#Auburn Secondary

[bonusdragons]

August 20, 2024:

Auburn Secondary, Auraboa, Toxin.

Ares of suotna's clan!

[scryingworkshop]

[colorfuldragons]

crimson/auburn/radioactive

[fantastic-fr-scries]

Spiral Male

Olive / Crocodile / Auburn , Fern / Myrid / Runes

Wind Swirl

[crowcfr]

don't really vibe with genes like batty that just put another pair of completely different wings underneath the existing wings. just a strange look

[spicysaladd]

meet zanaren/zanny, unrepentant robin hood type rogue with a heart of sass and gold and an intense pining for karlach (and every woman who breathes within a five mile radius) (and some men) (but mostly karlach)

she would definitely hire a very large woman to paint herself red for...reasons, perhaps while karlach watches (I'm still pre-engine repair tragically)

picrew used: https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/1561797

[the-common-cowgirl]

Greater of Two Evils

Summary: Your brother is a powerful man and so is Aemond Targaryen. You’re caught as a pawn between the two men. You have to chose between two evils and unfortunately for you, you chose wrong.

Rating: Explicit, Minors Do NOT Read, 18+

Word Count: 4.3k

Pairings: Aemond Targaryen x Fem!Reader

Warnings: DD;DNE, Non-Con/Dub-Con, Choking, Rough Sex, smut (p in v, fingering, oral sex (f receiving) jealousy , possessiveness, incest-y vibes from brother, unwanted creampie, breeding kink, coercion, mentions of birth control/emergency contraception not being allowed/available to reader, Aemond wants reader pregnant, men being dicks, degration, praise, Capitalism and the Elite, swearing

A/N: This is a spite fic dedicated my first hate comment. I hope you wait even longer now. 💋

Not yet proofread.

Your brother was a powerful man. One of the most powerful in Westeros. Many say he didn’t deserve his position, both of you coming from near nothing, but your brother was born with a gift your parents would often say was a “creative and hungry mind.” He was 10 years old when he started a small lawn care business in the Riverlands that grew to a full-fledged company at 14 he (and your parents due to his age) ran. At 16, he sold that company, got an internship at River’s Corp. When he freshly graduated University in Oldtown as the top of his class, giving a speech that would be remembered as one of the best speeches Oldtown Univeristy had ever the opportunity of hearing, he asked if you would like to move to Dorne with him, get out of the Riverlands and have an opportunity at Sunspear University. Seeing the chance at freedom and knowing your brother would most likely be paying for your schooling (since he had just been offered a high ranking position at Sunspear Industries) you took his offer and moved in with him a week after you graduated high school in the Riverlands.

That was three years ago. Your brother is now CFO of Rhoynar Industries and you’re in your third year of University at Sunspear studying Political Science. When you first moved in with your brother, the first two months were happy and spent everyday in your high-rise apartment’s swimming pool. But your brother had changed, or maybe, he was finally able to let his true self free during his college days as many young adults often do and his personality shift just took you longer to notice. His controlling behavior started innocent, nagging at your to keep the house tidy, then turning into commenting on what you wore out, turning into full blown comments about your appearance, weight, hair color. He made you dye your hair color black, to match his own natural color. Long gone were your auburn waves but you didn’t notice it then, well you did, but you weren’t as disturbed by it. Telling yourself he wanted you to look the part of perfect sister.

But then, halfway through your first semester, he told you that your Early Education major wasn’t good enough for him. He demanded you change it and when you tried to argue, he simply took your laptop, reminding that he bought it, and emailed your academic advisor that you’d like to change your major and wanted to meet with them first thing tomorrow morning.

That should’ve been the straw that broke the camel’s back, you should’ve left that night. Packed your things and went back home to the Riverlands; be with your parents.

I’m every aspect of your life, you always fell short of the greatness of your brother: courage was not exempt.

That next morning, you went with puffy eyes to your advisor’s office and changed your major, dropping out of your current courses and signing up for secondary 8-week courses for your new major that would, in your brother’s words “thankfully start next week.”

You could easily summarize your life in Dorne these past few years: the Seven Hells.

All of this leads you to this moment. Your brother and you were invited to King’s Landing by the head of Targ Corp for an annual celebration they held for their most loyal alliance corporations. It was easy, your brother and his team of associate executives played a simple game: play nice with each other and keep everyone else from rising above. Being around these people made you want to vomit. These posh-assholes were some of the most dangerous and hateful people you’d ever laid eyes on, all wrapped in clothing that were one of their low-level employee’s entirely yearly salary. You didn’t want to be here, not a single bit, but your brother held the carrot stick of Univeristy tuition and free-housing over your head so you played along like the good sister you were expected to be.

You had just gotten out of the shower when you brother came barging into your hotel room without knocking, holding a garment bag.

“Hey!” You shouted, covering your naked self with a towel, “Can you knock next time?” You briefly wondered how he had gotten in, you made sure you locked it twice, then you saw the keycard he had kept for your room sliding back into his pant pocket.

“Wear this tonight,” he disregarded your fluster and laid the garment bag down on the bed you were sitting on.

Your brows furrowed, looking at your own brother with trepidation. He knew you had brought one of the black dresses you had picked out a month ago and he had agreed to it then. Why had he changed his mind so suddenly?

You slowly opened the bag to reveal a dark green, dress that showed off entirely too much skin than you were comfortable with around these vampires.

You began to shake your head, “No, I don’t want to wear this one. It’s cold out and I want to wear the black, long sleeve one I-“

You were cut off with a harsh hand grabbing your jaw.

“Wear it or we’ll see how long you can pay for that expensive schooling on your own.” He spat into your face harshly.

Once he let go, you brought your hand up to rub at your jaw where there might be bruises now. Your skin was sore and your bone ached. “You know what, maybe I don’t want to even get this degree. Maybe I’ll move back in with mom and dad and just fucking live my own life again.”

As you sat on the bed angrily with tears of resentment brimming your eyes, you could feel your brother’s stare on you, boring holes into everything he deemed imperfect about you.

“Do this for me,” his voice was softer, “And I’ll give you anything you want.”

You finally looked up to him, disbelief in your eyes.

He kneeled to reach your eye level, you wrapped the towel around you tighter, “There is a man here I need you to impress. Do this for me and I’ll give you anything you want. I mean it.” His hand came up to brush your nude knee, you moved away instinctively.

You swallowed your unease. “What’s his name?” Your voice was so small.

He smiled at your acceptance, if you willing to work with him on something, if you giving in. “Aemond Targaryen,” he stood, returning to his business-like self. “He’s the son of the CEO, Visery’s. Aemond is a year older than me and he’s in politics. We-“ he paused, smiling at a memory, “We met in University…..He never really liked me.” He looked to you, “He’s the last legislator we need on our side for this deal that Roynar Industries and Targ Corp. are working up.”

“He’s against Targ. Corp?” You sounded flabbergasted, wondering why a Targaryen, the most infamously loyal family in the country, is an against his family’s own interests.

Your brother nodded and laughed, “Yeah, he fucking hates his dad.” He chuckled to himself some more before, “I just need you to win him to my side.”

You heard the implication and you skin began to crawl, stomach turning, “You seriously want me to fuck him?”

Your brother shook his head and chuckled as if you were crazy, “Just win him to our side.” He walked up to you again, towering over you as you sat, uneasily at the edge of the bed. He raised a hand and tapped the side of your head three times, “Use that political science knowledge I paid for.”

And then he left, making you feel like a tool.

