#fire and blood → isms

[pcrfumebcttles]

@dethqveen

@rcseteaparty

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (2014) dir. Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement

[parselmouths]

tag dump ⚡ !

[burninq]

tag dump uwu

[visenyaism]

Just saw someone tag baela from if fire and blood was good and between this normal jack and the saint discourse you never beating the influencer allegations

many of my stupid isms such as rhaena the lesbian, normal jake, st sebastian criston cole, daemonomics, and the ontological framework of visenyaism itself will outlast me. even now it seems into the groundwater of spaces i am not in. ozymandias if the whole thing was just dumb

[squirrellypoo]

Ep8 "What Can The Damned Really Say To The Damned" rewatch thoughts (Part 2)

Here's my second set of things I noticed on my third rewatch! Part 1 is here if you missed it...

11. On Claudia's first visit to the forest, we can briefly see a red mark on one of the trees. When brightened up, it's clearly a handprint, in fresh blood. Edit: ah, it’s not blood but paint from the kids painting their hands and slapping trees to show how far they could go into the forest!

12. I totally missed that the BBC radio bulletin talks about looted art being loaded onto trucks to be taken back to Paris! So that’s how they knew to jump in a truck and be taken all the way there rather than just random hitch-hiking.

13. Morgan mentions that Louis's photo of Grace was printed onto albumen, by a glass-plate camera, and I was intrigued by this and wanted to learn more. If you're also interested, have a read of this Wikipedia article.

14. I thought I must've been missing some sort of reference in Daniel's “Maybe you’re just frosting the pie?” line (about Louis remembering Claudia dreaming), but Google has no evidence this is a saying? So it looks like this was just a Daniel-ism? How odd.

15. Ohhhhh it's a factory they're all camping in! That makes sense, with the thick walls and boiler room, but I couldn't quite work out whether it was a church or meeting hall or what.

16. Claudia is singing the Anna Anna nursery rhyme that the children just taught her in order to lure the pissing soldier into the woods. Nice touch!

17. Both soldiers from the woods are in Daciana's castle. First we see one in the room that Louis and Claudia pass through before the one on the table by the fire that she calls “a burnt tray of bread”. Guess this first guy just dies after a while? Or maybe Louis and Claudia finish him off?

18. In the Dubai bedroom, there’s nothing on Armand’s bedside table (nothing!) but on Louis’s side there are so many well-thumbed books, cascading from the nightstand onto the floor…

19. The TdV programme is for “Des Cris Dans Les Ténèbres!” (Shrieks in the Darkness). I love that the actual item is in French, but the posters up all around Paris are in English, because Louis would’ve translated them into English and that’s how he remembered them! The details! 🤌

20. In the truck scene, Louis is still healing from Daciana’s attack. It made me wonder how long it would take to drive (pre-motorways!) from Romania to Paris. So I looked it up, and using modern roads, but avoiding motorways, it'd take 31hrs straight. But they’d have to break to sleep somewhere safe in the day, and many of the roads and bridges would likely have been bombed and required detours, so I think we can assume it'd take several days to get there. So if Louis still isn't healed by the time we see them outside Paris, he is one seriously malnourished vampire. 😔 The blood really was bad there!

And that's my list of weird things I noticed in the first episode! Part 1 is here if you missed it, and do let me know in the notes if there's any of these you missed, too!

[youreavicioustrollop]

S3 E3: The Searchers

wow we really just jump right into buck in the thick of it, huh. immediately devastating as he looks around and finds his glasses. :((

i'm sorry for the tone of this but buck is So Sexy beat up like this with his tshirt clinging to him. the slo-mo shot of him putting the glasses on really accentuated his arms which are HOT.

aww, this couple signing divorce papers on the ferris wheel. he believes in signs too! also i love that all of these other people we follow pass by/see buck and christopher. such good continuity.

oh no, eddie's climbing the ferris wheel when the reverse wave hits?? okay it is lena bosko! she can tell he's military, lol.

awww, "we were always a disaster, baby" "what a beautiful disaster we were" yes that should connect with an eddie diaz storyline, but i doubt it will! this time he just happened to be there.

okay that was badass, jumping from the top of the ferris wheel.

alright well that phone call is just salt in the wound. :(

buck helping saving a kid but it's not christopher :(((

oh hey drone tweenager! i'm so glad she's okay and love that instead she gets to be helpful!

oh C'MON, athena now in her uniform protecting against looters, jfc. lapd you could be USEFUL and instead you're being the worst.

oh NO kid who is not christopher!!!! what a horrible false hope for buck. and he's bleeding! he's on blood thinners!

co2 poisoning is horrible.

oooh, now we get some good info about how polluted waters are after a flood, though. i mean, the 'bomb' part is purely because of the electric current

oh look! athena found some good Samaritans and thought the worst! glad she's not arresting them, though.

eddie army medic/paramedic to the rescue!

athena actually demonstrating a way to be useful! finding a trapped person in the debris!

fire happening! streets are dangerous!

oh!!! this is the missing captain from the 136! athena doing field medicine is awful but it is useful.

the lady carrying the child in red is popping up everywhere now! (i know it's christopher that's why i'm noticing)

wow, are they doing a softball joke for lena? i can't tell if i'm impressed or offended. and hey! lena found her captain by staying put!

noooooo, buck's being told to check the black tent. even though i am glad to see he made it to the field hospital. this is horrible and heart-wrenching.

awww, sketch artist drowned. :(

buck called maddie! :(((( she's asking if he's hurt and he's saying it doesn't matter!!! "how do you tell your best friend that you lost his son?" "he's his father" maddie says he's in no condition to look for him! she's coming down there!

everything coming together all at once! the 118 coming in with everyone, eddie seeing buck, their convo and then there christopher is! "you're buck? he was looking for buck"

the sweeping music!!!! oliver stark acting his ass off!!!! eyes absolutely locked on chris and eddie! CINEMA

"maybe try going to the zoo this time, somewhere inland" also buck with scruff!!!! extremely attractive. this is also a scene i've seen a bunch and it really hits!!!!! like eddie just breezing in after buck's been enduring The Horrors and acting So normal and nonchalant!!! using humor! making clear it's an all day thing with morning snack, afternoon snack, multiple coloring books and legos!

they're best friends (technically new information in this episode, it hasn't been stated outright before)!!!! there's no one eddie trusts more with his son than christopher!!! like i said in an earlier episode, their bestie-ism is really having exponential growth. this is diehard friendship bonds - which, considering a natural disaster happened makes sense! trauma bond!

anyway, that was some good buddie shit. idk that it's giving romantic at this point, but it sure is solidifying them as a Unit. making them BuckandEddie, I think. makes me wonder about the time between when eddie was a fresh widow and buck was laid up and then doing physical therapy and getting broken up with... interesting transitional time in both of their lives and presumably they spent a not insignificant piece of it together since they started off the season really close!

interesting.

[fisheadz]

for the WIP excerpts ask game:

❤️ Share one of your favorite lines.

🗣 Share your favorite dialogue exchange.

🏝 Share your favorite description of a setting. Happy New Year!! <3 <3

Some of these are way longer than just lines, but I’m proud of them >:D! Most of the untitled work I’m making isn’t really edited and definitive, so I stuck with what I’m not going to change - Dave!

If you haven’t heard of In Sound Mind, I highly recommend at least watching a playthrough of it! It’s an amazing game. The same goes for Still Wakes The Deep!

Thank you for the ask! And Happy New Year <333!

❤️: for my unposted ISM fic that doesn’t have an actual title yet.

“ Desmond went to the locker labeled as David’s, only to find it locked. He really shouldn’t be surprised by that, honestly. He turned to start looking for either a key or an alternative way to open the sturdy metal, when he found the former dangling in his face.

Dave the mannequin stood in front of him, when he most certainly hadn’t been there before. He was holding the locker key out to Desmond, who took it with a shaky hand. He hadn’t even heard him approach despite the close quarters. They were completely silent.

He hesitated before turning around to unlock the locker, grabbing the card and turning to find the former employee sitting on the bench, his destroyed face turned to Desmond as he held up his hand, giving the man a thumbs up. With a cautious smile, Desmond returned it and left, going to the offices next. “

🗣️: from chapter 2 of “When The Going Gets Tough, Just Be Tougher” on Ao3.

“ “What was the flare gun for?” She asked, tracing one string of solid oil. It left a greasy residue, and she cringed as she wiped it off on her pants.

“Darkness. Freezing shadows - not the monster Shadows - that you can’t pass through. You need the flares to remove them. Plus, the flares sort of… well, explode whenever they hit an enemy, so that’s useful.”

“And you gave it to me?!” Suze balked at the man. So that’s what he meant when he said it packed a punch. “And how would they explode? That makes no sense!”

He chuckled, patting her arm before turning around. “It’s easier to use than the handgun - in my opinion, at least. Plus, if you’re in a tight spot-“ suddenly, he paused, looking at something on the couch. Suze peered over his shoulder, and saw a letter. The letter, the one from Cadal, accepting Caz’s job application.

“Oh. That.” She hummed, going over to the letter to read it over again. She’d practically memorized it all by now. She could never bring herself to throw it away, for some reason. She glared at the signing name underneath. "Davey Rennick". The bastard was long dead, but his name still made her blood boil. “

🏝️: from chapter 3 of “When The going Gets Tough, Just Be Tougher” on Ao3.

“ Suze made a thoughtful noise, looking out over the foul black sea. In the very distance, cutting through the magenta haze and illuminating the deep red sky, was what appeared to be a fire.

In front of them, lied a path of debris and broken life boats. Large metal panels stained with oil and bright orange boats with their windows smashed and hatches burst outwards. Caz had told them the whole truth of what happened to the rig, how it was a lost cause. How he lit the fire and blew it all to hell. It appeared that this was the aftermath. In Caz’s head, anyways.

And just up ahead, was a lantern, casting a white light over a floating, and thankfully stable, platform. Beside it, was the first recording of the In Between.

