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peachyloveswriting · 2 years ago

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Hello! I came across your trigun post and wanted to ask for a Wolfwood x cold gn reader who basically travels around with him, but what he doesn’t know about them is how flirty they can be without realizing it

I hope You’re doing well and that you’re drinking enough water and resting well!! Please take your time :))

WERE YOU ABDUCTED BY ALIENS (Wolfwood)

SUMMARY: "The aliens abducted you!" He throws his words up into the night sky. "They took you!"

He's so used to the cold shrugged off responses he gets from his new travel companion that he's absolutely convinced you've been abducted by aliens.

NOTES: Set before Vash and the others find him. All future Trigun fics will not be show specific, I might mix new with the old since I like them both.

⸝⸝⸝⸝⸝

Nicholas D. Wolfwood, a mysterious man. Although he claims to be a priest, you have your own personal thoughts about him. You don't have many bad things to say, he saved you; Plucking you from the dry and desolate dessert.

Sand seemed to stretch on for miles, the wind blowing your eyes full of sand. The nearest city was nowhere to be seen not even as a speck on the horizon. You tracked onward, bleary eyes and tears from the wind blurring your vision. Thanks to the state you left the previous town in, you had no food or water. Any hope you had of making it anywhere was gone by sundown. Thankfully the blistering sun had stopped beating down on you for the night but you refused to stop wandering. The further you strode, the more obvious your exhaustion became.

Out beyond the whipping winds came a loud and strange noise. It grew louder with each passing moment before you could ignore it no longer. Gazing back, you were met with a strange sight. Clad in a black suit, came a man on a motorcycle. On his back was a massive geometric structure, in the past you'd heard it referred to as a cross however in any case you were unsure.

The engine cut and you stopped in your tracks to observe the man. That's when he called out to you. "Hey. Are you stranded?"

You almost weren't able to hear him over the wind, so you stepped close enough to feel the heat of the engine against your legs. "Come again?"

The raven head sighed. Between his lips lazily hung a bent half-lit cigarette, just barely clinging onto life. He turned his head and spit it into unforgiving sands. With his forthcoming offer came his name and his occupation. Albeit, he was a stranger you gladly accepted his offer and situated yourself on the back behind him. (That was only after having to carry his cross)

The days carried on from there out. Just the two of you together traveling through this empty desolate land with nothing to cling too but yourselves. The doubt only came shortly after meeting him, and it was inevitable. Danger lurks all about underneath the sands just waiting to swallow anything whole. You were almost a victim of said incident until he whipped out that big cross of his and shot it to oblivion. Even then you wouldn't dare ask him any questions, but in the back of your mind you were thoroughly pleased with the sight granted you that night. Just the two of you alone, watching him bravely face death to save you... Was hot.

Pulling you from your thoughts was a sharp flick to the forehead. With quick reflexes, you grabbed Nick's wrist and twisted with a nonchalant gaze. He calls out, writhing and crying in pain. "I was just trying to get your attention!" He howls.

You hold on to his wrist for a moment longer and release him. Pulling his arm back like a wounded puppy he hisses between clenched teeth and rubs at where you grabbed him. "Jeez jackass. Don't have to be so rough. I'm not a masochist you know."

"Hmm." Blinking, you turn your gaze to the cold and dark barren waste around you. The fire lit on the ground in front of you casts your shadow out across the sand behind you, it dances with the flames. Sometimes you wonder if you should open up to Nick, he seems like a decent guy. Through all this time with you he's tried to get to know you and builds a somewhat symbiotic relationship with you but you just refuse. At times it feels bad to let him sit and sulk in silence instead of indulging yourself with mindless talk.

There's a soft nudge at your side that pulls your game back to Nick. "Penny for your thoughts?" He urges as two of his fingers rub together.

He sits beside you, his elbows resting on his knees. Resting lazily between his lips is yet another bent and dying cigarette, the smoke dancing up and beyond his head. His eyes gaze at you with distinct interest and the reflection in his eyes dances with the limelight of the fire. Perfectly defining his best features are the shadows, that of which has become his best friend. It contrasts a soft glow on his skin that radiates warmth compared to the night surrounding him. By the gods he's perfect and it takes all of you not to say that.

"You." It slipped. Just mindless self-indulgence. You're out in the open now, he would be a fool to not realize what you just said. Though you're feeling more of a fool than he is.

"Eh?" He stares blankly at you. Confusion is clearly written across his well defined features and intensity burns in his gaze. Of course he would be confused. "My thoughts... They are of you."

His gaze moves to the finger now pointed at him. The tips of his ears are burning bright red with embarrassment. "Of me?"

You nod to him. "Who else?"

Now it's Nick's turn to fall quiet as he looks away and at the fire. His contemplative look, furrowed brows and pursed lips, fades away into a more relaxed, smug grin as he turns back to you. You've never doted on him when he playfully made such comments to you, he thought he was doing something by poking you back for what you said.

"oh yeah?" There's a mischievous glint in his eyes. "What about me?"

Without looking away from his gaze, you answer truthfully and unabashedly. "You're hot." You state simply.

Nick's smug grin falls flat and his eyes open wide. His calm and cool demeanor falls to the ground like shattering glass. Lips opening and closing like a fish in water his cigarette falls to the sand. "Huh?"

He doesn't believe a word you just said. For this entire journey you've yet to give him any other detail than your name yet here you were calling him hot. He didn't dislike it, in fact it made his stomach churn with excitement. "Who are you?" He narrows his eyes at you inquisitively. "What did you do with them?" His face grows closer to yours, a faux anger reading in his voice while his finger prods at your collar bone.

"Where did you take them you crazy alien?" His voice raises the final question, and his nose is only inches from yours. Staring at him nonchalantly, you blink for a moment. Staring directly into his eyes until you burst with laughter. Throwing your head back, you howl until your stomach clenches in sore pain and tears prick your eyes.

Raising your head to look at him you speak. "You really are crazy." At first your voice is flat, without emotion. But a smile cracks your face again. "Crazy hot."

Nick's heart is beating wildly in his chest and heat floods his face. Dipping his hand into the inner pocket of his suit it shakily pulls out his shades. Flipping them open and sliding them on, Nick looks away. He's too flustered to even look at you now. He took interest in you the moment he met you but the attraction he felt has only doubled now that you spilled your heart to him. Just hearing a laugh from you whether real or fake makes his heart soar to unimaginable heights.

"Too much... To beat." His hand slaps over his chest where his heart is and clutches tightly at the fabric. "Can't take it any more." With a strained and raspy voice he falls onto his side with his tongue sinking out in a cartoonist manner. You left over to peak at him.

"What are you doing?" Leaning closer to look at him, you squeal in shock at him suddenly rising back up to harshly grab your shoulder. He carries panic in his face as he shakes you. "The aliens abducted you!"

He throws his words up into the night sky. "They took you!"

#wolfwood x reader #nicholas wolfwood #trigun stampede #trigun x reader #trigun stampede x reader #vash the stampede x reader #vash x reader

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bigguyism · 3 months ago

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Section from a roleplay; a more in depth look at post fifth moon Wolfwood.

Normalcy.

Normalcy had always been a rare commodity that Wolfwood had never entirely knew. It was always one reason or another as to why he couldn’t achieve it.

Before he’d met the girls and Vash, it was something he tried desperately to achieve every day. When he’d met them and established the connections, he had began to forget about it and even take a liking to the chaos that came with befriending Vash the Stampede.

And then when Vash disappeared into the dust and smoke he left?

It was when he finally achieved that sense of normal. Routine was achieved and he was able to wake up every day knowing what would await him. The only differences in detail were the places he’d awake but other than that there was finally some semblance of routine in his life.

For so long he’d wanted that.

He didn’t know where it had went. That want for stability in his life fled away with that typhoon. Or maybe was shot up into the fifth moon. Thats what he told himself to feel better, but the reality was that the aftermath of the incident had changed his life in ways he had never expected.

When a dog finally gets something better than it had been begging for, it only wants that one thing to satiate it for the rest of its life. It was as cut and dry as that.

But wants were nothing on Gunsmoke. It’s a harsh reality any person living on the planet would come to know sooner rather than later. And with that being said he’d taken up his usual duties for the past two years. Juggling between priest and doing dirty work for those that had money to pay, he’d taken up those jobs to fill in the crater that had formed in his life.

With any infamous person came clones of them. Those claiming to be Vash the Stampede sprung up practically everywhere one could look and never would they be the real deal. Regardless of this, whenever one of his imposters was about it was bound to cause a stir. Even so, he always checked. Some part of him hoped for it to be a reality but knew it would never be the man who he once knew. It would never be. But this time there was a bystander that looked a hell of a lot like him.