You dressed yourself in the green gown, put on simple yet elegant makeup, and wore your dyed black hair up with a silver sun pin that your brother had picked out in his words, “to honor Roynar Industries.” You only felt branded.

Making your way down into the large event room of the hotel in which Targ Corp had set up for the celebration, you were handed a glass of something in a flute glass. The waiter had told you, in truth, but you were too nervous and occupied with looking elegant that you hadn’t really heard.

You spotted your brother across the event space standing with someone Martel from Roynar Industries that has offered for you to go ride on his yacht with him at least three times. Then you could see he was with some silver haired man, probably from Targ Corp. The Targaryens were known for their loyalty, ruthlessness and silver hair. Targ Corp. was the most powerful company in Westeros, they had their hand in everything and could turn anyone’s head the way they wanted. Coming it second was Roynar Industries and the old saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” was prevalent in the relationship with the two corporations. They worked together in most large projects in Westeros and you knew the each of them was waiting for the other to fall.

You walked the perimeter of the event, scanning the crowd for someone you knew or the person you were after. Although, you had heard Aemond Targaryen’s name before you had no idea what he looked like. You used your context clues though and assumed he had silver hair, he was probably tall and lean like all Targaryen men are and most likely flirtatious.

“Great,” you breathe, remembering a girl from Sunspear a few years ago that recalled a horrible relationship with an older man by the name of “Aegon Targaryen.” One in which he not only expected sex from her, he cheated when she refused. You briefly wondered how Aemond was related to this Aegon.

“Are you looking for me?” A deep, soft voice sounded beside your ear. You stopped dead in you tracks and turned like a scared bunny to the stranger.

The stranger. The silver haired stranger who checked nearly all your boxes for the stranger you were searching for. Had he been right?

You gathered your composure quickly, “And you are?”

“I’m assuming the man you’re looking for if you’re his sister,” he pointed behind you to your brother who was not chatting up a dark haired lady and a curly haired man with a cane.

You gave a quick, nervous laugh and stuck out your hand, “Nice to meet you, Aemond. I’m Y/N.”

Aemond looked down at your outstretched hand between the two of you, his his eye flicked up to you. You realized then, only one moved, however, the other, the one that intercepts his scar, is quite realistic. He ran his fingers slowly across your palm before grasping it gently but not shaking. The act was sensual and strange, you tried to pull away but he quickly snaked his hand up your arm and wrapped his large hand around your bicep, pulling you closer to him. He leaned in, “Aren’t you tired of being a pawn for your brother?”

You pulled back to look at him square in the face, at his perfect, angular face that was so sharp. “What the fuck do you mean?” You whispered, wondering what all he knew and how.

“I think you know exactly what I mean.” He whispered into your ear. If you had not been in the edge of the event, you two would be quite a spectacle to behold but someone, this man, this stranger, had planned this. He had to. You were both in the shadows, the outskirts, not to be seen unless looked for and Gods, you hoped someone would look for you. He made you uneasy, uncomfortable, and warm in places you shouldn’t be given the circumstance of your situation. He looked down to your cleavage, “Tell me, did he pick out this dress? This color?”

You furrowed your brows, trying to figure out how Aemond knew this. “Wha-“

“Did he tell you that him and his colleagues have a bet if we’ll fuck tonight or not?”

You looked back to your brother who was laughing with some of his associates from Roynar Industries. “How do you-“

“I have eyes and ears everywhere, I’m two steps ahead of him and always have been. He has such a problem being number two doesn’t he?” His voice was thick with hatred and his grip on your arm was bruising.

“Get the fuck off of me!” You just about screamed, pushing from Aemond. He let go and took a step back, look at you up and down. He resembled a wild predator, maybe that’s what he was. You smoothed your dress, “Fuck you, you stupid bitch,” you spat angrily, adjusting a strap of your dress. “I was just told to be friendly with you. I’m not a sex worker you ass! I wouldn’t fuck you in a million years.” You downed the alcoholic liquid in the glass before setting it on the ground at your feet. Aemond only watched you with a newfound amusement. It made you angrier. “I’m only helping my brother out until I graduate then it’s fuck this place, fuck Westeros and most of all….” You looked him up and down, finally realizing that he was goddamn handsome, dangerously so, if his personality wasn’t so off-putting, “fuck you.”

You stormed away before he could say anything back. You didn’t want to be here anymore, you wanted to return to your room and cry into your pillow until you fell asleep. You were angry and hurt. How could your brother set you up like this? How could a complete stranger be so fucking brash and horrible? How could you be so stupid to believe your brother’s hunger for power would never come to this? Setting you up for his own benefit?

You’re certain your brother saw you in your way out of the venue, he always has tabs on you, but you knew he wouldn’t rush to your aid or to scrutinize you in front of people he wanted to look good for.

You slam your hotel room door and sink against it, hands over your face, crying on the floor. You sit like that for some time before a knock vibrates against your back and rings in your ears.

“Go away,” you try to say through sobs.

The knock comes again.

“I said go away!” Your shout this time is uncomely for a young woman you could hear your brother say in your head but you don’t care.

“It’s Aemond,” come the voice from the other side of the door.

The raises a fire in your heart as you angrily fling the door open to see the posh, pissy man from before. Mascara is running down your cheeks and your hair is falling out of its updo but you don’t care. “Go away,” you remind him dangerously, beginning to slam the door he puts his foot in the way and hand stopping you from breaking his foot ever so casually.

He pushes the door open with ease and steps into the room, making you step back and further. “We both have a problem and I’m here to propose a deal.”

Your brow quirks and your arms cross, “A deal?”

“A deal,” he echos. “I propose that you and I team up, I’ll offer you whatever he did, you offer me information to take your brother down and out.” He takes another step toward you and you take a step back in response, feeling the back of your legs hit the bedside.

“Why would I agree to that? I’m already getting my college paid for and a place to stay during. Why would I agree to everything I have in turn for you to ruin my brother? He’s horrible but I still love him.” You shook your head, “He’s done a lot for me-“

“I can offer more.” He moved in closer, making you lean uncomfortably against the bed.

“I don’t know you-“

“I will offer you more. You can get to know me, we can form a partnership. A friendship you could call it.” His voice was suggestive.

“Your offer of more is a friendship? I don’t need-“

“I can fuck you, can he?”

His words slapped you across the face. “What?” You mumbled like a dumb baby, confused and shocked. Maybe a little turned on.

Aemond brought his hands up your side and pushed you down to sit on the bed, he kneeled down and kissed the inside of your knee. Everything felt so wrong but he looked so goddamn handsome, you wanted it even if you said you wouldn’t fuck him.

“They have a bet, they want us to fuck.” He explained, “Let’s do it, prove we are into each other. You feed me information on him and the legalities of Roynar Industries.” He kissed your other thigh, you leaned back slightly involuntarily, it had been so long since a man had touched you, your brother wouldn’t allow you to date. “And I’ll slowly give you an out.”

Your breath hitched as his long, slender hand reached under your silky dress and trailed its way toward your core. “Slowly?” You questioned him breathlessly as his his thumb found your clothed clit on contact and began working against it. You could feel wetness pooling as he worked you open and your thighs began to move accommodate him as he moved closer and his other hand slid the dress higher and higher.

“Yeah sweetling, it’ll start with dates, then you staying at my flat in King’s Landing, then moving in.” Your dress was high enough to show off the lacy, black panties you wore and Aemond groaned, making you clench and buck your hips up to meet his ministrations.

