#...and whoever the rest of those are oops

[from-leviathans-coffin]

[avifaunaa]

these strange noises [ voices ] followed me here

Authors Note: so like, this was intended as a Shauna fic ONLY. Nat somehow found her way in here on her own, without my consent. Oops.

Masterlist

Pairing: Shauna Shipman x fem!reader x Natalie Scatorccio

Summary: You didn’t like how strained things were with the team lately. Shauna didn’t like how easily you tried to make friends. Natalie? Natalie was just there by accident. But she’ll make sure Shauna’s message comes across clear.

Content Warnings: Dark-ISH, r has a crush on Nat, animal injury, animal death, soft!dark!Natalie, mean!dark!shauna, degradation and praise, grinding, breathplay, double penetration in two holes, which means anal, and vaginal, spit, spit as lube, scratching, fingering, controlling behavior, non/dubcon [ r for all lmao ], NO AFTERCARE | mention of past injuries and illness, as R hurts herself by accident and also works as a sort of medic for the team IM SO SORRY THIS GOT FILTHY LMFAO

Word Count: ~5.7k

Natalie was huddled with her little Council again. Lottie, Tai, Van . . . Whoever the team decided was the best suited at leading everyone out of this shithole into somewhat of a survivable society as you currently knew it.

You had to admit the ducks were cute — until Shauna came for them for dinner time. You steered clear from her around those times, when the look came to cover her features and she had the dark aura surrounding her. “Dark aura” was coined by Mari, and you made sure to never vocally mention it around Shauna.

You had managed to stay out of everyone’s way after you had fallen and broken your arm trying to be useful after the cabin burnt to splinters.

You had managed to become somewhat of a healer after resetting your own bones, creating a sling for your own arm, and packing the sling with leftover snow until the swelling went down.

Yay to three years of medical school.

It was now fully healed, but it never truly managed to recover right. There was an ache when you bent it a certain way and reaching up over your head was painful beyond measure. Still, the bone healed and you didn’t get a blood infection: win-win.

When Natalie had cropped up with some cuts from hunting expeditions, you’d offered to treat them with a prototype paste you had been testing out on your own minor scratches. She had been suspicious, but she hadn’t wanted to turn you down. So she agreed.

It worked somewhat — you had found some stinging nettle and fireweed in different areas of the surrounding territory that you had to make use of on your arm by ingesting.

You had her eat some of the paste and apply some to the cuts. Either way — it had worked to speed the healing process and ease her pain.

And so began your life as the team’s new medic. It hadn’t been intentional, but you were the only one currently still majoring in medicine and going through the process of trying to get into a residency.

You hadn’t told the team — especially Shauna — that you had planned to quit after this season.

You hadn’t told the team — especially Natalie — that you were moving to Vancouver for it.

Neither of them would’ve taken kindly to the news for different reasons, and you hoped that you died in these woods so you wouldn’t have to.

Mari was in your hut now, claiming she had a sore throat after one of the games they’d played. Shauna had punched her in the jugular, allegedly. It didn’t surprise you, not really. Shauna and Mari had been not so subtly resting their teeth at one another’s throats for weeks, and it was starting to drag on everyone.

“Ow,” Mari deadpanned as you pressed around the skin tenderly where you saw the outline of Shauna’s knuckles beginning to form.

“You’re fine. She probably didn’t do any real damage — just take it easy on any activity that requires you to yell at each other and maybe stay away from these games for a while,” you ordered, pulling your hand away.

She gave a sniff, nose wrinkled and lip curling up at the corner. You did your very best not to roll your eyes as she left without so much as a thank you. But she did squeeze your wrist, and you supposed that was thank you enough for Mari.

You went about your day stripping herbs and taking some berries from the food storages, making your pastes and wraps and using old clothes to make more slings in case another limb broke.

You heard shuffling outside of your hut and turned to find Shauna entering, a shadowy look on her face.

“Oh, hey.” You set down the makeshift bowl and smile warmly at Shauna despite the uneasiness that arose with her appearance. You avoided her at all costs these days — her and the rest of the makeshift Council. All of it terrified you and you didn’t want their eyes on you.

“Hey.” Short and curt, dark eyes glittering as they shifted around the hut at the hanging herbs and shells from the beach of the lake. “You’ve made a little spot for yourself here.”

“Hasn’t everyone?” you agreed carefully, shrugging a little bit as you went back to mashing berries and leaves together. This was a different paste you were experimenting with — one that may help coughs before next winter came to strike. “We have to sort of make do with what we’ve got right?”

“Yeah,” she murmured. You could feel her analyzing you in the way Shauna Shipman analyzed all things: like they were weak, or a target.

Shauna Shipman never sought to find enemies in the air or behind her — why would she? This is her world you’re in, her game you play most of the time especially because food is what she is in charge of.

Shauna Shipman is an apex predator who fears nothing and no one — and you are here only because she allows it, and perhaps she is here to remind you of that simple fact.

“Is everything okay?” you asked cautiously, dipping a finger into the sticky mixture you created and kneading at it anxiously. You refused to turn around and look at her and the way she seemed to track every movement you made.

“Why was Mari in here earlier?”

The inquiry shouldn’t have caught you off guard — it shouldn’t but it did. You would have put it off as something as simple as her wanting to check on a likely injured teammate but something inside of you told you that this was not as simple as that.

“She was receiving some medical attention from the strangulation she received. During the game.” You roped in any accusatory lilt that would’ve snuck in if you hadn’t been careful. “She’s fine.”

“I don’t really care,” Shauna replied casually. You turned around with the bowl and saw her fingering some of the hanging herbs, looking over them with disinterest.

“Then why’d you ask?”

Shauna stilled just a second before slowly moving her gaze back over to you. She hasn’t been all to normal since Jackie died — a fact you kept your mouth firmly shut over even if Gen and Melissa murmured about it from time to time.

There was a way her dark eyes flickered along your face and her lip curled upward like she had a reason to be disgusted with you that made you want to turn tail and run.

But alas — you were trapped in this goddamned hut with her now.

“I asked,” Shauna said lowly, voice dropping a couple of octaves, “because I saw her coming in here crying like a little bitch. I wanted to just remind everyone that this game is optional and she has a choice to play.”

Your tongue curled into the back of your mouth to kill all the things you wanted to snap back at her — all of them.

Oh, and she must have known it. Must have seen it in the way your face screwed and twisted up as you jerked your chin back down to your medicine making.

“If we have a choice, why are you acting like you’re accusing me of breaking the law?” you asked her slowly, in as much of a respectful tone as you could produce.

Shauna tilted her head just so. “Because the team considers it a bonding exercise; and it keeps us fit, quick on our feet, strong. Morale and shit.”

You wiped the paste onto the side of the bowl and set the object down onto a built in shelf of your hut, rubbing the excess onto your pants anxiously. You did not answer her, and she seemed inclined to talk to you more either way.

“Although,” Shauna continued, starting to creep closer to you with ease of a practiced creature of skill, “you wouldn’t really know one way or another. You exempt yourself everytime. I keep hoping to see you, you know?”

You play off your nerves with a scoff, rolling your eyes and trying to appease with a side smirk. “Please. Who the hell would help patch you assholes up after? Misty? She can’t hardly tell poison ivy from nettle. You’d all be dead in weeks.”

You hoped it did the trick — though you hated to do it at all. Misty was sort of becoming a friend to you in the last month, having offered her help when she wasn’t sniffing around Nat and Lottie so reverently. She would stop by so often and lend a hand with some work.

But then again, she was still Misty and she always had to be thrown under the bus in these situations.

Laughter drifted into your ears after a split second and soon the tension in your shoulders followed. “You may be right,” the brunette agreed, looking considerably lighter with an air of content.

Thank God.

“Only on days that end in y, Shipman.”

You tried to keep up a casual conversation with Shauna for a while just to ensure that the tension she entered with had all but vanished when she left you.

However it had the opposite effect. The longer you kept her — and tried to entertain her — the more her mood seemed to dip once more. Her eyes flickering behind her to the exit, arms crossed protectively and fidgeting with her sleeve.

It slowly built up until she found a way to end the conversation altogether, commenting that she had to go speak to Natalie about her ‘indiscretion’ regarding Mari. Whatever the hell that meant.

You were more confused by what had just transpired between the two of you than anything else.

“Kid.”

“I’m not a kid,” you corrected from your place by the camp’s center community fire. You were patching up one of the wings on Gen’s ducks as she anxiously stood to your right. “Why didn’t you clip them?” you asked Gen, scolding, “this is the fourth duck that’s been nearly carried off by a hawk.”

It was not Gen trying to get your attention at the moment -- for you were already focused on the crux of her problems: her wayward free-sighted ducks.

"Clipping them seems wrong," Gen retorted meekly, chewing on her chapped lips as she walked you work, "and what if something attacks camp and they can't get away?"

"We have a better chance at defending them together from something in camp than we do trying to get them back from a predator after they've taken flight from here," you reminded as you tenderly wrapped a waxy leaf between two sticks as a sort of splint. "Clip the wings, Gen, or we'll have more than just busted wings come winter."

"Kid," the same person behind you interrupted.

You ignored her as you pressed the flapping duck back into Gen's arms. "Keep an eye on her for three days, maybe keep her in your hut instead of with the others. I'm not a vet so I don't really know much about animals. All I know is that she needs to go easy on the wing."

A hand grasped your shoulder from behind and you stiffened. Gen glanced to who was behind you and mumbled a thanks before scampering off in the opposite direction.

You felt your body being turned by Nat as she met you with the least disguised look of irritation you've seen on her face in the last few days.

"Maybe calling me by my name would get my attention better," you greeted her dryly, plucking a loose duck feather off of your shirt and crossing your arms. "I tend to respond to it easier, too."

Nat rolled her eyes so hard that you could have almost placed a bet that she saw the inside of her own skull. "Right, of course, so sorry." She did not, in fact, sound sorry. She sounded fed up.

Which, you supposed, was fair enough.

"What do you need, Nat?" you asked, noting that her hand had drifted from your shoulder to your elbow instead.

"Do you want to go hunting with me?"

You blinked at her, struck silent immediately at her request. It was almost shy how she asked and you bit the inside of your cheek to keep from pointing that out.

"You took me once and I almost got both of us killed," you tried to deviate, throwing your gaze to your feet where dirty and ragged shoes scuffed the dirt.

"Yeah," Nat murmured, fingers drifting even lower until her fingers linked with yours, "which is why I want to bring you again. Besides -- you don't leave camp much now that you've managed to grow your herb garden. We could . . . we could look for some of the stuff you're low on and can't really grow?"

"Bringing Travis with you gives you a higher chance at finding something than if I were to come," you continued to deflect, though you allowed her hand to keep you locked in her space, entertaining her requests.

"I don't want to bring Travis, I want to bring you," she pointed out. "Look at me."

You drug your eyes slowly up her body until you were finally looking her in the eye, and you found her watching you with a soft encouragement but strong nature you knew Nat to carry with her.

"Good girl," the blonde praised followed by a squeeze to your hand. "So . . .?"

"Okay . . ." you agreed, cheeks reddening under her stare. "Okay, as long as you don't blame me if we don't catch anything."

She raises your linked palms and specifically curls her pinkie finger around yours. "I promise," she agrees, nodding with a little smirk gracing her features. "Now go get what you need."

Natalie was getting very frustrated and you had a sinking feeling you were connected to those feelings. She would point out spots to avoid stepping and you'd somehow find a way to unintentionally disobey that order.

She turned to glare at you when you were both crouched low in the underbrush as your knee pressed into fallen leaves and twigs.

"Sorry," you mouthed, stiffening up and not moving an inch as she turned back and settled in again.

She peered through the scope of the rifle and brushed her thumb along the trigger, shoulders relaxing as she eyed the well-fed doe in her sights.

She was beautiful and you hated to see her go, and you would tell Natalie as much later when the doe was shot down successfully.

She had the gun thrown over her shoulder as she inspected the kill, likely looking for anything Shauna would need to cut out parasite or old injury-wise when she went to butcher it.

"She was so pretty," you commented, unable to hide the tinge of sadness that paired with the words. "I'm sorry that she had to go."

At first you thought she ignored you. She had no response and the only noise around the two of you were the songs the birds sang above you, alerting the rest of the forest of your existence.

"She died for a good reason," the blonde finally said, throwing her bag down and opening it to reveal some bloodstained rope. "Just like they all have."

You did not press her on whether she meant your fallen teammates or just the animals. You did not think you wanted to know.

"Get her back legs, will you?" Nat tossed some ropes to you and you caught them.

You crouched at the back end of the deer and started lifting her legs to tie them together and stopped when you felt the leg closest to you give way too easily. You bent it a few times and breathed out a sigh, drawing Nat's attention.

"What?" she asked, frowning in your direction.

"Nothing -- just. She had an injury, a broken leg. I'm surprised she survived long enough for it to heal," you said as you stroked a hand down the base of the thigh. The leg felt weaker than the rest of the body, less muscled. "She may not have been using it either."

"She walked with a limp," Nat mentioned with a deepening frown, finishing the knot on the front legs. "She also had no herd -- maybe she couldn't keep up with them."

"Left behind." You drew the legs together and started to tie the knot, fixing it until it was tighter than you would have usually done it.

You felt Natalie watching you as you lifted her from the rear while she went to grab the front.

"Is this about --"

"No," you said, cutting her off, "it's not."

When you had broken your arm there had been a huge debate on whether or not to cannibalize you, release you into the woods and let you find your own way, or let you stay and care for you.

Before your arm you had no special job that kept you in a particular high standing -- Misty was the team's resident doctor at the time and as far as they knew, the most knowledgeable in the medical field. You had let her make them believe that -- it was too much. Too much death, too much illness, too much injury.

You wanted to be a pediatric surgeon, not watch and try to treat your friends as they died in the wilderness.

When you had been forced to fix your own arm that harsh night, it was also forcing you to reveal your abilities and in the end it forced you into the role you attempted to avoid for months.

But you never got over it; the fact that they considered throwing you out because you may bring greater weakness to their survival and because you may prove another mouth to feed if your arm healed wrong and you couldn't chop wood again, or lift heavy objects, or do chores that required arm work.

" . . . shoulder?"

"W-what?" you asked, blinking at Nat. She stared at you.

"Can you lift it over your shoulder? Just enough for us to get it carried back to camp? I know it hurts sometimes when --"

"It's fine," you said, clenching your jaw as you bent down to grab the animal. "Let's just -- let's just get going."

Nat did not press, but the air was thick with a heaviness you could not decipher for the entire trek back.

Four nights later you got into trouble.

Dinner was being served normally tonight -- no outfits or prayers like Lottie did from time to time.

What was off, though, was the way Shauna sat a few seats down and glared in your direction as Krystal and Mari kept trying to pull you into conversation.

You were mostly tuning them out. You had a headache from the boiling summer heat that lasted all day and water was only so helpful when it had to be boiled to be safe for consumption.

Everyone was going swimming together after this, while it was cool and the moon was bright. You would go with them this time -- anything to get the stink of sweat out of your skin and the cool water to surround your pounding head.

"You're going with Krystal and I, right?" Mari asked you as you downed the rest of your bowl. "Be our swimming buddy?"

What harm could it do? ]

"Sure," you started.

"Actually," Nat said loudly, leaning across Shauna to get your attention and staring you down with a crinkled nose, "Shauna and I want to steal you for our swimming trip. We wanted to use it as an opportunity to discuss some things with you."