It took a couple jumps, in which he had to steady Suze to keep her from falling in, until they reached it. The woman jumped when he played it, and he couldn’t blame her. The first time he played one of these, he panicked a little at the way the world around them shifted, losing color and flooding with emotion.

The massive cassette tape in the distance, barely visible through the heavy fog, mimicked the movement of the significantly smaller one in the tape player. Caz’s voice spoke up, as though he were right there. “

[kingdomruined]

crínán. • physical. • about. • isms. • aesthetics. • connections.

aaron taylor johnson, gay, male + he/him → isn’t that crínán na tuaighe? i hear that they're (prince) mor'du from brave. i hear they’re 35 (unsure how old bc he didn't age while being an evil bear). they seem to be strong & proud, but also greedy & jealous. their aesthetics include starry nights outside, arrows and bolts deeply lodged inside festering flesh, shoulders drooped with the heavy weight of guilt weighing them down.

BASIC INFO

full name — Crínán Na Tuaighe also known as — mor'du, prince age — thirty-five (his soul is much, much older) gender — cis male, (he/ him/ his pronouns) orientation — homosexual fairy tale connection — brave clothing style — furs and leathers

PHYSICAL INFO

face claim — Aaron Taylor Johnson hair — brown / eyes — blue  height — five foot & ten inches build — broad af T. scars — one scar over his right eye, scarred tissue across his upper back from arrows, bolts and fire over the centuries he spent as a bear tattoos — n/a piercings — n/a special characteristics — old-fashioned, quiet, doesn't turn his back to people

PERSONALITY

positive traits — strong, determined, proud negative traits — greedy, jealous, egoistical, careless hobbies — other than trying to find redemption, he.. doesn't know

MEDICAL INFO

mental — healthy physical — healthy, though the vision on his left eye is not good phobias — witches eyesight — 6/20 (left eye), 18/20 right eye dominant hand — right hand alcohol use — yes diet — mostly meat, but he doesn't care

SPICY INFO

sexual preference — bottom (probably) kinks — breeding, scents, hair pulling, rough, edging, collars + leashes, restraints anti-kinks — gore/scat, blood play

BACKGROUND

birthplace — in a kingdom in the highlands parents — king duncan (deceased) siblings — 3 brothers (deceased) notable skills — bear shapeshifter

BIO

in  the  rugged  and  mist-shrouded  highlands,  where  ancient  stones  spoke  of  long-forgotten  tales,  there  lived  a  king  who  ruled  a  great  and  prosperous  kingdom.  this  king,  wise  and  just,  had  four  sons,  each  fierce  and  proud  in  their  (  and  his  )  own  way.  as  the  king  grew  old  and  felt  the  weight  of  his  years,  he  knew  that  the  time  had  come  to  pass  on  his  crown.  to  keep  his  lands  united  and  his  people  strong,  he  decided  to  divide  the  kingdom  among  his  four  sons,  sharing  the  power  equally.

but  his  eldest  son,  crínán,  the  strongest  and  most  ambitious  of  them  all  -  a  warrior  unmatched  in  strength,  and  in  his  heart,  the  seeds  of  pride  and  greed  had  already  taken  root.  he  refused  to  share  his  crown.  he  wanted  the  kingdom  for  himself,  believing  he  alone  deserved  to  rule.  when  his  father  passed  away,  crínán  defied  his  brothers,  shattering  the  unity  his  father  had  hoped  to  preserve.  the  brothers,  unwilling  to  bow  to  his  tyranny,  rose  against  him,  and  soon  the  once-peaceful  kingdom  was  torn  apart  by  a  brutal  war.

the  battles  raged,  and  crínán's  rage  and  lust  for  power  grew  ever  fiercer.  desperate  to  claim  victory,  he  sought  out  a  dark  witch  deep  within  the  ancient  forest  of  the  highlands.  she  was  a  mysterious  figure,  a  woman  of  shadow  and  power,  known  for  her  wicked  sorcery.  with  cold  eyes  that  saw  through  to  his  hungry  soul,  she  listened  to  his  demands.  crínán  wanted  strength  beyond  that  of  any  mortal—strength  that  would  allow  him  to  crush  his  brothers  and  take  the  kingdom  by  force.

the  witch,  seeing  the  darkness  within  him,  agreed  to  his  request,  but  she  warned  him  that  this  gift  would  come  with  a  price.  but  the  kind,  blinded  by  ambition,  ignored  her  words  and  accepted  the  deal.  she  handed  him  a  potion,  a  brew  thick  and  black  as  night,  and  as  he  drank  it,  a  terrible  change  came  over  him.

his  body  twisted  and  stretched,  his  bones  grew  and  snapped,  his  hands  became  paws  with  claws  sharp  as  daggers,  and  his  face  turned  into  a  monstrous  snout.  he  roared  in  agony  and  fury,  but  the  spell  had  worked  -  granting  him  the  strength  he  desired  —  he  had  become  a  gigantic,  ferocious  bear,  towering  over  any  man,  but  he  had  also  lost  his  humanity.  consumed  by  his  thirst  for  power,  he  had  become  a  beast,  cursed  to  walk  the  earth  in  monstrous  form,  unless  he  mended  the  broken  bond  with  his  brothers.

with  the  strength  of  ten  men  or  more,  the  bear  wreaked  havoc  across  the  land,  his  brothers  were  no  match  for  his  might  and  one  by  one  -  he  crushed  them,  leaving  the  kingdom  broken  and  bleeding,  sinking  into  darkness.  the  years  turned  into  centuries,  and  the  legend  of  Mor'du—  the  king  who  had  become  a  black  bear—  grew  into  a  tale  told  to  frighten  children  and  grown  men  alike.  he  became  a  shadow  in  the  woods,  a  creature  spoken  of  only  in  whispers.  some  said  his  eyes  still  held  the  rage  of  the  man  he  had  once  been,  burning  with  the  regret  of  his  choice.

generations  later,  in  the  kingdom  of  dunbroch,  a  new  story  was  unfolding.  a  headstrong  prince  named  ivor  -  with  fiery  red  hair  and  a  spirit  to  match,  had  set  out  to  change  her  fate.  in  his  struggle  to  save  his  family  and  his  kingdom,  ivor  encountered  the  same  witch  who  had  once  cursed  mor'du.

he  learned  the  story  of  mor'du—the  tale  of  the  prince  whose  pride  had  destroyed  him  and  everything  he  owned  and  loved.  but  ivor  made  the  same  mistake  he  did  and  had  to  pay  the  price.  to  fix  his  mistakes,  he's  led  by  wisps  to  the  castle  that  once  belonged  to  the  man  only  known  from  legends  anymore.  he  found  him,  his  rage  unbroken  and  his  fury  endless. 

he  escaped his mighty claws,  but  when  they  met  again half a lifetime later -- ivor no longer the young fearless prince he met once upon a time ,  mor'du  would  not  give  up  that  easily.  this  time  they  fought  in  a  stone  circle  -  the  one  mor'du  performed  his  spell  in  and  exchanged  his  humanity  for  power  and  greed,  his  soul  bound  to  the  stones  forever.  together  with  his  brothers,  they  took  the  great  black  bear  down,  squashed  under  one  of  the  stones  -  the  very  stones  that  held  onto  his  humanity  for  centuries.  a  change  in  the  air  shook  the  earth  and  a  bright  glow  eradicated  off  the  fallen  giant,  but  when  it  subsided  they  would  no  longer  find  a  bear  slain  underneath.  instead,  they  found  a  man  -  drenched  in  bright  blue  light  -  just  like  the  wisps. 

he  ..was  alive. 

his  heart  drowned  in  sorrow  and  regret,  his  eyes  glazed  over  and  empty,  though  at  the  same  time…  gratitude. 

the  curse  was  lifted  ...it  seemed  and  after  centuries  of  hopeless  wandering,  the  prince  was  human  once  more, even if lost in a time and world that was not his own.  or  so  they  thought.  the  bond  with  his  brothers  could  never  be  mended,  so  regardless  of  his  very  soul  being  back  where  it  belonged,  every  full  moon,  mor'du  would  return  and  wreak  havoc  upon  everybody  in  his  path. 

maybe  one  day  he  could  earn  their  forgiveness,  in  life…  or  in  death.

[sugoi-and-spice]

DnD Commission for a really awesome Anon! Thank you so much for the awesome idea and your OC, and for letting me just have fun with it!

Fandom: DnD

Pairing: OC x Dragonborn, Humans, & Elf

Rating: Explicit - Minors DNI

CW: Scalie (Dragonborn), Monsterfucking (Succubus), Rough Sex, Gangbang, Self-Destructive Behavior, Cuckholding, PnV Intercoure, Spanking, Biting, Oral, Anal (implied), kind of Racism? Well, species-ism.

Love was war. One even more evil and malicious than the one Faust had grown up in. And that was saying something, considering how brutal and long the war between the Kingdom of Mortals and the Kingdom of Demons truly was. Even by demon standards.

Nobody knew how it started. There were legends on both sides about who fired the first shot, most exclusively blaming the other. Both had details that seemed equal parts plausible and equal parts ridiculous. The one thing that was confirmed true, is that it had been going on longer than whole generations had been alive. Including hers. An entire era of hatred and violence unfathomable to history before. Which made Faust’s very existence as a half-demon all the more implausible.

Her mother never explained to her how it happened, and she wasn’t around long enough for Faust to ever badger her properly. It wasn’t like it really mattered anyway. How it happened, whether it be an act of love or war, ultimately had no bearing on what her life would be.

She’d never really belonged in demon society. Well, to be honest, she’d never really belonged anywhere. But she stuck out especially in the world of fangs and wings and violence. She didn’t swallow souls, nor did she partake in the feast of flesh. She had her powers, weaker than most, but they didn’t seem to be for anything. After all, what was the point of being able to seduce prey if she herself didn’t predate.

If it was up to the majority, she knew that the demons would’ve killed her the day she took her first breath. Half-breeds were weak, and weakness had no place on the demon-side of war. 

