#wish you could still take the money and hold the poison

[i-am-q]

Graphic 1. A rare sighting of possibly natural dopamine release through a self oriented photograph of the subject, Addie aka Dr. Keating at the boardwalk beach in Santa Cruz, CA.

Graphic 2. A video acquired on an iPhone of an 8-panel at home drug screen after saturating the assay strips with human urine obtained from Addie Keating in a Walmart bathroom outside of the San Francisco area. Source: Addie’s iPhone. Date:

On Addie’s Sobriety Journey and Why it was only ever Was associated with alcoholism

Abstract:

An eight-panel at home urine analysis of molecules was taken to see if the fentanyl poisoning was real. The symptoms were consistent with previous observations of individuals with repeated opioid abuse or kappa receptor activation Should known better. It’s too nonpolar to be expelled through metabolism I (ie. kidneys to urine). At the very least, provides strong support in favor of the subject not needing medical intervention due to a lack of morphine use, previously suggested to be abused. The results indicate that the subject is in fact a stoner with ADHD. See previous posts for proof of legal amphetamine derived prescriptions (CITE). Had the subject used FAKE PISS WOULD HAVE ZERO POSITIVE RESULTS. THIS WAS THE EXACT RESULT WE ALL EXPEXTED. The assay was administered by the subject (ie. victim) the morning after Steven from Merk saved her life blocking all kappa-gamma receptors after an excellent independent Mexican restaurant employee was forced to accept a bribe from Jed Stone (see Dresher, F reference in earlier posts) to mix 40 g of fentanyl into my rice and beans plate. The results are inconclusive regarding real fentanyl but suggest that Addie, aka Ho-O, aka G, aka me/her/she never administered high polarity opioids including morphine, heroine, hydrocodone, and codeine.

Novelty: Further evidence that not all wooks are drug addicts.

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @jijidraws

Jiji Knight is a latina pinup illustrator. Her work is overall geared toward thick ladies and dedicated to fat positivity out of a purely selfish need to create art she wished she had seen growing up. She often features sexy and soft macabre themes on vibrant or sweet colours and takes great joy in making folx feel good about themselves with her work. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration and operates out of her very sunny hometown of Las Vegas.

Check out our interview with Jiji below!

Have you ever had an art block? If so, how did you overcome it?

Oh my gosh… I have art blocks all the time. My favorite way of overcoming it is by making fanart. Funnily enough, that’s something I don’t do in my own work anymore. But there are still IPs I return to that still bring joy to my heart. I love returning to drawing Sailor Moon like when I was in first grade. Or I’ll even look up the last fashion week and start drawing the fashion week outfits from the Paris or New York show. Stuff like that is what gets my creative juices flowing.

What medium have you always been intrigued by but would never use yourself?

Resin. Resin art is so stunning. People make the most amazing and beautiful sculptures using resin, and I don’t think I could ever bring myself to play with something so complicated. There are a lot of ways to cure it, and sometimes, it doesn’t cure properly…I already work with enough chaos as it is! I respect resin artists, but I don’t think I would ever touch it. I’ve admired it from a distance. There is an artist I follow who does these resin layer paintings. So they’ll paint a layer of resin, then cure it, and paint on top of the cured layer. They build up these amazing paintings using resin…I could never. Maybe one day!

What is one interaction you had with a fan of yours that has stuck with you over the years?

I still remember…It was my first and only Flame Con in New York. I had a fan come up to my booth. They didn’t say hello or that it was nice to meet me. They started to cry! They cried, and the first words out of their mouth were, “I’ve never seen myself in artwork before.” So, of course, I started to cry! So we were just crying across the table at each other. It was just one of the sweetest interactions, and it really sticks with me still to this day.

What is a recent creative project that you are proud of?

My latest collaboration with the artist Missupacey. We’ve been collaborating for two years now, and our last collaboration was for Midsummer Scream. It was two very cute clown girls, and I designed our T-shirt. It was one of the most fun projects we’ve done in a long time. We love doing collaborative work because it keeps working in the art industry fresh—being able to bounce ideas back and forth. So we do it where someone picks the color palette, and someone picks a theme. We’ll get references together, put them on a big board, and send each other sketches. It’s really nice to work with somebody else.

How has technology changed the way you approach your work?

Honestly, it changed everything. I mean, I used to draw for myself a lot. And while I still do that, I now predominantly draw for my Patrons. For a while, I was drawing for the internet. So I was drawing stuff people wanted to see in terms of plus-sized versions of characters—a plus-sized Poison Ivy or a plus-sized Sailor Moon. My Patrons have allowed me to start drawing for myself again. But technology, for a while, essentially dominated what direction I was taking with my art, so I’m grateful to take some of that power back.

If there is one thing that you want art enthusiasts to remember you by, what would it be?

Body positivity. I would love for them to remember that there is an artist making work that is making people feel good about themselves and about the way they look at themselves.

Top tips on setting up an Artist Alley booth?

Have a method of taking money, have a method of displaying your work, and have a way to take a break. I have a plastic picnic cover that costs like a dollar at any store. All I have to do is clip it to my display grates, and it covers up my entire display. I feel secure enough to take time for myself in a 10-hour workday to eat something, go to the restroom, or even take a moment to breathe and reorganize my inventory. So it’s so funny that this one-dollar piece of plastic is like the most life-saving item in my display of items.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

@mayakern comes to mind. She is another body-positive artist who expanded into making body-positive clothing. She’s amazing, and just to see someone else out there promoting body positivity. Maya’s been doing it longer than I have, I believe. It feels good to know that I’m not alone. Her work is always stunning, and I love her body-positive DnD characters and the fact that she’s still plowing through the clothing industry. For example, she’s expanded from skirts to button-downs and even custom-wrap shirts. I love to see what she’s doing, and it inspires me to pursue different avenues with my own work.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing, Jiji! Be sure to check out their Tumblr blog over at @jijidraws.

[tragedyofdevotion]

Dependency

Yandere Kalim x reader

Please check tigger warnings ⚠️

Mentions of sexual assault, pregnancy and having thoughts of suicide (nothing explicit)

"Good evening, y/n!"

The man came in, looking as energetic as ever. No matter how much he grew up, he did not lose his childish enthusiasm, a trait that you would have appreciated if you were not in this situation.

Ignoring your lack of response, he continued, "I have a present for you today. Here it is. I knew it would be beautiful on you as soon as I saw it."

Opened before you was a box which had a pair of dangle earrings in it. Even if you were to sell all your organs to illegal trafficking routes, you probably would not be able to afford the red stone of the earring adorned in the middle by the gold decorations.

"Let me put this on you."

The man put the box down on the table alongside the other presents he gave before, and sat down on the sofa beside you. Then he proceeded to lift you up only to sit you back down on his lap.

Back at the college when you were spending days nonchalantly with your friends, you would not have thought that he was this strong. Compared to the beastmen or the eel brothers, his body was on the smaller side after all. But now you knew that he could be strong, too, when he wanted to, like when he is holding your wrist down as you struggled beneath him.

It felt disgusting. To feel a person's warmth though poor excuse of a clothing he had put you on. But you did nothing to stop him from taking the earrings from the table and put it on your ears.

No, it was not that you had become obedient to him. It was not that you grew to love him either.

It was just that this life here was not that bad.

You were here in this world without a penny to your name nor a talent to make up for the lack of money. So, you just thought that being the pet of the richest man in this world would be a better option compared to dying like stray cat on the side of the road.

Back when you were in your own world, you had to worry about your tuition fees, your bills, and the constant pressure from your parents and relatives. And when you arrived Twisted Wonderland, you had to worry about your food cost, your lack of magic and the overblots.

Howeved, in this lifestyle, you had to worry about nothing. When it was time for meals, the maids brought the most delicacies this world had to offer to you. And other times, you could just laze around in this room doing whatever you want. You could even wear the most beautiful dresses and the most expensive jewelries.

It was actually a good deal. All you had to do was stay in this room and never step a single foot outside. You were an introvert and a shut-in anyway so it did not matter much that you could not go out. After the hustle and bustle of the college days, staying alone without minding for your social battery and patience running out was something you were even glad about.

But of course, with being in this room came being accessible to him at all times. And at first, as a normal response of the kidnapped, you did fight back, you tried to claw his eyes out, tried bite off his tongue, or even your own tongue.

But still it felt revolting that his skin had touched yours. And what made it worse was that he took your lack of struggle as your affection for him, like right now as he was looking contently at you as he played with the earrings he just put on your ears.

However, after being experienced the crushing defeat that came with his servant's magic, you learned that struggling was futile. So, you, instead, tried to take your mind off what was happening in the moment. It was a kind of escapism from the reality. He would be kissing your chest and your mind would be wondering if there really was another universe beyond the black hole.

What a delusional little prince.

Sometimes, you wished he died, from poison, or from assassination or from being hit by a thunderbolt or from being swallowed by the volcano eruption, or from anything else that made a human dead.

But then again, when he was not here who would take responsibility for your living expenses. You had grown used to living a life of luxury under his watch where you did not have to lift a single finger. So, you did not want to go back to those tiring days anymore.

Well, it would be a useless thought since he still was not dead.

As such, the relationship between you and him were in a standstill with you not resisting anything he did, but never opening your heart to him either, until a few days ago. But that fragile balance was shattered into a million pieces when you realized you were carrying his child.

A child, a living being that had the blood and flesh of his, was now living in your uterus, growing bigger as it consumed your energy. Now that there was an actual proof his "love" existing in your body, you could not escape reality anymore.

Moreover, you did not have the confidence to care for another soul when you were incapable of even caring for yourself. You realized that your mind was already a few screws loose. You were not the most suitable person to raise a child.

Most of all, you could not bring yourself to love it. You could not feel what should naturally come to a mother, the maternal instinct to love her child. To you, it was the evidence of his crime on your body. And no matter how much you convince yourself that the child had no sin, you could not think of giving birth to his child.

To start with, you hated children even before all of this. And you never thought of getting married because of the idea of having children, even if it was with someone you loved. To think you would bear the child of his...., although it should not be too surprising considering the sexual intercourse that was repeated night after night. It should even be considered a miracle that it took this long.

You suddenly felt your body tilted as he pushed you down on the couch.

"Y/n..."

He said appearing lovesick, his iris looking heart shaped that you often saw in some characters in anime.

"Kalim..."

You called his name. He widened his smile as he heard your voice for the first time today.

"Please..."

You looked into his eyes, pleading. Normally, he would grant all your wishes if you looked at him like that.

"Kill me."

Yes, after thinking for several days, you figured that was the only solution for you. You don't want to live with him. But you can't live apart from him. So, the only solution is to not live at all.

[set-phasers-to-whump]

stupid ideas

prompt: seeing double

whumpee: river cartwright

fandom: slough house, slow horses

hiii here's another installment of me beating up my boy <3 hope you enjoy it!

It’s one of those exceedingly rare days where he’s been given a task to do that takes him out of Slough House. 

Granted, he’s taking the bus one stop, picking up an envelope from an acquaintance of Lamb’s, and returning, but still. Gets him out. 

Honestly, he’d bet money that there’s nothing of any value in the envelope—quite possibly, there’s nothing in it at all, and Lamb just wants to send him on a particularly stupid errand. 

Not that there’s any other kind of errand where Lamb is concerned. 

So River’s on the bus, for all of two minutes, and then he’s on the pavement, and it’s just his luck that a car drives past and splashes him with muddy rainwater as he’s waiting to cross the road. 

Just great, he thinks bitterly, stomping across the crosswalk. He can already see Lamb’s acquaintance waiting for him beneath the faded awning of what appears to be an Italian restaurant. The man looks vaguely amused, which does nothing to improve River’s mood. 

They don’t so much as exchange a word. The man hands him the envelope, which does at least look as if it’s got something in it, though maybe it’s just a takeout menu for this place. That done, the other man nods, then turns around and enters the restaurant behind him. 

For a second, River thinks about following. It’s near enough to lunchtime, and this would keep him out of the office for longer. 

Except that the glimpse of the restaurant he’d gotten through the open door hadn’t seemed terribly inviting or terribly on par with basic standards of cleanliness. He’d rather not end up with food poisoning, even if it would mean a day or two off work. 

And so he heads for the bus stop, instead. 

It seems that he’s only just missed his bus. He could walk and make it back to Slough House before the next one arrives, but there’s no point hastening the inevitable. He finds a space for himself inside the shelter and stares at the traffic passing by. 

A few more people join him, seeking cover from the rain as they wait. The bus shelter crowds up quickly, and River finds himself wishing he hadn’t bothered with it. 

He catches a glimpse of his bus approaching and begins pushing his way out of the crowd. And then someone grabs the hood of his jacket and tugs. 

“Hey!” he yelps, struggling to break free. “What the fuck?”

Whoever’s got a hold of him is strong, and River finds himself being pulled backwards against his will. And then, just like that, he’s released, but he doesn’t manage to take so much as a step before he’s being shoved forwards from behind. 

His head collides with the glass wall of the bus shelter hard enough to make him taste blood, but not hard enough to shatter the glass. For a second, he’s stunned, can’t do anything amidst the sounds of people gasping and shouting, and then the world more or less resumes its normal dimensions. 

The bus stop has cleared out, and only a few people remain—it seems he’s missed his bus again. Those still there are alternately avoiding looking at him and outright staring. 

“Are you alright?” one of them, an old woman, asks. 

“I’m fine,” River replies stiffly. He starts walking away, giving up on the bus in favor of the pavement. He hopes he’s not bleeding. Doesn’t feel like explaining to anyone, “Yeah, someone threw me into the wall of a bus shelter. No, I didn’t see who. No, I don’t know why.”

A quick pat-down of his pockets reveals the continued presence of his phone and wallet, as well as the envelope. Better be bloody worth it, he thinks, though he knows it won’t be. 

As he wanders down the pavement, heedless of the rain, River becomes more and more aware of the fact that his head fucking hurts. 

Which is not exactly a surprise. What had he expected, after getting slammed into a glass wall?

It’s annoying, though. But he reminds himself that it’s only a matter of time before he gets back to Slough House, where at least a bottle of paracetamol awaits him. He’ll be fine. 

He shakes his head slightly, like he can physically brush away the ache. 

This accomplishes the exact opposite thing, and his head spins. His vision doubles for a few seconds, and he stops dead still in the middle of the pavement. 

He’s treated to a few seconds of verbal abuse from his fellow pedestrians before he makes his feet start moving again. 

Fuck, that had been a stupid idea. 

He makes it the rest of the way back to Slough House without any further issue, unless you count the gradual increase in the intensity of his headache with every passing second spent amidst the clamor and lights of a busy London afternoon. 

He’ll just take a few painkillers, and it’ll be fine. 

Back in Slough House, he makes a pit stop at his desk for said painkillers, dry-swallows the maximum dose (which is another stupid idea, and just adds a pain in his throat to the pain in his head). That done, he makes his way to Lamb’s office as slowly as humanly possible. 

Lamb doesn’t so much as glance up from his task when River arrives. He stands on the threshold and waits, rocking back and forth on his heels, until Lamb has finished scratching between his toes with a novelty, Christmas-themed pen. 

“Took your time, didn’t you?” Lamb observes, tossing the pen into a dark corner. Its light-up red nose briefly illuminates a takeout container that might qualify as toxic waste before blinking out. 

River doesn’t answer, momentarily transfixed by the pen’s flight across the room. By the time he realizes Lamb is still saying something to him, it’s too late. 

He spends what feels like an eternity being verbally berated for nothing in particular—a Lamb specialty—before he can take no more. 

He pulls the envelope, slightly damp, out of his pocket, tosses it onto Lamb’s desk, and leaves. 

He makes it about halfway down the stairs before he has to stop and brace himself against the wall. His vision has started to double up again and there’s a nauseous feeling slowly creeping up the back of his throat. 

So he’s fucking concussed. Great. 

He makes it down the rest of the stairs with all the speed and grace of a senior citizen, and collapsing into his desk chair feels like some kind of salvation. 

For far too long, he just sits there, eyes closed, breathing slowly, and generally trying very hard not to either throw up or pass out. 

This works moderately well, at least, it does until there’s a horrible crash right outside his door, followed by an exasperated, though rather polite, “Fuck!”

River flinches, then groans. 

“Sorry, River!” Catherine calls out, and even this is far too loud. The following noise of her tidying up the shards of glass is somehow worse, but he can hardly do anything about it. 

He puts his head down onto his desk and tries to block out everything. 

This doesn’t really work, and the next thing he knows Catherine’s voice is a good deal closer than it had been before. 

“Are you alright?” she asks, and he nearly jumps out of his chair. He hadn’t realized she’d moved closer, that she’d stopped cleaning. He feels like he can still hear the shards of glass bouncing off of each other. 

He slowly turns to look at her. There’s sort of one-and-a-half of her, and the faces overlap, but he’s pretty sure she looks worried. 

