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lavenderprose · 2 months ago

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Nanny AU? Nanny AU.

Emmrich was somewhat used to receiving panicked phone calls at work. The nanny situation with Manfred had been tumultuous for quite some time—there had been a year or so there where Manfred had burned through nannies like a fire through kindling. Four professionals had come and gone, and Emmrich had learned that very few things were sacred when one had an overly precocious genius-level three-year-old at home; especially one’s work hours. He’d taken to answering the phone immediately upon feeling it vibrate in his back pocket. Well, as immediately as whatever was living on his gloved hands would allow. He often had to let it go through the voicemail the first time as he divested himself of gloves, but there was almost always an immediate second call.

That was, until Rook.

In the six months since hiring her, Emmrich had only received two phone calls at work. Rook seemed to almost pathologically respect Emmrich’s working hours, and only called during utmost emergencies. The first, only a week into the current arrangement, had been to inform him that Manfred had vomited at school and she needed him to call the school and give them her information so that she could pick him up. The other was an incident involving Johanna the cat, which resulted in Emmrich talking her through the process of dismantling the basement drop ceiling.

Rook’s respect of his work hours was one of the many reasons why Emmrich had come to deeply appreciate her presence in his life—aside from her positive influence on Manfred, of course, and her skill in helping to nurture and educate him. Emmrich had known, of course, that single parenthood was an undertaking not to be taken lightly, and he would certainly never regret the decision to create his little family, but the lack of a partner in the endeavor had rankled at times. Rook had offered insight into what such a partnership might be.

But then, that thought veered too closely to something that Emmrich had spent a great deal of time trying to ignore over the last six months.

In any case, the dropoff in sudden calls had allowed Emmrich to reclaim a piece of his own sense of peace that he hadn’t even realized had gone missing. He’d at least stopped walking into work while wondering what unplanned issues would arise during the day.

On the other hand, he now knew that on the occasions that his phone did ring at work—with Rook’s particular ringtone to indicate to him that it was her calling—it was truly an emergency.

He couldn’t be blamed, therefore, for answering the phone with a hurried and abrupt prompt of, “What’s happened?” when Rook’s ringtone pierced the calm and quiet of his office on a Tuesday afternoon.

“Manfred’s fine,” she said immediately, prompting yet another rush of gratitude from him—she was intuitive that way. The relief flooded back out of his system, however, when Rook followed it up with, “I’m really sorry to bother you, Emmrich, but I think I need to go to the hospital, so you should probably come home.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked, standing immediately to gather his things. On a handful of occasions, he’d been summoned home to take over care if a nanny had some unforeseen event—issues with their own childcare, sudden mid-day illness, and on one occasion an on-the-spot resignation. That had been a memorable and unfortunate day.

A medical emergency was a new and horrifying occurrence.

“Manfred crawled under the hedgerow and I had to chase him through the field behind the house,” Rook said, and there was an odd quality to her voice—stifled, as though with congestion. She’d been experiencing no such ailment this morning at breakfast, when she’d come in from her apartment in the guesthouse and helped him clean up the carnage of Manfred’s oatmeal. She, herself, had smelled of strawberries. Her skirt had fluttered just a little too high as she ran down the driveway to hand him his forgotten travel mug as he ducked into his car.

“Oh dear,” Emmrich tutted, locking his office behind him as he swept into the hallway. He made the split-second decision to simply text Johanna—the person, not the cat—that he’d had a family emergency and would follow up with her about the day’s cases at a later time. Johanna was unlikely to notice his absence, as it was; she was elbows-deep in some unfortunate soul pulled from the Minanter River the previous afternoon and likely wouldn’t surface until she’d gleaned the name of the man’s tax adjuster from the color of his liver.

“And he’s fine,” Rook reiterated, as though she genuinely thought that that was still his major concern after she’d told him that she was intending to seek emergency medical attention for something that Emmrich’s very own three-year-old had subjected her to. “But there was deathroot? Growing in the field? And I’m super allergic. Usually I just break out in hives, but there was so much of it, and I was wearing a sundress, and anyway I’m having trouble breathing—"

“Do you have an epi-pen?”

“No,” Rook said, “Like I said—it’s never been this bad before. I think I might have inhaled some of the pollen.”

“Calm down,” Emmrich said, sinking into his medical training and pushing the alarm to the back of his mind. It had been years since his practice had taken its turn towards the deceased, and he was unused to treating living patients, but the knowledge was still there. He comforted himself with it as he sprinted towards the parking garage, open suit jacket flailing behind him. “There should be Benadryl in the master bedroom ensuite. Chew two capsules, open a window and sit down. If you feel your throat closing or start feeling lightheaded, you need to call emergency. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Okay.” Rook’s voice was faint—less assured than he’d ever heard her.

“You’ll be alright, my dear,” Emmrich said. “Where’s Manfred?”

“I put him in his room with some toys. He’s probably making a mess, but there’s nothing he can hurt himself with and I didn’t trust myself—”

“That’s quite fine, darling. Breathe—slow, deep. You’ll hear the door open in a few minutes. It will be a neighbor coming to take Manfred. I don’t want you to get up. I’ll come find you when I get home.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Rook said, and the fact that this was her token argument showed her state.

“I’ll not let you drive yourself to the hospital in the state you’re in,” Emmrich said firmly. “I’ll be there shortly. Stay calm.”

Rook’s low, mumbled agreement and the tone of the call ending sounded as Emmrich started his car and the phone connected to the sound system. As he peeled backwards out of his assigned parking spot and executed a maneuver of suspect legality to merge summarily onto the roadway, he initiated a second call.

The line picked up immediately, as he suspected it would.

“Myrna,” he said, even before she’d finished her cool, perfunctory Hello? as she answered the phone. “Are you or Vorgoth working from the home office today?”

-0-

“I’m really sorry about all of this, Emmrich.”

For at least the third time since a nurse had led them into this awful little room, Emmrich offered Rook a strained smile and patted her knee. She’d put on leggings before his arrival at the house, probably to cover up the scrapes and bruises from her excursion through the hedgerow and deathroot patch, and his hand met nothing but soft, body-warm cotton. Nonetheless, he kept the touch as perfunctory as possible—a brief, chaste touch to the very apple of her kneecap.

“Don’t apologize, Rook,” he said, shifting restlessly in his plastic chair. Rook was perched in a large vinyl medical recliner, knees drawn up to her chest and face pressed to her own thighs. Her breathing had become slightly less labored in the last hour or so, after he’d arrived at the house to find her sitting on the chaise lounge in the master bedroom reading nook, face ashen and hands fisted into one of his mother’s quilts. He’d nearly tried to convince her to let him carry her to the car.

As her breathing eased, however, she began to itch and the rash worsened—large plaques of urticaria covering a vast swath of her skin. Emmrich kept a careful vigil on the patches, on the color of her lips, looking for any sign of a worsening reaction.

They had her on a pulse oximeter, which was beeping steadily at 74 beats per minute and 99% oxygen saturation—both good signs. A nurse had taken her blood pressure upon their arrival, frowned slightly, and left. Emmrich suspected this to mean that it had been slightly elevated, which was to be expected with the stress of the situation and the antihistamine he’d directed her to take earlier.

They’d been waiting for over an hour for the attending physician.

“I don’t know what’s taking so long,” Rook sighed into her knees, as she itched frantically at a plaque of hives on her shoulder.

“Unfortunately, with your vitals, you’re likely not considered top priority at the moment,” Emmrich murmured.

“I want to go home,” Rook muttered, a tone of abject misery to her voice, and Emmrich wanted nothing more than to fulfill her desire. Take her home, put her to bed and offer her something warm and comforting to drink.

He made himself veer away from those thoughts when he realized that it was his own bed he was imagining tucking her into.

A wholly inappropriate thought to have about one’s live-in nanny, said a voice in the back of his head, which unfortunately sounded too much like Johanna for comfort. You decrepit old popinjay, it added as though to confirm.

Emmrich indulged in a sigh of his own, buried his face in the heel of his hand, and said, “A little longer, darling.” When he realized what he’d said—and he’d used that word earlier as well, hadn’t he?—he looked back up in time to catch an odd, soft expression cross Rook’s face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, wearily. “Habit.”

“I like it,” she whispered. She looked very small, sad and…young sitting there, wrapped around herself in a tense bundle.

Before Emmrich could say or do anything, the curtain of the triage room slid aside. This, of course, was for the best.

“Sigrid?” said the man who’d just arrived—the attending physician, by all indications, given he was wearing the darker blue scrubs that this hospital used to indicate such a role, and Emmrich in fact recognized him as one of the ER physicians he’d had encounters with in his role as medical examiner.

“Yes,” said Rook, though it took Emmrich a moment to remember that yes, that actually was her legal name. The one she never used and seemed averse to anyone else using, either. To evidence this, she added, “Though, I go by Rook—it should be in my paperwork as my preferred—”

“Oh, it does say that,” said the physician, tugging a rolling chair several unnecessary feet across the cramped room. He mounted it backwards and tapped his clipboard. “Sorry, I’m still getting used to this whole preferred name thing. Us old dogs have to learn a few new tricks, I suppose. So you’re Rook, she/her pronouns, and who’ve you brought with you today?” He looked to Emmrich, furrowed his brows, and said, “Oh, Doctor Volkarin. I almost didn’t recognize you out of the morgue.”

Emmrich offered a brief, wane smile. “Doctor Reldevar.”

“So you must be Mrs. Volkarin,” said Reldevar immediately, holding out a hand for Rook to shake.

Oddly, Rook didn’t deny it—she shook Reldevar’s hand, though unsmiling, and offered Emmrich a brief shrug when the good doctor looked back down at his clipboard.

“Oh, sorry, stuck my foot in my mouth again,” Reldevar said, still examining the clipboard, “You kept your maiden name, huh? Lots of women doing that these days. Anyway, Rook, it looks like you’re in today about some breathing trouble?”

“An allergic reaction to deathweed, it would seem,” Emmrich said, taking the burden of speaking away from her—which she offered him a small, grateful smile for behind her knees. “Poor Rook is very allergic, and crawled through a patch this afternoon after Manfred—that is, my son—ran off into the field behind our house. I believe she inhaled some of the pollen and received quite considerable topical exposure. She was badly scraped by the thorns. I directed her to take an antihistamine to stop the worst of the initial reaction, but steroids will probably be necessary to prevent another, worse recurrence of the reaction due to the extent of exposure.”

Reldevar hummed, pursed his lips, flipped through the pages of Rook’s paperwork for a further moment, then snapped his fingers and pointed in Emmrich’s direction. “Your husband’s got it in one, Rook. We’ll fix you up with a steroid injection here in the hospital and we’ll watch you for a little bit to make sure the reaction is going down, and then we’ll send you home with…eh, probably a prednisone prescription and a topical ointment for those hives. How’s that sound?”

“Um, fine?” said Rook, still itching, and Reldevar presented her with his hand to shake again.

“Sounds good,” he said, and leaned over to shake Emmrich’s hand as well. “Take care, Doctor.” He winked. “Take the missus home and give her a day away from the kid, huh? Sounds like he’s a handful.”

Emmrich responded with nothing but a strained smile, and Reldevar took his leave back out the curtain of the triage room.

As the curtain was still swinging, Rook took in a deep breath and said, “I just felt like it was harder to explain the situation—”

“Of course,” Emmrich said, wiggling his hands equivocally in front of himself. “That’s entirely—”

“—and I thought, maybe he’d listen to me if he thought—”

“Oh, absolutely.”

They fell into an odd, awkward silence of the sort that they’d never really had to suffer through. Rook was almost universally easy to talk to, at least so far as Emmrich was concerned, and conversation had always flowed easily between them—whether it had to do with Manfred, various professional conversations that had to take place due to Emmrich’s position as Rook’s employer and de facto landlord, or conversations of a more personal nature.

Rook settled back into the recliner, looking small and tired, and Emmrich could do nothing but reach over to pat her knee again.

It took another half an hour for a nurse to arrive with the promised steroid injection.

“So this needs to go into a large muscle,” said the nurse. “We usually do the muscle in one of your glutes—meaning this area here—” the nurse gestured to her own rear, somewhere in the area where thigh became butt. “If that’s alright with you, I just need you to lift your dress and pull your leggings to the side.”

Rook sighed, but showed no significant reluctance to the idea—even despite Emmrich’s continued presence. He knew, obviously, that this was his cue to excuse himself or at least look away, but he was trapped by some sort of car-crash impulse. It happened very quickly, and he couldn’t quite make himself look away; Rook rose from her chair, pulled her sundress up around her waist and lowered her leggings just far enough to reveal the buttery expanse of one smooth thigh and asscheek. She was clearly wearing very scant undergarments. The only real indication that she was wearing panties at all was the barest peek of a dark purple thong cresting the apple of her hip.

“This might sting a little more than your average flu shot,” the nurse cautioned as she swiped an alcohol wipe onto Rook’s flank. “It’ll ache a bit tomorrow. But once we’re done, you can go home, so that’s good…”

Emmrich became aware of just how hard he’d been clenching his jaw when Rook gasped at the prick of the syringe and his mouth, quite involuntarily, fell open just slightly. He could feel his pulse in his teeth. His legs, crossed over each other in a habitual mannerism, ached from how tensely he was holding himself. Between them, his traitorous prick stirred, intrigued by a breathless sound from a beautiful woman and the sight of her nearly bare ass.

“Oh, shit, you weren’t kidding,” Rook said, fingers visibly whitening on the armrest of the chair she’d bent herself over. “That hurts. Oh, Maker, that fucking burns—”

“Sorry,” the nurse said, genuine sympathy in her voice as she capped the syringe. She dropped it into a nearby sharps container and fastened a piece of gauze over the pinprick of blood now welling up on Rook’s otherwise pristine skin. Emmrich floundered for his own self-control. “Good news is, you’re done! The doctor already sent your prescription over to your pharmacy on file. Your discharge papers are on the table here. Any questions?”

“Oh, I live with a doctor.” Rook tossed her head in Emmrich’s direction, seemed to almost wink. “He’ll take care of me, and I just really want to go home.”