And it was.

Truly, he didn’t know how to feel about it.

To sit next to him was certainly an odd experience after so long and so, so much. The night after the incident and in the months following there wasn’t one night where he didn’t think about the other. It pained him to his core.

What had happened was all out of his control. It was out of both of theirs. What had happened had a person to blame and it was Knives.

But the fact he had so easily ran away from it all and left those who loved him and needed him hurt. The feeling of abandonment was a wound that would never heal over in their two years apart. He didn’t think it had healed for Meryl or Milly either. It would have days the pain was dull and ones where it would stop him from functioning.

The wound was torn open the moment he saw him in that hospital and gushing uncontrollably the more he looked at the man stood across from him. Even if he showed no signs of outward distress…could Vash see it?

Was that why he wasn’t looking at him?

”I don’t want you to say anything.”

He didn’t know what he wanted. He thought he did.

“I do want to know why. Why you didn’t say anything.“

There were so many other whys. Ones that he was sure Vash knew he had. Yet they were ones he wouldn’t speak.

Why did you leave me?

#nicholas d. wolfwood #vash the stampede #vashwood #vashwood oneshot #wolfwood oneshot #trigun rp #trigun roleplay #trigun

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geraniumplant · 8 months ago

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𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ~

Hello. I'm back again with another wishlist. This is a long shot but I'm hoping to write a very specific vashwood-related idea. Shipping is not required but you know I'm never against it. I'm mainly looking for two idiots getting into silly situations.

𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬: Nicholas or "Nico" Wolfwood is a young priest helping to cleanse people possessed by demons & dark spirits. Charges for his services all go towards keeping his childhood orphanage running. He doesn't consider himself a Godly man or someone worthy of doing the Lord's work. He isn't even sure that he believes in a God & is more of a con man than a holy one.

He's mainly running from his past as his past tries to catch up with him. The Eye of Michael & his handler aren't ready to let him let go just yet. He also has a huge (& annoying) chip on his shoulder named Vash the Stampede.

𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐞: Vash is a demon but you wouldn't know it by meeting him. Vash is drawn to humans & their way of life, especially food which he claims sustains his power. He's quite attached to one human in particular... You guessed it - Wolfwood.

Being bound to Nicholas (it was an accident really) gives him the ability to live the human experience through Wolfwood. He can take on a human appearance for as long as they are bound together. (& kick demon butt!)

More under the cut...

What I'm looking for: Either a Vash or Wolfwood roleplayer. I wouldn't mind writing either, just note that in this verse my version of Wolfwood is a trans man. The topic of transphobia might come up but that's only to explore it's negative effect on the character. I don't plan on making it a constant topic.

As for my Vash he will be nonbinary in this verse. He/him pronouns but he sometimes likes to take the form of a human female.

The over all theme: Two idiots trying to survive in this lonely dark world, hoping to find a place somewhere in a society that doesn't seem to want them. Learning to embrace who they are & being comfortable with themselves. (Writing this is very therapeutic for me, personally. If something you want hasn't been written yet then write it!)

Please do not reblog. Give this post a ♡ or hit me up if you are interested.

#wishlist #roleplay #trigun #trigun rp #vash the stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #geraniumplant #please do not reblog #I'm not holding my breath but my fingers are crossed

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krillissue · 11 months ago

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19 or 6 for merylwood

19. a kiss to shut them up - merylwood

these are the stampede versions, just good-old-fashioned pigtail pulling. for mwahrch! please send me more of these!!

Nicholas D. Wolfwood was a massive pain in the ass. She’d thought so from the very time they’d met. Meryl hadn’t meant to hit him with her car, of course. But he tried to blackmail her $20,000 to not sue. Absolutely ridiculous. But Vash had taken him in, immediately infatuated with the shady priest. Oh yeah, that was another thing that pissed her off about him. He claimed to be a priest but he drank and smoked, he flirted, generally lived a life full of sin and violence. What was his problem?

They were both at the bar, drowning their sorrows in cheap beer. Vash and Roberto were off playing a game of cards, of which Vash seemed to be losing. Probably on purpose, he was nice like that. But Wolfwood was getting on her nerves, arguing about pointless things just to get a rise out of her.

“C’mon, shorty, why won’t you try worm meat? It’s good for ya and you can’t be too picky out here on the road.”

“Shut up, already. I’m an adult, I can make my own choices.”

They had snipped at each other all day in the truck and now at the bar, several patrons steering clear of them both. It wasn’t getting heated, not really, until Wolfwood touched a nerve.

“I bet you’d eat it for Vash, huh? If he pats those pretty blue eyes at you, you’d melt for him?” Wolfwood smirked around his shot of whiskey like he’d won, way too proud of himself. Meryl saw red, wanting to knock him down.

“No, but I bet you would. You’re the only one weak to Vash’s charms.” How she felt about the legendary gunman wasn’t any of his concern, he should keep that big nose of his to himself. Wolfwood scoffed, that poker face of his shit with his big expressive eyes. He thought those shades of his hid them but she could read him like a book.

“Watch it, little lady.”

“Why? You started it, I’m just being honest.” Meryl crossed her arms, huffing. Wolfwood stood and started for the door without another word, clearly pouting. “What, running away already? Scared to admit it?” She pursued him, much to his irritation. But she was testy and frustrated, he’d been getting under her skin all day.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” He growled out, that gruff voice of his all gravely from his cigarettes. She wished he wouldn’t smoke so much but there was nothing to do about it. He was too stubborn. But so was she. Meryl followed him outside and down the street, the night dark and chilly.

“What is there to know? You--” She never got to finish her sentence, Wolfwood yanked her to his chest faster than she could register what happened.

“Watch where you’re going!” Wolfwood was yelling at the motorist who would have hit her had he not grabbed her out of the way. Meryl’s face was pressed to his chest, that little triangle of his open shirt showing just a hint of chest hair. She blushed, his arm firm and strong around her, his large palm dwarfing her shoulder. “Are you okay, little lady?”

“Y-yeah, I am. Thanks,” Meryl mumbled, not even correcting him for not using her name. She looked up at him with wide eyes and he let her go, suddenly bashful.

“Good, you need to watch where you’re going. You’re gonna get killed.” They went back to arguing, just like that. But Meryl had enough. She grabbed his suit jacket and pulled him down, kissing him silent. She expected Wolfwood to get all shy about it but he returned her kiss with more heat than she expected, backing her up against the wall.

At least he finally shut up. Wolfwood might drive her crazy but maybe she could forgive it for this.

#trigun stampede #trigun fanfiction #meryl stryfe #nicholas d wolfwood #merylwood #stryfewood #mwahrch #writing prompts #mouse writes #ask krill

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literallycallmesock · 1 year ago

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Goretober 5&6

prompt: priest

since ive been on a Magnus Archives bandwagon all month, this prompt would fit very well with that one priest who ate that kid then claimed ot was a demon.

drawing that would be both fitting and quite gorey for the art challenge.

that would fit my aesthetic and overall patterns throughout the month, too

so thats the sensible and predictable choice, right?

WRONG!

IT'S NICHOLAS D WOLFWOOD MOTHERFUCKERS!!!

and i am so goddamn proud of this piece right now!!!

this is the prompt list i am following this year

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shastafirecracker · 1 year ago

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Heyo! Sorry for coming into ur ask box randomly but I was thinking about one of ur responses to the last ask meme about how you have some ideas stewing on the backburner that, if you wrote them, would probably be huge and maybe more work than you could have time/energy for. if the universe was the perfect place that we deserve where we could just. beam our thoughts into a blank doc perfectly somehow, what are a couple of the things that you'd write?

aw man... well, in no particular order, I've done very rough idea-sketching for the following trigun AUs:

basically Stephen King's The Mist except a bunch of people are stuck in a diner were Vash (vagrant with mysterious past) is working as a dishwasher and Wolfwood (priest who manages the orphanage attached to a megachurch with deep corruption) is taking about a dozen kids out for lunch so that Miss Melanie can get some shut-eye. the mist happens and all sorts of dramas afflict the diner and then when a select bunch end up running for it (led by the newly-bonded-in-fire V&W) they need to traverse a town full of fog and nightmares to find Melanie, the rest of the kids, and a way to escape

seafaring AU wherein Knives and Vash are selkies and Knives stole his own twin's skin and keeps Vash imprisoned in the belly of his infamous Flying Dutchman-style ghost ship called the Ark. Wolfwood died at sea and was offered a soul-indenture deal as crew for the Ark and now he's the assistant ships' cook and has all sorts of religious trauma. he finds a mysterious naked, scarred man in the bilge and slowly unfolds the truth and vows to steal back Vash's skin, even knowing that he himself can never leave the Ark.