Maybe that’s why she ended up joining the mortals’ side in the end. To mortals she was strong, impressive even. She liked to think at the surface level that none of that mattered though. That she joined the Kingdom’s side because she cared about life and that deep down she was a good person. But she knew that wasn’t true. Good people didn’t kill just to fit in, they didn’t revel and bliss in their own powers of seduction. They didn’t yearn for a mistake in the battlefield so that her Commander would set her loose to bask in blood. Good people didn’t play with peoples’ lives, as much off the battlefield as on.

Good people were people. And she was not people.

No, in truth she just wanted a place to belong. To be accepted and maybe even, she thought in her young naivete, to be loved. She should’ve known how foolish that idea had been from the start.

In what world would she, a creature of violet skin and twisting horns, belong in a kingdom dominated by warm-toned humans? What mortal could accept, let alone love the very face of the enemy they were trying to protect their homes from? Who could love a monster?

Things did get a little easier when she joined the mortal kingdom’s side. In theory. Thanks to the King’s Pendant she was given, she was identified by anyone that saw her as a non-enemy. Spontaneous attacks and attempts at her life as she knew with the demons, mellowed to hushed whispers and fearful glances.

A lot of people thought that it neutralized her powers altogether, acted as a leash and collar that her party-members could hold and yield to their wishes. And in a way they weren’t wrong. 

Did the pendant do anything to literally stifle her powers? Not in the slightest. But she took great care in not using them outside of battle, at blending in with the crowd as best as she could. By getting her lays entirely on her turn of phrase and tongue and skill alone.

Whether they realized it or not.

Many liked the idea of bedding a “tamed” succubus like her. It was like BDSM, being able to explore their deepest darkest fantasies in a safe environment, but further than that. In an environment that was considered socially acceptable. Forward-thinking even!

When really, they were just human pigs that wanted a taste of the rumors they’d all shared around the campfire as boys at one time or another. The story about how succubi are the greatest lays in existence. 

And in this way, they’d be able to experience that legendary lay, and keep their immortal soul. Win-win-win, right?

Yeah. She supposed so.

After all, she did like the attention. She’d been starved for it for so long. For any attention. She’d always straddled a line that resulted in unending loneliness and rejection from all around her. Too human to be succubus, too succubus to be human. So many times, she’d wanted to be looked at with longing, genuine longing and compassion, not just violent lust. With positive intrigue, rather than confused disgust, a question of just what the hell she was doing there. A wishing she’d ceased to exist. And if meaningless sex was the closest she’d get to that peace, then she’d take it.

Yes, love was a horrible, terrible war. And that’s why she avoided it at all costs.

Faust was fucking exhausted. 

It had been a long, long campaign on the eastern front. Her party had been pinned down for days straight until, due to the sacrifice of many, she managed to infiltrate the enemy Fiend Lord’s castle and seduce him into surrender. She’d fought and suffered just as much as her mortal party members, took even more overnight watch shifts too since she didn’t need as much sleep as the rest, and was as far on the front lines as one could possibly get. (She was the sole invader into the castle afterall). But of course, she received none of the glory, and all of the blame for her fallen comrades (who, from all of the insults they threw at her during the campaign, it was only through gritted teeth she called them comrades). 

After all that, it was understandable why her body begged for the comfort of her bed. Her mind however had other ideas. Running rapidly through the horrors of the day, unable to process the horrible names and treatment she’d experienced on the front, she knew that any sleep she tried to chase would be evasive. She needed to make her mind blank, needed to be needed in one way or another. 

She needed a drink.

Of course, that was easier said than done for a creature of her attributes. It was feat in and of itself for her to first off find a tavern in town that’d actually serve her, let alone serve her well. 

So that’s how she ended up seated at one of the seediest inns at the end of town, surprisingly rowdy with off-duty soldiers and farmers alike, looking to pick up a girl or two (or three or four — that’s how cheap they were here), but woefully alone with no drink in her hand and no barmaid’s attention even after half an hour. 

She expected as much of course, was used to having to fill her stomach with nothing but side glances and patronizing stares for a good while anytime she went out. So she found that it was these times that were as good as any to scope out for her companion(s) for the night.

To begin the hunt for her prey.

There were plenty of options tonight, a smorgasbord of men of which she knew would make fine, flattering company. Some tall, some short, many handsome, many more ugly. All of them eventually meeting her eye with either obvious disgust or ashamed lust. 

All of them, except him. 

Despite how crowded the tavern was, he was looking at her like she was the only one in the room.

He was a beautiful thing, truly. A dragonborn with scales that were more pearlike than white in their effervescence. They seemed to shine different brilliant jewel tones depending on the light in a way that she found intriguing hypnotic.

The dragonborn noticed her looking and quickly snapped back to the bar, sweet little lavender creeping up the back of his neck in a way she couldn’t deny was adorable. So he was a shy one, huh? That’s not what she would’ve expected from a creature like him, and especially not what she would’ve expected from a member of the King’s Royal Guard. Normally these men in golden armor were filled to the brim with confidence and bravado, that’s what wafted through the rest of the room after all. Then again, it wasn’t often one saw a dragonborn in the King’s Guard at all.

Members of the Guard were the most regaled and sought after positions in the King’s Army, and yet the ones with the absolute least work to show for it. As the King’s personal guard and right hand men, they never saw battle, but often acted as if they were on the front lines. She’d had some fun toying around with them before. They were so proud, so cocky, so above it all. Above her. 

“I’ve never done this with someone like you,” they always said, in a tone that dripped with an unsaid “you should be grateful” attitude. 

Fun in the chase, to watch the breakdown of their walls of pride and the blushes that dusted their cheeks as she led them upstairs to her rented room above the tavern. Fun to play with.

Absolutely awful in bed.

This one seemed different though. He wasn’t a captain or a knight, he wasn’t cut with rippling muscles built in the king’s private training grounds or covered in painted on scars. He was downright scrawny actually, clearly uncomfortable in his own scaled skin. It was quite the sight to see, especially for a dragonborn.

She didn’t usually go for types like him, or more accurately, for types like her. For the dragonborns and the tieflings and the other succubi that managed to sneak their way into the Kingdom’s “good” graces. No, she found her tastes firmly in those of humans, elves, and such. Was it prejudice? Maybe. She’d hate to admit it if it was. But it’s not like she wasn’t attracted to them. No, quite the contrary. It’s just that she typically went for the unobtainables, the ones who looked down on her and upon her with fear. 

The ones who’d never threaten her with something real. 

And yet, there was something about him, something she couldn’t describe, something she couldn’t resist. Something that had her walking up to the bar just to be near him before she could talk herself out of it.

He looked away quickly when he realized she was coming over, pretending that he hadn’t noticed her, hoping that she’d just think that he was zoning out. But the lavender blush across the pearly scales of his cheeks betrayed him.

It was pretty cute.

The bartender was facing her, staring right at her in fact when she approached the bar. But the second she tried to speak he turned his back to her. A few more times she tried to wave him down, but he was clearly determined to serve every other patron twice before he even bothered to look her way. 

She was used to this treatment of course, but it didn’t make it any less frustrating. It had her forgetting why she’d come over here in the first place.

A throat cleared next to her. She turned towards it, towards the dragonborn. Oh right, that’s why. Wait… But why was that why?

“What um… What do you want?”

His voice was soft, gentle. It didn’t fit the heavy knight’s armor he and sharp dragon spines that he wore. Nor did the beautiful kindness in his eyes, the genuine desire to help. It was clear that, despite how long he’d been staring at her, he wasn’t asking out of any agenda or scheme to get her into bed. It was just because he wanted to help.

Maybe it was because he empathized with her. Or maybe it was because he genuinely was that nice.

She was bitterly sure that it was the latter.

“Just a wine,” she answered, “Red.”

The dragonborn nodded and politely raised his hand, cheating his body a bit to make his Kingsguard emblem clear and command whatever authority it was worth.

Which was apparently a lot, even for a dragonborn, considering how quickly the bartender attended to him.

She reached into her satchel to pull out some coins to pay the soldier.

“N-No, please. Don’t worry about it.” he insisted, catching onto her actions.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded, “I-It’s um… Tonight’s on my commanding officer for us all. So it wouldn’t be right for me to take your money. Not when I’m getting it all for free, y’know?”

She cocked a brow.

“But it’s alright for you to buy me a drink on your commanding officer’s coin?”

His eyes widened slightly, a slight panic raising through his scales. Clearly he hadn’t thought that one through.

Okay, now that was really cute.

She laughed, patting him on the arm, “Hey, hey — I won’t tell if you won’t, alright?”

He smiled, an adorable crooked little thing, “Th-Thanks.”

The Barkeep finally came around, setting the goblet of wine in front of the dragonborn, of which he promptly, but gently slid across the bar to her. She gave him a nod of thanks and took a drink.

“So,” she smiled at him, the wine warming her chest and her confidence delightfully, “What’s the occasion for your commanding officer to take you all out?”

He looked back at her, genuinely surprised that she was still talking to him.

“O-Oh, well we had a big victory on the Eastern Front today,” he answered, twiddling his claws nervously, “Did… Did you hear about it?”

She could’ve scoffed. Of course she’d heard of it. She’d been in it. She wondered how he and his company had heard about it honestly, considering how deep within the king’s castle walls he was undoubtedly stationed.

“Oh yeah… I guess I did hear about that,” she raised her glass to him, “In the King’s honor.”

He looked down at the bar awkwardly.

“You, uh… You don’t need to toast me. It’s not like I actually did anything,” he shook his head with a chuckle, “I’m just a King’s Guard after all.”

Just a King’s Guard. That wasn’t something she heard often. Typically the King’s Guard were happy to boast about such rank, and to take credit for victories of the front line. (Although they’d just as quickly shove away any responsibilities for failure). They were coveted positions after all. All the honor and glory of a soldier with hardly any of the risk. She wondered what had occurred in this dragonborn’s life to get such a position and yet to be so bitter about it. One — especially one that looked like him — didn’t just stumble into the King’s Guard after all.

He was interesting. Very interesting.

“And yet you celebrate.”

“And yet I celebrate.” he confirmed, taking a drink of his ale.