“Medical examiner,” Emmrich said, perhaps a little louder than he’d meant to. Rook had yet to pull her leggings back up all the way—the purple thong abided, teasing him from underneath the hiked-up hem of her dress. “I do have—technically, yes, I’m a medical doctor—"

“Fair enough,” said the nurse, in what was perhaps the politest way possible to say I do not have time for this. To Rook, she added, “Feel better!” and then took her leave to the tune of the curtain rings rattling on the rod and the swish of scrubs.

“Your leggings, my dear,” Emmrich said into the subsequent silence—or, at least, the lack of conversation; the rooms around them were still full of sound. Beeping heart monitors, coughing patients and the tapping of shoes on tile.

“Oh,” said Rook, who in that very moment seemed to remember that her entire hip and most of her right asscheek were uncovered. She pulled them up, wincing at the drag over her recently abused flesh, and sighed into her palm. “Take me home, please?”

“Yes,” Emmrich murmured. “I can certainly do that.”

-0-

Upon walking through the door, Johanna immediately made her discontent at the hour of their arrival known. It was indeed quite significantly past her typical dinnertime, and she was a creature of habit—but Emmrich still considered the unrepentant yowling a bit excessive.

“Oh, hush,” he admonished her, ushering Rook in the door with a hand at the small of her back. She’d deteriorated rapidly on the car ride home—visibly tiring and becoming distressed and impatient with the persistent itching of her skin. She was bright red in places, including her shoulders and arms, and her normally pinned hair had come down in large drapes against her face and the back of her neck. At some point, Emmrich had offered her a discarded cardigan from the backseat, and she now wore it draped around her shoulders. It was gray, a little lumpy, and inspired an incongruous urge of possessiveness to curl itself around Emmrich’s heart every time he glanced at her.

“Rook,” he began as he turned on the foyer light, “It would comfort me greatly if you stayed in the guest room tonight, instead of returning to your flat in the guest house. It’s entirely up to you, of course, but it would ease my mind if—”

“Believe me, Emmrich, the last thing I want to do right now is walk all the way to the guest house,” Rook sighed. Hearteningly, she pulled his cardigan tighter around herself. “I’ll make up the bedroom for myself.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Emmrich said, in almost the tone he used to admonish Manfred when he indulged his more mischievous impulses. “I’ll make up the bedroom and run you a bath. It would be a good idea to remove any remaining material from your skin before you sleep.”

“Emmrich, I can’t let you—” Rook sighed, grunted, and attempted to reach her hand down the back of her shirt to, presumably, scratch at a patch of urticaria on an inaccessible portion of her back. “You’re my—I can’t put you out like that—”

“Nonsense,” Emmrich replied, determined to make that the end of the conversation. He mounted the stairs rapidly, using his superior height to his advantage for once, and he’d already begun filling the guest bathroom tub with nearly-scalding water by the time he saw Rook make her way into the bedroom through the cracked door.

Of the bedrooms in his house, one of them was the master—which featured a full ensuite bathroom with whirlpool tub and generously-sized rainfall shower stall. Manfred’s bedroom was attached Jack-and-Jill style to Emmrich's office via a childproofed bath that featured a toilet with a potty seat installed, child-height vanity and a shower bath strewn with all manner of toys. The fourth bedroom was smallest and therefore had the smallest bathroom—a simple three-quarters bath with only a tub, though it was claw-footed and generous in size. Emmrich knelt on the plush rug and ran the bath, peering through the cracked door and attempting to convince himself not to.

It was unlikely Rook wasn’t aware of his presence in the bathroom—she could hear the water running, and would almost certainly know that he hadn’t left it to run unattended, if only through habit given the current absence of three-year-olds on the premises. Even so, as she was meandering through the room and passing in and out of view, she was shedding clothes.

First the cardigan, which bared the angry rash on her arms and shoulders. Then the shoes and the leggings—when she next wandered by, Emmrich realized that she had scraped her knees up quite badly, likely while pursuing Manfred under the hedgerow. She stood center in the room for a moment (Emmrich drew a hand through the pooling water in the tub and, upon realizing it was scalding hot, switched the faucet to cool for a moment) and pulled the pins out of her hair. Disappeared. When she next came back into view—

Well, the dress had gone, and he discovered that the thong and bra set had a pattern of skulls.

Emmrich finally convinced his eyes downwards. He was unsurprised but nonetheless mortified to find the telltale swell of an erection evident against his inner thigh. He sighed and rubbed some of the cool water across his forehead.

If this woman was a test from the Maker—or something even more esoteric; a challenge to his vows as a physician perhaps? A sudden hurdle for his self-control and dedication to gentlemanliness to overcome?—she was certainly serving her purpose masterfully.

“Emmrich?”

She’d found a robe—fluffy and white, something he’d put in the closet long ago that might have been left behind when a lover made an unceremonious exit from his life. He’d laundered it regularly for years on the off chance that it would find use again, by a paramour or a guest. Emmrich was utterly unsure which of those labels Rook fell under, especially in the moment.

She seemed to almost know what she’d done—he would certainly not go so far as to say the parade in front of the bathroom door had been intentional, but she at least seemed not to care if he’d been watching. She at least seemed content with the idea that he knew the color of her underwear and the shape of the tattoo on her hip.

It was, interestingly, a black bird. A rook, if he wasn’t mistaken.

“Yes?” Emmrich responded, with an only slightly-too-long pause as she stood in the bathroom doorway and he attempted to make his tongue form sounds.

“Do you have any of that oatmeal bath left from when Manfred had HFMD?”

“Oh! I very well may.” Grateful for a reason to flee and collect himself, Emmrich did so. The colloidal oatmeal was in the back of the cabinet in Manfred’s bathroom—half a box left over from Manfred’s recent bout of Hand, Food and Mouth Disease. A disgusting five days of Emmrich’s life which he was not eager to relive.

Manfred’s fingernails were still regrowing.

Luckily, the thought of weeping blisters did wonders for the exorcism of blood from certain areas of the body. When Emmrich returned to the bathroom, his erection had flagged, and he was able to finish running the bath with all of the professional courtesy demanded of his Hippocratic oath and the employee-employer relationship he held with the attractive and berobed woman sitting on the toilet lid.

“Test the water temperature before you get in,” Emmrich cautioned as he turned off the spigot. “I’m afraid I may have run it too hot to start.”

He’d expected Rook to simply agree, or wait until he’d exited the bathroom, or at least simply use her hand to test it. To his incredulity, she immediately slunk over, pulled the hem of the robe above her knee and dipped a toe in.

The color of her nail polish matched her underwear. He did not know why—or perhaps he was just lying to himself—but it was this particular detail that brought his cock instantly, painfully back to full hardness.

He could not stop himself from imagining those toes in his mouth.

“I think I will also start my nighttime ablutions,” he said, perhaps hoarsely—he could not bring himself to care in the moment.

“Sure,” Rook said vaguely, watching the oatmeal swirl in the tub. “Thanks, Emmrich. Oh—would you help me put the ointment on after this? There are places on my back that I can’t reach.”

“Of course,” Emmrich said, feeling like his head would pop off his shoulders.

He put as many doors between himself and Rook as he possibly could. The guest bathroom, the guest room, his own bedroom door and then the door to his own ensuite. He spent a moment against the back of the bathroom door, eyes squeezed shut, talking himself off the edge.

“Oh, fuck it,” he hissed, and tore into his trousers with the furiousness of a man possessed. He stumbled to the shower, removing clothes as he went, and almost stumbled into the shower stall with his socks still on. The cold water did absolutely nothing to soothe his hot skin or boiling blood—as he slid down onto his knees and tilted his head back under the rainfall of the showerhead, he was already stroking himself with a franticness more typically seen in those half his age.

Maker, she made him feel half his age. When she pranced through his kitchen wearing a sundress and a smile. When she poked her head into his study at night to tell him that she’d read his son to sleep, asked him how his day had gone, sat on the settee and talked to him for an hour. When she let him call her darling and pretended to be his wife.

Oh, it was almost too easy to imagine it. To pretend.

He stripped his cock, pictured her hand. Her mouth. Her small breasts in their purple skull-and-lace vesture. The way he would worship her with his hands and mouth. How did she taste, how did she sound, what was the color of her—

He gasped, fingers curled into the tile of the shower floor, and came into the lukewarm water swirling around his knees.

The shame kicked in almost immediately, even as he watched the evidence of his depravity vanish down the drain. He was a man in his fifties, a father, a doctor. This sort of behavior was so completely below him, so completely inappropriate—

But damn, had it felt good. The last three years, since the blessing of Manfred came into his life, he’d allowed himself to become almost completely divorced from his own sexuality. It had been over a year since he’d had sex, and even masturbation had seemed like too much effort most nights. When he did work up the energy to reach a hand down, he did so while conditioning his hair and making lists in his head.

The relief of a true release was almost as stark as the accompanying self-loathing.

Later, as he carefully rubbed the ointment onto Rook’s back and pointedly did not let himself look beyond the patches of rash he was focusing on, he mumbled, “I want you to know, Rook, that I…value you.”

Rook turned, hair pooled over her shoulder. She was not embarrassed of the fact that her shirt was hanging loosely off her neck, and he could not avoid seeing the peak of one brown nipple.

“I know,” she said, and Emmrich could almost convince himself that she was simply tired, or trusted him as a medical professional, or did not even consider that he might look based simply on his age.

Almost—were it not for the small, satisfied smirk he saw in the vanity mirror as she turned back around.

#emmrich volkarin #Emmrook #DATV #Dragon Age #I don't know if I'll do more of this but I want to. I've got to refine the plot tho.#Rook is tired and mad about the deathroot and she thinks that dick from a beautiful 52 year old man would fix her.#Nevermind if that beautiful 52 year old man is her boss.#She can be Manfred's new mom.#Emmrich. Make her Manfred's new mom.

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eviesaurusrex · 2 months ago

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"I am here." | B. Sorrengail

Brennan Sorrengail x Riorson!Reader

summary: Brennan knows she can handle herself and keep herself nurtured—but why should she if he can easily take care of her?

word count: 1.8k

warnings: pure fluff, reader is described as being independent and doesn’t accept any help at all, acts of services as a love language, Brennan is a softie, reader has the cold, cooking, short mention of clairvoyant abilities as a signet, mention of a not ideal childhood

author’s note: This idea came to life thanks to this post from @theseinfernalangels Thank you for the inspiration! <3 The dividers are made by @enchanthings-a

dragon name—Mór-ríoghan | Mór

Ever since they had first met in front of the parapet, Brennan Sorrengail had known.

He had known how hard he would fall for her—already happening after one glance from her and the slight tip of her lips despite the situation they soon had faced. It had gotten worse over the course of the following passing weeks until he hadn’t held back any longer. Not after they both had survived Threshing with a bonded dragon as their prize—and a few new scars as proof of their overcoming.

Even then, YN had been independent to a fault, only ever letting go of it when they flew formations. It was no surprise to him when she was named Section Leader and Wing Leader and continued on with her career after their graduation. Not with that signet of hers. Brennan still felt guilt gnawing at him in moments of retrospection, knowing she must have known of the day of his presumed death before he had even left for the battle. The guilt turned all-consuming every time she woke crying in the depth of night, startled by yet another nightmare of his death, her hands grasping for his body and clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

He did not mind, obviously. Those rare moments of helplessness, of being unable to hold herself together… Brennan did not relish in them, of course not, but he felt needed in a way she rarely expressed because YN wasn’t the type of woman who needed anyone. And yet, she had confessed her love to him all those years ago and had waited for him despite not knowing for certain if he would ever come back to her.

He had only left Riorson House for not more than an hour. He had headed to the market in the early morning after waking up to a coughing and wheezing YN; her body flushed with a fever, her cheeks warm to the touch. Brennan hadn’t imagined for her to wake up in the next couple of hours, not with the cold running havoc within her body after the last patrol she flew, but he was proven differently when he closed the door behind him, a pack of vegetables and herbs resting comfortably in the crook of his arm.

The clatter of knives, pots, and plates traveled through the hallway, and his eyes landed on Xaden, Violet, and Garrick standing on the threshold of the sunlit kitchen, watching something or someone. “Is Bodhi trying to bake again?” His question made them turn their heads one at a time before his sister looked back again, her forehead furrowed. “Not particularly…?”

Relief flooded the eldest Sorrengail because that disaster was something neither of them needed another time, especially if it involved fire and smoke poisoning again.

But the relief was short-lived when the familiar cough was heard between pots clattering and a mumbled swear. He was quick and stepped next to his friends, eyes raking over the kitchen, and found YN within a heartbeat, wrapped in her favorite blanket that dragged across the floor like a train behind her, her nose obviously being through a lot since he had left her in bed this morning.

“I offered to help, but…,” Garrick started and trailed off. “You know how she is,” Xaden ended the sentence with a grumble, obviously not fond of his older sister dragging herself around in such a state, arms crossed in front of his chest. Violet nudged Brennan softly. “I tried to get her back to bed, offered some of that tea Mira brought, but all she did was grumbling and mumbling No. She’s so much like you.” The last part was directed at Xaden hovering in her back, and he only rolled his eyes at that. “Well, they do share blood. And Fen wasn’t the most present father.” Garrick’s comment made Brennan’s heart clench just like every time YN had told him about her childhood and growing up as the firstborn Riorson—and not being the boy that was demanded by some ludicrous wedding contract.

Xaden stared at him, almost unblinking, and Brennan cocked a brow in return before pushing through the small group and nudging them back into the hallway. “Stop hovering and let me do my job, all right?” The other Riorson huffed at that, but Violet was quick to take his arm and lead him away, distracting him from wanting to beat Brennan up again. The Sorrengail didn’t need another one of his beatings, not when YN was still trying to cook herself a meal despite him being able to do it just fine for her.

With a soft sigh, he stepped into the kitchen and placed his purchase on the countertop, rounding the island with slow, measured steps in order not to startle her. His eyes raked over her form, taking in her slumped posture, the shake of her shoulders every time another cough rattled her tired body, her voice barely audible when she softly spoke to her dragon.

“I am as bright as day, Mór. I can make me some bloody soup without passing out.”

But Brennan didn’t believe that for one second, so his hands got a gentle hold of her shoulders, his thumbs caressing the soft fabric of her blanket. She didn’t even flinch, probably already anticipating him because they certainly weren’t quite when they had watched her rummaging in here, trying to cook something.