beauty and the beast AU with uncanny monster Vash in a thorned-in castle... parts of this ended up in my big bang fic

fae court AU where Vash and Knives are the summer & winter, seelie & unseelie double faces of the same entity, who maybe split themselves in half during (or in reaction to) a past trauma? (some of the aesthetic of this made it to the BB fic)

a fantasy prince!Vash & knight!Wolfwood AU in which the twins are supposedly the children of the late princess Rem and her husband Alex but actually they were secretly foundlings of unknown origin and it's a scandal for them to be claimed as royalty. meanwhile the king's master alchemist is doing some human experimentation bullshit on the downlow and is stealing scullery kids and orphans who muck the stables for pennies or whatever, and doing Eye of Michael nonsense to them. Wolfwood is such a success that he's quietly slipped back into palace life as a page, to act as a closed mouth and open ears to the affairs of nobles etc. He and Vash are age peers and end up running into each other and becoming fast friends over years; meanwhile Knives is uncovering the corruption in the castle and instead of reporting it, he's taking it over. this one would for real for real be way too long for me to ever write, because I was daydreaming that it would go on for like, multiple action set pieces and changes of status quo, and several decades of Vash & WW's lives, and eventually Knives would kill the king and take over, and V & WW would be the outlaw & his rogue knight, and yadda yadda yadda it's a 450K fanfic that I want to read but not write

music scene AU in which WW is stage crew and Vash is the reclusive identical twin of famous punk/glam rocker Knives (stage name), and WW finds the person he thinks is the talent wandering lost backstage and is like these goddamn stars always so goddamn high, ugh, until he chases Vash down and Vash is like ohhh no I'm just back here because my brother invited me ahaha... hi you're cute... IDK, this could be long or it could just be a short PWP of vashwood hooking up in the green room, lol

direct Green Knight AU in which Wolfwood is the fledgling knight starved for praise who doesn't actually like violence and prefers softness and comfort, but when he perceives his masculinity as being tested he goes all-in on violence and does the classic thing of beheading the Green Knight in the contest of blows. and then he goes on his journey etc etc and encounters Lord Bertilak, who would be Vash, and they play the game of exchanges of gifts, except in this version when the lady of the house gives WW a sexual favor he doesn't cheap out like the movie did and not have Dev Patel give Joel Edgerton a handjob! it was right there! come on, we were robbed! ahem. uh. yeah. a lot of this ended up in my BB fic also. XD

like a Mr & Mrs Smith comedy AU in which Vash and Wolfwood both are either criminals or one is a criminal and one is an undercover operative and they're both trying to blow the whistle on Knives' crime ring without letting each other get wind of what they're doing and it plays out for way too long before they finally realize they were doing the same thing the whole time

I did the research for this whole fuckin thing set in 1814 England of Vash having just come home from losing an arm in the Napoleonic Wars and becoming friends with the local Anglican priest who takes his confessions i.e. is just the only person he can talk to through his PTSD and also both of them agonizingly realizing that they're queer and into each other... and after doing all this research I was like, what the fuck am I doing, I don't even really like historical dramas.

Great Fall happens on a water planet??? (I mean everyone's gotta wish they could do an alternate-biome-Trigun, right? I've seen the ice planet AU art out there which is PHENOMENAL)

Vash is a high school chemistry teacher who pranks his students at least once a semester by pretending to blow up his arm, Wolfwood is a special education teacher, Milly's the coach (of everything), Meryl's the haggard and perpetually harassed economics teacher, the climax of the plot is prom and V&W goofily act out the proms of their own they never got to go to, and they fuck in a limo, idk. this one's a comedy

I think about AU ideas a normal amount

#sf writes #most of these are drawn from an AU scratchpad i had for a while #and they're mostly vashwood just because i was looking at a vashwood prompt list at the time #but like ill be real. they could all be polygun or mashwood and i'd still be into it #and this isn't counting the scraps of shorter ideas that come to me #since you asked about the fics that are just too damn long for me to have the energy to sit and write #I used to not like AUs so much... idk what happened to me... i love them now #shiromouse #asks #thank you for the question! and for listening to me ramble!

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a-chip-in-inosukes-nichirin · 1 year ago

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Desecration of a Priest

Fandom: Trigun Stampede

Rating: Mature- 18+ only (Minors DNI)

Genre: Smut

Pairing: Nicholas D. Wolfwood/Meryl Stryfe

Tags: Religious Symbolism and Imagery, Religious Trauma, Biblical References, Priest Wolfwood, Ex-Church Girl Meryl, Smut, Unprotected Sex, Hand Job, Priest Kink, Corruption Kink, Hate Fucking then it turns Sweet, Sassy Meryl, Virgin Wolfwood, Brief Overstimulation

Wordcount: 5.5k

Bars and clubs were rife with those searching for salvation they couldn’t find at church.

So why was Nicholas D. Wolfwood there?

Cross-posted from my AO3 account.

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Meryl clenched the bottle in her hand until her knuckles were white, glaring over the top of her drink at the man across the bar. The dim interior lighting rested warmly on his tanned skin, eyes pools of wet ink behind his dark hair. His rugged appearance drew in the surrounding ladies as if he was a magnet, their vague yet suggestive comments rolling off his back like water while Meryl looked on, temper rising with each moment that passed.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood.

A man of god who happened to be in the one place Meryl didn’t expect him to show up. He belonged at the church behind a pulpit, dark priestly wear buttoned up to his throat. Here at the bar the only indication of godliness wrapped around his neck in the form of a silver chair with a small cross adorning it. It was barely a hint offered to those around him that he was off the market, and yet they still flocked to him, drawn in by his smile. He was suave and charming, after all.

And an asshole.

She’d known Wolfwood when she was a young teenager. He’d been just a bad then too. Their families had met at church, her demure dress choking her despite it’s loose fit when she was first saw him, cheeks flushing. He shook her hand, introduced himself with his full name and a sly cockiness that should have given her pause, claiming he was to be a priest. Meryl’s interest hadn’t been feigned as she attempted to make conversation with him. Each Sunday, she would approach him with an eager nervousness, only to be brushed off a moment later as he called out a greeting to someone else and left her standing alone in her pale dress, stomach dropping into her shiny church shoes. Each indirect rejection was burned into her mind with a branding iron, alongside the cruel words spoken to her out of earshot of the adults.

“Morning, Shortie,” he replied. “I see you’ve gotten into mommy’s makeup again.”

Meryl flushed, putting a hand to her face, suddenly ashamed she had tried her hand at eyeshadow again to impress him.

“Looks like you got punched in the face,” he towered over her, inspecting her face with a cheeky grin. “Still better than that whorehouse look you had a few weeks ago.”

Meryl could feel herself heat up at the memory, and tapped her finger against the dark glass of the bottle in her hand, still directing her venomous glare towards the old acquaintance who’d appeared in her sanctuary. How the man had even managed to get ordained was beyond her. Last she’d seen of him he was still in training, keeping up with coursework by the smallest thread of charisma, something Meryl was sorely lacking at the same age. She’d started losing both it and her faith after one of Wolfwood’s cruel “jokes”.

“You know that letting a boy hold your hand is a sin,” Wolfwood jeered at her from across the hallway in church as Meryl yanked her hand out of Vash’s. The blonde-haired boy had only offered to help her up when she’d tripped over her own feet, and now Wolfwood was mocking her for it.

“Too bad now,” Wolfwood shrugged. “You’re ruined. Guess Vash will have to take responsibility and marry you.”

“He’s just being a jerk,” Meryl mumbled to Vash, face red as a tomato. “Wolfwood!”

Wolfwood ran off cackling, Meryl on his heels, her strides extra-long to accommodate for her short height as she chased him.

“Wolfwood get back here!”

“Oh, no,” he ducked into a room. “I’m being chased by a lecherous woman! Someone help me!”

“Nicholas!”

“Ooh, first name basis now, are we?” he waggled his eyebrows, and it made Meryl’s ears burn. She couldn’t even find the words to scold him, standing with her fists clenched at her side, head down.

It hadn’t just been Wolfwood’s bullying that made her loathing towards church grow and fester. She started questioning the pastors, her parents, and all of the people she’d looked up to once she reached that age where she wanted to know why. When no answers were satisfactory, Meryl began to dig her heels in, pushing the boundaries of what her family and church deemed acceptable. Hair got cut shorter and shorter, rising in tandem with the hem of her dresses and skirts, while her carefully crafted perfect persona began to crumble.