“What’s happened?” she asks, and she sounds worried, too. 

“Nothing,” River says thickly, because he doesn’t want to explain. 

“River.”

To his horror, he feels tears pricking at his eyes and an uncomfortable sensation in his throat. It’s fucking stupid. He went out on a stupid errand for his stupid boss, and some fucking idiot slammed him into a fucking bus shelter, and now his head hurts so fucking much, and he just wants to not be here, for the painkillers to start working, and he wants to be at home and he wants it all to stop. 

“It’s fine,” he snaps, and the words echo through his head and make everything worse. 

“You’re not well,” Catherine replies, apparently undeterred. “Are you ill?”

He shakes his head a bit too violently and immediately casts doubts upon this answer by throwing up, narrowly missing his own shoes. 

Things get a bit fuzzier, then. The pain in his head gets even worse, pounding and consuming his thoughts, and things triple and blur, and the next thing he knows Lamb, of all people, is shining a flashlight into his eyes, which fucking hurts, is he trying to kill him?

“He’s concussed,” he hears Lamb say. River gets the sense this isn’t directed at him, but the question that follows definitely is. “What the fuck happened?”

“Got pushed…in a bus shelter,” is what River manages to say. He doesn’t think this is his best explanation, but he lacks the words to make it better. 

Lamb mutters something else, which River fails to understand, and then someone is pulling him to his feet. For a second his vision whites out, and when it returns, he finds himself being manhandled out of Slough House and into a car he vaguely recognizes as Louisa’s. 

“Where we going?” he manages to ask, not sure whether he’s addressing the driver—surely Louisa herself—or the person beside him, who he thinks might be Catherine. 

It’s Louisa that responds. “A&E.” Her voice is clipped and if River felt slightly less awful, he’d wonder about that. 

As it is, he just hums in acknowledgement and lets his eyes drift closed, trying to distract himself from the unpleasant feeling of movement. 

This doesn’t work terribly well, and he vaguely hears himself make a rather pathetic and completely involuntary noise as they go over some kind of bump. 

“It’ll be alright,” comes Catherine’s voice from beside him. “You’ll be alright, River.”

He believes her—what else can he do? He lets that thought, that he’ll be alright, wash over him, and it distracts him, just for a moment, from the pain.

thanks for reading!! fun fact i am giving my boy river a concussion on the six month anniversary of me getting one myself :P love to see it lmao. hope you enjoyed, love you all etc etc amen <3

[wolfjackle-creates]

WIP Wednesday

So, here's a short excerpt for WIP Wednesday (963 words)! Thank you for everyone who followed my new writing blog, the response has been so unbelievable.

Trigger Warning: Discussion of parental death

Original Prompt Fill

1st Shared Segment

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IKnowYourSecrets: hey

IKnowYourSecrets: I know this isnt something weve done before

IKnowYourSecrets: you said you got a cell for your last bday

IKnowYourSecrets: can I call you?

IKnowYourSecrets: heres my number XXX-XXX-XXXX

-xXPolarisXx-: is everything ok?

-xXPolarisXx-: dont answer that

-xXPolarisXx-: obv not

-xXPolarisXx-: my phones in my room brb

Danny ran up stairs to grab his phone and return to the computer before anyone could close out of his chat. He checked the number and dialed it, closing out of everything and logging out as the call connected.

“Tim?” he asked as soon as the ringing stopped. “What’s happened?”

“Danny? I… this is weird talking like this.” Tim’s voice was rough and Danny couldn’t tell if that was from emotion or just how he normally sounded.

Danny laughed a little. “Yeah. It is. Give me a sec, let me get to my room and I’ll shut the door. Give us some privacy.”

“I… yeah. I might need a few minutes.”

“Are you okay?”

Tim made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob and Danny all but ran up the stairs. “No, not really. Um. My mom’s dead.”

“What?!" What was the appropriate response to something like this? Sometimes he wished he had Jazz's way with words. "What happened?”

“She and dad were in the Caribbean." Tim let out a huff. "I didn’t even know they were in the Caribbean.”

Danny made a noise to indicate he was listening, but waited for Tim to continue.

“There was a local villain named Obeah man. He captured them and held them ransom. Gave them some water to drink at some point, but… it was poisoned. By the time Batman got there, it was too late. Mom died.” Tim gave another half-hysterical laugh. “And my dad is in a coma. He may never wake up.” His voice trailed off.

Danny swallowed. How does anyone respond to news like that? “I’m so sorry, Tim. How are you holding up? What’s going to happen now?”

“The funeral is in two days. Bruce is organizing it. And I’m going to stay with him, I guess. He said he’d be happy to foster me until my dad gets better.”

“Shit, Tim. Text me during the funeral if you need to.”

“I might take you up on that. You won’t mind?”

“Of course not. Every 5 seconds if you need to.”

“Distract me. What’s going on in your life? I don’t want to think about any of this anymore.”

“Oh, uh, all right. Are you sure?”

“Please, Danny.”

“If you change your mind, interrupt me anytime.” Danny chewed his lip. What on earth could he talk about in response to news like that? The test he had in English last week? That sounded so trite. “I did start karate training with…” he trailed off before he could say his mom. “Anyway, it’s going all right. I’ve basically only been taught basic moves. I only get lessons two or three times a month so it’s slow going.”

Tim’s voice was still shaky, but he seemed to latch onto the topic to Danny’s relief. “You really have to give it your all if you want to succeed. Have you learned the basic stances and things?”

“Some, I think.”

“Hold those positions. Stand in your room and just hold them for ten minutes at a time. And practice the same punch over and over. Even if your m—” Tim’s voice caught and he changed course “—instructor can’t make it. Would you be allowed to sign up for classes? Get something more consistent?”

“We don’t have the money.” Danny bit back the embarrassment he felt at admitting that. Tim was rich-rich and never had to worry about things like bills. “Ghost hunting doesn’t really pay. My parents are at least good engineers so they can fix our own appliances and vehicles. Sometimes dad or mom will fix stuff for the neighbors for some extra money.”

Tim hummed in understanding and didn’t push the issue. “How did they even get into ghosts to begin with?”

“If we ever end up in the same place, you are not allowed to ask that directly to my parents. Don’t mention ghosts at all. They won’t stop talking for hours. As for how they got into it… Dad’s always believed in the supernatural. He could’ve just as easily started tracking big foot or the Loch Ness Monster. But he met mom in university and she was stuck on ghosts. Dragged him in, too. And he’s obsessive. Once he decides on something, that’s it.

“They were both studying the supernatural and had to decide what to focus on for their doctoral research. Mom’s hated ghosts since she was a teenager. Apparently she and a friend were dared to go into a haunted house one Halloween. She doesn’t talk about it much, but her friend died that night. She blames the ghosts and has dedicated her life to hunting them ever since.”

Tim clicked his tongue. “Wow. It almost makes sense with that back story.”

Danny snorted. “Ghosts aren’t real. I dunno what killed her friend, but it wasn’t a ghost. Wish they’d decided to hunt Bigfoot instead.”

“Really? Why do you say that?”

Danny looked out his window and stared at the setting sun. “If they were hunting bigfoot, we’d probably go camping more often. And I like camping. You get the best views of the stars that way.”

“What’s your favorite constellation?”

“That’s like asking who my favorite Star Trek character is! There’s too many to choose. But do you know the folk history of Polaris? It’s why I chose my username.” Danny talked to Tim about the stars and space until Alfred called him away for dinner. They made plans to talk online again later.

-----

Next

Now, I have a question for y'all. I was planning on finishing the entire work then publishing on a once a week basis until finished (or twice a week if I had more chapters than I expect). I've got the first chapter mostly done, just need to rewrite one section and change a few lines elsewhere. I also have the next 1.5 chapters mostly done on a first draft. I could start posting now, but I can't guarantee a posting schedule and I'll probably have to take a hiatus or two as I plan to get a new job and move sometime in the next few months.

So my question, do you want me to post now or wait? It'll probably be several months if not a year before I finish depending on how long I take and how many other projects catch my eye.

-----

In other news, the creator of the original prompt started their own fill, too! If you read mine, I am requiring you to check theirs as well because it is amazing 💕. Tumblr Link and AO3 Link

Tag List

@gremlin-bot, @bonebrokebuddy, @britcision, @lady-time-lord-, @welcometosasakiworld, @akikkobara, @phoenixdemonqueen, @dolfay, @skulld3mort-1fan, @we-ezer, @markus209, @sjrose1216, @onyxlightdragon, @dragonsrequiem, @jesus-camp-the-sequel, @spidey29phangirl, @kyrianclawraith, @evilminji, @introvert-even-on-the-internet, @emergentpanda-blog, @lexdamo, @v-inari, @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit, @longlivethefallen

I removed the names of some people who requested a tag back in November but didn’t interact with the last snippet I shared. Since it’s been so long, I wasn’t sure if you were still interested. I’ll be more than happy to add anyone else, re-add anyone I took off, or take off anyone who doesn’t want future tags! Or start a separate list just for after there’s an AO3 link. Just let me know!

[gracelaurie]

Falling into your ocean eyes 🌊 | Orm Marius x Fem!Reader

Part 8

Warning : Dark jokes, harsh words, & fluffy

A/N : I’ve been very busy for past 5 days, AND actually I wrote and already put it in my draft, BUT SADLY it’s been deleted twice 😭😭 luckily I wrote this story in Notes from the start, so it’s still saved. but still annoyed 😭

for the previous part click here ➡️ masterlist

After rejecting Orm's proposal, their breakfast now becomes a little bit awkward. Y/N cooked pancakes with extra strawberries and blueberries around them, and on top of the stack of pancakes she poured honey.

When Orm tasted it, he couldn't deny that this was the most delicious breakfast he had ever eaten. Orm said in a low voice, “I like this.”

She smiled, "thank you. But this is the only food supply available. Later I want to go to the Grocery Store to buy some food supplies, and also...”

She looked at Orm who was devouring his pancakes. She continued, “I think you need some new clothes to stay on the surface longer.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary, Arthur gave me some of his clothes.” Orm replied looked down and looked at his T-shirt with the picture of a dolphin on it.

“No, I mean I want to buy you formal surface dweller clothes, like a shirt and tie. You can't possibly wear those T-shirt with pictures of whales or cartoons to go out every day.” said Y/N while looking at Orm, “you are Royal. Former King of Atlantis, I know-“

"Yeah I think that's necessary,” said Orm, “I want to buy it myself,” he took out the Atlantis coins that were in his pocket.

“Oh you can’t buy on the surface with that money,” she quickly grabbed the coins with her telekinetic powers, and turned them into dollar bills, “actually I shouldn’t do that, but those coins can’t changed in the Money Changer.”

After that conversations, they finished their breakfast and went out to buy some food supplies at the Grocery Store. When they stopped at Fresh Fish section, Orm's expression turned very cold and unfriendly.

She saw that Orm show his angry face, “You surface dwellers have polluted our seas, and stolen so much of our fish. Don't you know the impact that is happening in the sea there?”

Orm’s continue, “you already have your share on land, but you surface dwellers are selfish so you have to steal our fish, you even poison our children in the sea.”

The fishmonger looked at Orm sharply, thinking that the blonde man in the shirt with a cartoon dolphin was a weirdo.

“Oh, please ignore him, he has a mental disability.” said Y/N, taking Orm's hand to leave the Fresh Fish section

“What does that mean?” Orm asked in a suspicious tone.

“I saved you so you wouldn’t look like a freak.” She answered while holding Orm’s hand like other married couples who were shopping for groceries

While at the cashier and she was about to prepare her dollar bills, Orm held her hand softly so she wouldn’t pay for her purchases. When the cashier told him the amount of money, Orm gave his money from his pocket.

Orm brings their bags from Grocery Shopping. The air temperature is quite cold even though it is summer now. However, she saw that Orm didn’t feel cold or anything even though he’s wearing a thin t-shirt.

“Wow, you’re looking more and more like a surface dweller now.” She said in her mocking tone.

“I honestly hate it here, the surface still fucked up for me. But do you know what keeps me here?”

Y/N raised an eyebrow, then Orm continued, "You. You’re the one who keep me here. But I want you to do the same as me...

“At least before I actually propose to you to be my wife, I want you to know where I come from. Not like last time..."

Y/N laughed softly at the last sentence Orm said, “yeah, it's definitely not like the last time. It was really sucks.”

“I wish we could go to Atlantis freely, Orm… but in reality we still have to be on guard, you remember that you are still in exile, right?" said Y/N as they entered the van.

Orm looked at her face closely, through his very beautiful and unreal ocean eyes... making Y/N give up because she was lost in the reverie of Orm's eyes, “Okay, we're going to the beach now. The most near,”said Y/N in a low voice then started driving her van.

When they arrived at the beach which was busy with tourists because it was at the end of town, Orm didn’ seem to mind this even though he honestly hoped that Y/N would take them to a quiet and more romantic sea coast.

They both walked on the sand. The weather was quite hot, the combination of the sun and Orm’s ocean blue eyes in front of her made Y/N silently stunned. Orm Marius was almost perfect. Physically, blonde hair, handsome face, a sly smile that he had first met, but now she longed for a pull from Orm’s lips that painted a smile on his face. Orm’s body is very proportional, a body that has slept with her. Only her. the voice that originally issued cruel orders but now became very gentle.

She couldn’t ask for anything better.

Orm held Y/N’s hand very gently when they started treading water on the beach. The two of them continued walking and Orm motioned for the two of them to enter the beach.

Entering the sea was the second thing Y/N had done and the first time didn't end well, it even left her in a coma, but somehow Y/N agreed to this.

Orm’s ocean eyes merged into the ocean, looking harmonious and that’s when she realized that Orm looked more beautiful when he is in the ocean.

“You know we can’t dive any further even to Atlantis, you’re still in exile, I don’t want to get you into trouble.”She said in a voice underwater.

“We won’t get into trouble, darling.” said Orm kissed her hand gently.

“You guys need a ride?” Y/N heard Arthur’s voice from inside his ship which for some reason she could hear.

She didn’t understand what was happening, but Orm said, “Let’s go. I want to show you something.”

“Honestly, what's going on here? I don’t understand?”Y/N asked in confusion when she entered the ship.

“You’ll see.” Orm said smiling at Y/N then the ship drove quickly towards Atlantis.

When they set foot in that place in Atlantis, Y/N was still confused about what was happening in that place. Y/N could see a magnificent room filled with shades of red, which was actually her favorite color, a color that somehow matched her magic power.

Mera, her sister smiled then quickly took Y/N’s hand towards the changing room.

“Come on, hurry up and put this on.” Mera said then she changed her clothes in the changing room into very elegant red wedding dress. Mera did something to Y/N’s face that seemed different from what women would do on the surface.

In short, Y/N came out of the place, finding Orm smiling broadly at his future wife. “You’re so beautiful.” Orm mumbled, his ocean eyes kept looking at Y/N. He couldn’t look away. All he saw was her.

Her.

She also could see Orm returning in his typical Atlantean clothes, with his armor, which gave her deja vu because Orm looked like himself when he was still the King of Atlantis, but the difference was...

He fell in love. Truly sincere love.

“Well, this is honestly beyond my expectations, the way you married me.” said Y/N, who for some reason was the happiest bride at the moment, even though it had not been 24 hours since she rejected Orm's proposal, but she felt confident more than anything.

Let’s say that this might be too soon. Very fast. It all started when he saw a husband and wife couple holding each other at the supermarket, then he himself practiced it directly. Orm knew that Y/N really wanted him to marry her, but he realized that his proposal before was wrong.

King Nereus said breaking the silence, “My daughter, I’m sorry that all this time I have been a father who never appeared in your life. I am aware of that, but this is the only thing I can do for you.”

Mera smiled at her father, “Father is right, he did this all for your marriage. But the most important thing is, he did it for you.”

Y/N smiled at her father, then Mera, Queen Atlanna, Arthur, then her gaze turned to her future husband, Orm.

“Let's speed up this wedding, I can’t stay in the Ocean for a long time.” She said.

“Oh I can make you stay here for a long time, darling.”Orm said with a smirk face, as if he was planning something.

“I wish I could but you do realize my fucking van is still on the surface right?” said Y/N.

the end…

Actually I kinda want to make a sequel to this story, it will probably be full of smut😉.

[lya-dustin]

The Dornish Princess

(Part ii of the Dornish Princess)

Cw: mentions of sex, fantasizing of murder, attempted murder via drowning

Fool.

That is the new name he was given.

Fool.

Fool for trusting you, for believing your words and a worse fool for loving you.

He cannot chase you and kill you for your betrayal, he was the regent and he must deal with the fall out of his own fucking foolishness.

With his brother at the Stranger’s door and no money to continue the war, his campaign into the Riverlands is postponed.

Postponed being a nicer word for it.

They are to surrender to his whore sister and bastard heirs and beg for mercy.

