is marrying the wrong girl. even bigger problem? the universe seems to agree about that too?

the night before the big day, three women (in spirit form; how this was even possible, tomas wasn’t sure, all of these women were alive and some were even coming to his wedding!) visit him - women who have meant a lot to him in different ways and different steps of his life, each exploring one aspect of his love life: the past, the present, the future. can these spirits change his mind or would he make the biggest mistake of his life?

TITLE: your aim is almost as bad as your cooking RATING: R SUMMARY: amber chase and gabriel beaumont met five years ago (maybe six) and fell hard for each other right away. and yet now their marriage was falling apart and suddenly secrets turned each other against one another, including actually having to kill the other one. can they go through with it? or will their bond prove to be stronger? /// mr. and mrs. smith au with rarepair!amberxgabriel

[sylvie-writes]

Pixie

pairing: steve rogers x wife!reader x daughter!sarah rogers

prompt: Dec 12 - Elf On The Shelf 

warnings: none that i can think of! 

word count: 1814

author’s note: pardon any mistakes! this is my first entry for @the-ce-horniest-book-club Home For The Holidays!

another a/n: I’m sorry that the writing style on this isn’t superb. I have a lot to do today and I totally forgot about this, yet I still really wanted to write it. Hopefully you all still enjoy! xoxo

PART OF MY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION (check the tag for the masterlist)

(gif below is not mine, nor do i take credit for it

“Look, Daddy. Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings!” Zuzu looked to her father and he sweetly smiled down at her. “That’s right, that’s right.”

With that the movie ended and the credits rolled. Tonight was the first day of Steve’s holiday break, allowing him to spend some family time with you and Sarah. Since Steve was still trying to catch up on new movies and such, you suggested It’s a Wonderful Life. It was released just a few years after he went into the ice so you assumed he would enjoy it, as would Sarah. The toddler shared a love for vintage things just as he father. To her, it was so fascinating that Steve was from another time that she always begged for stories. 

At the moment, you three were curled up on the couch in your humble and small Brooklyn apartment. Sarah’s tiny figure was half laid on your lap. Her head was resting on your sweatpants-clad thighs while her own legs were tucked into her body to retain warmth. As for Steve, you were leaned up against his chest, laying at an angle while the man remained faced forward, one muscular arm wrapped around your shoulders. Occasionally he’d turn his head to shower you in some form of affection. 

“So, how’d you like the movie, Stevie?”

Steve shifted in his seat, now enveloping you with both arms, careful of Sarah who was still sleeping. He smiled down on you with a dopey yet adorable and loving smile. 

“I think that it was a great suggestion, doll.”

With vigor he immediately cut off your unspoken words and kissed you deeply. Suddenly, Steve’s not so innocent kiss was cut short when Sarah made you both remember her presence, the ever so quiet and sleepy “eww” making you both laugh. 

“Well hello, sleepyhead.” 

Sarah pushed herself up from her laid out position and tiredly scrambled to her feet. She then ran to stand between Steve’s legs and leaned forward to lay against his chest. 

“M‘sleepy, Daddy.”

Your daughter’s eyes started to close and Steve took that as a sign to go ahead and scoop her up in his arms. Steve did so and then bent over a bit for you to kiss the dozing little girl goodnight. 

….

As Steve helped Sarah get ready for bed, you got did your nightly routine as well. Once you had finished and made it to bed, Steve soon joined you, the two of you ready to turn in for the night. 

By the time the lights were out and both you and your husband were sleeping soundly, it was a bit past midnight. 

For a few hours you slept comfortably, occasionally intertwining your legs with Steve’s and such, especially since that man was such a bed hog and he didn’t even know it. 

Around four in the morning you suddenly popped up having remembered one important thing. 

Today was December 1st.

To the average person it was just another day, but to your daughter Sarah, it was the time for her elf on the shelf, Pixie, to arrive home for the holidays. You mentally scolded yourself for forgetting such a thing as Sarah had been talking non stop all week long about Pixie’s upcoming visit. She was so excited and her little friends at school told tales about their elves on the shelf making your daughter even more excited. 

Without second thought, you popped out of bed despite your body screaming at you to go back under the oh-so inviting sheets and to wrap yourself into Steve’s warm embrace.

As you had gotten out of the bed, you pushed Steve’s heavy arm off of your waist, and let’s just say you could have been a bit gentler with your actions.

“Woah (y/n), what’s wrong?”

Somnolent yet very much alert, Steve now sat up in the bed, even reaching to turn on the lamp, blinding you both. 

After a bit of a hiss, you scurried to his side of the bed to turn off the nuisance of a light. You had calmed down a bit and just quickly ran your fingers through Steve’s messy hair while kissing his forehead and purposely coaxing him back to sleep.

“I have to go and find Sarah’s elf on the shelf. She’ll be heartbroken if Pixie isn’t out tomorrow morning.”

Steve nodded having understood the matter. He then got out of bed despite your pleas for him to go back to bed. 

From there, you and Steve spent a good half an hour searching through your shared closet in search of that disguised cardboard box that held a select few of Christmas decorations, including Pixie. Sarah has always had a knack for finding tucked away gifts or just anything you’ve hidden from her for that matter. That is why you and Steve decided to throw the elf on the shelf and its accessories in that box so she wouldn’t find it. 

Eventually, you found said item. The whole process would have been faster if it wasn’t the middle of the “night”, but with it being so early in the morning, you two had to carefully dance around each other in hopes of not waking your sleeping angel. 

Together, you and Steve quietly tiptoed down the squeaky hallway. One would think that after all of those stealth missions, you and Steve would be able to handle sneaking around your own apartment, but alas, children are a lot more attentive than the enemies you have dealt with in the past. 

After spending a few minutes tediously assembling Pixie and her accessories, you and Steve finally came to design a finished project you both thought Sarah would enjoy. 

You and Steve had decided to set Pixie on the kitchen counter with her own bowl of cereal as Sarah was always up before you both. The little miss would be preparing her bowl of cereal and hopefully catch sight of her elf friend. 

Steve looked to you and groggily grinned, the two of you now a bit awake from the minimal adrenaline rush. 

Unfortunately, that lasted for a very short time because the minute you laid your head on Steve’s shoulder, your eyes shut and apparently you unintentionally fell asleep. It was no use fighting the sleep as it was inevitable at this point. Steve just chuckled at how easily you succumbed to the slumber as you were just energetically talking to him not even seconds ago. He then tenderly placed his hands upon your back and scooped you up bridal style, carrying you back to bed for a few more hours of much needed sleep. 

That morning you and Steve both woke up, same time as usual, and to no surprise, found Sarah in the kitchen. Although, before you both rounded the corner to step foot into the kitchen, you heard Sarah’s voice as she attempted to whisper. Looking to Steve with furrowed brows he looked back at you with shrugged shoulders. It wasn’t until you quickly peaked your head around the corner that you realized she was talking to Pixie. 

When you both found that out, you decided to stay behind the wall for a minute more to let her finish telling the elf what she wanted for Christmas. Luckily, either you and Steve were always to overhear what she’d ask for from Santa. Of course she still wrote a letter to Santa and you both would use that, but sometimes she’d drop a few things here and there to elf on the shelf. 

Though this time when you heard her request, it caught you off guard. 

“Hi Pixie, Mommy and Daddy are sleeping right now and I wanted to tell you this now before they wake up.”

Sarah placed her finger to her lips and made a shushing sound. You quietly laughed as did your husband. 

“Anyway, Daddy never gets to stay home for Christmas and I know this is a lot to ask for, so I wasn’t going to ask for anything else. I was hoping you could tell him I said this. As Mommy says, it’s always better to ask in ‘vance.” 

With that Sarah blew a kiss to the elf and turned back to her bowl of cereal. 

As quietly as possible, you once more turned to Steve who was practically breathing down your neck. Little had Sarah known that her father had indeed taken off the whole month of December. 

Sarah was just an angel, but what really tugged at the strings of your heart was when she asked for this and was willing to sacrifice a few silly toys just for her father to stay home this year.

That child was just as selfless as her father. 

Communicating with your eyes, both you and Steve silently agreed to tell her now. That way she’d still ask for some real gifts because what’s the fun in Christmas for a kid if they can’t open something from under the tree? 

So maybe you and Steve liked to spoil her during Christmas…

What? Sarah was your only baby and as any parent would do, you’d spoil her, and only because she was such a good child. 

With that, you and Steve finally walked into the kitchen where Sarah excitedly greeted you both. 

“Hey honeybun, Daddy and I have something important to tell you.”

You rested your forearms on the kitchen counter, where Sarah sat directly across from you. 

Steve came to join you by your side, a bowl of cereal in his hands. 

Sarah set down her spoon and intently looked at you both. 

“You know how I’m not always home for Christmas, hon?”

Sarah sadly shook her head, looking to Steve who was currently talking. 

“Well… I was able to talk off some time so I get to spend all of December with my two favorite girls!”

Immediately Sarah jumped from her chair, making you freak out for a second, and then she ran around the counter to hug Steve who welcomed her with open arms.

She wrapped her arms around Steve’s neck and he swayed back and forth as you watched the adorable interaction between the two. 