Soon enough, instead of lily-white dresses and frilly socks at church, Meryl found herself wearing black dresses and fishnet tights at bars and clubs. She thought places like those would suit her best; after all, there was no place for her in a church of white wool. She liked the sharp bitterness of alcohol and the ache of debauchery- both sins according to the Bible. Even the acrid smell of smoke was comforting to her now; those with no god apart from booze and nicotine didn’t give a rat’s ass if Meryl’s shoulders were bare, or if she pressed a kiss to the lips of a stranger while intoxicated. Bars and clubs were rife with those searching for salvation they couldn’t find at church.

So why was Nicholas D. Wolfwood here?

Meryl narrowed her eyes, taking a swig from her drink. Didn’t he have a dick-riding appointment with the man upstairs on Saturday nights? He was a priest, wasn’t he? Sitting surrounded by a bunch of horny vixens at the bar didn’t seem to be very godly to Meryl.

Her pissed-off curiosity got the best of her and she hopped off her bar stool, heels clicking as she strode over to Wolfwood. His eyes were drawn to her as she leaned against the counter, posture oozing boredom and irritability.

“The hell are you doing here, priest?” Meryl emphasized the last word. “I thought holy men didn’t frequent sinful places such as this.”

Wolfwood had turned his body to face hers, hand wrapped loosely around his half-full glass. His signature annoying smirk had been plastered across his face and Meryl resisted the urge to smack it off. It was if nothing had changed since she left the church nearly six years ago- Wolfwood’s toothy grin still made her stomach coil in anticipation.

She still wanted him, no matter if he was an asshole; wanted those upturned lips parted in a plea, begging for forgiveness from her instead of god.

“We are to spread the good word to all. And what place needs him more than here?”

“Nowhere needs your god,” Meryl plucked his drink out of his hand, taking a sip while keeping eye contact. Her nose wrinkled. “A mocktail?”

“Why do you seem so surprised?” Wolfwood laughed. “I’m a priest.”

She snorted.

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“Meryl, my child-”

“Ew, don’t even start,” Meryl made a face. “Do not pull that shit with me. I know who you really are, and it sure as hell isn’t this.”

She gestured to the cross hanging around his neck. Wolfwood put a hand to his chest dramatically. His white dress shirt was unbuttoned three down- a scandalous amount for a priest. She dragged her gaze from the skin peeking through his open top.

“Come on, Meryl,” Wolfwood laughed, resting his cheek on his fist. “What is a girl like you doing in a place like this? You were such a good kid.”

Meryl leaned back against the bar, elbows propping her up as she scowled, crossing one leg over the other on her stool, missing how Wolfwood stole a glance at the skin of her thighs, tracing up her sides until he settled on staring at her lips.

“It isn’t for everybody,” she let out a big sigh. “My parent found god in church, but no matter how hard I looked, he wasn’t there.”

“God isn’t only at church,” Wolfwood smiled, putting a hand on hers. “He’s everywhere. You just have to open your eyes.”

Meryl dropped her gaze to where his large hands covered hers. She’d love to see them pinned above his head as he writhed under her…

“We all have different definitions of god,” she said, pulling her hand away. “Isn’t that right? They said that in a sermon once.”

Wolfwood grinned, appearing eager to talk holiness. His smirk rubbed Meryl the wrong way though, too reminiscent of the times he’s speak cruelly to her. The only difference now was an underlying temperance, a hesitation as if he was holding something back with a caution unlike what Meryl was accustomed to witnessing in the cocky bastard.

“We all have different interpretations of god,” he clarified. “Many might see god the same way, but it is ultimately up to each individual to search out and understand god in their own unique perspective.”

“Well, I have wonderful news for you, then,” Meryl drawled. “Because I have found god in places that you wouldn’t believe.”

“Meryl,” Wolfwood sighed, just catching himself before he rolled his eyes.

“You don’t believe me?” Meryl sat up, frowning. “Just because I find god in a bar or club, that makes me wrong?”

“Sin is in opposition to god,” Wolfwood explained to her.

He was preaching to the choir, and Meryl made a noise of disgust in her throat. It was like he forgot she was raised by religious fanatics.

“This argument could go on all night,” she inspected her nails. “Why are you even here? Honestly?”

Wolfwood’s cheeks darkened under his tan and he tore his eyes away from Meryl, rubbing the back of his neck. That caution was back again, bleeding through his movements even thicker now.

“Especially on a Saturday night,” Meryl leaned forward, well aware that her loose top was falling open a bit in front. “Father Wolfwood.”

He coughed, clearing his throat.

“I was hoping… that maybe I could convince you to come back to church.”

Meryl huffed, flopping back onto the bar with a groan.

“Trying to convert me in my own goddamn house. Will the horrors never end?”

“Meryl-”

“Wolfwood,” she countered, tone mocking. “Did you honestly come out here just to ask me to come back to church? I assume the flirting with those girls earlier was also a conversion attempt? Don’t get ahead of yourself; they only want your dick, not your god.”

Wolfwood, for as personable and self-assured as he was earlier with total strangers, had suddenly grown embarrassed and quiet. It was a nice change from the rude bully Meryl was accustomed to. Maybe now that she was able to snap back it made him think twice about his words. She bit her lip, thinking about how much she’d like to make him uncomfortable- make him squirm. Have him feel out of control and ashamed like he’d done to her all those years ago.

“So… Father Wolfwood,” Meryl’s voice oozed sarcasm as she stole his drink again, watching him from under her dark lashes. “You came out to a bar on a Saturday night just to try to drag me, the prodigal son- or daughter, if you will- back to god. You came out to this ‘cesspit of debauchery’ -as I believe I’ve heard you call it before- for me?”

“Jesus said to leave the ninety-nine sheep to seek out the one lost one,” Wolfwood kept his eyes on hers, as much as they were tempted to drift lower to the pale collarbones underneath.

“What a good priest,” Meryl rolled her eyes. “But you were such an awful boy… how ever did you get through seminary?”

Wolfwood sucked his teeth, leaning forward.

“Prayer and hard work. After you left… I realized it was- I wasn’t helping you. I was supposed to be an example for you, and I messed that up, big time. I cleaned up my act. Haven’t touched a drop of alcohol, smoked a cigarette, swore- nothing. I’ve been a good man,” Wolfwood said earnestly, and Meryl felt a flutter in her stomach at the confession.

“Oh,” her mouth hung open slightly, brows raised in surprise.

I only want to wreck him more now.

“I want to prove to you that I’m better. I’m a man of god,” he reached out, taking her hand.

“Celibacy and all?” Meryl asked, amused.

Wolfwood blushed, stammering.

“W-well of course,” he looked away. “Priests have to be. It’s part of the job.”

“Hm, sounds like shitty deal,” Meryl took a long sip of Wolfwood’s drink.

“I get to shepherd a flock,” Wolfwood said earnestly. “I get to guide the lost to Christ.”

“Ooooh,” Meryl held up her hands, wiggling her fingers. “You get to follow a bunch of stuffy rules and tell people they’re sinners. Sounds like a riot. If I wanted someone up my ass all the time, I’d rather it be the fun way.”

Wolfwood was currently discovering new shades of red for his skin to burn while Meryl ran her mouth, much to her amusement.

“Listen, Wolfwood,” she set his glass down. “I appreciate that you’ve turned your life around or whatever. Good for you. I’m glad it worked out. But this-”

Meryl gestured around her to the music and dim lighting, laughter and drunken calls echoing around the bar in a cacophony of noise that felt almost musical.

“Is where I found myself. Not some hypocritical church. This is my home. This is where I found my god, and it isn’t some rule book.”

“Meryl,” Wolfwood stood, taking her wrist as she tilted her head, eyes lidded.

“I spent my whole childhood trying to find and live up to your god. I’m not going to go back to hating everything about myself.”

“You don’t have to,” Wolfwood said.

“You don’t believe that,” Meryl scoffed. “If you did, you wouldn’t be trying to drag me back to church.”

“I just… I miss seeing you. I feel like I drove you away,” Wolfwood took a deep breath.

Meryl leaned in until her breath fanned against his ear, hearing Wolfwood’s breathing hitch as her fingers toyed with the chair around his neck.

“You sure as hell didn’t make me want to stay.”

She pulled back, flicking the chain out of her fingertips so it rested on his heated skin again.

“You’ve got a chance to change that now.”

“What- how?” Wolfwood asked, eager but wary, hands clenching.

Meryl’s lusty eyes bore into Wolfwood’s dark ones and he swallowed under her intense gaze. He felt like he’d walked straight into the mouth of a lion, Meryl’s eyes calculating and enticing.