“Sounds-sound like,” you were breathless and drunk on the attention he was giving you, “you want more than a fucking spy.” You fully laid back and lifted your hips so Aemond could pull your panties down your legs and off.

He ran a dexterous finger though your folds and watched it disappear into you with ease as you moaned. “Yeah maybe,” his voice was husky, “maybe I like putting your brother in his place. Second to Aemond fucking Targaryen. Always has been, always will be.”

He added a second finger, moving dangerously against your g-spot and the coil in your lower abdomen began to tighten. You lifted your back off the bed in a silent scream as he added a third finger and his mouth sucking at your clit. The intense and sudden pleasure gave way to a sharp, nearly painful orgasm and Aemond fucked you right through it.

When the wave of pressure came down, Aemond lapped at the wetness he expelled from you on your cunt and on his own fingers, moaning at the taste.

You laid on your back, trying to regain your senses and trying to remind yourself you were fucking a complete stranger, you should stop here before it was too late but you snapped out of your senses as he rose, half nude already and unzipping his black dress pants, pulling them and his underwear off in one swipe to reveal the longest, thickest cock you’d ever seen. The idea of taking such a thing inside you made you nearly swell with pride and excitement at the opportunity.

Aemond saw the look on your face and gave his hard cock a quick stroke. “Are you on birth control?”

You shook your head, “He wouldn’t let me, said the side effects are too dang-“

“Well I don’t have a condom,” he said, climbing atop you and pushing you up the bed, not giving you a choice, another reason to get the fuck out now. “I’m clean,” he offered before biting your collarbone then kissing the bite mark.

“I’m-I’m clean.” The voices in your head telling you to get out now.

He moved to the other side of your head and kissed your neck sensually, “You want me to fuck you raw?” Practically growling into your artery as he thrust the tip of his hard cock to your clit, making it harder and harder to say no.

“Uh, just, uh, pull out?” You squeaked as he did it again. You just wanted the fucking thing in you already, stretching you out in the way you wanted.

You felt his smile against your skin, “sure thing sweetling,” it sounded unconvincing.

You felt the tip breach you slowly then push forward even slower. Aemond raised to watch himself split you apart, groaning as you pussy sucked him in with a need unknown to you.

When he finally bottomed out, jutting painfully against your cervix he gave you a sound to adjust and gods, was he fucking endowed. You felt his cock throbbing with need and you wanted to please him, to let him know you were worthy so you bucked you hips against his and let out a moan at how fucking full you felt.

He only chuckled darkly and began his rough assault on your cunt. Pounding without warning or abandon into your heat, pushing your thighs to your chest and bending you in half, positioning you in a way that had him hitting your spot over and over until were moaning his name and your pussy began to flutter.

“Slow-slow down,” you pleaded, it felt like too much.

“Oh, poor little sister can’t fucking take it?” He once slammed extra hard after his demeaning question, it made you shriek. “Poor baby,” he wiped a tear forming in your eye with a sarcastic worry. “She played with the big dogs and didn’t know what she’s in for-“ he grunted, “you should be lucky I’m not fucking you in the ass.”

He pulled your dress down, ripping the shoulder straps to reveal you tits. Smiling like a wild man, he grasped them both harshly before sticking his tongue out and licking each nipple back and forth, making you squirm and tighten around him. “Fuck,” he groaned.

Then, as if a lightbulb went off, he pulled out and flipped you over, pulling you to your knees and ripping your dress and destroyed bra from your body. He entered you harshly again and pulled your back to his chest. His mouth on your ear, nibbling then biting, “I need to make you mine. Announce your brother who you belong to- who owns you now.”

His hand traveled down your belly to the bulge of his cock outlined in your lower stomach. “Do you feel me? Do you feel me up there? Feel me practically in your womb?”

You could, it was painful the way he bullied your cervix but the way he pleasured your sweet spot made you clench and fight off an orgasm that waited to burst.

He laughed into your ear, “Fuck, cum on this cock, I know you need to. Come on me and I’ll give you what you need.”

What the fuck did he mean what you need?

But that didn’t matter, he brought his hand to play with your clot as his pounding continued and you couldn’t fight off the orgasm anymore. Your body tightened and the coil snapped, pulsing around his cock, milking it, you screamed his named and he pinched your nipples as you came on his cock.

I’m your haze, he slowly let you fall to to bed as your ass remained up, his hands firmly handing you in place. “Such a good girl. A better girl than I’d thought you’d be. Oh, a perfect girl for me.” His pounding was relentless as he chase his own high.

You barely registered him saying, “Oh gods, we’ll be perfect together,” before you felt him still behind you, then the pulsing of his cock as warmth flooded you. He let out a groan, a triumphant groan, as he came inside you.

A shaking sob left you as you realized you’d been tricked, betrayed again, used again.

He stayed inside you for some time before pulling his softened cock out and putting on his clothes. You collapsed onto the bed, feeling the evidence of his orgasm slowly slide from your body. You grabbing the pillow ahead of you and hid your face in it. That was, until you felt his hand caress your nude back and the bed shift with the weight of him sitting beside you.

“Hey sweetheart, it’s okay. Don’t cry. I need to know you’re gonna remember our agreement.”

You furrowed your brows, “Fuck you, there is no agreement anymore. You lied to me.”

Aemond chuckled and pushed a strand of hair from your face, “Think of it as the lesser of two evils. Marry me and have everything you’d ever wanted or keep being a pawn for your brother.”

“You’re nuts if you think I’d marry you after a single fuck.”

He looked back down to your thighs, where his seed slowly seeped out, then back to you with a smug grin. “I think your brother would kill you if it was all over the press that you suddenly fell pregnant and unwed. We all know he’s a religious freak now.”

You furrowed your brows, “I’m buying emergency contraceptive as soon as you leave this room.”

He chuckled, “I’m not leaving then.”

“Who said I’ll get pregnant anyway?” You were angry, so angry you couldn’t make sense of his hand sneaking up your neck, holding it tightly.

“My father owns the press. If they say you are, then you are. Imagine what your mother would think, your father? Oh, your reputation would be ruined and your brother would be embarrassed of you.” He grit through his teeth, “And I’ll have people watch you, I already do. They give me updates, they follow you, they’ll know, I’ll know if you are. And then,” he let go of your neck, “You won’t have a choice. I won’t give you one.”

“You’re a fucking psycho.”

He chuckled, running his fingers along your arm, “I’m the easy choice. I’ll give you everything, just give me yourself.”

[sonqgmi-sims]

SIMS 2: My Essential Mods/CC

Hi everyone! I figured since I have been playing Sims 2 a lot lately, I'd provide my current essentials! Will update as I try more things, but this is valid as of February 1, 2024! ♥

Links for everything are under the cut! Found throughout MTS, Tumblr and other Sims Youtubers!

If any links don't work please let me know so I can try to find replacements!

View my video here!

AFTER INSTALLING SIMS 2 (Windows 10) Sim Shadow Fix: Fixes that weird shadow box glitch! Increase Resolution Fix: Have to go into the data files and alter some things to make it compatible for Windows 10!

NEIGHBORHOOD MODS Seasons Icons In Color: Colors the Season Icons in gameplay and in neighborhood view! Easy To Decorate Camera Mod: See more of the neighborhood map that you couldn't see before! CAS MODS Widescreen CAS Fix: Fixes the UI so your sim isn't covered! There's options for every resolution! (I use 1920x1080) More CAS Columns: Adds more Columns in CAS! Just like in TS4! Evie's Equal Genetics: Equal chance for offspring to receive dominant and recessive genes! 5 Custom Genetics Haircolors: Custom recolors for the Maxis hairs! Chocolate (Brown+Black), Sandy (Brown+Blonde), Icy (White Blonde), Auburn (Brown+Red) and Caramel (Brown+Red+Blonde)!