When you both weren’t looking, Sarah discreetly waved to Pixie and sent her a quiet “thanks.” 

Steve’s crazy frequency of hearing undoubtedly picked up the sound and he tried to look over his shoulder where Sarah was resting.   

“Did you say something, doll?”

Sarah picked her head up from its place on Steve's shoulder and she leaned back to be face to face with the man. Nodding her head “no,” she kissed his nose and you adoringly smiled at the two. 

Needless to say, that was the best Christmas gift Sarah could have asked for. Well, besides for the puppy she put on her list. And no, you and Steve didn’t cave on that one. 

[michaelbogild]

Lines by Leonard Cohen

As someone long prepared for the occasion In full command of every plan you wrecked – Do not choose a coward’s explanation that hides behind the cause and the effect

And it's stronger than drink And it's deeper than sorrow This darkness she's left in my heart.

And I'll dance with you in Vienna I'll be wearing a river's disguise The hyacinth wild on my shoulder, My mouth on the dew of your thighs

He wants to write a love song An anthem of forgiving A manual for living With defeat

The birds they sang At the break of day Start again I heard them say Don't dwell on what Has passed away Or what is yet to be.

You never liked to get The letters that I sent. But now you've got the gist Of what my letters meant. You're reading them again, The ones you didn't burn. You press them to your lips, My pages of concern.

I caught the darkness It was drinking from your cup. I said: Is this contagious? You said: Just drink it up

Everybody talking to their pockets Everybody wants a box of chocolates And a long stem rose Everybody knows

A cross on every hill A star, a minaret So many graves to fill O love, aren't you tired yet?

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming Everybody knows that it's moving fast Everybody knows that the naked man and woman Are just a shining artifact of the past

Yeah I missed you since the place got wrecked By the winds of change and the weeds of sex looks like freedom but it feels like death it's something in between, I guess

I walked into this empty church I had no place else to go When the sweetest voice I ever heard, whispered to my soul

I heard the snake was baffled by his sin He shed his scales to find the snake within But born again is born without a skin The poison enters into everything

And summoned now to deal With your invincible defeat, You live your life as if it’s real, A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I’m slowing down the tune I never liked it fast You want to get there soon I want to get there last

When they said REPENT REPENT I wonder what they meant

Her thighs they slipped away from me Like schools of startled fish Though I've forgotten half my life I still remember this

And if no leaves were on the tree And no water in the sea And the break of day had nothing to reveal That's how broken I would be What my life would seem to me If I didn't have your love to make it real

And yes she lied about it all Her children and her husband You were born to judge the world Forgive me but I wasn't

O troubled dust concealing An undivided love The Heart beneath is teaching To the broken Heart above

The pull of the moon, the thrust of the sun And thus the ocean is crossed The waters are blessed while a shadowy guest Kindles a light for the lost

How come you called me here tonight? How come you bother With my heart at all? You raise me up in grace, Then you put me in a place, Where I must fall.

And everybody knows that it's now or never Everybody knows that it's me or you And everybody knows that you live forever Ah when you've done a line or two

It's coming like the tidal flood beneath the lunar sway, imperial, mysterious, in amorous array:

The lights went out behind us The fireflies undressed The broken sidewalk ended I touched her sleeping breasts They opened to me urgently Likelilies from the dead Behind a fine embroidery Her nipples rose like bread Then I took off my necktie And she took off her dress My belt and pistol set aside We tore away the rest

The Maestro says it's Mozart but it sounds like bubble gum when you're waiting for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

The sea so deep and blind The sun, the wild regret The club, the wheel, the mind, O love, aren't you tired yet?

The wounded forms appear: The loss, the full extent; And simple kindness here, The solitude of strength.

If the sun would lose its light And we lived in an endless night And there was nothing left that you could feel If the sea were sand alone And the flowers made of stone And no one that you hurt could ever heal Well that's how broken I would be What my life would seem to me If I didn't have your love to make it real

But you'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone I'll be speaking to you sweetly From a window in the Tower of Song

I said I’d be your lover. You laughed at what I said. I lost my job forever. I was counted with the dead.

It failed my little fire But it's bright the dying spark Go tell the young messiah What happens to the heart

Good night, good night, my fallen star I guess you're right, you always are I know you're right about the blues You live some life you'd never choose

looks like freedom but it feels like death it's something in between, I guess

I've seen you change the water into wine I've seen you change it back to water, too I sit at your table every night I try but I just don't get high with you

The present's not that pleasant Just a lot of things to do I thought the past would last me But the darkness got that too

The splinters that you carry The cross you left behind Come healing of the body Come healing of the mind

I wish there was a treaty we could sign I do not care who takes this bloody hill I'm angry and I'm tired all the time I wish there was a treaty, I wish there was a treaty Between your love and mine

I’m lacing up my shoe But I don’t want to run I’ll get here when I do Don’t need no starting gun

Thanks For The Dance

Ah, they're dancing in the street — it's Jubilee We sold ourselves for love but now we're free I'm so sorry for that ghost I made you be Only one of us was real and that was me

And I'm still working with the wine, still dancing cheek to cheek, the band is playing Auld Lang Syne, but the heart will not retreat.

And maybe I had miles to drive, And promises to keep: You ditch it all to stay alive, A Thousand Kisses Deep.

Baby don’t ignore me We were smokers we were friends Forget that tired story Of betrayal and revenge

So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll I'm very sorry, baby, doesn't look like me at all I'm standing by the window where the light is strong Ah they don't let a woman kill you Not in the Tower of Song

Show me the place, help me roll away the stone Show me the place, I can't move this thing alone Show me the place where the word became a man Show me the place where the suffering began

And you're weak and you're harmless and you're sleeping in your harness and the wind going wild in the trees, and it ain't exactly prison but you'll never be forgiven for whatever you've done with the keys.

Steer your heart past the Truth that you believed in yesterday Such as Fundamental Goodness and the Wisdom of the Way Steer your heart, precious heart, past the women whom you bought Year by year, month by month, day by day Thought by thought

Word of words and measure of all measures Blessed is the name, the name be blessed Written on my heart in burning letters That’s all I know, I cannot read the rest

And O my love, I still recall The pleasures that we knew; The rivers and the waterfall, Wherein I bathed with you.

You said how could this happen You said how can this be The chains are gone from heaven The storms are wild and free

I cried for you this morning And I’ll cry for you again But I’m not in charge of sorrow So please don’t ask me when

Both of us say there are laws to obey But frankly I don’t like your tone You want to change the way I make love I want to leave it alone

Behold the gates of mercy In arbitrary space And none of us deserving The cruelty or the grace

Then I came back from where I’d been. My room, it looked the same – But there was nothing left between The Nameless and the Name.

O longing of the branches To lift the little bud O longing of the arteries To purify the blood

I to my side call the meek and the mild You to your side call the Word By virtue of suffering I claim to have won You claim to have never been heard

I know I said I’d meet you, I’d meet you at the store, But I can’t buy it, baby. I can’t buy it anymore.

I was idle with my soul, when I heard that you could use me I followed very closely, but my life remained the same But then you showed me where you had been wounded In every atom broken is the Name

I fled to the edge of the mighty sea of sorrow Pursued by the riders of a cruel and dark regime But the waters parted and my soul crossed over Out of Egypt, out of Pharaoh’s dream

They whisper still, the injured stones The blunted mountains weep As he died to make men holy Let us die to make things cheap

Sounded like the truth Seemed the better way Sounded like the truth But it's not the truth today

Hurt once and for all into silence. A long pain ending without a song to prove it. Who could stand beside you so close to Eden, When you glinted in every eye the held-high razor, shivering every ram and son?

Sleep baby sleep The day’s on the run The wind in the trees Is talking in tongues

And I loved you when our love was blessed and I love you now there's nothing left

There's silt on your ankles and sand on your feet The river too shallow, the ocean too deep You smile at your suffering, the sweetest reprieve Why did you leave us, why did you leave

I saw some people starving There was murder, there was rape Their villages were burning They were trying to escape I couldn't meet their glances I was staring at my shoes It was acid, it was tragic It was almost like the blues

If you want a partner Take my hand Or if you want to strike me down in anger Here I stand, I'm your man

Ah I don't believe you'd like it, You wouldn't like it here. There ain't no entertainment and the judgements are severe.

The opposites falter, the spirals reverse And Eve must re-enter the sleep of her birth

I don't need to be forgiven for loving you so much It's written in the scriptures It's written there in blood I even heard the angels declare it from above

Sometimes I’d head for the highway I’m old and the mirrors don’t lie But crazy has places to hide in That are deeper than any goodbye

If you want a boxer I will step into the ring for you And if you want a doctor I'll examine every inch of you

Yeah we're drinking and we're dancing but there's nothing really happening and the place is dead as Heaven on a Saturday night And my very close companion gets me fumbling gets me laughing she's a hundred but she's wearing something tight and I lift my glass to the Awful Truth which you can't reveal to the Ears of Youth except to say it isn't worth a dime And the whole damn place goes crazy twice and it's once for the devil and once for Christ but the Boss don't like these dizzy heights we're busted in the blinding lights, busted in the blinding lights of CLOSING TIME

I want him to be certain That he doesn't have a burden That he doesn't need a vision That he only has permission To do my instant bidding which is to Say what I have told him to repeat

Though I take my song From a withered limb, Both song and tree, They sing for him.

