#Glow Whales are friend-shaped

[yourfaveisfriendshaped]

Glow Whales from Subnautica, Below Zero!

Glow Whales are friend-shaped!

[radiance1]

@puppetmaster13u You called Danny a space whale in the tags of one of this post.

Now what if that was literal?

Hear me out, Danny outlives his friends, parents, sister. Danny becomes a literal whale.

Well, not a literal one because he's a ghost, but he takes the shape one of at the very least. He's just a giant, glowing white whale that looks pretty divine not going to lie.

Danny leaves earth. It wasn't safe for him anymore, what with the GIW and all that as even the ghosts found it not even worth anymore to visit the mortal world.

Except for Desiree and Spectra, but that's besides the point.

But Danny doesn't retreat to the zone, he's always longed for space, but because of his new half humanness he doesn't get believe he could've ever gone because, well. Yea.

But Danny goes fuck it and goes anyway. His form shifts from human to that of a giant whale, and he swims out into the vastness of space.

Years pass, and Danny does start getting bigger as he aged. He explored the vastness of space, marveling at many things, the different planets, the stars, the formations of rock and other things.

Then he encounters someone he never though he would've.

Vlad.

Well, he knew Vlad was left behind in space by his father but he didn't think he would find him again and Vlad seemed... different, from what he remembered.

For one thing, he didn't even know where Vlad began and space ended. He got only see those red eyes that even hinted at it being the man. His body was void black and filled with stars upon stars, all glittering from his body and Vlad barely even seemed to notice him, or if he did, he didn't seem to care at all.

So, Danny took him.

He was both curious and felt a bit bad about what happened to Vlad, even if he didn't know exactly what happened, and he couldn't just leave him there either.

So on his back Vlad went, and his travels continued.

It seemed to be the correct decision, really, because slowly overtime Vlad seemed to be regaining his awareness. Then slowly, tentatively, started to speak with him through ghost speak.

Vlad only seemed to vaguely remember what he was before space. He remembered hating a man, loving a woman, wanting a son, loneliness and a boy with white hair and toxic green eyes.

Even though Vlad was his former enemy, his nemesis, and someone who took the world hostage.

He couldn't help but feel pity for him.

Then their travels continued.

Years pass unnoticed, when in space, with Danny slowly getting bigger and bigger as the two travel throughout. They've come into contact with various civilizations, some hostile, some peaceful, some neutral.

The hostile ones never lasted long, even if Danny never lifted a flipper to do anything most of the time, Vlad made sure of it.

They came at went as they pleased, and Danny believes that they've gained a bit of a reputations over their adventures, but neither he nor Vlad knew exactly what they said. It did prove useful in some cases, however.

A few more years, and Danny feels that this system is vaguely familiar. Which happens sometimes, considering he's been travelling for so long. He then finds out why it was so familiar.

He came across Earth and, oh. When was the Earth so small?

Well, not small really, but when was he just only a bit smaller than it?

Did it shrink when he was away? Or did he just grow?

That doesn't matter though. What does, is the fact that currently seemed to be an invasion going on, on his home planet thank you very much. He did not like the fact that there was a massive fleet parked right outside his home.

So he spoke to Vlad, expressed his displeasure, Vlad responded back knowingly and went off to make the source of his displeasure disappear. That doesn't Danny was idle either, the fleet was big and, well.

It's been a while since he's stretched himself in a fight.

[gaykarstaagforever]

FREE ON YOUTUBE

...YouTube, I feel like your free animated movie recommendations have declined in quality a bit since the halcyon days of Osmosis Jones.

Yes, it is a blatant Kung Fu Panda knockoff, with an American voice cast that is clearly whoever was home at 11 am the week they called.

This is bad. Like, unfinished, I think I'm missing like half the movie, they forgot to resolve the main plot and it just stops, bad. There is a scene where the only character on screen suffers an animation error, and no one fixed it. The framerate of the movie drops every time the action picks up or the camera swings around too fast. Like...you made a computer-animated movie, and you don't have the hardware or time to do...you know...computer animation? The stones on the Chinese producers of this mess.

Not everything has to be Pixar or DreamWorks. CG is hard. I get it. But you gotta work to your strengths. In this case, the computers you are using can't even render the movie properly. Like...I don't know how you get around that. That's kind of a major issue.

Technical incompetence aside, this suffers from the usual bad CG animation problems of every character looking like they come from a different artistic universe, and most of the action is generic mocaping that doesn't take into account how any real bodies shaped like these bodies would move. And there are just things they didn't bother capturing. Like none of these dough monsters ever stands up on screen.

Shot composition is a disaster. Most scenes are a mob of creatures standing in a pack in an empty space, doing exaggerated facial reactions to someone else talking. It's like bad machinima made in the Skylanders games engine, except all of the character designs are way worse.

The plot, such as they attempted it, is supposed to be about a small, incompetent warrior who looks like Jackie Chan who gets transported to the mystical realm of Merryland by a magical jade necklace his grandfather gave him. There, he transforms into an anthropomorphic panda, for reasons that are never explained. There is a prophecy that a Panda Warrior is destined to save the realm, and our guy is apparently it, except there is a flashback to like a couple of years ago when the ultimate evil took over, and...there is ANOTHER Panda Warrior who was just there and sort of stopped it? But then didn't? Who the hell was that guy?!

Also the ultimate evil is one of the two sky-whales who guard the Dragon Ball (yes, literally) just turning evil because it absorbed too much power. Why did this happen? How are you going to stop it from happening again? Then that whale turns into a nine-headed snake after an evil mouse from the real world just...is there, and merges with the Whale. After the snake is defeated the mouse just crawls out of it and runs away, and no one says a damn thing.

Our panda warrior and his 7 legendary warrior friends kung fu fight the snake at least 3 different times, and never get close to stopping it. And the panda doesn't do anything special or lead them, he is just there, and then at the very end his necklace glows and that...helps? Somehow? The true hero here is, and I'm not joking, Jimmy Ginseng, a tiny ginseng man with an erhu who shows up whenever the warriors are losing, plays the erhu, the enemy gets soothed by the song, and then Jimmy gets tired and leaves. EVERY BATTLE ends like this, including the final one.

So...?

The panda has that cool green sword in the picture. And he does have it. It is just...a sword, thst someone randomly gives him. I think he ends up dropping it and it never comes up again.

Also all the warriors are animals, except for the one who is a talking tree stump...filled with lava. And he dies at the end by setting himself and the snake on fire. Because his master, a purple fox, told him to do that to save everyone. ...Except the SNAKE SURVIVED IT, and they had to fight it again, lose, and wait for Jimmy to show up.

The bull character also sacrifices himself, TWICE, to save everyone else, and both times that doesn't work, either.

The movie ends with Merryland being restored from the devastation of the snake...BEFORE the snake is defeated. It just...gets better, after they resuce an elf girl princess who does...something...? And then the regrown flowers shoot the snake with missiles of some kind. Which ALSO fails to defeat it.

The panda doesn't go home and become human again and nothing is explained. But during the credits there is a fight scene between the little human warrior and his general, in which they get drunk and wrestle and tons of fight animations repeat in a loop for 3 minutes. Is this part of the movie? Are these outtakes? What does this have to do with anything? If this is what happens after he got home, I don't know why or what it means.

...My guess is that the first panda warrior we see was supposed to be his grandfather, as a panda? That was probably the idea? But no one ever says that. The movie doesn't remember to explain that.

This was translated from Chinese. Perhaps the translation is terrible. Or they did a massive reedit of this for the US release. That could explain some of this. ...But then why didn't they cut out the glitch scene, or some of the shots with the bad framerate? There are literal 10 second sequences in this movie where there is no dialogue or music, just a camera sleeping over a scenery to ambient nature sounds. Who reedits a movie for the foreign market and cuts out vital plot scenes, but leaves in shit like that?

...Unless all those vital plot scenes had even worse technical problems. Jesus. That's a terrifying thought.

One positive here. While nearly all of the voice work is as boring and bored as you'd expect, the immortal Tom Kenny is good, with what very little he is given to do, here. The man is a professional.

And here is the weirdest thing: Rob Schneider is really good here as the panda man and Jimmy Ginseng. Like, shockingly good. Like, this is without exaggeration the best performances of this man's miserable life. He is funny, charming, nuanced, he feels like he is reacting properly during what were probably one-sided conversations recorded on different days in different places. It is shocking how good he is in this awful, stupid movie. My only guess is that he was somehow involved in bringing this over and it was going to serve as an audition piece to get him more voice work. In which case, like, fair enough, dude. You nailed it. He is genuinely very good in this very bad movie.

What an odd artifact from 2012. What a waste of time. Why did YouTube recommend this? What do any of us gain from being shown this? I am just flabbergasted.

You're on time out with these movie suggestions, Google.

Also there is a pig who flies who looks like this:

Those aren't ears, they are just gross misshapen tendrils that bob around as she moves. It's like someone was playing with a stretch tool and then...stopped.

I was gonna end with "Now let's have Jimmy Ginseng play us out," but I can only find this one bad picture of him, and it doesn't show his erhu:

Here is some nice erhu music from someone else. Something redeeming in this godforsaken post:

[randomalistic]

Ok oh my god. OH MY GOD. I just saw treasure planet for the first time and It was fucking amazing. Like yeah Duh I KNOWWW i know it’s like. “underrated Disney movie bla bla it was a commercial failure” . You know the deal.

But if there is 1 thing I want to say:

I cannot emphasize enough how meaningful and touching it is to the audience when you allow your male main characters to cry, and hug, and be emotionally vulnerable without shame. That brought this film to a whole new level 🥺

its a beautiful movie that took so many creative risks and that’s so admirable. It’s so clear they had a vision and they crafted that vision with endless amounts of love :’] I DID CRY.

More rambling below

I was CONSISTENTLY delighted by how creative the characters were and incredibly entertained throughout. So fucking fun and engaging and it feels like a 2 hour movie so much happens. How is it only 1.5 hours.

I CRIED !!!!!!!!!! John Silver and Jim’s relationship was so COMPLEX like actually amazing. The father figure dynamic is so sweet and heartwarming and so heartbreaking simultaneously like I was not expecting that AMV montage in the middle like that shit cut me so deep it was outstanding. A montage about Jim’s troubled childhood with a neglectful absent father and then DIRECTLY PARALLELING THAT WITH HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH SILVER. LIKE HES FINALLY OVERCOMING THOSE FEELINGS AND LIVING HIS LIFE. GODDAMN!!! THATS SO POWERFUL!! THATS SO INCREDIBLE!!! THATS JUST IN THE MOVIE!!!!??!

Also the character/creature designs are RELENTLESS in how good they are. And they have so much fun with it. It’s so silly.

They had an old snapping turtle pirate???? hello?? He was introduced and then he died ❤️

The animation is also MIND BLOWINF like OH MY GOD!??? the seamless integration of 2D and 3D interacting is so impressive especially for 2001 like this was a technological feat for sure . Only rarely does the CG look dated (those whales at the start <\3 poor guys) BUT JOHN SILVER’S CYBORG ARM WAS FUCKING AMAZING LIKE I COUKD STARE AT THAT THING FOR HOURS .

Can’t find a gif of it but during his introduction there was a ROTATING SHOT of him cooking (❤️) while using his arm and his arm has so many tools inside it like a cyborg Swiss Army knife it’s the coolest fucking thing ever. Just Amazing

Also the fact they introduced an entirely new character 53 minutes in when the main cast has already been established was such a risk, but it so paid off. I love B.E.N. The fact he’s fully 3D animated and he’s THAT expressive. WHILE BEING A ROBOT? adorable. He’s Adorable. He’s so mentally ill and strange.

What is wrong with him. He is. dare I say. spamtonlike. pathetic and unhinged. Houses forbidden knowledge. What a Pitiful creature 🧡his glowing CRT eyes are really cute. There was a moment when the lights went out it was only his eyes and I Liked That

I love weird little robot guys in early-late 2000s movies. I need to watch Bluesky robots. I need my fix.

Morph could’ve been a really obnoxious comedic relief animal sidekick but they somehow managed to make him really cute and likable. (Also They only used him for plot points A LITTLE. Turning into anything couldve been overpowered as fuck. But alas… he is a mindless animal...) We love Morph. His relationship with silver is so fucking cute.

Kind of a Delbert centrist honestly. I liked him but also kinda dislike him. Bro kinda gives self centered misogynist scientist vibes. But he’s also silly and self conscious though guyssss.!! I thought I would like him more than I did. BUT He’s animated SO wonderfully though I love the shape of his hands and his weird goat face. Solid 7/10 weird guy. Idk why he came with Jim on the ship though❤️

Captain Amelia was fucking awesome for the first half of the movie. One of the best characters. Yeah. ……………. They fumbled her so hard. MAYBE ITS JUST ME BUT ME AND MY FRIEND WERE NOT A FAN OF HER AND DELBERT AT ALL. Disney was like. We have a competent woman character ! Competent woman has to get injured and then the incompetent man has to take care of her and then they HAVE to fall in love. It’s actually so tragic like they did NOT deserve her.