BUILD & BUY MODS Sim Blender: The holy grail of Sims 2 Mods. Can do anything with this! ACR: Sims autonomously Woohoo, Try for Baby, Get into Relationships, etc! Great for drama & storytelling! OFB Shelf Recolors: Beautiful wood recolors for the OFB Shelves! (The OG's were kinda ugly lmfao) Stay Things Shrub: Choose which items stay after a sim moves out! Monique's Hacked Computer: Pay bills, Order clothing, etc! Object Rotator: Rotate objects on an angle! Small, Large and End Tables! Lifetime Want Chooser: Pick your sims LTW!

LIFESPAN MODS 1 Day = 1 Year (Sims): As the title says! More realistic as I consider 1 sim day a year! 1 Day = 1 Year (Pets): Same as the Sim version, but for pets!

UNIVERSITY MODS Uni After Birthday Party: Teens can throw a birthday party and before blowing out candles, the game asks if you'd like to go to college first! Semester Changes: College is now 8 days instead of 24! Faster Uni Education: 24-48 Hour semesters! There Can Only Be One Professor: 2 per major seemed much, so I like this one! Generates less NPC's for me :D Doctors Need Degrees: Depending on your sims education/grades, they can either be stuck at career level 1 or 10!

GAMEPLAY MODS No 20K Handouts: As it says :) Now my sims aren't wealthy! Extended Family Treated As Family: Always hated it when second cousins could marry. This prevents it :) Community Time Project: Time spent on community lot matches with time at the home! Memory Manipulator: Hide/adjust Sims memories without using SimPE Break Up Via Phone: End a relationship over the phone! (Going Steady, Marriage, Engagement) 50 New Lifetime Wants: Adds new LTW's to the game! OFB Adopt Teen&Townie: Adopt Babies-Teens!

PREGNANCY MODS Shorter Pet Pregnancy: Pets give birth within 1 sim day! The default seemed way too long, so this is a must :) PregRel NL+: Can't find original post so I can't remember what it does, but I found a secondary version below! PregRel Compatibility Patch: Negative reactions to baby bumps if your significant other suspects cheating! Alternate Pregnancy Controller Lite: Possibility of your sims getting a miscarriage (Only had it happen once so far!) Triplets & Quads: Allows up to 4 babies to be born at once!

DEATH MODS Death By Childbirth: Morbid, but I like this for storytelling! Select Your Cemetery: When your sim lives alone and dies, a prompt shows up to move the tombstone to any lot! Now you don't have to cram the younger generations in your home ♥

MISC MODS/HACKS Last Name Copier: Edit/Change a Sims last name without using SimPE! Baby Pet Creator: Create a puppy/kitten with stray genetics! CJ Smart EP Checker: Does nothing, but it is required if you use any of Cyjon's mods! TS1 Prank Calls: Get the same funny and scary prank calls from Sims 1!

BONUS & EXTRAS The Christian Collection: On a MTS forum post, (look for Liv Lukas's post) but ChristianLov's mods are no longer able to be found separately. This is also linked where I put the Baby Pet Creator! Sims 2 Store Content: I only use the extra cars in my game, but there's loads of new stuff!

TOOLS SimPE: Edit ages, relationships, memories, family trees, etc! Sims2Pack Clean Installer: Used to install new lots and sims into your game! Mootilda's Hood Checker: Check any custom neighborhoods for corruption! Bat Box (FFS Lot Debugger): Similar to the Sim Blender. Here's the Vase version!

[tozettastone]

Share your writing tag

Tagged by @voxofthevoid in this post (a fic snippet likely of interest to jjk fans) to share a piece of recent writing. Tagging @mixelation, @electrasev5nwrites and @neveralarch to give it a go if they would like. No pressure, of course.

---

The Akatsuki base in Rain was cold. The perpetual drizzle here only sometimes became driving rain — usually when their leader was in a temper — but the constant cloud cover made the daylight grey and cool, and the nights black.

Kakuzu rarely felt the cold. His body was no longer well equipped to provide that information.

Sasori didn't feel it either. When Kakuzu came to the room he and Deidara shared, he found him barefoot and bare-armed, sat in the middle of the debris of what must have been puppet maintenance, surrounded by the rising reek of something heady and flammable. He was a small, slight, teenaged body, with glassy eyes and careless auburn hair. He looked... delicate.

"Tracking him is a waste of time," he was saying, even as he unsealed a box to look through his records for the information Kakuzu wanted. Out came a series of scrolls in various states of disrepair — some pristine, others bloodied, muddied or torn.

"Yes," said Kakuzu, leaning in the doorway still. "It is. Have you got anything?"

Sasori glanced up at him. His doll-like face revealed nothing about what he was seeking in Kakuzu's expression.

Kakuzu looked blankly back. His face, with only its glaring, bloodshot eyes visible, was probably about as expressive as Sasori's. He doubted he was revealing very much.

Deidara watched them both quietly from his perch in the window, where the rain streaked the glass. He always liked windows — probably because they represented the ability to launch himself beyond anyone else's casual combat range at any given moment. Here, he was enveloped in a second cloak, under the first, and had his occupied by a ball of clay that seethed with volatile chakra.

"They won't be able to kill him," Sasori reminded him, pronouncing each word slowly, like he was carefully selecting them, one after another.

"Get to the point." Frustration was a thing Kakuzu felt in his belly, alongside four auxillary, unhappy hearts. It was hot and writhing.

"Fine. We don't have to track Oda. You can just pick Hidan up after the massacre."

Kakuzu said nothing. Sasori's dead, glassy eyes watched him for the space of five disjointed heartbeats.

Oda Hiroto was the kind of shinobi personality that you had to track through secondary influences — he didn't really leave tracks, he left... symptoms.

Generally, he was a trafficker of civilians. To the powers that be, this was inconvenient in some ways: slavery was illegal, civilians died in the process, and he wasn't paying taxes. But of course he was convenient in others: slavery, however quiet, was remarkably effective at reducing overheads — lowering the costs of goods in the unregulated market, in the short term — and diminishing the bargaining power of labour.

Usually, you tracked down a bounty like that by following the money. But Oda rarely traded actual money. He moved goods around and leaned heavily on favours instead.

His bounty was low, because he was more annoying to the major villages than a real threat, and he would be annoying to track, so Kakuzu himself had never bothered. Unless he was coincidentally close and easy to grab, the cost of chasing him had never been worth the payoff.

A week ago, while rummaging through a mayoral office's records for mission-related blackmail, Hidan had blundered face-first into Oda's trafficking operation.

Then he'd dropped off the map entirely. He had not yet resurfaced. Obviously, he hadn't been killed.

So, yes. It was still a lot of time to find Oda. It was still going to be annoying to find him. His bounty was still low, so the payoff would be frustratingly slim.

But now, the line items had rearranged themselves, bright and cold in the ledger inside Kakuzu's head.

Oda's time was up.

"Hmm," said Deidara, in an unpleasant, edged voice, into what Kakuzu abruptly realised was an extremely tense silence.

"I'll look," Sasori said, finally. His voice was steady, but his eyes flicked towards the room's exit, past Kakuzu's bulk in the doorway.

Kakuzu clicked his tongue against his teeth.

"Then hurry up," he growled.