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking Everybody knows that the captain lied Everybody got this broken feeling Like their father or their dog just died

Ditched on a beach Where the sea hates to go With a child in my arms And a chill in my soul And my heart the shape Of a begging bowl

And she says, Drink deeply, pilgrim but don't forget there's still a woman beneath this resplendent chemise.

You don't need a lawyer I'm not making a claim You don't need to surrender I'm not taking aim I don't need a lover, no, no The wretched beast is tame I don't need a lover So blow out the flame

O gather up the brokenness And bring it to me now The fragrance of those promises You never dared to vow

And I don’t really know who sent me, To raise my voice and say: May the lights in The Land of Plenty Shine on the truth some day.

There's a bar where the boys have stopped talking They've been sentenced to death by the blues

I know the burden’s heavy As you wheel it through the night Some people say it’s empty But that don’t mean it’s light

Ten New Songs

I better hold my tongue I better take my place Lift this glass of blood Try to say the grace

You came to me this morning and you handled me like meat. You’d have to be a man to know how good that feels, how sweet.

A sip of wine, a cigarette, And then it’s time to go. I tidied up the kitchenette; I tuned the old banjo. I’m wanted at the traffic-jam. They’re saving me a seat. I’m what I am, and what I am, Is back on Boogie Street.

Down in the valley the famine goes on The famine up on the hill I say that you shouldn’t, you couldn’t, you can’t You say that you must and you will

So we struggle and we stagger down the snakes and up the ladder to the tower where the blessed hours chime and I swear it happened just like this: a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss the Gates of Love they budged an inch I can't say much has happened since

And I'll bury my soul in a scrapbook, With the photographs there, and the moss And I'll yield to the flood of your beauty My cheap violin and my cross

Then she dances so graceful and your heart's hard and hateful and she's naked but that's just a tease. And you turn in disgust from your hatred and from your love and comes to you light as the breeze.

I see the Ghost of Culture With numbers on his wrist Salute some new conclusion Which all of us have missed

I tried to love you my way, But I couldn’t make it hold. So I closed the Book of Longing And I do what I am told.

And up through the system the worlds are withdrawn From every dominion the mind stood upon And now that it's over and now that it's done The name has no number, not even the one

You got me singing Like a prisoner in a jail You got me singing Like my pardon's in the mail

You can add up the parts But you won't have the sum You can strike up the march, There is no drum Every heart, every heart To love will come But like a refugee.

Everybody knows you've been discreet But there were so many people you just had to meet Without your clothes And everybody knows

It's coming from the sorrow in the street, the holy places where the races meet; from the homicidal bitchin' that goes down in every kitchen to determine who will serve and who will eat. From the wells of disappointment where the women kneel to pray for the grace of God in the desert here and the desert far away:

Even though she sleeps upon your satin Even though she wakes you with a kiss Do not say the moment was imagined Do not stoop to strategies like this

I smile when I'm angry I cheat and I lie I do what I have to do To get by But I know what is wrong And I know what is right And I'd die for the truth In My Secret Life

I loved you for your beauty but that doesn't make a fool of me: you were in it for your beauty too and I loved you for your body there's a voice that sounds like God to me declaring, declaring, declaring that your body's really you

O baby I waited so long for your kiss for something to happen, oh something like this.

O let the heavens falter And let the earth proclaim: Come healing of the Altar Come healing of the Name

If you're squeezed for information, that's when you've got to play it dumb: You just say you're out there waiting for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

You put on a uniform To fight the Civil War You looked so good I didn’t care What side you’re fighting for

Did you confuse the Messiah in a mirror and rest because he had finally come? Let me cry Help beside you, Teacher.

It's coming to America first, the cradle of the best and of the worst. It's here they got the range and the machinery for change and it's here they got the spiritual thirst. It's here the family's broken and it's here the lonely say that the heart has got to open in a fundamental way:

I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does it get? Hank Williams hasn't answered yet But I hear him coughing all night long A hundred floors above me In the Tower of Song

Sail on, sail on O mighty Ship of State! To the Shores of Need Past the Reefs of Greed Through the Squalls of Hate Sail on, sail on

Ah the wars they will Be fought again The holy dove She will be caught again Bought and sold And bought again The dove is never free.

I should have seen it coming It was right behind your eyes You were young and it was summer I just had to take a dive Winning you was easy But darkness was the prize

The party’s over But I’ve landed on my feet I’ll be standing on this corner Where there used to be a street

I know you had to lie to me, I know you had to cheat, to pose all hot and high behind the veils of shear deceit, our perfect porn aristocrat so elegant and cheap, I’m old but I’m still into that, A thousand kisses deep.

It’s not a trick, your senses all deceiving A fitful dream, the morning will exhaust – Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost

If you want a lover I'll do anything you ask me to And if you want another kind of love I'll wear a mask for you

It's dark now and it's snowing O my love I must be going, The river has started to freeze. And I'm sick of pretending I'm broken from bending I've lived too long on my knees.

Well I don't know about tomorrow but I know what's coming next I've used up all my questions; I have no answers left

As for the world the job the war I ditched them all to love you more

The story's been written the letter's been sealed You gave me a lily but now it's a field

Your story was so long, The plot was so intense, It took you years to cross The lines of self-defense.

And soon there's sand in every kiss And soon the dawn is ready And soon the night surrenders To a daffodil machete

Waiting for the miracle There's nothing left to do. I haven't been this happy since the end of World War II.

The troubles came I saved what I could save A thread of light, a particle, a wave But there were chains, so I hastened to behave There were chains, so I loved you like a slave

his waltz With its very own breath of brandy and Death Dragging its tail in the sea

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom For trying to change the system from within I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

They oughta give my heart a medal For letting go of you When I turned my back on the devil Turned my back on the angel too

Had to go crazy to love you You who were never the one Whom I chased through the souvenir heartache Her braids and her blouse all undone

Well the mouse ate the crumb Then the cat ate the crust Now they’ve fallen in love They’re talking in tongues

There’s other ways to answer That certainly is true Me, I’m blind with death and anger And that’s no place for you

I'm guided by a signal in the heavens I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons

I was fighting with temptation But I didn't want to win A man like me don't like to see Temptation caving in

I know that I’m forgiven, But I don’t know how I know I don’t trust my inner feelings – Inner feelings come and go.

And sometimes when the night is slow, The wretched and the meek, We gather up our hearts and go, A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I dreamed about you, baby. It was just the other night. Most of you was naked Ah but some of you was light.

I don’t know why I come here, knowing as I do, what you really think of me, what I really think of you.

Had to go crazy to love you Had to let everything fall Had to be people I hated Had to be no one at all

I used to love the rainbow And I used to love the view I loved the early morning I'd pretend that it was new But I caught the darkness baby And I got it worse than you

Traveling light It's au revoir My once so bright, my fallen star I'm running late, they'll close the bar I used to play one mean guitar

I dreamed about you baby You were wearing half your dress I know you have to hate me But could you hate me less?

The night of Santiago And I was passing through So I took her to the river As any man would do

Let's keep it on the level When I walked away from you I turned my back on the devil Turned my back on the angel too

I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed, I’m back on Boogie Street. You lose your grip, and then you slip Into the Masterpiece.

So we'll go no more a-roving So late into the night, Though the heart be still as loving, And the moon be still as bright. For the sword outwears its sheath, And the soul outwears the breast, And the heart must pause to breathe, And love itself have rest.

You got me singing Even tho' it all looks grim You got me singing The Hallelujah hymn

I'm aching for you baby I can't pretend I'm not I need to see you naked In your body and your thought

If your heart is torn I don’t wonder why If the night is long Here’s my lullaby

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean I love the country but I can't stand the scene. And I'm neither left or right I'm just staying home tonight, getting lost in that hopeless little screen.

Now in Vienna there's ten pretty women There's a shoulder where Death comes to cry There's a lobby with nine hundred windows There's a tree where the doves go to die There's a piece that was torn from the morning And it hangs in the Gallery of Frost

Oh I want you, I want you, I want you On a chair with a dead magazine In the cave at the tip of the lily In some hallways where love's never been On a bed where the moon has been sweating In a cry filled with footsteps and sand

And everybody knows that you're in trouble Everybody knows what you've been through From the bloody cross on top of Calvary To the beach of Malibu

Ah you drift into my dreams as if you had the right And you show me how you broke me doing all the little things I really like

I gave her something pretty And I waited till she laughed I wasn't born a gypsy To make a woman sad

There is no God in Heaven And there is no Hell below So says the great professor Of all there is to know But I've had the invitation That a sinner can't refuse And it's almost like salvation It's almost like the blues

The war was lost The treaty signed I was not caught I crossed the line, I had to leave My life behind I dug some graves You'll never findI was not caught Though many tried I live among you Well disguised

Now I'm living in this temple Where they tell you what to do I'm old and I've had to settle On a different point of view

Too late to fix another drink – The lights are going out – I’ll listen to the darkness sing – I know what that’s about.