“Why aren’t you in bed, darling? Where you belong with that cold, might I add?” His voice was soft, and Brennan pressed a gentle kiss on the curve between shoulder and neck, feeling the heat of her body warring against the cold on his skin. A raspy groan was heard from her while she tried to hold onto the knife in her hand, which slightly shook with every cough. “Not you as well,” YN mumbled with a frown thrown his way across her shoulder, but his hand closing softly around the knife handle made her pause. “Love, I have every right to be concerned for your wellbeing. Let me help.” The Sorrengail tried to be as gentle and soft as possible, trying to coax her into finally letting him step up and help her for once, but the suspicion in her eyes wouldn’t vanish.

“Why would I let you cook when I am clearly capable of doing it myself? I’m not dying, Brennan, I am just sick. It's barely worth mentioning.” YN tried to cut through the first carrot she had found in the pantry but was forced to stop when another bone-rattling cough wracked her body, her fingers grasping for purchase at the edge of the wooden countertop. Brennan was right there, wrapping his arms supportively around her shaking and softly swaying body, holding her upright and steady. “Why would you need to cook yourself when I’m here, offering my help? You don’t have to do everything on your own, my love. Not anymore, at least. I am here, and I am here to stay and to help whenever and wherever I can if you’d just allow it.”

He wasn’t sure if the eldest Riorson even knew how useless he sometimes felt in the wake of her independence. Yes, Brennan was drawn to it—unmistakably so—but he needed to do things for her. He had started sorting their clothes and handling their leathers; he mended her boots as soon as the sole was thinning, and washed her hair after a particularly long day when she was too tired to even mutter a single word. Most things he did for her were quiet ones, ones she wouldn’t suspect, but Brennan wanted to do more.

So much more.

After a childhood where she had to raise not only herself but her brother as well, she deserved nothing less, in his opinion.

Slowly turning in his arms, YN looked up at him, brows still furrowed in uncertainty, eyes still holding that suspicious gleam he had grown to love just as well over the years. His fingers gently pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, still tangled from the restless sleep, watching her analyzing his plea. “You can command me around to your heart’s content, Major Riorson,” he teased quietly, a smirk playing across his lips and a soft laugh escaping him when he felt her hitting his shoulder without force. “You know how to cook the chicken soup my grandmother used to make?” Skepticism laced YN’s words, and Brennan couldn’t hold back but tap the tip of her nose with one of his fingers. “I’m sure I can learn while doing it.”

Huffing at his lack of experience, the Riorson allowed him to lead her to the chair right at the vast kitchen island in the middle of the room, eyeing the vegetables and herbs he had brought from the market scrutinizingly. “You could’ve chosen a better-looking thyme.” Brennan smiled brightly at the comment while washing his hands and returning to the carrots waiting to be diced, a kettle now starting to boil next to him. “Don’t be a grump, my love,” the man smiled across his shoulder, grinning to himself at the roll of her eyes but the smile tucking at her lips.

“We are getting somewhere, Marbh,” he chuckled down their bond and felt his dragon huff in relief in the back of his mind. “Finally. Mór would not let me sleep in peace because she is worried for YN. I will let her know.”

Humming while he chopped the vegetables, YN lectured him with soft words and an even softer tone, and he felt her gaze on the back of his neck, letting pleasant goosebumps erupt on his body and a pleased shiver run across his back. It felt good doing this for her—more than good.

When the water boiled, the Sorrengail grabbed a mug and steeped some tea, placing it right in front of her folded hands, and pressed a lingering kiss to the crown of her head. “Do you need sugar? Honey?” Her eyes softened even more when YN looked up at him then, and without thinking, let one of her hands raise and cup his cheek lovingly. “Honey, please,” she whispered raspily, smiling gently when Brennan got a hold of her wrist and kissed the palm of her hand, quickly returning with the small jar of gathered honey from the bees right outside the city. “Thank you.”

The words fell so softly from her lips, the copper-haired giant almost could’ve missed them if he wasn’t so tuned in on YN after the years they had spent together. “You will never have to thank me for anything, my love. This will always come freely.” Another kiss was pressed to her head before he returned to the preparation of her soup, and while he chopped and sliced and diced, YN told him step for step what he had to do next, watching him with the unwavering warmth spreading inside her body that certainly wasn’t the making of the tea cupped by her hands.

Thank you so much for reading my silly little fanfiction! Please consider leaving a like, a comment, and a reblog—it would mean the world to me <3

#brennan sorrengail #brennan sorrengail x reader #brennan sorrengail x riorson!reader #brennan x reader #brennan x riorson!reader #fourth wing x reader #fourth wing fluff #fourth wing x riorson!reader #fourth wing fanfic #fourth wing fic #fourth wing fanfiction #brennan sorrengail fic #brennan sorrengail fanfic #brennan sorrengail fanfiction #brennan sorrengail fluff

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silly-cuchufli · 5 months ago

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Can we talk about how pantheon weaves the exploration of grief into every aspect of its story!!!!!! Specifically, the show captures the complex nurture of grief by highlighting the different stages of grief through its individual character and how they progress throughout the story

First, you have Ellen, who represents denial. She lost her husband, David, and somewhat forces acceptance upon herself and her daughter. Even though the story picks up after David’s death, we see Ellen’s journey through grief when David comes back. Ellen’s acceptance of her loss is juxtaposed with denial. When her husband comes back, she’s confused and hurt. She doesn’t want to accept he’s back because, well how could she? She’s lived two long painful years without him. She’s gone through so much, having to accept that he’s gone just for hime to come back. She’s terrified with the pain that comes along side embracing him. If she accepts him as alive again, she also has to accept the possibility of losing him again. She has to learn to accept the pain that accompanies love. Even though she eventually accepts David, her denial to his resurrection is still highlighted earlier on in the show.

There’s also Chanda. He is a not so subtle representation of the anger associated with grief. He literally burns a building and kills a family because he was blinded by his grief. He was grieving his life, and how he would never live as he once did. All of his actions are propelled by his anger over the loss of his life. He is desperately trying to achieve what he never got the chance to while he was human. He’s trying to create the world he never got to live in. He can’t accept the way things are because he’s still stuck in his anger over his loss.

Next, there’s Cody. He represents bargaining. He can’t accept the loss of his wife, so he does anything minimize and postpone his sadness. He doesn’t question or deny Laurie when she comes back like Ellen did with David. Rather he accepts her without a second thought. His actions aren’t solely propelled by love, but rather his avoidance to pain. Even before he knew Laurie’s upload was successful, he didn’t accept that she was gone. He still felt that she was alive and the same as she had been. When she came back, he did anything for Laurie because he didn’t want to lose her or accept that things had changed. He did everything in his power to keep things the same and try to live as he did before. When Laurie is prepared to die to spread her message to the world, he doesn’t accept losing her again. Rather, he prepares to “reboot” her and keep thing the way the are, even though they’re not.

Next there’s Capsian, who represents depression. Now the thing he’s mourning is a bit different from the other characters in this analysis. He isn’t mourning the physical death of someone, but rather the death of his innocence. He found out he was a clone and that his entire life was a lie. Everything he thought he knew wasn’t real, and that’s terrifying. While he goes through the other stages of grief, the show draws attention to the depression part of grief through Caspain. He quickly recognizes the true extent of his loss but still struggles to accept and cope with it. Thus, he is easily manipulated by Pope and throws himself into curing the flaw because to him it’s a way to avoid the looming hopelessness of his situation. He’s lost interest and passion for the things he once cared about, and focuses on what he feels he has to do. He feels hopeless, and desperately trying to cure the flaw is his way of trying to reclaim agency. If he solves the problem, he regains some control over the hopelessness he feels.

Finally, there Maddie, who represents the complex journey to acceptance. Throughout the show, she experiences all the stages of grief. The show focuses on her journey to accepting the loss of her father and the life she once had. We watch her go through the stages of grief at her own pace and eventually come to terms with her loss. We watch her grow into the person that can eventually let her father pass. We watch her move forward despite her loss. She still is in unimaginable pain because of the death of her father, but she still keeps moving.

While all of the characters experience all the stages of grief, it feels like the show focuses on specific stages with specific characters. Pantheon displays how grief is complicated and messy, and not just some straight line. It highlights non-linear growth and how character progress and regress throughout their respective journeys with grief. It shows how grief isn’t something that it easily overcome, but rather a long and exhausting process. It shows through its main cast how each stage of grief is its own journey and hurtle to overcome. Pantheon demonstrates that even after you accept loss fully, it doesn’t take away from the immense pain loss causes you to feel. All you can do is keep moving forward.

#pantheon amc #maddie kim #pantheon show #pantheon netflix #pantheon maddie #caspian keyes #pantheon caspian #greif #I can’t fucking write but I wanna talk about his #anaylsis #vinod chanda #ellen kim #pantheon cody #Pantheon is good at character development #grief done justice

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clownfettis · 2 months ago

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Happy late birthday spm, this is my love letter to this damn game asdhdjgk

Screenshots from here and source here

Notes and easter eggs list below

Mario and Luigi's usernames are the only one that use _

Timpani and Blumiere are the only username that use -

Luvbi's name is "The Pure of Heart" in elizabeth English

For Jaydes, Asphodel Meadows is one of the greek mythology afterlife, specifically the one the underwhere is based on

Merlon's numbers are because there's canonicaly multiple Merlon, so they're seperating each others' accounts with numbers. The number are spm's release date

Tiptron was brave enough to publicly take the username "Tippi" because it's not like Timpani"s gonna use it again. So she pretty much went "it's free real estate"

Peach is keeping her names serious due to her status. Bowser does not care lmao

Blumiere's mouth and eye are blue like how when he was defeated, rather than when he was hateful and corrupted

Timpani's hair band mimics butterfly antennas, her colours are from me putting a sepia filter on her pixl form

Mimi is wearing her post game outfit. The form she shape-shifted into is also important and related to her backstory, though I'm not sharing that just yet : 3c

Nassy's design is based on Swoops, which is what i hc she was before she ate Bleck's dreams, and transformed into a Swoop/Human/Tribe of darkness mix from Bleck's dreams of Timpani, in the hope on getting him to love her if she looked more similar to them. Her eye colour is from the square effect when she uses her mind control power. She's not wearing her glasses due to it being postgame, and thus the start of her development into accepting herself and hiding away less, they're not reading glasses but sunglasses due to being sensitive to light (and also hiding some of her face and facial expressions)

Peach and O'Chunks know how to cook/bake, so they're the one commenting on how she made it/how Peach couldn't replicate it despite being a master baker

Luvbi, Grambi and Jaydes are here because, if the witches have tv, then they must also have internet access, and it is canon in my post game that they keep up with what the gang is up to online, since it's not everyday they meet people that can come and go from the afterlife and who they owe their life to. Though obviously it would be from myspace rather than tiktok since they have 2007 technology. Jaydes and Grambi wouldn't post or comment anything, but Luvbi is actively making friends. Also the idea of god himself coming to your comment section to go "what the hell" at your cooking skills is too funny

Nassy is in Saffron's kitchen and wearing an appron designed like hers, since the post game shows she lives in Flopside now. I decided on Sweet Smile rather than Hot Fraun because i thought Dyllis' temperament might scare away Nassy since she's never cooked before, and Saffron would be more supportive

And, well, you saw one of her first attempts GSXGDHI Do not let her in da kitchen

She clearly got the role of secretary just because of how attached she was to Bleck and wanted to be useful. But the whole point is that's she's living for someone else (him), while also trying to be someone else (timpani)

So her not being the "perfect girlfriend" is important to me

Bad at encouragement, bad at team spirit, bad at cooking, bad at comforting, bad at advice

Just, take the cliche of the nurturing perfect mom-friend, and make it the opposite

She's trying to get on Timpani's level, when she doesn't even really want to or enjoy any of this new persona she'd need to use. Because she's not Timpani, and faking who you are to get someone to date you is such a bad move that will crash in the long run

ALSO ALSO TIPTRON SAYING SHE'S ALSO TIPPI, YET TIMPANI REPLIED WITH SASS AND SARCASM, WHILE SHE MADE A JOKE CONNECTED TO ANALYTICAL KNOWLEDGE

TIPTRON IS MORE ANALYTICAL PIXL THAN SASSY TIMPANI

@ooftale @jester--addict get yall's butts over here fqhdhfjf

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moonberry69 · 5 months ago

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Not that anyone asked, but here’s my take on Caleb. I am deeply in love with him, your Honor. Yes, I am still married to the fish but Robo Apple will be taking his rightful seat as 2nd husband.

Number 1, can we talk about how spoiled MC was with Caleb? Brat level spoiled. He spoiled her ROTTEN. He treated her like a princess. He doted on her to the absolute max and seemed to love every minute of it. That man did anything and everything she asked him to do and beyond. He bought her everything she wanted and then some. She’s probably never heard the word “no” come out of his mouth when it comes to what she wants. Drying her hair? Cooking her meals? Doing her laundry? Buying her small gifts or snacks? Making her little gifts? Nurturing and comforting her when she’s sick? Being her rock when she’s scared or upset? Doing her homework? Defending her against bullying? Supporting her through anything and everything? There doesn’t seem to be any limit to what he would do for her. His entire life has revolved around her, her feelings, her wants, and her well being, ALWAYS. Its seems like the only thing he really went after for himself was his career as a pilot until joining the Farspace Fleet. And with that, it appears he joined for her safety.

Sure, it could be argued that Caleb did all these things because he wanted her dependent on him. That he used this to be manipulative. If she’s dependent on him, she’ll always need him around. But I don’t think that’s really the case, at least, not entirely. Possibly, but I don’t think so.

I don’t think Caleb’s need to control MC comes from a lack of confidence in her ability to take care of herself, either. He did seem to be perfectly supportive of her becoming a hunter despite how dangerous the job is. Worried yes but supportive. The powerful people he is in league with are probably more than she could handle alone and that could have a lot more to do with his more blatant controlling nature. But, I still don’t think that’s all there is to it when it comes to his “control and protect” antics. We as MC in the story assume that he doesn’t believe in our strength but that’s because he lies about everything and consistently dismisses us when we say we can handle a situation. Our strength and capability are constantly underestimated. He’s done this is the past, as well (his bond memory comes to mind). What else are we supposed to think when he is constantly trying to cage us and asks for us to let him handle everything? I believe Caleb’s dependence on MC plays a huge role in his need to control. She’s his life line. His world doesn’t rotate unless she’s in it. Caleb the man starts and ends with MC. Based on his apartment description, his lack of socializing, etc. he’s been alive but hasn’t been living since the explosion. It would also explain his desperation in her needing his protection during the bond moment (again, just an example). Her losing him is fine. But if he lost her? He wouldn’t be able to bear it. Not having her be a constant in his life is one thing. Him living in a world where she no longer exists is another. He wouldn’t be able to cope.