This was getting bad. She wanted to know more about him. To find the secrets of the sorrow in his voice, the truth behind his sad, gentle eyes. To connect with him. And that simply would not do.

Luckily, she was just as soon saved from the pit of her vulnerability by the boy’s Commanding Officer. A cocky, drunken idiot, from the way he sauntered over to them.

Good. Just what she needed.

“Maugor!” he bellowed, throwing an arm around the Dragonborn’s shoulders, “Just what are you doing hiding over here at the bar.”

He raked his eyes, leeringly, up and down her every curve.

“...And keeping a fine beauty like this all to yourself?”

She turned to him, a sensuous, rehearsed smile across her face. She extended her hand so that the Commanding Officer could take it into his own.

“And who might you be, Darling?”

“Faust.” she purred.

“Faust,” he repeated, just as sultry, placing a kiss on her knuckles, “I’m Captain Melphi.”

“Charmed.”

“I’m sure,” he grinned, “Now what’s a dangerous little thing like you, doing in a fine, upstanding establishment like this?”

“Sir,” the dragonborn, Maugor, hissed, clearly offended on her behalf.

But they both ignored him. Or she pretended to at least. She couldn’t help the way her heart skipped a bit at the backbone he’d instantly grown for her.

“I’m just looking for a good time, Captain.”

He whistled, “Are you now?”

“Yes. Some pure, good old-fashioned fun. Any idea where I can find some?”

“Let me buy you a drink, dear. And I’ll show you.”

She pushed the glass of wine Maugor had bought her out of Captain Melphi’s view, behind her back. Maugor noticed. But she knew she shouldn’t care. Let him notice. Peons like him weren’t why she was here anyway. It was only the Captain Melphi’s of the world that could make her feel truly good, truly safe in herself.

“Lead the way.”

Captain Melphi didn’t ask what she wanted to drink. He just bought several pitchers of ale and brought them, and her, on his arm back to his table with some of his other subordinates. She hated ale to be quite honest. But she took the overgenerous pint he poured her with fake glee. Anything to appeal to him.

He dragged Maugor back to the table with them too.

The long table Melphi had stationed them at was full with many members of he King’s Guard, but the ones that stuck closest to him (aside from her), were a young human named Tophel, and an elf named Les — pronounced “Leese”, he specified. Two humans and a proud, clearly aristocratic elf. She could think of no better companions for the night. Except for maybe—

She shook the thought out of her head, turning to Captain Melphi with intrigue as he made conversation.

“You’re wearing the King’s collar,” he said.

She smiled, stroking the pendant pressing gently into her neck with a coy fondness.

“Aren’t we all?” she asked, flicking her eyes to the Captain’s own medal medals on his lapel. Medals of glory and rank. Medals of the King.

Captain Melphi laughed, a sound both high and haughty.

“Yes, yes,” he answered, reaching forward and running his own thumb against her pendant, “But of course, I was talking about this pretty little piece.”

She let out a little gasp, one that she knew would send shivers of excitement up the Captain’s spine.

“Now how did a beautiful, wicked thing like you, get an honor like this?”

“I just had to be really, really good for the King. Show my tummy as it were.”

“More than that I’m sure,” Les snickered.

Captain Melphi laughed along with him, then walked his fingers across the table towards Faust, “And I bet that was pretty hard for you, you wicked little thing.”

Faust leaned into Captain Melphi’s touch and purred, “You have no idea.”

This was met with whoops and hollers from the two men, the other two sitting curiously silent through all this. The other human, Tophel, was staring enchantedly, unyieldingly at Faust. Maugor was looking at anything but.

She decided to have some more forced fun and play with Tophel.

“Do I have something on my face?” she asked the young human, “You’ve been staring at me like I’ve grown an extra horn or something.”

“Oh, n-no. It’s nothing like that, it’s just,” Tophel took a large gulp suddenly of his ale to give himself some liquid courage, “Well, is it true?”

She tilted her head, playing coy, but genuinely wondering what he was getting at. There were a lot of rumors floating around about not only succubi, but her specifically. She was curious just which this mortal man had heard.

“Is what true?”

“That you can’t use your… powers with that on?” he asked, almost drooling.

“Private,” Captain Melphi faux-snapped, although it was booming enough to strike the young man into attention, “That’s a completely inappropriate thing to ask a lady.”

“S-Sorry Sir!” Tophel yelped with a salute, noticeably only apologizing to his superior. And not to her.

Captain Melphi instead took that honor, running his wide, course thumb over the path from her manicure to her knuckles, “I’m so sorry for the impropriety, my dear.”

“Oh thank you Captain, but I don’t much mind impropriety.”

Captain Melphi smirked, almost growling out in his own excitement, “No, I suppose you wouldn’t, would you?” 

She almost laughed. To think he’d scolded his underling for crudeness. 

The word slut, whore, and all other nasty little variations hung off the end of his words, but he’d save it for now.

Save it for upstairs.

“My powers of manipulation and persuasion, dream-meddling and such — the ones that strip others of choice, and that his Majesty, the King, deemed too dangerous to go unchecked. Those have all been smothered by this,” she exclaimed, gesturing to her collar, “But others, ones that can help in battle. My shapeshifting, my innate understanding of desires, I was allowed to keep.”

Tophel gulped, completely ill-prepared for an explanation like that, particularly one delivered with such unyielding eye contact. 

Captain Melphi, however, expected no less. He raised a mug in cheers, “Well thank God for that.”

Tophel and Les raised their mugs with a “here, here!” Maugor noticeably did nothing, just looked away uncomfortably. She wondered why.

She’d have her chance to dig for the answer soon, as her other three companions got caught up in their own drunken conversation at the moment.

“I’m boring you, aren’t I?” she asked with a fake pout.

Maugor snapped to her, genuinely taken aback by the question.

“What? N-No, you could never, why would you think that?”

“You’ve just seemed a little checked out ever since we sat down here.”

He moved to defend himself, but she was quick to make the kill, whip out the doe eyes and lay on the guilt that would secure him in her clutches.

“Look, I get it,” she sighed through batting eyes, “You’re here to celebrate a great victory for the Kingdom. The last thing you want to do is focus all your night on fraternizing with the enemy. Especially a halfbreed like me.”

It was a dirty little web she was spinning with her words to him, but she’d despise to admit that there was a little bit of truth to him. She liked Maugor. Felt a lot of chemistry with him, a warmth and comfort she hadn’t felt in… Well, she didn’t know if she’d ever felt this from a first meeting. She was intrigued by him, so a deep, deep part of her was devastated to think that maybe he didn’t feel the same way.

Maugor looked down ashamedly, whispering, “It’s not you.”

She smiled sadly, “You don’t have to lie.”

“No really, I’m not!” he insisted urgently, then leaned in, admitting drastically quieter, “It’s them.”

She cocked a brow. This timid little dragonborn had more spine to him than she initially thought.

“Not a fan of your Party, huh?”

“More like they’re not a fan of me,” he muttered then, “Of course, why would they be…”

She shrugged, “Oh I don’t know, it seems like they’re trying to include you.”

“They’re being patronizing,” he insisted, then added, a bit ashamedly, “Just like they’re being to you.”

Faust smiled knowingly, taking a sip of her ale. He was offended on her behalf. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. Had it ever actually happened?

“It’s to be expected though, isn’t it?”

“Yeah it’s to be expected… That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

She hummed a little at this, “Hmmm. You’re a curious one, Maugor.”

He looked back at her, the bitterness in his gaze quickly giving way to curiosity.

“I can’t tell if you’re more offended on your behalf or on mine.”

“Well that should be obvious isn’t it?” he asked, smiling pitifully, “I’m not the one who has to wear a collar.”

“A lot of men like the collar,” she nodded over to his squadmates, “Makes them feel safe.”

“Anyone who doesn’t feel safe around you is a fool.”

“I have powers, you know.”

“Yeah? So does Les. Or any other idiot that stumbles upon an enchanted sword or staff. It’s not the ability that makes someone dangerous. It’s the person. And I know that you’re not a dangerous person.”

She looked away from him, finding it difficult to believe this sort of flattery.

“How do you know? You don’t know a thing about me.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” he hummed, “I just have a feeling.”

“A feeling?” she looked back at him with a deadpan.

“Yeah, a feeling,” he answered, “You feel… good.”

Her eyes widened. Nobody had ever said that to her before.

Lavender shot up Maugor’s face as he realized what he just said, “N-Not that way! I mean, I’m sure you do feel good— n-no! What I mean is— ah, damn…”

Faust couldn’t help but let out a laugh. And one laugh became a string of them. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed, genuinely laughed. Not the fake coy giggles she gave her prey. And she knew that she’d never laughed this hard before. It was a contagious laugh clearly, as once Maugor overcame his initial embarrassment, he joined in too, the two of them reveling in the ridiculousness of all this.

They finally fell out of their laughter just inches away from each other, catching their breath as they looked into each other’s eyes. There was chemistry between them. That was undeniable. She had a feeling that laying with him would be one of the greatest experiences of her life, but not just because of the sparks. 

“Faust?”

She nodded, slowly.

No, there was something more there. 

“I… I um… I’d very much like to kiss you now.”

Her lids grew heavy, her breath hot.

Something she could see herself building a life with.

“Only kiss?” she husked in a tone that had the spines up his back instantly erect.

She found herself leaning in, allowing herself to fall—

“Oh ho ho, what do we have here?” Captain Melphi finally butted back in.

She snapped back to earth, horror sinking into her skin.

Les threw two drunken arms around Maugor and Faust, hugging them both a bit too close for comfort into his alcohol-reeking breath, “I think this might be the beginnings of love!”

No. No, no, no, no, no. That was completely unacceptable. She had to end this now. Cut this sprouting bloom down to the root.

“Say it isn’t so!” Melphi cried in mock-dramatics, then reached forward and grabbed Faust’s chin, “You’re going to make the three of us feel lonely if you just go off with him.”

She hummed in equal mock-contemplation, “Well now we can’t have that, can we?”

Captain Melphi grinned wide and lasciviously.