“I want you,” Meryl drained the rest of his drink, placing the empty glass on the counter and sliding onto his lap. “So show me how much you want me back.”

“I-I-” Wolfwood’s mouth was opening and closing like a fish, his throat bobbing as he took in Meryl’s bare shoulders and full pout, the hollow between her small breasts, slinky dress barely covering them. “I’m a priest, Meryl.”

“Yeah, and?” she traced a finger along his jaw.

And I’m going to ruin you.

“I can’t do this. I-I’m bound by oath to remain, ah, pure…”

“Oh, I see,” Meryl slid off his lap with a sigh, not bothering to tug her dress down as it rode up, teasing a peek at the curve of her ass. “Well, enjoy the rest of your evening, Nicholas.”

Meryl stalked away, praying her bluff would work. She needed him to come after her, needed him to be the one to chase her. She was playing a delicate game of cat and mouse. If she made the wrong move, she’d lose Wolfwood and wouldn’t get what she wanted.

“Meryl! Wait- please, hang on-”

Meryl continued out of the bar without looking back; her stride brisk.

“Meryl- Meryl!”

“You’ve made yourself clear, Wolfwood,” she called without turning, still keeping her pace. “I won’t bother you again. Go back to your precious flock.”

“You are my flock!”

“I am nothing of the sort!” Meryl felt herself puff up, spinning on her heel to face him without meaning to. It took a second longer than she wanted to recompose herself. “I’m the wolf in sheep’s clothing, don’t you remember?”

She laughed harshly and huffed, hailing a taxi with one hand as the words she’d heard whispered behind hands at church played and echoed inside her mind.

Just watching out for the other children, my ass, Meryl scowled. They just didn’t like that I asked them hard questions they couldn’t answer.

Wolfwood caught her hand, staring into her crystalline eyes. His expression was more serious, hard around the edges as he opened his mouth.

“Meryl, God-”

“I don’t give a shit about your god,” Meryl shook him off as the taxi pulled up. “And until you’re willing to accept that, we’ll never see eye-to-eye.”

She released him, ducking into the taxi and crossing her legs, giving her address to the driver. Wolfwood slid in next to her, brows furrowed. Meryl was surprised her tactics were working as well as they were- it was like she had him on a leash.

“Father Wolfwood, whatever are you doing?”

“Drop it,” he growled as the taxi darted into traffic. “Look Meryl, I’ve been doing my damn best to try and apologize-”

“Is that what all of that was?” Meryl crossed her arms. “Because it felt like you were trying to coerce me into going back.”

“I know I was a dick when we were younger,” he admitted, and Meryl noticed how his speech was starting to slip back into the careless flippancy she remembered. “I want to make it right. I’m trying to be better.”

“You cursed,” Meryl commented blandly.

“Oh fucks sake,” he snapped. “Is that all you care about?”

“What I care about-” Meryl yanked him down to her level by his shirt. “-is you getting it through your thick-ass skull that not everything is about you and your god.”

She let go of the priest’s shirt, giving him a light shove as she did so. Wolfwood blathered on, words falling on deaf ears. Meryl was thankful she didn’t live too far from the bar and that the taxi driver was confident (Wolfwood called it “reckless”). She paid the fare as it rolled to a stop, thrusting cash at the man before digging out her keys as Wolfwood stumbled after her to her apartment. She just needed him to follow her a little further- past her threshold of her door... Meryl moved to slam it in his face, but Wolfwood stopped it with one hand, forcing the door open as she tried shutting it.

“Listen, Shortie,” he snapped, following her inside. “I’m trying to atone for all the stuff I did, okay? I’m trying to apologize and-”

“Atone?” Meryl spun around to face him. “You want to atone? Apologize? Make up for how shitty you treated me? You know how I felt, right?”

Wolfwood allowed himself to be forced back onto the couch, dumbfounded by Meryl’s sharp words.

“Or were you truly oblivious to everything? Either way you treated me like shit.”

“Meryl-”

“Don’t ‘Meryl’ me!” she snapped, pushing him down as she climbed onto his lap, taking hold of his collar with both hands.

She crashed her lips into his, his hands coming up in surprise, twitching before lowering to her hips, gingerly caressing the plush of her thighs like he was touching the Tree of Knowledge for the first time: reverent and afraid god would smite him. Meryl’s tongue pressed into his mouth, drawing a surprised, muffled groan from the man beneath her. Their noses bumped in a feverish desperation, teeth and tongue and lips melting together as Meryl indulged herself in the most damnable sin with the man who had helped turn her away from god. Breathless and panting, she pulled back to inspect her prize- her prey. Wolfwood was no better, his entire visage burning up as he stared at her in wonder.

“What, is that your first kiss, mister priest?” Meryl’s words were harsh, but her soft tone tempered the words.

Wolfwood’s silence answered for him, and Meryl felt the wickedness in her soul rejoice. She’d stolen the priest’s first kiss- the boy who’d told her that she was dirty and ruined forever because she’d touched another man’s hand: his first kiss.

The man who was supposed to be a celibate priest; pure for his flock, was starting to feel his soul corrupt under the touch of her fingers. His intentions had been pure when he arrived at the bar that night: he was going to apologize and ask Meryl to come back to church, and that was it.

“You have one chance,” Meryl breathed the words against his jaw. “Exactly five seconds starting now to leave, if you want to. One…”

Wolfwood’s hands shook against her body, fingers twitching as he stared dumbly at her lips forming the words- swollen and glossy. Meryl traced her hands down his front, undoing Wolfwood’s shirt one button at a time.

He really shouldn’t be doing this.

“Two.”

He had taken a vow of celibacy for his position. He was already going too far.

His starched white shirt peeled away to reveal a thick chest adorned with dark hair, heaving from the way her lips had ravished his mouth earlier.

“Three.”

He should leave now- leave before the temptations of his flesh controlled him completely. Before he gave into those base urges he’d had towards Meryl since he first met her.

Hands danced across his clenching abdomen with feather-light touches, and Wolfwood groaned, low and raspy.

“Four.”

He was a man of god-

Wolfwood’s glassy eyes watched Meryl in fascination. He couldn’t tear himself away, or even try to make a move when he was so entranced by the way she moved her hands against the planes of his body.

“Last chance, Father Wolfwood,” she reached for the hem of her dress.

Fuck it all.

Wolfwood reached out to help her lift it over her head, revealing small breasts and a smooth expanse of skin beneath the black fabric. A plain black pair of underwear hugged Meryl’s hips, just as soft as her skin under Wolfwood’s hands. He marveled that even the silk robes at the church didn’t feel as rich as the curve of her hips.

“Five.”

Meryl shoved him down, a cruel, delighted look lighting up her face. Wolfwood had never seen something so beautiful before. Her fingers caressed his face as her mouth moved against his, leaving him thirsty for more. He could feel her hips on his groin, rolling down on the tent in his trousers, providing him with blessed friction.

“You’re a virgin, aren’t you?” Meryl’s lips dragged down his body. “Have to be; for god.”

The word was spit with contempt, and Wolfwood could feel shame creeping up his chest as Meryl freed him from the confines of his pants. It excited him, though; he groaned at the feeling of her small hands rubbing him through his boxers.

It was foreign to have someone else touching him. Wolfwood had urges, and he wasn’t above taking care of his own needs, even if it left him feeling a bit guilty, but he reasoned it was fine, since it was just him. He was still celibate, technically. Now, he wondered how anyone wanted to be a priest when they had to give up this.

Meryl wasted little time in removing his boxers, leaving him stark naked on her couch, the only clothing she still wore covering the part Wolfwood was desperate to see.

“How does it feel?” Meryl purred, pleased with the way Wolfwood’s cock jumped in her hand. The priest bit his lip.

“M-Meryl,” Wolfwood panted, feeling his stomach coil.

He arched up into her touch, holding back a whine. Her pace increased in speed, leaving Wolfwood digging his hands into the couch, battling pleasure and shame.

“You’re supposed to be pure for god,” Meryl laughed from between his legs. “And here you are; getting stoked off by a sinner.”

The realization washed over him like a bucket of cold water, and he wanted to tell her to stop, but his body betrayed him as he let out a gasp, curling forward with a moan and burying his hand in her hair as the tension in his loins mounted. He panted, shame burning on his face as he let out a throaty cry, coming with a jerk in Meryl’s delicate yet firm grip.

“Well?” Meryl lifted her hand up, showing Wolfwood his spend all over her hand as he came down from his high. “How does it feel to be a sinner like the rest of us?”

Embarrassment colored his face and Wolfwood tried to scowl, but the orgasm had his head reeling. He could only snap out an awkward accusation.