[smaller-comfort]

It is WIP Wednesday, my dudes!

I need to work on necron stuff, but instead I've been kicking away at actually fluffy SoS things. Palate cleansers, now that Save Scumming is done.

A little bit of Outshine the Sun, Etudes, and Modern AU.

Untitled Aephorul/Resh'an, the extremely silly, porny sequel to Save Scumming.

--

“Let me look at you,” Resh'an said at last.

“Hmph.” He didn't want to. It didn't matter what Resh'an said; there was always that moment when he could see the pity in Resh'an's eyes. And then the disgust. Resh'an was good at hiding it- but he'd always been an open book to Aephorul.

Still. They were trying something new. He let go of Resh'an. “I'll show you mine if you show me yours.”

For a moment Resh'an just stared at him with narrowed eyes, but then he shrugged. “On three?” Resh'an tucked his fingers under the edge of his mask.

“One.” Aephorul rearranged the flesh beneath his hood into something vaguely face-like.

“Two.” Resh'an's eyes glowed a little brighter.

“Three.” In unison, Aephorul pulled back his hood and Resh'an pulled down his mask, and they both dispelled the illusions that hid their faces.

He hissed again, this time in sympathy; when they'd last met, Resh'an hadn't looked good, but he'd at least been relatively whole. Now, half his face was missing, the skin torn away to reveal the skull beneath. The lower mandibular angle was crazed with hairline fractures.

----

Etudes: Beginnings (B'st/Resh'an). I'm still going to finish Glass Harp first, but now this series has over 15k words and at least five separate stories in it and I've clearly lost control of my life. Resh'an is such an unmitigated disaster in this series, but he's trying so hard.

----

He rarely used his bedroom in the tower; on the rare occasions that he actually slept, he usually just put his head down at his desk. The actual bedroom and living quarters had become a secondary storage space for his research notes. The first time B'st had found an entrance to the Archives, Resh'an had thrown him into a time loop in a mild state of panic, and then hucked everything in the bedroom into an extradimensional storage closet. 

He'd gotten so used to solitude- but that was no excuse for poor hospitality. When he released B'st from the time loop (hopefully none the wiser, but he wasn't going to ask) the bedroom was sparsely furnished, but clean. In the end, it didn't matter; they hadn't spent any time there that first visit. He gave B'st the tour of the tower, such as it was- the library and the reading room at the heart of the Archives, the laboratory, the living quarters- and then they'd spent the rest of their time on the observation deck.

It took considerable effort to unmoor his tower from its physical anchorage, but he did it anyway. It let him relocate the observation deck anywhere he liked, so they could look at the stars from new vantages. Resh'an had, quite frankly, been showing off.

And it had been worth it, to see B'st's eyes- already so bright- light up when Resh'an transported them into the center of a meteor shower.

----

Alternative Sleeping Arrangements (working title), Aephorul/Resh'an, college students au. Aephorul goes home with Resh'an over spring break; he meets Resh'an's aunt; a pillow fort gets built. I'm not sure if this one will ever really get finished, but I like fleshing out some of the background for this AU.

This is a non-magical AU; it literally takes place in New Jersey. But Anais and her partner Estelle are still also Guardian Gods, despite that.

--

He was surprised by how much she looked like Resh'an; she was nearly as tall as Aephorul, with the same long-limbed, willowy silhouette. But on her it looked graceful, where Resh'an always looked like he was surprised he had elbows. Her hair was a frizzy cloud of strawberry blonde to Resh'an's dead straight auburn, but they had the same eyes and the same smile. 

She drifted in on a cloud of sandalwood, peasant skirts swirling above her bare feet and silver bracelets jangling down her arms. “Darling boy!”

Resh'an looked slightly pained at his aunt's endearment. “Hi auntie. This is Aephorul.”

She kissed Resh'an on both cheeks despite the way he rolled his eyes, and then she turned to Aephorul.

He understood what Resh'an had meant when he said his aunt was a lot, now. Anais looked at him like he was a bug caught under a glass. For a moment, her face was as still and cold as a marble statue, unsmiling and distant. Then she smiled at him, the same radiantly beautiful smile that Resh'an used when he was genuinely happy. 

It took considerable effort not to flinch when she offered her hand to shake. Her grip was surprisingly firm. “It's nice to finally meet you,” she said warmly. “Resh'an can show you around the place- Essie's out getting groceries, but when she gets back we'll start on dinner.”

Resh'an rescued Aephorul from his aunt's handshake and tugged him away, down the hallway. “Come on, my room's this way.”

[bonusdragons]

March 12, 2024:

Auburn Secondary, Bogsneak, Ribbon.

Vesa of JuniaEnigma's clan!

[scryingworkshop]

[colorfuldragons]

dungeon meshi characters, but as flight rising dragons

𝟣. laios touden: beige/antique/antique

2. marcille donato: caribbean/flaxen/ruby

3. chilchuck tims: auburn/camo/beige

4. senshi of izganda: coal/oilslick/latte

5. izutsumi: obsidian/obsidian/white

6. falin touden: iris/antique/antique

spoiler scry + design notes under the read-more:

7. falin (chimera): vermillion/antique/antique

———————

i had been meaning to scry/post the dungeon meshi main cast for a while. i figured in honor of the manga's final chapter would be a good occasion

design notes:

𝟣. laios touden:

outfit inspired by fr user Rafale's laios fandragon

ravenskull broadsword bc it has wings like his sword

tundra + antique secondary/tert, like falin (siblings)

2. marcille donato:

ruby runes to represent: her magic, her red hair bow, bloody hands when she was resurrecting falin

will o' the ember for her explosion spells

iridescent primary for her elven heritage + penchant of fancy things

3. chilchuck tims:

veined tert to represent his greying hairs

i debated between the gambeson (closer texture) VS tanned rogue vest (overall closer colors) for him, but ended up going for the gambeson as it feels more distinct

camo secondary for a "camo = stealthy" joke

[edit: 1 feb 2024] i think my screen had the Flux settings too high before and i thought his shirt was beige. its actually white, so i changed his shirt from a shabby to classy dress shirt.

4. senshi of izganda:

bamboo dried tea to represent his cooking supplies

unfortunately none of the helm apparel had the right colors for his helmet, so i opted for tan okapi to represent his helm's horn colors

i wanted to include the iron shield apparel for his adamantine shield/pot, but it wouldve covered up his kilt, so i left it out

[edit: 1 feb 2024] changed primary from ribbon to chrysocolla, an earthy gene to match his past as a miner. changed tert color slightly to match better. also gave him carrots

5. izutsumi:

initially i tried nocturne and spiral, but the armour pieces looked too short on them, so i ended up going for mirror instead

i also tried the tanned rogue apparels, but they covered up too much of the torso

wooly antennae for her ears

6. falin touden:

marshlurker's drape to represent her coat, bc there wasnt a lot of suitable coats, and the more purple-y hue (and hat) also references her debut outfit

sparkle tert to represent her magic

tundra + antique secondary/tert, like laios (siblings)

[edit: 1 feb 2024] edited her primary to be more purplish, since the animes confirmed her coat is supposed to be more indigo colored, and gave her browner boots. also edited her reference photo coat color to match it too

7. falin (chimera):

i chose to make the touden siblings both tundras, so that chimera falin could be a gaoler (based on the joke gaolers are just tundra 2.0)

spirit secondary bc she haunts the narrative

if youve made it to here, feel free to comment which fandragon scry is your fav! :)

[fantastic-fr-scries]

Wildclaw Female

Spring / Honey / Auburn , Fern / Myrid / Runes

Light Goat

[balbigalum]

Thank you so soooo much for doing my modern!aemond HC! Loved that you combined it to your other modern HC. And I have to agree with the other comments. I would also love another part! It is an amazing story and I would love to read more. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

nsfw under the cut

(part 1, part 2)

Days came and went and you didn’t hear back from Aemond. Some small hope had settled on your shoulders when he had come back to the flat and held you close but now it was gone. You sat by yourself during class and spent your free time studying for the finals, you didn’t want to think about Aemond anymore, you’d do anything to keep yourself occupied, but finals were done and now it was just you and your mind.