Caleb is possessive, yes. It’s obvious he always has been based on his Tender Moments and Bond memory but he gave the tether he wanted MC on some slack. That could also be because, as he said, he was holding back. I don’t think his entire reason for being so controlling and possessive is ONLY because he wants her safe and wants her for himself. I think there are layers to it. Caleb is such a complicated character and I love and adore him. He has a lot of moving parts. I have the most overwhelming urge to coddle him and smother him with hugs.

I don’t believe Caleb is obsessed with MC herself, either. Hear me out! I think what Caleb is obsessed with is the need to keep her alive. This goes back to his dependence on her. His need to keep her alive at any cost and out of harm’s way drives him in to being obsessed. I don’t think his obsession is with her. I think he is just a scared, trauma ridden man that is deeply, maddeningly in love with a woman that he has dedicated his entire existence to, who, right now, is in severe, life threatening danger and has been harmed in the past. In that situation, who wouldn’t be a little obsessive?

I also can’t help but wonder if part of his reason for being so adamant about wanting to hide her away is because he has doubts in his own ability to keep her safe, especially now. He seems to be well informed about many of the powers at play behind the scenes of what the plan is for MC. Maybe he doesn’t know the plan itself but he seems to know at least some of the people. Enough of them to be terrified for MC. He may know that when the forces come down on MC to take her, in the end, he’s helpless to defend her. If he was with MC while she was being experimented on, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything to help her or protect her. He was forced to be a bystander and comfort her as he could. If that is the case, then him having doubts about his ability to save and protect her now would make sense.

We just really don’t know what Caleb experienced when he was a kid. I think if we knew more, a lot of Caleb’s “whys” would make total sense. It definitely seems like he was experimented on. Again, it could be that he saw and, possibly, understood what was happening to MC, since he didn’t seem shocked that she didn’t know who he was in one of the flashbacks at Gran’s house. Gran could have told him, of course, what the issue was with MC but based on some other flashbacks we are given, it seems like Caleb was around even before Gran was Gran. Until Infold confirms for us, that’s my theory. Either way, Caleb is clearly deeply traumatized. Whether it be from his own experiences, watching MC experience what she did, a mix of both, or something else, he isn’t well mentally. Throw in what he has gotten himself mixed up with currently and the man is sinking. We do know he’s a test subject now. Currently, it’s safe to assume he is sacrificing himself to protect MC. He wants nothing more than to save her. He wants to protect her peace, even if MC isn’t pleased with his methods. He does seem to hold on to hope that MC will understand. Which, to me, is kind of tragic.

Caleb comes off as if he wants MC to blindly trust him and put her faith in him, like she used to. It seems to throw him off that she doesn’t. He’s a bit naive in this department. MC can’t trust him because she knows he’s deceiving her, among other things. Caleb lies to protect, then asks for blind faith. MC recognizes it and then lies to keep Caleb at bay. They go in circles. Caleb is in vicious cycle of his own creation. MC can’t do what he’s pleading with her to do because of his own actions. He’s trying to fall back on how things used to be. He’s constantly bringing up memories and walks down memory lane. He’s clinging to what they had. The problem is nothing is the way it used to be. He doesn’t seem to be fully ready to accept it, yet. It’s painful to watch.

But, who knows? I could be completely off base and Caleb’s motives aren’t due to any of this and he really is just batshit nuts 🤷🏻‍♀️ Either way, I’ll take him.

#lads #love and deepspace #lnds #caleb lads #caleb love and deepspace #lnds caleb #love and deepspace caleb #lads caleb #caleb lnds #Caleb #l&ds #l&ds caleb

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skz-sage · 7 months ago

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skz reaction to sage excusing herself/getting emotional during an interview [hyung line]

tw // child abuse, ed, mental health & drugs mentioned

bang chan

it was an interview just with the two of them and the questions being asked were more deep and specific then the regular questions they normally get. the interviewer asked her the question she was hoping she’d never get in her career.

“what was your childhood like?”.

chan’s eyes darted at sage with worry, knowing how she feels on the topic. sage wasn’t open about how she came up. she dreaded talking about it. for her fans though? anything. “oh… wow. um, well, … yknow i grew up in new york. it was always me, my mom and my little sister. it was… it was.. tough.”

trying to keep her composure, but the quivering in her voice was evident. sage did her best to say the right things, keeping a calm tone and holding onto chan’s hand for dear life. she ended with this. “no kid deserves to be abused. they deserve to be nurtured and cared for like they’re porcelain. things will get better. they will.” nodding and looking over at the interviewer and chris.

“yeah and we’re all so proud and happy that sage made it this far. we love her to death.” chan added, wiping her tears with his own jacket sleeve.

thank god the universe sent sage someone like chris. at her worst, he’s always there and that’s something she could never live without.

lee know

at this time, there were rumors going around that sage was on drugs during their trainee days, judging by how thin and sickly she looked some of the time.

of course the rumors weren’t true, but it was something she was avoiding. it really caught up to her today

“so sage, recently news have been going around that you are on drugs. is this true.”

“yeah, no, no, no, she’s not answering this, shut the camera off.” minho stood up, the other members stunned that the interviewer would ask such a question.

“ it’s fine, it’s fine! i’ll answer. ” sage assured, telling minho to let it go and sit back down. it took a minute, but minho sat back down, shaking his head in disapproval.

“of course, these nasty rumors aren’t true. i would like to go a different way about it, but… i wasn’t eating much during those days. i was focused on making it as apart of the group and giving it all i got so much that i threw away my health. it was.. a very awful time for me.” the cameras zoomed in on her as tears prickled out her eyes

once minho saw those tears, he shut it down. “okay, no more, no more! shut off the damn camera, no more questions at all. it’s clear she doesn’t want to talk about it!” the other members around her trying to console her as minho tries to shut down the rest of the interview.

let someone fuck with sage like that just to get a reaction out of her and minho is at their door with a chainsaw and a plan.

changbin

this interviewer just didn’t like sage for some odd reason. a girl in a boy group? come on, that just didn’t go together. she’s probably just some pick me girl. she can’t even sing! those boys don’t deserve this loser tomboy. these were all the thoughts of the interviewer

“so sage…. why are you in this group?”

sage gave an awkward smile, the members around her sharing looks and such. “i’m sorry, what do you mean?” sage replied, obviously confused

“i mean.. you’re a girl! in a boy group!” she exclaimed. sexism does not look good on her.

“and…?” sage sat up in her chair, changbin sitting right next to her and sitting up with her. if sage is gonna stand on business, binnie is too.

“i’m sorry, but… i just don’t get it. you’re more fit for.. i don’t know.. maybe a bubblegum pink pop girl group, yeah?” the interviewer smiled, enraging sage on the inside.

“ no, i’m sorry. i’m leaving.” sage calmly removed her mic, sliding off the chair and leaving the studio. changbin, of course, follows after her.

changbin catches up, giving her a huge hug. after a hard day, all she could ever need is to be engulfed in his big, teddy bear arms

“hey, don’t listen to her. she doesn’t know anything. you’ve come a long away and proved to everyone that you deserve your place in the group. people like her don’t get very far.” sage could only nod, her head running wild with thoughts. maybe a hiatus would due her some good.

hyunjin

sage’s mental health was never the best. she hated to admit it, but she isn’t perfect. for stay, she wished she could be the most perfect idol in the world. that just wasn’t possible. it eats at her day and night too.

“i want to ask, sage, how do you tackle mental health. you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

sage’s palms got clammy as her face got a little pale. “no worries, i can answer. wow, let’s see… i want to be honest.. i don’t really, exactly tackle it. unfortunately, i just let it run wild in my head. i hope some time in the future i can overcome this, but… yeah.” she nodded

“great thank you, and now-” the interviewer continued as sage tried her best to sneak off from the set, turning off her microphone. hyunjin immediately went after her. the members turning to each other and the interviewer confused.

sage was found in the dressing rooms, crying by hyunjin.

“miju! oh my god, are you okay?” he immediately, but delicately held her. “ i’m fine, it’s just.. i-i don’t know, i think i got nervous o-or scared, i didn’t want to cry in front of the cameras, i just couldn’t do it.”

“i know, i know. it’s okay. i’m here.” she cried, holding hyunjin close to her.

“you’ll always be okay, i’ll make sure of it.”

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nayaesworld · 7 months ago

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The Beast in the Woods

Warnings:SMUT,breeding,supernatural situations

Aaron Pierre X OC!Willow

Part 2

In which the lion and lamb fall deeply in love with each other and bind their beings as one…

Life felt truly and utterly complete for Willow. The handsome man that harbored a beast deep inside him had swept her off her feet and made her feel so bubbly and warm inside. Even though most days she felt obsessed with him, he assured her he felt the same way as she did maybe triple fold. The two were connected at the hip, when one moved the other moved. A graceful display of love. Her scrapbook in her living room now filled with pictures of them taken from her digital camera, pictures that somehow captured how they truly felt in the moment they were taken. Willow was at peace, happy, and in love… she said the last part a lot to herself sometimes it didn’t feel real. She loved this man, loved everything he stood for and loved how he worshiped her. She was a goddess to him.

Draped in one of Terry’s shirts she crept into her kitchen where she heard him rustling around.

“I can hear you my love… you couldn’t ever hide from me.” She smacked her lips as he laughed aloud at her attempt to creep up and scare him.

“You’re no fun… you never met me get you.” She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest giggling as he reached out for her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She sighed to herself as he sucked and licked at her neck, his large hands groping and palming her cheeks through her black boyshorts.

“Mmm.. but I always get you, and I get you good every time” And get her he did, Terry had managed to completely turn Willow out. She was eager to learn how to please him, and he was eager to teach her.

They fucked often. On every surface and every position. Everytime she thought she had been put in every position possible, he’d bend her body a new way. Willow was severely surprised that she hadn’t fallen pregnant yet. Would it be so bad if she did…?

“It’s not fair… you have your hearing and smell. I could be down the road and you’d still hear me before you ever saw me!” She exclaimed and giggled as he tickled her against her butcher block island.

Her hands found his warm face and she caressed him, peering into his ever expressive eyes.

“Did I tell you how much I love you today?” She playfully questioned him while trying her best to jump into his skin. Close was never close enough for her and she needed to touch him whenever he was near her.

“Mmm… you did my baby… but I’m never tired of hearing it. If I said I loved you more would you believe me… girl I’m obsessed with you..” He squeezed her into him, soft and content was it anything better?

A heavy downpour covered the cozy cottage and the woodlands, hard white rain coming from the sky in angry spurts of water. Willow loved the rain though, the sound would serenade and calm her. It nurtured her plants and everything around her, she was grateful. But this weather called for something hot and hearty, and her vegetable garden had sprouted nice juicy tomatoes and a tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich sounded divine.

Opposed to getting her freshly washed curls wet again, she sent Terry out to snatch a few tomatoes from their green vines. She laid her tomatoes,garlic,onions,and bell peppers onto a baking pan to prepare to roast them in her oven. She cracked black pepper and salt on top and slid them into her preheated oven, setting a timer on her phone she glanced around for Terry.

“Baby?…where did this man go so quickly” She chewed her bottom lip as she looked all over the house for him. For a man of such size and height he always managed to evade her, quiet as a church mouse and cunning as a panther.

Finally the sound of running water led her to her bathroom. Pushing open the door her dark brows scrunched as she finally made out his massive form fully clothed and sitting against the shower wall soaking wet as his head laid in his palms and he breathed heavily.

“Terry baby oh my god..Are you ok?!” She rushed to fling open the glass door, ice cold water stinging her hand.

Not caring about the icy water raining down onto her, she grasped his head into her hands and gasped. His skin was searing hot and his usual soft green eyes had been replaced with honey gold ones with blown pupils. He breathed heavily and raggedly in her presence, scaring her.

“Willow baby…please move away.. I-I don’t trust myself right now… you need to leave me be.” His words came out rushed and she was confused on whether or not she’d be able to leave him in this state as he requested.

It took everything in her to turn away from him and rush to her kitchen to shut off the oven, she didn’t need a fire starting.

_________________________________________________

Terry didn’t see this coming. He thought he’d get away with loving Willow and his instincts would sit on the back burner while he restricted himself. A joke was what it was, because he had known better than to suppress his nature, yet he couldn’t bear to put it all on her. His feelings for her were raw and real. Deep inside him he knew this day was coming, but primal instincts didn’t follow the human calendar so he had no time to prepare.

Heat had came for Terry. All of his kind had to experience it one day but none of them were ever truly prepared for the carnal experience. A Lycan in heat was a Lycan in love, a Lycan bound so tight by their mate that they could only see them; and no future without. Terry had felt all these things for Willow times infinity, he looked back often at the dull life he lived before her and realized he was never actually living; just existing.

Terry being in heat symbolized everything he truly felt for her and everything he wanted them to be, a husband to her; and a father to their future children. She was his soulmate and his supernatural soul had solidified that. There was no life for Terry without Willow and tonight he’d make sure she knew and believed that.

“Baby?… I know you wanted me to leave you… but I can’t, I need to know for sure if you’re ok!” His keen hearing allowed him to hear Willow’s honeyed voice over the loud shower.

Gathering himself his legs shook as he stood to his full height to turn off the water.Peering through the partition glass of the shower he watched her grab him a large fluffy white towel to dry off with.Stepping out of the shower he felt his hot skin cool off in her presence, she was the one; the only one.

“Let me help you please…you’re scaring me baby” he let her help him out of the soaking clothes he breathed in her sweet scent and let it take him away. Standing fully naked he grabbed the towel from her and wrapped it around his waist.

“Your eyes.. I’ve never seen them look like this before, does this have anything to do with what you are, being a Lycan?” Her curious hands ran up and down his body, seemingly checking for signs of harm on his body.

“I’m not afraid, I accepted you fully and completely a year ago when you showed up near my house… nothing is keeping me from you.” She continued on talking but stopped when she peered up into the intense gaze of his.