IN FACT HERE’S MY SCORCHING HOT TAKE: Delbert should’ve been the one to get injured and Amelia nurses him back to health. Delbert might apologize profusely because of his self confidence issues and cuz he internalizes things that go wrong as his fault. Amelia reassures him, realizing that she was too harsh on him earlier. Delbert becomes less intimidated by her because she opens up to him and they grow to trust one another. Amelia stays with him while Jim goes to hide. And whapow !!!! Same relationship is built up without disempowering a female character. It doesn’t even have to be romantic they can just be friends……. 🫶 cuz it comes off as weird because since the start Delbert was like “wtf the captain is a GIRL?? Wait ooh la laaa she’s pretty” and she had 0 interest in him. so like the ONLY way they could pair them together was to get her injured and have him care for her . And she falls in love with him out of nowhere. No. Being cared for does not mean you’ll fall in love with your caretaker. She’s so ace coded to me and my friend. Until SUDDENLY. Am I crazy

Ok so like yeah the forced heterosexual love interest moment. I did not want to see their FOUR (4) hybrid babies at the end. I’m losing my mind. also did Jim become a cop? I swear to fucking god LOL

The movie was SO good that disney didn’t know how to wrap it up without ruining it ❤️ WHICH IS VERY INTERESTING I think they had to compensate for all the risks they took with a safe and weird ending where the police like him now and the police are ok guys. Disney approved

Anyways watch/rewatch the movie right now. Skip the final minute <3

One of my new favorite movies goddamn!

Edit: I would’ve forgiven them if Delbert got pregnant instead

[johannestevans]

Luca's Monster

Cute fiction short! A boy talks to the monster that keeps coming out from under his bed. 1.2k.

More original fic here.

---

It’s 09:12PM according to the little clock that Luca insisted his mother get for him instead of any of the kid’s ones – it’s just plain and black with red text, like people have in old movies. Luca is lying in bed because he woke up at the noise, and he’s not moving because he doesn’t want it to know he’s awake.

His parents won’t believe him.

Mum even said, “Oh, Luca, we’ve got you a big boy clock – don’t you want to act like a big boy and stop believing in things that aren’t real?”

And she said sorry, after, and that she didn’t mean it, that she could call for them if he needed, except that if he calls for them or tries to get out of bed, it will know.

Luca hears the floorboards creaking and sees its shadows, always wraps himself up as tightly as he can in his blankets and closes his eyes as much as he can, waits desperately for it to go away whenever it shows up. He gets glimpses of it sometimes, its white scaly body, the thick spines running down its back, its leathery wings.

It made a noise once, a horrible chittering sound that went right through him, like if Mrs Rickson’s cat, Mustard, did its bird-chatter noise except if it was super loud and really high-pitched and horrible.

Steeling himself, Luca opens one eye.

The monster is sitting on the floor looking up at his fish tank, kind of cross-legged on top of his whale-shaped rug, and it’s softly lit by the glow of his night light. It doesn’t look exactly like they do at school when they sit cross-legged, because there are horns on its knees, but it’s close enough. When it turns its head, following one of the fish’s movements.

Luca sees that its eyes are wide as dinner plates, the pupils all stretched out just like Mustard looking at birds, and he might be scared of the monster but he loves his fish, he takes good care of them and it took ages for his parents to let him have them, especially in his room.

“You’d better not eat them!” he hisses. “You get away from them right now!”

The monster jolts, turning around and looking at him with its hackles raised and his wings spread a bit, like it’s trying to look scary and big – but really, the monster isn’t much bigger than him, even with the wings on, and without them, he’s probably even smaller.

“Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?” asks the monster sort of haughtily, his voice chittering like a bug’s.

“How am I meant to sleep when there’s a monster in my bedroom?”

“You normally seem to manage it,” mutters the monster, and peers back at the fish. “You keep these to eat them?”

“No! You mustn’t eat them! They’re my friends!”

“Oh,” says the monster. “Funny friends you have. Do you like to watch them swim about?”

Luca stares at the monster warily. “Yes,” he says. “They’re nice. They look nice.”

“Yes,” agrees the monster, examining the tank. “What are they?”

“Don’t you know?”

“Should I?”

“They’re fish.”

“Oh, right,” says the monster. “And, uh… What’s a fish?”

“How can you not know what a fish is?”

“Well, I’ve only ever seen them here. I suppose that’s how.”

“They’re… They’re animals that live in the water. They breathe in it.”

“Breathe in water?”

“Yes.”

“How do they do that?”

“They’ve got gills.”

“What’s gills?”

“You’ve really never seen a fish before?”

“Should I have?”

Luca does something he’s never done before while the monster was in his room: he gets out of bed. Wrapped in his blanket, he comes slowly over and sits beside the monster on the floor, looking cautiously back at the monster the same way he’s looking back at him.

“These are freshwater fish,” says Luca. “I wanted tropical fish but my parents were worried I wouldn’t take care of them properly.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Colours, behaviours. But the water is salty and you have to have particular temperatures and stuff to keep them healthy.” He points and says, “This is Charlie, he’s a betta fish, that’s a kind of Siamese fighting fish. But they’re quite territorial, so I had to be really careful about picking the other fish, like this is Buddy, and he’s a Kuhli loach.”

“And which one is the gills?”

“They all have gills. You see the way there’s like, a flap, here? It’s going out and then going in, kind of like when we breathe and our chests move, and that’s our lungs, except they do everything with their gills instead so they like… Filter the air out of the water with them.”

The monster doesn’t, like his parents do, interrupt and change the subject as Luca keeps talking about the fish. He doesn’t see to get bored, like his friends do at school – he listens very raptly as Luca points and explains all their behaviours and where they come from and what they’re called and why, even the ghost shrimp.

And he asks questions about the way he looks after the tank, and how he cleans it, and asks about other fish he’d like, and what tropical fish he wants and why, and says it all looks very complicated, but worthwhile.

“Don’t monsters have pets?” asks Luca.

“I don’t really know,” says the monster. “We don’t, but I haven’t met everyone in the world. Maybe it’s just us.”

This strikes Luca as being either an extremely sensible answer or the opposite, and he can’t decide which.

“Well,” he says graciously, “you can share mine, if you like. But only to look at.”

“I like looking at them,” says the monster quietly. “They’re very nice.”

“Is that why you come in my room at night?”

“I don’t really decide where I go. I like it here, though.”

“Well,” says Luca as he crawls back into bed, because his clock says it’s nearly midnight now and he’s very, very tired. “You can ask me about things, if you like, another night. About fish or— or about other things.”

The monster pauses a moment, and then asks, sort of cautiously, “Like friends?”

Luca hesitates. There’s a lot of people who don’t actually want to be his friend, even before he starts talking about fish.

“I don’t have any friends,” says the monster. “My father says it’s because I’m too insular.”

“What’s insular mean?”

“I’m not really sure. He doesn’t seem to think it’s a good thing.”

Luca says very quickly, with a kind of fake confidence to make sure the monster feels better, “Of course we’re friends.”

The monster smiles, and it’s really quite a horrible twisting of its white leathery face, but it’s not as frightening as it was before.

“Alright,” it says, turning back to look at the fish, rocking gently in place and making the shadows move on the walls, but this time it seems to Luca that it’s quite nice, actually, kind of like the reflections of the water moving. “Friends.”

It’s easier to sleep that night, curled up in the blanket with a slight smile on his lips.

Easier than it ever has been.

FIN.

[moorishflower]

So are Dream and Death still siblings in your siren!Dream au?

yes and no! yes, in that Death is sibling to EVERYONE. and mother, and daughter, and friend. but is she the same thing as Dream? no. is she SIMILAR? yes! my kind of vague headcanon is that they share some distant ancestry, that somewhere far back when Night and Time had children, they had Death and Destiny and Destruction, and then further along the line Night had other children NOT with Time, and from that lineage sprung up Desire, Despair, and Delirium. It's all very Greek lineage sort of thing lol.

A whale has fallen.

In the deep depths, in the crushing dark, where no light touches, where air vents from heated cracks within the stone, the whale drifts down. Somewhere within its cavernous chest a heart still beats, thready and inconsistent, struggling, as all living things struggle, to keep going. Until the last. Until the final breath. The great undoing.

Endless Dream follows its path with interest. A whale is a fine gift from the sea, and though it's not a sacrifice to him, he will gladly partake of its flesh when it settles.

He is hungry. Has been hungry, for the past few days, his stomach shrinking and clawing, his teeth made wet with wanting. Yet fish have held no interest for him -- stupid, flickering things, easy to catch, easy to swallow whole. There is no challenge to the hunting of them. There have been no challenges for many ebbing and flowing of the tides.

Until the man.

The man who'd walked into the sea, who'd made of himself a fine meal for sharks, who Dream had pulled into his grotto thinking that it had been long since he had tasted the flesh of humans, and this one was still warm, even, still soft and nearly living, and then the man had breathed. Gouted water from his lungs, with Dream's teeth still sunk into the tender meat of his limb, and the blood in his mouth had been so hot. Not the blood of a fresh corpse, but sweet and living and vital. It had slid down his throat like a wriggling eel, made a nest in his gullet, curled around and around, and now his stomach is bloated with the emptiness of it. With the severity of how much he wants.

The man had been dead. He'd seen it. He'd known it. And then the man was alive.

He follows the path of the whale, until it settles on a rocky shelf near the deep dark, and there the scavengers emerge. Dream watches them but does not see them. All of his focus is upon the whale, its massive eye, its laboring heart.

It takes long minutes for the eye to go blank, but when it does, Dream reaches for it immediately, carves into the socket and wicks away the bone with practiced claws. The eye pops free into his palm, ragged, full of succulent flavor. He does not bite.

"Teleute," he calls out, his voice a ripple in the water, "here, for you, an offering. Choice flesh. Sweetness."

"You know you don't have to do that," he hears, and swings around, and smiles with his skin, a flare of sunset yellow that licks along his cheeks and splashes cheerful upon the scavengers below.

"I know," he says, and holds out to Death the eye, and, after a long moment, she takes it from him. All of her forms are beautiful, but Dream is proud and selfish, and thinks this form most pleasing of all: her night-dark skin glowing from within with radiant luminescence, speckles of silver that dot her cheeks like freckles, her long and shapely tail, the bright-lit lure that hangs before her sharp and smiling mouth.

"How goes the ocean?" she asks, rolling the eye between her palms, and Dream slips forward through the drifting current, lets it carry him gently onwards. The whale holds little interest now. Perhaps he will return later, and dig into its soft belly, and at last sate his hunger.

He thinks nothing can sate this hunger.

"It goes," he says, and Death laughs.

"Well, you called to me for something, little one."

Dream's tentacles writhe and grasp. One reaches for his own hand, instinctive in its desire to hold, and he allows it. Lets the searching suckers kiss between his fingers, and remembers the warmth of the man beneath his many limbs.

"There was a man," he says, and Death tilts her head, and the lure bobs appealingly. "I watched him drown. I took him to my grotto to eat. And then he came back. He breathed again."

"Did he have kind eyes?" Death asks, and Dream does not know how to quantify the kindness of eyes, and so says nothing. "A sweet voice? Dark brown hair?"

"His blood was warmth and light," Dream offers, and Death laughs.

"Probably Robert Gadling, then. I think he's the only immortal who's at sea right now. How did he take to dying?"

"He was on an island. He walked into the sea."

"Ah, bad luck, there. Wonder who marooned him."

"He is one of yours? Then I will not touch him." The thought is unbearable agony. He had followed the man down into the depths -- he had dragged his body to the safety of his grotto. He set his teeth into the sweet flesh. By rights, the man is his.

But Death is so much older. So much more than him. If she has claimed him...

"You can do whatever you like," she says, and Dream feels the effervescent lilt of bubbles in his breast. "I mean, I don't know if he cares to be eaten. But Hob makes his own choices. He'll find you again, if he wants to spend time with you."

"Spend time," Dream repeats.

"Yeah, he's a bit of a romantic, I think. That's the feeling I got, anyways. I warned him that immortality was going to make him a bit spotty in the head, but now I'm wondering if he's always been that way, and this is the best thing for him."

"Then he cannot die?"

"Not unless he asks for it."

They drift together for a time, in companionable silence. Death brings the eye to her mouth, and when she bites it releases plumes of blood and humor into the sea; Dream tastes it with his skin, the richness of it, can imagine the firm crunch and the soft jelly inside.

It holds no interest. His stomach begs for sunlit warmth, for the tang of copper and iron, for the one that Death calls Hob.

"Thank you for answering my call," he says at last, and Death holds out the other half of the eye, raising her brows. Dream shakes his head.

"If you stay in one place," she says, her voice teasing and sweet, "he'll find you again."

"You think so?"

"Oh, yes. He cheated at our card game. I think he's never seen something dangerous that he didn't end up wanting with his whole heart. And there's nothing more dangerous in the sea than you."

"Flattery."

"Truth. From one child of monsters to another."

Dream clicks his teeth, and he is proud, and he is selfish, and he is, stupidly, pleased. The thought that Hob Gadling might return, and think him interesting, and perhaps bring with him his rich-golden blood and the taut muscles of his limbs, and if Dream is sweet, perhaps, if Dream makes himself pleasing, if he brings to Hob the beautiful things of the sea, smooth coral and sunken treasures, perhaps, perhaps, Hob will let him taste of him again, will let a bite become a kiss...

Death laughs. "Oh, you two are going to be fun to watch. Pursue him with my blessing, Endless Dream."

"Thank you," Dream says. His skin flickers in shades of red and pink, before settling, at last, again, to white. "Sister. Grandmother. Family. Thank you."

"Don't mention it," she says. "I don't need to know what you two get up to."

Dream nods, and takes the other half of the whale's eye at last. When he bites into it, the juice is sweet and lovely on his tongue, and it is not what he wants, but now he knows.

He only has to wait, and the longing cramp in his belly will at last be appeased.