“Madam!” he bellowed out to the innkeeper, “You have a room available for me and my friends?”

The innkeeper eyed Faust suspiciously, but ultimately nodded and waved over to meet her behind the bar.

Melphi slapped Tophel’s back, sending him to go collect the key as he and Les collected their things and finished their drinks. 

As the boys alternated between drinking and whispering not-so-sweet nothings in her ears, she looked over to Maugor. He looked more than disappointed. He looked completely dejected. He’d certainly be bummed if the night ended like this, her going up to the room with his party members as he sulked soberly back to his home. But it wouldn’t be truly over. They could still run into each other, in the taverns or amongst the guard. They could still have something blossom.

And that just absolutely would not do. She needed to shatter all of those hopes and dreams. Hit where it would hurt the most.

“Got the key!” Tophel cheered as he practically sprinted back to the squad.

“After you then, my dear.” Captain Melphi gestured to Faust, to which she gave a teasing little curtsy that had the boys laughing. (Because what succubus could ever deem to try and be classy).

“Hey, you coming Maugor?” Les called back.

The dragonborn froze in the midst of bussing their goblets and quickly looked away nervously. “N-No, I don’t think so…”

“What?” Melphi demanded, “But she wants you kid. Don’t you, honey?”

Maugor looked at Faust, who nodded “shyly” at him, eyelashes fluttering, “Yes, Captain. I do.”

The dragonborn began to sputter, completely taken aback, “B-But I, I mean I don’t think— I’ve never—”

“Of course you’ve never,” Les snorted, “Nobody’s doubting that. So what better time than now?”

“Yeah Maugor! Come get your cherry popped!” Tophel cheered.

Captain Melphi rolled his eyes, quickly losing his patience with all of this verbal foreplay, “Are you seriously hesitating? When else is someone like you gonna get a chance like this again?”

Maugor looked down ashamed. 

Faust approached him, cupping his chiseled, spiked jaw in her soft as velvet palms.

“Please, I want you to join us,” she purred, Maugor’s eyes widening as she turned his head up to look at her, “I want you.”

Faust gulped.

“O… Okay.”

Tophel was an eager one, unbuckling his belt before the door had even shut behind them. But Melphi was quick to stop him.

“Whaaaaat?” he whined.

“Be patient, private,” he explained, “This beauty here was Maugor’s find originally, he should be the one to have the conquest.

Faust rolled her eyes (out of view) as she shed her cloak onto one of the nearby couches. Well wasn’t he generous? She made her way over to Maugor, who stood awkwardly just next to the main bed, staring at it.

She walked up to him, splaying her hands across his breastplate. Even through all that armor, she could feel him quiver under her touch.

“Hi,” she whispered to him.

Maugor looked at her confused for a moment, but then melted a little, relaxed. Loving the way he was speaking just to her.

“H-Hi,” he breathed back.

She smiled. God he was cute.

“Awww, come on, can’t we at least all have her.” Tophel continued to whine, just within earshot.

“Soon, kid soon.” Melphi patted Tophel’s shoulder.

“Yes,” Les said under his breath, “Let the beasts have their moment.”

Faust tried not to cringe at that. And normally she wouldn’t, normally it would hit her armor and bounce right off. But this time she saw the hurt in Maugor’s face at that statement, and it made her heart ache. He looked like he wanted to turn around and say something. Something he’d probably regret.

So she pulled him down into a kiss before he had the chance.

Kissing a dragonborn was quite the experience. The texture of his lips, which appeared rough and rigid, were actually incredibly smooth and cool to the touch in an absolutely addictive way. His tongue, when she finally was able to pull it out of him, was long and strong, able to reach back to the back of her throat if he wasn’t careful. And she kind of didn’t want him to be careful. 

And yet he was. So, so careful. His hands running up and down her back featherlight across her skin, careful not to scratch or catch in anyway. He never pushed forward or pulled her into him, just followed her lead. Part of it was probably his virginal status. But she was pretty sure that he was also just like this too. As sharp as he was, he’d never let someone get hurt on his point.

Maybe that’s why he became a King’s Guard. Not out of fear of death, but so he wouldn’t hurt anyone.

She pulled away reluctantly, a long trail of spit connecting the two panting lovers. She could kiss him for days she knew, but right now she wanted more.

“Do you want me to undress you?” she purred between labored breaths.

“N-No,” he answered, stepping back hesitantly, “I’ve got it.”

She smiled, smitten with his shyness.

That adoration very quickly turned to desperation however as he shed his uniform. Of course those beautiful, iridescent scales went all the way down his body, but what she wasn’t necessarily expecting was the toned, lean muscle they covered. He’d seemed downright scrawny in all that armor back down at the bar, but here it was clear that even though he may have been the runt of the hatchlings at one time, he was anything but weak now. He’d gone through boot camp just like the rest of them, and came out the otherside a gorgeous specimen.

God, and then there was his cock, she thought greedily as it bounced out from his trousers. Thick and dipping a bit under its own weight. It contrasted the rest of his body deep violet — a color she’d always hated in her own skin, but that she had to admit looked absolutely exquisite on Maugor.

She was on her knees in front of him before he could even turn back to her, capturing him in her mouth before he could get a single word out.

“Ngh—!”

His hands reached down to cup her face, pulling her off of him gently but shakily.

“P-Please, you don’t have to—”

“Do you not want me to?” she asked.

His eyes widened a bit, and then he looked away with a blush.

“I… I never said that.”

She grinned, pressing his cockhead against her lips as she whispered, “Then there’s no problem.”

He cried out, hooked toes audibly curling into the wooden floor as she took him back into her mouth.

The feel of him was even more glorious than the view. Impossibly hot, but smooth as silk. His precum tingled her tongue, and the dribbles of it seemed endless. She could feel her own body getting hotter and hotter with every taste. She realized all too late that it must’ve had an aphrodisiacal quality to it, and just how addictive it felt to be on the other side of a power like that.

Maugor gasped as Faust pulled off of him with a pop. She couldn’t wait anymore. He was making it impossible to wait anymore.

She looked up at him with pure sex in her eyes.

“How do you want me?”

Maugor gulped.

“I… I want to look at you.”

Her smile widened, god he was cute. She could definitely work with that.

She climbed back onto the bed with her legs spread shamelessly. Maugor didn’t dare move, too awestruck by the spectacular view, the heavenly situation he’d somehow found himself in.

Faust chuckled, falling harder and harder for his sweetness by the second, “Well? Do you just want to look at me?”

“Yeah rookie,” Melphi piped in, “Are you just gonna look? Or do you need your Commanding Officer to show you how it’s done?”

Maugor’s eyes widened in horror.

“N-No!” he yelped, then corrected gruffer, “I mean, no.”

He stepped forward, grabbing her legs with fake roughness (in reality he held her quite delicately), and moved them to wrap around his hips. Even his fake-dominance sparked something new in her, and it got her thinking just how much damage he could really do to her if he tried. 

She sighed blissfully as she tightened her legs around him, reveling in the feeling of his smooth, cool scales pressing into her thighs. He didn’t even need to line himself up with her, the hot soak of her womanhood, the bullying weight of his cock, it was like they were made for each other, magnetic. Like two missing puzzle pieces, he instantly started to sink.

Maugor let out a strangled yelp that had their other companions bursting out laughing.

"Attaboy, Maugor! Attaboy!” Captain Melphi cheered out.

“Woooo!” Tophel joined in, as Les applauded politely between them.

But Maugor ignored them, tracing his claws delicately along her jaw. He was too engulfed in the way that she moaned and writhed just on the feeling of him being inside her. Everything about him, the size and stretch, the texture, the heat it was enough to have her almost cumming on the spot.

Almost.

She tightened her legs around his hips, urging him to fuck her.

“W-Wait,” he gasped, “I-I-I don’t think I’m gonna last.”

Faust smirked. God he was so cute.

“I don’t mind, sweetheart.”

“I do,” he whined.

She chuckled, reaching her hand out to rest against his chest. It glowed subtly at where they connected and Maugor’s eyes widened.

“You have nothing to worry about my darling.”

And suddenly he grew even harder inside her.

“I’ll keep you going as long as you want.”

A blissed out growl tore from the back of his throat then, animalistic in it’s gratitude as he dragged himself out of her slowly, then slammed back in definitively.

Faust practically squealed in delight, falling in love with the way his claws dug ever so slightly into the meat of her hip and shoulder. 

“We can switch positions anytime you like,” she gasped out between thrusts.

“N-No, no way! You’re… You’re so beautiful,” he groaned, cupping her entire face in just one of his hands, “So, so beautiful!”

Something struck her oddly at those words, the desperate honesty in them. Something that had her chest aching and eyes prickling. So as Maugor figured out a new, delicious roll of his hips, she threw her head back not just from the pleasure, but to whip those feelings back.

She lost track of how long he fucked her, it could’ve been minutes, could’ve been hours — she wanted to let him go on for days. Particularly when he found a brand new rhythm, his legs spreading wide enough so that his thich hit the mattress with every thrust, that forced her own knees up into his ribs. Grinding and humping into her deeper and harder than before.

“S-So good, amazing! I-I wanna fuck you forever!” he groaned out. 

And she had full intentions of letting Maugor do so, to fuck her until he was in tears begging her to cum. And yet, with the feel of his pelvis grinding into her clit, the powerful thrusts of his strong, beautiful cock unlike any she’d ever had, and the overwhelming feelings he was filling her with, she found herself coming completely (and prematurely) undone.

Her hand fell from Maugor’s chest, twisting tight in the sheets as her orgasm wracked through her, and as a result, her dragonborn companion was not far behind. His cock swelled impossibly harder, hotter as he slammed into her with newfound feverishness, chasing his own orgasm desperately behind her.

“Oh— Oh, god, I— I’m—!”

Maugor dropped his head into her shoulder, instinct completely taking over as he sunk his teeth into the crux of her neck. They went deep, those sharp monstrous teeth of his, but his cock went even deeper, bullying further and further into her until it was kissing her cervix. Then, when she was as tight to him as physically possible, did his body finally allow him to cum.