The negotiations had begun and Aemond has requested exile over death. He would never set foot in Westeros for as long as Rhaenyra lives.

No matter, after he gets his hands on you, it will he worth it.

Aliandra Martell offered her hand in marriage should he bring her your head.

Prince Consort of Dorne is good consolation reward.

His exile isn’t the terrible thing his mother thinks it is, his change of scenery matters not when he hunts you down.

He will enjoy killing you, he dreams of seeing the life leave your indigo eyes as he avenges his honor.

Aemond follows your trail even when he takes up the occupation of sword fro hire as Daemon once did. He hears how you defrauded a Braavosi key holder, how you robbed Sharako Lohar blind and just recently, drove the Rogares of Lys to complete and utter ruin.

Word had come from the spymasters that you lived in Volantis in a manse behind the Black Wall. You’d overstay your welcome once the lord you flatter with your serpent’s tongue and poison him with kisses as sweet as honey.

Where would you go from then? You weren’t welcome anywhere anymore.

You could never go home just as he can’t either.

He disguises himself as a servant, a slave rather. The Valyrian looks so coveted in Westeros were as common as horse shit in Essos. Even slaves had silver hair and purple eyes.

Something he’d learned to exploit as he earned his pay with blood.

Something he’ll exploit to finally end you.

You aren’t Y/N Sand nor Coryanne Martell here. You are merely a wealthy widow enjoying the fruits of your labor.

He stalks into your bath quietly, you assuming it is another servant carrying your hot flowery water pay no mind to him.

You are far more beautiful than he remembered, you grew into your looks just as he went from youth to man these years past.

Five years ago, you ruined his life and made damn sure you would never be forgotten.

“I will wash my own hair tonight.” You say as he takes your dark braid in his hands. Within a heart beat he’s holding your face under the water as he fulfills every fantasy he’s had these five long years.

“Did you miss me, Y/N?” he asks taunting you when he lets you come up for air.

“Not as much as you did, husband.” You gasp and sputter with a laugh. As if you’d known he’d come. “Took you long enough, Aemond the Fool.”

He narrowed his eye and wished he could just drown you in your tub and be done with it. But he doesn’t. He is still the fool he was at nineteen at twenty-four.

“Join me, you reek of dragon.” You say as you gather your bearings and pretend nothing had happened.

He could kill you later, hot water was a luxury even in this warm winter. A good fuck and a hot bath seemed like a better send off you deserved, but Aemond has stopped being so picky with whores these years.

“You need me for a scheme don’t you?” he concludes aa you wash his body with the same soaps you had used. You had done this before, back when he loved you and you ensnared him in your trap.

You had felt divine then, your soft caresses, your sweet lips and the oh so tight cunny you sheathed his cock with.

You haunted him till this fucking day, even after trying to forget you with every willing woman he could find. Not even the Red Priestess with her knowledge of the seven sighs couldn’t erase you out of his mind.

“A final one, an apology from me to you.” You say coming close enough to kiss him stupid.

He’d let you, only if your scheme is good enough for him.

“As if I’d believe anything that comes from your mouth, y/n.” he scoffed and yet snaked his arms around your waist to pull you onto his lap.

He'll discard of you once he is sated, your pretty head was worth as much as this manse. A place close to home too.

“Oh trust me, what I will show you will speak for itself, my sweet prince.” You whisper before leaving the bath all together.

The sight waiting for him in your rooms leaves him without words.

Sharing a room and the distinctive looks of House Targaryen, a boy of five and a boy of eight hold on to plush dragons. The younger a green as Vhagar and the other as red as Caraxes.

His child and Rhaenyra’s lost son, presumably.

“Lysandro bought Viserys from his captors and sought to ransom him back to your family along with my son. I don’t bite unless I have to, dearest husband.” You admit with a hard edge to your soft voice. Somehow he believes you.

“What do you want?” Aemond cannot do anything but stare at the boys, his more than his nephew.

His hair is silver and sleek as his is, a faint smattering of freckles like the ones he had as a boy and his mother’s wicked mouth pouting in his sleep.

“That you recognize Aelyx as trueborn, we were married in truth and he shouldn’t carry the stain of bastardry when he is innocent.” You speak honestly, as if you knew your luck had run out. “Take Viserys and my wealth and negotiate your return to your home. It should be more than what I stole from you.”

If you knew he hadn’t thought of killing you since you showed him his son, you’d think your hold on him was as strong as it was then.

Perhaps it was.

Damn you. Damn you to the seven hells for making a fool out of him.

The following morning he writes home saying he’d found his errant wife and a treasure greater than all the gold in Volantis.

If Rhaenyra lifted his exile, he’d personally deliver Viserys to her.

Aemond the Kinslayer gets a hero’s welcome despite being foolish enough to forgive you and wed you in truth.

But you are not content with just being his wife and the wealth you amassed. No, you like your husband were cursed with ambition.

“Have you ever considered conquering Dorne, your grace?” you ask Queen Rhaenyra who owes you the life of her youngest son even if Aemond took the life of her second born.

[lovetrouble123]

MCR lyrics you can use for writing prompts:)

Bullets

“The amount of pills I’m taking counteracts the booze I’m drinking”

“And you can cry all you want to I don’t care”

“We’re not working out”

“And you can’t keep my brother, and you won’t fuck my friends”

“You put the spike in my heart”

“And you must keep your soul like a secret in your throat”

“Will it wash away this jet black feeling?”

“The night club sets the stage”

“We’ll shoot back holy water like cheap whiskey”

“Please save my soul”

“Can you stake me before the sun goes down?”

“Imaginary wedding gown”

“We’ll eat goodbye the hundredth time, and then tomorrow we’ll do it again”

“A thousand bodies piled up I never thought would be enough”

“These hands, stained red,”

“We can wash down this engagement ring with poison and kerosene”

“Without a sound, I wish you away”

“We could be perfect one last night”

“Please understand it has to be this way”

“You said were not celebrities. We spark and fade, they die by three”

“And I think I’ll blow my brains against the ceiling”

“Just think happy thoughts”

“You’re not in this alone”

“And if the world needs something better, let’s give them one more reason now”

“Hello angel, tell me where are you?”

“Tell me where we go from here”

“And after seeing what we saw, can we still reclaim our innocence?”

“Then holding hands and life was perfect, just like up on the screen”

“Running away and hiding with you”

“And if I had the guts to put this to your head”

“Before I pull this trigger, your eyes vacant and stained”

“And in saying you loved me, made things harder at best”

“But does anyone notice, there’s a corpse in this bed?”

“When we met in the emergency room”

“Well I felt I couldn’t take another day inside this place”

“I thought I heard you say ‘I like you. We can get out, we don’t have to stay inside this place’”

“Set the Farris wheel ablaze”

“You left my heart an open wound, and I love you for this day”

“One day we’ll run away!”

“If you took the time to notice me”

“But you don’t work here anymore”

“I can’t help but think I’ll die alone”

“I’d end my days with you, in a hail of bullets”

“I’m trying to let you know just how much you mean to me”

“All we are is bullets”

“Know how much I want to show you, you’re the only one”

“Like a bed of roses there’s a dozen reasons in this gun”

“And as we’re touching hands, and in this pool of blood”

“I’ll meet your eyes”

Three Cheers

“And what’s the worst you take, from every heart you break?”

“Things are better if I stay”

“We’ll meet again when both our cars collide”

“This is how we like to do it in the murder scene”

“Can we settle up the score?”

“But I miss you more than I did yesterday”

“You’re beautiful!”

“Oh don’t I look pretty walking down the street in the best damn dress I own?”

“‘Well there’s no way I’m kissing that guy!’”

“He’s not around he’s always looking at men”

“Got nasty blisters from the money she spends”

“Increase the medication, share the vows at the wake”

“And the choice you made, to the end”

“In the middle of a gun fight…”

“Say a prayer”

“I’ll kiss your lips again”

“My cellmates a killer���

“Oh I miss my mom, will they give me the chair?!”

“Nobody knows all the trouble I’ve seen!”

“Do you have the keys to the hotel?! Cuz I’m gonna set this mother fucker on fire!”

“What will it take to show you that it’s not the life it seems?”

“I’m not okay (trust me!)”

“I never said I’d lie and wait forever”

“If I died we’d never together.”

“You are never coming home”

“And I remember now, at the top of my lungs, in my arms, she dies”

“(…) get the feeling that you’re never all alone?”

“And all the things that you never ever told me”

“Gaze into her killing jar I’d sometimes stare for hours”

“She even poked the holes so I can breathe”

“It’s the hardest part of living”

“I’m lost in the prescription she’s got something else in mind”

“And for the last night I lie, could I lie next to you?”

“Pull the plug”

“Slip into the tragedy”

“You’ve spun this chamber dry”

“(…) I’m not much a poet but a criminal”

“I’m just the way that the doctor made me”

“What’s life like bleeding on the floor?”

“You’re running after something that you’ll never kill”

“If this is what you want then fire at will!”

“Preach all you want but who’s gonna save me?”

“Would I lie to you?”

“That girls not right in the brain!”

“She won’t stop me/put it down/so get your gun and meet me by the door”

“For what you did to me, well I’ll do to you!”

“You told me this gets harder, well it did.”

“I’m taking back the life you stole”

“(…) from the razor to the rosary”

“This hole you put me in, wasn’t deep enough”

“I’ve lost my fear of falling/I will be with you”

“(…)in the dress your husband hates”

“Where the search lights find us drinking by the mausoleum door”

“And they found you in the bathroom floor!”

“Did you get what you deserve?”

“Is this what you always want me for?”

“Can I meet you alone?”

“Touched by angels though, I fall out of grace”

“Another knife in my hands, a stain that never comes off the sheets”

“Clean me off, I’m so dirty babe!”

“It ain’t the money and it sure as hell ain’t just for the fame”

“I tried but I lied!”

“They gave us two shots to the back of the head”

Black Parade

“Now come on, come all, to this tragic affair”

“Wipe off that makeup what’s in despair”

“You might wake up and notice you’re someone you’re not”

“If you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see, you can find out first hand what it’s like to be me”

“I’d encourage your smiles!”

“When I grow up I want to be nothing at all!”

“Too young to die yet, my dear”

“Did you get what you deserved?”

“You never fell in love”

“And live my life alone forever now”

“(…) all the good girls go to heaven”

“Can you hear me cry out to you?”

“I’m really not so with you anymore, I’m just a ghost”

“(…) so I can’t hurt you anymore”

“If I crash on the couch, can I sleep in my clothes?”

“You’re the one that I need/I’m the one that you loathe”

“So why don’t you blow me?”

“Sometimes I get the feeling she’s watching over me”

“Disappointed faces of your peers”

“Just a man, not a hero”

“Don’t ever think I’ll try and make you stay”

“You’re still a good for nothing, I don’t know”

“I don’t love you like I did yesterday”

“I think I’m gonna burn in hell”

“Tell me I’m a bad man”

“Tell me I’m an angel”

“It’s a compliment, I swear”

“I’ve been a bad motherfucker, tell your sister or another”

“Help her gather all my things”

“(…)Bury me in all my favorite colors”

“I will not kiss you”

“Know that I will never marry”

“I’ve been counting down the days to go”

“I’m writing this letter and wishing you well”

“Stop asking me questions”

“And right now, they’re building a coffin your size”

“Mama, we’re all full of lies”

“You should’ve raised a baby girl, I should’ve been a better son”

“I could have been a better son”

“Don’t return to me”

“But the shit that I’ve done with this fuck if a gun”

“So raise your glass high, for tomorrow we die!”

“It feels like somebody is gripping my throat”

“Undeserving of your sympathy”

“Cause there’s no way that I’m sorry for what I did”

“How could you cry for me? Cuz I don’t feel bad about it”

“The hardest part is letting go of your dreams”

“Cause there ain’t no way that I’m coming back again”

“Sometimes I see flames, and sometimes I see people that I love dying”

“(…) keep an eye on your son”

“All teenagers scare the living shit outta me”

“Maybe they’ll leave you alone but not me”

“The boys and girls in the clique, the awful names that they stick”

“You’re never gonna fit in much kid”

“Well, I was there on the day they sold the cause for the Queen”

“I hate the ending but it started with an alright scene”

“It was a lie when they smiled and said ‘you won’t feel a thing’”

“And as we ran from the cops, we laughed so hard it would sting”

“How can you listen all night long?”

“I spent my high school career spit on and shoved to agree”

“I know I can’t make you stay”

“A life/love that’s so demanding”

“Honey, if you stay, you’ll be forgiven”

“I see you lying next to me”

“Awake and unafraid/asleep or dead?”

“Send you roses when they think you need to smile”

“And they love it for me honestly”

“The doctors and the nurses, they adore me so”

“I’m such an awful fuck (why thank you)”

“They never had the time”

“You were always born a crime”

“Can’t find my way home, but it’s through you”

“My gun fires seven different shades of shit, so what’s your favorite color punk?”

“Could you sign this photograph? Cuz I’m your biggest fan!”

“No way home”

“Come on angel, don’t you cry”

“Well, you can hide a lot about yourself”

“But honey, what’re you gonna do?”

“And you can sleep in a coffin but the past ain’t through with you”

“Cause we are all a bunch of liars, tell me baby, who do you wanna be?”

“And we all get together to bury our friends”

“It’s been 8/9/10 years since I’ve been seeing your face around here”

“I ain’t feeling the love”

“(…)never paid attention in school”

“I was killing before killing was cool”

“You’ll never take me alive”

“Do what it takes to survive”

“‘Someone save us!’”

“Heaven help us now”

“But I can’t tell if I’ve been breathing or sleeping, or screaming, or waiting”

“I’ve been sprawled on these cathedral steps”

“And will you pray for me?”

“Cover me in gasoline”

“And the punchline to the joke is asking ‘someone save us!’”

“You don’t know a thing about my sins”

“(…)how the misery begins”

Danger Days

“Killjoys, make some noise!”

“Drugs, gimme drugs, I don’t need it but I’ll sell what you got, take the cash and I’ll keep it”

“Hit the gas, kill ‘em all”

“We’re on your property standing in V formation”

“Eat plastic surgery”

“Keep your apology”

“Oh, let me tell you ‘bout the sad man”

“Remember when you were mad man? Thought you was Batman”

“Kiss me, you animal!”

“Everybody wants to change the world”

“But no one wants to die”

“It’s death or victory”

“I’d rather go to hell than be in purgatory”

“Pull this pin, let this world explode”

“Gag and bore me”

“I got a bulletproof heart, you got a hollow point smile”

“Lets blow a hole in this town”

“(…) do our talking with a laser beam”

“‘Jenny, could you come back home?’”

“Let me be the one to save you”

“Stop your preaching right there, cuz I really don’t care and I’ll do it again”

“Tell the truth and god will save you”

“Dying in the process”

“Buy yourself the motivation”

“I am not the singer that you wanted but a dancer”

“I refuse to answer”

“Keep running”

“There might be something outside your window, but you’ll just never know”

“Fame is now injectable!”

“Faith is unavailable!”

“I can’t slow down, I won’t be waiting for you”

“Don’t fuck around, this is our last chance!”

“Kill the party with me”

“I’m unbelievable”

“I’m undefeatable”

“Are we still having fun?”

“Are you holding the gun?”

“Take the money and run!”

“I’ve got nothing to lose.”

“I think I’m gonna go now”

“Remember me”

“I still think of the bombs they built”

“Can I be the only hope for you? Because you’re the only hope for me”

“I say it’s okay, I know you can tell”

“And though you see me smile, I still think of the guns they sell”

“Everybody pay attention to me!”

“I got the answer!”

“Ain’t no DJ gonna save my soul, I sold it long about for rock n roll”

“(…)we’d be killing ourselves by sleeping in”

“And keep your cars, and your dogs and your famous friends”

“Ain’t nobody gonna take my life”

“Ain’t no preacher gonna save me now”

“We came to party!”

“Cuz the devils got your number”

“Not a victim of a victims life”

“We’re believers”

“We can steal this car if you folks down mind”

“If you save yourself tonight”

“I’ll tell you all how the story ends”

“It ain’t about the friends you made but the graffiti they write on your grave”

“Who gives a damn if we lose the war?”

“Save yourself and I’ll hold them back tonight”

“Make a wish when your childhood dies”

“Hear the knock, knock, knock when she cries”

“We’re all alone tonight”

“Count to seventeen and close your eyes”

“I’ll keep you inside/tonight”

“See the rust through your playground eyes”

“We’re all in love tonight”

“Love won’t stop this bomb”

“Run, bunny, run!”

“(…)with brick in hand, your lip gloss smile, your scraped up knees and—.”

“How long until we find our way in the dark and out of harm?”

“Terrified of what I’d be as a kid from what I’ve seen”

“Turn my headphones up real loud. I don’t think I need them now, cuz you stopped the noise.”

“You can runaway with me anytime you want”

“They don’t like who you are”

“Brother, protect me now”

“You/I don’t believe in god”

“You/I don’t believe in luck”

“I believe we’re the enemy!”