[fulldreamsahead]

Whale of a Good Time

Last night I had a dream where I was coming out of a Lowe's and saw this big dark rudimentary fish shaped cloud in the sky. I thought it was odd and while I was throwing my purchase in the car, I kept looking at it because all around it was sunny and fine. I ended up stopping and looking hard and realized the cloud looked like a shadow. Confused by that, I sent a snapchat to my friend as I always do to be like look at this weird cloud. Only when i was filming talking about it, I zoomed in to notice it was comprised of little jostling whales. I began to talk faster, confused and spouting questions as I got in my car to get away. I continued to film, almost hitting someone in the parking lot who smiled a little too wide. I got to the area to turn out, but there were way more cars on the road then usual. I waited and waited and finally got my chance to turn when the sunshine exploded. I looked and looked and the cloud was gone. Filming a new set of snaps to my friend about it, I got to a light and watched as the cloud renewed, going in a new direction, and helmed by a golden glowing whale. Videoing that all and wondering how to download my snaps, I watched as the cloud broke apart and the whales began to descend.

It brought my eye down where I saw what at first glance looked like the wall of rain where you can see where a rainstorm starts only there was an oceanic quality to that space. There was kelp growing up and, being the bottom of the sea floor, the buildings were being crushed by pressure. Scared, I jumped out of my vehicle because it was locked in and turned to run. I went back to the hardware store as the closest building and the screams began to turn up. I ventured through the store and out the back with some other survivors and we were approached by a woman who was clearly possessed. She said this planet was ours now and I put together it was the whales. We could see the ocean wall getting closer, but all I could think about was that their first attempt was disrupted and how we could replicate the moment we disappeared. We got out into the loading bay back of the store, the wall coming, and for a moment it disappeared again as it had. Trying to document despite the others complaints, the disappearance of the sea wall and 'clouds' made the possessed people collapse. Another survivor tried to check to see if the people were okay, but they ended up being dead. We grabbed weapons and stole a little golf cart from the loading bay and all i could think was there was no straight line to escape the ocean wall and therefore we were going to inevitably be crushed.

I didn't pass this information on because the wall reappeared and darkness rained droplets of ocean spray. The possessed stood back up, but we were already situated to close and lock the bay doors to escape. The possessed rushed us, but we attacked them with varying degrees of success with our weapons. The others came toward me as I was holding, ready to slam, one of the bay doors and one of them died. I watched as a whale came down to possess them and wished I had my phone. I then nearly locked the gate when a possessed woman got in the way and in a fury of fury I closed the door so hard it cut her head off. The head continued to scream so I picked it up and began to smash it against the lock of the bay doors as she told me all was futile and that they would take over the world.

Then I woke up.

[femshep-fatships]

Code Redhead

[Shepard x OC]

The clarion call echoed throughout the citadel.

"Baby, orb of my life, my big blue world. I love you. I will always love you. Nothing I want better than to ride your whale sized tibby and hump it till I cum, stuffing your face with Bon Bons tonight. I know I promised you I'd take the night off..." Annabelle cupped the massive watermellon sized blue head of Liara T'soni. "But right now the Commander is throwing shapes in the church of dance, and with all that blubber and her terrible coordination she's threatening to crush its grooviest members! If she has one more drink. Those thighs could end lives. I gotta go..."

Liara, 30 ft around and 25 ft tall, a perfect, monolithic orb of an Asari, could do little but nod her chubby face.

A dramatic suit up montages ensues. As 5 foot 4 inch Annabelle Heidel ties her ginger and gold locks into a big bun and tucks them through the back of her all black baseball cap. The letters IMU emblazoned over her forehead in an official FBI font white stitch.

Buttshot of her perky, toned booty bouncing in one of Miranda's old Cerberus catsuits. (Dang them squats are workin for her!)

Click of her belt fastened around her waist with a jiggle of little titty she pins her official IMU badge to her suit. BACK SHOT: Tucking one arm then the other through her harness, with climbing rope, climbing clips, a walkie talkie, and an emergency pouch of twinkies (or zebra cakes if necessary) With the soft clatter of hard sugar against teeth, Annie stuffs a root beer Dum Dum in her teeth and bites it , a look of pure determination on her face. She taps the bridge of her sunglasses pushing them firmer onto her face. "My Love...please...Shepard is my friend." Liara calls, unable to see her girlfriend past her own vast fatness. "...Don't let her hurt herself." Annie gives the giant blue Mountain a thumbs up, and marches out the door in slow motion...

"Shepard?" Annabelle, IMU agent of Cerberus, wrangler of fatties, entered the pit. The thunder of music booming loudly, the red glow of mood lights still flashing. Buffets in dissaray. "Commander?" She found the commander. Hard to miss her, she was fat as hell. Shepard was gone, lost to the music and the booze sloshing in her belly (Along with the 8 pizzas 5 pies, 27 packs of beer nuts.) "Commander? (Wow. You really can't dance.) Commander could you...please we're worried you. COMMANDER? CAN YOU HEAR ME? COMMANDER!" Annie began shouting as Shepard planted her big fat booty on a 2 foot by 2 foot concrete pillar and began to "work" it Or the nearest Shepard aproximation of working it was. It was certainly working for Annie as she was turning pink at the very sight of that big tummy, and soft ass rubbing against the pillar. Shepard winked drunkenly and beckoned. Never mind. She looked like a bear trying to scratch it's ass. "Sh-shepard. SHEPARD. COMMANDER KATE SHEPARD, MA'AM PLEASE. STOP GRINDING ON THE SUPPORT BEAM. IT IS CRITICAL TO THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THIS BAR. SHEPARD I REQUEST THAT YOU CEASE THROWING IT BACK AND COME WITH ME. I WILL GET YOU TO A SAFE COMFY BED. SHEPARD? SHEP-SHEPARD! NO MA'AM I AM IN A COMMITED RELATIONSHIP AND WOULD...COMMANDER I INSIST YOU DO NOT GIVE ME A LAP DA-MMFFFPP!!!~" Annie's radio crackled. Her lower body sandwhiched between the big heart shaped mounds in a tight red dress squashing her from the pelvis down. "Agent Heidel? How is she? Is the Commander Subdued?" Miranda's voice sounded worried. "Not to worry Boss, she's uh..sitting down. It's a step in the right direction." Shepard felt sleepy, slowly tipping back as the room swam, Annie looked up and for a half a second her heart beat faster, as she watched jiggly back rolls bulging out of a backless dress and soft red hair rushing at her like a falling tree. Squish. Pinned beneath the fat, suddenly snoring redhead, the Immobile Mobility Unit agent radiod her boss again her voice slightly grunting as she was now squimshed: "Shepard subdued Ma'am. Repeat Red Fox is down for the night. This milkshake will not be bringing anyone to the yard anymore tonight Boss." "Good. Stay ontop of her. That's a Cerberus VIP and war hero make damn sure you take good care of her." Miranda said gravely. Annie's entire short legs were wedged between Shepard's butt crack. Shepard's entire torso covering the small fatty spelunker. "Technically she'll be staying ontop of me tonight Ma'am. Tell Liara I'll see her in the morning."

[sea-owl]

i think it would be more interesting if the spouses were from different planets, as you said in groups.

So maybe 3 of them are from a planet, 2 from another, 1 is from somewhere else ecc…

Yeah that would also probably work better as well so instead of 8 different species I only have to come up with somewhere between3 and 5.

For groups I'm thinking Michael, Phillip, and Penelope as a trio. Simon and Gareth are from the same planet. Sophie and Lucy from the same planet. Kate will be fine, she's got Edwina to fuss over.

MPP: For them I'm kind imagining a species that's almost fey like but instead of plants they're connected to stars. Their eyes are just pure shades of blues, reds, yellows, whites, and on the rare occasion green. On top of their heads are a pair of horns that curve inward that are hallow and pick up sound like echolocation. Their hair floats around them almost like the gas clouds in space and typically has the coloring of a galaxy. On their skin they have markings that appear dark in light but glow in darkness. They are sensitive to electric, and magnetic fields, along with the 4th dimension.

SL: They are a semiaquatic species, being able to survive on land and in water. Their skin is smooth like a whale's and alongside their necks are gills that open up when submerged in water. They also have bioluminescent markings that they have used when exploring dark parts of their home's ocean. Their coloring depends on where they were born on the planet. Sophie was born in colder climates so she has more whites and grays in her coloring while Lucy was born in a tropical climate, so her colors are brighter like coral. Their hands and feet are webbed, and their legs can fuse together in water for better swimming. Along their waists are fins Instead of hair they have a long fin similar to the ones you see on the end of mermaid tails or long tentacles like a jellyfish. Their teeth are sharper due to them being a mostly hunter species. They also have a familiarity with echolocation due to that's how they communicate in the water.

SG: They are the biggest and physically strongest of their friends. Standing at at least seven feet, their species have four arms, their legs shaped like a lion's back legs, and they got tail. They actually grow hair unlike the rest of their friends, on their heads and on the ends of their tails. Pointed ears that they can fold over itself, usually to show annoyance or an attempt to protect their hearing from loud noises.

K: Her species is a mixture between bird and reptilian. The lower half of her body is a snake tail covered in iridescent scales. Her upper body is humanoid in shape but instead of skin she has scales. On her back is six feathered wings and a mane of feathers replaces hair. She's from a tropical world which reflects in her iridescent scales and rich purple feathers. She's very agile and there's rumors that she's venomous, not that Kate will every say.

Do I know anything about their cultures? Nope, but we gonna figure it out as we go.

[despairforme]

creatures: what animal does my muse get along with best? which one do they tend to avoid? 

FOR THE MERFOLK ( meme ).

     Nnoitra's existence was a lonely one. He had never found anyone like himself. He didn’t want to believe that he was the ONLY merman in the ocean, but it certainly felt like that. He was obviously different to regular Great Whites, and so they avoided him. Even though Nnoitra was not the brightest, he did hold more intelligence than other creatures in the ocean. That was why he was social. He needed interactions. He was lonely. The creatures he got along the best with were whales, but it was a long process to ‘ befriend ‘ them. They saw him as a threat, and so he’d have to carefully approach and try to make them understand that he only wanted to play. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t. They saw him as the predator that he was.

     All other sharks avoided him, because he was a threat. So did fish, sea-turtles, seals and sea-birds. Fair enough, because they were ALL on his menu. Still, he would’ve liked to have a friend.

      There were only two creatures that Nnoitra actively avoided. He avoided Killer Whales - because they were his only natural predator, and would potentially eat him. The other species was giant squids. Nnoitra had had a nasty encounter with one on a deep dive, where it had almost ended with his death. After this, he had gotten a dislike for squids of all kids, and he’d avoid them if he could - but giant squids especially. Thankfully they lived where he didn’t need to venture.

     Because of his human-like intelligence, Nnoitra was a curious creature. He always had to touch things. He LOVED anything that gloved or sparkled. This was why he had gotten caught on fishing hooks so many times. It was also why he took so many deep dives. He wanted to see the glowing things down there in the dark. Anything that glowed - he was interested in. He also had a fascination with touching things. Poking jellyfish was a good past-time. So was picking star-fish ( both as a snack and simply because he liked the texture and the shape ). 

[lizseyi]

Halloween Cocktail Party Ideas - Flavour Blaster

Halloween party themes to get your creative cocktail juices flowing... 

Halloween is an excellent time of year for a party, especially a cocktail party. Here at Flavour Blaster HQ, we love a good cocktail and a good party, so we've put together some themed ideas to kick-start your creative process. All you need is a good theme and some willingly creative guests, and you'll have a (monster's) ball.

Down in the Deep

There are some seriously peculiar animals deep down on the ocean floor. We are talking goblin sharks, humpback angler fish, pelican eels, vampire squid and coffin fish. Think of the costume opportunities.

Your décor needs to be moody blue with glowing bioluminescent lighting. And your playlist should include submarine radar sounds, echoing clangs, whale song and perhaps some reggae, sea shanties or hula ukulele. Food could consist of treasure chest treats, sunken pirate ship chips ’n’ dips, and nautical nibbles.

For seafaring guests, it has to be a rum cocktail. So why not try a Blue Hawaii, a mixture of light rum, blue curaçao, pineapple juice and sour mix? Aloha!

This drink is visually spectacular as blue Curaçao gives it an aquatic hue. If you have hundreds of guests coming, make up batches in fishbowls instead of punch bowls and cut fish shapes out of lemon, lime and orange peels to garnish. If there is a manageable number of guests, try these awesome octopus martini glasses, and top each one with a passion fruit-filled bubble!

Blue Hawaii Cocktail Recipe

25ml White rum

25ml Vodka

15ml Blue Curacao

15ml Lemon juice

15ml Lime juice

Add all your ingredients to a cocktail shaker with plenty of cubed ice. Shake the mixture hard and double strain it into either your martini glass or punch bowl. If you are making punch, you can make larger batches. Just times the recipe by the number of guests.

 Notes: If you're using individual glasses, pre-chill them in the fridge before serving them to your guests. If you're using fish bowls, put some fresh ice nearby so guests can add some to their punch cups.

 The Day of the Dead

The Dia de losMuertos is a holiday originating in Mexico. It is a joyful celebration that involves families and friends gathering to pay respects and remember the past lives of loved ones. People tell stories and anecdotes about their departed and build altars where they leave offerings, like photos, candles, gifts and food for the deceased.

This holiday theme contrasts cheerful marigold blooms and the eerie sugar skulls, hand-painted and used to decorate graves and alters. Try posting up some Mexican-inspired bunting and serving Pan de Muerto (a sweet roll topped with sugar), bone-shaped pastries, and a dish called MukbilPollo, similar to a Tamale, made with chicken, pork, tomato, garlic, peppers and onions to a background of Latin-inspired music.

A traditional tea made from hibiscus and a beverage called pulque are both served throughout the Dia de Los Muertos. We can't usually get the latter in the UK, so we've added hibiscus to the tequila-based margarita for a pink twist on a classic. Either serve straight up, over ice or try our hand-painted Mexoskeliton decanter and shot glasses set, skilfully crafted from clay in Mexico and signed by the original artist.