“I’ll tell you everything… starting with the fact that this is even happening to me right now is your fault.” A sly smirk graced Terry's face as he backed her into her room.

“My fault…bu-but how… what did I do?” The little gasp she let out made his dick swell just a little; he knew he would explode at the lightest touch.

“You little sneaky vixen… look at how you just seduced me and fucked up my head..and I just let you. This that you see in front of you is my body’s raw reaction to you.. I crave you so badly baby, I’m in love with you .” Terry watched as her pretty brown eyes seemed clouded by his words, and he burned to touch her.

“It’s all on you baby…you make me feel like this, it’s all solidified now…there’s no going back. I’m in heat, baby…my body is begging for me to make what we have a lifelong love…to marry you and give you my babies..” He let her slide her soft palms along his bulky arms and felt the tingles that were left behind. She leaned up on her tippy toes and kissed him beneath his ear and whispered.

“So do it..”

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Terry engulfed Willow into his heated embrace and began to slide his hands underneath his shirt that she was draped in. He felt her plump nipple pebble up under his touch as he tugged on them and ran the pads on his fingers over them.

“Hold the shirt up, let me eat my pussy.” Terry grumbled and sank down onto the plush cream carpet on her bedroom floor. He tugged down her boyshorts and she placed her hands on his shoulders to step out of them.

He placed her leg onto his built shoulders and let his pointer finger and thumb open the lips of her vulva. His plump lips gave open mouth kisses and he slowed his slurping and paced himself.

Willow was sweeter than any fruit or any treat he’d ever consumed, and he found it hard to control himself when they often tangled in the sheets.

“Ouu baby fuck…why are you eating my pussy like this?” Willow threw her head back and grinded her pussy across Terrys face.

“Mmm fuck mama feed me my pussy…I want you to nut.” Terry wagged his tongue back and forth as he sent Willow to another dimension with French kisses to her clit.

“Tell daddy you love him…I said tell daddy you fucking love him!” He nipped her inner thigh and stood to his feet.

“Ohh I love you..I-I love you so damn much!” Willow squeaked and held onto Terry as he carried her to her king sized bed.

“You about to get your money's worth out of this bed…I hope you know that. Might fuck you into the mattress mama..” Terry grabbed up a few plush pillows from her bed and placed them between the headboard and the wall, he didn’t want damage to the walls or paint.

The location of something very special came to the forefront of Terry’s mind; a ring. A pear shaped ring with a green quartz gemstone, a dazzling engagement ring that captured the beauty and love for greenery and nature that Willow held. A true embodiment of what Terry truly felt for her every passing day.

The ring normally sat in its box nestled in her nightstand, he had to move it often to be sure she never stumbled upon it and most days he just resorted to keeping it on his personal. He wanted the proposal to be huge and elaborate but today had taken him completely by surprise and his instincts urged to do it as soon as possible.

“Willow baby… forgive me for not giving you the absolute best when it comes to what I’m about to ask you, but I-I just couldn’t wait any longer. You know how much I love and care for you; how strongly my heart beats for you. Would you grant me the privilege of loving and caring for you for the rest of both of our lives…Willow will you marry me?”

He watched her big eyes fill with tears and she nodded her head quickly. “Yes yess I’ll marry you, I’ll marry you in every lifetime!” He hurried to grab the ring and hit onto his knees to place it onto her slim finger; it fit perfectly.

The shiny celadon green ring clashing with the creamy smooth brown skin of her hand was the perfect contrast, and she beamed internally and externally.

“You ready for some loving Mrs.Richmond?”

With a flirty smile and a bite of her lip she pulled him closer “Always ready Mr.Richmond !”

Promises of a 2025 baby had Terry flipping and tossing Willow every which way but loose,and the pillows behind the headboard? Useless. The bed squeaked and groaned under the ravenous couple who were hell bent on going straight through it. A permanent dent in the shape of them would be sure to form.

Hands locked with hers Terry rutted into her. “You want my babies… you want me to make you a mommy..hmm?” Expecting Willow to give him an answer right now was pure insanity as she shook and shuddered beneath him, the girl was literally dickmatized.

Rising slowly out of her stupor she locked her Legs around his hips. “Please daddy..yess I want you tooo, I want you to nut in me so badly!” Willow’s tongue slithered into the shell of his ear, nipping and sucking.

“Fuck me baby…harder. Uhn daddy my pussy…you’re so deep!” Opening his eyes to finally look down into hers he watched tears of pleasure cascade down her pretty face,her lip wedged between her teeth trying to quiet the loud screams in her throat.

“Mm mm let it out my baby… let daddy hear how good I’m fucking you…FUCK I can’t wait until you all swollen with MY babies!” Terry’s vision blurred and the veins in his neck protruded like they would pop from his strong neck. A loud sigh slipped from his mouth as his dick pushed out more cum than he’d ever thought he could produce, he was spent and he let his weight drop onto Willow.

He picked up her hand where the ring sat and kissed along her ring finger; his wife,his mate, and the future mother of his offspring. He lifted from her after some time and let his hot hand come down between them to press his palm onto her lower belly, almost like he was putting a spell on her womb to quicken her body into a pregnancy. His forehead sat in place of his hand and he pressed feather-like kisses to her soft belly, in a few weeks there’d be a baby forming inside.

“Thank you Willow. A lifetime of solitude would be worth fighting in every dimension if you were the end goal every time…I hope as your husband to one day pay you back tenfold for all you’ve made me feel and see in our time together.”

“What if I feel everything you just said? Before you I would’ve never imagined a love so sincere and sweet, it just didn’t seem possible for a girl like me…and yet here I am a wife to be with you by my side. It’s safe to say I’m the real winner here.”

The newly engaged couple stepped into the shower together high off of each others presence. They cleaned each other and washed each others face with their matching skincare products. Dressed in cozy holiday clothing and thick socks Terry insisted on finishing the tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches that Willow had abandoned earlier.

Once the food was ready the two cuddled on the plush sofa sharing a bowl,dipping the buttery cheesy sandwiches into the savory and herby soup. They coordinated hand feeding each other scraping the bottom of the bowl quicker than they’d like to.

A cheesy hallmark movie played in the background meanwhile the two sat lip locked for a second time since exiting the shower. Throw cover thrown over them and their wooded paradise turning into a mini water oasis, pure content rolled over them as a new brewing need for each other captured them. As long as Willow had Terry and Terry had Willow, the fast paced and ever changing world around them would never penetrate the shell their love provided.

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A/N:Heyy guys (tucks hair behind ear)this is the end of my little beast in the woods fic. I really do hope yall enjoy and stick around a while if you’d like,for future updates with our favorite guy, I’m not done with him yet 🫦

@simplyzeeka @zillasvilla @blowmymbackout @kimuzostar @playgurlxoxo @kumkaniudaku @megamindsecretlair @pocketsizedpanther @theereina @keyaho @brattyfics @uzumaki-rebellion @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @fakxmbj

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intimidatingpuffinstudios · 12 days ago

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The makings of TSSW 3

Okay, so, before I start answering asks, I thought I'd give you all a small sneak peek into how writing TSSW 3 went for me.

I did a lot of things differently this time around—because I thought that the pacing of the story needed it, and it was 100% what I wanted to write the most.

There were a lot of moments where the game had me by the throat—writing scenes that literally make your heart tremble as you type, frantically, inflamed—it's always an experience!

I went through this in sooooooo many places with TSSW 3 LMAO 🤣 But one of my favorite things ever was finally finding a clear vision of every character's voice.

Morkai, Daelynn, and Manerkol; their voices, the essence of their character has always been clear to me.

But Straasa, Eledwen, and Sielthan were a bit sketchier to navigate. They have so many walls up.

Who is Straasa behind his kindness? Who is Eledwen behind her self-sacrifice? Who is Sielthan behind the carefree laughter?

So as I tentatively started exploring their themes and their characters, everything slowly came together in profound ways for me.

Straasa is kind, patient, and so nurturing to everyone around him. But that's not all that there is to him.

He became the nurturer because that's what he needed to do to survive growing up with his step parent.

He became kind almost to a fault because he couldn't bear the thought of ever resembling her.

His kindness is what defines him, but it is also an armor he hides behind. So he doesn't have to face how strongly he feels about everything.

The negative emotions, passion, taking life by the horns and feeling like you deserve to be happy—Straasa struggles with these a lot.

This book around, Straasa whispered to me and told me all walls come down eventually.

All protection starts to crumble away, because it's really not sustainable to try to live one's life forever behind a wall, and it was drowning him.

So, as we start to witness Straasa's emotions being given free range—his anger, his passion, his vengeful protectiveness—we should all be prepared to weather the storm with him. The storm that is him finding himself.

Now, for Eledwen. This sweet girl really baffled me sometimes. I know the core of her.

She will protect, she will defend, she will put herself on the line to spare those she cares about. Every. Single. Time.

But who is she behind that noble self-sacrifice? What does she think, what does she feel as she takes the blows meant for others willingly?

Eledwen thinks that she can depend on no one. That she should NOT ever ask for help.

She thinks that her thoughts, her emotions, her needs—they are a burden to others. An imposition.

Asking for what she wants is too much. Not only that, but it's offensive that she would even think to ask and be so selfish in the first place.

She feels very deeply, but she was taught that to show emotion is a sin. To ask for help is an attack on others.

Eledwen thinks that if she can't be of use, she has no value. That no one would want her around if she doesn't give up everything to prove that she deserves to be there.

She is so disconnected from her pain and sorrow that getting brutalized feels normal to her.

It is up to us to show her that being herself is enough. That she is radiant, a star, and she doesn't need to sacrifice herself to prove that she is worthy of love.

And finally, Sielthan. Aaaah, sweet, broken Sielthan. When I first started writing them, I was not sure where their character would go.

They seemed a trickster, their motives hidden, not taking things seriously, always making awkward or irreverent comments.

But as I explored their character in this game, they revealed to me the truth.

Their bravado, their happy-go-lucky comments, the air of self-assuredness—it's all a front.

A front to hide how deeply, soul-crushingly afraid they are. Just a voice, screaming in the void.

They are so scared that it paralyzes them, but they couldn't possibly show that. They couldn't possible be so vulnerable.

They will get abused, ridiculed, rejected if they show the depth of their fear, their desperation.

Sielthan feels like they are a breath away from oblivion, and they're striving for connection.

For something to make them feel like they are real, they are here. They matter. And if they break down, someone will be there to catch them.

Sielthan is so powerful in some ways, but they need the MC's strength and the MC's care more than anyone else in the gang.

It took me by surprise how viscerally overwhelming their need is—the need to have the MC love them.

Because they loved the MC from the first moment. Their savior, the one who pulled them away from the void.

Sielthan may keep their words vague sometimes, open to interpretation, but they never lie.

So, when they say that they would never willingly harm you…believe them.

The character who seemed the most shifty of them all is actually the most earnest one, the one most willing to be real and vulnerable.

Their desperation drives them to make mistakes, act erratically sometimes. They fuck up. But they will never stop trying to get it right.

Even Manerkol took me by surprise. His willingness to compromise in the end of book 3 had my jaw dropping.

This unyielding, merciless man—I thought we'd have to keep fighting him until the bitter end.

I thought him so unbending and rigid, so focused on his goals that he is unable to look at anything else.

But he proved me wrong. I was taken aback by how deeply he has allowed himself to feel, how far he was willing to bend for the sake of love.

He suddenly felt more like a man, a person, than the statue of sheer inexorableness that he appears to be. This quality of him prevents him from meeting the MC halfway.

But, shockingly, he did meet them. Maybe not halfway, maybe not enough, or maybe more than anyone ever thought he could—himself included.

But he did bend. He did concede. He is sorry in his own way. And is pleading for a chance.

This book has taught me more about my characters than I ever thought possible.

It has taught me more about myself than I ever thought possible. And I am humbled to share that with you all now.

Thank you 💖

#the soul stone war #tssw #the soul stone war 3 #tssw 3 #long post #Manerkol #Straasa #Eledwen #Sielthan #interactive fiction #sorry for the ramble guys #i'm feeling emotional

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sunderwight · 6 months ago

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Honestly fascinated trying to figure out how both of Ambessa's kids ended up being diametrically opposed to her whole jock spartan might-makes-right mentality.

Tthe obvious answer, of course, is that Ambessa's husband (Kino's dad, and the guy Mel thought was her bio dad until recently) was way more of a diplomat and way less of a fighter, both philosophically as well as in terms of skill. And that he's the one who passed this on to the kids.

This fits well enough as an answer. The guy in the portrait certainly looks more like a talker than a fighter, and we know that Ambessa has a thing for pretty, submissive men thanks to her whole introduction in S1. Also, regardless of Mel's genetics this is presumably the man who raised her and is her father in the "nurture" sense of the equation, so it would be completely reasonable for her to take after him.

However, there are a few issues here.

One is the fact that even when Mel is talking to who she thinks is Kino about the possibility of one of them being a bastard, or of a bastard half-sibling existing, neither of them mention their father at all. While I doubt either of them would hold illusions about Ambessa remaining faithful to a spouse (for all we know the guy's still alive while she's off carousing with twinks), you would think that if both kids were close to their dad or took after him particularly, there'd be at least a passing mention of him in the midst of this discussion.

Maybe Mr. Medarda died a long time ago, though. Perhaps it's a topic so buried that it's an established habit to simply never mention it. Or maybe there is an issue of estrangement between him and his children for other reasons. He doesn't seem to have factored into Ambessa's decision to send Mel away, nor is his potential grief brought up around the subject of Kino. Despite confirmation of his existence, he seems (ironically) to be out of the picture, though it could also just be that the writers wanted to leave their options open for what he might be like in case another Arcane-adjacent series comes into production. I am fairly sure that Mel is the most likely character from Arcane to create continuity into a show about Noxus or Demacia or something, if we get another LoL series, especially since her story feels the most unfinished.

However, there's another possibility, which is that Mr. Medarda up there was such a nonentity in his kids lives that he doesn't come up because there's not much of a relationship to acknowledge. In which case, even if he is more of a diplomat (and he and Ambessa were a political marriage, presumably?) it'd be hard to credit him with influencing the kids so significantly.

One of the interesting things about Mel and Kino is that even though they are at odds with their mother on a lot of topics, topics that even seem to tie into prevailing Noxian cultural ideals (so, things they'd have been overall raised to believe in by the rest of their house and not just their mother too), they are also kind of astonishingly confident in expressing themselves?