“Is this your god? Sex?”

Meryl cleaned his seed off her hand with her tongue, not breaking eye contact until she finished. Wolfwood’s humiliation melted away as his throat went dry at the action, unable to focus on anything except her tongue pressed against her own skin, lapping up the evidence of his sin. She showed him her mouth before swallowing it down, face changing from pleased to sadistic satisfaction.

“I am my own god,” she straddled him. “And I’m about to be yours too.”

Wolfwood’s eyes widened as she positioned herself over him, her underwear having disappeared at some point. The sudden warmth surrounding him as she drove her hips into his short-circuited his brain, hands scrabbling for purchase.

“M- ah! Meryl!”

“Isn’t this kind of worship much more enjoyable than your boring recitations?” she braced herself with her hands on either side of his head.

He didn’t want to admit it, but Meryl was right. The way she clamped around him made him heady in a way that prayer never could, and the chant of her name falling from his lips as he jerked and cried out felt more natural that the memorized songs he raised to heaven each week.

“I want to ruin you,” Meryl forced him to look her in the eye. “Until you can never show your face in that goddamn church again.”

Wolfwood’s indignant reply was cut short by the slap of skin and welling of pleasure in his stomach and chest, his body tensing and rippling as he squirmed.

“You can start your apology by begging.”

“Be-begging?” Wolfwood had enough coherence for a question. “For what?”

Meryl lifted her hips until Wolfwood’s tip was just barely brushing her folds, entirely out of her heat. He writhed, ashamed as he ached to feel her again. The message was clear. He didn’t want to give into her demands- he was embarrassed enough with the whole situation- but she was like a drug. She’d always been his drug, ever since they met. Why he said all those stupid things as a teen was beyond him. This was what he’d wanted all along, Wolfwood thought ashamedly.

“Please,” his voice was hoarse. “Please, god-”

“You’re not asking god,” Meryl grabbed his jaw. “You’re asking me.”

Wolfwood’s eyes were glazed over with want, and Meryl felt a prick of pride. She released his face, watching his thick chest heave with exertion.

“Please, Meryl, please-”

“Please what?”

Wolfwood searched his rapidly blanking mind for an answer. Was he supposed to apologize or ask for her to continue? Did it matter? He just wanted her closer to him, fucking him until he couldn’t remember his own name.

“Please don’t stop,” he swallowed. “I’m sorry- sorry for everything.”

Meryl dropped herself down onto him again, reveling in the way his face contorted in pleasure.

“Keep begging or I’ll stop.”

Wolfwood’s eyes threatened to roll back in his head as his hands clutched her hips, trying to assist her in moving up and down. Meryl decided against smacking them away, choosing instead to brace herself with one hand against his stomach, which was surprisingly solid.

“I’m- I’m sorry for- ngh! For the way I treated you back th- ah!”

Meryl snapped her hips, enjoying the way Wolfwood struggled to speak with each rise and fall of her body. When he paused, panting, Meryl slowed to a stop, watching the despair build behind his desperate, feverish gaze.

“Please keep going, fuck, Meryl, please-”

Wolfwood’s entire world was condensed down to the way Meryl felt around him, the way the heat rolled off their bodies in the cool apartment air, and the shame and desire filling his stomach. He’d never felt more at home then this moment; buried in the cunt of the woman who plagued his dreams and fantasies.

“Fuck, Meryl, you feel so g-shit! Fuck, don’t stop- please oh g-ngh!”

“Tell me, Nicholas,” Meryl’s breath was coming shorter and shorter as her leg muscles began to cramp. “Tell me who your god is.”

“Meryl!” Wolfwood’s back arched up as he groaned, his orgasm hovering just beyond reach. “Meryl!”

“Is that how you cry out to your god?” Meryl drove her hips down. “Do you say his name so irreverently?”

Wolfwood clawed desperately for something to hold to as his entire body shook, convulsing with a force so great that he wondered if perhaps god had chosen to smite him for his sins.

“Meryl!” Wolfwood’s cry tore from his throat, sounding like a plea and prayer, a desire and need all rolled into one.

That was the sound she wanted to hear: desperate, needy, fully devoted to her, even if only for the moment. Meryl’s cunt enveloped Wolfwood’s pulsing dick, swallowing each twitch and jerk as he came inside her. Wolfwood’s voice fell to a vague murmur as his eyes closed to revel in the dopamine, lips parted as air rushed past them as his breath evened out.

Meryl gave him a few seconds to enjoy it before she started moving again, ignoring the pain in her legs. She’d just ruined the man she’d both wanted and resented for years, and he’d barely even apologized. Like hell she was going to stop now.

“Ah-wait!” Wolfwood’s raspy voice sounded almost pained as he grabbed her arm. “Too- no more, please, Meryl!”

“I thought you were going to atone?” Meryl stared down her nose at him, eyes dark with vindictive desire.

Terror and excitement welled in Wolfwood’s gut and he slowly let go. He had said that, and although this wasn’t exactly what he’d planned for, he wasn’t going to argue with her- to hell with his celibacy and priesthood. He could cross that bridge later. For the moment, he just wanted to stay here with her; to stay enveloped in her heat and fiery passion even if it blackened his soul with sin.

“Well, Nicholas?”

Wolfwood reached one shaky hand up to caress Meryl’s stomach, up her chest until he reached her face. Meryl’s eyes widened in shock, her harsh mask falling away as the priest rubbed a thumb across her lip, entranced by the way her cheeks heated and flushed like they used to when she was younger and he teased her. His chest tightened with regret, knowing that he could have kept her close even if she left the church if only he hadn’t been so flippant and careless. Even if his feelings of shame and desire were twisting into something he couldn’t name or understand, he just wanted to dig both of his hands into her hips and pull her closer, to beg for her to absolve him and let him stay here for the night- for every night.

“If I can earn your forgiveness, then I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Wolfwood pushed himself up, Meryl falling onto her back under him, positions flipped. He mouth had dropped open into a pretty little ‘o’, and Wolfwood pressed chaste, gentle kiss to her lips.

“I’ll beg at your altar until you take all my sins,” he brushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “Until I’m fully yours. Just tell me what you want from me.”

“I…” Meryl was suddenly unsure, her heart fluttering like a bird in her chest.

She was supposed to be in charge. She was the one reeling him in, debasing and defiling him until he wasn’t worthy to be a man of god. Meryl reached up to tangle her hands in Woflwood’s hair, the realization of what she truly wanted finally dawning on her.

“I want to ruin you until your god won’t take you back,” she traced his jaw. “I hate him, and I hate that he has you and I don’t.”

Wolfwood’s face hovered inches above hers, humid breath mixing with hers as his lidded eyes were swallowed by want. Meryl cradled his cheeks with her hands, pressing a kiss to his lips with closed eyes. There was no malice or anger behind the movement this time as their mouths moved slowly, hungrily against each other. Hands tugged gently at each other, eager but not demanding. Lips separated to swallow air, both of them heady with the sudden whiplash of tenderness and sincerity. Wolfwood looked down at Meryl, dazed but content.

“So… you don’t like sharing?” he grinned.

Meryl’s voice was a whisper as she pulled him back down to her.

“I am a jealous god.”

#meryl stryfe #nicholas d. wolfwood #trigun fic #trigun meryl #fanfic #cross posted on ao3 #trigun smut #religious themes #religious trauma

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cheridraws · 1 year ago

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📓👀

OO OO okay hmmm let me think, there’s a lot,,

So the most recent one is a kind-of-crack-fic-treated-seriously Trigun fic starring Wolfwood post trimax

He gets resurrected Lazurus style, crawls out of his own grave and everything, and when he finally hits sunlight he sees… Knives. Just. chilling there

APPARENTLY, Knives like accidentally created an apple tree then decided to fuck off into the desert for like a year instead of dying (I need him alive for this), then happened upon Wolfwood’s grave, where said priest drags himself out. I’m thinking this probably takes place about hmmmm a year? 2 years? After trimax

Idk if I would do too much with this one since it’s mostly me being like,, wouldn’t it be fucked up if the guy you used to work for was the first guy you see upon coming back from the dead? But now he’s just kinda mildly sad and has been knocked down from his pedestal so you’re kinda on equal footing for the first time in your lives? (yeah this is what I mean when I said it was kind of serious lol). It’s mostly for me to daydream about what shenanigans they would get up to while looking for Vash, and also like,, we saw Vash and Wolfwood’s clashing worldviews all of trimax, and Wolfwood is sort of the middle ground between Kni and Vash’s philosophies, so what if he’s paired up with Knives now?