Hibiscus Margarita Cocktail Recipe 

60ml Reposado tequila

30ml Fresh lime juice

30ml Hibiscus syrup

Add all your ingredients to a cocktail shaker and plenty of ice before shaking the mixture hard. Strain and serve straight up or over ice, depending on your taste.

Blood Bath

We're taking inspiration for this theme from the slasher films of the seventies, eighties and nineties. You can go all out gory on this one or tongue in cheek like the Scream film series. Costumes could include knives through the brain, crazy-looking dolls, killer clowns, pin cushion heads and Kruger-style gloves.

For the decor, you'll want bloody mannequin parts, paint sheets splattered in fake blood and chains, whips, meat cleavers and saws hanging from the ceiling. You could serve jelly and strawberry jam brains, ketchup-smeared pizza fingers and lychee eyeballs. Music should include Tubular Bells, the Jaws theme tune, and some kids singing a cappella nursery rhymes.

To make your guests jump out of their skin, try a Bloody Screwdriver using our Red Flavour Blaster Mini smoking gun to add a puff of graveyard fog for effect.

Bloody Screwdriver Cocktail Recipe

 60ml vodka

120ml Blood orange juice.

Add the ingredients to a tall ice-filled glass and stir. Use your Flavour Blaster Mini to create a billowing cloud of smoke as you serve it. 

All Hollows Eve

For this theme, we're talking turn-of-the-century pagan rituals meet the eastern spirituality from the Edwardian era of country house parties. Mix your witch's cauldron with a fortune telling, blend a chanting woodland circle with divination spells and meld together innocent young women holding candles to a mirror with a tarot reading. Costumes could include Egyptian mummies, clairvoyants, ghosts in Victorian nightdresses, pipe-smoking detectives and wounded soldiers.

This is a period when people were rightly scared of the occult, technological advances and impending political doom. Get some scratchy ragtime and music hall 78s on the playlist and serve apple bobbing, meat pies, peach melba, cucumber sandwiches and sherry trifle.

To keep your guests guessing, we suggest a cocktail that looks like it *might* contain poison, as the first detective fiction had people hooked on the various methods of murder. Use our Flavour Blaster Mini to pump smoke into our lidded rocks glasses for that bonfire scent. 

Bump in the Night Cocktail Recipe

50ml London dry gin

Half a fresh lime, cut into three segments, squeeze and then add into the glass.

120ml Ginger Ale

Add the gin and lime to the rocks glass. Add one large ice cube or sphere, and top with ginger ale. Stir and then add the smoke using the Flavour Blaster Mini. Close the glass lid to trap the smoke and serve to your unsuspecting guest.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Arthropod

Debut: Super Monkey Ball 2

The levels of Super Monkey Ball are designed like abstract art, all simple shapes arranged and moving in interesting ways, so you wouldn't expect to see creatures in any of the levels, and yet there is ONE, the only non-primate Creature in the entire game!

Arthropod is a creature made out of very simple shapes, just like the stages, does this mean they evolved from the lifeless stages? Or perhaps all stages are alive and Arthropod is simply the first among them to evolve limb-based locomotion! Arthropod is like nothing on Earth, a completely new body plan, one Conical Thorax, arranged vertically, 3 legs sprouting from the bottom part, and other 3 from the top! They walk by alternating the bottom and top legs, one 3-footed step at a time! Again, this sort of locomotion is unparalleled to anything in real life! They really created a creature that feels like it was made by a Neural Network trying to make something that could walk!

Here we have our field correspondent, Doctor, getting up close and personal to better understand Arthropod’s locomotion!

I would also like to direct your attention to the little glowing dots on Arthropod’s feet! What are those? Their irregularity makes Arthropod itself feel more natural, like they’re birthmarks or something. Our friend Arthropod is a unique individual, even if there are more like it!

Arthropod is an entity that with simple cones attached to orb joints, captivates my heart with every step they take! Their sheer absurdity and uniqueness in the game really make me see them as a Super Monkey Ball main character, they should put  them in a ball and let me play as them next game! Or maybe Arthropod can run on top of the ball as it rolls!

Arthropod has been referred to exclusively as a creature so far, but it should be noted that the stage that the creature appears in is called Arthropod, so it is both a creature and a location! The creature is not “directly” named, but is clearly the titular Arthropod. So, you can say stuff like “I’m at Arthropod”, or “meet me at Arthropod”, and it will make perfect sense, finally. Oh yeah, and speaking of location, Arthropod is inside of a whale! That is another great thing about it.

Arthropod (stage) and by extension Arthropod (creature) have sort of a bad reputation, unfortunately. In its original appearance, this is one of those stages that is very, very hard, with many gaps and a strangely tilted goal. Thankfully, in Banana Mania, the difficulty was decreased dramatically, and everyone can have a pleasant visit to Arthropod! Won’t you join us for a lovely picnic at Arthropod?

Even if the stage is difficult, though, that is not Arthropod’s fault. Quite the opposite! The ground in this stage is a cylinder that constantly rolls thanks to Arthropod’s walking, and if it were not for Arthropod, the goal of the stage would be utterly inaccessible. It is helping! It may not be able to see what’s happening, being all leg, but it does its best. Thank you, Arthropod!

...You know, in Super Monkey Ball, you don’t control the monkey in the ball. You don’t play as the monkey. You control the tilting of the stage. You play as Arthropod!

[undead-merman]

🧜‍♂️MerMay- The Brothers🧜‍♂️GN Reader- SFW

Lucifer

Appearance

Lucifer has a long black tail with a hint of a royal blue striping on the back. His scales are smooth and small, ganoid shaped and are completely flat. A few black scales are on his face, just at the corner of his eyes giving them a sharper appearance and forming a diamond shape on his forehead. There is one scale slightly out of place on his diamond mark; it's not noticeable unless seen close up.   

His fins are long and flowing and are in the shape of rounded spades. He has a tear on his dorsal fin which goes all the way through the fin and has a scar on his back. His caudal fin is the largest on his body and has a peacock like pattern that can be flushed making the colors go from the normally black with barely visible blue to bright flashy blues, and reds on deep blacks.

His human skin is colored like a great white shark: creamy light skin on his stomach, fading to grey on his back; granting him the ability to countershade and aid in avoiding detection from above and below.

His face exhibits many shark features: broad and round head, small eyes, his mouth is filled with large teeth, and a flat nose.

Daily life

He’s very broody so he prefers the twilight and night hours; being accustomed to swimming in the deep parts of the ocean, too much light hurts his eyes but he also just enjoys the dark endless water with starlight above.

He has a very strict schedule, patrolling his nest, fighting off intruders, meeting up with Diavolo to hunt, clean up his brother's messes, patrol, try to sleep and get interrupted by one of his brothers if not more, and repeat.

He’s a carnivore so he enjoys eating whales, and sharks. He dislikes crabs and lobsters since they’re bottom feeders and he finds the idea of eating them very distasteful. 

He’s meticulous with grooming himself. He’s always sharpening his claws and forever growing teeth, picking them and cleaning them until they gleam in the light and buffing his scales to make them shimmer. 

When alone he enjoys trying to nap amongst a peaceful patch of seagrass. Drifting away slowly as curious little fish swim around him and the plant life softly brushes by with the current. 

He enjoys playing the violin, which surprisingly works, making melodies that haunt divers unfortunate enough to hear.  

Life with you

If you're a morning person you’ll get to see his sleeping unguarded face. He’ll try to wake up with you once he realizes, and within a few weeks he’ll be waking up far before you. He somehow has a built-in clock wired to try and make him wake up before you.

If you're a night person he’s thrilled to share some of the prettiest sights the ocean has to offer when the moon is out. Showing you his favorite spots to enjoy the night in silence. 

He becomes very protective of you and constantly scents you before leaving your side. Rubbing his palms on your cheeks or circling his tail loosely around you before brushing up on you as he swims away. No one will dare come near you if you smell so much like him.

He hates to admit it but he has the natural instinct of him bringing shiny things to you. He won’t even notice it until he pulls your hands in his and suddenly you have a shiny piece of sea glass in your hand. His face heats up if you tease him about it and suddenly he finds a speck on the wall very interesting.

Mammon

Appearance

As golden as gold can look, being actual gold, Mammon has the boldest scales of all the brothers. He’s not sure why they are, they’ve just always been that way and their weight doesn’t seem to be affected. His scales are ctenoid and can cut if he flares his scales and hits you with his tail. He doesn’t have any scales on his face and his skin seems to glow in the morning sun. 

His fins are exactly like that of a long spined sea scorpion with them having large painful spines inside them. Unlike the other fish he has a painful venom that can leave someone reeling in pain for days. It won’t kill but it’ll hurt!

He has two sets of canines that are very noticeable when he opens his mouth to talk. His upper right canine tooth has a gold coating making the tooth look like it’s made of gold. The top pair always hang out of his mouth while the lower one is hidden. 

He has shorter nails more meant for prying than slashing. Though they’re surprisingly well manicured and painted white.

Daily life

100% a morning person. Wakes up all groggy but after brushing his scales he's peppy and ready to start the day.

Mammon hoards his shedded scales, after all they are gold. He puts them in an old vintage submariner foot locker, nearly rotted apart but he sticks random stickers or patches onto it to help keep it together. A lot of the time the brothers will just take the money they are owed from the chest and Mammon whines about it; however, if they're pissed they’ll pluck some scales from him painfully.

His scales get plucked often: by the sea witches to whom he owes a massive debt to, his angry brothers, even Solomon sometimes plucks them off like he’s a pez dispenser. Because of this he sometimes has very sensitive scaleless spots. They grow back within a day but it still hurts.

He joins Lucifer in patrolling their territory. He’s just as protective over his space as Lucifer is, and of course he wants to look out for his younger brothers, but he won’t admit that unless it gives him a chance to use pity points to get out of trouble.

Very particular about his scales. He wants them looking pretty and as bright as they can be. Contrarily, he doesn’t give the same treatment for his hair, calling running his hands through to get the tangles out good enough.

Life with you

If you show concern for his scales he’ll play it off like it doesn’t hurt and it's really just a bother, but it isn’t. If you continue to worry about him or even offer to help patch him up he will become much more protective of you. You treat him so kindly that he doesn’t want that to stop.

If he’s in a bad mood or he gets jealous of someone, he'll grab you and shove his face into your neck and twist till his face is thoroughly buried. He wants to smell you so he can calm down and basically scream at anyone who comes by that you are something very close to Mammon so don't you dare touch.

He’ll try to drag you around to join in his mischief. Joining him in gambling rings or minnow racing. He’ll insist you're a lucky charm, though he just likes your company. He loves to bear hug you if he wins big and he holds you above him in the water with a big smile on his face.

Another victim of random shiny gifts for you. He's more aware of it and brags about how neat it looks even if it's just some old mirror. He’s always trying to play up how amazing his little gifts are.

Leviathan 

Appearance

His tail is very long, much longer than his brothers though it's thinner and has less muscle. His scales are ganoid shaped and colored the same color as his hair with a white underneath. During the night he has bright cyan bioluminescence circles on his sides. His eyes and tongue glowing as well with a very faint glow to his teeth as well. 

He’s embarrassed about it but he has multiple random patches of scales around his face and he thinks it makes him look weird.

His fins are shaped much like a goldfish, even having a round double tail and flowing fins. He is the most delicate looking one. But if he gets angry he transforms into a gigantic sea monster and can cause storms. 

He’s an omnivore so his teeth are small and much like a humans. They fall out if they get damaged but like a shark they’ll always grow back.

His skin is also counter shaded like Lucifer. Though more ashy gray color than his older brother. Unfortunately his bioluminescent colored scales, even though they pulse in brightness, make him much easier to spot. 

Daily life

He’s a night dweller through and through and refuses to swim during daylight hours. He likes to dwell in deeper waters so the light isn’t too much for him; but he mostly likes to stay in his cave and obsess over his washed up anime knicknacks. Making sure to pluck away barnacles and clean the muck off.

Since he’s an omnivore he’ll eat whatever is nearby. He enjoys jellyfish and the deadlier they are to humans the more he likes them. He's unaffected by their venom. Though he’ll enjoy a crab or free swimming fish. 

Leviathan does not like patrolling; he’d much rather leave the scuffling to everyone else so he can focus on more important things, like trying to dry out a keyboard in his open air room. 

His room is open air and inside a cave that can be accessed by a nearby beach. Inside is a shrine to his collection and he’s always fawning over it.

He loves that he matches with his fish friend Henry. They are extremely similar in shape, even having similar tails. He has a fresh water tank inside so Henry doesn’t get too dried up from the salt water. Leviathan can handle both fresh and saltwater so sometimes he hops into the tank to swim near his friend.

He’s very self conscious of his scales, especially the ones on his face so he has to make sure they look nice. His hair has to be styled just right to distract them from his face. He has a habit of pulling his bangs down over his eyes when he’s flustered.  

Life with you

Once he’s bonded with you he is constantly by your side and wanting to spend as much quality time with you as he can. He’ll be trailing you talking about the little curiosities he’s found. He whines about how he wants to go back to his cave but he won’t leave your side.

He’ll show you his collection of nicknacks and if you're able to set up a little television and gamecube he’ll be ecstatically waving his fish tail around like a dog. He’ll constantly beg you to play with him. He wants to CO-OP this game with you!

If he’s feeling cuddly that day he’ll float up to the surface and let you lounge on him and let the waves gently rock you both. He’ll hum old sea shanties he’s heard from sailors long ago as well as some anime songs from a series you enjoy together. 

Expect him to drag you to his spots for finding his little curiosities, he’ll want you to help him scour the area and find more fun items. He’s very happy with whatever you bring and he’ll keep them around his nest.   