Instinct. That’s what she knew she should write it off as. Nothing more than an instinctual need to mate. And yet, she found herself getting completely lost in his grip, in the warmth and desire that his tightness promised. It was like he never wanted to let her go, not even for a second. Like he worshiped her. 

Like he was falling in love with her.

The feeling was even harder to deny when he finally pulled away from her, horror filling his expression as he saw the dribble of deep violet blood pooling down into her collarbone.

“O-Oh my—” he panicked, looking around quickly until he could grab a piece of clothing (one of his dressings notably), to clean her off with, “I’m so, so sorry!”

She smiled up at him dazedly, falling deeper and deeper into his cuteness, that sweet lavender blush of his.

“I-I don’t know what came over me! Really, I’m so so so—”

“It’s okay!” she finally spoke, stopping Maugor’s rambling in his tracks. She reached up to him, running her hands along the spines on his jaw affectionately, “I actually really liked it.”

Maugor’s light lavender flush suddenly set ablaze a raging violet close to her own skin. And she couldn’t help but giggle. How such a sweet, adorable thing could have ended up in a haughty, terrible organization like the King’s Guard, she’d never know.

And she really couldn’t wait to find out.

“Oh you did, did you?” Melphi suddenly said, shocking Maugor and Faust both out of their stupor.

They had both forgotten that they weren’t alone.

She snapped back to the Captain, white hot panic flooding her chest. For anyone else, that panic would be at the realization that, after potentially just making a soul connection with Maugor here, she’d now have to deal with the three other King’s Guardsmen, rubbing themselves with and without clothes at the sight.

But she wasn’t anyone else. And fucking more men wasn’t the problem.

What was she doing? Getting emotionally attached to a lay? That’s not what these escapades were for, that’s not what anything she did was for. Following down this path, it’d only get her hurt in the end.

She needed to do what she came here to do, do exactly what she’d always intended with Maugor and end this, end this right fucking now.

“I should’ve known a Succubus Slut like you would like it rough,” he smirked, reaching his large, commanding hand towards her body.

Maugor hunched over her protectively, making her heart ache. Why was he making this so much harder than he needed to?

“I think she’s had enough,” he growled.

Captain Melphi shook his head with a laugh, “Oh virgins. Come now Maugor, that’s enough of that. It’s time to share.”

Maugor crouched tighter over her, appearing totally like a dragonborn worth the name.

“She doesn’t want to!” he snapped.

Melphi just looked between the two, amused.

“Is this the truth dear? You don’t want the rest of us?”

Maugor glared at his commanding officer, “That’s what I said—”

“Of course I do.”

Maugor snapped back to her, shocked.

“Wait… W-What—?”

Captain Melphi smirked, reaching his hand down past Maugor and running his thumb along Faust’s bottom lip.

“That’s what I like to hear.”

The corners of Faust’s lips quirked a little back, before she opened it slightly to allow his thumb access. She wasn’t obscene about it, she just let her mouth go soft around him, her tongue running sweet little swirls around the tip. Regardless, it caused a nearly inhuman growl to leave that human.

“And that’s what I love to see.”

Faust rolled over onto her hands and knees, her mouth latched to Melphi’s thumb the whole time. She barely threw back a teasing glance at Maugor as she climbed out from under him, but that was long enough for her to see the devastated look on his face.

And even more troubling, long enough to make her feel bad about it.

Tophel had practically clamored over his squadmates to get to Faust. And even though Melphi had been the one to pull her away from Maugor, he was a chivalrous enough Captain to hand her over to his subordinate with grace.

The young human soldier was completely obsessed with her tits. Squeezing and rolling them, pinching and biting. They were everything for him. Everything.

“God they’re perfect,” he whined from between them, “So perfect.”

Les and Melphi snickered from the couch across from them. Shaking their heads at the shameless display of their youngest squadmate.

“Yeah, you’ve been in them for like ten minutes!” Melphi called out.

“Aren’t you bored?” Les added.

“Never, oh no no, never!” he cried out before latching himself onto her nipple in a manner that had her struggling not to roll her eyes.

Melphi chuckled, turning to Maugor who sat actively looking away on the couch arm.

“What do you think, son?” he asked, “Think that rack is worth all that hype?”

The dragonborn didn’t say anything. Just took a swig from one of the bottles of wine they’d brought up to the room and stared at the wallpaper.

Melphi waved him off, turning back to the scene in time to see Tophel shoving Faust onto her back so that he could climb onto her chest.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” he chuckled.

Faust, figuring the drill, grabbed onto her breasts and started to push them together for him as he pulled off his pants and shimmied up to straddle her ribcage. But he held a hand out, stopping her.

“Not yet, just one second,” he told her, “Hold them open actually.”

She gave him a confused look but did as she was told.

Then he spat on her chest. 

Les and Melphi burst out laughing across the room, particularly amused by the confused look on Faust’s face.

“Now rub ‘em together.” Tophel ordered excitedly.

“Oh you sick, fuck!” Melphi laughed.

Tophel ignored them, just looking at her expectantly.

“Well, come on.”

Although taken aback, she did what she was told. Rubbing her cleavage together and in rounds so that Tophel’s saliva coated the skin in-between evenly.

“Now open again.”

This repeated about three more times, Tophel spitting all over her breasts, her nipples, and her having to rub it all about herself until she was completely coated and shiny in her spit.

“There we go,” he practically drooled, grabbing her tits from her and holding them together almost painfully tight, “That’s what we want.”

And he slipped his dick between them, only lasting a good five pumps before he was coating her skin all over again.

Les just wanted her mouth. An Elf like him would never dare to sink so low as to sink his dick into a filthy succubus. And honestly, even calling it a blowjob would be generous for herself. Apparently, he was too high and mighty to believe that a literal sex demon would ever be able to pleasure him.

His fingers curled tight around her horns, moving her head up and down and up and down at a quick, yet metronomic pace. Every time she tried a move of her own, he’d immediately pull her back, giving her an obnoxious tutting and a finger wag.

“Nuh-uh-uh. Not like that. Just follow my lead, silly girl.”

His lead apparently was just jacking himself off with her mouth.

Everything about him was perfect, she supposed. His endless silver locks. His fine, truly porcelain skin. The lithe, rippling muscles of his abdomen. Anyone would be lucky to even be seen with him, let alone have him as a lay.

That’s what he kept telling her anyway.

“This must be a big deal to you, to have an elven cock in your mouth. I’m sure you’ve never dreamed of having something this fine.”

Before she could nod or even hum in agreement, he was giving a quick little patronizing pat to her forehead.

“No need to answer. I already know.”

“God, Les, you’re a douchebag!” Tophel groaned from across the room.

“Hey now, hey now, Tophel,” Melphi scolded, “You had your fun, now let the douchebag have his.”

Les scoffed at them.

“Fun? Oh please, this barely even passes the t-time,” he said in a voice, that through its breathiness and cracking said something completely different.

The closer he got, the longer he kept her pinned to his perfectly angular (and shaved), pelvis. At one point he wasn’t even pulling her back anymore, just holding her in place as he rolled his hips, fucking the quickly-constricting back of her throat.

When he did finally yank her head back for the last time, allowing her to gasp and sputter, dark-faced, he was just as quick to slap a hand over her lips, looking her dead in the eye as he pumped himself quickly, perfectly.

“Now don’t you dare swallow.”

Faust understood. After all, who was she to even think about swallowing precious, elven cum?

Ugh, whatever.

Captain Melphi himself was an ass man, in every sense of the word.

She gasped as he slapped a broad palm with moderate power against her cheek.

“That wasn’t too hard, was it?”

Faust looked back up at him from her place across his knee and smiled pretty. 

“No, not at all Captain.”

Melphi grinned absolutely obscenely.

“Oh yeah, I bet you like it hard, don’t you?” he growled, punctuating with a slap across her ass much harder than the last.

She yelped out in surprise, “Y-Yes! Yes Captain!”

Melphi bellowed out a laugh deep from within his gut, practically giddy from the pleasure this abuse brought him.

“You see this boys?!” Captain Melphi called out to his squad.

Les and Tophel looked up from their spots across the room, where they had been recuperating with wine and smokes.

“This is what we’re going to do to every demon bitch we come across on the battlefield!” he cheered with another, harder slap.

“Here, here!” Tophel back.

 “You don’t even have to worry about whether you’re hurting them or not!”

Slap.

Tophel and Les watched the sight, completely entranced.

“They’ll fucking like it!”

Slap.

Maugor laid abandoned on the spare bed across the room, his back to them all.

“They’ll fucking love it!”

Slap. Slap. Slap.

“Isn’t that right you dumb, succubus whore?” he paused his assault momentarily, so as to growl into her ear.

Tears started to prick the corner of her eyes. From the pain, from the words, or from the fact that Maugor couldn’t even bear to look at her anymore, she wasn’t sure. She supposed it didn’t matter. After all, this is what she’d wanted. This is all she could ever truly bring herself to hope for.

So she swallowed back her tears and looked back at Captain Melphi with a wobbly smile.

“Y-Yes, Captain. I fucking love it!”

Melphi let out a combination of a groan and a laugh, his cock twitching hard at that pathetic, beautiful look on her face. 

“Go bend over the bed, bitch.” he commanded, giving her ass one last slap.

She nodded, getting up onto fawn-like legs that made the men around her laugh as she stumbled over to the bed. She started to bend over so she could grab onto the sheets, but was momentarily stopped by a perfectly unsoldierlike hand. Les’ hand.

“Nuh uh uh,” he wagged his finger at her, “Not quite yet.”

Les took a seat right in the spot that she was about to bend over, stroking himself back to full mast.

“Now go ahead,” he waved to her aristocratically, a gesture that just seemed absurd when done next to his own desperately pumping hand.

She did as told, bending over Les’s hips, registering out of the corner of her eyes that Tophel was hurrying onto the bed next to him, getting himself into prime tit-grabbing position.

And then Melphi saddled up behind her, the thick hairs of his bare thighs rubbing against her own. 

The gang's all here, she thought bitterly. All except Maugor of course.