I also had the idea that maybe they’d pick Livio/Razlo up along the way too, just to make things more awkward. Also I think his reaction to seeing WW alive would make me cry lol

This is also an excuse for me to stick Knives in cowboy aesthetics bc of that one line in Stampede where he claimed to love those movies. Let this stabby man wear a cowboy hat and bandana I’m begging

…There was also an alternative idea for this one where it took place two centuries after the events of trimax. Knives would be recently returned from being an apple tree and Wolfwood was resurrected by some plants and together they have to navigate a modern world neither of them recognize to find Vash but… mmmm I don’t like the modern fics for trigun very much, so I’m keeping it still in the trimax-timeline yknow? I love the cowboy aesthetic too much to drop it

ANYWAYS,,, thanks for the ask hon <3 I love getting to ramble abt this hehe

#trigun #ask me anything #WOOHOO!!! AN EXCUSE TO SHOUT ABT FICS ILL NEVER WRITE #well. lemme rephrase that #fics I WANT to write but CANT bc of college #I’ll get around to it one day maybe perhaps lol

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medea10 · 2 years ago

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My Review of Ascendance of a Bookworm

Okay, time to hit up another isekai. After watching a heart-wrenching anime like 86, I need something light-hearted to watch. No…I’m not reviewing 86. Sorry. Okay, let’s get to it!

This is Myne. But not really! You see, Myne was once a librarian named Urano Motosu with a love for reading books. But an earthquake struck and she was crushed by a mountain of books. With her last breath, she wished she could be reincarnated again and read more books with her new life. Now she is reborn in a frail five-year old named Myne. Myne is in a new world, new time, and with a new family. Only thing is, she cannot obtain a single book. Books are hard to come by, especially if you aren’t a noble. And in Myne’s case, she’s at peasant level. Even materials for writing are hard to obtain.

Before one can walk, one must crawl. Myne will go through a lot in order to preserve stories on the printed page. Will this bookworm survive without reading?

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: This one strictly belonged to Crunchyroll and the dub was filled with a lot of people I don’t think I ever heard from before this. So, hearing many of these folks is kinda a new experience for me since I decided to watch the entire thing dubbed. My experience with it was okay until I hit season three. I felt a little thrown off with the pronunciation of one of the characters. Myne’s mother Effa. We clearly hear her name being pronounced as “Eva” in the first 2 seasons. Now all of a sudden, they’re changing her name’s pronunciation. Okay, sure. Why not?! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Myne is played by Yuka Iguchi (known for Crusch on Re:Zero, Tsukihi on Monogatari, Mine on Fruits Basket 2019, Mea on To Love Ru, Yuu on Sakura Trick, and Index on Railgun/Index)

*Lutz is played by Mutsumi Tamura (known for Kobayashi on Miss Kobayashi, Kanamori on Eizouken, Ermes on Jojo’s Pt. 6, Young Jintan on Anohana, and Young Ali Baba on Magi)

*Ferdinand is played by Show Hayami (known for Juan on Pokemon AG, Aizen on Bleach, Wolfwood on Trigun, Azami on Food Wars, Gakuhou on Assassination Classroom, and Ichiya on Fairy Tail)

ENGLISH CAST: *Myne is played by Reba Buhr (known for Nikaido on Dorohedoro, Cattleya on Violet Evergarden, Aoi on Demon Slayer, and LLENN on SAO: GGO)

*Lutz is played by Jeannie Tirado (known for Norman on The Promised Neverland, Riko on Love Live Sunshine, Fana on Black Clover, Kanae on Tokyo Ghoul :re, and Zera on Fairy Tail)

*Ferdinand is played by Armen Taylor

DISLIKED CHARACTER: I think it goes without saying that I hate that high priest with a holy passion. After his unsavory debut in the first season, I wished he could have died from his injuries when Myne’s mana went haywire. Sadly, he’s still around. And whenever he shows up, nothing good can come from it. He’s the reason why Myne wound up with disrespectful retainers when she started her apprenticeship at the church. I know the high priest is the go-to punching bag for most people. I am inclined to agree. It’s mostly a bias I have against certain individuals that claim to be a servant to the lord and do shady-ass shit. Yeah, he’s right up there with the Catholic Church, Mike Pence, and Judge Claude Frollo. He’s that bad!

I would have let certain things slide in season two like giving Myne unruly retainers or petty vandalism in the library. But then season three happened and there’s just no forgiveness for what this fat fuck did. I’m just happy he’s finally going to get some much-needed comeuppance.

SHIPPING: Myne x Lutz.

*sigh* I know it’ll never happen for many, many spoilery reasons. And I know it wasn’t canon or official or anything like that. I just want to enjoy their moments in season one and somehow ignore what happens at the end of season three.

AN ANNOYANCE: At the end of each episode, there’s like a chibi/4-panel style short that airs. I wouldn’t call it a preview for the next episode as there is never any mention of what happens next. It’s just random fluff. That doesn’t bother me all that much. Yes, I realize the first season had Ferdinand shown in those moments and we were never properly introduced to this character until like 10 episodes in. What bothered me the most came during the third season. There was one of these segments where Gunther and Myne were talking and he brings up that Myne’s mother had several miscarriages prior to having Tuuli and Myne. Okay, I feel like this sort of thing could have been said during the episode and not put in the passing fancy with the end of the episode LOL fluff. That’s my take on that matter.

END OF SEASON ONE: Throughout this season, Myne has been creating certain items and catching the eye of several key people. Semi-nobles like Frieda and her family have caught wind of Myne’s hair accessories. And a gentleman by the name of Mr. Benno decides to give Myne a chance with items she creates (for the right price). Unfortunately, there’s only so much Myne can do in so much time. Myne has been sick from day one and when really sick, she’ll spend days or even weeks in bed. Mr. Benno seems to think that she has mana (that is only reserved for nobles) and it’s eating her from the inside until she dies. It’s called “the devouring”. Meanwhile, Lutz has been becoming suspicious of Myne. It’s been bugging him for quite a while, but he finally confronted her. Without letting him know about her past life, she does reveal to him that she’s not really Myne and was only Myne for over a year now. Thankfully, Lutz accepted this fact and continues to help Myne pursue her dream and current ambitions.

Myne has been revolutionizing the world she’s living in with products she was able to easily make like hair shampoo, cute hair accessories, and even sweet treats. She did sell those invention ideas, but was able to keep some for her own. On top of which, she’s inching closer and closer to getting her paper goods to be successful. It’s just that her sickness (the devouring) is getting worse and worse. Her friend Frieda was able to suppress one of her attacks one night with the use of a magical item. It’s temporary, but it helped prevent something tragic from happening this time. There’s no guarantee for next time though.

With the way things are, Myne only has one year at most to live. It was a lucky break that Myne was able to get an item because her friend is semi-royal. Unfortunately, all Frieda gets are knock-offs because she isn’t really a noble. But that can all change once her coming of age ceremony comes and becomes a concubine for a noble. Myne’s coming of age ceremony is coming up and being married off to a noble might be her one solution to surviving the devouring. For now, Myne just wants to stay with her parents and if there’s time, set up her paper-making studio with Lutz and Mr. Benno.

The day finally came for Myne to have her coming of age ceremony. At the church, Myne got intrigued by all of the ancient books, scrolls, etc. We also meet Ferdinand outside of the preview setting. He is the head priest of this church. Myne was ready to jump ship and join the church just because they had many books. Let’s just say nearly everyone in Myne’s inner circle objected to that tenfold. Her employer Mr. Benno hates to lose Myne to anyone, especially to the church. And Myne’s parents worry that being in the church can be detrimental to her health since she couldn’t live at home anymore and won’t get a steady income since only nobles in blue robes obtain that and everyone else is just a gray orphan.

Things get a little more complicated when the church learned of Myne’s devouring disease and wanted her even more. Myne is full of overflowing mana and this is something the church wants. This could work to Myne’s advantage if she gets the church to agree to her own terms. Mr. Benno told her to prioritize letting her continue with her studio works, live with her parents, and help with her health. Meeting the high priest of the church went really bad. He didn’t like the fact that Myne’s parents were not of nobility and threatened to take Myne from them by force. This led to Myne’s father beating up church guards. And then Myne went demon-possessed on them all!

Throughout this season, there were moments when Myne’s eyes would go rainbow and has this anger aura surrounding her. This would usually occur when she would get really upset or angry, like in the early episodes and she would try to make clay tablets and they got destroyed. This of course is because of the devouring. Her mana is overflowing and controlling her body. This time, this power affected the high priest by almost killing him. Ferdinand helped calm Myne down and de-escalated the situation that just went down. He agreed to all of Myne’s terms and agreements. In return, Myne will become an apprentice priestess at the cathedral. She will dawn the blue robes meant only for nobles and when she’s not doing that, she will continue to help Mr. Benno. And best of all, she could stay with her family.