Satan 

Appearance 

Satan is built similarly to Lucifer though his scales are more raised and spiny. His tail is a bright shamrock green which shifts to a seafoam green. He has a bunch of scales on the corners of his mouth and completely covers his cheeks.

His fins are long and have a crowntail shape that are tipped a deep black. When he gets angry his fins flare up making him look much, much bigger.

He has a flatter nose and bigger teeth like Lucifer. While they aren’t as sharp they are still dangerous if he’s mad. 

His skin also glows in the bright morning sun and if he’s lounging around he’ll attract nearby small fish to swim around him enjoying the serene glow he has.   

Daily life

He takes a long time waking up, and he’s not a morning person at all. He’s dazed for an hour or so until he’s fully awake, though he’s not much of a night person, more preferring midday.  

He’s currently got the goal of piecing together the world’s true histories. Figuring out what happened to old forgotten cities, lost treasures, and destroyed civilizations. He has a long way to go and he treats this handcrafted book like a child, holding it far above the water.

He explores with random, yet reputable exploration teams. Helping them with identifying relics or gems. He’s earned a reputation for himself by doing this and is often approached to go on expeditions. 

He is another type to patrol around his territory. He does it around midday though and hunts during these. He’s a carnivore and likes tuna and other free swimming fish, but refuses to eat squid and octopi due to how smart they are. He likes to feed nearby ones. Though they aren’t as cute as human world cats.

He’ll go to a human world pier and try to attract the local stray cats with his tail. He’ll leave them little gifts so now all the local cats come to the docks at a certain time to wait for him. He really wants to have a cat but sadly it’s a love that’s not meant to be, they are from two different worlds.    

Life with you

He’ll enjoy taking you on expeditions. Showing you beautiful sunken landscapes very few eyes have seen before. He loves seeing your reactions to sights.

He enjoys learning your hobbies and trying them out with you. He’ll go out of his way to provide an accurate experience to what you're used to since he enjoys learning and experiencing new things, especially now that you're here.

He's another one that loves to rub his smell all over you. He’s just as bad as Mammon, his smell is all over every part he can get to and stinks of “back off, don’t touch” causing others to give you a wide berth.

He’s going to hang off of you every morning. If you're larger than him he shoves his face into your chest and tries to go back to sleep. He looks so different with his sleeping face, he looks peaceful in your arms. But if you're smaller he’ll flop onto you and try to use you as a pillow. He’s surprisingly warm and his underside isn’t as spiny and sharp.

He’ll want to introduce you to his octopi friends. Each one is named after a different sea or famous author. If you agree he’ll be delighted to take you there and let you play with them. Though he might get a bit jealous if you get along with them a bit too much. He won’t show his jealousy though.   

Asmodeus 

Appearance 

He’s the most serine and delicate looking of all his brothers. His thin body has a bright cherry blossom pink tail and has long silky looking fins. His bright scales sparkle and shimmer and have a pearlescence to them. He has perfectly pure white scales patches on his tail as well giving a koi pattern. 

He resembles a butterfly koi but with longer and frankly impractical looking fins. They flow around him weightless and they look like silk in the wind around him. Even his dorsal fin is long and flowing.

He doesn’t have any scales on his face and he looks perfectly human from the waist up. His skin has an angelic like glow and shimmers in the sun. He has a few freckles on his face, chest and elbows. 

He has small pearly white teeth just like a human would, he’s very keen on keeping them perfectly white, just like his white scales, but his canines can extend like a cat flexing their claws.  

Daily life

He wakes up to his internal alarm clock, which is scarily accurate. Bright eyed and bushy tailed from the moment his eyes open. Swimming around and preparing himself for another day, brushing his tail, combing his hair, and cleaning his teeth, all while chatting to whoever will listen.

He is a highly requested entertainer for festivals and celebrations. He’s invited to grand openings, large festivals, and even private birthdays to those who pay him well enough. His dances and singing is the best among his kind and can easily enrapture sailors let alone his own kind. His voice mixed with the way his fins trail behind him like long fans is an easy way to get hypnotized. 

When he’s not booked for a celebration he’s helping Diavolo keep humans away from their city. He uses his voice to entrance anyone he deems a threat and can make them turn and forget why they were out here and what they saw. He doesn’t get into any of the violent stuff. That’s not his style.

If he’s not at home, he is always with someone. He’s like a fairytale princess with a crowd behind him, be they other mers or fish schooling around him. He always has a smile on his face and he’s not very quiet about how much he enjoys attracting an adoring crowd. At home he enjoys a nice relaxing self care session.

When he’s angry his canines poke out he doesn’t notice this habit of his, but it's usually because he’s extremely angry at the time and holds himself back.

He doesn't bother with patrolling and he’s not territorial in the slightest. He’s a lover not a fighter so his big brothers can handle any scary monster.     

Life with you

He’s bringing you to all kinds of festivals and parties as his +1 every time. You’ll be able to experience all the wonders Diavolo’s kingdom has to give and he’s extremely happy to be there with you every single time.

He’ll use his charm to get you whatever you want. Did you want that cute seashell necklace? Or that shark tooth bracelet? He’ll approach the store owner, shake his tail and flirt a bit and it’s his now. Which he immediately hands to you with a huge grin on his face, telling you how well it suits you and how you make that item look even better.

He’s always trying to groom you in any sort of manner. Rubbing your scalp and smoothing your hair with his finger. Trying to rub thick creams into your skin, or rubbing pigment onto your nails to paint them. You're the only one he’ll do this for.

He needs to hold your hand at least 3 times a day and needs a kiss before he goes to sleep and he’ll break into your room if he doesn’t get them all. He’ll act all innocent but he knows exactly what he’s doing. He just likes being a brat so he can cuddle and love you.

He also gets upset if you smell like someone else so he randomly jumps you and cuddles you in his arms rubbing his cheek against yours and rubbing you with his tail and brushing all of his fins against you. If you check you can see his fangs sticking out when he’s jealous. 

If you’re ever feeling down he’ll sing for you. Dance with you, twirling you around as if he’s the moon and you're the earth itself. He gets lost in the dance and by the time you're done you're both embracing and laughing. 

Beelzebub and Belphegor

Appearance

While being twins they couldn’t be more polar opposites. Beelzebub has radiant skin that seems to glow even in the darker parts of the ocean and a long sunset orange tail full of powerful muscles and reaches the longest out of the brothers. His tail is smooth and has a cycloid scale pattern. Belphegor has the shark-like appearance some of his other brothers have. Counter shaded skin, flatter nose. But he seems to absorb the light around him making everything seem much darker than they really are. His tail is medium size and is pretty thin. His tail is a deep eggplant purple with black spots.

Both of them have matching fin shapes, their caudal fin being shaped like a swordtail guppy and the rest of their fins are wide and shaped like fans. Belphegor's fins are mostly black but with the same eggplant purple speckled in. Beelzebub’s are the same sunset orange.

Beelzebub’s face is free of scales but on the sides of his cheeks and around his jawline and down to his shoulders scales are clustered around. They are thick hardy scales making his neck his strongest area besides his tail, but he has a scar just under his chin.

Belphegor has a freckle-like pattern of small scales they scattered all around his face only one or two at a time. They’re much smaller than the ones on his tail.

Belphegor has extremely sharp teeth and while they’re small they’re serrated. Beelzebub has mostly human teeth, though his canines are much bigger and wider, he’s able to crush stones with those teeth.

Daily life

These two have been inseparable since they were young and it's a trend that is clearly there to stay. They may have a different schedule but when they go to rest they rest and sleep in the same nest. 

Beelzebub helps teach the younger mers to fight. He’s been permitted to teach not only the royal guard but other everyday mers. He’s a proud teacher and he’s always trying to come up with ways to help each student of his even on an individual level, but that’s when he’s not eating. 

He’s also the kingdom's best hunter, and a small team is sent out with him every once in a while to hunt down any monsters that come too close to their kingdom. Beelzebub ends up eating the thing before they get back though. The bigger and more ferocious they are, the better they taste. That’s what he says at least.   

Belphegor is the kingdom's most talented astrologist. Unlike his twin brother though, he doesn’t put his skills to much use. He’ll help, maybe, if he’s not tired or if he’s in a good mood, but those chances are slim to none. Instead he’s actually a doctor. 

He’ll laze around in his office and sleep on the table, but when a patient comes in he’s somehow able to look over them once and tell what’s wrong with them. Even his brother’s are confused how he can just wake up, take one look at someone and perfectly diagnose them. 

He also seems to nurse others on an auto pilot. He barely has his eyes open and is able to patch up any wound he can find. Because of his talent yet lack of effort he has earned some ire from his peers. He doesn’t care though as long as he can keep sleeping on the job.

Many other Mer’s have approached him in hopes to become his apprentice but he’s ignored every single one. He’s too lazy to even try. Which many people think is selfish since he’s so skilled. Though he doesn’t care what they say.    

Life with you 

You will always find them not too far from you. Once they grew attached to you they began not moving too far from you. Sometimes they even drag you along with them so you can be near them. Belphegor is guilty of dragging you to his workplace more than Beelzebub, sometimes trying to trick you into keeping everyone busy so he can nap.

Beelzebub just brings you so he can keep an eye on you and give you hugs when he’s feeling a bit stressed. You can tell when he’s getting stressed because the longer part of his tail fin flicks back and forth. If you end up hugging him right when he starts he’ll end up holding you until you ask him to let you go. It always makes him smile if you do that. 

They are both picky about having you sleep in their nest. Belphegor will complain and try to guilt you into their nest if you try to sleep anywhere else and Beelzebub will give you puppy dog eyes. They won’t stop until you agree, and they both coil around you when sleeping.

Beelzebub is very protective of you since he knows how monstrous things can be outside the kingdom so whenever he gets worried about you he pulls you by the hips closer to him. Belphegor simply just gets jealous of others talking to you and will rest his chin on your shoulder and stare at whoever is talking to you. 

If you let him, Beelzebub will groom you. Brushing your hair is a favorite of his. He likes playing with it. If you were to return the favor by polishing his scales or even playing with his hair too he gets left in a great mood for the rest of the day. The smile he gets never leaves his face. 

Belphegor when he’s feeling up to it will show you the stars at night. He’ll let you float on him or next to him and gaze at the bright night sky, untouched by light pollution or blocked by trees. Just the sounds of the open ocean and the two of you. Sometimes he’ll end up like an otter and fall asleep while holding your hand so you don’t float away.  

[sor-vette]

Chapter Six... Through Vampire's Den

Has no one ever told you not to rifle through old attics? Has no one ever told you that if you find old vintage rings that seem to have a mind of their own, the one thing you should definitely not do is to wear them? Well maybe they have, but it’s October 31st and you’re in desperate need of good accessories. And as such the next thing you know, there is a man named Yoongi in your bedroom and he insists that you’ve just married the King of the Otherworld.

▶ t/w: sexual content (briefly pls don't skip the chapter), mention of suicide, mentioned use of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and brief descriptions of an orgy... I can explain

▶ word count: 5.2k

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There is only the moon in this world, you realize. When it’s daytime the skies are just light like the sun is too far up in the clouds to be seen visibly. When they're tinted pale yellow, on those days the temperature could rise so high that despite the presence of the sun, the land is grabbed by the sudden sweltering heat. Mostly it was somewhere in the midst of blue-grey scale, at night it was either really dark blue or pitch black with no stars, just the moon.

You and Yoongi, lazily observe the shapes of the gliding clouds, as Samy carries you across the shallow mire, created by the onslaught of rainfall. Another sky whale passes amongst the clouds above. Massive and majestic, it soars the skies, high over the treetops, giving a vague, lonesome cry.

“It’s looking for its family,” Yoongi notes, or maybe just mumbles underneath his breath. He was not prone to divulge things to you. “Probably got accidentally separated from a migrating group.”

The sky whale gives another call, so pitiful and searching you automatically stir to help it, but Yoongi tugs you back onto Samy’s shoulders.

“You can’t help it,” he says, uncharacteristically sad watching the creature swim away over the horizon.

It’s been merely a day since Brary and the small encounter with Taehyung. Whatever the cryptic conversation they had, seemed to have deeply upset Yoongi. He rarely replied to any of your remarks, providing only differently angled shrugs as a response. More than once you’ve caught him looking pensively at you, brows furrowed and fingers clutching at the line of his shirt, when he thought you did not see, alas Samy would always tattletale.

Samy settles you down when the bog runs out and you both can walk on the sturdy ground again. The sky is turning bluer and bluer, yet the trees begin to glow brighter, revealing many little homes nestled amongst the branches. Sporadic, migrating fae homes, leaving the mainland in search of warmer weather. Their wings couldn’t stand the cold. Only full-grown fae, the humanoids such as Yoongi who had no wings, to begin with, were not affected by the climate.

“Your hat has a hole,” Yoongi remarks as Samy waddles next to you, obviously slowing down their steps. They stutter, not used to the attention given by the Fae.

“Iiitt’sss bbbeeeeeennn wwiiittthhh hhhooolllleeess eeevvveeerrr sssiinnnccee Iiiii fffoouuunnddd iiiiitttt, Iiiii ccccaannnn’tttt affffoooorrrddd ttooo bbbuuuuyyyy hhhhhaaaatttssss.”

You and Yoongi exchange equally ashamed looks. Samy was a homeless scarecrow, hence their presence in a random field upon which you had stumbled onto. They said they joined you because of convenient travel. Supposedly they had some distant relatives living near the Wyvern peaks, adjacent plateau to the Imperial Court but you suspected it was merely an excuse to not be lonely anymore. You also suspected Samy wasn’t even a fully grown scarecrow. Some of their mannerisms seemed too childlike, for instance, the insistence on calling anyone who showed even an ounce of kindness, as their best friends. You felt that you did too little to equal the unabashed kindness Samy showed you.