So, somebody must have been supporting their alternative viewpoints and validating them as opinions worth expressing, even if they weren't things Ambessa approved of or actually wanted to foster in them as opinions/philosophies.

I think an interesting option is that it was Ambessa herself who did this, actually.

Ambessa's lore mentions that she figured out really early on that Kino did not share her temperament at all. Also, that she started searching about for ways of ensuring not only her house's domination, but the survival of her children specifically. Because the succession in a Noxian noble house doesn't seem to be guaranteed by birthright, which means that Kino and Mel would probably face rivals from their own family if they seemed too weak or vulnerable to lead, and someone else contested it. An easy way to remove a "weak" leader would also be to just kill them off. That's even apart from external rivals (like the ones who actually did kill Kino).

Which means that even if her kids had different values and priorities, Ambessa would probably have wanted them to still present those opinions with ferocity and confidence. If they cower to her, they will cower to others, and that's worse than them just not being aggressive combatants or warlord types. If you're gonna be a peacenik weirdo (by Ambessa's standards) in Noxus then you better damn well still be an assertive one.

I like this idea partly because the image of Ambessa trying to balance her kids having totally alien opinions about things like the value of life and importance of compassion, with trying not to actually beat down their spirits about it. Just spending a lot of their formative years being like, ugh, I have to listen to my nerd ass loser children tell me why they think mercy is a good idea. Such a fucking chore. Anyway great job presenting your arguments kids, lots to think about, let's go get ice cream. Then Mother has to fire one of your military tactics instructors for daring to call you a couple of wieners. Again. Even though she's right.

#arcane #arcane spoilers #mel medarda #ambessa medarda #kino medarda #long post #ambessa just being mystified about why this keeps happening like how come BOTH kids turned out like this???#also the possibility that she looked at her literal infants and was like 'oh no they have no killer instincts AT ALL'#accidentally nurtured her kids to be more compassionate because she didn't realize that being hardcore almost from birth is weird #tfw you were a freaky kid and your society has a lot of pretenses so you mistake normal child behaviors for some kind of inherent weakness #'the children cried when I showed them a dead body this is bad people are gonna make fun of them'

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zutarawasrobbed · 1 year ago

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ALTA Live Action Season 1 Initial Thoughts (Spoilers)

I just finished the season, and holy shit!

Quick things that need to be addressed/debunked:

“Sokka is no longer sexist”

I dont know what people were talking about when they talked about Sokka’s “sexism” being removed. It’s still there! But not in the overly exaggerated comical way it was in the original.

In fact, it’s more in line with ancient practices of indigenous tribes where men are seen as protectors and providers while women are expected to nurture. It’s not the same “boys are better than girls” narrative in the original.

Additionally, Suki still beats the fuck out of Sokka and humbled him really quick. They’re super cute by the way. And I love Suki’s “I like my men a little stupid” vibe. She’s great.

“Aang doesn’t run away like the original!”

That is not true. He does run away, but not because he’s trying to get away from the temple but instead to get some air because he feels overwhelmed. He’s more like taking a quick break and planning to come back. It’s not exactly the same, but almost. It also is done in a way where his guilt feels more justified.

“Katara doesn’t talk about her mom anymore like the original”

This is true… BECAUSE THEY SHOW INSTEAD OF TELL. I was honestly not prepared to see the death Kya in such graphic detail and how Katara was in the room hiding when it happened. It’s honestly really sad and more heartbreaking.

Plot:

The timeline seems to be ambiguous compared to the original series where it was “end of current year.” In fact, they repeat “three years” a few times, which makes me think if the series get greenlit for more seasons, it would be over a three year period.

Jet is still villainized but given more nuance and not a simple "good v bad" way like the original.

Zuko’s story about how he got his scar has additional lore that makes him come across as even more selfless and compassionate. The additional context of the platoon he advocated for in the war meeting, becoming his current crew, really added to the story.

Eradicated the nepotism baby plot point with Pakku only training Katara when he finds out he used to date her grandma. Instead, Katara proves herself and ends up teaching the other male fighters the techniques she learned from watching other benders use their elements and mimics them.

This season doesn’t have Aang learning any waterbending, but rather facing his trauma and the consequences of his actions. He get roasted by all his past lives. Which is an interesting choice, but I think it works well in how they executed it.

This season seems to actually be Katara focused and her journey of learning waterbending which I honestly loved because it really hits home the element of “water” being the story of an untrained waterbender learning her element. But, I do think Aang could’ve learned a little bending. It felt a little off.

Katara ends up advocating for all waterbending women and ends up leading an army of both men and women during the siege. She’s really bad ass and is given the title of master without being formally trained by Pakku. She made herself a master.

I think the timeline is a little wonky because of how much they had to fit in with the limited episodes they had.

Kuruk is given respect! I loved that.

June actually seems into Iroh which I thought was a funny but cool way to flip the script from the original.

The relationship between Zuko and Iroh is really beautifully executed. I love the depth they added with flashback scenes and their bond prior to the Agni Kai. It also wasn’t as frustrating watching Iroh and Zuko’s dynamic because Iroh communicated with Zuko in a way he could understand with straight answers rather than seeming to actively sabotage him with cryptic puns and shenanigans like the original.

They changed the love triangle with Yue Hahn and Sokka to be very healthy. They gave Yue autonomy and a choice in her relationship- which- again- is much more in line with indigenous cultures. Also, Hahn and Sokka’s relationship is really supportive and full of respect and no ill will.

They way they handled grief and the realities of war with the loss of life was very well done and really drove home the point that this is a war and these are child soldiers.

There’s a lot more but these are my initial thoughts. Will probably post more later.

Shipping:

Kataang is all but removed. Literally DOA. There is no indication of a crust on either side. It’s painted like a sibling relationship, which is like the original, but this time everyone seems to be on the same page. But, I swear the writers had to have read ZK fics because damn.

They canonized a popular Zutara theory/hc about the cave of two lovers and how the crystals would light up once it went completely dark instead of a “kiss” activating the crystal glow.

Speaking of the Cave of two lovers. They keep the Oma and Shu story with red and blue coloring. Making it come across more as foreshadowing than a direct link to the present tunnel story.

Sokka is put in Aang’s place with Katara in the tunnels and turned it into a story about the love of family and sibling bonds. Aang wasn’t even present.

Zuko and Katara share a meaningful look when they first see each other and continue to have a Katara centric scene followed by a Zuko centric scene and vice versa.

The scarf scene. I will not be elaborating further. If you know, you know.

Zuko and Katara fight scene in the North is epic. He still taunts her with almost the exact same dialogue but it’s so sassy- I love the banter.

Suki and Sokka were really cute and the actors had great chemistry. I think Yue and Sokka was really rushed and didn’t really feel anything about them, honestly. But I attribute that to lack of episodes to develop all that plot.

#zutara #katara #zuko #atla #atla live action spoilers

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honeyrotsoul · 11 days ago

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so, i was thinking about adult Natalie’s hair last night. (weird, i know, but walk with me.) the reason i was thinking about it is because i own a lot of wigs and was thinking of cutting one into a bob until my own hair recovers but that’s beside the point. WHEN I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT, i realized that this is the shortest we see natalie’s hair in the series. her hair in her arrest photo is closer to her original style, and we know that it grows out in the wilderness (obviously.) and i know that not every style choice means something. like it could just be as simple as not messing with juliette’s own hair that much. but i was wondering if nat’s hair could be another symbol of rejecting the wilderness and the past. visually, it looks kind of close to what we would expect from nat stylistically. there’s the layers and the messiness, but no bangs and no length - not even the length she preferred. it’s like simultaneously reaching for the past while rejecting the part of her that lived in the wilderness. (and still not letting go of it that same time, e.g. no bangs) she wants to move forward. she wants to forget who she was and what she did, so she can be the person Coach Ben thought she was. but she ultimately fails. she reverts back to her younger self, just when she thought she was finally getting better. it’s a relapse, but a different kind. because Natalie thinks she’s moving forward, she thinks she’s got everything under control and no longer relates to that version of herself, but she’s actually trapped. she’s still stuck in the in between somewhere, and she doesn’t even realize it until it’s all over. her mannerisms stay the same. who she is internally stay the same. it is only the physical aspect that she rejects.

and that got me thinking about how ALL of the girls’ hair as adults kind of reflects who they are and where they are in their journey.

tai’s hair is closer to where it was pre-crash. (specifically in that classroom scene.) she chides van for being stuck in the past, but in this way, she’s also reaching for it. it’s longer than it was in the past, so she’s trying to grow, but she also isn’t. wilderness tai cut her hair, and adult tai wants to appear normal so she goes the complete opposite. she runs. time and time again, we see that tai wants to be a leader. she wants to be in control. but when things get too much for her, when they don’t go her way, she runs. she likes to think that she fights for what she wants, but, really, she only fights enough to say she tried. (see: simone and sammy. she made a few attempts, and then she went back to van. yes, this was other tai, but other tai is still tai - she just doesn’t want to accept that, because other tai is a reflection of who she truly is. the deepest parts of her, the things she actually wants in life, etc.) this is why tai never got the chance to be captain in spite of being the best player on the team (the latter part being a fact which is canon - tai was the star player) when it comes to stepping up, tai puts in effort, but somehow, someway, she falls short. with simone, with van, with being a captain. (Allie is a good indicator of this. jackie was the captain because she cared about all of them and every angle. tai couldn’t be captain because she was ruthless. she cared about some of them, but not the weak link. jackie saw vulnerability as something to be nurtured, whereas tai saw it as something that needed to be cut out. she expects everyone to live up to the same amount of pressure she puts on herself. tai wants to be a star, and if you can’t shine as brightly as she does, you have to go.) that is why, when it comes to emulating herself, tai falls just a little short. hair is a little too long, the outfit she put on to go home is just a little bit off, etc.

on the flip side of that, van’s hair is pretty much unchanged. similar length to where it was pre-crash, sort of in between the two. she hasn’t changed it much. it’s comforting, familiar, and right where she wants to be. van doesn’t consciously embrace the wilderness, but she doesn’t consciously reject it either. she’s willing to fall back into those old patterns if you nudge her just the right way. van’s hair shows that she’s stuck in the past in ways that even she doesn’t realize. everyone else grew up and moved on. she stayed there, and she’s still waiting for everyone else to come home.

shauna’s hair is closer to where it was pre-crash, but not exactly. it’s a similar length, similar styling, but not always exact. some episodes it’s perfect, sometimes it’s too wavy, too straight, appears shorter, etc. she’s trying to be good girl shauna in the hope that it will erase her sins, even if she doesn’t exactly remember what it looks like. (even the theory of ghost jackie’s hair changing could add to this point - shauna is reaching for her past but forgetting what it actually looked like.)

lottie’s hair mimics pre-crash the least. while nat has rejected her wilderness image, lottie embraces it. she’s still there. she keeps the length, the choice to not cut it again because she feels closer to it that way. she knows she wouldn’t have been able to cut it in the wilderness, so she doesn’t cut it now either so that it knows she’s still faithful. still loyal even though it cut her off. she even keeps the middle part. the most noticeable attribute to this is her bangs. pre-crash lottie had a full fringe. wilderness lottie’s bangs grew out, but if you look closely you can see remnants on the sides. meanwhile, adult lottie has curtain bangs. versatile enough where she can blend them like wilderness lottie, or leave them on show like pre-crash lottie. like she tried, but not hard enough because she no longer sees anything pre-wilderness as a reflection of herself.

misty’s hair is the most different, but also so similar. she hasn’t touched the color, but she’s chopped off the extra length and her curls are more manageable. this is because Misty wants to be seen as in control. she wanted to be a leader, someone others could depend on, but was always rejected. this way, she blends. she looks normal and tame, like she has her shit together even though, deep down, she knows she’s unhinged. but you wouldn’t know that from looking at her, because that’s exactly the point. she wants to look ordinary so people will like her, but they’ll also underestimate her. and her hair also nods towards one of her favorite people, Natalie, because both have changed their appearance in favor of something shorter. (albeit for different reasons.) who better to emulate, if she wants to be liked, than her best friend and the coolest person she knows? adult misty neither rejects nor accepts her part in the wilderness. she just accepts helped for she is, and that includes every part of - past, present, and future. adult misty has learned to adapt, like a chameleon.

and lastly, just like nat, adult Travis has rejected the wilderness completely. he cut his hair shorter than ever, so short you can barely see the waves. he ignores the fact that his destructive tendencies and addiction are a reflection of wilderness Travis, because he wants to believe that he’s evolved. that he’s better than that. keeping his hair short and neat emulates the most respectable person he knows - his father. he wants to be a man that his father would have respected, not realizing that that idea is already out of reach.

oh, and a bonus: melissa. melissa has barely changed. her hair is a similar length and color, if not a little warmer and a little thinner. she’s tamed herself down, tried to be normal, but this reflection of herself is still slightly off and, deep down, she knows it. same hat, same style, same mannerisms and ways of dressing. she tried to be boring. not because shauna said she was, but because boring felt safer. except this life she tried to build is all a lie. she is not the woman she’s trying to reflect, and that’s why you see it in her appearance. she judges shauna for her behavior, but they are two sides of the same coin. shauna learned how to fake it, but she is still wilderness shauna. melissa learned how to fake it too, but she is also still wilderness melissa. except this time, she’s not going to pull punches and back down. melissa never grew. she wants to believe she did but, just like Van, she’s still there. still waiting for everyone else to come back. wilderness melissa never left, she just got stronger.

in conclusion, yes, this is a reach. however, in black culture and many others, there is the theory that hair holds memories. so, this is me reaching into that. just for funsies. i love my yellowjackets.

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lacy-oh-lacy · 9 months ago

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✧ Wanda Maximoff ･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

NSFW alphabet

CW: Fem!Reader, Switch!Wanda, masturbation, cunnilingus, overstimulation, vibrators

Aftercare

Wanda’s a nurturer at heart, so of course she’s great at aftercare. She's not much of a talker beyond making sure you're alright or volunteering to get you anything but she's very physically affectionate, stroking your hair or cuddling up to you while you drink the water she always has waiting.

Body part

On you: Wanda doesn't really have a favorite part of you, every part is perfect in her eyes.