"Okay --"

"Like what?" Mari scoffed, the barbing remark aiming for Shauna as her eyes rested on the quiet but very present brunette.

"Council things, Mari," Nat said shortly, "and if you want to keep acting up, you can stay behind and guard camp while we bring Misty instead."

"No thanks," Misty, for once, said with a squint. She hated swimming with the team. She much preferred privacy when doing anything in regards to undressing in general.

"Then behave," Nat told Mari as though she wouldn't be punishing Misty, as well.

Mari let it go. It was a bigger fight than she appeared to want to take on at the moment and you could not blame her. Nat and Shauna butted heads nine out of ten times but when they formed an alliance, it was formidable.

Everyone finished their meals without incident after that matter was settled but it left you anything except settled. Nat and Shauna had not previously mentioned wanting to talk to you about much of anything beforehand so this was as much a surprise to you as it was to Mari.

You all walked the worn path down to the lake together as a group but Shauna and Nat gestured for you to veer off with them down a slope before reaching the beach.

You hesitated and watched as the rest of the group laughed and disappeared over the lip of the path while Nat flung an arm around your shoulder and continued guiding you down the steep slope off trail.

"Where are we going?" you asked, eyes fixed on the barely-visible pattern of Shauna's flannel as she walked ahead of both of you.

"Shauna found a nice little spot, sort of a private beach. We can see and hear the others but the swim would be too far," Nat told you. You nearly tripped over a thick tree branch in your way and Nat grasped you roughly, fingers digging into the flesh of your arm to keep you from eating shit.

"You are prone to disaster, has anybody ever told you that?" she asked with laughter.

"Oh shut up," you grumbled.

Nat only laughed harder and you tuned her out once Shauna stepped out of the tree line and opened up to a small beachside grove. It seems she had made a sort of hideout here -- a tree stump had been dragged through the sand and she had some of the plane seats across it. There were rocks and shells sat out in piles like they'd been gathered overtime and sat aside on a boulder.

"It's pretty," you mused as you kicked off your shoes before stepping into the rough sand and following after Shauna.

"I know." Dark eyes watched you, gauging your reaction to her secret and you suddenly felt a ball of nervous energy form in your stomach. "Only Nat has seen it."

"Oh." You didn't know what meaning that held -- or what it meant for her to have also agreed to shown you. "Um -- cool. Why -- why show me?"

Nat was removing her shorts near the firepit and circle of makeshift seats, soon followed by her shirt and leaving her just in her underwear. She ran past you both and splashed into the water, laughing. "God, it feels so good."

You smiled at Nat and . . . how free she appeared as she swam deeper and dipped her head back into the water.

"We brought you because we can," Shauna said, obviously. She glanced behind her, following your gaze. She did not smile but there was a softening to her eyes that you thought had long since gone extinct after Jackie's untimely death.

"Want to get in?" she asked, elbow gesturing toward the water without removing her hands from her pockets.

"Oh. Yeah, absolutely." You made your way over to the damp sand, the water washing up your ankles in greeting.

"Absolutely not," Shauna breathed behind you, grabbing you by your shirt. Her lips brushed against your neck lightly. "No swimming in clothes. You could drown, stupid."

Your body flushed as the embarrassment swept over you like a wave from the lake. "R-right, yeah."

You waited for her to back away a bit but you could still feel her breath on your neck. You stepped slightly to the side and started undressing. You went to leave your underwear on but Shauna stopped you again.

"Everything."

"Nat has her underwear on?" you pointed out, glancing out to where the blonde lay on her back, treading water.

"And I care why?" Shauna drawls. "Take them off or I'll do it."

You trembled, an uneasy stickiness starting to coat the inside of said underwear despite yourself. But you did as you were told in order to avoid having Shauna wrangle them off of you.

Your heart was racing, your blood turning cold, and the sweat turning to ice along your skin as she gazed at you patiently like a hawk.

You added them to the pile and Shauna jerked her chin.

"Took you long enough," she said. "Go join Nat. I'll be there in a moment."

You slowly dipped into the water inch by inch until it was up to your chest, bottom of your toes barely managing to stay dug into the sand the deeper you got.

Natalie looked up and grinned at you, swimming to meet you the rest of the way. She crossed the waters to you and slid her arms around your waist, pulling you close until your chests touched.

You hoped she could not feel how fast your heart ran in your ribcage, otherwise you could be held for questioning.

You were not, however, expecting a knee to come rest between your thighs when she went to tangle her legs with yours. The following squeak had her grinning like a cat with freshly stolen milk.

"Make that sound again," Nat purred as she jerked her knee upward, this time rubbing into your cunt. You gasped and fell into her.

"Nat -- Nat stop." You dug your fingers into her shoulder to push back from her despite the dizzy feeling you got from the way she circled her knee.

"Why?" the blonde wondered, reaching over to tuck a strand of damp hair behind your ear and leaning across to suck at your collarbone. "You're so pretty."

"B-but shouldn't we talk about t-this?" you whispered, startling at the screams and laughter of the girls from across the lake. They sounded so close but the likelihood of them seeing you was little.

You felt a warmth against your back and another arm wrap around your waist. A hand ran along the curve of your neck, fingers pressing none-to-gently along each muscle that popped out with her puppeting your head. Shauna looked down at you as your head angled up to meet her gaze.

"Look at you." Then she leaned down and kissed you, teeth immediately making themselves apart of the equation as they dug into your bottom lip and she held her hand close to your jugular. Not squeezing, not even putting weight, just staying there.

A jolt of pleasure rushing down your spine. A whine escaped your lips and into Shauna's as Nat continued licking and biting along the skin there, her knee slowly moving up until it rubbed directly into your clit.

This was sudden -- unexpected and like a curveball sent across the field to knock you out.

"W-wait," you pleaded when Shauna broke the kiss for air. "Wait, stop."

"No," Shauna purred, fingers dancing along your abdomen. "We're staking our claim now that fucking Mari has started sniffing around where she doesn't belong."

"W-what?"

"W-what?" Shauna mocked. This time, the hand started applying the pressure it so lacked before. "God. You're fucking dumb, sometimes. Such a big brain but no thoughts."

"Oh, she's smart. My smart, pretty, empathetic girl," Nat crooned in front of you has she drags you and Shauna deeper into her, thus forcing you more on her knee. "Grind, baby."

"No," you whined. You tried to gain some form of control in this -- tried to collect yourself and try to splash at the water, but Shauna struck. She forced you against Nat even closer, leaving no escape. Both of them were more active, more stronger than you. You had no choice.

"Yes," Shauna whined back, mocking. Teeth started pulling at your earlobe. "Mari has been digging up a shit ton of trouble for us lately. She refuses to follow the rules, she's pitting everyone against each other, and what's worse: she's starting to use you to get to us."

What in the actual good fuck was she rambling about? A shudder rippled through you as Nat pulled you in for the kiss this time, allowing Shauna to roam and explore your body as she would. \

You fought it with best intentions, but the climax was building and you had no other option but to give into it, Shauna's body forcefully keeping you in motion. Nat's knee grew slick under the water as you came across her skin, breaking the kiss and crying out into the night.

"Such a good girl," Nat breathed, circling her knee four more times to ease you through it.

"Fuck," you sobbed, slumping in their arms as tears overcame you and you worked on recovering from the orgasm that just destroyed and put you back together all at once.

"Fucked stupid and sweet, just what I need," Shauna murmured as she stroked your sides with surprisingly tender hands while Nat kept her knee in place, not trusting you to be steady in the water.

"Why?" was all you could ask when you had wanted to break out numerous questions.

Shauna untangled wet hair, kissing small bites into your cheeks and neck. "You're so lonely, aren't you? We can't have Mari stealing you away. When the time comes, we need you on our side."

"For what?"

She did not reply.

After a while of floating in the water, most of it in which you yourself floated away from the place entirely, Nat and Shauna sought to get you out before you grew too cold.

Nat got out first and started a fire around the stump and chairs, but she seemed to be laying out the clothes like a blanket as Shauna guided you out and over to the fire.

They push you down and instead of leaving you to your own devices, Nat has you lay on top of her. "C'mon, let's cuddle," she murmured.

You didn't want to be touched, not by her or Shauna, or anyone. But your mental shields were shattered and Shauna was giving you a look as she threw a log into the flames, the orange flickering across her face like an angry shadow.

So you sit in Nat's lap instead of laying down, insisting you'd be more comfortable. She agrees and wraps your legs around her hips to help you get comfortable.

Nat was scratching at your back almost sweetly, and you could have fallen asleep then and there if it hadn't been for the fact that not even ten minutes later you felt her teeth grazing your shoulder and her fingers dipping low into your cunt.

You locked up in her arms, a high-pitched gasp escaping your lungs as her fingers sank into your heat which was still wet and allowed easy entrance.

"Were you sleepy? I'm sorry. I can't help it, you're just so beautiful and perfect like this," Natalie soothed as her other hand resumed stroking your back while two fingers started pumping evenly in and out of you.

You moaned into her bare neck, drool escaping as she brushed her nails against your walls. You started moving into the thrusts, unable to help yourself and feeling wanton.

"Does that feel good, baby? Does that make you happy?" Nat asked so softly and sweetly, peppering kisses along your skin endlessly. \

"Feels good," you whined.

"Good girl."

It wasn't long before Shauna joined in. "Fucking slut," the butcher hissed from behind you, getting to her knees with a soft thud on the laid out clothes and spitting on your back.

You squeaked when the wetness hit your skin, but quickly fingers swiped along the dip in your spine where it landed, collecting it on fingers.

"You're going to be fucking owned after tonight. Any pleasure you seek out will be from me or Nat. Any friendships you think you have will end. You don't need them."

Your body suddenly jerks forward when you feel Shauna's fingers start circling the outside of your back hole. "No, no, no," you blabbered, clenching up and trying to push as close to Nat as the huntress would allow.

"Hold her still," Shauna snapped.

Nat complied, stilling inside of you and killing the building orgasm in the process. She pressed her self as tight as possible into you and forced your writhing to come to a stop as Shauna pushed her way inside the outer rings of your ass.

"Ohmygod," you wailed, muffled, into Nat's shoulder as you tried to escape from the intrusion. Shauna snarled behind you and ran her free hand down your ass, nails leaving hot trails of stings in their wake.

"Move," Shauna ordered tightly, "fuck her like the whore she is."

Natalie pulled away to check your features -- she did not want to injure you in this. She saw only a glazed, floaty look in your eye and bit her lip before thrusting upwards again.

You gasped when Shauna followed suit, the two of them working in tandem to take you while you shivered and cried in their arms. Natalie whispered soothing praises in one ear while Shauna took from you and grew harsher in movement.

Something angry and disgusting was starting to coil like a viper in the darkest part of your entire being, wanting to strike them and cause as much pain as they were causing you. But instead only the crushing wave of the onslaught of an orgasm crashed into you.

You screamed through it -- it was devastating. It was the most painful thing you've ever experienced, and yet it was the greatest pleasure you've ever known. This is what destruction felt like and you reveled in it while also drowning in the aftermath.

They sat with you until the shakes and shudders ended, the only witness to your new life in the Wilderness being the moon you used to find comfort and escape from the overheating sun and burning in.

Now nothing in this world could keep you safe. Nothing, except maybe death.

[celestialgallaghers]

Got Me On My Knees [18+]

I love when Noel changes the words to slide away to make them even hornier. This one also turned out longer than expected oops. Shoutout to whoever requested this.

Summary: After weeks apart while he’s been on tour, you finally have Noel all to yourself. The longing reaches a breaking point as you both express just how much you’ve missed each other. But when Noel makes a shocking discovery, he becomes determined to show you exactly what you’ve been missing. 

Word count: 6.8k

You were enraptured. 

You’d seen Noel play before, of course, but something about this moment felt different. The way the stage lights cast shadows across his face, highlighting the sharp angles of his jaw and the sheen of sweat on his skin. The near blissed out expression as he lost himself in the music, fingers gliding over the fretboard effortlessly. It was all making your heart beat wildly.

Maybe it was the knowledge that he had booked a honeymoon suite at his hotel. Or maybe it was the simple fact that it had been weeks since you’d last seen him. Weeks of aching to be near him, to feel his hands on you.

Whatever it was, it had you shifting in place, pressing your thighs together in a feeble attempt to combat the dull throb building inside you.

Your relationship was still in its early stages, everything new and electric. Every little thing you learned about him made you giddy, eager to understand the way his mind worked. And it was always the casual things that stuck with you. How he liked his tea absurdly strong, the way he mumbled lyrics under his breath even when a song wasn’t playing, the fact that despite his tough exterior, he always needed to be touching you in some way. A hand on your knee. Fingers brushing your wrist. His leg pressed against yours beneath a table. It had all made you fall even harder.

Those moments had quickly become the ones you craved the most. But with him on tour, you rarely got a second alone with him, and the yearning was starting to consume you. 

The crowd erupted into cheers, jolting you from your daze. Noel was in the middle of a solo, fingers gliding over the fretboard in a way that was damn near indecent. The way he bent the strings, the deft flick of his wrist, it was mesmerizing. Then, as he reached the crescendo, he thrust his hips into his guitar, head tipping back, lost in the music. 

You swallowed hard and forced yourself to look away before your thoughts could spiral any further.

The rest of the show was torturous. You only got more and more worked up, eyes drinking in his movements. But it gave you time to plan exactly what you were going to do to him later. You bit your lip, excitement building inside you. 

Finally, finally, the last note rang out, the applause thundered through the venue, and then his attention was back on you. Noel wiped the sweat from his face, handed off his guitar, and strode toward you, a wide grin breaking across his lips. Just the weight of his gaze on you made your heart stutter.

You threw your arms around him, capturing his mouth in a quick, heated kiss. His skin was feverish beneath your touch, and he tasted like sweat and beer. It should've been unappealing, but something about it only made you want him more.

He smiled against your lips before pulling back. “Good to see you too,” he teased, voice a bit rough from singing. The sound sent a shiver down your spine, but you tried to hide it.

God, you’d missed being this close to him. Missed taking in every little detail of his face. You wanted to run your hands over every one of your favorite features, but instead you settled for pressing another soft kiss to his lips.

“Just missed you, s’all,” you murmured, a shy smile tugging at your lips.

All those thoughts you’d had while watching him…it was hard to restrain yourself now that he was right there in front of you. The ache low in your stomach had only grown more persistent. You felt a bit like a teenager again, uncontrollable urges threatening to overwhelm you.

You hoped you weren’t being too much. Your pure need, almost an addiction to him, was something you were worried might scare him off this early on.

Noel draped an arm over your shoulder, pulling you into his side. His lips brushed the top of your head as he whispered, “Missed you too,” before leading you toward the dressing room.

Your body lit up at his words, at his touch. The warmth of his palm against your hip, the ghost of his breath near your ear, the steady weight of his arm grounding you. It was all driving you crazy.

Inside, the room buzzed with conversation and laughter, but it all felt distant. Just background noise to the singular focus consuming your thoughts. A beer was pressed into your hand, and you took a sip out of habit, but your mind was elsewhere. On him. All you wanted to do was slide into his lap, bury your face in his neck, and lick the sweat from his skin.

Your foot slid around his, hooking your ankle around his in a silent tether. His hand on your shoulder tightened slightly in response, a quiet acknowledgment, though he continued his conversation. You took long swigs of beer, hoping it might quell the desperate urge to jump his bones right then and there.