“Do you want me to fix it?” Yoongi suggests simultaneously as you rifle through your bag for some more apples. Samy only looks amazed at your eagerness to help them

“Mine, mine, mine,” he whispers deliriously, biting deep purple marks in your neck. The twin dragon and tiger ring, adorned with brown gemstone forged of fire, gleams brightly against the night. He coils around you like a snake, leaving no space on your skin untouched by his hands. They’re coarse, worn from years of a sword fight and hard work but what kind of King puts in the hard work?

He pushes once again into you and you cry out in pain, thighs quivering from the strain. You’re tired and worn and so sad you don’t even know how to breathe. He slams into you, deceptively slow but hard, gripping your jaw so all of his court can hear your strained moans. The square is empty, not a soul in sight to witness the shameful act, but you know they can hear you. And you know it’s what he wants - to show them and to yourself of how things were supposed to be. No one would, could or should disobey the King, one way or another he would get what he wants.

“I love you, tell me you love me too,” he grunts amidst fervent kisses pressed against your nape. His hands, so greedy, pull you closer against his chest, afraid that should even the slightest of parting be left, you’ll simply disappear.

“Tell me you love me,” he presses on, voice waning.

He works your hips at an increasingly faster tempo, his fingers leaving bruises where he sinks them too deep. Something wet slides against your back. He’s crying, you realize timidly. At a moment like this… Curiously you let your gaze wander down and you see that your stomach bulges slightly at every push, the outline growing more pronounced after a particularly brutal thrust. You screw your eyes shut, his every glide, caress and kiss causing your heart to hammer painfully against your chest.

“Please, tell me you love me,” he begs, placing his large palm on your shoulder shoving you back down on his length, forcing you to take him all in one single movement. “Make it the most believable lie I’ve ever heard.”

You think if you’d say it, it wouldn’t be a lie. You wouldn’t be so sad if it would.

You wake up not with a start but with a languid stir. A thick jacket with a hood over your head rests atop your shivering body. It was a downpour outside and in the damp cold, the green material and the faint crackle of the nearby campfire was your only saving grace. You know it’s Yoongi’s without even seeing the fabric. It smelt of him. Simple, clean and nice. You snuggle deeper into it until a pair of hushed voices reach your hearing.

“Wwhhyy nnoot jjjuuussttt tteeellllll hhheerrrr,” Samy drawls obviously trying and failing to be quiet. You crack one eye open for a split second, just to peek at what they were doing. As promised Yoongi was in the middle of attempting to fix the hole to the best of his abilities, while Samy was sitting nearby, shuffling away from the flame. If one were made of straw, it would be more beneficial to not catch ablaze. Yoongi was focusing deeply on the patch he was threading but from the glazed look in his eyes, you doubted he was much present.

“She will not understand, who could,” he shakes his head.

“Ssseeemmmss ttooo mmeee yyoouu’rrreee ssscccaarreeeddd fffrriiieeennddd.”

“Of course, I’m scared! I just - ! Only now - !”

Yoongi begins to interrupt himself over and over again, trying to squeeze all that he felt in a singular logical sentence before he deflates once again, peering soullessly into the fire.

“Less than a week is all I have,” he whispers, “ I can do what I did before - fall headfirst and then lose or I can - ”

“Pppuuussshhh hheeerrrr aaawwwwaaaayyy?” Samy finishes gently. Yoongi sighs, agreeing.

“Yeah, push her away. It’s better, I mean who am I to her?! Nothing, no one! Just some guy ruining her life.”

“But you’ll end up ruining your life too,” Samy pries further but Yoongi lets out a barking laugh.

“So what? You heard her, Samy! She didn’t take the ring because she knew what it was or because she wanted to see her husband,” the title he pronounced with such vitriol, it was a surprise venom didn’t pour from his lips. “It was a mistake, a simple, stupid mistake on both parts. I’m done with this, by the way, try it on.”

You can hear rustling and Samy’s appreciative grunt.

“Ttthhhaaannnkkkk yyyoooouuuu, fffrrriiieeennndddd. Iii wwwwiiillllll tttrrreeeaasssuurrreee ttthhhiiisss.”

Then after a brief silence, Yoongi breathes again, voice dejected but resolute.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine, really. A thing like me is just not meant for love.”

No one speaks for the rest of the night.

You scarf down on the berries that Yoongi picked. When you first moved anew he pushed his palm underneath your noise, pointedly looking away. Confused, you mimicked the gesture in which he poured the food and stalked away, not bothering to return your “good morning”.

All three of you made your way around the Troll path in complete and utter silence. At first, you racked your brain for literally any conversation starter but after half a day of fruitless, feeble attempts you gave up as well.

It almost came as a miracle when a booming voice nearly knocked you down your feet.

“BRIDGE PASS.”

Gawking, you gazed up at the massive figure that for the better part of two days you thought was a mountain. Gigantic and made entirely of rock, it stood still, antlers so high, you had no doubt that they sheared clouds. Luminous forest was growing unto its body and when it gazed down upon you with eyes too small for its stature, you thought it was strangely assessing you. Where it had risen, now there was not a steady mountain pass but a deep drop into a giant chasm.

Peculiarly, Yoongi pulled the hair out of his face, displaying the scar as if it meant something and without further questions the Behemoth reached over with its stone palm and scooped you up, carrying over. You stood on its finger, head spinning as you suddenly found yourself transported many meters off from the ground. At the sight of the merest stumble, Yoongi quickly wrapped his hands around your waist, spitefully avoiding your eyes. On the first instinct, you bristled, metaphorically baring your teeth but then you recalled what he said.

“A thing like me is just not meant for love.”

And so you pulled away, not asking him of anything or forcing more of your company than he wanted. You liked Yoongi. In the short, weird span of time between worlds, he had made a stealthy seat around your even smaller table of friends. It was as easy as that - you liked Yoongi and if he thought he’d be better off… you were not naive or hopeful enough to prattle some empty sentiments of how everyone could be loved. Could be, but it didn’t mean they were. You had spent enough days and years watching the identical, crestfallen expressions when someone realized they were not wanted. You well remembered the rooms of Ms Witterman’s children’s home getting emptier and emptier until there was only you. Not taken or even left behind, just tossed away, waiting for something that will never come. Sometimes people were just meant to be alone. You were.

Maybe Yoongi was the same.

You wandered back to Maeve. How much time had passed for her back in the world of the living? Days, months, could be years… She’d miss you, she’d be worried but you know that in the end, she would be fine. She’d place some nice flowers for your empty grave, briefly wondering what happened but once she was out of the graveyard and the gates would slam shut with a piercing scream, she’d let you back to the ghosts and you’d be just a memory, a reminder for the next year. It was abrupt but not a new realization that if you’d die here and now, no one would care too much about it. No one at all.

“I would,” a disembodied whisper crawls up your neck, leaving ghastly shivers all over your body. You glance down to the ring, absently tugging at it. It was still lodged at the base of your finger as tight as ever, warming your hand as if it was held by someone.

“You okay?” Yoongi asks lowly and you’re met with an echo of that same hollow pain. The same lonely realization that the only constant in your life was ever only yourself.

“Yeah,” you force out.

He knows you’re lying but at the same time he doesn’t reach out to comfort you, he just understands and in a way, you’re far more grateful for it.

“Eeexxccuusssee mmee, kkiinnndd bbeeiinnggg, aarree yyoouu hheeaaddiinngg ssoommeewwhheerree?” Samy asks, anxiously standing near the godlike ferryman.

“TO WYVERN PEAKS,” the entity replies so powerful the birds and the faeries scatter all around, startled by the booming noise. Samy peeks back at you, perceivably nervous as they were shifting from one straw foot to another. You managed a weak smile.

“Go,” you reassure them, “it’s what you wanted.”

“Bbbuuttt ffrrriiieennddss aarrree ggoooiiinngg ttoo tthheee ppaaallaaaccceee,” they mumble tearily, clutching the blue hat in their hands.

“You should do what you want, Samy,” Yoongi adds, expression softening. You can almost see something similar to a genuine, warm smile threatening to break out across his lips.

“Go, Samy, and when you’ll return you can write to me how it went.”

At the reminder of seeing their family again, Samy visibly brightens and gallops towards you and Yoongi, squeezing you both in an itchy yet heart-warming hug.

“Ssaammyyy wwiilllll mmiisssss yyoouu wwhhiillleee aaawwway bbbuttt Ssaammyyy wwiillll sseeee yyoouu aaggaiinnn.”

“Yes, you will,” Yoongi mutters shyly, his feet dangling in the air. You screw your eyes shut, nuzzling into the torn material of the dress and when Samy leaps into the palm of the rock giant, you accompany them with your gaze until even the Behemoth’s statuesque antlers disappear over the horizon.

The quieter Yoongi gets, the more the ring talks to you. During the first hours, it was a disembodied whisper floating vaguely around your periphery. Easily mistaken for wind or a stray fairy indulging in light mischief, but when it singled you out, you began to think better of it. What were short-cut words turned to full sentences and then into a long tiresome monologue before you broke down, lulled by the sweet-sounding but menacing tone. You didn’t have to answer out loud and in the empty space in which Yoongi only sulked on and on and on, all your thoughts were occupied by the King.

Quite literally.

After being given a tentative green light, he didn’t shut up. Ranging anywhere from shy, breathy whispers of soft poems to the lewdest growls that had your ears sweltering in red, he was chipping away at your sanity, coaxing you minute by relentless minute.

“You’ve got nothing back home,” he murmured in your ear, “that girl wouldn’t care if you disappeared.”

It was unsettling how he could read your mind and how intimately he wielded it against you.

“I would love you, I do love you. Would it be so bad to be my wife? To be loved by me all the remaining days in forever?”

He conjures up a picture of two of you settling in a beautiful garden. His face is, of course, hidden but you can feel his arms gently cradling against you as you leisurely enjoy each other’s company. Safe, content, but it’s not what you are. You push back, replying in earnest. A quiet, cold kitchen, empty bedroom with bare branches grazing painfully against window panes that is what you lived. The abandoned children’s home that was simultaneously too big for you and claustrophobic. Sensing that you wouldn’t relent, he turned to a much sorer subject - Yoongi.

He detailed exactly how Yoongi would die, what horrible fate would he meet if you kept dawdling. When you spat back, how exactly did he see this coming - marriage built upon a threat of murder, he only chuckled in response. Said he didn’t care why you’d give your hand as long as you just did. Yes, he was a monster but he’d be a gentle horror, purring in your lap and not sinking his teeth into someone’s jugular. But it wasn’t the King’s endless droning that in the end convinced you, it was Yoongi’s small, shivering stature.

It was raining again and the autumnal wind was unforgiving. You sat, terribly guilty, clutching Yoongi’s ditched green jacket as he sat away, trembling so hard, the chatter of his teeth echoed all throughout the mountain cave. He had made you dinner - a scrap of soup that warmed you from head to toe - mutely forcing it down your throat. He refused. Your weak human body couldn’t stand much, he said. You were made fragile. For some reason, you didn’t take much offence to what he said. Maybe it was the guilt talking or the treacherous voice that argued that if you were fragile, Yoongi was taking immaculate care. He didn’t eat though.

The little food that he made was a medium-sized portion and he sternly pushed the bowl (that you had questions about such as where he got it) in your hands, lacing his rough fingers over yours with a shaky exhale. You saw him standing there, against the backdrop of the night, starved and cold, vigilantly keeping a watch for any Imperial guards should Taehyung fail in biding you some time. As you watched, you didn’t feel just bad, you felt positively wretched and more so - undeserving. Yoongi was risking it all just to delay the inevitable for the sake of your comfort. You’ve done nothing but get captured and run around scared.

Pathetic.

You wondered if he would feel betrayed by what you’re about to do.

“Welcome back visitors to the vampire weather channel. Today we’ll be bringing you plenty of loud organ music, news updates and even some weather. Once again you’re listening to the vampire weather channel, your favourite and only radio channel of the Otherworld.”

The sleepy voice impersonator of Count Dracula switched off with a screeching static and it was replaced by a low pitched singing woman. You measured up the expansive gates, squinting at the drizzling rain.

The Fourth Vampire Den wasn’t the hardest to find, you only had to travel along the remnants of the Troll path and then haggle the talking barrel into extending one shrivelled bony finger towards the right direction. You waited until Yoongi fell asleep, draping his jacket over his chilled torso, weighing on maybe kissing his forehead but immediately thought against it. You could only hope he didn’t take it the wrong way.

The Fourth Vampire Den as it said in the infographic nailed against the gates, was the second-largest coven gathering in the Otherworld and was now entering the culmination of an event called the “Long Ball” a 28 day Halloween of non-stop partying. In the crowd, you could mingle quite well and this was the shortcut to the Imperial Palace - it laid behind the coven in the distance of a mere twenty-minute boat ride as the barrel creature had croaked.

“ALL HUMANS WELCOME IN OUR DEN. IF YOU WANT TO BE FED ON PLEASE GO TO BOOTH A AND SIGN YOUR TICKET, IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE FED ON PLEASE GO TO BOOTH B AND SIGN YOUR TICKET.”

You waddled towards Booth B. In it sat an elderly woman, smoking a long, red cigarette and with a raven perched on her shoulder. You make eye contact and she stares you down in that manner that all overworked, underpaid workers did at the end of their shift.

You lean down towards the few holes in the plastic cover.

“Hello, I would like to sign my ticket?”