You’d stare at the painting of Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa often these days, just watching it, you weren’t sure why, you knew how that story ended and didn’t matter how much you stared at the painting it would remain the same. Nissa Nissa dies, scared and by the hand of her only love, Azor Ahai saves the world and then what? Did he ever find love again? Did he waste away, holding onto the promise that killing her was for the greater good even if his heart said the opposite? You had to revisit the myth, to look up what happened to him after, maybe find where he was buried and visit the grave. Why? You weren’t sure, you weren’t sure of many things these days. 

A cup of tea rested between your hands while you were lost inside your own mind, it was cold by now, when you finally looked down you saw your phone had a few notifications piling up, none from Aemond of course. A couple friends from back home sending you stuff on social media, some funny video that reminded them of you when you were in secondary school, some emails from the bank, a message from your father, you were going to block your phone and leave it at the table when you saw an email that got your attention. It wasn’t junk mail but it wasn’t from anybody you knew. Its format was professional, your full name on display, in front of it a “Miss”, you frowned, nobody called you miss unless you were at your father’s office. 

The email contained a brief introduction, a date and a place on the upper eastside, the most exclusive part of Oldtown, discretion about this information was advised, if you were to accept this meeting you were legally binded to keep your mouth shut about it. You weren’t sure emails could pose as legal contracts but you didn’t want to reach to your family’s lawyer and have her tell your dad about whatever this was about. The email lacked a signature, on the bottom of the page appeared “A.H.T” and nothing else. 

You tried to pretend you didn’t care about it, tried to persuade yourself to think this wasn't related to Aemonda at all. A.H.T. You knew a quick google search would tell you if Aemond had a middle name, one that started with an H, but you didn’t wanna give into the temptation, it was best to keep him out, wasn’t it? 

The date the email had proposed was coming closer, it felt like the calendar on your wall was ready to burst into flames and engulf your whole apartment with you in it. When you managed to bite into every single of the nails on your left hand you’ve made a decision, you would show up, if Aemond wanted to say something you wanted to hear it. You tried to look inside of yourself, figure out how you felt, you weren’t angry at him, this was outside of his own control, you told yourself. Yes, he could have spoken out, act like a man and inform his family he wasn’t theirs to control, but at the same time, why would he sacrifice so much of himself just for you? 

-

The restaurant was expensive and private, when you announced yourself to the host at the front door he led you to a secluded table, a woman was waiting for you. She was older and possessed a beauty not many did, her hair was auburn and she was wearing large sunglasses, when she saw you she took them off, a tense smile on her lips. You sat across from her and she ordered for the two of you– just coffee. When the waiter was gone she finally broke the silence.

“I’m glad you came.” She said simply. You weren’t sure what to reply to that, you gave her a small smile, it was obvious that she was in control of this encounter and you weren’t sure how much you were allowed to ask. She was Alicent Hightower, wife to Viserys Targaryen. A.H.T. She told you some information about yourself disguised as small talk, something about your studies and who your father was, you nodded along trying to not give away how nervous this whole thing was making you feel. When the waiter brought both coffees and left her whole demeanor changed, it turned darker, she sighed and looked at her cup.

“What did my son do to you?” She asked, you froze in place. Aemond had upsetted you but you were confused at the interest of his mother over the subject, Aemond wasn’t even your boyfriend, you had shared small moments of tenderness and that was it. 

“I understand it’s hard to speak about it but you have a reputation and so does my family and I believe it’s in our best interest to manage this situation in private.” She reached out to you and held your hand, her grip was hard and not comforting at all, she was worried about this– even more worried than you were. 

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean, ma’am.” You said. She dropped your hand and a thick silence made itself present between the two of you as she read your face. 

“My son hurt you.” She said. “Didn’t he? Aemond?” His name came out choked in his mother’s voice, like she didn’t want to say it. You shook your head.

“We had a… disagreement?” You said, you weren’t sure what to call that whole situation without having to get in detail. “But nothing more than that… He apologized already.” She seemed disoriented at that, she wasn’t expecting that. 

“Oh.” She said. “Forgive me then, I often find myself having to correct my son’s wrongdoings,” She drank from her coffee. “Aegon’s.” She added to clarify. 

“I’m sorry if I wasted your time, ma’am,” You said and she shook her head dismissing you.

“No, no, it was my mistake.” She didn’t say much after that, neither of you finished your coffee, she paid and said goodbye, you did the same. On your way home you debated the events, no Aemond, just his mother, he probably didn’t even know her mother spoke with you. You were warming up at the idea of just letting this whole thing go, chances were that next semester Aemond would do everything in his power to not share a class with you, you were never going to see him again. You knew it wasn’t supposed to be a big deal, you shared a kiss and some meals, and your apartment and small conversations no one else heard, but that didn’t mean much in the long term, you weren’t allowed to mourn something that didn’t exist. 

-

In your dreams you got phone calls from Alicent, in your dreams you saw Aemond from across the street, in some he runs your way and asks for your notes, in some others he looks at you with disgust and leaves, even Aegon shows up sometimes wearing those hoodies that seem to swallow him whole asking you what do you do with his brother. You’re not proud to admit how much this is affecting you, you consider calling your psychiatrist a couple of times, maybe you should go back home for the next semester, be with people you know and not locked away in your apartment, bored and alone, with your own mind eating you alive. 

You tried to get out more, you invited some friends over whenever you could, you tried to stay away from solitude even if you didn’t really want to. It’s been just a week since you’ve seen Alicent and it still turns your stomach around. 

A new dress hugged your body while you were getting ready to go out, another desperate attempt to distract yourself, it was a deep violet color and you were sure you had some earrings that matched it. Before you could go get them someone rang your doorbell, you rolled your eyes, oftentimes when the flower shop downstairs was closed, people would call at your door thinking you might be the owner. You opened your balcony window and yelled.

“Wrong buzzer,” You said loudly. “It’s closed, man!” You didn’t even get to close the balcony window when it rang again, and again. “Gods.” You huffed. You made your way down the stairs to explain to them you had nothing to do with the shop. 

“Listen, sorry, but if it’s closed—” Aemond stood in front of you. You swallowed hard. It felt like you were seeing him for the very first time, really seeing him. Tall and handsome, his silver hair framing him, the same color as the moon, his lilac eye looking at you, waiting for something. “Aem–” He didn’t give you a chance to finish, his hands cupping your face quickly, kissing you deeply. 

“M’sorry, sorry,” He mumbled against your mouth, his breathing was labored, his movements were heavy, lacking his usual grace and smoothness, you thought you might be able to smell a tint of whiskey coming from him, he almost made you stumble back but catched you, hand on the small of your back.

“Aemond, wait,” You tried to speak. “I– Let’s go upstairs, please.” He nodded and allowed you to close the door behind him, you guided him to your apartment, even thought he had been there before, and he let you, holding his hand. He felt softer than most days, tender. 