I loved you when you opened like a lily to the heat, you see I’m just another snowman standing in the rain and sleet, who loved you with his frozen love, his second hand physique, with all he is, and all he was, A thousand kisses deep.

And death is old But it's always new I freeze with fear And I'm there for you

I don't smoke no cigarette I don't drink no alcohol I ain't had much loving yet But that's always been your call Hey I don't miss it baby I got no taste for anything at all

I’ll try to say a little more: Love went on and on Until it reached an open door – Then Love Itself Love Itself was gone.

I said there'd been a flood. I said there's nothing left. I hoped that you would come. I gave you my address.

So I let my heart get frozen To keep away the rot My father says I'm chosen My mother says I'm not

O Crown of Light, O Darkened One, I never thought we’d meet. You kiss my lips, and then it’s done: I’m back on Boogie Street.

Ah, the moon's too bright The chain's too tight The beast won't go to sleep

And he cut my lip And he cut my heart. So I could not drink From the river dark.

O solitude of longing Where love has been confined Come healing of the body Come healing of the mind

My mirrored twin, my next of kin, I’d know you in my sleep and who but you would take me in, a thousand kisses deep.

Suddenly the night has grown colder The god of love preparing to depart Alexandra hoisted on his shoulder They slip between the sentries of the heart

But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags that Time cannot decay, I'm junk but I'm still holding up this little wild bouquet

The autumn moved across your skin, got something in my eye, a light that doesn’t need to live, and doesn’t need to die. A riddle in the book of love, obscure and obsolete, till witnessed here in time and blood, A thousand kisses deep.

There's nobody missing There is no reward Little by little We're cutting the cord We're spending the treasure, oh, no, no That love cannot afford I know you can feel it The sweetness restored

The ponies run, the girls are young, The odds are there to beat. You win a while, and then it’s done – Your little winning streak.

I like to take my time I like to linger as it flies A weekend on your lips A lifetime in your eyes

Then he struck my heart With a deadly force, And he said, ‘This heart: It is not yours.’

Everybody knows that you love me baby Everybody knows that you really do Everybody knows that you've been faithful Ah give or take a night or two

Steer your way past the ruins of the Altar and the Mall Steer your way through the fables of Creation and The Fall Steer your way past the Palaces that rise above the rot Year by year, month by month, day by day Thought by thought

Your crazy fragrance all around Your secrets in my view My lost, my lost was saying found My don't was saying do

Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack a crack in everything That's how the light gets in.

Steer your way through the pain that is far more real than you That's smashed the Cosmic Model, that blinded every view And please don't make me go there, though there be a God or not Year by year, month by month, day by day Thought by thought

You sent me here You sent me there Breaking things I can't repair Making objects Out of thoughts Making more By thinking not

And you who were bewildered by a meaning Whose code was broken, crucifix uncrossed – Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost

I see you standing on the other side I don't know how the river got so wide I loved you baby, way back when And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed But I feel so close to everything that we lost We'll never, we'll never have to lose it again

If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame If thine is the glory then mine must be the shame You want it darker We kill the flame

I used to be your favorite drunk Good for one more laugh Then we both ran out of luck Luck was all we ever had

There'll be the breaking of the ancient Western code Your private life will suddenly explode There'll be phantoms There'll be fires on the road And the white man dancing You'll see your woman Hanging upside down Her features covered by her fallen gown And all the lousy little poets Coming round Tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson

Confined to sex, we pressed against The limits of the sea: I saw there were no oceans left For scavengers like me.

I was born like this, I had no choice I was born with the gift of a golden voice And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond They tied me to this table right here In the Tower of Song

I’m naked and I’m filthy And both of us are guilty

the fiddler fiddles something so sublime all the women tear their blouses off and the men they dance on the polka-dots and it's partner found, it's partner lost and it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops

I've seen the future, brother: It is murder

Who broke the heart and made it new? Who's moving on, who's kiddin' who?

So I knelt there at the delta, at the alpha and the omega, at the cradle of the river and the seas. And like a blessing come from heaven for something like a second I was healed and my heart was at ease.

And there's a mighty judgment coming, but I may be wrong You see, you hear these funny voices In the Tower of Song

Upheld by the simplicities of pleasure They gain the light, they formlessly entwine And radiant beyond your widest measure They fall among the voices and the wine

When you've fallen on the highway and you're lying in the rain, and they ask you how you're doing of course you'll say you can't complain

You always said we’re equal So let me march with you Just an extra in the sequel To the old red white and blue

She stands before you naked you can see it, you can taste it, and she comes to you light as the breeze. Now you can drink it or you can nurse it, it don't matter how you worship as long as you're down on your knees.

By the rivers dark I wandered on. I lived my life in Babylon. And I did forget My holy song: And I had no strength In Babylon.

All your moves are swift All your turns are tight Let me catch my breath I thought we had all night

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A. It's coming through a crack in the wall; on a visionary flood of alcohol; from the staggering account of the Sermon on the Mount which I don't pretend to understand at all. It's coming from the silence on the dock of the bay, from the brave, the bold, the battered heart of Chevrolet: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

And let the heavens hear it The penitential hymn Come healing of the spirit Come healing of the limb

There's a lover in the story But the story's still the same There's a lullaby for suffering And a paradox to blame But it's written in the scriptures And it's not some idle claim You want it darker We kill the flame

I was alone on the road, your love was so confusing And all my teachers told me that I had myself to blame But in the grip of sensual illusion A sweet unknowing unified the name

Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name Vilified, crucified, in the human frame A million candles burning for the help that never came

They're lining up the prisoners And the guards are taking aim I struggled with some demons They were middle class and tame I didn't know I had permission to murder and to maim

So come, my friends, be not afraid. We are so lightly here. It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear.

I see my life In full review It was never me It was always you

We'll be going down so deep the river's going to weep, and the mountain's going to shout Amen!

Show me the place where my head is bendin' low Show me the place where you want your slave to go

I’m tired of choosing desire I been saved by a blessed fatigue The gates of commitment unwired And nobody trying to leave

Yeah my friends are gone and my hair is grey I ache in the places where I used to play And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on I'm just paying my rent every day Oh in the Tower of Song

There's an attic where children are playing Where I've got to lie down with you soon In a dream of Hungarian lanterns In the mist of some sweet afternoon And I'll see what you've chained to your sorrow All your sheep and your lilies of snow

We find ourselves on different sides Of a line nobody drew Though it all may be one in the higher eye Down here where we live it is two

I've seen the nations rise and fall I've heard their stories, heard them all But love's the only engine of survival Your servant here, he has been told To say it clear, to say it cold: It's over, it ain't going Any further And now the wheels of heaven stop You feel the devil's riding crop Get ready for the future: It is murder

I've heard the soul unfolds in the chambers of its longing And the bitter liquor sweetens in the hammered cup Ah but all the ladders of the night have fallen Just darkness now, to lift the longing up

Why don’t you come on back to the war, that’s right, get in it, why don’t you come on back to the war, it’s just beginning.

If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn they will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem.

An Eskimo showed me a movie he’d recently taken of you: the poor man could hardly stop shivering, his lips and his fingers were blue. I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes and I guess he just never got warm. But you stand there so nice, in your blizzard of ice, oh please let me come into the storm.

I loved your master perfectly I taught him all that he knew. He was starving in some deep mystery like a man who is sure what is true.

I have begun to long for you, I who have no greed; I have begun to ask for you, I who have no need. You say you’ve gone away from me, but I can feel you when you breathe.

Hungry as an archway through which the troops have passed, I stand in ruins behind you, with your winter clothes, your broken sandal straps.

Well, you tell me that your lover has a broken limb, you say you’re kind of restless now and it’s on account of him.

Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon Show me slowly what I only know the limits of Dance me to the end of love

I tried to leave you, I don’t deny I closed the book on us, at least a hundred times.

And I can’t wait to tell you to your face And I can’t wait for you to take my place You are The Naked Angel In My Heart You are The Woman With Her Legs Apart It’s written on the walls of this hotel You go to heaven once you’ve been to hell

Then let the other selves be wrong, yeah, let them manifest and come till every taste is on the tongue, till love is pierced and love is hung, and every kind of freedom done

O come with me my little one, we will find that farm and grow us grass and apples there and keep all the animals warm. And if by chance I wake at night and I ask you who I am, O take me to the slaughterhouse, I will wait there with the lamb.

Ah they’re shutting down the factory now Just when all the bills are due And the fields they’re under lock and key Tho’ the rain and the sun come through And springtime starts but then it stops In the name of something new And all the senses rise against this Coming back to you

Like a baby, stillborn, like a beast with his horn I have torn everyone who reached out for me.

We met when we were almost young deep in the green lilac park. You held on to me like I was a crucifix, as we went kneeling through the dark.

And there are no letters in the mailbox, and there are no grapes upon the vine, and there are no chocolates in the boxes anymore, and there are no diamonds in the mine.

I cried, “Oh, Lady Midnight, I fear that you grow old, the stars eat your body and the wind makes you cold

So daily I renew my idle duty I touch her here and there – I know my place I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty and people call me traitor to my face

But my darling says “Leonard, just let it go by That old silhouette on the great western sky” So I pick out a tune and they move right along and they’re gone like the smoke and they’re gone like this song

And why are you so quiet now standing there in the doorway? You chose your journey long before you came upon this highway.