“They laugh, we don’t think it’s funny.”

“Hold on tight and don’t look back”

“When we were young we used to say”

“(…)that you only hear the music when your heart begins to break”

“Now we are the kids from yesterday”

“All the cameras watch the accidents and starts you hate”

“Does the television make you feel the pills you ate, or every person that you need to be?”

“(…)we came to fuck”

“When you wanna be a movie star”

“Play it right and drive a Volvo car”

“Pills don’t help but it sure is funny”

“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you!”

“The music is way too loud, gonna have to turn it down a little—sorry!”

“The tabloids lie”

“We don’t dare to sing another song for California!”

“Every second that you take to fake your life”

“I don’t like being alone”

“I’ll meet you down at the metro station”

“I’m going to show you how much I love you”

“Don’t need the system”

“We can kill/leave it if we try”

“And write it on the walls, I hope you die”

“Manipulation, just to form an alibi”

“You’re the prototype/only type for me”

“And if Heaven wants to take us they can try!”

“Got the eyes on you”

“I don’t have much of an education, but I got a knack for elimination!”

“This is the bonus stage!”

“I want annihilation!”

“A new design for X and Y”

“Exterminate the dream”

“I hate you!”

“Kill everybody!”

Conventional Weapons

“I’m not asking”

“He’s not dead, he only looks that way”

“You can watch them stab me on your television”

“We got the bomb (let’s go!)”

“Say a prayer for ___.”

“You fell in love with a vampire”

“Say hello/goodbye to the good times”

“If we crash this time, they got machines to keep us alive”

“(…)choke down the words with no meaning”

“We got no heroes cuz our heroes are dead.”

“But the words get lost when we all look the same”

“The microphones got a tap wire!”

“Keep your money and I’ll see you in hell”

“You don’t know a thing about this life”

“(…)we are not afraid/we are not ashamed”

“I’ll be the one who drives you home tonight”

“We are not the same”

“We could get somebody else, but we want someone like you”

“I’ll tell you all about it when you fall in love”

“If I’m old enough to die for your mistakes”

“They’re teaching me to kill, who’s teaching me to love?”

“I’m/she’s never gonna have a son”

“You’ll never fight alone”

“Cuz I wanted you to know that the world is ugly, but you’re beautiful to me”

“Are you thinking of me now?”

“(…)there’s a morning after”

“Are you thinking of me like I’m thinking of you?”

“I would say I’m sorry”

“I’m thinking of you every night, every day”

“Stop your crying, helpless feeling”

“Dry your eyes and start believing”

“There’s one thing they’ll never take from you”

“So long to all my friends, every one of them met tragic ends”

“If I could be with you tonight, I would sing you to sleep”

“Never let them take the light behind your eyes”

“One day, I’ll lose this fight”

“Be strong and hold my hand”

“Time, it comes for us, you’ll understand”

“If you promise not to cry”

“I’ll fail and lose this fight”

“When I’m here no longer, you be stronger”

“We kill the girls to get paid”

“(…)put the whole damn room on the edge of a blade”

“I’ll keep believing”

“Stay clean”

“(…)put the record on”

“Grab the cash and run!”

“Let the suits watch each other kill one another”

“You gotta kiss that ring”

“Keep the faith”

“Is it hard to stay clean?”

“The cannibals are starving when they’re looking at you!”

“White lines, nose bleeds”

“Anybody gonna come and rescue me?”

“One day, you’re gonna have some explaining to do”

“Got a taste for the cash and androgyny”

“She’s alright”

“I’ll remember this night when you’re gone”

“I surrender every dream”

“I’ll remember your eyes when you’re gone”

“So give me all you’ve got, I can take it”

“Kissed all the boys in your city lights”

“Did you make it?”

“Cuz it makes me who I am”

“I took the pills for these empty nights”

“They always told me that you’ll never get to heaven with a life like yours”

“And though I missed the change for this”

“I confess that I can’t wait until it’s gone”

“Don’t go if you have more to say”

“(…)the world don’t need another hopeless cause”

Extras

“These eyes have had to much to drink again tonight”

“I’ve been calling you all week for my shotgun!”

“Pick up the phone fucker!”

“I wanna see what your insides look like”

“I bet you’re not fucking pretty on the inside”

“Well lie another day”

“And did you come to stare or wash away the blood?”

“Did we all fall down?”

“From the lights to the pavement, from the van to floor, from backstage to the doctor, from the earth to the morgue.”

“I can see you awake anytime in my head”

“You can run but you can’t hide from this”

“We laughed about the time we fell”

“There’s writing on the ceiling that only I can see”

“(…) I don’t give a fuck”

“We got the right to anything we want”

“Well, gather ‘round, I’ll tell you all a story about heartache and woe”

“I think your politics stink”

“Somebody buy me a drink”

“Well, she’s always going on about the town you grew up in”

“You’ll never take me back home”

“I never wanna go home with you”

“And you’re walking away, and I will drown in the tears”

“(…)I’m not backing your decision”

“I’m not afraid of you”

“Come on, you have something you wanna show me?”

“(…)a new toy to self destruct”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve”

“There’s all types of people in this city; what kind of person are you?”

“Could you please just hold my hand?”

“Everybody’s talking ‘bout the way you left your man”

“I fell in love with her again, my baby”

“Cuz I’m not that type of girl”

“All your life, I let you down—not again”

“Love was just a passing phase”

“But don’t leave me here!”

“Don’t believe what you read or sometimes what you see”

“Are you happy this way?”

“Tell the judge that I’m innocent. Tell the jury I’m no one at all”

“She won’t stop the bleeding, baby”

“The others are to blame”

“Darling, I’m a bad man”

“Sing the praise again”

“What if I’m that bad man?”

“You can bitch all you want but I’m never gonna leave you alone”

“I’m a bad motherfucker, an abandoned mental lover”

“(…)maybe if that bad man killed me once again”

“It was the worst thing that I’d ever done”

“You gave me gun”

“I won’t tell a soul”

“It was the last time I saw her/him/them alive”

“Sometimes you do things you need to do to survive”

“I’m needing your touch”

“And ___, come home”

“I waited so long for someone to say, ‘if you could hold on, I’d maybe get you to stay’”

“You sad motherfucker”

“She got the call, and then she threw her jacket on”

“(…) stormed off down the hall”

“You are all to blame”

“She went alone and went to the emergency”

“(…)parked her car in the dark”

“They told her, ‘please, he only has but minutes more…you might just say goodbye”

“(…) find a better way to love me”

“Some people watch, some people pray”

“But why we have to stay?”

“We were born to lose”

“Just look at all that pain”

“I think it got you laid”

“Fake your death”

“Come on and feel that shame”

“They wanna grip the cross”

“Kiss my battery”

“Fuck this whole wide world!”

“Turn up the fakes and lies”

“Spit casually”

“Medication and the way your eyes look into me”

“Lubrication, can you turn off all the lights so I can’t see?”

“I’m so fucking old!”

“I’m so fucking alone!”

“Crash into this institution”

“I’m putting off medication, it always makes me tired”

“I can’t play pretend”

“I’m wide awake most minutes”

“I’m not asleep most days”

“Well did I say too much?”

“I’ll never go to bed”

“I’ll kiss their lips again”

“Just give me peace tonight”

“See the man who stands upon the hill”

“He dreams of all the battles won”

“But fate had left its scars upon his face”

“And so time with age, it turns the page”

“You find god in pain”

“We lay in the foundations of decay”

“He was there, the day the towers fell, and so he wandered down the road”

“And press til you can’t take it anymore!”

“And so he gets to die a saint but she will always be the whore”

“You look stressed out!”

“The poison is the cure”

“You must fix your heart”

“Yes, it comforts me much more”

“Get up coward!”

[aegor-bamfsteel]

"Dany is nothing like her ancestors and she is going to break the pattern by going to be a good queen."- Dany stans. Only they don't acknowledge that she is repeating her ancestors mistakes. Basically her whole arc is why Targs sucked.

“Däny is nothing like her ancestors…” Better not tell her that:

I am blood of the dragon, she told herself. I am Dænerys Stormborn, Princess of Dragonstone, of the blood and seed of Aegon the Conqueror. —AGOT Dâny II

I am Dænerys Stormborn, Dænerys of House Targaryen, of the blood of Aegon the Conqueror and Maegor the Cruel and old Valyria before them. I am the dragon's daughter, and I swear to you, these men will die screaming. Now bring me to Khal Drogo." —AGOT Dâny IX

Remind your Good Master of who I am. Remind him that I am Dænerys Stormborn, Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt, trueborn queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. My blood is the blood of Aegon the Conqueror, and of old Valyria before him." —ASOS Dâny II

Mother of dragons, Dænerys thought. Mother of monsters. What have I unleashed upon the world? A queen I am, but my throne is made of burned bones, and it rests on quicksand. Without dragons, how could she hope to hold Meereen, much less win back Westeros? I am the blood of the dragon, she thought. If they are monsters, so am I. —ADWD Dâny II

No. You are the blood of the dragon. The whispering was growing fainter, as if Ser Jorah were falling farther behind. Dragons plant no trees. Remember that. Remember who you are, what you were made to be. Remember your words. "Fire and Blood," Dænerys told the swaying grass. —ADWD Dâny X

Dæny constantly invokes her ancestors/bloodline as well as her dragons to keep herself brave, to impress others, to remind herself of who she is. Her last chapter has her embracing that Tárg legacy (specifically the one that plants no trees aka destruction), not turning away from it for a lasting peace. The Tárg legacy (or at least her idea of it) is a huge part of her character; you can’t say she’s nothing like her ancestors when she keeps invoking their memory and refuses to listen about any of the ill they (not even Aerys II) did.

“She’s going to break the pattern by being a good queen” there’s certain Tárg kings who are considered good rulers, such as Jæhaerys I and Viserys II. GRRM went out of his way in Fire&Blood to show how awful J1 was (to the dismay of a few fans), hanging small folk by their entrails and mistreating his wife/daughters; and he made sure in ASOS that Oberyn Martell accused V2 of poisoning his nephew. Then there’s Dâron 2 and Aègon V, who fandom considers good, but both caused massive rebellions and A5’s obsession with dragons led him to an early grave. Basically every time there’s a Tàrg that’s supposed to be a good ruler, GRRM ends up showing they’re either violent/murderous, abusive, paranoid, prophecy-obsessed, and kinslayers, not unlike the other Tárgs.

“Basically her whole arc is why the Tárgs suck” you’re right that the Tárg legacy is destructive and holds itself up as superior to the exclusion of others. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t like GRRM’s supplemental books on them (other than being a massive downgrade in characters/plot), because their point was already proven with Dâny, and trying to make sorta competent kings confuses the issue (J1 planted trees/built roads, so there’s still a way for D to honor her family but be a good ruler, when it ignores the context of how the Iron Throne was founded). Basically Dâny has a good arc using the Tárg legacy and dragons to give her the courage she lacked growing up, and struggling to balance her wishes for peace with her reality of trying to take the Throne she views as birthright by conquest, all on her own. But I guess GRRM needs more money and HBO needs more to milk out of the franchise.

[satansapostle6]

folie à deux

Sometimes poison is sweet.

Selina Romanov and Draco Malfoy met when they were only eleven years old. The two of them have always shared an intense bond, always having gravitated towards one another. But the question still remains, as the years pass by, is their connection one of passion, or delusion?

Warnings: Contains Mature Themes/Language, Themes Such As Sexual Content, Violence, Abuse, Sexual Assault, Eating Disorders

One.

Two Years Ago

Eleven year-old Selina Romanov sat alone in a train compartment headed for her new school. The Romanov family was held in very high regard in the wizarding world, and yet, she felt she had no friends in that world, or any world she belonged to, for that matter. She sat alone in a train compartment full of sweets she'd bought, hoping at least one other person might join. Selina's grandmother had given her plenty of money in her journey to Hogwarts School in Scotland, one of the only good things she'd ever gotten from her. Many other children passed by over the long train ride aboard the Hogwarts Express, but none had come to sit down in her compartment as the hours passed. After little over two hours had gone by, a boy had been walking outside of her compartment and almost passed it, before walking backward, opening the door. 

  "Oi. Is that cherry?" he inquired, pointing at the box of candies she was eating from.

  "Yeah, it is," she nodded quietly.

  "Give me some, then," the blond-haired boy demanded, extending his hand.

  "That's a funny way of asking," Selina remarked, tipping the box over and dropping a few candies into his hand.

He frowned at her resentfully, taking the candies and popping a couple of them into his mouth. He begrudgingly took a seat across from her, looking around at the other treats that she had gotten from the trolley, as well as from Diagon Alley a few days prior. 

  "You know, Chocolate Frogs are alright, I suppose, but these will always be my favorite," he said confidently, still chewing.

  "Yeah. Cherry's one of my favorite flavors. They didn't have strawberry, though," Selina thought.

  "Eh, strawberry's alright," the boy with pale blond hair and blue eyes conceded, "But cherry is simply superior."

They sat in silence as Selina wished she could go back to being alone, looking out the window almost melancholically, drowning everything out in her head with music. Selina Romanov always wished she had friends until she remembered what it was actually like to have friends.  

  "Say, what's your name?" the young boy, most likely another Hogwarts first year, asked, somehow still sounding rude. "I know you, from some of my parents' parties, and stuff. I don't think I've seen you at one in years, though."

  "Selina."

  "Selina what?" he demanded impatiently.

  "Selina Romanov," she responded dryly. 

  He nodded quickly. "A Romanov. Now that's a respectable enough family," he determined with an obvious haughtiness. 

She just smiled, knowing that upon her mother's death and her father's life sentence to Azkaban prison, she had inherited an entire vault of riches, jewels, and other heirlooms that reached two full floors of twenty feet each. 

  "My name's Draco Malfoy," he remarked, holding for applause, no doubt. "I knew you looked familiar. Your parents knew my parents. I remember seeing you at the parties, and such from before."

  "Nice to meet you, I suppose, Draco," she remarked, underwhelming him with her amount of enthusiasm. 

  "So. What House do you think you'll be sorted into?" he questioned curiously. "I'm going to be a Slytherin. No one on either side of my family's ever been anything else."

  "I can't say for sure. Not all of my family's studied at Hogwarts. Most of the men on my father's side went to Durmstrang," Selina explained. "But the ones that didn't went here. They were all Slytherins, I think."

  "Oh, I almost went there," Draco nodded nonchalantly. "But, my mum said no. She and my father both went to Hogwarts."

  "My parents went to Hogwarts, too. Both of them were Slytherins, and a lot of my mum's family were Slytherins. She did have a few Ravenclaws on her side, though. I'll most likely be one of those two," she thought. "I'm guessing Slytherin, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too surprising."

  "Those are the only two houses worth a damn," Draco Malfoy scoffed wryly. 

Selina just rolled her eyes as she looked out the window, unimpressed by Draco's keen memorization of his parents' hot takes. 

  "I hope we're in Slytherin together," he carried on. "I just came from a car with a few of the others who are going to be in Slytherin. They're easily impressed. Not very bright, either."

Selina did her best to ignore the irony.

  "I hope we're in Slytherin together, too," she remarked. 

Strangely enough, she felt that she hadn't been telling a complete lie when she had said so. 

  "Do you think you'll make it into Slytherin?" Draco asked, not paying much mind to tact.

  "I definitely can. My uncle says that I ought to be in Slytherin, based on my personality and such," she replied.

  "Do you live with him?" he asked, still indulging himself through her candy. "I mean, your father's in prison for murdering your mum, so I expect you can't be living with either of them. Especially since your mum isn't even living."

This comment made her chuckle, despite its socially and generally inappropriate tone. 

  "I live with my grandmother," she answered humorously, "But she's not very pleasant, so I don't really count her opinion on this subject, or any other, for that matter."

  "Well, that's just hilarious," Draco scoffed, "All these years, I've been wishing my parents were dead just so I could have all the money, and none of the anger, or the rules, and yours practically are, and you're still miserable!"

  Selina genuinely smiled. "Yeah. Something like that."

Although just about anyone else would've found Draco incredibly annoying and offensive, the things that he said were more entertaining to her than stress inducing. He was practically a free source of entertainment. 

  "Is it true what they say about you?" he asked, finally making eye contact as well as not eating candy. 

  "Which part?" she wondered. "There's kind of a lot, you know. According to some, my father is a vampire. According to others, my mother was part Veela."

She had a sense already of what he was going to ask, but she wasn't certain. 

  "No, not that," he shook his head dismissively. "You know."

  "No, actually, I don't."

  "The part where they say you saw your father murder your mum," Draco replied nonchalantly.

She smiled, knowing she'd been right.

  "Yeah. I did, actually."

  "Oh."

To her surprise, Draco's casual expression slowly turned to one of sadness and disgust. 