Faust gasped out as Melphi pushed his cock roughly against her clit, giving Les the prime opening to pull her down onto his own dick. She moaned deep around him as Melphi rubbed the tip of his cock up and down the length of her pussy, coating himself, coaxing her.

It felt good, great even. The greatest she’d felt with any of these three. Although of course, nowhere near as close as she’d felt with Maugor…

No! She scolded herself. No, those thoughts needed to stop. After all, he could barely even look at her anymore. Any chance they may have had of being together had been shattered. He had been shattered. And that was a good thing, the best thing even. It was what she wanted! She needed to focus on what she always wanted.

She pulled herself off of Les so that she could beg, “Come on, please.”

Melphi cocked a brow at what in another tone of voice could be mistaken for a command. But he’d let that slide, given the circumstances.

“Oh, you want it that bad huh?” he grinned, swirling the head of his dick around her clit, “Some nice, good human cock.”

“Y-Yes, please,” she gasped.

Melphi chuckled, pulling his dick slowly one last time up the back of her pussy, and further still, until it was nestled right in at the pucker of her asshole.

“As you wish.”

Hours later, the room was still. Not particularly silent though, as the Guardsmen she’d laid with all seemed to have a nasty snoring problem. (Yes, even the fucking elf).

But that wasn’t a problem. The deeper they slept, the easier this’d be.

She opened up Captain Melphi’s satchel. Like the others, there hadn’t been any big or exciting treasures. Just way too many bills and coins than any person with a brain should be carrying around, especially when they’d be leaving their coin purses out amongst strangers. 

And also like the others, she didn’t take all of it. Only about a quarter, a pretty new chunk of change, but not enough for Melphi to immediately notice. This was maybe the sleaziest part of her routine, she’d admit, but how else was she supposed to get money to live off of?

It’s not like the King paid demons like her.

Faust stood up, her spoils thrown over her shoulder in her own satchel. She made her way to the exit, not bothering to look back. After all, what would she even find? Everyone was knocked out.

“Is that what all this was for then?”

She froze.

Everyone except him.

Faust turned back, locking eyes with Maugor who sat up in his bed across the room. His stare was hard, hateful. Just like all the others. 

And it broke her heart.

She hardened her own resolve, staring back at him just as coldly.

“It was.”

“All of it?” he breathed.

“Yes.”

Maugor shook his head, clearly brokenhearted, but more than anything disgusted. It was a look that she hated to see on his sweet porcelain face. It truly didn’t belong there. 

“Are you gonna turn me in?”

He tsked, amazed that after everything that was happening here, that was all that she had to say.

“Just get out,” he growled, “You’re not worth the trouble.”

Faust smiled, a sad desolate smile she was sure that he would interpret as taunting, “I’m glad you realized that.”

Maugor just waved her out of the room, paying no mind to the treasures she’d collected. Let her have them. Let her have them for her sick, silly, pathetic demon life. 

And so she left.

She made her way out of the room, out of the tavern. Through the empty streets back to her little closet of a room in the military barracks. 

Feeling just a bit emptier than when she went in.

[parselmouths]

tag dump 🐍 !

[horizon-verizon]

https://www.tumblr.com/greenqueenhightower/752887497388851200/i-was-just-thinking-of-rhaenyra-and-alicent-per?source=share

It will always make me laugh that Rhaenicent fans always bring up the fact that Rhaenyra wanted to fly a dragon with Alicent in episode 1 and that they should do it. Except what they always forget is that Alicen never wanted to ride a dragon. Rhaenyra implies the proposition to her and she clearly refuses, then says nothing when Rhaenyra brings it up again when they are studying. Alicent never wanted to ride a dragon, even with Rhaenyra.

So what is this habit of always associating Alicent with dragons ?

Also... GRRM has already written about women in love.

And if Rhaenicent fans want a lesbian power couple who send men to shit for being in love together and ruling together... well I'm sure there must be some really good fantasy that offers that. Clearly even I would read it if it exists. But Rhaenicent was never supposed to be that.

This ship doesn't even exist in Fire and Blood. One thing that fans of this ship also seem to forget so obviously GRRM never gave you anything from Rhaenicent. It never existed in the story he wrote.

And also, Rhaenicent is just bad queerbaiting through the interviews and marketing of the HOTD show.

But I believe these are truths that Rhaenicent stans are not ready to hear.

So anti-rhaenicent-ism actually been a thing for as long as the show first aired back in 2022. Some users: rhaenyragendereuphoria, the-king-andthe-lionheart, la pheacienne, etc. all I believe queer, trans, or enby people.

They take the presentation of the "Opposites Attract" trope as HotD applied it to these two too to heart/face value without examining the critical contradictions and lack of substantial material proving the bond in the first place. That's how I see it.

[anruraiocht]

miranda and her friege-isms

We know precious little about Ulster!! It's fine though!! I'm the only person alive who cares, but I care quite a bit!!

What we do know is that anywhere from 762 (765 if we think kaga is insane for thinking a two year old and three year old had enough developed long term memory to be able to recognize each other a decade later. Engage confirms this later timeline, more or less.) House Friege executes the king of Ulster and then Bloom moves right into his house.

Where does that leave the princess of Ulster, who was taken hostage?

Mental illness.

Whether she likes it or not, Miranda was more or less raised by House Friege (and Conomor) from age 2~5 to age 13~14* and this has irreversibly changed her as a person, reflected through gameplay.

Mage Knight

Miranda's promoted class, Mage Knight, is overwhelmingly associated with House Friege. As in, almost every other named Mage Knight throughout both Jugdral games belongs to House Friege, with the sole exceptions of Azelle and Miranda.

I stress the named part because one of Conomor's NPC bozos (Ulster aligned) in chapter 19 is a Mage Knight. He has Tornado and a Great Sword, if you're curious. The Mage Knight (Friege aligned) associated with Amalda in chapter 19 has Thoron instead, consistent with most of the other Friege aligned Mage Knights.

...Of course, we must remember that Ulster has been under Friege control for 13 years at this point, which muddies the waters on whether we can consider this sufficient evidence that Mage Knights are also common in Ulster or if this too is another case of adapting to the environment.

At most, we can prooooobably assume that one or both of her parents were a magic user in some way? Just due to the way class inheritance tends to happen between parents and children in Jugdral.

Wrath

While in her native FE5, Wrath as a personal skill is kind of just handed out to whoever (Miranda and Sara are the only two girls in FE5 who have Wrath as a personal skill, fun fact), in FE4, Wrath is locked to the playable members of House Friege minus Amid, plus Julius... who is neither playable nor a member of House Friege, betrothal aside, but I thought it was funny to bring up. Two ships passing in the night.

The Ethnia Issue

I just think Umemura made a really poor choice in reusing names here lmfao. Miranda has no Holy Blood to speak of, is unable to wield the Bragi Sword, and the timelines simply just don't line up. We know that Miranda was in Ulster at the time of the assassination attempt because that's how she knows Leif and co. This would have required Ethnia(F) to abandon Miranda by herself in Ulster to run away with Linda and Amid to Silesse and then be dragged back to Ulster with Linda anyway.

This also would create an awkward situation where Linda, who would also be one of Ulster's heirs, is able to act freely (I use this term very loosely lol) while Miranda is treated fully as a hostage which ?????????

And...to be quite honest, I think Miranda's base E rank for thunder magic just does not track with having Thrud blood. Tine and Linda start at B and A respectively, while Arthur starts at B and Amid.......who mysteriously only has access to thunder magic on promotion, will then get it at rank A. Miranda does get thunder magic weapon experience on promotion (along with fire magic weapon experience, which she already has a head start in), but it's certainly not enough to take her from E to B.

It's an interesting hc for sure, but I think it's genuinely more impactful for Miranda to not be related to House Friege in any way. I am much more invested in Miranda's relationship to her captors being based in nurture rather than nature and the stress of turning out more like the people who raised you than your actual parents.

*Did you know that promotional material lists Miranda as 14 but in 16A Conomor explicitly refers to her as "only 15" implying her birthday happened sometime after the start of the game but before May (17B)? I think that's so funny way to continuously kick her down the stairs kaga. you can only find out her birthday passed if you leave her to rot isnt that so foul

[thegeminisage]

tng update time! tonight we did "the enemy" and "the price."

the enemy: this one was soooo fucking good. chef's kiss.

to start with, LOVE geordi getting more screentime that doesn't have to do with a creepy holodeck gf. it was such a cool way to show the unique skillsets he has - that he could see metal ore in those walls where no one else would have, that he can see a beacon others can't - but then when he stops being able to use his visor, he does still need help.

the MESSAGING?? i just KNEW worf would be the only possible donor who could save that romulan and i figured by the end he would put aside his old and pointless hatred and do the ""right thing"" especially when everybody kept begging him to and ESPECIALLY when the romulan said he'd rather die than accept help but then he DIDN'T???

like geordi quite literally almost died because he tried to help his romulan rather than swipe his gun and here worf is refusing this other romulan so much as a single drop of blood. wouldn't piss on the guy if he was on fire if you'll forgive the use of that phrase. i LOVE that picard could have ordered him and didn't, i LOVE that they straight up let the romulan die. his body his choice! like genuinely in all seriousness! you can't force him to give up his autonomy even to save a life! you can't unseat deep-rooted hatred in a single 45-minute episode! worf could have saved his life with no risk and no pain and was just as happy to let him die.

i really wanted just like ONE more scene. like, maybe where the romulan who lived asked about the other one and realized worf let him die, or maybe didn't realize it but geordi did, or another scene with worf after he finds out the romulan is dead. idk. it felt like it needed 5 more minutes to really punch me in the solar plexus. to somehow really put in stark contrast geordi's peaceful hippie-ism and worf being a stone cold bitch (honorific) and the different ways that like, affects the future of this romulan survivor to tie into the theme of cylical bitterness (worf) vs the breaking of the cycle (geordi).

like it's just SO shocking they had worf let the guy die. it truly elevates the episode from good to great, imo. do you guys ever think about the cold war being so long that they made tos AND tng episodes about it?? i hadn't before today but now i do.