It wasn’t until he turned to you, one brow quirked, that you realized just how lost you’d become in your own desire.

“What?” he asked, amusement lacing his voice.

You blinked. “What what?”

His lips curved into a knowing smirk. “You keep rubbing your foot up my leg,” he murmured, voice pitched low. “You tryin’ to play footsie or something?”

You hadn’t even been conscious of the action. You huffed a laugh, trying to downplay it, but his gaze held on you, searching. You could see the exact moment he figured it out. The heat in your eyes, the tension in your body. It was all over your face. You only hoped no one else had noticed.

His tongue darted out to wet his lips, the playfulness in his eyes darkening into something else. For a moment, the two of you were locked in your own world, until someone called Noel’s name, asking if he was coming out with them.

“Nah,” he said smoothly, never once breaking eye contact. “Think we’re gonna call it a night.”

Your stomach flipped, silently thanking him for being so intuitive. His hand dipped lower on your waist, fingers pressing into your side, drinking in the shiver that ran through you. 

He tipped back the rest of his beer in one last gulp before slamming the empty bottle onto the table, the sound jolting you from your daze. Then, without a word, he stood and extended a hand toward you.

Slipping your fingers into his, you let him pull you up, stumbling slightly as your body met his. He steadied you effortlessly, his grip firm and warm. His mouth twitched with amusement.

“Easy, love,” he murmured.

You swallowed hard, your pulse hammering. Every little thing he did sent a fresh wave of need coursing through you. The way he was looking at you, the quiet intensity, the heat simmering just beneath the surface, it made your breath hitch.

You knew exactly where this night was headed.

And you couldn’t wait.

The ride back to the hotel was unbearable in the best possible way. Noel’s hand rested firmly on your knee, fingers flexing periodically. Neither of you spoke, but the tension in the air was palpable. Your body was thrumming with need, every nerve on high alert.

You wanted to worship him. To lavish him with attention. To taste the sweat on his skin. To choke on his thick—

“Here,” the driver announced, snapping you from your thoughts.

Your pulse thundered in your ears as you turned to Noel, only to find him already watching you, that same dark, knowing smirk tugging at his lips.

The door to your room had barely clicked shut before he was on you.

You hardly had time to gasp before your back hit the wall, his body pressing flush against you, mouth crashing against yours in a bruising kiss. It was all teeth and desperation, the exact kind of kiss you had been aching for.

You met him with equal fervor, weeks of longing igniting between you like a lit fuse. Your fingers tangled in his hair, nails scraping lightly against his scalp as your tongue slid against his.

“Missed you so much,” he muttered against your lips, voice rough with want, hands already creeping beneath your shirt. “You have no idea.”

His mouth trailed lower, teeth grazing your jaw before finding a sensitive spot on your neck. He sucked softly before nipping, drawing a quiet moan from you. His hands roamed higher beneath your top, gripping whatever they could. 

“Every night I’d lie awake,” he murmured, his lips hot against your skin, “thinking of everything I wanted to do to you. All the things I wanted to be doing instead of sleeping.”

Your eyes fluttered shut, heat pooling in your stomach at the image. His mouth moved lower still, sucking a spot just above your collarbone, the scrape of his teeth making you shiver.

“I-I was doing the same,” you admitted, breathless.

That caught his attention. His head lifted, gaze locking onto yours, dark with intrigue. “Were you now?” He pressed closer, hips pinning you against the wall. “And what exactly was it you were thinking about, hm?” he asked, his voice low.

You felt exposed under the weight of his gaze, the intensity of his scrutiny making you hesitate. The truth sat heavy on your tongue, your pulse hammering, but there was no use hiding it now.

“You,” you finally exhaled, voice barely more than a whisper. “Your hands. The way you touch me. The sounds you make. The way you fuck me.” Your breath caught as you admitted it, a heat rising in your cheeks. “Got off on it so many times.”

Noel let out a low groan, his breath faltering as he leaned in, his lips brushing the shell of your ear. The warmth of him sent a shiver down your spine.

“Is that so?” His voice was rough, thick with arousal.

You nodded breathlessly, suddenly feeling a bit shy about your admission. But he wasn’t going to let you hide. He nipped at your earlobe, his own breath hitching.

“How many times, love?”

Your stomach tightened, the weight of the question pressing into you. You could’ve lied, downplayed it, but the heat in his voice, the way his fingers twitched against your skin, had you answering honestly.

“Enough to make my wrist sore.”

A rough, disbelieving chuckle rumbled through his chest, his fingers flexing against your waist as if the thought alone had wrecked him.

His hand drifted lower, teasing along the waistband of your jeans. One of his thighs slotted between yours, pressing against you just right, sending a spark of pleasure jolting through you.

“And what exactly were you picturing, hm?” His voice was low, coaxing, but there was an edge to it. Like he needed to hear it.

The way he was reacting to your words was emboldening you. You rocked against his thigh, fingers gripping at his shoulders, holding onto him as you let the words spill from your lips.

“You walking in and finding me,” you admitted. “You’d show me how it’s really done. Fuck me nice and rough until I can’t take it anymore.”

His breath stuttered, but you weren’t done.

“The way your face looks when you’re right on the edge…” You bit your lip, a slow smile playing there. “You look a bit like that on stage, actually. It’s pornographic, really.”

His forehead dropped onto your shoulder with a quiet curse. His fingers dug into your hips before releasing. After a moment, he lifted his head, gaze dark and lidded.

“Is that really what goes through your head when you watch me play?”

You hummed, a teasing glint in your eyes. “Yeah. Nearly thought I’d have to change my underwear before you even finished playing.”

“And to think I never noticed,” he mused.

A slow grin pulled at your lips. “Don’t play dumb with me,” you teased. “You look like you’re fucking your guitar up there, you slag.”

That made him bark out a laugh, head tipping back slightly. “Oi, leave my guitar out of this,” he shot back, hands tightening on your hips, thumbs tracing slow circles against the sliver of bare skin exposed beneath your shirt.

You only smirked and silenced him with another kiss, pressing into him as you began guiding him toward the bed, fingers working at the buttons of his jacket. When the backs of his knees hit the mattress, he sat, pulling you with him, hands firm as he guided you onto his lap.

Your arms wound around his neck, fingers threading through his hair as you pressed yourself against him, rolling your hips slightly. You’d missed feeling his touch against your skin, the weight of his hands claiming you, the solid feel of him. Your mind was whirring with lust and the satisfaction of having him all to yourself again. 

Your mouth left his, trailing along his jaw, down his neck, tongue darting out to taste the faint salt of sweat lingering on his skin. You greedily lapped it up, continuing your path downward until you reached the spot near the base of his neck that you knew made him weak.

Noel groaned, his fingers flexing against your thighs, gripping you tighter as your hands roamed his back. You could feel the subtle flex of his muscles beneath your touch, the tension coiling in him.

“God, I’ve missed this,” he rasped, voice thick.

You hummed in response, one hand snaking down to fumble with his belt, desperate to rid him of his clothes. He chuckled, clearly amused by your eagerness. He lifted his hips slightly, helping you along as you stripped him of his jeans and shirt, his fingers ghosting over your skin in the process. 

When you pulled back to look at him, your gaze dragged over his body before settling on the obvious strain in his boxers. Your hands skimmed over his thighs, nails scratching lightly as you slowly sank to your knees in front of him.

He groaned softly, body arching into your tough. He watched you with dark, hooded eyes, his chest rising and falling unevenly as your fingertips trailed up his inner thighs, muscles tensing under your touch.

You pressed a soft kiss to his knee before resting your chin on it, looking up at him through your lashes. “Been thinkin’ about this since you left,” you said.

Noel spread his legs slightly, shifting to the edge of the bed as you moved between them, your lips brushing against his skin as you worked your way up. His breath hitched, his body shivering under your touch.

“Yeah?” he rasped, voice thick with want.

You hummed, fingers toying with the waistband of his boxers. “Hard for me not to drop to my knees right there in the dressing room.”

A soft, broken groan slipped from his lips, hips lifting involuntarily. He was already so worked up, straining against the fabric, and you could feel the heat of him even through the material.

His fingers tangled in your hair, the grip tight but not demanding. More like he needed something to hold onto.

You loved seeing him like this. There was already a fire burning through you just at the prospect of getting your mouth on him. He looked fucking devastating like this. Head tipped back slightly, breathing uneven, eyes heavy lidded and dark with hunger.

Your palm pressed over the thick strain in his boxers, and a deep, shuddering groan tore from his throat. His hips jerked into your touch, his fingers twisting in your hair, his entire body responding like he had no control over it.

“Fuck,” he muttered, voice wrecked, breathless. Christ, he already sounded ruined, and you hadn’t even started.

A slow smirk curled at your lips as you wrapped your fingers around him through the fabric, squeezing lightly. The whimper that left him sent heat pooling between your thighs. He was already so desperate for you, his chest rising and falling with each uneven breath, his grip in your hair tightening.

Hooking your fingers into the waistband of his boxers, you dragged them down with agonizing slowness, savoring the way his breath hitched, the way his hips lifted to help you. When you finally pulled them off completely, you discarded them without care, your focus entirely on the sight before you.

“Look at what you do to me,” he babbled. “Look at what you’ve fucking done.”

His words sent a fresh wave of desire crashing over you. You loved the effect you had on him, loved seeing him this desperate all because of you. 

Your lips parted slightly as you took him in, gaze raking over the way he throbbed, flushed such a pretty shade of pink, practically begging to be kissed.

You shifted closer, your hand wrapping around him, relishing the way his breath stuttered, the way he tensed under your touch. Keeping your eyes locked onto his, you leaned in, flicking your tongue lightly over the sensitive tip, tasting the faint saltiness of him.

A strangled moan escaped him, his grip in your hair tightening into a makeshift ponytail. He fought to keep his eyes on you, his chest rising and falling in uneven gasps.

“Fuck,” he breathed, voice shaky. 

You pulled back just enough to grin up at him. “So pretty,” you murmured, before wrapping your lips fully around the head of his cock, sucking gently.

He let out a soft whine, his hips reflectively bucking into your mouth, chasing the heat. “God, love…” he panted out, his eyes fluttering shut as he let the pleasure overtake him. 

The familiar weight of him on your tongue, the heat of him, the taste. It sent a shiver up your spine. You moaned softly as you took him deeper, letting your tongue swirl around him, savoring every reaction.

He groaned loudly, his stomach tensing. “Jesus, you feel so fucking good…”

You dragged your tongue along the thick vein running beneath him, pausing to flick your tongue against that one spot that always drove him crazy.

The sound he let out was pure desperation.

“M’not gonna last long if you keep that up,” he admitted, voice rough and trembling.

You hummed around him, letting the vibrations travel through him, making his whole body jerk. “Don’t care,” you murmured between slow strokes of your tongue. “Wanna taste you.”

Determined now, you took him deeper, bobbing your head, your hand stroking what your mouth couldn’t reach. Noel let out a low, wrecked moan, his thighs trembling beneath your touch. You could feel him losing control, could see it in the way his stomach tensed, the way his breath stuttered with every flick of your tongue.

One of your hands moved lower, gently cupping and rolling his balls in the way you knew he loved. His reaction was immediate. His hips bucked, a loud, broken moan tearing from his lips. His eyes were screwed up in pleasure. The sounds spilling from his lips were downright sinful. Moans and curses, desperate gasps, it was all fueling the fire deep within you.

“Fucking hell,” he choked out.

He was close. You could feel it in the way he was twitching, his thighs shaking. You swirled your tongue around him, hollowing your cheeks and increasing the pace of your hand, eager to taste him. 

His body was writhing now, his breathing stuttering as he teetered on the edge of release. He was muttering incoherently, his words a tangled mess of curses and pleading. 

“I—fuck—I’m gonna—” He didn’t finish the sentence, just let out a strangled groan as his whole body went taut. His head fell back, mouth open in a silent cry as pleasure ripped through him, his fingers clenching in your hair as he came, hard.

You didn’t let up, swallowing him down, drawing every last drop from him, watching the way his body shuddered, utterly wrecked. His face was breathtaking, his brows furrowed, lips parted, completely lost in bliss. Some distant part of your mind made a note to tease him later about how similar his guitar face was to this. 

A weak moan escaped him as you finally let him slip from your mouth, licking your lips in satisfaction.

Noel looked utterly shattered. His chest heaved, his body still trembling as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes were hazy, still dark with lingering desire as he gazed down at you. 

“Jesus…” he muttered, his breath still coming in ragged pants. “That was…that was…”

You just smiled, pressing a final, gentle kiss to his oversensitive tip.

He let out a weak whimper, his fingers twitching in your hair before they slid down to cradle your face.

Suddenly he hauled you up, pulling you to stand between his legs. His arms wrapped around your back, holding you close, chin tipping up so he could look at you properly. His fingers moved in slow, lazy circles against your lower back, sending tiny sparks through you as his breathing finally began to steady.

Then a slow smirk began to creep across his face. 

You arched a brow. “What’s that look for?”

“Well…” His voice dipped, rough and teasing. “Now that I’ve gotten mine…” His words trailed off, thick with suggestion.

Your heart stuttered as he pressed soft, open mouthed kisses against your stomach, his hands slipping beneath your shirt, pushing the fabric higher as he went. His lips were warm, his breath hot against your skin, and your thoughts were already starting to blur at the edges.

“What do you mean?” you muttered distractedly, your fingers tangling in his hair as he continued his slow descent.

He paused just below your navel, the tip of his nose grazing your skin as he tilted his head back slightly, his chin resting against your stomach. His eyes flickered up to meet yours, amusement dancing in them.

“What do you mean, ‘what do I mean’?”

You blinked, following the lingering heat of his kisses, how they were drifting lower and lower.

Your cheeks burned as the pieces clicked into place. “Oh.”

Noel’s smirk deepened, voice nothing short of smug. “Oh.”

You shifted slightly, feeling suddenly flustered. “You don’t have to.”

His expression faltered, amusement replaced by something closer to confusion. “What do you mean I don't have to?”

You hesitated, suddenly feeling uncertain. It hadn’t really come up before now. “I mean—you don’t have to do that. I’m fine with just… your fingers.”

For the first time tonight, he actually looked taken aback. “What?” he repeated, this time more incredulous. “Do you not like it?”

You let out a small, nervous laugh. “No, I—” You bit your lip, struggling to find the right words. “I just… I know men don't like doing that.”

Noel scoffed, letting out a disbelieving laugh. “Who the fuck told you that?”

You gave a half hearted shrug. “It’s just something I’ve always heard. That men don’t like it. That it’s more of a chore.” You were starting to feel unsure of yourself now.

He blinked at you, then outright laughed. “Well whoever you heard that from has been shagging some right fucking idiots, ‘cause that’s absolute bollocks.”

You frowned slightly, processing his words. You thought back to past relationships. Boyfriends who had never offered, who had never even acted as if it was an option. You’d always assumed that was normal. That it was just one of those things men weren’t interested in.

But the way Noel was looking at you now… it was clear he thought otherwise.

Then something shifted in his expression. His lips parted slightly, realization dawning.

“Wait… don’t tell me you’ve never—” He trailed off, his voice dropping into something softer.

Your face burned, heat rushing to your ears as you averted your gaze.

“No…” he breathed, his tone laced with disbelief. “No one’s ever gone down on you? Are you serious?”

You shifted on your feet, feeling embarrassed under the weight of his gaze. “Not… properly, no.”