  "Yeah. I was six. Remember it clear as day. I can tell you all about it, if you like," Selina Romanov offered with a disturbingly subtle smile.

  "No. That's—that's okay," he murmured, sitting in the seat quietly for a moment. 

Despite the sad awkwardness that lasted a few minutes, Draco Malfoy never left the train compartment.

*****

  "Selina Romanov!"

Selina sat before her entire school as she began her first year of Hogwarts, waiting patiently as Professor McGonagall carefully placed the Sorting Hat on her head. 

  "Mmm, a Romanov, eh?" the old hat recognized as it sat on her head. "Ambitious, cunning, powerful... But also, intelligent, sharp, thoughtful... Oh, I've made my decision. Slytherin!"

Everyone in the Great Hall exploded into applause, but the Slytherin table cheered especially loudly. The Sorting Hat was removed from Selina's head as she promptly left the platform to take a seat at the appropriate table, searching for someone to sit next to. As she walked by, many of the Slytherins waved her over, hoping to gain one of the Romanovs as a friend. One of the students hopeful to gain Selina Romanov as a potential friend was a small, dark-haired girl who Selina had seen pushing one of the Hufflepuff girls on the train in the line for sweets. Not particularly charmed by her desperate smile as she tried to wave her over to sit beside her, Selina looked down at who she would eventually discover was Pansy Parkinson as she passed, the girl who she had seen at a few of her parents' social engagements when she was younger. Before Selina could come to her own conclusion, she was stopped as Draco Malfoy, the dude blond boy she'd met on the train stood in front of her. 

  "Selina Romanov, right?" he asked her. "We met on the train? Our parents used to know each other."

This time, he was much more cordial and formal. 

  "Yeah," Selina nodded, looking at him with skepticism. 

  "These are my friends. Crabbe, and Goyle."

  "Yeah, I think I remember them from the parties," she nodded, her face not particularly emotive. 

  "Come sit with us," he invited her with a wide grin, "Next to me. Our parents all know each other, and look out for one another. We could do the same," he offered, his voice dripping with Machiavellianism. 

  "I'm not sure I follow," she replied carefully.

This was a lie. She understood exactly what he was suggesting, and was simply waiting for him to clearly lay out the terms of the arrangement. 

  "You're a Romanov. And, you made it into Slytherin. I saw you hex that Gryffindor boy who stepped on your shoes. I'm guessing you'd be pretty good at magic," he assumed. 

  "And if I am?"

  "Well, I'd like to have a friend like that," he explained. "You see, these two oafs here... they're alright as muscle, but to them, wands are practically just glorified backscratchers. I need someone who's got a few hexes up their sleeve," he said thoughtfully.

  "So what, you just need someone to do your dirty work for you?" Selina surmised. "For nothing in return?"

  "I didn't say that,"  he promised her hastily.

  "Then, what?" she asked. "What would you have to offer someone who's a good enough friend to cast the occasional hex?"

  "You said on the train you liked Quidditch," he said plainly. "What if I told you my father can get tickets anytime he wants? Or, that he could ensure my spot on the team in the next two years, and could probably find room for someone else, if he wanted?"

Selina considered the implications of this proposal of friendship, carefully weighing the pros and cons. She knew she needed no one's help succeeding, but she also knew it certainly wouldn't hurt to make a friend with some influence. She was always looking for a way to ascend to the next level, and she knew with friends like Malfoy and his little henchmen, she could do just that. 

  "Come sit with us," Draco Malfoy said again. "I think we could be very good friends," he said persuasively, offering his hand for her to shake.

  Selina Romanov smiled, shaking his hand. "Nice to see you again, friend."

Draco grinned, nodding his approval as he crudely snapped his fingers, motioning for Goyle to scoot over as if he were a dog. Soon enough, Selina would learn she could actually become very good friends with the likes of Malfoy and his posse. She would soon meet her best friend, Amana Tesfaye, as well as Elspeth Laurier. She didn't know it yet, but the people that she met in Slytherin would soon become like her only family, for better or worse.

Two Years Later

Most at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would've assumed that Draco Malfoy, or perhaps Pansy Parkinson, was the meanest person in school. Most people would have been wrong. Although she rarely ever felt the need to make public displays of arrogant and cruel behavior, Selina Romanov was much more evolved in her own concept of power and intimidation than others. She could be just as domineering as Draco, or just as mean-spirited as Pansy, although she rarely ever felt the need to be. Most who knew her considered her to be most levelheaded of all the 'popular' Slytherins who dominated the school, but few ever made the mistake of considering her to be mild-mannered, or even weak. The most notable difference between Selina and people like Draco was that, while Draco's cruelty was in his words and actions, Selina's cruelty shone through via her silence. Normally, it was Draco who would push the first-year students around, or threaten them with the Unforgivable Curses, but it was Selina who would either laugh at their misfortune, or say nothing at all as she watched. However, she definitely didn't entertain herself with the torture of weaker children as often or as obviously as the others. This commonality that she had with the other boys in Slytherin definitely opened many doors for her, allowing her a place in a friend group that was essentially considered the Hogwarts elite. Whether she liked it or not, to them, Selina was just another one of the boys. 

She never failed to make an impression anywhere she went. She was aware of all of it, although she would sometimes elect to ignore the lasting impressions she made. Oftentimes, she didn't know what to expect from them. Selina didn't know that the smile she'd offered to a lonely eleven year-old Hufflepuff boy would lead to him waiting outside of her dorms every day for a week with flowers he'd picked outside. She also was horrified to find that a strange old wizard she'd met in Diagon Alley while shopping for her school books when she was eleven was so captivated by her that he violently offered her money for her shoes. Just about everyone who met Selina Romanov had an opinion of her. Her best friend, Amana Tesfaye, would've described her as a beautiful, kind soul. Another close friend of hers, Draco Malfoy, would've described her as a funny person and a shockingly talented Quidditch player, although he never would've said it to her face. Pansy Parkinson would've and had called her an attention whore before, and her close friend Daphne Greengrass would've referred to her as a stuck-up bitch. Many people disliked or even hated Selina, often for reasons that actually had nothing to do with her in reality, but of course, even more people liked her. Still, it was at times difficult for her to focus on this. 

She didn't get along with many people. When she was six years old, her father Ilya Romanov had been famously sent to Azkaban Prison for murdering his wife and Selina's mother, leaving her in the care of her grandmother, who resented her. Needless to say, when Selina started her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she hadn't expected to end up in one of the groups that everyone in their grade constantly talked about. Selina came from a particularly wealthy family with an ancient, all-magic lineage of Pureblood witches and wizards, which was an incredibly rare thing in the wizarding world. Both of her parents had come from Pureblood families that belonged to incredibly exclusive and tight-knit social circles. At almost all of the events she'd attended throughout her childhood, Selina had interacted with a lot of the same children close to her age over the years, many of which, she found out, also attended Hogwarts. Surprisingly to her, upon starting school at Hogwarts, Selina had actually ended up making friends with a few of them, particularly a boy named Draco Malfoy, one of the more popular boys at school, who became one of her best friends.

Although Selina was popular and had made many  different friends and acquaintances, she still was a very unusual witch, with rather unusual powers. Selina Romanov came from two powerful and unique bloodlines, her father being descended from the famous Romanovs, and her mother being descended from the Bonheur family, a famous line of witches and wizards.  The Romanovs, with Selina's father Ilya being no exception, were known amongst wizards for being exceptionally gifted in dueling, especially when it came to curses and other forms of Dark magic. Although Selina's mother's side of the family did not share this particular gift, they did in fact have other unique traits. The Morais bloodline had been cursed, with something unidentifiable. For some inexplicable reason, the Morais's had a strange connection to death. Many of them had been born with various diseases, with Selina's mother having been born with a metabolism so strong that it had almost killed her in her childhood. Others in the Morais family formed eerie connections with Dark creatures, such as Dementors, Nundus, or Horned Serpents. Many also strongly suspected that Selina's mother, Adeline, had been part Veela. The Veela were beautiful magical creatures with pale skin and golden hair so light it was almost white, capable of charming and seducing humans. 

Although it was in fact true, it was only rumored that Selina Romanov's grandmother, Dominique Morais, was a quarter Veela with beautiful blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Selina's mother Adeline, when she was alive, was a radiant and beautiful woman with golden brown hair and cool blue eyes, a trait which she had passed down to her daughter. Selina Alyona Romanov, much like her mother, had a rare sort of gift when it came to her occasional encounters with Dark creatures. When she had been alive, Adeline Romanov had many special abilities. Although she was an Animagus, and could turn into a graceful dove at will, which also happened to be the form that her Patronus took, also had a gift with Dark creatures that would've killed any other witch or wizard who dared to approach them. When she was younger, Adeline had practically made a pet out of a dangerous Horned Serpent she'd encountered on a trip to the far east. A gifted Parseltongue, Adeline had been able to speak to snakes in their language. When she'd encountered a Horned serpent on her travels after Hogwarts, she was able to use a part of its horn as the core to her wand. Adeline Romanov's wand was one of the most precious heirlooms that her daughter had inherited after her death. Although she was unable to use it, even Selina recognized that the wand was a precious heirloom. Her mother's wand had been exceptionally powerful and intimidating to any who were aware of it. 

The wand that had belonged to Adeline Romanov had been twelve inches long, made from ebony with a Horned Serpent horn core. Although Selina hadn't inherited her mother's gift for Parseltongue, or the ability to use her wand, she had inherited her mother's talent for complex magic. Little over half a year ago, at only thirteen years old, Selina had used her mother's diaries to successfully perform the Animagus ritual. She had, as a very young witch, completed the complex ritual and drank the potion that allowed her to become an animal at will. Upon completing the ritual, Selina had revealed her Animagus form to be a raven, which felt like a faint connection to her mother. Selina's powers were both potent and unusual, something she had in common with both of her parents. Like her father, Selina Romanov had joined the Slytherin Quidditch team at Hogwarts at a young age. She had first been chosen as a Chaser on the Slytherin team a year before during her second year, even earlier than Ilya Romanov who had become the team's Seeker during his third year at Hogwarts. In her first year of playing on the Slytherin Quidditch team, Selina had gotten the chance to show off her years of learning maneuvers from books her father had left behind in only one game, due to most Quidditch matches having been canceled after the deaths of multiple students. Selina had been selected as one of the team's Chasers during tryouts on her own merit, although her connection to Draco Malfoy, whose father had donated expensive Nimbus 2001's to the Slytherin team in order to secure his place on the team as Seeker. 

She was an exceedingly talented Quidditch player, and would have enjoyed playing as Seeker on the Quidditch team, although after she had learned that her friend had his eyes on the position of Seeker, she realized that her efforts and strategy would be even more useful to the team as a Chaser. Selina and Draco Malfoy's friends were certainly jealous of the two of them as players on the Slytherin team, which often came out when they discussed Quidditch. A thirteen year-old Selina Romanov sat at the window seat of the train compartment on the way to Hogwarts, sighing as she watched the train pass by mountains and rivers. She was trying her best to tune out everything else that had been going on. Sitting next to her was Draco Malfoy, who had been engaging in a lively argument about something Quidditch-related with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who sat across from them in the car.

  "No it wasn't, you twat! Goyle. You went to that match, right?!" Malfoy exclaimed.

  "Yeah, it was a foul!" 

  "No, for fuck's sake, it wasn't!" Draco yelled, not getting the answer he wanted out of him. "Sel! You went to the game with us! Was it a foul, or not?" he demanded impatiently. 

  "Will you three just shut the fuck up already?" Selina scoffed. "I can't even hear myself read!"

  "Who the hell reads a book on the train to school?" Draco argued.

  "Someone who's actually going to become a Chaser this year," she replied smugly, shooting a look at Crabbe, who just stuck his tongue out in retaliation. 

  "Crabbe, a Chaser?" he laughed at the idea. "The only thing I've ever seen him chase after is a pumpkin pie."

Goyle laughed at the crude joke at Crabbe's expense, insulting him as he enjoyed it wholeheartedly. 

  "I wouldn't be so smug if I were you, Malfoy," Selina remarked. "The only reason I'm not going out for Seeker is because you want it more than I do."

  "Like you could beat me," he sneered, very obviously overconfident in his abilities. 

  "I have. Multiple times," she reminded him, "Eight times, just this summer."

Draco shook his head at her dismissively, trying not to admit that she had, in fact, beat him at playing for the golden snitch many times before, and that she usually did. Selina Romanov was one of the youngest players to make Slytherin's Quidditch team in years, having been chosen as one of the team's Chasers last year at Hogwarts after her impressive tryouts. Draco Malfoy, although he had tried to hide it then, had been extremely jealous of her their first year at Hogwarts. He of course had made the Quidditch team the year before, as the Slytherin team's Seeker, allegedly after a substantial donation of brand new Nimbus 2001's for the entire team from his father. Selina, unlike Draco, had a greater sense of integrity when it came to her athletic abilities. If she hadn't earned something on her own, it wasn't nearly as satisfying of an accomplishment to her. She wanted to be the best, certainly, but usually only if she'd actually achieved it herself. But still, she was certainly grateful for the sleek black brooms gifted to the team by a vicariously ambitious Mr. Malfoy. Selina treasured her Nimbus 2001, believing strongly that, although a truly skilled player didn't need any fancy equipment in order to succeed, good equipment could certainly enhance one's game. 

As the train ride to Hogwarts progressed, Selina watched for the Dementors that would be supposedly searching the train for Sirius Black, the murderer who had recently escaped from Azkaban Prison. Crabbe had eventually fallen asleep after an intense sugar crash, followed by Goyle who had nodded off beside him. Draco sat awake across from Selina, switching back and forth between fiddling with something he'd found in his bag and watching her read her Quidditch book. After being on the train for about an hour of so, Draco had grown restless and began watching Selina Romanov gently pet her cat as she read, affectionately scratching the animal lightly behind the ears. Selina's cat, an undeniably adorable Norwegian forest cat with brown fur so dark it almost appeared black, was sitting beside her quietly as she read. Bored, Malfoy stood and walked towards Selina's side of the train car which she shared with Goyle. He forcefully scooped up the animal only by its shoulders, prompting it to hiss rather loudly at him as he set the cat down on his lap. Selina looked up at him, frowning.

  "Freya doesn't like that, you prick," she snapped.

  "Oh, relax, she'll get over it!" Draco complained, forcing the cat back into his lap as he lazily pet her. 

Not appreciating his brutish forcefulness, the cat hissed again before aggressively scratching his arm.

  "Ow!" he hissed, sucking on the bleeding scratch on his arm as Freya the cat remained sitting in his lap.

  "I told you," Selina muttered. 

  "For fuck's sake, Sel, that hurt! Why isn't she leaving?" he demanded, scowling down at Freya. 

  "Well, you've already gone and upset her! You might as well give her some attention," Selina remarked indifferently as she read. 

He sighed with boredom, picking the cat up in his arms as he he held her close to him, petting her as he clicked his tongue quietly, as if speaking to her in their own little language. Freya eventually accepted Draco's presence, and purred against his body. He chuckled as she purred softly, scratching her nose with his index finger. 

  "Hello," he whispered to her, her head raised as she demanded more. "Hello there, you fluffy little thing."

Selina just shook her head at him as she read, knowing that her cat also enjoyed his company but hated it at the same time. 

  "Hi, little kitten," he said absentmindedly as he pet Freya. "Yes! You're a pretty little thing, aren't you?"

Setting her book down, Selina crossed her arms as she rested against the wall, wishing that she had a blanket. 

  "How old is she, again?" Draco asked her considerately.

  "She's about five. Fairly young, for a cat. Got her when she was a kitten."

  "I like her," he said obsessively, setting her down and allowing her to sleep on his lap. "Even if she scratches the hell out of me."

  "Only because you go and annoy the hell out of her," she pointed out.

  "I wish I had a cat," he thought. "I mean, I have Ares, but a pet I can actually play with would be nice."

  "I'm sure Ares is big enough to have a nice game of catch with," she chuckled at the thought of Draco's giant eagle owl.

  "It's not the same," he sighed. "I want a pet that's meant to be played with. Maybe a nice cat, or a big dog."

  "You, with a big dog?" she chuckled. "Draco, I've seen you get scared of especially big mice."

  "That doesn't count, they came at me!" he insisted, earning an amused smile from Selina Romanov.

He fished into his pockets for snacks, pulling out a small bag of sweets from his mother. 

  "Chocolate muffin?" he offered her one.

She nodded with a smile, taking one from him as she ate contently. 

  "Are these from that one bakery she took us to?" Selina asked curiously to pass the time.

  Draco nodded. "They're the best. Not too sweet, not too bitter, either. I don't like chocolate that much, honestly. Too much and it gets really bitter."

  "I'm not much of a chocolate fan," she agreed, "I just eat it when it's there."

  "Are you and Pansy Parkinson friends?" he asked, changing the subject out of nowhere.

  "Not particularly," she shrugged, "Why?"