Once you were in the safety of your apartment he hugged you from behind, draping himself on you, breathing you in, he sighed. “I missed you.” He said against the back of your neck. "I really did. I was so angry at Aegon after that night, and my mother she…” He didn’t finish the sentence. 

“Do they know you’re here?” You asked, you weren’t angry, just curious. He hummed, his thumb caressing your stomach. “I like your dress.” He commented, you liked having him this close, his embrace felt secure. 

“It’s not gonna happen again,” He said. “My mother, she can be a little… tricky and volatile. Aegon makes things hard for her.” He left the explanation floating in the air, you weren’t sure if he knew his mother had reached out to you, you figured you could ask him what he meant later, right now you just wanted him. You wanted him to take away every single worry he had planted in you like seeds, even the ones he left on accident.

You turned around to see him face to face and this time you kissed him. Slow and steady, finding your own ground. His hands played with your dress, you couldn’t blame him, the fabric was soft to the touch, he mapped your body, your waist and back, your neck and arms. “Aemond…” You said, trying to call his attention back to you. “Yes?” He replied, a mischievous smile on his face, his attention still on your body. “What do you need?” He asked, acting oblivious at the clear circumstance you both were in. “Aemond,” You repeated, this time it sounded closer to a whine. 

He lifted you up easily and it surprised you a little bit, he brought you two back to your room and settled you on the big bed that occupied it. He looked at you like you were prey, you knew he was holding himself back, you wanted him closer to you, as close as possible. He admired you for a second, allowing his hand to slowly stroke your leg, finding its way under your skirt and up your thigh, lifting up your skirt by a couple of inches and then going back down.

“I really like this dress,” He said. 

“You’ve already said that.” You reminded him, he smiled at you and kissed you, he was warmer than ever and you were starting to suffocate under so much clothes, you tried pulling at his shirt to let him know. “What is it?” He asked. “Off,” You pulled softly again. “I want it off… please?” A sudden wave of shame crossed your body until he sat back and unbuttoned his shirt.

He was pale and lean, he had a good build, you knew he trained but seeing it in front of you was different. 

“I want this off too,” He said, pulling at your dress. “Let me see you.” A shiver ran through your body and it pooled between your legs, you allowed him to take it off. Quickly he found a place in your neck, kissing and biting softly his way down your chest, you let a high pitched noise out when he sunk his teeth on your breast, kissing right over it after, his other hand was playing with the hem of your underwear. He was all over, you felt surrounded by him. 

“I’m sorry for leaving you all alone these past days,” He said, kissing down your stomach and taking your underwear off, you were exposed to him now, bare and horribly turned on. “I thought about you so many times… so many times,” He repeated while kissing your body. He spread your legs slightly, looking right at your center and you couldn’t help but blush, still that didn’t change the fact that seeing him in that position, pupils blown out, made you wet. 

“I feel I owe you.” He finished his sentence and placed a kiss on your venus mount, you held your breath as he sunk himself in your core, you could feel his tongue working you right where you needed it. He held your hips down against the bed to keep you from squirming and you couldn’t help but whine, especially when he paid attention to your clit, you were familiar with the sensation that was making its way to the pit of your stomach. 

You settled a testing hand on his hair, trying your best not to pull it, you just wanted to feel him, to let him know how he was making you feel. “Aemond,” You tried speaking but he continued, you felt a small vibration against you, had he moaned? The thought of him getting off to this, to him eating you out, the idea of him getting as much pleasure from it as you did tipped you over the edge. You called his name again and he stayed there drinking from you like it was the only thing that mattered in the world, helping you ride out your orgasm slowly. 

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and you tried not thinking much about it. You gave him a breathless smile and tried to pull him closer to you. His skin feelt hot to the touch, like he had a fever, and you just wanted to burn with him. He brushed your hair out of your face and you did the same to him, you took a second to look at his face, he was handsome, you knew that, you kissed him again, a chaste kiss this time while caressing his cheek and he leaned onto the touch.

“Let me?” You said, a hand on his belt and he nodded looking at your hands while you undid it, you could see him hard underneath his pants, wanting and waiting. He helped you take them fully off and you wanted to moan at his desire. 

He grabbed you tightly by your waist while he fucked you, you wanted him to fully let go, to let you have all of him. He let his forehead fall against yours while he trusted in and out of you. 

“I like you like this,” He said, you had a hard time keeping your eyes fully open. “You’re beautiful, even more than I imagined.” 

“You–” A small moan interrupted you when his thumb started caressing your clit. “You imagined?” You said, you weren’t sure how much sense you were making but he knew what you were asking, he let out a small laugh. “I did, yes… And I felt horrible for doing such thing,” He confessed, you tried to keep some of your focus on him while the rest of your mind was lost in the feeling of him, and his body, and how he was filling you up just right. “But I couldn’t help it, you know,” His movements got harder and faster, he was chasing his own pleasure now. “I just… I just need to be close to you.” It made sense now that he said it, the amount of times he stayed at your place for no other reason than just to see you. 

“Aemond.” You signed for no particular reason, you were getting closer to another orgasm with the way he was fucking into you, your hand over his while he touched you. “You’re gonna give me another one?” He asked and you nodded hard. He kissed you again, messy and sloppy, he was close too, you were becoming obsessed with the small noises he was letting out when he thought you weren’t really listening, you whined against his lips and he lifted your right leg over his shoulder for a better angle. You choked out a sob while you came, he followed soon after with a groan deep in his chest.

He stayed there for a minute, holding you in place, chest heaving, his pristine hair messy and a small layer of sweat made his skin glow. Even his pale chest was blushed now. 

He went into your bathroom without much of a word, when he came back he cleaned you softly like you could break. 

“Things are going to be easier now,” He said, petting your hair and kissing your cheek before getting into bed and manhandling you to be on top of him. “Only if you want to.” He added.

“I want to.” You said, your eyes were already closed and you were nuzzling his chest. He drew patterns on your back lazily. You were fighting to stay awake but you could sense he was brooding, thinking about a thousand things. You grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles.

“It’s okay,” You assured him. “We can’t talk in the morning, I promise.” You kissed his temple and fell asleep.

taglist: siriusdumblittlepuppy; ohitsthemaster; mariaelizabeth21-blog1

[mechwarrior-rose]

Shelter: Wolf's Jaws

UNION DROPSHIP SUMMER LIGHTNING OBERON VI ORBIT CLAN WOLF INVASION CORRIDOR 30 SEPTEMBER 3049

Femme day.

It took a while to come fully to consciousness. Shelter was far too groggy to make sense of any of her thoughts. Everything was loud and angry. She thrummed with a deep, sorrowful ache. She didn't want to wake up. If she woke up, she'd remember what made her so sad.

Eventually her audio sensors came online. It was quiet in the room. Only the soft beep from a medical monitor broke the silence. All the noise was in her head. The sounds of explosions and rending metal.

The War Griffins were dead.

Ariel. Breck. Susanna. Finch. Wallace. Liana. Both Katherines. Shelter went down the list, all twenty-four pilots of the War Griffins, primary and secondary, two for each machine. But she couldn't stop there, could she? Daisy. Chuck. Maribelle. Norton. Evelyn. On through the members of her team, then through the rest of the technicians. Then the support personnel. All almost certainly killed when the enemy had overrun the Dao Sing Plain base. Dead gods, she didn't even know some of the people in administration. She was the only one who could remember them, and she didn't... If she couldn't, then...