For a moment she doesn’t move at all and you fret that she might be dead entirely, until finally, she slaps a paper form, pushing it towards you through the small gap. It is damp and you can spot the mould growing on its corners.

You fumble and the woman rolls her eyes while pointing at the small object stabbed in the wooden basis of the booth. You wrestle the quill out with an awkward smile. No one is impressed.

You quickly avert your eyes from her wilting stare, filling out the application.

ENTRY AND RESIDENTIAL FORM

Name: ________ Witterman

Place of origin: Sallington

Current place of residence: Don’t have one

Species: Human

Aim of the visit: To get to Imperial Palace

Spouse or a partner? Yes ✗ No ✓

With my signature below, I accept my own personal risk while in the residence of FOURTH VAMPIRE DEN and agree that the FOURTH VAMPIRE DEN cannot be sued for the liability of

Theft of personal items

Inflated price barters

CONSENSUAL loss of virginity

Accidental marriage or divorce

We advise you to keep your ticket on at all times while staying with us. Enjoy your time!

Sign here ________________________

You quickly loop your signature, uneasily tracing the words of accepting your own personal risk. You only had to get through, it shouldn’t be that hard, right? You think back on your earlier encounters - being pulled by the hair to the stake and yanked into deep waters by the mermaids. You’re going to die.

You push back the form towards the woman and she takes a long drag of her cigarette while eyeing suspiciously the written scribbles. You notice her halt to a single point, throw you a glance and then look back at the paper. She puts it down, closes her eyes shut, forehead wrinkling and heaves out an absolutely exhausted sigh.

“Fucking hell, why did it have to be me?”

You pick at your nails.

“Is something wrong?” you nervously ask.

She adjusts the cigarette between her teeth, puffing an expansive cloud of white towards the glass barrier.

“You’re the King’s new fad, right? I heard something about him getting married.”

“How did you know?”

She casts another judgmental glare.

“Honey, that ring on your finger is about as subtle as marching down with the whole imperial parade.”

You redden from her scorn.

“Well, I can’t exactly take it off,” you mumble to your defence but she is not interested in listening.

“Why the hell are you going to him, shouldn’t you be running away?”

Momentarily the gold heats to a melting point, enraged by the insinuation that you should avoid him.

“Well, I… I don’t think I’d end up very far.”

The woman grimaces. As you stand before her, the question that has been running through your mind ever since coming to the Otherworld rears its head and you try your luck. God knows Yoongi wouldn’t answer.

“Why is he called the King? If it’s an Imperial palace and Imperial forces, shouldn’t he be called the Emperor?”

The woman stares at you befuddled and you can’t help but feel that you just asked the most asinine question in existence.

“You’re joking, right?”

You can only shake your head timidly.

“It’s from his old nickname. The Mad King, he used to be called.”

Your heart drops. Lower than your stomach, lower than your feet, lower and lower to the very pits of Hell until you realize that you’re already there.

“He went through rebranding or something so the youth only fawns over him, how he protects us from another mermaid rebellion and whatnot. I’m personally old to remember the reign of terror after he overthrew the old emperor. No law can ever make me kiss his feet.”

You give a tepid "huh" and in the silence, the woman takes the opportunity to finish her cigarette.

“There used to be another one,” she says cryptically, the raven cawing at her shoulder and you furrow your brows.

“What do you mean?”

“Before he rebranded himself, he also had a bride.”

“What happened to her?”

“Suicide. Apparently, she drowned herself right there in front of the King in the palace well.”

Saying so she pushes forward a round sticker with a bold red stamp “DENIED” on top. Through a haze you press it on your shirt, tasting tangent flavour in your mouth. You can only vaguely mutter thanks for the information and enjoy her dry “here's to a lifetime full of happiness and love” when she sparks up another cigarette.

“Why did you do it, Yoongi? Why did you let me die?”

He doesn’t answer. How could he? But the nightmare doesn’t change and it doesn’t recede no matter how hard he tries to absolve himself. It burns his chest with a steady reminder that he was not a man but a beast. Yoongi wakes up screaming as he always does and when feeling the cold touch of decaying leaves, he almost sighs in content. Out here he’s alone, there’s no one to lie to or to explain. Just an old man with old regrets.

He rubs his eyes, pushing the jacket off him, not registering for a second that it should be on someone else. When he does realize, his focus sharpens and he stares at the depths of the cave. No one.

“Your Majesty?” he calls out, hoping to all that there is that you were just walking around but he knows better. And when he finishes running around calling your name until his throat bleeds, he loses it. Yoongi takes the bowl that he had haggled from a straying vendor and smashes it against the rock.

“It’s your doing, isn’t it?! You’ve been talking to her, you bastard?!”

The King looks back at him, grinning smugly, decked out in glitter and gold he sits uncaring of Yoongi’s heartache.

“Why do you have to ruin everything?” he yells, voice breaking even though he knows that it’s useless. “Why do you have to poison the things I love the most?”

The King makes a mockingly placating gesture, shushing Yoongi as though he was a kid throwing a tantrum over refused ice cream.

“What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours, isn’t that how it is, Yoongles?”

Yoongi is so tired he feels tears stinging around his eyes. He just wants it to end. Please just someone let him end this.

“Why is it never enough for you?” he whispers, trembling with rage. His nails dig deep into his clutched palms, drawing small drops of blood. The King, however, only cocks his head, amused by his torment.

“Why is nothing ever good enough for you? When will you stop?”

“I will stop,” the King hisses through a vicious smile, “when she’ll be mine. Finally.”

Yoongi gives a thoroughly disgusted groan, spitting at the base of King’s feet.

“Rot in hell.”

“Already there.”

Where your sight lands, there are bodies grinding against each other and you dare not to glimpse into the corners, where no doubt there would be more than sensuous things in the midst of unfolding.

The Long Ball as it turned out was just a codeword for a month-long orgy, gently addled with copious amounts of drugs and alcohol. You try your hardest to turn both a blind eye and deaf ear to the sultry atmosphere flourishing all around. The road ahead is not difficult per se. Just the main road, sandwiched between modern looking houses. There was even pavement and various neon signs. If you forgot enough, it could easily be mistaken for a lucrative downtown area somewhere in a big town, had it not been the very prominent unsheathing of fangs. To your surprise there are very few red stamped individuals, most of them bear the sticker “AGREED” and as such enjoy the full ride with whatever vampire was the nearest.

Some you recognize, like Bill Sandyman’s daughter, Lucia. You knew her only by association, as the girl who had the habit of jogging past your kitchen window while you were still drowsily inhaling some leftovers and coffee. At first, you worried that she was in trouble before you spot the green badge and the girl whose fangs are in her throat, giggles against her lips as they happily kiss. As you venture on, you see some old classmates, people you went to the store with and when they see you, they just give you this look. An undeniably loopy but still noticeable gesture of “hey, what’s up” as if your presence was not meant to be a surprise. Evidently, the residents of Sallington had more connections with the unnatural than the poor luck of being born in the creepiest town in the world. You wonder if you could find Maeve here but then purge the idea out of your head. No. No, right?

The road is blocked but there is a handwritten note that one could wind up on it again if they went through the backdoor.

“Filter” it exclaimed with an ominous whizzing neon, underneath which there was an incessant pool of people trying to get in. If it was this bad out here, you couldn’t imagine how bad it would be in a nightclub of all places. But what else is there to do? You couldn’t simply turn back, it’d be redundant. As such you queue up, fix your “DENIED” sticker firmly in its place and count your blessings that no one would spot the ostentatious thing sitting on your hand.

“The customer you are trying to reach is temporarily out of service. Please try again!” Yoongi smacked the bark, gritting his teeth and dialled the symbol for the tenth time. After three long rings, the connection was finally made.

“Taehyung, I’m going to fucking -”

“Yoongi you have...to… you have to be...here….attack. We’re...attack!” Taehyung screamed into the line before it cut dead and a cheery voice announces from up the tree branches.

“The customer you are trying to reach is temporarily out of service. Please try again!”

You can’t even hear your own thoughts from the bass and the moans and the screams. There are smells and steam and tastes clinging in the air that makes you feel more like a puppet pulled helplessly in its current. Even the ring sits silent and cold, offering no comfort or aid but you make one crawling step after the next, determined to get through. You can see the bright exit sign, it’s right in your reach, gleaming like a sanctuary above the bobbing heads but a very loud laugh turns your head to the side.

There is a man seated on the plush velvet couch. His purple suit is unbuttoned, opening up the space for the woman to trail red kisses down his chest. You shouldn’t be looking. You really shouldn’t be looking but something about him seems familiar to you. Like an old reflection or a distant classmate reunited after long years. But it can’t be his body that you’re familiar with or his blonde hair tousled between other woman’s fingers. Is it the column of his throat that is grazed by the outstretched fangs? No, you don’t think so.

It is only when he laughs, tickled as someone’s nose rubs against his ribs that you can pinpoint that peculiar expression. That bright, unfittingly childish smile that makes his eyes curl into crescents as he laughs like the world’s entire joy compressed into one, singular man.

“Jimin?”

previous ⟷ next

/./././

Only two chapters left, no telling though when's the update. I'm still reeling from the concert, even though I got to watch only some very laggy bits, so everything is mush, my brain included.

Tag list (open):

@sugaaddiction; @ggukkieland; @loveyoongles; @xjordynary; @alpacaparkaseok; @grandqueen1533; @xxsugababexx; @mayla548; @rumpucis

[folkloreguk]

Still The Louvre (m)

A/N: Someone requested this and I hope you like it! This happens when you have Lorde’s Melodrama on repeat whilst writing…thanks for inspiring me queen (although I’m not sure why breakup songs made me write this lol) Also Merry early Christmas to those who celebrate!! x

genre: optional bias (m) x reader (f), fluff, smut, car sex, childhood friends to lovers, a tiny bit of angst but only for 0.5 minutes maybe, I hope this heals someone who’s given up on finding love, you all deserve someone who sees the best in you!!!

words: ~ 3.9 k

.

“We’re just friends. Guys and girls can be friends! We’ve always been best friends, ever since we were seven. Nothing more.” That’s what you used to say. Now look who was the clown in those conversations all along. You guessed correctly - it was you. Because on your sixteenth birthday, he showed up in his black tee and baseball jacket, with your favorite candy and a heart-shaped necklace. Little did he know, if you could, you would have carved his initials into it, right there and then. Because it was that day, you understood one thing. You were head over heels in love with your best friend.

You would have been the perfect high school sweethearts – had it not been for the three different girls he had dated instead of you. He always had all their hearts, the only thing he needed to do was pick. And who could blame the other girls? He was all you could ever ask for, so there was no point in being bitter about their adoration for him.

Multiple times, you had tried to convince yourself you were over him. Like when you went out with one of the popular guys, only to realize three dates in that he was the possibly most boring person you had ever encountered. Or like that one time you agreed to go to prom with the class clown. He almost made you spit out your drink of laughter all night long, but when he tried to stick his tongue down your throat at the end of it all, you changed your mind. Your most successful boyfriend stayed for a full six months, before leaving you. He had been jealous of your relationship with your best friend. And you couldn’t even resent it. Your then-boyfriend had been in second place all along, and you should have never even dated him.

Long story short, whenever you looked at boys, you compared them to your best friend. And your best friend was an invincible competitor. It was safe to say, your teenage years weren’t what the films made them out to be. Except if there was a movie about a girl who cried so much about her best friend who she loved, she almost thought there was something seriously wrong with her. Some days the pain was so heavy, you’d get mad at him for no reason. Then you’d have to tell him lies that wouldn’t worry him and move on. Who could you tell? Your best friend was the one supposed to help you through boy trouble, wasn’t he? Yeah, that wasn’t going to work for you.

But that was the past. Lately, life was better. You couldn’t pinpoint when you first noticed the way he looked at you. Was it when he told you he felt like no boy in the world would be good enough for you, so maybe he should date you instead? It sounded like a joke, but his eyes said differently. Or was it when he asked you to sleep in his bed instead on his spare mattress at one of your sleepovers you’d had since you were eleven? He held you without words being shared, and neither of you addressed it in the morning. Maybe you both knew what it meant, either way. The mere thought of him liking you back was almost unbelievable for you. But after last night, you had no doubt. You had been in the elevator in the cinema with him. It was only ten seconds, and before you could have kissed his face that was inches from yours, the doors had opened. But he had chuckled and grinned at you for thrice the time afterwards. As if you had a new inside joke now.

It seemed you both knew what you wanted. But were you willing to take your friendship to that level?

Today, you were sure you were willing. Your heart almost ached in desire for him when you saw him standing with your shared friends. There, on the beach in the dark of night, with a bonfire drawing the warmest orange glow on his skin, you thought he had never looked more handsome. It was a small get-together between old school friends you both hadn’t seen in a while. And you should have been all over them, asking them about their lives and how they’ve been. Instead you only had eyes for the person you saw every day of your life. You swore you’d never get enough of his sweet smile and eyes so trustworthy you wanted to put all your deepest secrets right into his hands. His chest was heaving from laughter as he pat his friend’s shoulder in agreement. Oh, how dearly you wanted that hand to slip into your very own.

It was a warm night, you had been eating marshmallows, sharing genuine laughter and looking up at the stars and the full moon. Only one thing could have made your experience better, or one person, rather. You silently cursed yourself, because the night was coming to an end – some people had already left – and you still hadn’t made your move on him like you had planned it. But then your song played from the speaker. The very song you two always played in your car whenever you drove somewhere together. Every small beat reminded you of him and the lyrics were carved into your heart, it seemed.