But I swear by this song and by all that I have done wrong I will make it all up to thee.

It was deep into his fiery heart he took the dust of Joan of Arc, and then she clearly understood if he was fire, oh then she must be wood.

And Jesus was a sailor When he walked upon the water And he spent a long time watching From his lonely wooden tower And when he knew for certain Only drowning men could see him He said “All men will be sailors then Until the sea shall free them” But he himself was broken Long before the sky would open Forsaken, almost human He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone And you want to travel with him And you want to travel blind And you think maybe you’ll trust him For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind.

Your master took you travelling, well at least that’s what you said. And now do you come back to bring your prisoner wine and bread?

Your pain is no credential here, it’s just the shadow, shadow of my wound.

And here where there is no description Oh here in the moment at hand No sinner need rise up forgiven No victim need limp to the stand

I met a woman long ago her hair the black that black can go, Are you a teacher of the heart? Soft she answered no. I met a girl across the sea, her hair the gold that gold can be, Are you a teacher of the heart? Yes, but not for thee.

Oh bless thee continuous stutter Of the word being made into flesh

The cripple here that you clothe and feed is neither starved nor cold; he does not ask for your company, not at the centre, the centre of the world.

Yes, you who are broken by power, you who are absent all day, you who are kings for the sake of your children’s story, the hand of your beggar is burdened down with money, the hand of your lover is clay.

the patron Saint of envy and the grocer of despair

She used to wear her hair like you except when she was sleeping, and then she’d weave it on a loom of smoke and gold and breathing.

And may the spirit of this song, may it rise up pure and free. May it be a shield for you, a shield against the enemy.

And deep into his fiery heart he took the dust of Joan of Arc, and high above the wedding guests he hung the ashes of her wedding dress.

to wear upon my swollen appetite.“ Well, I’m glad to hear you talk this way, you know I’ve watched you riding every day and something in me yearns to win such a cold and lonesome heroine.

Come over to the window, my little darling, I’d like to try to read your palm. I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy before I let you take me home.

Then I took the dust of a long sleepless night and I put it in your little shoe. And then I confess that I tortured the dress that you wore for the world to look through.

And the light came from her body And the night went through her grace All summer long she touched me And I knew her, I knew her Face to face

Let’s meet tomorrow if you choose Upon the shore, beneath the bridge That they are building on some endless river

And I’ve read the Bill of Human Rights And some of it was true But there wasn’t any burden left So I’m laying it on you.”

I listened to your kisses at the door I never heard the world so clear before You ran your bath and you began to sing I felt so good I couldn’t feel a thing

Like a worm on a hook, like a knight from some old fashioned book I have saved all my ribbons for thee.

Now the flames they followed Joan of Arc as she came riding through the dark; no moon to keep her armour bright, no man to get her through this very smoky night.

And we read from pleasant Bibles that are bound in blood and skin That the wilderness is gathering All its children back again

And now this woman by your side, well, she’s asleep And there’s nothing you can give her and there’s nothing you want to keep

Just take this longing from my tongue all the lonely things my hands have done. Let me see your beauty broken down like you would do for one your love.

And she shows you where to look Among the garbage and the flowers There are heroes in the seaweed There are children in the morning They are leaning out for love And they will lean that way forever While Suzanne holds the mirror

Ah but if you cannot raise your love To a very high degree, Then you’re just the man I’ve been thinking of – So come and stand with me.

You who wish to conquer pain, you must learn, learn to serve me well.

Why don’t you try to do without him? Why don’t you try to live alone? Do you really need his hands for your passion? Do you really need his heart for your throne?

I left a wife in Tennessee And a baby in Saigon – I risked my life, but not to hear Some country-western song.

I did my best, it wasn’t much I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you And even though it all went wrong I’ll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Oh take this longing from my tongue, all the useless things my hands have done, untie for me your hired blue gown, like you would do for one that you love.

I heard of a saint who had loved you, so I studied all night in his school. He taught that the duty of lovers is to tarnish the golden rule. And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure he drowned himself in the pool. His body is gone but back here on the lawn his spirit continues to drool.

It’s like our visit to the moon or to that other star I guess you go for nothing if you really want to go that far.

Well I’ve been where you’re hanging, I think I can see how you’re pinned: When you’re not feeling holy, your loneliness says that you’ve sinned.

I lit a thin green candle, to make you jealous of me. But the room just filled up with mosquitos, they heard that my body was free.

Too early for the rainbow, too early for the dove These are the final days, this is the darkness, this is the flood And there is no man or woman can be touched But you who come between them will be judged

He tried to make a final stand beside the railway track She said, “The art of longing’s over and it’s never coming back.”

The judges said you missed it by a fraction rise up and brace your troops for the attack Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action Oh see the men of action falling back

Now the crickets are singing The vesper bells ringing The cat’s curled asleep in his chair I’ll go down to Bill’s Bar I can make it that far And I’ll see if my friends are still there Yes, and here’s to the few Who forgive what you do And the fewer who don’t even care And the night comes on It’s very calm I want to cross over, I want to go home But she says, Go back, go back to the World

Those who dance, begin to dance Those who weep begin Those who earnestly are lost Are lost and lost again

I asked my father, I said, “Father change my name.” The one I’m using now it’s covered up with fear and filth and cowardice and shame.

Even in your arms I know I’ll never get it right Even when you bend to give me Comfort in the night

And the last time that I saw her she was living with some boy who gives her soul an empty room and gives her body joy.

Your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you She tied you to a kitchen chair She broke your throne, and she cut your hair And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Ah, there is no comfort in the covens of the witch, some very clever doctor went and sterilized the bitch, and the only man of energy, yes the revolution’s pride, he trained a hundred women just to kill an unborn child.

Oh, your chains are too dark For the seas you must swim You are smiling at the seaweed But your smile is too grim

And I thank you, I thank you for doing your duty, you keepers of truth, you guardians of beauty. Your vision is right, my vision is wrong, I’m sorry for smudging the air with my song.

But here, right here, between the birthmark and the stain, between the ocean and your open vein, between the snowman and the rain, once again, once again, love calls you by your name.

For now I need your hidden love. I’m cold as a new razor blade. You left when I told you I was curious, I never said that I was brave.

Your letters they all say that you’re beside me now. Then why do I feel alone? I’m standing on a ledge and your fine spider web is fastening my ankle to a stone.

I leave the lady meditating on the very love which I, I do not wish to claim, I journey down the hundred steps, but the street is still the very same.

And I sing this for the captain Whose ship has not been built For the mother in confusion Her cradle still unfilled

Well, I argued all night like so many have before, saying, “Whatever you give me, I seem to need so much more.” Then she pointed at me where I kneeled on her floor, she said, “Don’t try to use me or slyly refuse me, just win me or lose me, it is this that the darkness is for.”

Some girls wander by mistake into the mess that scalpels make. Are you the teachers of my heart? We teach old hearts to break.

And now the infant with his cord is hauled in like a kite, and one eye filled with blueprints, one eye filled with night.

I believe that you heard your master sing when I was sick in bed. I suppose that he told you everything that I keep locked away in my head.

Do you remember all of those pledges That we pledged in the passionate night Ah they’re soiled now, they’re torn at the edges Like moths on a still yellow light No penance serves to renew them No massive transfusions of trust Why not even revenge can undo them So twisted these vows and so crushed

I am the distance you put between all of the moments that we will be.

I choose the rooms that I live in with care, the windows are small and the walls almost bare, there’s only one bed and there’s only one prayer; I listen all night for your step on the stair.

And now I hear your master sing, you kneel for him to come. His body is a golden string that your body is hanging from.

Through windows in the dark The children come, the children go Like arrows with no targets Like shackles made of snow

Like any dealer he was watching for the card That is so high and wild He’ll never need to deal another He was just some Joseph looking for a manger

Where are you, Judy, where are you, Anne? Where are the paths your heroes came? Wondering out loud as the bandage pulls away, was I, was I only limping, was I really lame?

And it’s time for the burden it’s time for the whip Will she walk through the flame Can he shoot from the hip

Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don’t really care for music, do you? It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah

But you’ve used up all your coupons except the one that seems to be written on your wrist along with several thousand dreams.

Maybe I’m still hurting I can’t turn the other cheek But you know that I still love you It’s just that I can’t speak I looked for you in everyone And they called me on that too I lived alone but I was only Coming back to you

And they’re handing down my sentence now And I know what I must do Another mile of silence while I’m Coming back to you

The door is open, you can’t close your shelter You try the handle of the road It opens, do not be afraid It’s you my love, you who are the stranger

I’m on the side that’s always lost Against the side of Heaven I’m on the side of Snake-eyes tossed Against the side of Seven.

But you lost them in your freedom And you need him now, you’re wild Blessed is the memory Of everybody’s child

Then fire, make your body cold, I’m going to give you mine to hold,“ saying this she climbed inside to be his one, to be his only bride.

Now the clasp of this union who fastens it tight? Who snaps it asunder the very next night Some say the rider Some say the mare Or that love’s like the smoke beyond all repair

With one hand on the hexagram and one hand on the girl I balance on a wishing well that all men call the world.