Her eyes burned hot. Tears flowed, soaked into bandages on the left side of her face. She lifted her arm to wipe them away and felt the weight of an IV shunt and the tug of more bandages at her shoulder. There was the ghost of agony somewhere beneath the fog as she moved. She must have been put on some serious painkillers.

Her hair. She'd shaved off all her hair.

But the War Griffins were dead. It had been an appropriate sacrifice.

The 1st Oberon Guards, too. Razor Lance had been the last operating unit of 15th Company. If Rieck and Razor Two had made it out, then they and Shelter were likely the only survivors of a massacre.

I hope Hendrik Grimm III and his pirate lordling toadies got stomped flat by a Catamarauder. If there's any justice in the universe, that'll be the end of the Grimm line. But even this thought wasn't enough to cheer her.

The hiss of a door sliding open caught her attention. Shit. She was going to have to open her eyes.

The harsh artificial lights pierced her brain at the first crack of her eyelids. Her involuntary mewl of pain choked off in her throat. A shadow moved from the door to the side of the bed, followed by others. The figures waited while Shelter adjusted to the light. When she opened her eyes, she saw three people in grey jumpsuits. One, a woman with auburn hair tied back in a tight bun, had gold pins with two red stars at each side of her collar. The other two, a tall, blonde woman with a turned-up nose and a short man who wore a short, curly mohawk and a close-trimmed beard, stood a little back. The blonde's pins bore one star each, while the brunet had only the gold squares.

"Shelter, last of his family, quiaff?" the first woman asked.

Shelter's throat clicked as she swallowed. She tried again and finally mustered enough pliability from her larynx to speak. "Last of her family for now. I'm afraid it changes by the day."

"I am Star Captain Mila. With me are Star Commander Chastity and Warrior Hawk. We are three of the warriors you faced in Friday's battle. I have claimed you as a bondsperson of Clan Wolf. From now until your bondcord is severed, you belong to me. Do you understand?"

As Mila spoke, Chastity jotted notes on a handheld compad. Hawk's face was blank. Mila, however, was stern, her brown eyes as impenetrable as ironwood.

"Dress yourselves up with whatever goofy names you like. Still sounds like slavers and pirates to me." Shelter wished she could spit. She could only muster a dry cough.

Mila watched her for a moment before replying. "You speak as though you yourself were not a pirate serving a bandit king. Or perhaps you have not heard the old saying about glass houses and stones?"

"Not a pirate," Shelter growled. "Hate pirates. I hate Grimm."

The man poured water from a small pitcher into a paper cup and set it on the overbed table that sat at the foot of the bed. He placed the control remote for the bed on the table and wheeled it closer to Shelter. She stared, but his face remained impassive. She took the controls, adjusted the bed to a seated tilt, and drank the water greedily. There were only perhaps fifty milliliters in the cup. Shelter reached for the pitcher, but the man put his hand over hers. "Slowly this time," he said, his voice expressionless but warm. He withdrew his hand, and Shelter poured. As she did, she finally noticed the cord tied around her right wrist, loosely enough not to chafe. She drank her second cup more gently, flicking her gaze between the three warriors.

When she finished, Mila spoke again. "Why serve him, then? I am told that you are not a warrior by trade, but rather a technician. What drove you to take up arms to defend pirates?" Mila kept her tone even. The tension underlying her words, however, was plain.

Shelter closed her eyes and let her head drop back against the thin pillow. "I was defending my family. The War Griffins. We're a part of the 1st Guard, but we always wanted to be free again. Used to be mercs. I wanted..." She trailed off. Her head was beginning to throb. The pain meds were wearing off.

"Mercenary service is more honorable to you than piracy, quiaff?" This must have been Chastity. Her voice bore some of the snideness that Mila suppressed.

Shelter groaned. "I don't know what 'quiaff' means. But yeah. Mercs are free to live how they want, and they don't prey on innocent lives." She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her right hand. "Shouldn't I be talking to a doctor now?"

"You are being monitored by our systems and staff. Your injuries are minor. Is there something that needs to be addressed by a physician?" Mila asked.

Shelter winced as the throbbing grew stronger. "Painkillers are wearing off. I could use another dose. Head's killing me."

"If this is the worst of the pain you suffer in the near future, count yourself very fortunate," Mila said. "These questions are a courtesy. There will be more thorough interrogations to come. If you are not a warrior, how did you learn to operate a BattleMech?"

Memories washed over Shelter. Times she was brought into the administrative offices to see where her parents worked. Times she was allowed on her own recognizance, getting into places she shouldn't have, making friends with technicians, pilots, infantry, scouts, anyone who would talk to her. Signing up at sixteen, and how her parents had railed against her decision. They'd hoped to get her out of the Confederation and back to real civilization, back to the Lyran Commonwealth, where she could have a better life. Well, what if she wanted to make sure everyone got out? What if she wanted to save all of the War Griffins, not just one kid from a white-collar family pulling military paychecks?

Her first real boyfriend, a pilot who encouraged her to try out as a MechWarrior. Her first real girlfriend, a 15th Company scout who taught her how to handle sensor equipment and pentaglycerin. The qualifying trials to put her on the waiting list for an alternate pilot slot. She'd done her share of cross-training them, too. Showed them how to splice myomer, use a tech's diagnostic computer, reorient the factory wire harnesses on the Neil 6000 comms units from Defiance Industries because they always came in misassembled and would shake loose after a month and sometimes snap the soldering.

"I made friends," she said.

"Perhaps the caste mobility the other bondsfolk spoke of," Chastity murmured to Mila. "Within their touman, they have fewer barriers between warriors and the lower castes that serve them."

Shelter looked at her, winced again at the light. "Don't mistake us for the Dracs or the Capellans. We don't have castes." Not officially. But Grimm's attempts to legitimize the Oberon Confederation were more about appearances than equity. There were still haves and have-nots, and some of the haves sat on thrones while some of the have-nots performed forced labor in penal camps to which they'd been sentenced by corrupt magistrates.

Mila pursed her lips as she turned Shelter's words over. "You claim there are no castes, and that you, a technician, were trained in warrior's ways and equipment by warrior friends? This is common?"

"I don't know if I'd call it common. But I can't be the only one. I mean, you couldn't get that kind of cross-training if you were a civilian, but I was a corporal in the service. Signed up at the first chance I got."

"To convince your unit to desert the pirates and become mercenaries," Mila said. This time she couldn't keep the hint of a sneer off her face.

Shelter scowled. "To work to free my family, the company that raised me, from service to a tyrant whose grandpa turned coat from the Lyrans, went pirate, and forced the War Griffins to join his army."

Mila opened her mouth, but Shelter pressed on. "And now you've killed what's left of my family, and you're saying I'm your slave. So as far as I'm concerned, you're no better than Hendrik Grimm. In fact, you're lower than pirate scum like him."

The light exploded into fragments, and the room tilted. Something impacted Shelter's ribs. It took a few moments for her to realize that there hadn't been an explosion--she'd simply been struck by the back of Mila's hand. The force of it had flung her against the overbed table, which was now on its side in a pool of spilled water. The Star Captain was saying something, but Shelter's ears were ringing too loudly for her to make it out.

The three warriors filed toward the door. Star Captain Mila stopped, knelt by the fallen table, and picked up the remote. She snapped at Shelter's face to get her attention. "This is how you call a medtech." She stabbed the red button at the top of the remote, then tossed it harshly against Shelter's chest. The new bruise on her ribs screamed in protest.

Shelter slumped against the bed rail and wept as the Wolves left the room.