oh also i liked worf's little chat with riker. they should kiss about it <3

the price: this one was so bad. oh women. women, i am so fucking sorry

it's a shame deanna was SO hot and had so many beautiful outfits in this episode because it FUCKING SUCKED

first of all the """romance""" in this episode came on so fast and suddenly i actually googled the wikipedia page while we were watching to make sure i didn't miss anything. what i missed was him being a secret empath which wasn't until later but they were so familiar with each other i thought that they were exes or something, it was absolutely baffling

secondly, every SINGLE line that came out of this guy's mouth was so creepy and such a red flag that it gave me hives. he was utterly unsympathetic in every possible way and i have never hated anyone more

the, like, minute-long shot of deanna's feet while he gives her a footrub. please, enough

oh yeah and the EXERCISE SCENE??? WHERE THEY HAD THEM IN SKIMPY OUTFITS AND PRACTICALLY SCISSORING??? whoever wrote this episode should go directly to hell

it could have been fine. we clearly see the setupnof deanna having no work/life balance (a plot immediately forgotten in favor of filming fetish fuel) and a fellow empath who could have been a great foil, since he uses his power for personal gain and she uses it to help others, and HIS work-life balance seems to go entirely in the other direction. instead we got, um, whatever that was.

anyway the wormhole plot would have been fine on its own. it reminded me a little of farscape <3

but i have less and less tolerance for the ferengi every time they show up...even before we get into the antisemetic caricature, they're also annoying and not funny?? i think i liked them better in seasons 1 and 2 simply because they were better than everything else going on in seasons 1 and 2...the ferengi ep in season 1 was the first season 1 episode i actually thought was watchable. i know they get better in ds9 though

the one really great moment in this ep, which unfortunately was not enough to make the rest of it worth it, was when deanna's love interest tried to make riker jealous and riker was like oh no hey if you bring happiness to her life then nothing would please me more. she can bring value to yours since it's worthless <3

like. KING behavior. not only was it satisfying to see this guy put in his place it was also fucking hilarious. i love riker sm. i'm telling you this guy is polyam worf/riker/deanna could be real we could make it happen worf literally has two ***** there's enough of him to go around. sorry for saying that.

ANYWAY, next time it's "the vengeance factor" and "the defector."

[roocomehome]

simblr question of the day: what are your Ocs/Sims' aesthetics/vibes?

thank you [sqotd] anon! just wanna preface by saying that I don't know aesthetics by name so I'm just kinda go off vibes/key-words/words-that-describe-OCs I guess LMAO some of the key words will be repetitive across multiple ocs lol

Roo; Clutter, Purple/Lavender, Blue, Hearts/Realistic Hearts, Nostalgia/ic, Rural, Flora/Greenery/Lush Environment, Forgetfulness, Mundane, Gay/Homosexuality (I'm sorry I had to), Mustelids, Lankiness, Physical Touch, Quality Time, Obsessiveness/Love, Tech/Old Tech/Tech-core, Longing

Leo; Anger, Cleanliness, Pink, Green, Toxic Masculinity, Cold/Ice/Snow, Fire, Blizzards, Wild-fires, Explosiveness, Desire, Homophobia, Addiction, Mistakes, Christianity, Change, Humble Abode, Masking [personality], Physical Touch, Fragility, Lions, Suburban

Nirvana; Quality Time, S^x, Betrayal, Loyalty, Fireworks, Starry Skies, Blood, Gore, Predators animals, Teeth, Shooting Stars, Medieval, Rural, Misandry, Worship, Red, Rage, Cherries [Or any red fruit frankly], Revenge, Smoking, Perfectionism, Desire, Bats/Vampirism (go figure she's a half vampire), Space, Candles, Lightning, Love, Abuse, Sparks, Christianity

Hero; Cursed, Orange, Red, Green, Yellow, Fear, Nostalgia, Deserts, Rural, Eerie, Horror, Haunted, Lost, Liminal-ism(?), Supernatural/Unreal, Eyes, Fog, Darkness, Nothingness, Clutter, Deer-in-headlights, Giraffes, Prey animals

Onia; Masking, Green, Yellow, Anger, Wolves, Sheep, Blood, Traps, Metal, Magic, Urban/Suburban, [But also] Rural, Glow/ing, Denial, Abandonment, Observant/Observation, Blood, Disbelief, Goats, Skin, Dismemberment, Replacement, Masochism (sort of), Rotten Apples, Kindness, Jealousy, Envy, Horns/Points/Sharp objects

Ithuriel; Yellow, Red, Orange, Betrayal, Religion, Fear, Joy, Urban, Renaissance, Sun, Physical Touch, Intimacy, Loneliness, Isolation, Dogs, Cats, Bears, Day, Clouds, Blood, Burden, Destruction, Desire, Longing, Sin

Nanel; Eyes, Yellow, White, Angels, Religion, Christianity, Rural, Nudity, Shame, Blessings, Paleness, Blind, Renaissance, Snow, Sun, Godrays, Albinism, Physical Touch, Connection, Wrong, Messenger, [Angel] Wings, Night, Stars, Shooting Stars, Doves, Deer, Dogs, Worship, Ease, Silence, Worry

Uhhh yea there you go LMAO I think there's def a lot more keywords I could put for some of these ocs but I had to stop myself 😭

[scary-movies-on-netflix]

DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965)

This is a horror anthology film.  A bunch of dudes get on a British train and meet Dr. Schrek.  He says that his name means “terror” in German (Deutsch), and he is Peter Cushing!  He has a deck of tarot cards, which he calls his “house of horrors.”  He invites the men to witness their futures!

WEREWOLF: An architect visits his ancestral home, which he sold to a rich widow.  The woman wants to remove a wall to create a larger room.  The architect pokes around the basement and discovers a coffin!  The groundskeeper talks about one of the architects ancestor’s, who was a werewolf.  The werewolf kills the groundskeeper’s granddaughter, and then it attacks the widow.  (We see images of a dog.)  The architect tries to kill the werewolf with some silver bullets, but it doesn’t work.  The widow reveals that she has the silver bullets, because she is the werewolf’s wife.  Once they kill the architect and put his corpse in the coffin, the werewolf dude will be returned to human form, and she kills him.

CREEPING VINE: A dude returns from vacation, and they discover a weird vine growing on his house.  They try to cut it down, but they cannot.  The vine kills the dog!  The dude calls in a botanist buddy, and the vine reaches in through the window and strangles him!  Another botanist comes to visit, and the vines grow up around the house and trap them inside.  The botanist (the one still alive) uses some fire to scare the vines away, and the family inside is hopeful that they will be saved.  But, the vines outside figure out how to extinguish fire!

VOODOO: A jazz dude goes to the Caribbean and witnesses a “voodoo” ceremony.  He likes the music and starts to take notes, but he is grabbed by dudes.  Someone tells him not to steal the sacred music of “Damballa.”  Jazz dude refuses to take this advice and, back in England, he plays a jazzy version of the “voodoo” music.  A powerful wind sweeps through the club and everyone is scared away.  Jazz dude returns home, with his sheet music, being spooked along the way, and a “voodoo” dude is there.  Jazz dude faints and “voodoo” dude takes the music.

DISEMBODIED HAND: This dude is Christopher Lee, who has been a skeptic of the whole tarot thing, but Dr. Terror goads him into participating.  Christopher Lee is a mean art critic, who hates “action paintings.”  He is at the gallery of “Landor.”  Christopher Lee is poo-poo’ing Landor’s art, and Landor show him a “new painting” by a “new artist.”  Christopher Lee offers some high praise, but then they reveal that the new artist is a little chimpanzee in a pair of overalls!  Christopher Lee is humiliated and leaves.  Landor proceeds to follow Christopher Lee around town, taunting him about the monkey.  Landor is leaving his gallery one night, and Christopher Lee runs him down in his car!  Landor’s hand is amputated, and he commits suicide.  Then, Landor’s hand begins to haunt Christopher Lee!  Christopher Lee eventually traps it in a box and throws the box into a river.  He is driving home, and Landor’s hand appears on his windshield.  Christopher Lee drives off the road and is blinded in the accident.

VAMPIRE: This dude is Donald Sutherland!  He arrives in America with his new French bride, Nicolle.  He cuts his hand, and Nicolle licks the blood off his finger, because she is a vampire.  A local boy starts to show signs of vampire-bite-ism, and Donald Sutherland’s colleague, Dr. Blake, convinces Donald Sutherland that Nicolle is a vampire who must be killed.  Nicolle, who turns into a little rubber bat, flies back into their window that night and climbs into bed.  Donald Sutherland stabs her with a stake.  The police arrive and think he’s crazy.  Then Dr. Blake arrives, and he denies ever telling Donald Sutherland anything about vampires!  The cops take Donald Sutherland away because he stabbed his wife in the chest in a stake.  Dr. Blake looks at us and tells us that the town isn’t big enough for two doctors, or for two vampires!  He turns into a little rubber bat and flies away.

So, back on the train, as part of each tarot reading, Dr. Terror pulls four cards that show the future.  A final, fifth card, tells them how to avoid the future.  There, on the train, the fifth card is always death!  Christopher Lee turns to Dr. Terror and says, “Who are you?”  “Have you not guessed?” Peter Cushing asks.  Everything goes dark, and Dr. Terror disappears, leaving behind only the death card.  The train stops and the men get off.  They are at a weird, hellish version of a train stop, and a paper drops from the sky and says that they died in a train accident!  They see Dr. Terror, who turns to face them, and he is Death!

This was mostly fine.  The stories were entertaining enough, if not especially memorable.  The framing device, the train ride, was interesting, with the clashing personalities of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.  It was a train ride of death, complete with a jump scare skeleton. 

[melpomeneprose]

T.eam b.lack vs t.eam g.reen...

stfu, I am *team Aliandra Martell and team Nettles. 🩶

(If I had to choose I'd choose G.reen because Helaena and Alicient are more interesting to me as characters and they look hot falling to doomed narrative-ism).

*this is about the book: Fire & Blood *shrugs*