“Fuckin’ hell.” He exhaled sharply, shaking his head like he genuinely couldn’t comprehend what you’d just admitted. But then his expression shifted again, his mouth curving into a slow, knowing smirk.

“Well, love… whoever’s been lying to you isn’t a real man,” he murmured, his voice low and heavy with intent. “Cause I fucking love it.”

Your gaze snapped back to him and the mental image of Noel between your thighs hit you all at once. The realization sent a fresh wave of heat surging through you. You’d never thought about it before, not really. But now, with the way he was looking at you, the way his fingers traced slow, teasing patterns against your skin, the way his lips lingered just a little too long on your stomach…

You wanted it.

As if sensing the shift in your thoughts, his expression softened, his voice dipping into something more intimate. “Well…” He pressed another lingering kiss just above the waistband of your jeans. “If you’ll have me, I’d be honored to be your first.”

A shiver ran through you, your skin prickling at his words. 

His kisses resumed their descent, his lips dragging along your skin, his breath hot and teasing. Your mind was spinning, overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of the moment, by the way he looked at you like he wanted to worship every inch of you. There was no space for doubt now, no hesitation. Just the undeniable, burning need for him.

Your lips parted, breath unsteady as he reached for the hem of your shirt, fingers grazing your sides.

“You are gonna let me, yeah?” His voice was quiet but firm, a subtle edge of command beneath the softness.

You swallowed hard, pulse thrumming as you flicked your gaze down to his lips. The thought of them on you made your knees weak.

“Yeah,” you whispered.

Something dark and pleased flickered in his eyes. “Good.”

With that, he pushed your shirt up and over your head. His fingers were already working at the button of your jeans before the fabric had even hit the floor.

“Gonna make it the best thing you’ve ever felt,” he murmured against your stomach, pressing another open mouthed kiss just below your navel.

“Gonna make you come so fucking hard.”

Your breath caught in your throat. His words alone sent another rush of heat flooding through you.

Noel pulled back slightly, his gaze raking over you. His hands moved to your hips, fingers hooking into the waistband of your jeans as he slowly began to drag them down.

You felt bare. Not just in the physical sense, but in the way his eyes took you in, in the way his hands moved over your body like he already knew every inch of it. It sent a thrill through you. This feeling of being seen, truly seen, and knowing without a doubt that he wanted you.

Your pulse thundered in your ears as he settled lower, his lips brushing over your hip, his breath sending warm shivers across your skin.

His gaze flickered up, eyes dark with want. “Look at you,” he murmured, voice thick with desire. “So fucking gorgeous.”

A soft whimper escaped you as he dragged a thumb over your clothed clit, sending a sharp jolt of pleasure through you. Your hips twitched in response, and his smirk only deepened, clearly pleased with your reaction.

“Lay down for me, love,” he instructed.

You obeyed, settling back against the pillows as he adjusted you just the way he wanted, positioning your legs at the edge of the bed. His hands pressed gently against your thighs to part them.

“Just relax,” he whispered, his palms smoothing over your skin in slow, soothing strokes. “Wanna make this perfect for you.”

Your heart pounded wildly in your chest as you let yourself sink into the mattress, anticipation curling hot and tight in your stomach. His eyes roamed over you, dark and burning with hunger.

“You look so fucking good like this,” he muttered appreciatively. “All laid out for me.”

Something about the way he said it made you shiver. You had never seen him like this before. So ravenous, so utterly focused on you.

He crawled back up, capturing your lips in a slow kiss, his body pressing into yours. His touch was gentle as he slid off your bra, his lips never leaving yours. A gasp slipped from you as he trailed kisses down your neck, across your collarbone, lingering at all your weak spots.

And then his mouth moved lower.

Your breath hitched as his lips wrapped around a nipple, his tongue flicking over the sensitive bud. A small noise escaped you, your back arching into the warmth of his mouth. He hummed in satisfaction, teasing and coaxing pleasure from you. 

He lavished attention onto your other breast, his lips and tongue teasing you relentlessly until you were panting and squirming beneath him. His hands roamed lower, slipping over the thin fabric of your underwear, his fingers pressing slow circles against your clit.

Between his lips and hands, it was almost too much. Your hips bucked instinctively, seeking more, but he only chuckled darkly, clearly enjoying your desperation.

When his mouth finally released you, he continued his descent, each touch more electrifying than the last. Then he sank to his knees, settling between your legs.

Your breath stuttered. You felt the warmth of his breath against you, sending your nerves into overdrive. His hands rested on your knees, parting them further as he drank in the sight of you.

Slowly, he peeled your underwear down, the last barrier between you gone in an instant. The air felt cool against your skin, the exposure making you shiver.

His gaze flicked up to you, dark and filled with need. Then, gently, he hooked your legs over his shoulders, his thumbs rubbing soothing circles against your skin.

Your entire body tensed, nerves lighting up beneath his touch. You had no idea what to expect, only that you needed him. Desperately.

He pressed a lingering kiss to the inside of your thigh, his lips warm, his stubble scraping deliciously against your skin. He inhaled deeply, taking in your scent, before murmuring, “Relax, love”

You tried to calm your racing pulse, but it was no use. He was so close, his breath ghosting over you, tickling every nerve. 

“So beautiful,” he whispered before finally pressing his mouth against you. 

A sharp, broken moan tore from your throat. 

It was unlike anything you’d ever felt before. The heat of him, the softness of his lips. It was intoxicating. He licked a slow stripe up your center, sending shockwaves through your body, your back arching in response.

And then he began to suck. 

A rush of pleasure crashed into you, your fingers twisting into the sheets as his tongue worked against you with almost devastating precision.

“Fuck, Noel,” you gasped.

He groaned against you in response, the vibration sending another ripple of bliss rolling through you. His hands tightened on your hips, holding you in place as he buried himself between your thighs, his tongue flicking and teasing in ways that made your head spin.

It was almost too much. Almost.

He pulled back after a few minutes, letting you catch your breath. His lips trailed soft kisses along your thigh, his fingers stroking soothing patterns against your skin.

“Good?” he asked, a teasing lilt to his voice.

You let out a breathless laugh, throwing an arm over your eyes. It was such a ridiculous question considering the state you were in.

“Hey, look at me,” he said softly. 

Blinking up at him, you propped yourself on your elbows. The sight of him nearly undid you all over again. His lips and chin were slick, his pupils blown wide, his chest rising and falling with deep, heavy breaths. He looked utterly wrecked, and the knowledge that he was enjoying this as much as you sent another pulse of heat through you.

He reached up, threading his fingers through yours, giving your hand a soft squeeze as if to coax an answer out of you. 

You exhaled shakily. “Yeah,” you breathed. “So good.”

His smirk deepened before he dipped his head once more, never letting go of your hand.

This time, his tongue teased lower, dragging over sensitive nerves with agonizing patience. You barely had time to process the sensation before he pressed his tongue inside of you.

A choked moan tore from your lips.

Your entire body clenched around him, the feeling almost too intense, too much. His tongue licked into you deeply, exploring, savoring. The sensation was maddening, unlike anything you’d ever experienced.

“Noel—christ,” you panted, barely able to form words.

He hummed against you, the vibration sending another shudder rolling through your body. He was relentless, his tongue working you open, his fingers still laced with yours, grounding you as pleasure threatened to consume you whole.

“You taste so fucking good,” he groaned against you, his voice thick with hunger. “Can’t believe I’ve never had you like this before.”

A fresh wave of heat surged through you, your hips rolling up to meet his mouth, seeking more.

He moved back up to your clit, sucking fiercely, drawing a high pitched whimper from you as your thighs instinctively tried to close around him. He only groaned in response, his spare hand gripping your hip to hold you in place as he redoubled his efforts.

The pleasure was dizzying. Mind blowing. You couldn’t think, couldn’t focus on anything but him, the way he was unraveling you with every flick of his tongue.

“Noel,” you moaned, your own voice sounding foreign to your ears. “Please, I-I..I’m gonna—” your words dissolved into a high pitched whimper. The sensations were overwhelming, like your body couldn’t keep up with the pleasure. Your mind was a blur, and you were teetering right on the edge. Every muscle was tensed, your whole being coiled tight. 

“Oh, god—I’m so close, please—” and with one last flick of his tongue, you shattered.

Your back arched, a cry spilling from your lips as wave after wave of pleasure crashed over you. It was euphoric. And it didn’t stop. It went on and on, the pleasure drawn out until you thought you might fall apart completely.

You had no control over yourself but Noel held you steady, his mouth never leaving you as he guided you through it.

Your body trembled, pleasure still rippling through you in soft, lingering waves as you came down. You felt raw, exposed, completely undone in the best possible way. 

He pulled back, breathless, swiping the back of his hand across his glistening lips as he looked up at you.

“Holy shit,” he gasped, voice thick with reverence, like he was savoring the sight of you in your blissed out haze.

He slowly released your hand, his fingers tracing one last soft stroke over your palm before easing your legs from his shoulders. Your chest was still heaving, eyes shut tightly as you tried to control your breathing after what might have been the most intense orgasm of your life. 

Gentle, soothing circles smoothed over your heated skin. His touch was so tender, so patient, as if he could feel the aftershocks still wracking your body. Your mind was hazy, cottony, thoughts tangled and slow.

Then, his voice came, soft and teasing, full of something achingly tender.

“You alright up there?”

You huffed out a breathless laugh, still trying to steady yourself. “Yeah,” you rasped. “That was...” You trailed off, shaking your head, still unable to find the words. “I don’t even know how to describe that.”

A soft chuckle rumbled from his chest as he rose to lay beside you. He brushed a damp strand of hair from your face, stroking gently. His expression softened, his gaze warm.

“You did so good,” he whispered.

Before you could respond, he leaned in, capturing your lips in a slow, languid kiss. You tasted yourself on his tongue, and it should’ve been too much, should’ve been something to shy away from. Instead it was intoxicating. Intimate in a way you hadn’t expected.

A new rush of warmth settled in you, your body stirring despite the bliss he’d already wrung from you.

You exhaled against his lips. “I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on this.”

He smirked, the curve of his mouth smug as he pressed another kiss to your lips. “Neither can I,” he said. “But don’t worry love. I fully intend to make up for it.”

Your breath hitched as you felt him against you, the press of him hardening once more. A slow, knowing smile tugged at your lips as you glanced down, amusement flashing in your eyes.

“Already?”

A huff of laughter left him as he followed your gaze, then met your eyes again, his own dark with intent. “I told you, I fucking love it,” he murmured, his voice dipping lower. “And I’m not quite done with you yet.”

You swallowed, your smile turning coy. “Good,” you whispered, dragging your fingers up his chest. “Because I’m not nearly done with you either.”

His grin widened, something playful gleaming in his gaze. His hand trailed up your side, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

“No?” he mused, tilting his head.

You shook your head, cupping his face. Your thumb traced the curve of his brow, your gaze drinking him in, memorizing every detail. The warmth of your touch made his eyes flutter shut for a moment, a quiet sigh escaping his lips.

Then, before you could stop yourself, you whispered, “Don’t leave me again.”

His eyes opened at that, his expression shifting, something passing between you. His fingers curled around your hand, lifting it to press a kiss to your knuckles. He lingered there, lips brushing against you.

“How about you don’t leave me,” he murmured against your hand.

Your breath caught. You barely had time to process his words before he continued, his voice steady, sure. “Stay on tour with me.”

Your heart stuttered in your chest. “Are you serious?”

His lips quirked into a soft smirk, but there was no teasing in his gaze. “Of course I’m serious.”

A small crease formed between your brows. “That wouldn’t be too… I don’t know, overbearing of me?”

He let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear how much I wished you were with me over the past few weeks.”

“Really? It wouldn’t be a bother?”

His expression shifted into something softer, something almost incredulous, like he couldn’t believe you were even asking. “If anyone's bothered by you then they can fuck right off.”

That made you laugh, and warmth bloomed in your chest. You had wanted this. To go with him, to be where he was, but you hadn’t wanted to ask. Hadn’t wanted to seem too much. But here he was, handing it to you without hesitation.

“Then yes,” you breathed, barely able to contain your smile. “Absolutely yes.”

You pulled him in, pressing frantic kisses to his face, unable to hide the sheer joy bubbling up inside you.

“Alright, alright,” he chuckled, grasping your head to still you.

You grinned at him, feeling like you might burst from the happiness thrumming in your veins. This felt like a turning point, something unspoken clicking into place. No longer did you have to think about leaving. No longer did you have to brace for the ache of separation. You’d be with him.

And god, that felt like the only thing you wanted.

You giggled as he pulled you flush against him, tangling his limbs with yours, pressing you back into the mattress with a low hum. His body was warm, solid, the weight of him anchoring you in this moment.

Your smile softened as you gazed up at him, nothing but pure contentment filling your chest. His eyes gleamed with something. Something deeper than words.

And somewhere, tucked away in the back of your mind, you realized you just might be falling in love with him.

And the way he was looking at you made you think he might be feeling the same.

[cxra-melty]

Ay yo, those Shadow headcanons you did? I'm here for it.

Any of your own headcanons of the other 3? (Only if you want to)

fuck yeah dawg let's get it

Team Sonic Tickle Headcanons

Not really gonna categorize them, they're all just jumbled together oops

Out of the three of them, Sonic is by far the meanest ler out of them. Neither Tails or Knuckles care much for tickling others unless it's for revenge

On the other hand, Sonic is also the biggest lee out of them all, with Tails in second and Knuckles in third

That poor fox,,,,Sonic and Knuckles never let him rest, especially if he's been up tinkering with some gadget or gizmo for a while

Knuckles struggled with understanding the idea of tickling and thought it was some form of fighting. It took a hedgehog shaped hole in a wall for Maddie to sit him down and explain it to him in a way he'd understand

The three once had a tickle fight over the last slice of a cake Maddie made. Tom ended up taking it while they were distracted.

None of them are really the teasing type. Sonic technically 'teases' the most but it's mostly just him stating the obvious and making various corny comments

Tickle fights between them are way too common for Maddie's liking. If she senses any funny business, she makes them take it outside. She's paid for enough house damages caused by them.

Tails gets the hiccups if he's been tickled for a while

Sonic is 100% the type to irritate the hell out of people if he's feeling particularly mischievous. Tails and Tom both entertain his shenanigans the most, Knuckles actually wants to spar to get him to leave him alone, and Maddie could go either way. She usually indulges him, but sometimes she'll usher him to bother Tom while there's nothing going on with his job.

Knuckles is very ticklish. Shockingly ticklish, even! It just takes the other two forever to actually pin him down and get him laughing, and it usually doesn't last very long unless Knuckles lets them.

Speaking of Knuckles, if Sonic or Tails wants his help to take down the other, the echidna is very easily bribed with grapes.

Despite this, Knuckles didn't even know he was ticklish until he saw Sonic and Tails play fighting and made the mistake of asking what they were doing

Tails' tails are devious weapons of mass destruction and he's not afraid to use them. Yall can't tell me he doesn't have an insane amount of control in those things

Whenever Sonic """runs""" away from whoever's trying to tickle him, he has so much fun during the chase!!! Then he remembers the situation he's gotten himself into and panics

Knuckles only knows how to tickle roughly. He just goes straight for the kill if he knows where their worst spots are. Tails is slowly teaching him to be gentle, though.

[raconteur-wanpi]

One Piece 1130

Here comes another review / reaction!

Starting with the Yamato cover stories again, it seems whoever is the suspicious kidnapper is also trying to steal Yamato's katana! Or at least, I'm assuming it's the same person. I feel like this means we're going to find out who it is rather soon. Is my bet on Perospero going to be completely and utterly debunked? We'll just wait and see.