On herself: She doesn't have a favorite part of herself either but for kind of the opposite reason. However any part of herself that you seem to like and show special attention to, she can't help growing a fondness for.

Cum

Wanda's almost embarrassed by how wet she gets. Nothing makes her quite so red as you coming out from between her legs, drenched in her slick. She never waits too long after you’re finished to clean up.

Dirty secret

She's pretty innocent honestly. She does have a dirtier, kinkier side but she hasn't even discovered that herself yet so it's hardly a secret.

Experience

Little to none. She's had a hard life that hasn't left her a lot of time to get close to people, and even once she's with you she takes things slowly.

Favorite position

She doesn't care how “basic” it is, she’ll defend missionary with her life. Anything that has you face to face works just as well for her though.

Goofy

Wanda has a subtle and easy sense of humor, so a few quips are to be expected. She's not usually downright silly or dead serious but she can be from time to time.

Hair

Realistically she's never had the luxury to care about body hair so she doesn't mind having a bush, but she does like getting dolled up when she gets the chance and that includes a shave.

Intimacy

Wanda is such a sensitive and romantic person, to her most of the appeal of sex is the intimacy. Even the rare times she's horny out-of-her-mind or you experiment with anger sex it always turns into lovemaking by the end.

Jack off

Wanda’s never lived comfortably enough to get into the habit. The only time she tried was in the brief period when you weren't dating but she had a massive crush on you.

Kinks

She's vanilla but she has fantasized about spicing up your sex life. She's not into anything that would distract from the intimacy of the moment but she likes the idea of a soft!dom/sub dynamic.

Location

Mostly just the bedroom, she's also a big fan of the bathtub. If she was jealous or if you were deliberately turning her on in public, that might also make her dominant enough to drag you off for a semi-public hook up.

Motivation

Considering her lack of experience it doesn't take much to turn her on, but if you want to go above and beyond, something romantic and sensual like a massage or a nice bath really does the trick.

With all the trauma she has, there's a lot of kinks that would only bring back bad memories; pain-play, being restricted, degradation and crying are all instant turn-offs.

Oral

Cunnilingus is practically her love language. She never feels quite so cared for as when you're between her legs, and she puts her all into making you feel the same way when she's between yours.

Pace

She likes to take her time, sex isn’t just about ‘getting off’ for Wanda, it's about expressing love.

Quickie

Again, she prefers to take her time but she's not opposed to quickies. When she is especially silly and giggly during sex it's usually during one.

Risk

She probably won't suggest something risky, but if you do she’ll consider it. She doesn't like taking stupid risks but she is always up for a challenge, especially one dealt by you.

Stamina

Pretty high. She's stronger than she looks, and she can cum a lot before she gets too sensitive, even once she does, a bit of overstimulation is honestly a turn-on for her.

Toys

She'd like to try them. She has this one fantasy of leaving a vibrator inside of you and seeing how long you can last while she talks you through it, stroking your hair or playing with your tits all the while.

Unfair

She's the opposite of a tease, she wants to lavish you in pleasure. She's such a whiner if she's the one being teased but she does her best to take it, she wants to be good for you.

Volume

She doesn't know how to control her volume, she's a moaner, a whimperer, a beggar, a praiser. Your favorite is her little curses in Sokovian.

Wildcard

This could also fall under “Toys” and “dirty secret”, because Wanda’s powers count as a toy in their own right and she's had many dirty thoughts about using them as such. She wouldn't act on it, she has too much self-loathing tied up with her powers to, but it's such a temptation.

X-ray

She has a few nice sets of lingerie but most of her stuff is pretty plain. Not that it matters, she's breathtaking in anything.

Yearning

She has an average sex drive, and decent control over her libido but if you're deliberately trying to turn her on she’s putty in your hands.

Zzz

Sleep doesn't come easy to Wanda. Her mind gets away from her and she tends to stay up late overthinking. She's happy for you to fall asleep though, because then she can hold you in her arms and at least her thoughts will go in a happier direction.

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff smut #marvel smut #wlw smut #wlw ns/fw

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violent-little-thing · 29 days ago

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The (Other) Gauntlet

Summary: Dain tries to win over Sloane’s loved ones before asking for her hand in marriage. Title is a throwback to “Watching with the Angels,” where Liam references the gauntlet of their friends in his letter.

Warning: slapping of an adult child by his father

Word Count: 2486

This is my contribution to Day 7 of Slain Week. Thank you @empyreanevents for all of the work you put into organizing this. It's been such a fun challenge to participate in each day. And a special shoutout to my other half @violencelittlething. I love the worlds we've created and all of our messages.

____

Dain had done well for himself on the Gauntlet his first year. He studied it, practiced diligently, and placed in the top two times in his squad, coming in only below Imogen. He was proud of himself, accepting congratulations and claps on the shoulder from squadmates and other first year cadets, including a mildly impressed look from Imogen herself. He was on a high when he went to Presentation and left the meadow feeling sure that a red swordtail who had approached him would choose him two days later at Threshing. As he made his way back to the barracks, though, a hand gripped his shoulder painfully, pulling him off his path.

Colonel Aetos stood glowering in a dark corner, clearly having been waiting for his son. “Losing to a marked one,” he sneered. “Are you trying to embarrass this family, this war college, Navarre itself or did you just not try hard enough?” Dain looked down at his boots, avoiding his father’s stern gaze.

“Look at me godsdamnit!” Dain obeyed his father’s command, just as he always did.

“I’m sorry, Father. Cardulo is fast, faster than anyone in our squad, and —” Dain was cut off by his father’s hand slapping his face.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses, boy. You better bond one hell of a dragon. I will not be embarrassed like this again. You’re dismissed.” Col. Aetos walked away, leaving his son ashamed and hurting.

It had been years since Dain had occasion to think about the Gauntlet. Today, though, he couldn’t help but think it might pale in comparison to the challenge he was about to put himself up against. Dain was a man who wanted and tried to do things the proper way. He was regimented about making his bed, folded clothes with precision, and even kept his beard neatly trimmed at all times. So it was only natural that he would want to seek the blessing of the father of the girl he intended to marry. But Isaac Mairi wasn’t able to consent to Sloane’s marriage, to welcome Dain into his family while warning him not to hurt his little girl. Nor was Liam there to take up the mantle for his father. Some men might have been relieved by those circumstances, but not Dain. Instead, Dain would seek the approval of the people who considered Sloane their sister: Imogen, Bodhi, Garrick, and Xaden.

Dain was most worried about the last person on that list. Xaden Riorson was not his biggest fan. He was cordial enough to Dain, graciously allowed Dain to live in his home, and hadn’t killed him yet, but Dain knew that this was different. Dain was asking Xaden not only to bless him officially joining their family, but asking him to trust him with Sloane, asking him to one day love and nurture nieces and nephews who shared half their DNA with the son of the man who got his brother killed. Dain also knew that while Sloane would appreciate that he thought to include Imogen, Bodhi, and Garrick, it was Xaden’s approval that meant the most to her. Still, Dain decided to save the brooding King for last.

After a quick pep talk, Dain left his and Sloane’s wing of Riorson House and headed outside, where he hoped to meet Imogen on her way back from her morning run. Sloane was spending the day in town with Violet and Rhiannon, so he knew she wouldn’t happen upon any of his conversations. He waited nervously, perched on the stone steps. Cath, can you ask Glane how far out Imogen is? Cath was not amused by this request. I’ve told you, Brave One, I am not a carrier pigeon. And I do not enjoy speaking to Glane. I barely tolerate speaking to Thoirt, though I suppose I’ll have to get over that if your mission goes as planned. Dain sighed, running his hands through his hair. Finally, a glimpse of pink hair came into his field of vision and he stood to greet her.

“You my welcome party, Aetos?” Imogen asked as she began her cooldown stretches.

“Something like that. Good run? Make good time?”

“Why, yes, Wingleader, it was a good run.”

“I haven’t been your wingleader in years, Cardulo.”

“Correct, but you also haven’t been this interested in my exercise regimen since you were my wingleader. What’s going on? Don’t tell me you fucked up again and I’m about to find your girlfriend crying somewhere.”

Dain would have rolled his eyes if he weren’t so anxious.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Imogen sighed. “Lay it on me.” She took a swill from her waterskin.

“I want to ask Sloane to marry me,” Dain said softly.

Imogen’s lips curved into a knowing smile. “Fucking finally!“

“You’re…happy about this?” Dain wasn’t sure if it would really be this easy or if he was in the middle of some trap.

Imogen nodded. Apart from Sloane, she was the marked one who trusted Dain the most. Years of being his squadmate had taught her that he was a good man and she had been one of the only people to stand up for him and the first to forgive him for telling his father about Athebyne.

“Sloane is going to be thrilled and you’re already part of the family anyways so you may as well make it official. Besides if you get her pregnant before you’re married — and unfortunately I know the two of you fuck like rabbits — Bodhi will get all flustered and will try to convince Xaden to execute you. Although on second thought, that would be entertaining to watch.”

“Imogen!”

“Okay, okay. This is good, Dain. Why are you being so squirrelly?”

“Because I’m not just telling you this to make conversation. I-I want your blessing.”

“My what now?” Imogen was genuinely confused.

“Your blessing to ask Sloane to marry me. Her dad and Liam aren’t here to give theirs, but you, Bodhi, Garrick, and Xaden are her family, her siblings. So I thought I’d ask each of you.”

Imogen had never in her life felt compelled to hug Dain Aetos, but at that moment she wanted to throw her arms around him. This sweet man loved Sloane, their collective baby sister, so much that he was willingly putting himself through four surely awkward conversations with people who trusted and tolerated him to varying degrees in order to fulfill tradition and make her happy.

“You have it.”

“That simple? You’re not going to make me go through some sort of trial or anything?”

“As far as I’m concerned, you’ve already gone through a trial. You’ve been loyal to Sloane and you’ve treated her well.” Imogen stared into Dain’s eyes. “And that will continue or I will make the rest of your short life a living hell, so much so that you’ll be begging for Malek. Am I clear?”

Dain, still shocked, nodded enthusiastically. “Cyrstal clear. I, uh, didn’t expect this to be so easy.”

Imogen chuckled. “Hate to break it to you, but I’m the easiest yes you’ll get. The boys…well, they might need a little more convincing.” Dain groaned.

“Come on, I’ll help you find Bodhi or Garrick. But I’m not sticking around to help! You’ll do that on your own.”

Dain and Imogen walked into the fortress where they saw Garrick leaving the kitchen. “Good luck, Aetos.” Imogen said, giving Garrick a peck on the cheek before heading to shower.

Dain could feel Garrick sizing him up. It wasn’t often that the two of them found themselves alone with one another. “Need something?” Garrick asked.

“Yeah, actually. I want to talk about Sloane.”

At the mention of Sloane, Garrick stiffened, eyes narrowing on Dain as if he were prey. “What about Sloane?”

Dain knew he couldn’t waver, but gods damn was Garrick an imposing figure. Dain swallowed, finding his words. “I’d like your blessing to ask her to marry me.”

“Sit down.” Garrick gestured to the kitchen where they sat at the table. “You’re a brave man, Aetos. I assume if you’re coming to me, you’ll also be paying a visit to Xaden.”

“Yes. Bodhi as well.”

“Like I said, you’re a brave man.” Garrick sipped his coffee, looking at Dain expectantly. “Go on.”

Dain was silent, not knowing what else to say.

“Come on,” Garrick said. “You’ve got to give me more than just saying you want to marry her.”

“I love her, Garrick. She’s my entire world. She’s my reason for existing. Hell, I joined this family because of her. I live in this house – Xaden’s house – because I love her that much and she needs to be with all the people she loves. I know you don’t fully trust me and I don’t think you particularly like me, but Sloane does. And she loves you, Garrick. She calls you her biggest big brother. She just wants a big family, all of us together and I want to give her that.”

“And why should you be the one to give her that?”

Dain considered his question. “She loves me. You don’t have to like it, but she does. She chose me, just as Xaden chose Violet and you chose Imogen.” Garrick stroked his chin and nodded his head. “I’d die for her, but more than that I’ll live for her.”

They rose from the table, Garrick clapping Dain on the shoulder. “You’re good to go from where I stand, man. But know that if you ever hurt her, you’ll answer to me. And you’d do well to remember how good I am with a sword and how many weapons patches I earned in our Basgiath days. Good luck with the Riorson cousins!” Garrick called as he left the kitchen.

Two down, two to go.

Dain found Bodhi in the garden. He and Violet resurrected the garden that his mother once tended to, filling it with flowers and shrubs. They’d made it a truly beautiful, peaceful spot. Bodhi rose from the flower beds as he saw Dain approach. Bodhi and Dain got along well, for the most part. They’d had to coexist as wingleader and section leader in their third year, especially once the riot fled to Aretia, which became the basis for a tentative friendship. Bodhi was warm and welcoming, unlike his cousin, and he adored Sloane. He was the first to outwardly refer to Sloane as his baby sister, the first to test whether she’d accept that title coming from anyone other than Liam. To his delight – to everyone’s delight – she did. He was protective and known to flash that Riorson temper when it came to Sloane’s happiness, so Dain braced himself for a battle.

“Aetos, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Bodhi said, brushing dirt off his hands.

“I want to ask Sloane to marry me and I’d like your blessing.”

“No.” Bodhi’s answer came quicker than Dain expected.

“Excuse me?”

“Dain, there’s a process here. You don’t just get a ‘yes.’ You have to earn it. So, let’s go.” Bodhi led Dain to the sparring gym, claiming it’s traditional, dating back to the idea of winning a woman’s honor. Dain isn’t sure if that’s true, but he agrees to the match nonetheless. He lets Bodhi get in some good hits, but doesn’t hesitate to land some of his own. Dain technically wins, though it was a very even match throughout.

“Now you have my blessing. You’re a lucky man, Aetos. Don’t ever forget that. She’s our princess and we love her. You got a ring?”

“I do. It’s a ruby, her favorite.” Bodhi nodded approvingly.

“Bring it to me and I’ll put some runes in it for you. Or I can show you how to, but I’d really like to do it for her,” Bodhi said sincerely. Dain’s heart warmed, as it always did when anyone demonstrated their love and care for his girl.

“I’ll do that, assuming I’m still alive after seeing Xaden.” Dain was only half-joking.