Ferdinand will be there quite a bit to keep Myne in check at every moment. Especially, when she gets angry and her mana goes berserk. Because if she harms any higher-up like when she attacked the high priest, dire consequences will be passed down to Myne. But that’ll be a matter for another section of this review.

SIDE STORY: There were two short stories that were aired a month before the second season’s debut. One story was revolved around one of Ferdinand’s men from the church to spy and learn about Myne from the townspeople. The other was Myne, her sister Tulli and mother Eva visiting the fabric maker Corinna.

SEASON TWO: Myne is officially an apprentice priestess. Unfortunately, things in the church might serve to be difficult for her. The high priest has it out for her and is willing to make her life a living hell. This includes giving her retainers (Delia and Gil) that give her nothing but grief. Not just him, but everyone (excluding Ferdinand) hating on Myne because she’s not a noble, but is wearing noble clothing. Let’s just say they’re not fond that a little girl like her got to surpass many of them.

On the positive, part of her job is to read over the royal scripture. A book is a book, I guess. At least Myne made it to a point where she got her hands on the printed word, no matter what it is. Myne does get the idea to make children books during this season. Because her mother is going to have a baby in the coming months, Myne wanted to make children books with the paper goods she’s been making.

END OF SEASON TWO: Myne has to step up her game at the church to prove that she is truly worthy to wear the blue robes despite being a peasant. For starters, she has to prepare for some upcoming events that’ll require her attendance and assistance. Unfortunately, that means Myne will have to stay at the church during the duration of the winter season. That does cause a bit of a hiccup as Myne’s father is fully against it and Myne kinda wanted to stay at home a little more to help out her pregnant mother.

Myne ends up assisting Ferdinand with a mission against some out of control trombe. As demonstrated in earlier episodes, trombe can be dangerous if not controlled and cut down. Such a dangerous entity, but useful in Myne’s mission to making paper goods. This trombe however caused more trouble than normal for Myne. This time it wasn’t her fault in a sense. One of the guards Ferdinand assigned to keep Myne safe was a real shit-head and put Myne’s life in danger and lied about it. This guy put the fact that Myne’s a peasant over Ferdinand’s order. Yeah, he’s in trouble. And then Myne showed him up with the amount of mana she possesses for someone like her. After all of that, we kind of get this scene that I wondered about since I started this series.

This scene was the very first scene from the first episode of the series. Myne with something on her head and Ferdinand going to find out things once and for all. And that’s exactly it, they’re linking minds with magical items so that Ferdinand can lay his worries and fears about Myne to rest. Ferdinand got a first-hand look at what a library looks like in modern-day Japan. Myne got to see her old adult self before she died. And also, Myne almost had a breakdown after seeing her mother and wanting to say goodbye but never got the chance. That scene was pretty rough to watch, along with her hugging Ferdinand. That’s why Myne decides now to say how thankful she is for this family. Gunther, Eva, and Tuuli aren’t the family she knew back before Myne came to this world, but she’s happy for them.

Oh, and we get a scene of Ferdinand and Karstedt discussing Myne and planning to have her be adopted by a noble. Okay, that’ll be a story for season three.

SEASON THREE: Things take a bit of a violent turn in the first episode. In the previous season, Myne was seen asking about alternate inks for the book she wanted to make. The ink guild saw the book and got serious. They came to Benno’s shop and were very scary. And then, these ruffians assaulted Lutz in the street. It is now best that Myne have her winter stay at the church happen now. Meanwhile, it looks as though one of her own retainers can’t be trusted…AGAIN! It’s Delia. Of course, it’s Delia. Gil’s on Team Myne and its going to stay that way. Delia on the other hand is an informant for the high priest.

Myne’s life is about to get a little worrisome. Ferdinand told her that he thinks that Karstedt should adopt her and it was met with harsh rejection from Myne. Ferdinand decided it is best that at age 10 she be adopted by a noble. And at that age if she isn’t under the care of a noble, she will be at risk due to her amount of mana and everything she’s done up to this point.

ENDING: This season we’ve seen the good and the bad. I’ll start with the good. The book that Myne came up with was finally done. She had a lot of help from her retainers, the children from the orphanage, and other allies in the church. Myne was able to spend some quality time with her family as this may be the last years she can be with them. Along with that, the birth of her baby brother Kamil was worth celebrating. But then we delve into the seriousness here when an orphaned baby comes to the church and has the devouring disease like Myne, things take quite the turn for the worst. The high priest is at it again really causing trouble for Myne and just being an all-around fat dick. The high priest invited a noble man to take the baby and use him as a servant. Then, force Myne into a contract.

This plan led to Myne almost being kidnapped, Tulli almost being killed, Delia being deceived, Gunther and Fran injured, and an all-around magic showdown at the church. Myne went into berserk mode when her friends and father were injured by the high priest and this dick-head noble that wants to use Myne’s mana for his selfish wants. It wasn’t until Ferdinand came in the room that things settled. Unfortunately, Myne assaulted the high priest and a noble. They overlooked that crime at the end of season one when her mana caused her to go berserk. This time, Myne, Gunther, Fran, and the rest were to receive punishment for this. But a twist arose.

During this season, Myne met a man named Sylvester. He’s a bit eccentric and can be a bit of a headache. But he gave Myne a charm to form a blood seal if she were to come into trouble. What she didn’t know was that this blood seal was to form a contract with Sylvester. This means instead of being adopted by Karstedt in two years, Myne is to be adopted by Sylvester right now. If this happens, Myne and everyone else will avoid punishment because her status as Sylvester’s daughter will surpass that of the high priest and dick-head noble. Myne agrees. Add to the surprises, Sylvester is the lord of the land, the nephew to the high priest, and half-brother to Ferdinand. Sylvester laid down some much-needed punishment here as that shady noble was to be incarcerated and the high priest got the death sentence for harming Myne.

Sylvester made it official, but with some unfortunate terms. Myne is to be adopted by Sylvester. She will be a noble officially. However, she is to give up her name and her family. She will no longer be known as Myne and the commoner known as Myne will be legally dead. She may never again be with her father, mother, sister, and brother again. If they were to see Myne, they must treat her like a noble and not like a part of the family. Myne’s company and work will continue as paper goods and books are necessary. Myne will now and forever be known as Rozemyne. Rozemyne swears that she will protect those she loves and gives them a special blessing before bidding them goodbye.

This is the end of Myne’s tale as you see with her tombstone. But Rozemyne’s story is just beginning.

We just don’t know because nothing has been green-lit as of yet. But we got a “To Be Continued” at the end. That’s hopeful!

Oh, I loved this anime. I think this was one of my favorite Isekais to come as of recent. Probably up there with Mushoku Tensei and Re:Zero.

I’m going to go off a bit on something I was pondering about for a long time and how I feel about it. This mostly has to do with the story itself and not the anime at all. During season two, I got curious and read some spoilers. Once I finished season two, I really got upset that Myne was to be adopted by nobles and have all communication from her family cut off. The reason behind me being so upset is because at the end of season two, we got that sad scene where Myne is back in her modern world in her original body and her wanting to say something to her mother before she dies. So, learning about Myne’s separation from Gunther and Effa made me really upset. Myne was distraught remembering her mother in the previous life and swore to always say that she loved Effa. But now that I sat through season three, am I still upset by the circumstances? Hell yeah. But I understand that there really was no happy outcome where all parties could be satisfied. Myne was still going to be adopted whether now or in two years like originally planned.

Never mind me prattling on about this crap about adoption. This has been a fun watch and an educational one too. Isekais can get creative with new languages, items, and customs. I always enjoy learning about new worlds in anime. But not just that, I learn something new when Myne brings up something invented in her original world. We learn something new every day. By the looks of things, the light novel is still in publication, so I expect to see more content with Rozemyne and her continuing ambitions surrounding the printed word. Anyways, full recommendation from me!

If you would like to watch Ascendance of a Bookworm, Crunchyroll has every episode (along with the side stories and recaps) available to stream.

Man, I hate to think what I’m going to watch next. The anime following this one must be fucking bullshit.

It is.

*gasps* FINALLY! I GET TO WATCH IT!!!

*This stupidity aside, Medea is really enjoying Carole and Tuesday*

#anime review #ascendance of a bookworm #myne #lutz #ferdinand #honzuki no gekokujou #benno #frieda #gunther #sylvester #bezevance

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