Franky and the rest of the strawhats remaining on the giants' ship seem to have decided to call off the search! It's certainly the right decision, because as we'll see later, the rest of the crew is indeed already on Elbaf. It's interesting to see Franky specifically showcasing determination and speaking out the decision, I kinda love it. You have to remember he was the leader of the Franky Family for a long while, nice seeing that element of his again.

The rest of the New Giant Pirates are starting to show up! I remember both Gerd and Goldberg, but getting more dialogue from them is nice, they seem like genuinely charming characters and I love both their designs. They even showed up in Vegapunk's flashback, helping out Saul pick up all the books in Ohara. They seem to not like Rodo very much, which is kinda funny but makes total sense. It's also worth mentioning that apparently, according to Linlin's childhood flashback, Loki, Rodo and Goldberg were all born on the same day, or at least very close to each other! (From chapter 866)

The strawhats unfortunately don't recognize these two, who are certainly their allies, so instead they hide away from them.

This panel of all of them making their escape from Rodo's weird creepy dungeon is pretty cute, I always love seeing the strawhats casually interact. Sanji saying he used to cross a rope bridge like this is very interesting to me, surely there was one in Germa, right?

* Edit: oops, turns out that's Chopper saying it! Big thanks for the corrections in the replies. It's really hard to tell, but that makes more sense, we do see that in Drum Island.

Anyway, Luffy seems to spot something that catches his interest during this walk-away.

Meanwhile, back on the ship with the Giant Warrior Pirates....

Dorry and Broggy have been framed for the Egghead incident by Morgans also! Well, they did go against the government, so it's to be expected. Their bounties increasing to such numbers seems to actually align with real life inflation rates, Oda did his research.

Aaaandd here it is, one of the biggest things in this chapter. Vivi left a message to the strawhats!!!!!!! Being with Morgans, she was obviously able to draw the marking on the photo before it started getting reproduced for publishing. Everyone predicting Vivi joining the strawhats this arc is probably correct, hopefully! Please let it happen. Go get your girl kids!!!!!!

OK, this is the other huge (pun unintended) thing revealed this chapter. More information on Loki and, well.... the revelation Harjudin might be his brother!? They're both the King's sons, right? They both get referred to as princes here, aren't they!?

King Harold is referred to as Loki's father here, so it's safe to assume he was Harjudin's father also. If this is the case, Harjudin going after the Flame Flame Fruit in Dressrosa makes more sense.

Hmm, this narrative is pretty interesting, Loki getting called things like "cursed", "the shame of Elbaf" "not right in the head" etc, it feels like pretty cruel words. Even if he is indeed a horrible and dangerous person, something tells me we're meant to be wary of people being spoken about that way, so it might be a case of the people of Elbaf taking their measures against this guy too far and pushing him into what he eventually turned into.

One Piece loves this narrative, when you have things like Wano's unjust treatment of the Kurozumi Clan or Doflamingo's treatment when he was a child. Yes, Orochi and Doffy did turn out into terrible, horrible people, but the implication of those narratives is that it's the systems that failed them that created those monsters. It's not to feel sympathy towards them or anything, they really don't deserve that at this point, but rather to understand how they were created, and that the people who unwittingly turned them into such dangers were in many ways in the wrong as well. After all, Tama is also a Kurozumi, for example, and Wano needed to get over their treatment of entire clans for the crimes of a few. We even see that with Yamato being hazed for his father being Kaidou in the cover stories, only for Denjiro to scold the younger generation for this behavior. Not to mention, "the shame of Elbaf" does immediately make me think of "the failure of Germa" and such similar things. In fact, if we wanna push that parallel further, Loki being almost married off to the Charlottes' in a similar way, might have in fact been an attempt at "getting rid of the failure" and letting someone else deal with him, rather than an attempt at making amends with Linlin. I do think it's most likely that Loki will be a bad guy, but I think there will also be a narrative on how cruelty breeds more cruelty. Oda's favorite!

And here he is, the "accursed prince". Wow, what a panel! This is such a good drawing in sense of scale and danger. Incredible artistic work. Immediately leaves such a strong impression on who this character is, it's quite the introduction!

[strwberri-milk]

Songs of Sorrow - Ch. 20

Rancher!AU || Boothill x Fem!Reader || Slowburn, Drama

last chapter womp womp

The sun streams in through blinds and you’re trying your best to not let it bother you too much. Your alarm unfortunately didn’t go off but these days it’d been happening a lot so you’d adjusted to being allowed to sleep in a little more. 

You writhe in bed slightly, eyes still closed as you try to convince yourself to get up, miserably failing when you can’t even smell breakfast coming up the stairs. You grope around for the blankets on the other side of the bed, pulling Boothill’s pillow closer to you as you bury your face into it. He came to bed far too late last night after all and then got up way too early. You spent all day missing him, then slept with him but didn’t even know he was there. 

You hear footsteps coming from behind you, knowing that it can only be Boothill. Nobody else comes into his room besides yourself out of respect for him, especially now that the two of you made things official. It only took one time of being walked in on for everybody to carefully abide by the unspoken rule. Sure, it mortified you but at least it was effective. 

“Good mornin’ doll. Why dontcha turn and give me a smile, yeah?” 

You pout loudly, hunching your shoulders as you cling to his pillow more. You’re basically replacing the man with the object but you don’t mind - he deserves it for abandoning you so cruelly. 

“C’mon beautiful. Just one look at me. Don’t deprive me of those lovely eyes.” 

You hear him walk around the bed to kneel in front of you. His hands sneak onto the mattress, one of them coming up to cup your cheek affectionately as his thumb gently brushes just under your eye. You sigh quietly, leaning into his touch as you just barely peek at him. 

“Oop - there you are. Look at my pretty baby.” 

You feel your body heat up, flustered that he’d say something like that to you even though you’re kind of used to it by now. You bury your face back into his pillow much to his amusement. He laughs at you, crossing his arms as he watches you. 

“Come down when you’ve got the chance. One of the ranch hands fancies themselves an equestrian. You need to come judge the routine.” 

You groan, finally rolling out of bed as you grab the closest things near you to get dressed into. You were already wearing shorts, tugging on a flannel abandoned on the ground around your shoulder. Still feeling tired, you wrap your arms around Boothill’s stomach, letting him drag you slightly until he gets fed up and simply carries you into the yard, not even bothering to grab you a pair of shoes. 

The other ranch hands are whooping loudly, encouraging whoever it was on the horse to show off their routine. Boothill seats the two of you on the ground, carefully pulling you onto his lap to make sure you don’t get dirty. His face buries itself into your neck, happily resting against you as you lazily watch the routine. 

Someone clears their throat from above you, the two of you both looking up. You stiffen against Boothill, immediately turning to face him as you avert your gaze from Geryll. It’d been months since you last saw her or her brother and you didn’t think it was a good sign that you saw her now. 

“Boothill, can we talk?” she asks sweetly, blatantly ignoring you. 

Boothill brings an arm down from your shoulder, reaching for the gun he’s kept on his person since he rescued you from your assailants a second time. You wish he didn’t worry about you as much as he does but unfortunately you also know he has good reason to be as suspicious as he is. He doesn’t pull it out, merely resting his hand on it as he eyes her warily.

“Whatever you have to say to me you can say right now.” 

She looks at you imploringly, clearly trying to either convince Boothill to make you leave, or for you to leave of your own accord. You don’t feel like giving her what she wants in the least, crossing your arms as you ignore her presence, leaving her to simmer. 

“You should know that Sampo’s still pissed at you,” Boothill smirks. 

“If he ever comes back I’d recommend you cough up the money he paid you for failin’ to stop me.” 

“I’m sorry!” she huffs impatiently. 

“You should understand though! I was just worried about you! I thought that something awful would happen to you if I didn’t comply! Mikhal thought up the entire time-” 

“But you’re the one who told him in the first place. As far as I’m concerned you are more than just responsible for everything that happened. You’re lucky that I haven’t done anything to retaliate,” Boothill cuts off, getting close to his wit’s end. 

“Boothill, please. Mikhal wants to apologise, and he just wants you to tell him where Khasin is. That’s his kid as much as it’s hers!”

“You abandoned her in a home that you knew I’d look through. What would happen if he made the wrong choice? If I decided that her life didn’t matter if it meant getting back my darlin’? She doesn’t wanna speak to him and I don’t blame her. And your brother knows exactly what’s going to happen to him if he comes over here.” 

It finally seems to sink in that Geryll’s totally out of options. She stares at Boothill open-mouthed, unable to find anything to say in retaliation, fists curling tightly at her sides. 

“We’re going to leave the town,” she says in a last ditch effort. “We can’t stay here, not after everything you’ve told everybody. How are we going to establish ourselves? Make money for food and board?” 

“I think I missed the part where that’s my problem. You made your bed - now lay in it.” 

Boothill’s never been this cold to anybody before, or at least not around you. You know that he’s doing it all to protect you, and also in response to being used. He wasn’t the best of friends with Mikhal but knowing that the other man had no qualms about ruining his life just to make a quick buck did not sit well with the cowboy at all. 

“Geryll, you’re just embarrassing yourself. Everyone’s watching,” you say quietly, gesturing at the ranch hands staring very obviously at the three of you. They don’t look too pleased either, the mirthful air completely dissipated at the sight of Geryll. 

“This isn’t over. We’ll come back one day, and you’ll be real sorry!” she huffs, turning quickly on her heel as she walks off. You hear the squeal of tires on gravel, hoping that it’d be the last time the siblings would come by. 

“So you didn’t bother to mention that you’re buying out their farm once the bank comes by?” you laugh, Boothill nuzzling his nose into your hair. 

“Khashin’s gonna need a way to make money, especially now that she has the little one. I don’t mind the extra cash flow anyway - it’ll let me spoil you rotten.” 

Your eyes widen as you lightly smack your fist against his chest, shaking your head. 

“You really don’t need to!” 

“Oh, but I have to,” he says softly, grabbing your wrists in his hands. 

“I have to spend the entirety of my life showing you that I deserve to love you. You’ll never want for anything.”

[banshatheblademaster]

more for the ghost swap! unsure of whether to keep the designs as is, but it may suffice for me to ramble now!

Morro: - an adventurous boy who grows up in a fairly normal, but more secluded village where more or less everyone is responsible for the kids. as such, his origins are never quite questioned by himself or others. - his demeanor changes when he starts being haunted by strange dreams, nightmares. he keeps invisioning a cold, dark place, with lost souls screaming for mercy. and a voice that tells him it'll get him sooner or later, and that there's no reason to hide. over time, his visions shift, he begins seeing a different, but equally dark realm, a large figure of doom terrorizing the land. - his friends get freaked out by his sudden shift in temper, he gets more anxious and more on edge, snapping at interactions he would normally have lovingly teased in in return. the adults notice too, and they get concerned, but he won't let them help him becasue he feels as though they can't understand and would only ridicule him for thinkign the world is going to end. - he's already suspected that those dreams were more than just that, but after a long while they began clearing up: he envisioned clearly an ancient tomb, and a monastery at the top of a mountain. feeling destiny calling - as well as shunned by his peers - he sets out to find these places - the ancient tomb turns out to be the tomb of a serpentine tribe. oops. whoever he frees first (havent thought of who to swap pythor with yet) thanks him and convinces him that "yes, of course, we want to help save the world :)". of course morro falls for it, he's a kid and he's been travelling the country alone for who knows how long, it's his first friend in a while. - morro gets suspicious when he sees the serpentine, all of whom were freed by then, attack civilians, but he writes it all off until he catches the pythor stand-in talk to the other generals about their plans to awaken the Great Devourer. he confronts his supposed friend about it, he threatens his life now that he sees morro as a liability in the plan, and morro barely escapes with his life - knowing he messed up, he recalls the second part of his final vision: the monastery. he takes up his final strength to search for it and arrives there compeltely hungered out and exhausted. They take him in no questions asked. privately, he confides in Master Preeminent that he has been the one to free the Serpentine and cause the chaos unfolding at the moment. he tells her all he knows about their plans. Wrayth overhears them and snitches ot the rest of the crew, souring their opinion of the kid - this whole au is just full of trust issues huh... cant blame morro for not trusting them a whole lot after the fiasco with pythor's swap-partner. and on top of that, morro is terrified from what he has seen in his visions, thinking that at any moment, the world could end. they all dont really like each other at firs,t and morro isnt exactly helping himself when he also acts like a little jerk sometimes, but they can see pretty soon that he's just a scared kid who made a mistake thinking he was doing the right thing, and feels hella responsible for all the bad things happening. - in the process of bonding with him, not only do they find out hes the master of wind, but after Bansha saves him and unlocks her true potential, it is also revealed he is destined to be the green ninja! ruh oh!

Lloyd: - Master of energy. Son of Misako and Garmadon (shocker, they have him much earlier here, though). confident, powerful, undoubtedly skilled, but ultimately hindered by his pride - throughout his childhood, he always had the feeling his mother hid something, something bad she wasn't willing to share with him or his father. over the years, he would watch his mother be consumed by evil, and his father was powerless to stop it. Nonetheless he would try: Misako held out for pretty long until compeltely succumbing to it, so he saw hope in finding a cure. Lloyd, then a teen already, was left in the care of his aunt Preeminent - he became fascinated, wanting to learn everything about combat. Preeminent soon told him of the prophecy of the green ninja, and telling him it might be him who is destined to save ninjago from his mother. A hard thing for any child ot hear, but Lloyd accepted it as fact that one day, he would have to fight his mother. - he trained and trained without pause, but when the golden weapons didn't glow, Preeminent knew she had been mistaken. They were both shocked, but Lloyd was more than just that. He was disraught, angry. How could destiny choose anyone other than him for this path?! He, of all people in Ninjago, should have a right to fight this battle! - Preeminent denied him further planning of this fight, and he leaves the monastery overnight, bitter and enraged. He would show her. He would show her, his father, and everyone in Ninjago that this was his destiny, not someone elses! A long journey ensues, perhaps dragged out for longer due to his sheer stubbornness in not accepting help until he absolutely needs to. - One fateful night, in which he rests somewhere that isn't his home, feeling the slightest twinge of doutb nd regret about his decisions, he is visited in his dreams: Wu, whatever name he possesses as the grand ruler of the Cursed Realm, makes him an offer: he can take him to the Realm of Madness, the realm his mother was trapped in, in exchange for taking his soul once he passed. No downsides here: after all, Lloyd will be victorious in the battle against his mother, Wu was certain of that! he would come home as a hero, adored by everyone and having fulfilled his true destiny! Lloyd takes the deal and soon finds himself face to face with Misako. - But despite the fight he put up, despite how much he trained... he had no chance against destiny's ruling: His mother had slain him then and there, knowing her son would not leave until one of them died. - Lloyd arrived in the Cursed Realm, furious at Wu, but not for long: Wu had him under control now, after all, and this realm was the perfect place for him to intervene with the destiny Lloyd had fought so hard to prevent before. He wouldn't let death stop him, even if he couldn't win against Misako, he woudl still see a chance in getting his revenge...