As a falling leaf may rest A moment on the air So your head upon my breast So my hand upon your hair

I’m not asking for mercy Not from the man You just don’t ask for mercy While you’re still on the stand

And many nights endure Without a moon or star So we will endure When one is gone and far

And then leaning on your window sill He’ll say one day you caused his will To weaken with your love and warmth and shelter

The rain falls down on last year’s man An hour has gone by And he has not moved his hand But everything will happen if he only gives the word The lovers will rise up And the mountains touch the ground But the skylight is like skin for a drum I’ll never mend And all the rain falls down amen On the works of last year’s man

You’re faithful to the better man, I’m afraid that he left. So let me judge your love affair in this very room where I have sentenced mine to death.

If I, if I have been untrue I hope you know it was never to you.

Then I saw you naked in the early dawn, oh, I hoped you would be someone new. I reached for you but you were gone, so lady I’m going too.

And there’s nothing to follow There’s nowhere to go She’s gone like the summer gone like the snow

That’s all I can say, baby That’s all I can say It wasn’t for nothing That they put me away I fell with my angel Down the chain of command There’s a Law, there’s an Arm, there’s a Hand

Lost in the rages of fragrance Lost in the rags of remorse Lost in the waves of a sickness That loosens the high silver nerves

When I am on a pedestal, you did not raise me there. Your laws do not compel me to kneel grotesque and bare. I myself am the pedestal for this ugly hump at which you stare

We are so small between the stars, so large against the sky, and lost among the subway crowds I try to catch your eye.

You met him at some temple, where they take your clothes at the door. He was just a numberless man in a chair who’d just come back from the war.

And when we fell together all our flesh was like a veil That I had to draw aside to see The serpent eat its tail

Some women wait for Jesus, and some women wait for Cain So I hang upon my altar And I hoist my axe again And I take the one who finds me back to where it all began When Jesus was the honeymoon And Cain was just the man

But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still My falsity had stung me like a hornet The poison sank and it paralysed my will

in city and in forest they smiled like me and you, but now it’s come to distances and both of us must try, your eyes are soft with sorrow, Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.

Now my heart’s like a blister From doing what I do If the moon has a sister It’s got to be you

And where, where, where is my Gypsy wife tonight I’ve heard all the wild reports, they can’t be right But whose head is this she’s dancing with on the threshing floor Whose darkness deepens in her arms a little more

Do you want to be the ditch around a tower? Do you want to be the moonlight in his cave? Do you want to give your blessing to his power as he goes whistling past his daddy, past his daddy’s grave

If it be your will That a voice be true From this broken hill I will sing to you From this broken hill All your praises they shall ring If it be your will To let me sing

The age of lust is giving birth, and both the parents ask the nurse to tell them fairy tales on both sides of the glass.

But let me ask you one more time, O children of the dusk, All these hunters who are shrieking now oh do they speak for us?

And the vow of compassion That you swore through your teeth When the war began to end And the photographs weep

Goodnight, my darling, I hope you’re satisfied, the bed is kind of narrow, but my arms are open wide. And here’s a man still working for your smile.

Yes you who must leave everything that you cannot control. It begins with your family, but soon it comes around to your soul.

I’m not looking for another as I wander in my time, walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me, it’s just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea, but let’s not talk of love or chains and things we can’t untie, your eyes are soft with sorrow, Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.

Do not dress in those rags for me, I know you are not poor; you don’t love me quite so fiercely now when you know that you are not sure, it is your turn, beloved, it is your flesh that I wear.

A war between the odd and the even.

Well I stepped into an avalanche, it covered up my soul; when I am not this hunchback that you see, I sleep beneath the golden hill.

And here, right here, between the dancer and his cane, between the sailboat and the drain, between the newsreel and your tiny pain, once again, once again, love calls you by your name.

I changed my style to silver I changed my clothes to black And where I would surrender Ah now I would attack

She said, "I’m tired of the war, I want the kind of work I had before, a wedding dress or something white to wear upon my swollen appetite.”

Then lay your rose on the fire The fire give up to the sun The sun give over to splendour In the arms of the high holy one

And draw us near And bind us tight All your children here In their rags of light In our rags of light All dressed to kill And end this night If it be your will

I met a man who lost his mind in some lost place I had to find, follow me the wise man said, but he walked behind.

I asked her to hold me, I said, “Lady, unfold me,” but she scorned me and she told me I was dead and I could never return.

Well I lived with a child of snow when I was a soldier, and I fought every man for her until the nights grew colder.

Into this furnace I ask you now to venture…

She took his tavern parliament, his cap, his cocky dance, she mocked his female fashions and his working-class moustache.

Like a bird on the wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free.

She took his much admired oriental frame of mind and the heart-of-darkness alibi his money hides behind She took his blonde madonna and his monastery wine – “This mental space is occupied and everything is mine.”

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river You can hear the boats go by You can spend the night beside her And you know that she’s half crazy But that’s why you want to be there And she feeds you tea and oranges That come all the way from China And just when you mean to tell her That you have no love to give her Then she gets you on her wavelength And she lets the river answer That you’ve always been her lover And you want to travel with her And you want to travel blind And you know that she will trust you For you’ve touched her perfect body with your mind.

So, now that you’ve decided To follow the sun Like a shadow of birds Or a king on the run

Well, I’ve been waiting, I was sure We’d meet between the trains we’re waiting for I think it’s time to board another Please understand, I never had a secret chart To get me to the heart of this Or any other matter While he talks like this, you don’t know what he’s after When he speaks like this, you don’t know what he’s after

Or she’ll make a break for the high plateau where there’s nothing above and there’s nothing below

The baby’s crying, so you do not go outside, and all your work it’s right before your eyes.

I met a lady, she was playing with her soldiers in the dark Oh one by one she had to tell them That her name was Joan of Arc

And you wrap up his tired face in your hair and he hands you the apple core. Then he touches your lips now so suddenly bare of all the kisses we put on some time before.

I fought in the old revolution on the side of the ghost and the King. Of course I was very young and I thought that we were winning; I can’t pretend I still feel very much like singing as they carry the bodies away.

Oh, you are really such a pretty one. I see you’ve gone and changed your name again. And just when I climbed this whole mountainside, to wash my eyelids in the rain!

Do you need to hold a leash to be a lady?

And who are you?“ she sternly spoke to the one beneath the smoke. "Why, I’m fire,” he replied, “And I love your solitude, I love your pride.

Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove

Just open up your dainty little hand. You know this life is filled with many sweet companions, many satisfying one-night stands.

And come forth from the cloud of unknowing And kiss the cheek of the moon

But climb on your tears and be silent Like a rose on its ladder of thorns

the crumbs of love that you offer me, they’re the crumbs I’ve left behind.

Yes, and here, right here between the moonlight and the lane, between the tunnel and the train, between the victim and his stain, once again, once again, love calls you by your name.

There’s a blaze of light in every word It doesn’t matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah

There is a war between the ones who say there is a war and the ones who say there isn’t.

Oh sometimes I see her undressing for me, she’s the soft naked lady love meant her to be and she’s moving her body so brave and so free. If I’ve got to remember that’s a fine memory.

O lady with your legs so fine O stranger at your wheel, You are locked into your suffering and your pleasures are the seal.

He said, "I locked you in this body, I meant it as a kind of trial. You can use it for a weapon, or to make some woman smile.”

But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame She said at last I was her finest lover and if she withered I would be to blame

You will never see a man this naked I will never hold a woman this close

And you say you’ve been humbled in love Cut down in your love Forced to kneel in the mud next to me Ah but why so bitterly turn from the one Who kneels there as deeply as thee

I went down to the place Where I knew she lay waiting Under the marble and the snow I said, Mother I’m frightened The thunder and the lightning I’ll never come through this alone She said, I’ll be with you My shawl wrapped around you My hand on your head when you go And the night came on It was very calm I wanted the night to go on and on But she said, Go back, Go back to the World

May Christ have mercy on your soul For making such a joke Amid these hearts that burn like coal And the flesh that rose like smoke.

As the mist leaves no scar On the dark green hill So my body leaves no scar On you and never will

I showed my heart to the doctor: he said I just have to quit. Then he wrote himself a prescription, and your name was mentioned in it! Then he locked himself in a library shelf with the details of our honeymoon, and I hear from the nurse that he’s gotten much worse and his practice is all in a ruin.

And though I wear a uniform I was not born to fight All these wounded boys you lie beside Goodnight, my friends, goodnight

One by one, the guests arrive The guests are coming through The open-hearted many The broken-hearted few And no one knows where the night is going And no one knows why the wine is flowing Oh love I need you

I greet you from the other side Of sorrow and despair With a love so vast and shattered It will reach you everywhere

So you moved away the mountain That the sun rose behind And you said yourself a prayer And laid down with the blind

Your body like a searchlight my poverty revealed, I would like to try your charity until you cry, “Now you must try my greed.” And everything depends upon how near you sleep to me

and I lean from my window sill in this old hotel I chose, yes one hand on my suicide, one hand on the rose.