  "Have you heard what she's been saying about you?" he asked her. "And me."

  "No," she scoffed, "Why would I care what she says?"

  "You shouldn't, she's like a walking Babbling Curse," he said frankly.

  "Why?" Selina asked, brows furrowed. "What's she been saying?"

  "She's been saying you're dating Goyle," Draco stifled a heavy laugh, "And that we fancy each other," he spoke slowly. 

  "Oh really, is that all?" she asked in disbelief. "She could write a whole gossip column, that one."

  "I'll say. Blaise says he heard from Tracey she's been blabbing to everyone all summer. Both of our names have been in those letters at least a few times," Draco remarked.

  "Why? What else has she got to say about us?"  she wondered.

She didn't see a reason as to why Pansy Parkinson would go to such great lengths to convince everyone that Selina and Draco were a couple, considering that everyone knew it was Pansy who really fancied him. 

  "I didn't pay attention to much of it. She did try to start a rumor that you killed your mum, though," he said with disdain. "And that you and Blaise are dating. He's not very happy about that one."

  "Oh, I'm flattered," she rolled her eyes.

  "No," he rolled his eyes at her, "It's not that Blaise doesn't think you're fit, I think he just hates Pansy," he assured her.

  "Hmm, can't see why anyone would do that," Selina said. 

  "Yeah," he muttered, looking out the train window.

  "Do you?" she raised an eyebrow.

  Draco looked away from the window. "'Do I' what?" he snapped. 

  "Hate her?" she finished. "Or... is it something else?" she asked.

  "What are you playing at?" Draco snapped, sitting back expectantly.

  "Nothing," she laughed, amused by his disdain, "Nothing."

He didn't believe her for a moment as she failed to stifle her giggles. 

  "No, really! What are you getting at?" he cocked his head at her accusingly.

  "I'm not getting at anything," she assured him in ridicule. "Relax."

He heaved a loud, pouty sigh as he continued to look out the window, thinking about his complaints about nothing in particular. He eventually relaxed in his seat, falling almost asleep underneath the blanket his mother had packed in his bag for him, looking out the window. The both of them had nearly drifted asleep, until a growing commotion spread about the train. Draco was the first to be woken by it, looking over at Selina as he heard noise. She noticed his concern, looking around.

  "What is that?" he asked her, looking out the window and seeing shapes somewhere in the darkness. "What's out there?"

  "I don't know," she responded tiredly, trying to fall back asleep. "I don't care."

  "My father says the Ministry's allowed the Dementors to leave Azkaban to act as security at Hogwarts," he recalled, "Do you think that's what that is?"

  "Probably, yeah," Selina replied indifferently. "Now go to sleep."

He sighed aloud as he failed to return to sleep. Draco sat up, completely awake, as Selina, Crabbe, and Goyle all peacefully rested throughout the train ride, at least for a short while. With Draco's unrest and constant shifting about, Selina had woken up shortly, feeling disoriented. It didn't take long for her to notice what it was that had caught Draco's attention. The flying, cloaked Dementors hadn't actually entered the car that she and Draco were riding in, but as she watched one of them pass, she saw the darkness looming over them for just a moment, and felt an indescribable sense of dread as she observed from a distance. As they passed through the train, Selina exchanged glances with Draco. While he didn't seem to fully share her sense of disturbance, he had also seemed mildly uncomfortable for a moment as everyone else hardly noticed the Dementors, and continued on as if nothing had happened. Although no one else seemed to understand the effect that the Dementors had on those who felt their presence, Selina had learned through Draco's relentless bullying that Harry Potter, the infamous survivor of an attack by none other than Lord Voldemort, had been so affected by the Dementors' presence that, for a little while, he had been knocked completely unconscious on the train.

  "Those Dementors. They're fucking disgusting-looking," Draco muttered to Selina as they walked from the train station to the boats that went over the most to the Hogwarts castle. 

 "I don't think they should really be allowed at a school," she stated. "That can't be safe."

  "Why, because little baby Potter's gone and collapsed?" he argued crassly. "Please. He'll he taking photos and signing autographs again in no time."

  "You sure you don't wish you could be the one signing autographs and babies?" she grinned.

  "What are you saying? Me? Jealous of that prat?" he gave a haughty, forced laugh from his chest. "It'd be like a snake watching a rat eat rubbish and getting jealous."

  "Hey, I could give you a scar right now and make you famous," Selina teased, playfully pointing her wand at him.

Draco broke his facade of arrogance as he quickly reached for the wand, just as Selina pulled it away with quick reflexes, as he chased after her. He raced after her, reaching out as she easily alluded him, running circles around the other Slytherin students. Trapped in by the crowds of other students, Selina was completely boxed in as Draco scooped her up in his arms, lifting her up off the ground and she slapped him in return. He childishly ran off despite her protests, carrying her in front of him the same way he would a heavy box. Selina slapped him jokingly on the face as he dropped her, the two of them rushing off towards the boats. 

  "Alright, three to a boat!"

The school's groundskeeper called to help the first years as all of the students piled into the small boats. Selina and Draco looked around for a third person, hoping to find Blaise Zabini, or perhaps Crabbe or Goyle to join them as they climbed in. Instead, it just so happened to be Pansy Parkinson who had climbed with them into the wooden boat. Selina turned back to look at her, but before she could utter a single word, the boat had already pushed off from the docks, launching them on a painfully slow journey, with only Pansy, to the school castle. 

  "Oh. Parkinson," Draco nodded to her, as Selina glanced at him with wide eyes. 

  "Hi, Draco," she chuckled coyly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "How was your summer?"

  "Oh, it was alright. We summered in Paris again.," he said to her haphazardly. "It was pretty boring."

  "I got your letter," she blurted out eagerly. "It was really nice."

He smiled, nodding in silence as they exchanged awkward but polite looks.

  "Did you see the Dementors on the train?" Pansy piped up hopefully.

  "Yeah, we talked to Blaise, they went through the entire train," Selina Romanov spoke to avoid the awkward silence. 

  "I wasn't talking to you!" Pansy squealed impatiently, earning surprised expressions and eyebrow raises from both Selina and Draco. 

She just sat there, her jaw dropping as a laugh of disbelief slipped out, her eyes widening with excitement as she barely resisted the temptation of slapping her right across the face. She stared back at Draco, who only shrugged at her with a particularly insufferable smirk on his face. At first, Pansy's constant snapping at Selina had been cute and charming, simply an adorable quirk, but eventually, Selina had stopped finding it cute. She was willing silent for the rest of the boat ride to Hogwarts, watching Pansy fawning over Draco the entire time, appealing to nothing but his ego the entire time. Selina could hardly wait for the boat to dock. She was more than eager to see the rest of her friends, including Jasper Carroll, who was not only one of her favorite people at Hogwarts, but anywhere. 

  "Sit next to me at dinner?" Pansy asked Draco hopefully.

  "And catch which diseases?" Selina asked with a cold grin on her face, walking away as Draco followed her with a laugh, leaving Pansy alone at the docks.

Selina always got the last word. They continued on to the castle with Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini, discussing the Hogwarts Quidditch teams, as well as various school gossip, much of which naturally included Harry Potter, the boy famous for having survived his parents' murder as an infant. Selina, even if she never participated much in the boys' childish behavior, occasionally took interest in listening to the cruel gossip and insults that they shared with one another. To her, it was fairly natural to let out a wry chuckle at some of their crude jokes, or give one of them a friendly smack in response. Although Selina Romanov was nowhere near as shameless as her friends when it came to the insults that easily transitioned into straightforward bullying, she was certainly just as ruthless, if not worse at times, whether or not she chose to openly exhibit it. Selina Romanov was genuinely a fair and even-tempered sort of person, even when it came to the likes of Harry Potter, who Draco and many of the others in Slytherin all relentlessly made an enemy of. Selina had hardly ever lashed out at others unprompted, mostly because she never deemed the potential consequences to be worth it, but just about everyone at Hogwarts knew that under her calm exterior, she was equally as capable of inflicting pain as Draco, or Crabbe and Goyle, or even Pansy Parkinson. 

Pansy Parkinson was essentially a female version of Draco Malfoy, terrorizing the female population of Hogwarts with extremely personal humiliation and name-calling as well as threats of unspeakably horrible gossip as opposed to physical violence. Selina Romanov was more so the reasonable mother that the children went to the father instead of when she said no, with an additional mini skirt and pink lip gloss. In a way, Pansy's version of bullying was much worse than Draco's could ever be. Pansy put much more effort into her torture of others than Draco Malfoy ever did. While he would simply stab at them in the dark with meaningless insults and silly physical blows until he grew bored of them and abandoned the endeavor altogether, Pansy spent time on her pursuits, gathering leverage against her carefully picked targets and going for their very worst weaknesses until they could take it no longer. She was far worse than a bully, chipping away at the self esteem and very sanity of all the girls she decided that she hated at Hogwarts, for various reasons. However, most were smart enough to understand that Selina Romanov was far worse, or at least she could be, if she ever wanted to be. There were countless examples, little displays, in which Selina's potential outweighed Pansy's by far. There was the time Selina had knocked Angelina Johnson off of her broom the year before in the midst of a rather intense Quidditch match against Gryffindor, or the time she had stolen Fred Weasley's Beater's bat to hit the Quaffle away from him during a game. 

There was also the time that she had called Millicent Bulstrode an 'interrupting cow' to her face for publicly calling Tracey Davis ugly during a conversation she and Selina had been having, or the time that she had gotten away with using the illegal growth hex on Marcus Belby's head, causing it to swell up to six times its normal size after he'd been boasting in the Great Hall by using a Confundus charm on a first-year, or the time that she cast a Flagrante curse on some Hufflepuff boy's wand when she noticed him trying to hex Draco behind his back, which resulted in his hand being severely burned after coming into contact with the wand. She never liked to seem hot-tempered or immature, but when the situation called for it, Selina Romanov was an expert at retaliation. She was indeed very formidable of an opponent when it came to magic, especially various forms of Dark magic, typically in the form of spells or even interacting with Dark creatures in the forest. It wasn't unusual for Selina to leave the Hogwarts castle and hide away in the Dark forest to find the thestrals, the black winged horses that could only be seen by those who have witnessed death. The Thestrals, which were often misunderstood as dangerous, were very gentle creatures that appreciated attention, seeing as many witches and wizards couldn't even see them. 

It was true, Selina was an entirely uncommon witch with powers that seemed to have the potential to rival even her father's when he was her age. When Ilya Romanov attended Hogwarts as a young Slytherin, around the same as the Malfoys, who he had become fast friends with, he had a definite talent for advanced spells, especially those which could be used against his fellow students. Ilya Romanov, even in his early years, had been gifted with hexes and curses, especially with nonverbal magic that gave him the impactful advantage of catching his opponents off guard. Selina, just like her father, was undeniably talented and could easily accomplish much of the same magic that he could at her age, and much more. Ilya Romanov was, to this day, was immensely skilled at dueling, which Selina had to bear witness to the day that her mother died. She was skilled at magic, especially combative magic that required a sharp mind and quick reflexes, which also proved equally convenient when it came to her interactions with those like Pansy, who made the mistake of underestimating her as a rival.

Pansy might've been cunning, and her words might've been biting, but still, it was Selina who ultimate ended up walking away for dinner with Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini, while she was left to return to her other friends. Pansy didn't understand the influence that Selina had. In her eyes, Selina could try half as hard as Pansy and still get twice as much out of people. Pansy Parkinson could hardly understand why Selina was practically silent most of the time, and usually only had the occasional eyebrow raise or sly sneer to offer, and yet all the boys, including Draco at times, always seemed to take her side. It seemed no matter what Pansy said or did, no matter what she had up her sleeve to tip the scales in her favor, everyone seemed to be more inclined to be swayed by what she would describe as her eerie good looks and silence disguised as poise. Pansy watched with a maddening envy as Selina walked with the boys, sandwiched between   Blaise and Draco talking Ministry business that they'd heard about from family and read in the papers as they gestured colorfully and made cracks about Ministry employees and their various laughable qualities. 

Selina sat at the welcoming feast with the boys, as she usually did. She sat beside Draco with her best friend, Amana Tesfaye, on her other side, across from Blaise, who reluctantly sat by Crabbe and Goyle. She has noticed her friend Jasper Carroll sitting far down the Slytherin table on the same side. Jasper smiled, his long, dark hair offsetting the friendly smile on his face. Selina had kindly waved back to him, the two of them chuckling at themselves as they momentarily ignored everyone sitting around them. After the students' first dinner of the year at Hogwarts, which had been initiated by a rather disturbing speech from the Headmaster regarding the Dementors guarding the school and watching out for Sirius Black, the Slytherins had all retreated to their common room, in the dungeons beneath the rest of the school, where Selina had accompanied the boys to the dormitory that they shared, sitting on the floor, talking and laughing together as they all shared the half bottle of Firewhisky that one of the boys who slept in another room had stolen from his parents. After a while, the others had all gone to sleep, leaving Draco and Selina sitting up without the bottle, trying not to wake them as they talked later and later into the night. Before either of them knew it, it had been hours since dinner, and Draco Malfoy sat around chortling uncontrollably, with the help of the small amount of Firewhisky he'd drank. Funny enough, Selina had drank more of the Firewhisky than he had, and was growing bored of indulging his childishness. He was currently leaned up against his bed, his hand supporting him on the ground. 

  "Careful," Selina spoke slowly, tiring of him as she helped prop him up with her hand, "You're going to fall over."

  "I'm fine," he insisted, waving her away as he sat up.

  "We should probably go to bed soon, we have to be up early for classes tomorrow," she patted his shoulder.

  "Great, get in," Draco replied smugly, nodding at his bed. 

Occasionally, Draco's arrogance would result in questionable behavior that, to one who wasn't accustomed to him, might perceive as flirting, or even genuine affection. Luckily, Selina knew how to avoid this sort of trap.

  "Okay. I'm going to assume that's your own stupidity talking, with the help of the Firewhisky," she concluded, unamused.

She was starting to miss Jasper more and more as she continued spending time with Draco again. 

  "Oh, come on, we shared my bed during that thunderstorm our first year," he reminded her.

  "Yes, after I told you I'd give you ten minutes because you were so scared," she laughed in disbelief.

  "You liar, I was not scared," he scoffed, lying to her through his teeth.

  "Really? And you just snuck into my dorm and shook me awake screaming about lightening because you were bored?" she questioned.

He thought for a moment, for some reason hesitant to answer the question.

  "I-I hate thunder, alright?" he shrugged, as if it were nothing. 

  "I know you do," she assured him with a chuckle, watching as he struggled to understand why he'd answered the question that way. 

  "More Firewhisky?" he prompted.

  "He left with the bottle. Remember?" Selina asked, forgetting the name of the boy who'd brought it.

  "I have my own," he scoffed, pulling a new, full bottle out of his trunk, offering it to her.

  "Go to sleep," Selina said firmly, grinning back at him as she left his dormitory.

*****

The next morning, Selina had reluctantly took her seat in Charms class with Professor Flitwick, waiting alone as she flipped through the day's lessons out of boredom. Draco Malfoy and a few of her other friends in Slytherin took their seats near her, as she sat sandwiched between Draco and a sweaty Crabbe who had definitely forgotten at least two different forms of personal hygiene that particular morning. 

  "Crabbe! You smell like absolute dog shit, bloody hell, when was the last time you bathed!" Draco exclaimed sharply, naturally plugging his nose for an added dramatic effect.

The large boy just shrugged, which Selina found especially promising.

  "Did you hear about Quidditch tryouts? They're supposed to start a couple weeks from now," she told Draco.

  "Please. As if I actually have to try out," Draco Malfoy scoffed smugly. "All I have to do is show up, and I'm the Seeker. I've got it made."

  "That's the spirit," she muttered sarcastically, shut her book.

  "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be able to make Chaser again this year," he teased, "Crabbe probably knows he's better off just going out for Beater. He might not be a good...well... anything, but he's definitely got the build of a good Beater. Or three of them," he remarked snidely.

She couldn't help but smirk a little at Draco's stupid joke. Selina was equally as mean-spirited as Draco, whether others picked up on it or not. She was the kind of girl who seemed shy and timid, but really whenever she actually spoke, her words had a sort of sting to them. Usually, she chose to keep most of her less-than-kind thoughts to herself. The most important distinction between she and Draco was, of course, how they chose to express it. Oftentimes, they would clash with one another due to Draco's arrogance and rudeness towards those who didn't deserve it, combined with Selina's indifference and more evolved sense of humor. However, they still seemed to be able to get along, even if it wasn't always clear how. Not more than a few seats down, Pansy Parkinson sat scowling spitefully right in Selina's direction. She resented her easygoing friendship with Draco, the way he would readily approach her and speak to her, or joke with her, or share things with her, the way Pansy knew he never would with her. Why she couldn't be as good to him as Selina Romanov, she had no idea. 