Finally, Dain made his way to Xaden’s office. The office had once belonged to Fen Riorson and there was something symbolic about meeting the patriarch of their family, the literal King of Tyrrendor, in that space. Dain knocked tentatively, though the shadows that crept under the door had likely already informed their master that he had company. Xaden tells Dain to come in and have a seat.

“Are you here to see your King or your girlfriend’s brother?” Xaden asks.

“Sloane’s brother.” Xaden tenses. Though he’s not reading Dain’s mind or intentions, he’s not dumb. He knows what’s coming.

“I’m here to ask for your blessing to ask Sloane to marry me.” Dain starts the way he has with the others. “You’re the closest thing she has to Liam and while I know she considers Imogen, Garrick, and Bodhi to be her siblings, you’re the person whose approval means the most to her.” Xaden gives a small smile. “So, please, I’m asking for your blessing.”

Xaden sits back in his chair. “Liam loved that girl more than anything on this earth. And you’re right, I am the closest thing to him that she has left. So I’m going to approach this from that perspective, as Liam’s brother and his representative, who he entrusted his sister to before he took his last breath. Liam didn’t hate you. It annoyed me, to be honest. He would want Sloane to be cherished and appreciated. He would want her to be loved hard. He would want her to be with someone who would protect her at all costs and who would give anything to give her the life she wants and deserves.” Xaden sighed. “That’s you.” Dain’s eyes widened. “You’ve proven your devotion to her, your loyalty. You got through to her and got her to train her signet when none of us could. You know her, you see her. Liam would approve. And so do I. Welcome to the family, officially, Aetos.” Xaden stood to shake Dain’s hand.

“Now, I do have a sword and a shovel and a ruthless blue dragon who will roast you in seconds if you hurt her. But that won’t happen. I trust you with her.”

“Thank you, Xaden.”

Xaden reached into his desk and pulled out a decanter of Tyrrish whiskey and two glasses.”If you’re going to marry into this family, you’re probably going to need this from time to time,” he said as he poured them each a glass and pushed one over to Dain. He raised his glass “To Sloane.”

“To Sloane.”

Dain stayed to finish his drink, telling Xaden about his conversations with the others. When he left, Dain thought to himself about the gauntlet he’d gone through that day. He thought he’d feel beaten down after, but he felt good. He felt like he was truly a part of this crazy family and he couldn’t wait to get down on one knee.

#slain week 2025 #dain aetos x sloane mairi #dain and sloane #slain #dain aetos #sloane mairi #fourth wing #iron flame #onyx storm #the empyrean #bodhi durran #imogen cardulo #garrick tavis #xaden riorson

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youremyheaven · 9 months ago

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Momagers, Stage Mom's & Mama's Boys: The Dysfunctional Moon Child

Moon influenced people often come from households where they had a very dysfunctional relationship with their parents. Both parents are usually toxic but the Moon person forms a close, overly sympathetic and anxiously attached bond with one parent who they perceive as the victim or martyr in some way. (Dad's abusive or neglectful and mom's the one trying her best, for example).

WHY does this happen?

Moon is said to be the most Yin of the planets. It's passive, feminine and emotional.

Most of the time, these bonds are toxic because its overly protective, overly nurturing, controlling, overly caring as opposed to say Sun influence which will create bonds that are too independent and unattached (aka female friendships vs male friendships lol). Moon influenced parent-child bonds become toxic because there's TOO MUCH love, care and attachment and neither party can have a separate independent existence.

Moon influence is prominent in the charts of momagers/stage moms AND the kids who are under their control.

Priyanka Chopra, Rohini Moon

Pri and her mom are attached at the hip and they're literally ALWAYS together. She has managed Pri's career since she was a teenager. And since she's not a nepo kid, it's known that she's had affairs with several married men in the industry, especially when she was starting out, to secure work :((

And I think its fucked up to have a parent basically pimp you out to make money. Be it PC getting a nose job or her army doctor mother quitting her job to open a cosmetic surgery clinic or her family running a pub?? PC is the golden goose and her family has just been living off of her money and encouraging her to basically do anything to make it. I think its a bit fcked to be smoking with your mom and its not bc I'm Indian lol

Alia Bhatt, Shravana Rising

Now Alia's dad is a pretty well known asshole who is infamous for being abusive. And Alia had a pretty rough upbringing, so its no wonder that Alia is as attached to her mom as she is. Alia's own marriage is pretty fucked up and toxic.

Alia started her career when she was 17 and to this day, her mom manages her finances. She was recently in the news for being scammed out of 1 crore rupees (119,000 dollars) so like I guess her mom's not exactly brilliant at what she does lol

Katrina Kaif, Hasta Moon

Katrina Kaif who is British, came to India when she was 17 and met and started dating the violent, toxic abusive Salman Khan, who was 20 years older than her. He helped her establish herself as a huge star but she went through a lot including physical abuse.

Kat endured all that because she had 7 siblings to support and her mom was a single mom. She's extremely close to her mom but I still think its fcked up that a literal teenager had to become the breadwinner of a family of 8 and endure all kinds of abuse in a toxic industry and in a country where she knew nobody just to break even.

Bella Hadid, Hasta Moon

Yolanda is a toxic mom in general but she has a particularly toxic bond with Bella for sure

Britney Spears, Shravana Moon

She's probably the most notorious example of being controlled by her toxic , abusive family :(((

Brooke Shields, Rohini Sun/Jupiter/Rahu

Her mom made her pose naked for playboy when she was 10. That should say enough about how fcked up her momager was. She has spoken about how her mom was an alcoholic and she felt like she had to do everything she could do to keep her mom alive :((

Ranbir Kapoor, Shravana Moon

He grew up in a toxic home where his dad cheated on his mom and was an alcoholic. He's KNOWN to be a mama's boy and his mother lowkey influenced all his previous relationships until he finally tied the knot with someone his mom approved of ://

Today his wife dresses and emulates his mom lmao

Leonardo DiCaprio, Hasta Moon

He's another infamous mama's boy

It's interesting to me how in most of these cases, the fathers were either absent or neglectful. These people grew up under the sole care of their mothers and it created an overly possessive, toxic, codependent bond. All of these people have spoken about how hard their mom's lives were and how they're grateful for everything their mothers did for them. This tendency of the Moon to make its natives be entirely sheltered from Yang or male influence or in some ways find Yang influence repulsive is very telling.

Similar to how Sun influenced people find it difficult to relate to or connect with Yin themes (like being clingy, attached, being nurturing in a traditional way, being openly loving etc) Moon influenced people struggle the most with detachment, letting go, independence etc. The extremes of both these can be unhealthy. It's important to learn how to be balanced and not give in to the tendencies that can harm both us and the people in our lives.

That's all for this post<3

#moon dominance #yin influence #lunar #vedicwisdom #vedic astrology #astro notes #astrology notes #nakshatras #astrology observations #sidereal astrology #astrology #vedic astro notes #astroblr #astro observations

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daportalpractitioner · 1 year ago

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mommy's moon sign: a thread ☾ part two — libra thru pisces

if you're looking for part one (aries-virgo), then click here

libra moon: if your mom has a libra moon, she could have been more preoccupied with her relationship with your father rather than putting herself in a position to be focused on her pregnancy + preparing a balanced environment for you. libra moon mamas often go through it with the father of the baby if they prematurely decide to have kids outside of wedlock (we don't judge over here). your mom could have been more focused on the aesthetics of motherhood + also on you being able to have both parents under one roof to be able to fit her ideal family picture. this mentality could have led her to distract herself from the bigger picture which is making sure that she is in a healthy, fulfilling relationship with your father. i wouldn't be surprised if you knew more than you should have when it comes to your parents' relationship as a child. with libra being the sign of relationships, the relationship patterns that your mother exhibited when pregnant with you could have been something that you picked up on, whether it be healthy or unhealthy. beware of issues with co-dependency + people pleasing passed down from your mom as those are big themes that must be overcome in the life of a libra moon mama. libra moon mamas hold a lot of resentment due to being so passive about people overstepping their boundaries + could project that pain onto you if it remains undealt with. as her child, she may be triggered by her relationship with you because she sees you as her mirror. encourage her to have strong boundaries. it's okay for her to say no and she won't be hated for it. respect her decisions. be sure not to be the child that coddles her emotions at the end of the day because she is a grown ass woman, but you should affirm her that it is okay to self-validate without trying to over-rationalize however she feels so that she can move through her emotions + not be avoidant.

scorpio moon: the moon is in a debilitating position (fall) when in scorpio, therefore, it isn't uncommon for women to have a painful pregnancy due to all of the trauma being stored in the womb. your scorpio moon mama may have lived in a state of fear or distrust during her pregnancy + i wouldn't be surprised if she felt alone due to not trusting people. this lack of nurture within the womb was definitely passed down to you if she didn't take accountability to heal from the pain that she experienced. scorpio moon mama would kill to make sure that all your needs are met, but when it comes to handling intense emotions, she may have not known how to navigate those with you (similar to capricorn moon mothers). scorpio moons experience a wounded relationship with their own mother + now that it's their turn to be a mom, they want to be better for their children. motherhood is definitely something that transformed them for the better + they really have the make a conscious effort to not display the same patterns that hurt their inner child. be patient with her + even though you are not responsible for her emotions + how she handles them, provide a safe space for her so that she knows that she is not alone. having emotional boundaries with your mother is also important — not having those boundaries with her can manifest into perpetuating a preoccupied/anxious attachment within yourself.

sagittarius moon: sagittarius moon moms usually end up unexpectedly pregnant. i've noticed that a lot of sag moons are not aware of their cycle which can definitely be responsible for unexpected pregnancies. nonetheless, their pregnancy + motherhood is something they ended up being excited about. they could have had a "fuck it, we ball" mentality because realistically speaking, such is life. lack of preparation could have led to instability in your mother's life while she was pregnant + even after giving birth, bouncing around from place to place. sagittarius moon mamas usually have a youthful + humorous personality, being able to relate with their children + make them laugh. it can be hard to take a sagittarius moon mother seriously because they're usually deemed as the "cool moms" that are very lenient with their children. they can often struggle with disciplining their children because of their own free-spirit nature. if your mother didn't prioritize structure + routine while raising you, it's possible that you downloaded that naturally chaotic, fiery, and unpredictable energy that she also has. sagittarius moon mamas need to be able to teach their children that there are consequences to their actions so that their kids don't end up getting in trouble later on in life or even dangerous situations. hold your own mother accountable for her actions + don't be afraid to put her in her place! she has a lot to learn from her experience as a mother, which includes listening to the ones that she birthed.

capricorn moon: capricorn moon mothers usually have children later on in life (not always though) - either way, the universe granted them their babies when they were ready + prepared to take on this mission as a mother. before motherhood, capricorn moon mommies could have performed the motherly role in other ways (eldest sister, nursing/doctor/healer career, etc etc) so this is not their first rodeo. capricorn moons get a reputation for being cold + stern, which is how they may come across but really they are just not about the bullshit + they take their role as a mother very seriously. they recognize how serious motherhood is and therefore you are going to respect the fuck out of your capricorn mother, even if you don't agree with some of the things that she has tried to instill in you. capricorn moon mothers are focused on legacy + will do her best to make sure that she raises well-rounded children, setting them up for success. so if you have the kind of mother that has tried to shove education + career down your throat, it's because she just wants you to be successful. they also may struggle with being in their feminine energy, especially if your mother is the provider in the house so as her child, you should encourage her to do some therapeutic activities with you to ease some of that stress. though she takes her role as a mother very seriously, there is no denying how stressful the role is on her + can really take a toll on her physical body. if she's open to it because i know how traditional capricorn moons can be, i highly recommend going to therapy together in order to unpack + heal some of those deep seated emotional blockages that can really help to improve + strengthen the family unit.

aquarius moon: these are the unorthodox mothers. the mothers that have instilled confidence in their children from a very early age. your mother may have gotten pregnancy at an awkward time in her life, therefore she realized that she had to start getting real strategic around here to ensure success for this nu era in her life. with an aquarius moon mother, there may have been some distance between you two, whether it be physical or emotional distance. i've noticed that people with aquarius moon mothers were raised by their grandparents or were adopted + don't really know their mother like that (along with pisces moon mamas). if your mother was present throughout your entire upbringing, you may have noticed that she was preoccupied with other tasks such as showing up for her tasks in the real world. there could be strain between you and your mother because you may have felt like she could have paid more attention to you. regardless of how your relationship with your mother manifested, you more than likely came out to be very independent + confident enough to march to the beat of your own drum. these are the moms that started cursing in front of their kids since they were babies. because aquarius moon mamas are very independent themselves, you could have felt like your aquarius moon mama robbed you of your childhood because you too had to learn how to become independent + self-reliant from a young age, resulting in inner child wounds. because the relationship that you have with your mother is not like the traditional mother-child relationship, she can come off more like a friend or an older sister, also resulting in mother wounds because of that lack of motherly nurturance that the child craves + needs. learning to become emotionally vulnerable + transparent with your mother is a theme in order to evolve the relationship. validate where you feel like she may have lacked while also respecting the fact that she did the best that she knew how to. she needs you as someone to hold her ego accountable.

pisces moon: similar to the aqua moon mom, your mother may have been there, but also not "there". there could have been a period in your life where your mother was not physically present + you had to be raised by someone other than her (grandparents, foster care, aunts/uncles, etc). your mother may not have been in the most ideal situation when she got pregnant with you + pregnancy could have also been a karmic consequence for not listening to her intuition. regardless, when she knew she was pregnant, there was no way she could give up the opportunity to be a mother. if your mom was physically away from you, she was always there in spirit, praying for you + making sure that you are spiritually protected even if it's just by asking the powers that be to watch over you. like the other water moons, pisces moon mama may have had a traumatic relationship with their mother + may have transferred over that pain into the relationship that you've had with your mom. having a pisces moon mommy is not for the weak, especially if she didn't do her due diligence of karmic clean up, leaving it for you to take responsibility for. pisces moon mamas may also avoid the accountability + the responsibility of being a mother because the weight of motherhood is just too heavy, especially if she has lack of support, which often times they do. regardless of how your relationship is with mom, the energetic bond runs so deep as you are strongly karmically bound in order for certain karmic missions to be completed. definitely not the most reliable mom, but at the end of the day, it will forever be all love when it comes to her children. it's best to just accept her as is - whatever has transpired is not your fault, but it is your responsibility to do better for your own life.

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