Ah the silver knives are flashing in the tired old cafe A ghost climbs on the table in a bridal negligee She says, My body is the light, my body is the way” I raise my arm against it all and I catch the bride’s bouquet

Children have takes these pledges They have ferried them out of the past Oh beyond all the graves and the hedges Where love must go hiding at last

It’s hard to hold the hand of anyone Who is reaching for the sky just to surrender

The river is swollen up with rusty cans and the trees are burning in your promised land.

Your father’s gone a-hunting Through the silver and the glass Where only greed can enter But spirit, spirit cannot pass

And all the ladies go moist, and the judge has no choice, a singer must die for the lie in his voice.

and there is no space but there’s left and right and there is no time but there’s day and night

Your father’s gone a-hunting And he’s lost his lucky charm And he’s lost the guardian heart That keeps the hunter from the harm

It’s not the news of burning towns that ruins your mind Like a spool you turn and you turn but it won’t unwind No these wars you did not start, they don’t tear your sleep apart It’s just a man taking what he needs from the store room

True love leaves no traces If you and I are one It’s lost in our embraces Like stars against the sun

And the crickets are breaking his heart with their song as the day caves in and the night is all wrong

Now the courtroom is quiet, but who will confess. Is it true you betrayed us? The answer is Yes. Then read me the list of the crimes that are mine, I will ask for the mercy that you love to decline.

I sang my songs, I told my lies, to lie between your matchless thighs.

Why do you stand by the window Abandoned to beauty and pride The thorn of the night in your bosom The spear of the age in your side

And clenching your fist for the ones like us who are oppressed by the figures of beauty, you fixed yourself, you said, “Well never mind, we are ugly but we have the music.”

Trav'ling lady stay awhile until the night is over. I’m just a station on your way, I know I’m not your lover.

Just take this longing from my tongue, all the useless things my hands have done, let me see your beauty broken down, like you would do for one you love.

Let your mercy spill On all these burning hearts in hell If it be your will To make us well

Oh the world is sweet the world is wide and she’s there where the light and the darkness divide and the steam’s coming off her she’s huge and she’s shy and she steps on the moon when she paws at the sky

And while he talks his dreams to sleep You notice there’s a highway That is curling up like smoke above his shoulder

For the heart with no companion For the soul without a king For the prima ballerina Who cannot dance to anything

You kept right on loving, I went on a fast, now I am too thin and your love is too vast.

I saw her wince, I saw her cry, I saw the glory in her eye. Myself I long for love and light, but must it come so cruel, and oh so bright?

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm, your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm, yes many loved before us, I know that we are not new, in city and in forest they smiled like me and you

Well you know that I love to live with you, but you make me forget so very much. I forget to pray for the angels and then the angels forget to pray for us.

I know you need your sleep now, I know your life’s been hard. But many men are falling, where you promised to stand guard.

And she comes to his hand but she’s not really tame She longs to be lost he longs for the same

Now I look for her always I’m lost in this calling I’m tied to the threads of some prayer Saying, When will she summon me When will she come to me What must I do to prepare When she bends to my longing Like a willow, like a fountain She stands in the luminous air And the night comes on And it’s very calm I lie in her arms she says, When I’m gone I’ll be yours, yours for a song

Through the days of shame that are coming Through the nights of wild distress Tho’ your promise count for nothing You must keep it nonetheless

Oh the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or gone. They were waiting for me when I thought that I just can’t go on. And they brought me their comfort and later they brought me this song. Oh I hope you run into them, you who’ve been travelling so long.

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn Dance me to the end of love

The walls of this hotel are paper-thin Last night I heard you making love to him The struggle mouth to mouth and limb to limb The grunt of unity when he came in I stood there with my ear against the wall I was not seized by jealousy at all In fact a burden lifted from my soul I heard that love was out of my control

Your standing days are done,“ I cried, “You’ll rally me no more. I don’t even know what side We fought on, or what for.

[pollylynn]

Title: Devisal WC: 2000 Episode: Knockout (3 x 24)

What will she give to this? The thing she walked away from. The thing that gave chase. The thing she has since turned on and bared her teeth, her claws, but what will she give to this?

Time.

This has been the answer for weeks. It has been the answer for months.

She fetches down her mother’s ring from its nail behind the shutters, from the place where it stands watch among the photos, the ragged-edged news clippings, the tight scrawl of her own writing. She begins a new thicket of hash marks—sixteen weeks today. Sixteen times she has fetched down her mother’s ring.

She fetches her mother’s ring from its tucked away place inside her jacket, from where it nestles as close to her body as she can bear these days. She fetches it out and stares as it catches the sallow fluorescent light, as she waits for the buzzer to make the cage sting out. The tiny stone flickers with all its might, urgent as an SOS. The chain hisses against itself as the ring spins. It winds. It unwinds.

She mechanically thanks one guard—a different one each week. A different one much of the time? She’s not sure. There’s only the wait for the buzzer, the cage singing out. There is only the ring with its frantic shower of minute sparks.

And then there is the dance with the man beyond the cage. The man inside is a constant. Ryker. She knows his name. She doesn’t know his name. Now slides past then. This time swaps places with last time—with the last fifteen times. Time is what she gives. This is what she gets, a street punk’s game of Three-Card Monte. Find the Lady. Find the Lady.

She knows the man inside, but he does not know her. What will she give to this? Nothing of herself. Nothing of who she is. This is the bargain she has struck.

She grits her teeth. Officer Ryker, she says, and maybe it’s pleasant. Maybe it’s not. Either way, He has a smile at the ready and a lame joke teed up—today it’s a serial arsonist, an armed robber. For her part, there is the polite laugh. When did that start, she wonders? How much time trickled to the bottom of the hourglass before this became their version of Hi, honey, how was your day?

He—Officer Ryker—puts the kettle on, as it were. He dials up the next man inside, some other faceless inconstant, she thinks. A different one each week. A different one much of the time? Ryker rattles off Hal Lockwood’s prisoner ID from memory.

He does not know her. He has never asked why she comes, who Lockwood is to her, what it is she comes in search of, week after week. He simply does everything she does, backwards in uniform-issue shoes.

This is before, though. This is the fifteen times before, and time is suddenly not enough.

*******************

What will she give to this? The thing that has come for her at last. The thing that has the audacity to tell her that she is not predator, but prey. What is it now that she will she give?

A fucking show.

She blocks Castle’s apologies, his empathy, his pity, like so many blows raining down in the chaos of a bar brawl. She knocks him off balance. She makes a point of how off-kilter they are—how out of the loop he is. It’s all part of the show. He’s sorry about McCallister’s execution? He must not have the faintest idea what she’s been doing for all these weeks, all these months. McCallister’s murder goes in the win column. It’s the paper trail of her dreams. It’s Christmas in May.

Stricken by this, wounded and terrified, by her and for her, he still musters up the courage to point out that Lockwood’s cage is unlikely to rattle? She shows him her back. She struts away at speed, tossing revelations over her shoulder: Lockwood is the B-plot. He is nothing but a drop-kick lapdog. She’s going after the king of the beasts, armed with a chair and a whip.

And that’s all just Act I.

Act II. Interior: Bullpen. She is in constant motion. She she raps out unnecessary orders. The boys are on the case of who ordered Lockwood’s transfer. They are on the tail-chasing mission of trying to find something—anything—on the courtroom impostors. They are on the chopper and recordings of Lockwood’s calls. They are on the job of stating the obvious—say hello to Charlie and Mike: She is Lockwood’s next target, and that suits her just fine.

But it’s a plot twist. It’s an uproar. It’s a red herring? Maybe it’s a red herring.

Everyone’s blood runs cold when the Captain points out that she’d have already been dead on the courtroom floor if it were her back with a target painted on it. There’s no pause for a dramatic musical cue. Castle is on his feet. He is on exposition duty, desperate to change the narrative. his hands fly across the murder board, swapping file photos from slot to slot to slot until the letters that sprawl across each one to spell out deceased become nothing but a blur. Find the lady. Find the lady.

Her eyes are locked on her mother’s picture, the one fixed point she can find amid the frenetic show-time energy. Her ring is missing. The shutters and the nail that tips its head toward the ceiling are nowhere to be found. There is no shower of tiny sparks and no hiss of the chain against itself as it winds, unwinds, winds again.

.

And still, she’s putting on a show. They are putting on a show, and this is how it happens.

What will she give to this? Every poor player among them, piece by piece. Now. This is what she will give.

*******************

What will she give to this? The ravenous, undying thing that winds itself around her and drops its venom in her ear. There is no question of predator and prey now, there is only who she has been and this undying thing, entwined. The words of Gary McCallister, of Hal Lockwood bubble up—So much bigger than you realize. You can’t hide from him. These, whispers the ravenous, undying thing, are the only true words ever spoken. And for this truth, to this truth, what will she give?

Her mind. Her heart. The twanging snip of threads that have bound her to life—to everything other than this. She will give in. That is what she will give.

It begins in the hangar. It begins with the chopper, scrubbed down, reeking of bleach, looming. It begins with one pathetic bullet hole. Details swirl in the air—stolen, hedge fund, the Caribbean. Wherever her feet land, wherever her shoulders try to straighten themselves, the shadow of the hulking bird presses down on her. This is the metaphor.

Why now?