Master Preeminent: - master of creation. sister of misako. mentor to all those under her care, for better or for worse. strict beyond belief, but compassionate and caring. a hell of a fighter from years worht of experience. - much like wu, has seen just about everything. befriending and betraying aspheera's swap-partner, fighting in the serpentine war, the time twins, seeing her sister become a lord of darkness, you name it. fucked up a lot in her life to say the least. - the loss of lloyd, her nephew of all people, later painfully recounted to her by misako, who confirmed it was her who killed him (and blamed preem for not watching over him), is perhaps the biggest regret Preem has in her life. she has sworn to redeem herself by making sure she would find the one to take down her sister. - all of the story plays out pretty similarly to wu's, she's just a bit more jaded and strict on the surface throughout. no way she's letting history repeat itself here, she thinks - has the same genetic heritage as the canonical garmadons, but maybe also some connection to the cursed realm. perhaps after lloyds death she, much like morro, was haunted by him, figuratively or literally.

Lord Misako: - Master of destruction. sister to Preeminent, former wife of Garmadon and mother of Lloyd. - Much like Garmadon, she was bitten by the Great Devourer when her and her sister were merely children. Unlike him, however, she bites back it's influence for far longer, letting it fester but fighting it at the same time until it's too late. One of the last things she tells her husband is to run, not look for her, and to not weep after her, just keep himself and their son safe. - she is banished to the Realm of Madness where evil's influence grows far stronger and she loses grip on herself, her mental state worsening and her form resembling more and more the one from Morro's visions. this isolation continues for pretty long - seeing her son, seeing how all he wanted to do was kill her, and the realisation it was her, who ultimately killed him in a moment where she had no control, was the final straw, and Misako lost her mind completely, being engulfed only in darkness from then on. - she finds a way out and the plot plays out similarly to seasons one and two, but after the big battle she simply cannot forgive herself. i doubt she, like garmadon, becomes a Master herself. she probably self-exiles, as a punishment for what she has done. hopefully, during the somewhat-events of season 5, she gets to play a part in lloyd's return

[sleepyficss]

lightbulb and reader being besties and hanging out? (doesn't have any ideas more specific than that. oops)

- taco loving girly girl

night light.

lightbulb & reader, platonic

authors note:

sorry this took so long ;; originally i was gonna add making cookies with her, but that might have to wait for another fic

Oh, how you wished to truthfully say that you yawned, stretched out your limbs, and fell straight asleep on your bed. Unfortunately, you were not lucky enough to be one of the several objects snoozing in their respective rooms of the hotel.

You could truthfully say, however, that you nearly jumped out of your skin at the loud knocking of your own room's door. At this time of night, in the peaceful silence, you had expected everyone to be asleep – or, at the very least, keeping to themselves.

With a groan forced out from your tired limbs, you pushed yourself out of bed. Sitting on the edge of your mattress, you debated laying back down in hopes that the knocking was an accident – but another succession of bangs against your door told you otherwise.

Moving your legs with all the willpower you could muster, you reached out to open your door, a set of choice words in your mind aimed at whoever it was. Those thoughts were halted, though, when you came face-to-face with the brightest person you know.

"Lightbulb?" You squinted at her, barely groaning out an audible sentence, "What're you doing here?"

"Look, I know it's late but –!"

You wasted no time in shoving a hand over her mouth as the object all but yelled out her response. You dragged her inside your room while attempting to quietly slam the door.

"Yes, 'it's late'! You can't be that loud!" You whisper-yelled at her.

"Sorry, sorry!" Lightbulb started in a significantly quieter tone, "I just thought, it's the perfect night for a movie! And who better to spend it with than my best bud, yeah?"

Despite the temptation to scold her for a lack of warning, or planning in general, you just sighed and offered her a smile.

"Yeah. That's – that's not a bad idea. Come on, I'll get some pillows and a blanket."

With an 'alrighty!', Lightbulb made her way to your couch to look through the assortment of movies in your possession, while you left to get to necessary comforts.

Once you were drowning under your heaviest quilts and softest cushions, you ambled back over to the couch and dumped it all on top of your guest.

A muffled choking noise could be heard underneath the covers as you silently laughed to yourself. Not a minute later, a particularly circular lump popped up.

Taking pity on Lightbulb with a smile, you lifted up the front of the blankets, "Woah! I thought I was gonna be blind forever – you cured me!"

You playfully flicked her head – careful to not crack her bulb with too much force – and lightly threw yourself beside her. You snatched a couple pillows for yourself, and wrapped one side of the blanket over your shoulder, leaving the rest for Lightbulb.

"What movie did you choose?"

As you'd expected, a comedy film was loaded up onto the television screen. You hadn't seen it before, though, and your friend seemed rather excited to watch it.

"I've heard good things about it from Fan, and it's age-appropriate for our crabby friend!" She patted the small red crab – Baxter – on the head in her lap.

You did a double take, blinking as you felt immense confusion on where he came from. Did... She walk in with him? You could have sworn he wasn't in her arms earlier.

You simply pushed those thoughts away and focused on the beginning of the movie – Lightbulb just pulled things out of nowhere sometimes, but you could never get used to it. But you'd never deny Baxter a place at your hangouts, he was the sweetest crab you knew. Or, rather... The only crab you knew?

As a classic slapstick scene played out, Lightbulb let out a burst of laughter, "Oh, I love when they do that!"

You shushed her through your own smile, unable to stop her contagious joy from getting to you, but still having the sense to know you needed to be quiet.

She whispered a 'sorry, sorry!', and silence overtook you two once again.

...However, it didn't last long before you felt a nudging at your side, "Psst, hey! Don't you think that guys' mustache looks like a taco –?"

Still giggly from her earlier antics and from your exhaustion making you slightly hysterical, Lightbulb's comment pushed you over the edge. Louder laughter took your own breath away, leaning into Lightbulb's side.

"Lightbulb! Oh my gosh –" You barely wheezed out.

A bang on the wall had you covering your mouth, a familiar voice yelling out, "Shut it! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

You felt your heart drop for a moment, but as you glanced over to your side and met Lightbulb's eyes, you felt your shoulders begin to shake.

Struggling to hold back your laughter resulted in ungraceful snorts as you held on harder to your friend. Feeling movement beside you, Lightbulb wasn't in a much better state. She had doubled over with Baxter in her arms, failing to silence her own laughter.

"I-I think... Painty's having a r-rough night..." She choked out.

"Yeah, b-because of you!" You wiped the remnants of tears from your eyes with a large grin, "B-But we should... Pick a calmer movie. I do feel sorta bad."

"You're right, you're right. I saw a crab documentary before, Baxter can learn about his heritage!"

You almost laughed again at her moment, despite her being completely serious, "I'm... I'm sure that he appreciates it, Light."

Picking up the remote again, the object beside you cancelled out of the current film, and scrolled back to the genre section of the hotel's streaming service. This time, she selected documentaries, and scrolled directly to a show titled, 'Crab Evolution'.

You wrapped the blanket more snug around you, and shifted to get comfier as the opening played, before you heard light snoring beside you. A glance over to your friend had you realising she fully fell asleep in what... A few seconds?

You furrowed your eyebrows with a light smile, and reach for the remote yourself. With a few clicks, the television is powered off, and the room is left in darkness.

...Except for the dim glow illuminating from Lightbulb. It wasn't surprising, considering the object that she is, but you always forgot about it until she was asleep.

You stood up, shrugging off your side of the blanket, and wrapped it around her. Being careful not to disturb Baxter, who was nearly unconscious in her arms – practically being used as a teddy bear.

With a once-over to make sure she seemed comfortable, you turned around to find your own bed. You think that, after hanging out with Lightbulb, you might finally be able to fall asleep.

[the-kr8tor]

I haven't done a hc in a WHILE and I honestly have no excuse. My apologies 😔

So, (not-so) daily Leon HCS!!!!!!

Imagine you hanging out with Leon, doing nothing in particular. The TV's on playing some HGTV show you're both half watching. Your head is resting on the arm of the couch and griping about their choice of design. Why even try to decorate at all if its all gonna be beige anyway? You're about to close your eyes so you can stop seeing the monstrosity, but are caught off guard by a feather light kiss. Before you could ask the obvious, Leon attacks you with a bombardment of kisses. "What- why??" you can't help but laugh. "Cause I felt like it." You fight back for a moment, but eventually you both fall into a giggling mess.

All of this is to say I think Leon is a kiss attack rather than tickle attack person.

On top of that I think he's a surprise gift kinds guy. Like he'll come home and hand you something random, an accessory, a mug, anything you'd like, just because. I also feel like sometimes they're strange things "why'd you give me a rock?" 'If you look reaally closely, it's kind of shell-shaped' "Wow, really? Yea, I see it now." You two share this braincell.

I can also imagine him being a day kinda person, like gets up at 8, goes to bed at 10.I think he just likes when the sun is out.

OMG IF YOU SQUINT LEON LOOKS LIKE THE SKY WHEN IT'S CLEAR AND SUNNY BC GOLDEN BLONDE HAIR??? BLUE EYES???

I don't imagine Leon as a big conspiracy theorist guy, but I do think he gets a kick out of hearing them. Like I could totally imagine him listening to r Yap about the craziest theories they've heard and thoughts about them. Some of them have merit, others not so much, and still others have him questioning what planet whoever came up with these are living on.

This isn't a headcannon, but I wanna see Leon in one of those super detailed military uniforms those manhwa mls wearrrr. He'd be so fineee 😔😔😫😫

No worries my love! It's completely understandable to miss a day or so! Life gets in the way sometimes 🥲

Daily Leon HC 💙💙💙

Oop hgtv and chill? 😳👀 Lol me too r, me too

AHHHH I'll take a kiss attack than a tickle attack any day!

Awwww he'll be like "it reminded me of you" i swear r better marry him asap

Oh man that can't be me 😂 he'd be worried sick if he ever saw my sleep schedule lol

Imagine Leon would wake up at the ass crack of dawn to go run and he comes back to you still asleep and he even got you a bagel from your favourite place!

GASP IT IS AHHHHH!!!

Lmaooo r yapping: 🗣️🗣️🗣️

Leon: ❤️👄❤️ whatever you say, beautiful

OMG YES I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN AHAHHGHHHHHH 😍😍🥰🥰😍

[saintforan]

So i saw that u made that Holders au and was open to questions so here goes:

Would the rest of the smiling critters have Miraculous/miraculum (idk how's it exactly called) too? Which ones would they have if yes? Would it be kinda based on the animals or character more, or maybe even smth else?

Cuz ironically the pig miraculum is like for a cheery person so it fits with the piggy smiling critter in both cases

OOP be prepared for another long ahh ramble post

Alright so, on the og series the miraculous are given to whoever the miraculous guardian aka master fu decides they are worthy of having them, so he gives the cat and ladybug miraculous to adrien and marinette bc they proved they were good people. The thing is that besides them two, and ofc the villain, the rest of the people that get miraculous they only get them temporarily when chat noir and ladybug need help.

THE THING IS that who chooses who gets the miraculous in the og series is marinette?, like ok shes a very good ladybug but i find it kinda nonsense that she being a 14yo teenager gets trusted by the miraculous guardian (whos like, old af) to choose who gets supernatural power????? idk but personally doesnt make sense to me, i would understand it if she had like atleast A DECADE of experience with them but she barely has any ;-;

SO MY POINT WITH THIS is that i wanted to avoid that same thing bc again, doesn't make any sense to me, so in thia AU theres no guardian! yippeee!

So how the fuck do they even get them in the first place? Easy! They found them! This universe follows the same prompt as the og one where nineteen of the miraculous were sheltered by the order of the guardians (Ppl designated to take care of them), BUT on this AU said order would eventually fall apart/perish for a reason i havent figured out yet LOL on my behalf i just made this au like, yesterday LMAO

After this happened, the miraculous they sheltered got lost, and since the Order was erradicated, there was no one that would actively search for them. SO some time later, mr prototype found an old book that told the tale about the miraculous and blablabla and the infinite power that the black cat and ladybug miraculous give to whoever lands their hands on them, and so he decided to hire investigators and archeologists to find these precious jewels he learned about. Although he didn't find the black cat and ladybug miraculous, he did find the butterfly and peacock. Then after a while, catnap and dogday found the ladybug and black cat miraculous. So going back to your question (too many words just to get here LOL), i still need to develop this au some more, but im planning to make dogday very interested in the miraculous thing, therefore while investigaating them them out of pure curiosity, and adding that the ladybug miraculous makes him luckier he would actually get to find some of them. This said, the rest of the critters could get one on two situations, 1) like dogday and catnap, they get lucky enough to find one, 2) a little like on the og story, in a very very VERY VERY VERY (emphazise on V E R Y) fucked up situation they might encounter, as the critters are good friends to dogday and catnap, they could give them one of the ones they found, but again this would be on a VERY fucked up situation

if i had to choose which one of them to give a miraculous it would prob be either crafty or kickin mainly bc they are the ones that dogday trust the most besides catnap, or in a very specific situation bubba could get one too, a Felix like situation where he steals one from the prototype but on this case it would be out of greedyness lol, very much like layla

and about which one would they get.. i was thinking on giving crafty either the fox (gives the power of Illusion) or the rabbit (Gives the power to time travel), as for kickin he would prob get the turtle (gives the power of Protection aka s h i e l d) or i would go for the safe option and give thim the rooster. As for why they would get those animals miraculouses, my main reason for choosing them would be how responsible they would be (or how i think they would be) with the power each of them gives, for example, crafty would get the rabbit one bc whoever carries it must be really careful with it as it involves time travel, and on my personal vision of crafty she would def be able to handle it

i think thats all? if u got any more questions feel free to ask yippee

[swiftsaltsweet]

The Hunt for Kyoshi: Chapter 12: Rangi- The Decision

Characters: Rangi and Kyoshi (plus whoever appears in Rok)

Pairing: Rangshi

Summary:  

“What are we going to do?” She asked steely, still not looking up from the ground. She was ready to uphold her duty, or at least, what remained of it. “We need you to capture Kyoshi,” Jianzhu instructed. “Capture?” “Yes, we need to set an example of an Avatar murderer,” Jianzhu responded, oh so matter of factly again.

(Canon Divergent AU- “What if Rangi wasn’t there when Kyoshi ran away, and Rangi had to hunt her down?)

Other Sites: AO3 

A/N: *walking in lost, dazed and confused* O-oh! Long time no see! It's been awhile! :'D Um thank you for sticking around, I know I was dragging my feet with this ;w; (I swear this fic is cursed, every time I start it I get sick *sob* that and trying to make sure Rangi's mindset both went the way it needed to go and stayed consistent was rough).

But um, even tho I didn't get the other chapters for this arc done like I wanted. I did want to send this year off with one more chapter from Hunt. You know, end the year how it started (kinda, well you can say end my Rangshi year with how it started jkdlsajf). Even though Thief was being written before this, this is the one I published first. I gotta treat my angsty baby to something!

So yeah, thank you for joining me and sticking with me here in 2024 (regardless if it was this fic, one of my other ones, or from something else entirely). I really appreciate you all. TTwTT And I hope I can deliver more in 2025! o7

(I also realized I need to post the other chapters here oops TT0TT I'll get on that)

____

“Did something happen between you and Yun?” Rangi asked nonchalantly as she inspected a nearby flower. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kyoshi flinch as she crouched over the garden. “No. Why do you ask?” Kyoshi tried keeping her voice even, but there was a slight change in her cadence, just for a moment.

Liar. 

“Something just felt different,” Rangi mumbled. If only she had the courage to just say ‘I saw you two in the gifting room.’ But perhaps it was for the best, she might not like the outcome of the conversation that followed it. At least for the moment, their relationship could live in blissful ignorance. 