  "You know, I'm getting sick of all these stupid restrictions. You can't even take a piss at night!" Draco complained. "But I suppose if I was a serial killer like Sirius Black, I'd come back here to kill Dumbledore, or that twat Potter, too."

  "What did Dumbledore ever do to you?" she scoffed, ignoring his childish rants.

Draco Malfoy ignored her, engaging in his conversation with Crabbe and Goyle once again. Much of a fairly dull class with Professor Flitwick passed by, as Draco sat quietly beside Selina, patiently waiting for her to finish each item on the assignment as he copied down the answers. 

  "You know one of these days, you'll actually have to do things by yourself," she reminded him.

  "But I have you to help me," he smiled, looking down as he leisurely decided on which questions to intentionally get wrong so as to make it seem as if he'd done his own work. 

  "Not to sound like a parent, but I can't always be around, you know," she pointed out.

  "Well, that's sad," Draco pouted. "I like when you explain things, or tell me what to do. It's like having a teacher I actually like. You just get me!" he attempted to convince her.

  "Whatever you say, Malfoy," Selina sighed, shutting her textbook.  

She sat there playfully indulging Goyle's questionable attempts at polite conversation, awkwardly agreeing with his points, which she wasn't quite paying attention to anymore, some poorly stated and justified hot takes on the Chudley Cannons. Everyone except Gregory Goyle knew that the entirety of Slytherin House, as well as many of the other students at Hogwarts, were well aware of his gigantic crush on Selina. 

  "Sel," Draco interrupted him. 

She was, to her own surprise, thrilled that Draco had decided to interrupt her conversation. 

  "We should probably get some Quidditch practice in," he digressed suddenly. "Meet you down at the pitch before dinner?"

  "What's this? Malfoy? Practicing?" she sarcastically raised an eyebrow.

  Malfoy rolled his eyes impatiently. "Shut up. I need to work on my skills, and I need someone to practice with who isn't Crabbe or Goyle."

  "So, someone who doesn't have a limp penis for a brain?" she concluded.

  "Yes, exactly. What do you say?"

  "Alright then, I'll meet you out on the pitch at four," she agreed, "We'll split our time between both of our needs."

  "Perfect. You're the only one good enough to practice with. If I had to spend one more practice with Crabbe running out of breath or Goyle getting his left and right confused, I think I'd have to walk myself straight into the Black Lake," Draco muttered mostly to himself. 

*****

After the day's classes had come to an end, Selina took a walk down to the Quidditch pitch with Jasper Carroll, who she'd made friends with the year before. Jasper was a year older, and was also in Slytherin. She had run into Jasper on his way out of Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Lupin, the new teacher who everyone seemed to like. 

  "Honestly. Lupin's fucking hilarious. He totally told off that one Gryffindor who always smells like cheese," Jasper Carroll chuckled in his light Irish accent as they leisurely walked their laps around the pitch. "You really should've been there."

  "Sounds like it," she agreed, laughing at the mental image.

  "Do you walk the pitch every day?" he asked curiously. 

  "I would if I could," she nodded. "I do a lot, though."

  "Is it really your favorite place at Hogwarts?" he inquired. 

  "It's one of them," Selina shrugged, "It's peaceful when it's empty, and comforting even when it's busy."

  "What are the other good places to peruse?" he questioned. "Usually, when I want to unwind, I just stay in my bunk."

  "Hmm. The courtyard's always nice, but a lot of the times, you'll either see people you don't want to see, or see people being as stupid as they can," she remarked. "The forest is always good, too. Sometimes, I see Hagrid out, and we wave to one another. In the winter, sometimes he'll invite me into his hut for tea."

  "Hagrid's a very nice man," Jasper recalled, "He's nice to talk to. He's taken me out to the forest with him before, and he lets me take care of his dog. No wonder those Gryffindors are friends with him."

  "Hagrid's one of the nicest people I've ever met, I don't know why people judge him so quickly," Selina said. "I wish he was my father."

  "I wish he was my father and my mother," he agreed, making her laugh. 

She had gotten to know him very well in the past year that they'd known each other. Jasper's mother had left his father when he was very young. Ever since, Jasper had told Selina that his father had always been distant and flippant with him ever since, choosing Jasper's stepmother and step siblings over him every time. His father didn't seem to speak to him at all, unless it was to criticize or reprimand him for not conforming to his wishes. Jasper's less than desirable home life was the subject of almost half of the letters he wrote to Selina over the summer. He never would've admitted it, even to himself, but as he watched Selina laugh he found it was something he associated with the idea of bliss itself. Something about her soft laughter was as serene and expressive as it could get. When he thought of laughter, he instantly thought of Selina Romanov and her deep, gentle chuckles. Seeing Selina chuckle for the first time not long after he had first met her was surprising and a little jarring, as if it was easy to forget that such a reserved and poised sort of person could smile and laugh. Something about Selina made her almost seem to be above laughter altogether. She was, on the surface, graceful and magnetic, with an angelic face that both pulled you in and kept you at a distance. 

Selina had inherited all of the infamous Romanov characteristics. She had radiant olive skin and greyish blue eyes, framed by long black hair that just barely hid sharp cheekbones and an angular jawline, as well a long, thin button nose. Although she had inherited her father's features, she no doubt reflected all of her mother's beauty in them. Adeline Morais Romanov had been one of the most beautiful women in existence to any of those who had known her. She was both descended from nobility and known for her captivating, otherworldly beauty. Many men tried and failed to earn her hand in marriage, Selina's father Ilya had been considered blessed when he had married her mother. To hear of his brutal murder of his wife years ago was surprising to many, to say the very least. Although Selina had hardly known her mother, she found herself relating to her constantly as she got older, having read all of the old diaries that she'd left behind. Selina had related to Adeline in all of the things that she had found joy in, and even more so in her many sadnesses throughout life. 

Adeline had always been a beautiful woman, especially to the men in her life. Including her father. The horrors of Adeline Romanov's childhood and her daughter's seemed be likened to one another by one thing in particular; Adeline's mother, Dominique Morais. Much like her mother, Selina had been subjected to a long childhood of silent suffering most easily defined by tears that she'd been struck for no matter the reason, as well as brutal fasting from a young age. Selina's childhood had never truly been a happy one, even in its best moments, no matter how much money she'd had growing up. It was one undeniable reason for her friendship with Draco Malfoy. He understood, when he would actually let on, what it was like to have everything but still never know warmth. Selina didn't have many friends at Hogwarts. The first person she'd met, Draco, was the first person who reminded her of the warmth of family. Draco was funny, immature, and kind, at times. He never made her feel sad or strange. He was willing to bring up her mother's murder, or tease her without fearing she'd burst into tears at any moment. Jasper, naturally, was the second person she'd met who she could also share that feeling with. Jasper Carroll was gentle and trustworthy, and she could tell he truly cared. Selina liked spending time with Jasper. Both of them often forgot that he was actually a year older. To them, they were true equals.

  "How are you feeling about Quidditch tryouts this year?" Jasper asked thoughtfully.

  Selina laughed emptily. "I wish you wouldn't ask that. That's all anyone's asked me about since they were announced."

  "My apologies, then," he accepted, "Shall we discuss the cheesy Gryffindor, then?"

  "No," Selina scoffed, "Absolutely not."

  "Very well then. What would you like to talk about, then?" he asked grandly.

  She grinned humorously. "Who says we have to talk?" 

Jasper turned to her curiously, just as her form in its entirety seemed to disappear, transforming into the tiny figure of a sleek, black raven flying graceful circles around him. His mouth stood slightly open in awe, watching her with pleasure. He laughed happily as the little bird swooped back down, landing perfectly on his shoulder. 

  "Hello there," he beamed, very softly petting the bird's head with a single finger. "I'm still jealous you already mastered the Animagus ritual. You know, you'd think the older one would have accomplished it first."

With that, Selina flew off of his shoulder in her raven form, flying to the ground and landing softly in her typical human form. Becoming an Animagus was certainly an accomplishment, especially for someone so young, and was the sort of magical power that could only be managed with someone born to a parent with as much inborn talent as Adeline Romanov, or even Ilya Romanov, let alone the both of them. 

  "I guess I'm just that talented," she giggled. "You know, my mother was an Animagus, too. She was a dove, when she transformed. She was beautiful. I learned the ritual from one of her diaries."

  "A dove? That sounds lovely," he thought. 

  "It really was, from what I remember," she nodded in agreement. "Watching her take flight... it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. It's one of the memories I hold onto the hardest."

  "I can imagine why," he remarked. "Say, can I ask you a question?"

  "What is it?" she asked.

  "Do you... do you ever remember your father fondly?" Jasper wondered aloud.

Selina froze, not prepared to answer that particular question. She and Jasper had discussed her mother's death on many occasions, but rarely did he ever have any questions on the subject. And never had he asked that one. The only person Selina had ever fully told about her mother's murder was Draco, and even then, she'd kept many of the traumatic details to herself. 

  "Erm..." she hardly knew how to respond.

  "I'm sorry, Selina," Jasper apologized to her immediately, "I really shouldn't have asked you that—"

  "No, it's really okay, Jasper," she cut him off quickly, walking faster ahead, "It's fine. But I, er, I've just got to go..."

  "Selina! Wait, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Jasper called, running after her. 

  "No, you didn't, I'm fine! But really, I've got to go now, I'm supposed to meet Draco for Quidditch at four, I didn't mean to stay this late," she quickly made an excuse. 

Jasper watched in distress as she ran off back to the Slytherin dormitories to change. He considered continuing to run after her, but decided against it as he remembered the far away expression on her face when he'd asked about her father.

[peddling-rp-memes]

Tom Waits Starters (1/?)

I wanted to do one of these for a while now. Idk if I'll make more, but I absolutely could with this artist alone. Feel free to change names/places/pronouns/etc. As always, remember to specify for multimuses!

I never told the truth, so I can never tell a lie.

You can send me to Hell, but I'll never let go of your hand.

Honey, my heart wasn't born to be tamed.

Calvin's right- I should go back to driving trucks.

There's nothing for me in this world full of strangers.

I never saw the morning 'til I stayed up all night.

All they'll find is my beer and my shirt.

Half drunk all the time, and I'm all drunk the rest.

Did you hear the news about Edward?

Tell all the others you'll hold in your arms I said I'd come back for you.

Kiss me like a stranger once again.

This ain’t a purchase, it’s a rental.

My body’s at home, but my heart’s in the wind.

Hell is such a lonely place.

You know my number, so don’t you call me?

He’s not conventionally handsome.

Ain’t no good thing ever dies.

Darlin’, I beg your pardon.

There's things in this world that you're gonna have no use for.

Give me another reason to get outta bed.

I'll leave my jacket to keep you warm.

She took all my money, and my best friend.

The touch of your fingers lingers burning in my memory.

Well, I’m not dancin’ here tonight, but things are bound to turn around.

Hey, sight for sore eyes! It's a long time no see.

Look here, in my wallet- that’s her.

I'll be back some lucky day.

This life I’m leading’s driving me insane!

I can’t let Mr. Sorrow try and pull me down.

I’m kinda selfish about my privacy.

Life’s made of trouble, worry, pain, and struggle.

It’s a long time since I drank champagne.

She knows that I am broke, but I must play.

What she done, you can’t give it a name.

I’m gonna love you ‘til the wheels come off.

How’s it going to end?

I suppose there’s something comforting in knowing what to expect.

What’s a poor boy to do?

Now my confusion is oh so clear.

Where are those arms that held me?

I never spoke “I love you” ‘til I cursed you in vain.

Put on your overcoat, take me away.

Nobody knows me, I can’t fathom my stayin’.

I don’t need anybody ‘cause I learned to be alone.

And so poor Edward was doomed.

For she loves you for all that you are not.

You see, I just can’t live without her.

That sonuva bitch ain’t comin’ back here no more.

I drunk up all of my money.

Just came in to join a crowd, had some time to kill.

I don’t have a drinking problem- ‘cept when I can’t get a drink.

I ain’t as bad as they make me out to be.

You’re the landscape of my dreams.

Anywhere I lay my head I’m gonna call my home.

Now tell me, what have I got to lose?

I have no pride, I have no shame.

And you’ll die with the rose still on your lips.

Give a kiss to win a heart, take a kiss to break apart.

The only thing I want that shines, is to be king there in your eyes.

I'm gonna whittle you into kindlin'!

And to give a man luck, he must fall in the sea.

Go on and take a swig of that poison and like it.

Our time for to love was a song.

My goodbye is written by the moon in the sky.

I ruin everything that I do.

The stairs sound so lonely without you.

What made my dreams so hollow?

But I only make it as far as the next whiskey bar.

Take me home, you silly boy, 'cus I'm still in love with you.

Seems like folks turn into things that they’d never want.

Never could stand that dog.

I won’t believe our love’s a sin.

It’s a lot smaller down here on the ground.

Hell can’t burn me more than this!

I’m not all I thought I’d be.

This is where you go when you die.

All dressed up in spring's new clothes.

Always for you, and forever yours.

And I come ten thousand miles away- not one thing to show.

I’m gonna do what I want, and I wanna get paid.

All the world's not round without you.

He’s just a little bitty thing, he’s just a little guy!

I’m glad that you’re gone- but I wish to the Lord that you’d come home.

I got me a bottle and a dream.

I’d come home, but I’m afraid that you won’t take me back.

I’ll be savin’ all my love for you.

Had to sell my ass on Fremont street.

I remember when I left, without botherin' to pack.

I'm so sorry I broke your heart, but please don't leave my side.

Your tears cannot bind me anymore.

Tell me; how long have you been combing your hair with a wrench?

You know I gave it all up for the stage.

And I'm out here on my own.

I'm down on my knees tonight.

Goddamn, there's always such a big temptation to be good.

I'm gonna drink just like a sonuva bitch.

The world don't care, and yet it clings to me.

The road calls me, dear.

The only way down from the gallows is to swing.

And if I have to go, will you remember me?

[brooklynislandgirl]

Bottled a few years before Beth breathed into existence, the Chave Hermitage Blanc is a tiny ocean of golden hues, waves cresting and breaking time with each swirl of Lawrence’s glass. Barely a competition against the constellation of Manhattan at night, halogen lights twinkling through the panes of his own corporate monolith. A machine he only visits on occasion these, and tinkers with even less, letting the churn of worker bees buzz under Mary’s guidance and leaving him free for more interesting pursuits. It is, still, suitable enough for this specific parley.

“As I’m sure you are aware by now, many of those with power and affluence seek the obscene and the taboo to evoke any sense of excitement.” He takes note of the wine’s bouquet without tasting it. “I’m aware of one who spends a large chunk of his inheritance bribing women to allow him to be the one to ‘deflower’ her – his prosaic term, not mine. Not that I am suggesting you make his acquaintance, Beth. You need neither the money nor the tedium involved.”

Lawrence lounges upon an over-stuffed seat, one ankle to knee, the black of his suit only a handful of shades darker than the leather beneath. “I mention him because he puts great value on the concept of virginity. The motif of the value of virgin blood is hardly new, and yet, I am curious as to if there is any true merit to it. Some say virginity is a construct.” The flash of white teeth might be paired with a joke, if coming from any other man. “So, I come to the expert for the truth, before I start locking the young and innocent away to keep a ready supply on hand.”

~*~

A Will and a Way || -

She really wishes she could say his taste in wine is trash, but to do so would make a liar out of her, and he'd call her on the carpet for it. Her curiosity at his casual invitation unto his kingdom is enough for her to venture out once the sun has set much to the annoyance of her sibling for not telling him anything more than she's taking the car into the city and not to wait up for her. Now she's perched a hip against the edge of his desk, watching not his face but rather the motion of his wrist, the angle at which he holds the glass, and breathes in its aroma from her own glass. She has no fear that he will have any cause to poison her, not when all the things he wants most are so readily available to his reach in and with her. Even if he was feeling those particular oats, her body would filter out any potentially lethal toxicity from her blood, and she has a bezoar in her grove, along with enough amethyst to flood 5th Avenue. He'd be better off making good on his once-threat of throttling her, or expunging his innate rage by laying hands on her. He won't. Not when she can see the question burning in the coldfire of his gaze.

His preamble draws a look of sheer disgust from the delicacy of her features and she sets the glass down beside her, equally untouched. In the world he speaks of, many of her sisters and aunties, her countless mothers and daughters, even cousins ~both in the dream of shared Kinship and stranger alike~ find themselves in a place of no power. It was not always like this but the rise of Reason was also the turning away from equality; in a rush to fill the vacuum people like the one he tells her about rose from the mud and the dark and beat fists upon their chests. And then turned that violence on the life-givers, the wise-women. It makes her sick but she doesn't blame the women who must be so desperate to need the unknown stranger's money, attention, or whatever else he provides for their validation and continuing survival. She needs to know the man's name, though she can likely suss it out on her own with a little determination. A pack of her more militant female cousins would see it as a gesture of good will between Tribe and Tradition. She also makes absolutely certain that her face doesn't betray a single lick of dark humour.