The question is hers. It is not hers. It is the slither and hiss of threads untangling in her mind, though her voice—out in the world—sounds normal. It sounds like a perfectly reasonable thing to ask, and he shrugs. He calculates exactly the gesture, his tone, the glance delivered on an oblique angle. He is wary. He is managing her.

Time, planning, resources, he says, and every molecule of air in that hangar thrums with black suspicion.

What if it was something else?

There is is again, the slither and hiss. What if it was him? That’s what the ravenous, undying thing wants to know.

I will do anything that you need, including nothing, if that's what you want.

What kind of fool believes that, when he’s standing there, perfectly at home next to a two-million-dollar toy,? He gives a makes sense, yeah, that’ll happen nod as Esposito explains the owner might never have even realized the fucking bird was gone without her one pathetic shot dimpling its tail.

Makes sense, he nods, and what kind idiot would never think to wonder what strings he has been pulling since Dick Coonan, since John Raglan, since she was pathetic enough, needy enough to name him someone she trusts? She lives with his ego, day in and day out. She lives with his savior complex, and what if it was him who set all this in motion?

That’s it. That’s it. The frantic blur of bent plastic cards comes to an end. Find the Lady.

She gives in. She lets the black suspicion rear up and bare its fangs, and when he comes to her—when he dares come to her as though he knows her—she strikes.

What about you, Rick?

Is that what we are?

We are over.

And just like that, she is free. She is swallowed whole. She floats, weightless, in the black.

She gives in.

*********************

What will she give to this? What has she given to this?

Her family. The one she has built. The one that has built itself around her. The one that lies in ruins at her feet, because she let this thing blot out everything else in existence.

What has she given to this that she can never reclaim?

A decade and more of her life, spent in hiding—spent behind the cheap plastic mask of a heroine, an avenging angel, a dutiful daughter, a warrior. There is the twanging snip of a frayed elastic band, the almost silent fall of an unconvincing disguise falling, falling.

What is left to her—of her—after all she has given to this?

Nothing.

That is the slither and hiss again. That is cowardice that will not see the shower of tiny sparks, that will not heed the urgent SOS sent out by what little of her mother she can carry with her.

And she does carry her mother with her on this day of days. She wears the delicate links of chain next to her skin, beneath the suffocating weight of her dress uniform. She feels her heart beating, beating, beating, against the solid circle of it. She feels unworthy of it. She knows she is unworthy of it. But she carries her mother with her on this day of days. She heeds that urgent message at last.

What is left of her—to her—after all she has thrown on the pyre? Not nothing.

There is a sea of stalwart shoulders around her, bowed by grief that is hers, that is theirs, that is a terrible weight shared among them. There is a sea of tear-streaked faces brave enough to seek the sun, even now. There is a sea of warriors and dutiful daughters, of shining examples, giving and receiving grace. There is a wordless chorus that knocks around the hollow remains of her mind, her heart, as if to say This is how it’s done. This is how we mourn. Together. This is how.

This is what bravery is—to hear them. This is what is righteous and healing—to be a shoulder, a face, a spark of grace, given and received.

What is left?

He is left. She is left. They are left, despite her craven pronouncements, despite his lies of omission and barbed-wire truths. They are left.

She speaks this into being. A tremulous, unfamiliar voice that seems to be hers speaks this unassailable fact into being.

You find someone to stand with you.

It is a beginning. Not a harvest, but a tentative vision for what might grow here. It is not a question. Not yet. She is still in pieces. He is still in ruins. They are still dragon’s teeth, scattered on still-smoking ground, waiting to be human. Waiting to see if they can be human, alone and together.

But still, it is a beginning—a nascent question: What can she take from this?

A/N: So. After taking on a spur-of-the-moment, enormous editing project with a tight deadline, There was total lack of morphousness until 3 AM. Sprawling, writhing lack of morphousness that was only half of this. So I had to add a second half of absolute absence of morphousness this morning, obviously. OBVIOUSLY.

images via homeofthenutty

[violeswaifu]

🌸YUKIMURA CHARACTER/ROUTE/EVENTS SPAM!!🌸:

Lately I’ve done a lot of spams that I hope people have liked. I’ve done a spam on a lot of shadow routes but also 2/3 of the top rated Slbp rated characters.

(Saizo✅ and Masamune✅)

(I combined Saizo’s with his little brother, both different summaries ofc)

So I guess it’s time to include Yukimura in a spam? Here’s my collection of photos of him and lengthy opinions as always. Like a lot of words ahead

Our lovely Donut lover. I actually like donuts a lot and this is something we have in common so like +500 for you

The Sanada brothers are so amazing and adorable haha. Nobuyuki was actually in an event recently, idk what to think yet but he’s hilarious in the routes/events. Yukimura has a really fun and unproblematic family so it’s always refreshing 😂 (totally not hinting at Saizo and mainly Masamune)

Our so called shy boy seems to know what he’s doing hey?

☝🏼these screenshots were right next to a picture of my husbands (like my real life one) sleeping face and idek why but it was hilarious.

Did you read the claim me at last epilogue or remember it? If you want more screenshots of it let me know 😂it’s a will do

I always like including these type of pictures, considering giving a girl a hairpin or Kanzashi, often were signs of marital status, class, etc. But right here samurai give their women hairpins as in a marriage proposal, correct me if I’m wrong though

So before we begin: I tried my best with this review, for some reason writing this review had me on like 100 with being hyper. I also asked a friend to assist me since it’s been awhile since I’ve done Yukimura’s

Route summary as always kinda spoilers:

Remember how I said Masamune’s route gave me my virginity back? Yeah Yukimura’s is full on cavity sugar filled rom-com with the dark military drama

He’s kinda like a “I SHALL GIVE MY LIFE FOR MY CLAN AND MILORD SHINGEN! 😈” but mixed with a “😳🥺”

Sanada Yukimura , The Sword of Japan. One of the Sanada Ten Braves and second son of the Sanada clan

favorite food consist of donuts🍩

His weakness: women

So basically as most light routes go:

you get sent off as a poison tester in place of your younger brother Yahiko. Disguised as Yahiko you arrive to Shingen’s castle with a big pat on the back.

No really Yukimura was quick to welcome you into the ranks of men. Gotta be with the bros right? He’s so cheery about it too, like he’s so pumped up about MC being there that his retainer even had a: “I didn’t know you were doing that kind of recruiting” statement

I’d also like to add, Yukimura and Masamune visit each other’s routes quite often 😂

(tbf the only reason Masamune found out MC was a girl was because he pulled out his sword on Masamune and it cut her. SO THANKS YUKI!)

This was from a recent event story 👇🏼

Anyways, as Yuki starts to experience confusing attractions to MC (his whole experience with this is fucking hilarious)

But bam all of a sudden Yukimura finds out the MC is actually a woman because silly MC ups and slips off the roof one lovely evening and by accident he touches her chest while grabbing her. He puts two and two together then realizes, “oh shit” she was a girl.

He’s so horrified from having done this to her that he later swears to protect her and help keep her identity a secret. (He’s so cute isn’t he 😂)

Long story short, this fails because Saizo figures it all out (ofc he did lmfao) tells Shingen

she almost died

Spoiler: After Saizo and Shingen engage in a conversation about this, they concluded that MC might be a spy for the Oda. So they ordered her to be beheaded (ouch)

and then Yukimura is like

“WAIT SHES MY WIFE!”

then next thing you know they’re on their way to meet the Sanada fam.

So although there is the cute, happy parts, you’ve gotta expect the sadness ahead.

So one thing, as always the parents in this game aren’t always angelic..or alive.. haha sorry

Yuki’s dad well his dad’s expectations for Yuki is to die in battle basically. So that’s pretty interesting to look for in this route. Especially because MC’s father died giving his life up to war.

MC is pretty badass in this one too, she’s got her risky battles and their hard challenges.

MC is awesome because yk she’s not gonna just let this guy go and kill himself.

So she does something special

Spoiler:

She gave her dads hairpin to him before battle so as a promised he’ll live to return it for her.

To conclude:

MC: 9.5/10

Funny and cheesy vigin 101: 10/10

Sadness and angst: 7.8/10

Hot and bothered: just wait for the claim me at last event

Anyways Yuki is really fun and events don’t do him justice with his goofiness. I’d say it’s definitely worth it. Saizo and Yuki are definitely a good pair to do

Hell finish off the family and do Nobuyuki and Shingen next if you haven’t done it 😂

If you haven’t done Shingen’s yet: Beware, his is literally so smutt filled 🌝

Any questions or want recommendations just comment below.

Want me to do another character that I haven’t done?

(Someone actually asked about the top three the other day @gay-noodle-clan thanks for the idea 🥰)

-Raaven

-(Thanks Phebe for the help with this!)

Oh yeah I wrote this at 1:20am exactly for no specific reason.. it’s currently 9:20am and I’ve edited this so if you saw this before the edit..I’m sorry you had to see the hyper

Shadow routes I’ve reviewed:

Naraukami Kyoichiro

Kirigakure Hotaru

Mitsuba Kaede/Sogo

Routes I’m currently doing: Fujibayashi Genya

Routes I’m doing next: Fujibayashi Sakuya

My Favorite routes:

Hotaru and Kyoichiro (they are the best pair to do in the shadow routes)