Kyoshi playfully scoffed and pushed her shoulder against Rangi’s. “Please, the three of us are always together. I think we’d all know if something changed.” 

Always together? She thought sarcastically. Then she chastised herself. No, she’s just being hyperbolic…  

The irony of that statement was not lost on Rangi, Yun technically wasn't with them at the moment. Just like how Rangi hadn't been with them the other day. The times Rangi and Yun were alone together? Those didn’t count. It wasn’t the same. Rangi and Yun were in love with Kyoshi, not each other. 

The memory of that day replayed in Rangi’s mind. Her eyes darkened with jealousy, but she didn’t let the rest of her face show it. “I suppose you’re right.” She wished Kyoshi would at least be honest that she had feelings for Yun. It would probably make the whole Fire Lily Incident a bit easier to stomach, because at least she would know her friend trusted her. 

Maybe that was it? Kyoshi didn't trust her to talk about her obvious bullies from the village, or about her past. She didn’t trust her to confide in her past, the past Rangi had to get out of Auntie Mui. Could it be that Rangi was the problem? Did Rangi do something that deemed her untrustworthy in the eyes of her beloved friend?

Rangi turned her attention to picking at some flower’s leaves to calm herself, softly rubbing her nail along its skin, feeling the grooves. She kept at it for who knows how long, when suddenly a bunch of white and orange specks flitted by her face. She accidentally inhaled one through her nose, and it caused her to sneeze. 

She fell back onto her butt and rubbed at her nose with her sleeve. She stopped when she heard laughter beside her. Kyoshi was covering her mouth with one hand, trying to hold her laughter back. In her other hand held the weapon. A now emptied dandelion-tiger weed. 

“What are you doing?! You’re going to spread those seeds throughout the garden!” Rangi yelled at her, annoyed. Kyoshi was smarter than this, why would she risk ruining the garden?

Instead of feeling embarrassed or ashamed by Rangi’s impromptu scolding, Kyoshi’s laughter erupted, unable to be contained. 

“W–what? What are you laughing at?”

Kyoshi was gasping for air. “Y–you!”

Rangi flushed in embarrassment. Great, another hit to her pride. She just figured out the girl she was in love with was in love with someone else, their best friend and the Avatar no less. And now she was laughing at her. This was the worst week ever. She may as well confess and ruin their friendship right now to truly cement it.

“Why?!” Rangi grumbled. 

“I–I’ve never seen you sneeze before!” Kyoshi was wiping away tears from her eyes. “It was like a canon! You sneezed out fire, and it flew you back!” The memory of it caused her to double over in a new wave of giggles. She clutched at her sides and curled up on the ground.

Rangi bit her lip. Her cheeks were still flushed from embarrassment, but thinking of how silly she may have looked and seeing how gleeful it made Kyoshi, made it so Rangi had to fight back her own bout of laughter. She covered her mouth. “Th–that’s not, snrk, funny!” Rangi started to choke, trying to hold the laughter back with her hand. “I–I might’ve, set the, garden, on fire!” 

The image of a firebender sneezing so badly that it caused an expensive garden to become alight, set the girls over the edge. Kyoshi kicked her legs as she clutched at her sides. Rangi put her own head between her knees as she shook, chokes of laughter and mirth escaping between her fingers.

The two girls stayed like that until their laughter finally washed over them. “Ok, ok. Remind me not to do that again. I didn’t know this was such a dangerous weapon against firebenders.” Kyoshi held up the stem, almost admiring the weed. 

Rangi leaned over and took the item from Kyoshi’s hand, savoring the way their fingers brushed against each other. Maybe Rangi was a masochist, that’s why she kept letting this type of thing happen.

Rangi closely inspected the stem and then set it on fire with just her finger tips. “Yes, very dangerous indeed.” 

She looked back at Kyoshi, who was staring at her with an expression Rangi couldn’t exactly place. She raised an eyebrow at the girl, who seemed to zone back in, and scrambled to get into a seiza sitting position. “Ah! Sorry, I was spacing out.” Kyoshi laughed. “Hey, your birthday is coming up, isn’t it? Is there anything you want?”

You. Rangi thought, knowing she couldn’t say it out loud. As long as she could spend part of the day with Kyoshi, then that’s all she needed. Rangi shrugged. “No, I can’t think of anything.”

“Well, you’re easy to shop for,” Kyoshi said sarcastically.

“I could say the same for you!” Rangi shot back, still reeling about how hard it was finding a present for the frugal girl.

“I have everything I could ever ask for already!”

“Same!”

Kyoshi pouted, and then began looking Rangi over thoroughly. Her eyes raked over the shorter girl, starting from the tips of her toes, to the top of her topknot.

“W–what are you doing?” Rangi fought back a blush that was riding up the back of her neck. She wasn't used to Kyoshi staring at her this much.

“Hm,” Kyoshi hummed, stopping to stare at Rangi’s face for a moment, then they wandered upward to linger on her topknot. Then she turned away, having finished looking Rangi over. “I know exactly what to get you.” 

She sounded confident. 

“Whatever,” Rangi looked away, trying to hide the smile on her face. She wanted to jump with excitement at what Kyoshi had in mind, but she opted to push the other girl’s shoulder playfully instead. “Now hurry up, or we’ll be here forever.”

“If you help me it’ll get done faster,” she turned around to pick up a flower they needed to transplant. “Here I know you love these, you can plant them.” She held out a pot of young fire lily plants.

Rangi couldn’t help herself from recoiling at the sight and smell of the flower, her face scrunched up in disgust. “Ugh, keep those away from me!”

“What? The fire lilies? But I thought they were your favorite flower? You helped me plant these last year!” Kyoshi was shocked. 

“Not anymore, the scent makes me nauseous,” Rangi swatted the air, trying to blow the powerful fragrance somewhere else. She didn’t care if she was being childish, the point still stood. She hated the flowers now.

“Oh…” Kyoshi moved the flower away from Rangi’s view, and went to hand her a different one.  “Do you have a new favorite flower then?”

Rangi turned back to Kyoshi, her eyes narrowing a little in thought. Her eyes slowly swept the garden, looking for a flower to pretend to like. Nothing caught her eye. Her eyes landed back at Kyoshi, like they always did, always returning to the scene of the crime. She stared longingly at the taller girl’s freckles. Then she heard Autie Mui’s voice in her mind. 

“Starpoppy.” She said the words before she could stop herself. “I like starpoppies.”

Kyoshi stared at her confused, and then broke into a smile that made Rangi’s heart thump. “I think I can manage to get some of those.”

_____

Stars greeted Rangi as she opened her eyes. She marveled at them, forgetting where she was for the briefest of moments, and just stared at the beauty above her. She wanted to savor the moment for as long as she could. Reminiscing of a time when she could stargaze with Kyoshi and Yun.

“Now that was a nice dream, if I do say so myself!” A familiar female voice rang next to her.

Aaaaand the moment was gone. 

Rangi sat up and pressed her palms to her eyes and pressed down hard. She needed to get up and resume her journey. She moved her hands around her body, making sure her armor was securely in place, the rucksack she had was still on her person, and lastly, the pin in her topknot was still there. 

Her fingers lingered on the cool metal for just a moment as she recalled the dream she had, her heart clenching painfully. She’d forgotten about it until now, with all the commotion going on, and in all honesty was more focused on the tassel that still laid in her rucksack. She cursed herself for forgetting something so important, she should’ve realized and left it back at the mansion. Now it laid on her head like a weight, a shackle. Yet another reminder of what was ruined.

“What a nice trip down memory lane! And you seemed to get a good nap in!” Kyoshi said cheerily, cutting into Rangi’s spiral.

“You mean the memory where you lied about us?” Yun asked, a mocking tone in his voice. 

“Ugh, there was no ‘us’!” Kyoshi bit back.

“So you say,” Yun mocked. 

“She doesn’t even know what we did or didn’t end up doing!” Kyoshi retorted to him. 

“I don't know. I liked to point out fire lilies whenever I could! And you'd blush about as red as one. Something must’ve happened right?” 

“Is that a crime? Is it a crime to blush?” 

“No, but think of poor Rangi!”

“I do think about her! That's why I never brought it up! You're the one who doesn't care–” Kyoshi started to protest again.

“Will you two shut it? You're giving me a headache,” Rangi snapped at them. It was hard to think when she had two hallucinations gabbering in her ear!

“Oh quit your bellyaching! It's not our fault you lost to the real Kyoshi,” Yun waved at her dismissively. 

“It is. You two wouldn't stop your damn commentary during the whole encounter!” It was already hard enough stomaching the real Kyoshi’s words, but having to deal with the peanut gallery? It was a special kind of hell. 

“Not the whole encounter,” Kyoshi tried to defend. 

“Yeah it was only when she started lying!” Yun said, crouching down behind Rangi and whispering in her ear. “You can’t let her fool you, Rangi! You know the truth AND she's always been so secretive!”

Kyoshi knelt down in front of Rangi, her ghostly hand gently grabbing Rangi’s chin and tilting her head so they could see eye to eye. “You do know the truth, but not all of my truth.”

Rangi glared at the apparition. “Why all the secrets?”

“Because she wants to destroy the world! Me! The Avatar! It’s not that hard to see!” Yun shook her from behind.

“Everyone has secrets Rangi, that’s not illegal. Even you do. Like how you were–no, still are in love with–”

Rangi ripped her head away and grabbed at her ears, “Shut up! Stop talking! I–I’m not–! I’m no longer–!”

“Keep denying it, but it still sounds like you are!” Yun said in a sing-song voice.

“No! I have a duty, I’m going to bring her to justice!”

“So you going to do that while you straddle her or–”

Rangi turned around and threw a punch at the air. It went right through Yun. Because he wasn't there, he didn't exist.

“Woah, woah, calm down tigerdillo! It’s a fair question!” he laughed, and then his voice got low. “I just wanted to test your resolve. Because remember, she's a killer. An enemy of the four nations. She betrayed you, your honor and the Avatar”

Rangi stiffened. Right. Kyoshi was the enemy. She knew that. But it...

“She even sullied master Jianzhu’s name and my name. The Avatar's title. She never cared about being the Avatar before, but suddenly she starts slinging the title around? Why is that?”

Rangi tried to swallow but the action just felt like a rake across her dry throat. It was a struggle for her to even breathe.

“Because she's still trying to manipulate you! She's doing what she does best. She lies.” He grabbed Rangi’s face and made her look him in the eye. “She lied about the fire lilies. Her past. Her feelings and friendships. All to your face. To my face. Unabashedly. She doesn't care, she just wants to control you.”

He dropped his hands from Rangi’s face. Rangi let her body fall forward to where she had to catch her upper body a few inches from the ground. Her body felt so weak as she gasped for air.

Yun knelt down beside her and whispered.

“I bet she even knows about your true feelings for her. Maybe that's why she's aimed for close quarters combat? She knows the more intimate the attack the more you’d hold back.”

Rangi took a ragged breath. It was true. She wasn't sure why but each encounter with Kyoshi did make her feel so much weaker. Her blows didn't have as much impact. Her fire was smaller and more frail. Rangi thought it was because she was so tired from the journey. 

But perhaps there was more?

Perhaps there was still a nagging, lingering part of her that was afraid of hurting the Kyoshi she used to love and cherish. 

“Kyoshi’s like a poison to you. Look how she makes you weak , she's the reason you're hurt.”

“Rangi you know that's not–” Kyoshi tried to intervene.

“Don't listen to her either. She lies too. Kyoshi always lies.” Yun poked Rangi’s head with a finger. “Whether it’s the real one, or the one in your head. Kyoshi. Always. Lies.” He punctuated each word with a tap of  his finger on her forehead.

“Kyoshi always lies,” Rangi repeated. “Kyoshi always lies…”

Yun smiled. “Now you're getting it! Now get up and go get that little deceiver! Bring her back to Yokoya, to master Jianzhu, so he can hand out her punishment! She'll be dead, and then you can finally wash your hands clean of her! Get your honor back, go and help find and protect the new upcoming fire Avatar! You know? The works!”

Rangi knelt there motionless.

“Hello? Earth to Rangi! Helloooooo? Did we break her?”

This isn't right. Rangi thought. Her head sunk to the ground as she grasped at her head, gasping for air with dried sobs. Why? Why was it now dawning on her that Kyoshi would die when she brought her back? Was she stupid? Distracted? Both?

Of course she would die, she killed the Avatar!

She would be bringing her other, only remaining best friend to their death. The same girl that she was in lov–

Rangi let loose an animalistic scream from her lips as she dug her forehead into the dirt below.

How? How was it possible for her world to just keep crumbling? Was there no end? 

Rangi sobbed, the tears finally forming again, into the ground for a good long while. She felt like she was drowning in a sea of her own tears. And then a small bubble of air popped its way to her.

“I should be the one to do it.”

“Hm?” Yun’s voice responded as if he had heard the bubble. Or maybe she had actually said it outloud herself? “Do what?”

“I should be the one to do it,” her voice repeated. At least, it sounded like her voice. Except it was distorted and hollow and nullified of all life. It didn’t feel attached to her body anymore. “I should be the one to kill Kyoshi.”

She watched the words fall from her lips like tar. She no longer saw anything in front of her, only a black void.

“Oh! That is interesting, but don’t you think Sifu should do it? I mean, I was his student.”

“I don’t care,” Rangi’s hollowed voice echoed into the void. “You were my friend. My charge, my job. She was my friend. And– and I– I love,” a flare of emotion came back into Rangi’s voice, a choked sob. “I loved her. She betrayed me... more than she did Jianzhu.”

That’s right, in Fire Nation law, Rangi was the one who was more intimately wronged. At least that’s what she would tell herself; she was greatly overlooking just how much the world took stock in rules of teaching lineage and deference when it came to one’s sifus. 

Regardless, she had a fair stake to such a claim, therefore, she had the right to end the other’s life, not the executioner. If this was the Fire Nation, she could claim to be the one to deliver the final blow.

It was something that was only doled out for the most heinous crimes that would result in an execution. And nothing was more heinous than killing the Avatar. It was an act that would allow the victim to reclaim their honor. And, depending on how they were executed, the one executed could also die with some honor intact.

And, wouldn’t that be a better ending to this sad tale? Better than bringing the girl back kicking and screaming for some Earth Kingdom execution? Didn’t Rangi deserve to reclaim some of her honor? Didn’t Kyoshi deserve to die with some honor?

Yes, Kyoshi deserved some honor. That was the least Rangi could do for the girl she loved. To die by an old friend’s hands rather than some stranger’s. Even if it was Jianzhu's, her old benefector.

“I have to kill Kyoshi,” Rangi repeated. “I’m going to kill Kyoshi.”

A cold feeling seeped into the core of Rangi’s body as the colors of the world around her faded away. She slowly got up and gathered her things, only vaguely aware of the hallucinations. Their mouths were moving, but she couldn’t hear them anymore. Soon, she most likely wouldn’t see them anymore. She would finally be alone. 

No. She was alone. Because of this choice she was making. She knew she wouldn’t be able to continue on afterwards. 

Kyoshi always lies. I have to kill her.

Rangi repeated the two lines in her head like a mantra. Needing to steel herself for what she needed to do. To remind herself of what she needed to do.

After she gathered everything, she steadily began her trudge through the dark forest.

_____

Rangi was sure it was noon, but the forest was so thick that barely any light filtered through the leaves. 

She’d been walking for hours with no end in sight. Her only thought was her mantra. Until now.