She honestly cannot imagine Lawrence....deflowering any one. She inclines her head at his surprising gentility regarding what she may or may not need, and for once she lets it go without biting instinctively back, asking if he's got plans for what she may or may not have. Which she does, even now. Ah, and there it is. His gaze still burns, but his is the light of Diogenes. For the sake of clarity she sets aside her natural speech patterns, reaching rather for his or some reasonable facsimile. "Blood has always been a sacred thing, a liminal matter. It could empower or pollute, restore health or waste corporeal and spiritual existence. It was the Divine Mystery in the mortal creation. For a very long time, those of us who were Awakened, understood this bond and this responsibility. Even before my Tradition took it on as a formal responsibility, we traced the progeny of our forebearers, for in blood there was always power."

Her eyes see beyond him and beyond his glass, something deeply bitter that goes hand in hand with her magicksplaining. "A splinter group broke off and formed...the Hippocratic Circle and they were largely the ones who ruined it for the rest of us. Through them the world came to see that male blood and bleeding was a public experience, connected to heroism, lineage in familial relationships, and to sacrificial practices, while female bleeding is a private matter and that women's blood while connected with parturition and life, should be feared for its polluting qualities. "But that wasn't your question. Your question is specifically about virgins. And the only answer I have for you is...I don't know. Depends on what you or I or anyone else deeply believes. It isn't lip-service level, either. It comes down to what you know in your soul. I use my own blood in rituals, of course. And others, when the need arises. My Tradition knows and uses blood the most, be it animal or human. Some people believe virginity conveys purity, virtuousness. A sort of appeal to the Unseen forces in any mysticism. They might value it more highly than perhaps I would."

She pushes herself off the edge of the desk and pads barefoot toward him. She rakes him from head to toe with a particular sort of gaze; part feral and part threat, part oddly affectionate. Then, she smiles and only the darker aspects of her nature remain. "If you ever require virgin blood for any reason, just ask for it. A lot safer an’ easier for everyone really.” She then hunkers down into a vague sort of squat, until she can look up into his face. It is a look too keenly like her Cousins to be comfortable.  “Now, Larry, be a dear and tell me more about this...ah...friend....of yours.”

[survey--s]

476.

When was the last time you got more then eight hours of sleep? A couple of nights ago.

Do you find that people don't really understand you? Ha, that’s such an angsty way of looking at the world. I don’t fee that way but I definitely remember thinking like that when I was a teenager.

Is there anyone in your life that you wish you were closer to? Yes, but more geographically than emotionally.

Would you say you are a gullible person? No, I wouldn’t say so.

Are you one to swear often? Yeah, most days.

Have you ever sat down and played video games all day? No, but I could easily spend all day on my laptop/phone messing about online.

What is one thing in your life that is no longer there, that you miss? I have no idea.

What do you believe is the best thing about being a kid? No responsibilities or worries about things like money.

What flavor Dum-Dum is your favorite? I have no idea what that is - I assume like a lollipop? In which case, cherry.

What is the last book you read/are reading? Did you/are you enjoying it? I haven’t read a book in quite a long time. I think the last one I read was The Night Circus which was really good.

Are you on a laptop or a desktop right now? Laptop.

If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go; why? A holiday to somewhere with a nice, hot beach please. Maybe Mauritius or the Caribbean lol.

Have you ever trusted someone you wish you wouldn't have? Sure.

Have you ever been on a picnic? Yeah - I find they’re pretty overrated. Like, the idea of them is always way better than the actual reality lol.

Which is better tea or coffee? I prefer coffee, but both are good.

Do you own an umbrella? Yeah, it lives in my car.

Do you like the ocean? I absolutely love it - the beach is my happy place. I’m so fortunate to be able to go there most days.

Is there anyone that you wish you were with right now? Nope.

Who was the last person you hung out with? Aside from Mike, I would say Suzy.

What animal cracker is your favorite? We don’t have those here.

Is there anything you're currently holding back? No.

Do you like your smile? No, not really.

Have you ever watched something on the TV that truly disturbed you? I’m sure I have - probably on some true crime documentary lol.

Are you scared of needles? No.

Is your current cell phone out of date? It’s just over a year old, so no, not really.

Have you ever drank milk when it was spoiled? How does that even happen?

Would you/have you ever bought a gym membership? I’ve never paid for one myself but I used to work at a gym and got membership for free, and then my dad paid for one when I was at university.

Have you ever bought anything on the TV? No.

Have you ever done something that you knew was wrong? Sure.

Do you know what all the keys on your keyboard do? Probably.

What is the last channel you were on, when watching TV? We never watch live TV.

What is your favorite restaurant? It depends on my mood and what kind of food I fancy.

What is the last thing you spent money on? Flowers for my mum for Mothers Day.

Do you know of anyone who hates you? I mean, not to my knowledge.

Lose your arm or your leg; Which do you choose? I mean, why would I ever be in a position where I had to choose? Maybe my leg though, as I could still drive (automatic) etc.

Has an animal ever bit you? Yeah, cats and dogs.

Have you ever tripped over your own feet? Sure, all the time.

Do you ever take out the garbage? Yeah.

Do wash your face thoroughly everyday? Yeah, I wash it everyday in the shower.

Would you ever do a ride along with a cop? Sure, but that’s not a thing here.

Are things, in your opinion, overly expensive these days? Definitely, the price rises are ridiculous thanks to Brexit.

Where was your last car ride to? I drove home from work yesterday.

Are your nails long? No, I cut my nails yesterday.

Have you ever gotten food poisoning? Yes.

Have you ever had to put a dog to sleep? No, thankfully not.

What messenger services do you use? WhatsApp and Messenger, and occasionally iMessage.

Have you ever lost someone important to you? Yeah.

Are you listening to music currently? No, I’m watching an old episode of The Simpsons.

[mx-ryder]

Commission Sample

700 words from a 3k word commission. M/M pairing with some fun dynamics that I really enjoyed being able to explore.

Ben snorted, not quite a laugh. “I’m not going to die from scraped knuckles. The other guy got it worse, anyway.” He flexed his hand as he spoke, impressed despite himself. Angel had done a good job. His knuckles hardly even hurt any more. Still looking down at his bandaged hand, he reached for Angel again, catching the other man’s hand as he moved to step away. “That’s why I came back. I need more.”

He didn’t need to specify more of what. It was the only reason he ever came to see Angel.

One of the only reasons.

To his surprise, Angel didn’t pull away. Instead, the other man stepped closer again. His hand came to Ben’s cheek, the gentlest of touches. Ben leaned into the contact; even if it was a literal demon, it had been a long time since someone had touched him with such gentle intent.

Angel’s voice was soft when he spoke. “This is unhealthy, Benjamin.”

Ben blinked. “Unhealthy? You’re taking chunks of my real human soul, and you’re worried about my health? Just . . . give me what I came for. And I’ll get out of your hair.” Until the next time his luck swung in the wrong direction.

“You sound like an addict.”

Angel clamped his mouth shut the moment the words left, wishing them unsaid. When Ben looked up at him, he could see the hurt in his eyes. Humans displayed so much of their emotion in their faces, their body language, their voices when they spoke. Everything in Ben’s posture and expression said that Angel had hurt him, and angered him.

Angel moved away, dropping his hand, backing away from Ben.

Ben followed him, hauling himself out of his chair in a series of pained movements. “No shit I sound like an addict.” He practically whispered it, his voice coming like poison. He advanced on Angel as he spoke, still limping with every step. “I am addicted. You changed my luck, and I got everything I’ve ever wanted. Money, sex, success. And every time it goes to shit I have to crawl back here to you and beg you for another fix. Even though I know it’ll just all go to shit again eventually.”

For an instant, Angel was nearly afraid. He was centuries older than Ben, worlds more powerful, and had his two living shadows besides. But the anger, the desperation on Ben’s face, and the way the larger man loomed over him, was nearly enough. He shrank away from Ben, realizing an instant too late that he’d come up against a wall.

“Do you know what that’s like, Angel?”

Angel gasped. That might have been the first time Ben had ever said his name. And he’d said it with such disdain.

Ben continued, still advancing, pressing Angel against the wall with his looming frame. Though Ben didn’t touch him, Angel shrank further away. He couldn’t take his eyes from Ben’s face, frozen under his searing gaze.

He seemed to want an answer, so Angel whispered a soft “no.”

“Of course you don’t. Because you’re Mr. High-and-mighty Demonspawn. You hold all the power in everything you do. You get people hooked on you, and you wring every bit of humanity out of them until they–” Stopping, Ben pressed a hand to his mouth and pulled it away bloody. He’d re-opened the split in his bottom lip. “Fuck.”

The change came over him suddenly. Blinking as though waking up from a dream, he looked down at Angel where he had pressed himself as close to the wall as possible. His face twisted, expression shifting from anger to something surprisingly close to shame.

“Fuck,” he said again. “I’m–I’m sorry, I didn’t mean–”

Without quite knowing why, or that he’d intended to do it, Angel pushed forward. He curled his fingers in the front of Ben’s shirt, pulling Ben down to his level so he could kiss him.

Ben reacted with a fervor that surprised Angel. He brought one hand up to Angel’s cheek, and closed the few inches of space between them again, crushing Angel between himself and the wall. Angel tasted the coppery tang of blood on his tongue, but ignored it.

[mspi]

Totes love my family posts that they survived the long plane trip to the province. Teasing me by picking fruits in the yard. OMG I so want young 🥥 meat and water 💦. The stuff is refreshing and tasty. To those who don't catch my drift, feel free to enjoy the durian fruit out behind the building. Don't worry, the stray cats & dogs won't go near it.

Can you see my little punk? It's telling the people who can't taste the benefits of coconut really don't have taste to begin with. Who came up with the scale? Unsure if anyone will consider this good training or not. However I do trust a missionary from my church who has gone and been out in Myanmar for years spreading the good news and helping the locals.

Here's something she picked up, don't touch the food if even the rodents and the bugs won't touch it. They're poisonous. Wish I heard that when living with a witch of a distant aunt bent on killing me and breaking my family.

Anyways I'm so happy to be an American and am blessed to be alive today--beating out naysayers on my lifespan. That's right my sister's and I are here with careers and degrees as well as partners.

You can leave me out of the last bit. I'm not wanting to bring anyone along the painful journey that diseases and accidents have been dragging me through. It's not all bad though. Life is full of unexpected adventures.

> Lemme let you in on one

My married sis who doesn't believe having a child is in her cards looks to be open to teacup doggies. Tiny dogs have been easy for her with our last few well behaved purse dogs.

After her admission of that I let her know our Rottie loves being chased around by tiny dogs. That's when I also picked up a story on how a girl's companion cat came in handy on a bus when empty headed middle aged Karens gave her a bad time about supposedly taking their seats. Girl was wearing a lanyard that said she has a medical issue needs to stay seated.

Maybe I can get a lanyard and my own pup with an attitude to help watch out for me.

Yes I know I live downtown where thieves hold expensive dogs for ransom. Here's the thing, I'm also never by myself. Friends, relatives, or even guards are with me. The last bit was a bonus from a thoughtful exec looking out for me.

Here's the other thing, as winter cold will be rolling in, it'll be the first time in years that I won't have my puppy foot warner. They like laying above or between my paraplegic legs.

REWIND

Back to the islands, I know I wrote about it in a grade school paper about my winter vacation. All that even got updated to becoming an engineer, investing money, and getting a luxury condo close to family land. It would be where I could have a chef, housekeeper, guards, dog groomers/walkers, ManiPedi helpers on the regular, masseuse, and doctors.

There are a few big things I can't have out there. My siblings and medical specialists. Bummer, right? An old colleague I know giggled when I shared that with her.

To think about so many who want to move to the States for all the benefits, yet I'm here to stay alive. Is that a first world problem?

Staying away from negativity. I'm gleaming smiles knowing that my siblings will be okay with some hard work. They've even promised our mom that they'll always have someone they trust check on me. Ohh even if it's them kidnapping me to Tahoe to chill on the lake or in the snow.

Still wishing they could become multilingual. Maybe not to my level, but at least they can get a laugh from someone who thinks they could talk behind their backs. It's for security too.

-- dnagirl

01.09.2023

[arielsojourner]

No but imagine it. Like I mean really. It would be so fucked up.

The US Olympic Commitee, due to corruption or insanity, proposed Gotham and by some fluke, it won the bid.

Clark Kent and Lois Lane literally starts an investigation to try and uncover how the fuck Gotham could have won. With a little detective help (Thank you Batfam) their 7 piece expose article wins them a Pulitzer and there are huge IOC and even FIFA reforms. But the Games still happen much to the despair of many.

Some idiot decided to build the Olympic Village practically on top of Crime Alley (because land is so cheap) so Red Hood's gang has to protect the athletes and coaches who don't have a fucking clue. Well, some of them from some countries know how to behave but not all of them! (Plus once the Games are over Red Hood can take the village over and offer free housing to those in need.)

The US sends in some hot shot movie producer to develop and direct the Opening Ceremony highlighting the city and its history. He quits after a week of hazing from every costumed villain not currently in Arkham and the vitriol of the locals. The guy they bring in to replace him wants to use Amusement Mile as a "fun" backdrop. He doesn't last 24 hours before he "mysteriously" vanishes. It remains an unsolved case. (Oracle refuses to help Batman figure it out). After that the Gotham U drama department takes over. When the Opening Ceremony airs ... well... the commentators really have no idea what to even say, other than it is reminiscent of Tim Burton's earlier works. That and Edgar Allan Poe mixed with Mary Shelley's works.

Dick briefly wishes he could compete in gymnastics but that would be too telling. He does go to as many events as he can. His part time gymnastics coach job goes full time soon after, thanks to an uptick in new students and WE money towards youth sports initiatives.

Tim however gets to compete as a skateboarder which the board of directors at WE has no idea what to do about until Tim medals and then they really don't know what to do about it. Their CEO is 17 and went straight from a meeting to compete, win gold, put back on his tie and suit jacket and go back to work. The rest of the Batfam didn’t even know he was in the Olympics until they saw the news coverage of his medal ceremony.

They are even more surprised when they discover Barbara is competing in the ParaOlympics. Commissioner Gordon is so proud.

The mascot of the Games was jokingly going to be a bat but the city voted and it's an adorable baby bird in classic Robin colors. Dick has got a dozen of them. The other Robins deny it but they all bought ones too.

Lots of big celebrities come into town to see and be seen. They are not welcome amoung Gotham's Old Money or even Gotham's Newer Money. They attend a few galas (invited as a novelty) but they have no idea how to behave when Two Face takes them hostage. So much unnecessary screaming. Gothamites as Alfred is fond of pointing out, are a breed of their own.

Damian volunteers his own barn to stable the dressage horses. Goliath and Batcow won't mind! Bruce must firmly retract the offer for security reasons. Still, Damian insists on seeing the equestrian events and protests until he is allowed to gift all winning horses with medals. He then asks for a horse of his own. Bruce says no. Talia then has a horse delivered. Alfred arranges lessons for Damian.

Poison Ivy uses the Games as an excuse to hold the city hostage until something is done to stop during in the Gotham Harbor. Bruce and Tim in turn use it as an excuse to leverage the rich into backing environmental clean up.

Cass performs as a solo dancer as part of the Closing Ceremony.

Bruce gets to be part of the Olympic torch procession once the flame enters the city. He doesn't get to enjoy much more than that because it is weeks of hell keeping all the Rogues quiet.

Killer Croc tries to go after the triathlon athletes in the water but is stopped.

Catwoman keeps trying to steal the medals just for kicks. Oracle and the Birds of Prey have to set up round the clock security. Batman is too easily distracted to be much help.

Riddler keeps trying to sabotage different events because he mistakenly thinks all Olympians are jocks. Steph and Tim have to thwart him and talk him down while diffusing bombs. Harley even lends a hand so Ed can work through some high school trauma.

Bane just wants to watch weightlifting and wrestling in peace but Batman feared the worst when he heard he was in town.

Scarecrow tries to taint the athletes food and water to study performance anxiety in real time.

Penguin just sticks to gambling but Nightwing has to work extra hard keeping people out of the Iceberg Lounge (no, it is not a cool nightclub.)

Mr. Freeze tries to turn the Summer Games into the Winter Games. He thought it would be funny.

The less said about Joker's not funny attempt at mass murder the better, though the media just thought it was some weirdly intense pyrotechnics display. Gordon is so relieved at non-Gotham naivete. The Mayor would have his hide if the Games were ruined.

No one really gets any sleep for weeks. The rest of the world has no idea what to make of perpetually gloomy Gotham.

So really. Not every city can or should host the Game. The lesson? Do NOT host the Games in Gotham. Just don't.

Imagine if they hosted the Olympics in Gotham though would that be fucked up or what