I don’t know where to go. She finally allowed a new thought to form in her head. She saw a direction Kyoshi had gone, but she could’ve diverted course after she got out of Rangi’s eyeline. There was also the fact that Rangi wasn’t making good time, not without a steed. 

Kyoshi could easily land in a village, rest, and be well on her way by the time Rangi got her footing.

Rangi was screwed.

So much for specializing in fleeing and evasion. Can’t even track down your own damn ex-friend.

Still, she didn’t stop her legs from moving forward. There was benefit in just stopping. Positive jing was just too ingrained into her.

It wasn’t until the ground started to rumble and the sound of trees starting to break, that Rangi stopped and inspected her surroundings. She got into a low stance as the ground shook harder, trying to maintain her balance. Rangi braced herself as the snapping grew louder and then–

She was met with two massive black holes staring right back at her. No, not only black, they had a giant, pink, flowering nose that wiggled as if it had a mind of their own. The jaws of the void opened and two long whip-like tongues flashed out.

Rangi used her jet-stepping to dodge them both, and sent a blast at the monster’s direction at the same time. The monsters nimbly dodged her attack and geared up for a counter when a sharp noise rang through the air. 

The creatures collapsed on the ground, running their faces across the dirt in agony as their paws tried to clamp over their heads. 

“Oh good! We’ve found you!” a voice rang out from the treeline. “You’re Mistress Rangi, correct?”

Rangi looked over and saw a group of Fire Nation men and women with some Earth Kingdom gents as well. They were wearing research attire. One of them wielded a whistle that bothered the creatures severely.  

“Headmistress Hei-Ran and Master Jianzhu said you’d need our assistance? That our shirshus would be of great service to you?”

Ah, so they were the shirshu handlers Jianzhu promised Rangi at the beginning of her journey. Which meant…

Those creatures over there are shirshus.

“Thank you, your timing is impeccable,” Rangi said, shaking one of the researcher’s hands.

“Glad we can be of service!” the man beamed at her. “Sorry for their attack, they’re a bit hard to control if I’m being honest. Plus they like to attack what they’re tracking when they finish tracking it down.”

“It’s no problem, I understand,” Rangi said, making a mental note. Shirshus had a paralyzing agent if she recalled correctly. It could be useful in subduing Kyoshi, but she would need to make sure she landed the final blow.

“Do you have a scent for them to track? We have two because they always travel in pairs with their mate.”

“I do, I have two scents they can track, just in case.” Rangi grabbed her rucksack and started to rifle through it. She pulled out the tuffs of Pengpeng’s fur and handed it to the man. Then her fingers grazed the gold tassel. 

She paused, deliberating, then moved her hand to clasp Kyoshi’s shoe instead. Despite Rangi’s resolve, she couldn’t bear the tassel accidentally getting ruined. It was…the last thing she could be selfish about, she realized. 

The men and women approached the beasts and began administering the different scents to them while blowing on their special whistles. 

“Ok, I think they’re set to go! Here, climb on the back of one of these mounts and we can get to tracking!”

“Alright,” Rangi said, as she gazed up at  the void of the two monsters, but only saw the voids staring back at her.

___

Map (source/explanation):

____

A/N: Me: Remember, to bold Rangi’s thoughts when she’s REALLY going off the deep end! Me: Ok Me: *forgets* Me: Shit gdi *has to re-read to remember where I needed to start bolding* I can’t wait until you calm down girl so you can think straight again. TT0TT

One of the reasons I wanted to wait till I got more chapters done was so you wouldn't be left on THIS cliff hanger. *sobs* With this fic, just remembering that "Things are gonna get angst-ier before they get better". TT0TT

So you can say I'm off hiatus now. I'm going to publish one chapter per week from one of my fics. Right now Two Knives has the most completed chapters. Hunts right behind it but the chapters are half done (the SECOND I get ch 13 done I'll publish it for that week I promise!) but I'm going to try to just....mix it up. Thief has one chapter almost done (it's a big boi, tbh they all feel big TT0TT). Lord help us if I choose a week to just throw one of the new fic/ideas I started on in the background.

Shoot sorry I'm rambling I like to do that. All you need to know is I'm posting one chapter of a random fic a week starting today (I'll make a note on the other fics when I publish their new chapters)! The date isn't set when I post just...it'll be within the week. I look forward to seeing you all there! o7

[ladymilkyway]

Related to my last Halloween post; I’m thinking about some lore I could make for it (bc everything I do somehow has to develop lore. It’s like my Volks Harem LMAO—)

ANYWAY— I got the ideas from Ren’s comment on Reddit and since we were in vc while I was finishing my piece (this is gonna be long so strap in);

It can be a reversed AU of sorts, where Lady (here named Ryūsei or Ryu for short) is a kitsune and Fuyu a powerful man. (Like a Daimyo or Shogun)

They fall in love and all is good but Fuyu is still a mortal at the end of the day

The thought of being by herself one day without him, the thought of him DYING is UNBEARABLE. She loves him. She can’t be without him. Absolutely not.

She kills him in a fit of grief and lovesick rage and eats his heart

Now he’s reduced to a ghost whose only thoughts are about his lover who he is bound to

And she’s happy ❤️

OR this could go another way but the ending is similar;

Same story as the original LadyFuyu but Fuyu is assasinated

And Lady can’t be without him. She dropped her entire life to be with him and his clan in the mountain

They took away her only source of love and solace

Fueled by grief and vengeance, she eats his heart and drinks his blood

The gentle and quiet cursebreaker now cursed herself into becoming the very creature she had saved.

Remnants of Fuyu’s soul lingers and gives her powers (she doesn’t gain his winter/cold powers, hers relate to darkness and red flowers.)

And since Fuyu’s soul lingers, his personality kinda translates onto hers a lil; confident, calculating, the scary kind of quiet… while still keeping her humanity and empathy to those who deserve it

Speaking of which, she finds whoever killed her beloved and tortures them (think The spider and the kitsune like lion hehe) because they deserve to know the pain they put her through.

They have to suffer, because hours, days of torture will not even grace the surface of what she’ll have to live through for the rest of eternity

Since she avenged her hubby (and ate him oop) he is now bound to her as a ghost ❤️

WOOO that was a long one— can’t help it, I love yapping and horror stuff once in a while 😔 👉🏻👈🏻

I really like Lady’s kitsune design, when I realized I accidentally made her tail Eevee colored my partner said to just roll with it since it suits me LOL

Anyway that’s it folks hehe

[honorary-fool]

Can you tell us about your hsr oc(s)?

gladly >:D

The only one that's been properly fleshed out so far is Clover- I have a few work in progress ones like a tattoo artist, I *think* I was gonna make one a Galaxy Ranger, and a Knight of Beauty (I should work on her more, she's neat ^^)

for now gonna stick w/ Clover though. sticking this stuff under the cut 'cus I fear how long it'll be /lh

species: human/foxian mix

(They were born to two "human" parents; unaware there were recessive foxian genes in their bloodlines until Clover & their fraternal twin were born, to which Clover popped out with the trademark foxian ears & tail. As it turns out, an ancestor started a family with a foxian. Idk how genes work but something like that. Or I can make it up, it's a sci-fi/fantasy game lol).

age: ~185 chronologically, ~26 physically/mentally

gender/prns: genderqueer & they/she

path: Preservation (kit) / Trailblaze (lore)

element: fire

faction: the Nameless

planet of origin: x (tbd)

Like previously stated, Clover is a fraternal twin, the other being an "expy" of my primary genshin OC. To sum up their lore without needing to put trigger warnings (/lh): dysfunctional household -> realizes she's queer at a young age -> things get Worse -> ran away in late teens -> ends up with their first partner. said partner is Horrible in multiple ways -> on the run again, trying to cope with everything and survive as they go from planet to planet to figure out what to do next. picks up odd jobs, including mechanic-related stuff. oops guess that's their profession now -> runs into the Astral Express crew at some point -> ??? -> aboard the Astral Express.

How did they come to join the Nameless, you might be asking? ... Good question, I still don't know either. If I had to estimate, either during or after the initial Penacony quests (2.2-2.3 ish) I'd like to think they boarded the Astral Express, but as for reasoning... not sure yet either.

They haven't had much of a chance to partake in the traiblazing itself, mostly from her trying to get acclimated to everything first. As a mechanic, a lotta the time when they're not out with the others, they stay behind to help with the train's maintenance, especially when Himeko is unable to. Not entirely boring though, considering frequent maintenance it's just quick checks for the most part, so free otherwise. A lotta their social interaction comes from either the rest of the folks on the train itself and whoever pops in from the guest book. Got some funny anecdotes w/ Boothill and Argenti for that in particular.

Clover's bi, ambiamorous, demiromantic, & fluctuates on the asexual spectrum. My go-to ships w/ her is themself, Boothill, and Argenti because I'm a raging queer and those two will not get out of my thoughts (/lh). Also tryin' to come up with stuff with them and a few others (Robin, Serval, Sunday & March 7th; tried to figure out stuff w/ her and Gallagher but considering the timeline of when she'd end up with the Nameless, I don't think it'd work out unless in like an AU maybe).

misc trivia:

primary weapon- taken inspo from destruction path Trailblazer- is a big metal wrench. Gotta love hitting people over the head with large metal objects for your ultimate, right?

on a similar note, they create shields with their skill! not sure of much past that

neurodivergent (autistic & I'm not entirely sure if she'd meet the critieria for PTSD but... at least some symptoms of it? Gotta read up more and brush over my notes)

in a similar vein, neurodivergency + sensitive hearing from the big fox ears = hell ; if foxian-shaped ear protectors were made in the future they'd get like 3

similar vein part 2: a fiend for fidget toys. their go-to's are chewlery/the ones you can bite on (especially in their fox form*- may or may not have an Actual chew toy for that reason), as well as those picky-pad thingies to keep themself from picking at their tail's fur when stressed

when texting, their go-to emojis are the Pom-Pom ones and the ones of the Wubbaboos

*: not meant to be a Mary Sue thing, I read once on the antifandom wiki that foxians are capable of that and my mind ran with it /lh

And before I end it off, here's the dork (/aff)

[darling-pup-doll]

Hi guys, I'm back. One thing I learned on my time away was that a lot of you don't know how to behave when someone says "I am leaving, leave me be."

Some of you were very respectful, you said hi, then said "oops, I saw your post hope all is well, I'm sorry, I know you wanted space." That's great, thank you to those two people.

To the rest of you who either sent me porn, tried to continue to talk to me in your kink persona/with kink/bimbo related language, or just said "hey," I am disappointed in you.

This was very clearly an out of character moment for me where I wanted to have everyone leave me alone, and the first thing I get is "sucks that you feel that way, take a break if you want." Did you skip the "I got bad news" part? This wasn't about any of you. This was about ME and ME not wanting to deal with the environment that exists here because of the struggles I was facing. I didn't want to have a nuanced conversation about the community of cis het men polluting this website. I didn't want shit, man. I was just saying "goodbye," that's all. I didn't want a conversation. I literally said that, and the first thing you guys do is try to have a conversation.

Braindead. Zero reading comprehension skills. 本当に恐ろしかった…

That's kinda a last straw for me, and now I'm just trying to decide to block you guys or not.

Anyway, that's it for me being out of character for a while. I'm going to go full bimbo from now on (unless you piss me off. This is not a challenge). Say bye to ooc me, and hello again to whoever "darling-pup(py)-doll" is.

[blackjackkent]

Oop, one more very revealing Minthara dialogue. I'm really enjoying this, having completely missed her on my last playthrough. :D

(Wyll is sitting very patiently with his exclamation mark over his head waiting to tell me his sad backstory but he might have to wait until Thursday. XD I'm busy listening to Emma Gregory speak to me of bloodshed and violence. 😍 )

"When did you first encounter the cult of the Absolute?"

"A True Soul came to my city preaching a message of togetherness, accompanied by two novices. Menzoberranzen is not fertile ground for such messages. I killed them and hanged their bodies in my garden."

(Cue Rakha trying not to let the beast get too fascinated by this mental image.) "Yet they recruited you all the same."

"Recruited. You could call it that. I intended to wage war on their god and the rest of its presumptive followers. Even as the flesh sagged and sloughed away from their eyeless skulls, their audacity infuriated me. I had to know where they came from. And whoever sent them was counting on my curiosity overcoming my caution."

"You followed their path back to Moonrise?"

"Yes. All it took was a simple act of necromancy, and the corpses told me where I needed to strike. Moonrise Towers."

"Given how we met, it's safe to say you failed."

"It is never safe to point out my shortcomings, iblith. But in this instance, you are correct. Moonrise is the site of my greatest failure. As it turned out, to my shame, I was defeated without even drawing my weapon. I came to Moonrise with a retinue of warriors and assassins, the best House Baenre had to offer. I expected a battle, but found a fully-laden feast table, and a welcome befitting a house matron. Ketheric expected us - expected me - and I fell for his flattery."

"I'm surprised you were so complacent."

"It is a mistake I hope never to repeat. Ketheric proposed an alliance between Moonrise and Menzoberranzan. I admit, I was captivated by him. He invited me to the head of his table as his guest of honor. I was wary, of course. If I had been in his position, the food would have been poisoned. It was not the food I should have been wary of. It was the pale woman at the foot of the table - Orin the Red."

"We had barely begun to eat when she spoke for the first time. I only caught one word - my name. Then, quick as lightning, she climbed onto the table, a dagger in each hand, and skipped toward me, slicing the throats out of my men as she passed them."

(Again, an image that Rakha likes not at all and the Dark Urge likes very much, and any references to or thoughts of Orin seem to make her head ache terribly.) "She sounds delightful."

"Few things frighten me. Orin is one of them." Minthara's voice has suddenly gone uncharacteristically quiet and full of a very muted trembling. "Ketheric held me still. His hand on my shoulder, the grip tight enough to crack the bone. When Orin stood before me, she touched the dagger to my eye, drawing out a tear of blood. I want this one, she said. Ketheric nodded his permission, and I was taken below."

"You've seen the horrors of the colony. Orin kept me there for days. She forced me to watch as my men were processed; some for food, others for thralls. And then she placed the tadpole in my eye herself."

"You'll have your revenge."

"That is certain. You know the rest as well as I do. There were massacres before the Grove - religious communities, mostly. Those who refused to convert. Then there was you, and now there is freedom. Soon there will be vengeance."

[lensman-arms-race]

Only now I've just realized that you don't know about the exclusive leaks since you're not in the Discord server. Oop-

On the 11th, a Youtube creator named Elite Cameraman (who analyzes and makes theories on Skibidi Toilet) got like four exclusive leaks from DaFuq to show his viewers early. One of them is of the Heckin Mad Titan TV that was eventually posted on the merch store, but the rest are ones you've never seen before! Here they are:

This rad Large Cameraman with the big fuck-off cannon (I LOVE his outfit, it's so damn cool)

This ugly motherfucker (whatchu smilin for?)

And my personal favorite: BLUE-FLAMED FLAMETHROWER!!! (the model of which is actually a Backburner from Team Fortress 2! Wew!!)

I hope this satiates your thirst for new content, dude! I am SO sorry we didn't tell you sooner. TmT

Oh hell yeahhhh!! Flammenwerfer!!

Thank you for sharing! ❤💙💜

And thanks to whoever braved the YouTube channel to get those. I've tried watching a few Skibidi analysis vids and a lot of them annoy me because it's just an AI voice describing what we can already see happening, and the actual salient info could have been a short blog post.