When he noticed, his eyes shot up and met yours. They crinkled up into a smile that you returned. Finally, he made his way over to you and automatically your arms opened for him. Like coming home, he melted into your figure, arms mellow around your body. Quietly, he sang along into your ear, like every little word was meant just for you. You only pulled away slightly, so you could look at each other’s faces. You could’ve cried, realizing the time you had waited for him had been worth it after all. He was giving you a look you had thought would be forever reserved for other girls – but never for you. The starry sky above you wouldn’t stand a chance compared to his dreamy eyes and the fresh ocean air could easily be forgotten, if it meant to be in his arms and breathe in his familiar scent. If you leaned forward only a little, you could kiss him.

“Guys, we’re headed off,” a voice interrupted you.

“We should get going too, don’t you think?” he said. Almost mechanically, you nodded. You reminded yourself that you would still be in the car with him for twenty minutes until you’d arrive at home. And he’d stay at your place. You had him all night long. As you walked to your car, his hand brushed against yours softly, and you weren’t sure if it was just an accident, at first. But he was smiling as if he knew everything when you looked over at him and there you had your answer. The moment he had sat down in the passenger seat of your car, he was digging around for a CD to play. He settled for a playlist he had made for you in spring.

There was so much to be said and simultaneously silence had never felt more comfortable while you drove. You were going south along the high cliffs to your right. It was truly the most beautiful part of your hometown.

“I hate driving here,” you said.

“You don’t like driving along the cliffs? Too dangerous?” he asked.

“No. It’s too beautiful here to just look straight ahead at the road,” you said. He chuckled.

“We can stop at the tourist spot if you want to look at the sea,” he suggested. You smiled because he knew you so well. The ‘tourist spot’ really was a small parking spot right by the road, with space for about ten cars. You could already see it ahead of you. On sunny days lots of people driving down the coast liked to stop there for a rest and to take photos. Now, it was completely empty, of course. You parked at the spot closest to the cliff, so you could look down at the sea without having to get out of your car.

The slow playlist he had made for you was still playing when you switched off the engine. You knew right then and there, no matter where the night went, you’d remember this moment forever. The glow of the full moon was sparkling on the wild billows beneath you. Your eyes fixed on the horizon for a moment, as if you could have seen the closest island if only you paid enough attention. But it was only a wild vastness seemingly without end. Momentarily, you thought you spotted something in the water. Whales? But when you looked closer, there was nothing but the white and dark blue colors of the tempestuous waves.

“It’s gorgeous,” you spoke into the silence, your chin resting on your forearms on the steering wheel. You waited for his response. When it didn’t come, you turned to look his way. He was already looking at you. If cupid was real, he had just fired another arrow at your heart. Never could you have guessed how your best friend’s foolish grin could have made your heart skip a beat like this. Without another thought entering your head, you bent over to him. He knew what it meant when you mirrored his smile.

And then, you closed your eyes. You could admit it now - every time you had blown out your birthday candles, this was all you had ever wished for. His lips fit so perfectly onto yours. After the amount of times you had imagined it, really kissing him still was so much better than it had ever felt in your wildest dreams. His hands tangled in your hair and you almost couldn’t breathe. But then again, you didn’t need to. Right then, you didn’t need anything but him. For the first time, you touched the back of his neck in the way you had always wanted to – to pull his mouth closer to yours.

When you pulled away, everything in you screamed ‘Do it again! Now!’. It was as if your mind was worried that he would slip right through your fingertips if you didn’t hold him close to you for the rest of your life. Too many times you had thought that maybe you could have him, only to be let down because your hopes were too high.

“When did you first want to do this?” you asked, because you needed to know.

“About four months ago, probably. What about you?” he said. His hand was still on yours, as if to say “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere”.

“Ever since I was sixteen,” you said. You could have lied, but what was the use? You loved him too much to ever deceive him. His eyes widened. His hurt was yours, and so you understood the way your words must had pierced through his heart. Now he knew. You could practically read it in his eyes, how he realized the pain, the jealousy and disappointment he had caused, for years, without ever intending to do so. And although you should have wanted him to understand your hurt, the guilt and pain in his look was unbearable.

“It’s not your fau-“ you started.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Y/N,” he interrupted you. “I’m so sorry – god I’m such an ignorant asshole.”

“No!” you said, taking his hand in both of yours. “You are my best friend, and you have caused me endless hours of happiness. I would have taken any sadness if it meant I could be your best friend forever.”

His eyes were watering and your heart felt like someone had gripped and twisted it in their bare hands.

“I was dating people and you had to sit and watch,” he said in disbelief.

“It meant to see you happy,” you said. “Hating you or those girls wouldn’t have changed your feelings for me. Because we don’t choose what we feel and for whom we feel things.”

“I love you,” he let out. “I’m so in love with you and I’ll make it up to you for the rest of my life, I swear.”

His words hit you like a torrent and you didn’t even care about the years of hurt anymore.

“There’s nothing you need to make up to me. I just need you to be here with me. Let me love you the way I’ve secretly loved you all this time,” you said. You touched foreheads until your breaths mixed.

“I’m yours – all yours,” he said. “I’m sorry. It took so long for me to realize and you were here all along, waiting for me. I never wanted to hurt you. How can I apologize properly?”

“Just kiss me again, please,” you said, almost begged. “Kiss me and it’ll all go away.”

And so he did. You had never known how much emotion could be in a kiss. But then again, you had never felt this strongly for anyone else but him. You deepened the kiss, bending almost all the way over to his side of the car. His hands were touching your cheeks so gently, but they were coaxing you closer and closer. When his tongue stroked over your bottom lip, you sighed against his mouth.

“I want you,” you admitted. You thought about driving home, but you needed to be honest to yourself. Driving in this state of mind was probably not safe.

“Backseat?” he asked, lips barely leaving yours alone. Hastily, you nodded. He climbed back there first, then you followed. It was only ten seconds that you couldn’t hold him for, but you yearned for him more than ever when you finally sat down in his lap, facing him. Without hesitation, your hungry mouths attacked each other again. You swore, you could have sat there all night long, kissing and touching him, if there hadn’t been something you wanted even more.

Swiftly, you slid his shirt over his head. Of course, you had seen him shirtless before, but never like this. Never with his chest practically heaving against yours, never with your hands being able, being allowed to touch him. Your fingertips were shaky against his smooth skin and you must had looked at him as if he was carved directly from marble. So he put his fingers under your chin and you looked into his eyes. If his body was marble, his eyes were diamonds. Ever so gently, he kissed you again. For a while you sipped on each other’s lips, only pulling away for a moment so you could remove your own shirt. You had opted to not wear a bra that day, out of comfort but also laziness. All along you used to think that saying someone’s eyes darkened in lust was an exaggeration, but when you looked into his, you understood. It was true. The way he eyed you was beyond all your most daring dreams you had ever dreamt about him.

Your lips meddled messily as his hands ran down your body starting from your neck, to your breasts, squeezing them and playing with your nipples. He was careful not to tickle you, knowing from hundreds of childhood play fights where your weak spots were. Your back arched against his chest, wanting more than his careful touches. On impulse, your hips ground against his crotch. As if on cue, you both let out strained noises. By now, your breaths were heavy when you pulled away shortly. Dreamy eyed, he touched the pendant of the necklace between your collar bones.  

“I gave you that…,” he started.

“For my sixteenth birthday,” you finished his sentence. You caught a flash of regret in his gaze, but you weren’t going to let him feel that way. Not now. Like you had wanted to so many times, you bent to his neck and began peppering kisses on his skin.

“Can I give you a hickey?” you whispered, almost afraid you were still in a dream.

“Just one?” he asked, and even without looking at him you could hear the grin in his voice. After sharing him with so many girls for so long, it almost felt selfish. But you reminded yourself that he wanted you now, after all. He groaned when your teeth grazed his skin and you sucked purple marks onto his neck and shoulder. His restless hands touched all over your boobs and hips, down to your ass where they slid into the back pockets of your pants for a moment. Again, you pressed your crotch against his hips, yearning for any kind of friction. At the same time, your hand wandered along his chest to the hem of his pants. Without looking, you opened his belt and the zipper of his bottoms.

He hissed when you grabbed his clothed dick through his underwear and his fingers dug into your sides. A few times you pumped his already hard shaft through the material. Then he moaned your name and you had never heard anything more perfect. The mere sound of his breathy, husky voice turned you on so much more than you had ever imagined.

“Fuck me, please,” you spoke, kissing him deeply. He hummed a needy yes against your lips and nodded. You climbed off him so you could lie down on the seats. He wriggled out of his pants and then helped you out of your own. When he lay down between your thighs and you felt his weight on top of you, it seemed like he had always belonged right there. It had been a hauntingly long journey, but now that you knew the end of it, you accepted all the sleepless nights you had experienced.

“Hold on,” you said, finding your bag on the floor to reach for the condom inside. He hummed a thank you as he ripped the pack and rolled the rubber over his stiff member. His fingertips teased the inside of your thighs, while he pressed open mouthed kisses onto your neck. A drawn out moan of agreement left your lips and momentarily, your eyes shut in the bliss of anticipation.

“You look so beautiful in the moonlight,” he said. His fingers run through your folds, collecting the wetness. You couldn’t help but whimper at the contact, and maybe also slightly because his words made your heart swell in the most marvelous way possible. Through flattering eyelids, you watched his stupidly handsome features as he curled his fingertips against your clit. All of you wanted more, but you only managed to moan his name in pleasure.

“You ready?” he asked, and you weren’t sure if you brain had even processed the amount of rapture he was causing you – but of course you were. You had been for years.

“Yes,” you said. Just for a moment, he run the tip of his cock through your wet folds. When he finally entered you, you realized you had been holding your breath – now it came out in a relieved sigh. He groaned at the mere sensation of filling you up, and when you opened your eyes to look at him it almost made you dizzy in admiration. Gradually, he thrusted into you, hips fitting against yours like two puzzle pieces finally united.

As he picked up the pace, you moaned in surprise but more in agreement. You felt his hand on yours and linked your fingers. Other men had made you feel good before – but only now you realized how true those statements from women were, when they said that nothing was like sleeping with the one you were in love with. The mixture of pleasure and the way you mooned over his whole being was a lot to take in. But it would never be too much. He was perfect for you. When you threw your head back you spotted the full moon and the brightest stars in the sky, trying to outshine each other.

He hit a spot inside of you that made you arch your back off the seats. Tightly, you shut your eyes and squeezed his hand.

“Oh my- You feel so good,” you moaned. When you felt the tip of his nose brush against yours, you opened your eyes. They met his galaxy eyes, and his mouth was parted slightly. You could barely breathe at the way he looked at you. When would anyone else ever see you in this way? It didn’t matter, you only wanted him either way.

He reached for the back of your thigh, lifting your leg slightly. The different angle felt even better, making you whimper and grab the hair at the nape of his neck, desperate for somewhere to hold on to. He groaned when you pulled his hair a little, and you smirked. You could barely wait to find out all the other things he liked and wanted to do to you in the future. But for now, you weren’t in a rush. It had been a long time since you had felt so at peace and full of happiness. Time was nonexistent right then. All you knew were his soft lips on your jaw and the way his perfect cock was making you see a blur of stars in front of your eyelids.

“I’m gonna- come,” you whimpered.

“Hmm…me too,” he groaned. “Let go for me, baby.”

His hand came in contact with your clit, feverishly rubbing the sensitive nub. The nickname he had called you would have made your cheeks heat up, had they not already been that way from the intensity of your emotions. Your stomach tightened and you only wanted to pull him closer to you.

He reached his high shortly before you did. A few curses fell off his lips as you felt him twitch inside of you, hips moving in sharp thrusts. Even if you had wanted to look at him, it was impossible for you to keep your eyes open, as his fingers still worked their magic on you. His last thrusts were hard and short, but they sent you over the edge too. Just as he pulled out, you met your climax. It was like falling but knowing there was a pair of gentle arms right there to catch you, so you didn’t have to be scared. You moaned his name, and this time he was actually here to hear it. Your chest pressed against his, foreheads touching, your legs tightened around his waist from sensitivity. After slowing down, he removed his fingers from your center completely.

Together, you lay in silence trying to catch your breaths and clear your heads. You scooted over a little, so he could balance his body on his side next to you. Light as a feather, his fingers brushed over your lips, before he bent down and kissed you again. This time it was a long kiss, with less need but even more passion. For what felt like the hundredth time, you questioned reality. Almost as if to check if it really was him, you stroked over his cheek and gazed up at him. But he was right there. Your best friend. Now more than your best friend. Through the opened crack of the car window you made out the crashing waves that caressed the cliffs underneath you two. Mingled with your song playing from the car’s speakers, the mysterious noise seemed to pick you up and tell you “Look at what you’ve been through, only one last time, then put it behind you. You’re where you’re supposed to be, now.”

[mar-s-bar-s]

strength - a tartaglia story

(this fic is part of the series i am doing)

!genshin spoilers (specifically about childe) in explanation! i haven’t really read the lore on him but i still know a bit so apologies if i got something wrong

The card of strength upright represents, well, strength. It symbolises the courage it takes to persevere. Persuasion also is an aspect of it. Other aspects of this card include compassion and influence. I think Childe fits this card really well as a major aspect of his character is strength and desire to get stronger. Persuasion is shown in the form of both his quick wit and rough charm, along with more.. physical means as a Fatui member. Compassion isn’t obvious, it’s more towards his family, and he holds a lot of influence as a Harbinger. 

Now what’s interesting is the reversal of Strength can also apply to him. He has a ton of inner strength, clearly, to have survived both in mind and body the fall into the Abyss. Does self-doubt also apply to him then? I think that since he’s constantly trying to prove his strength, even though he is extremely strong and he knows it, he suffers self-doubt towards his actions. He’s not on the right path, joined because he was chosen by the Tsaritsa as her weapon and to protect his family. His loyalty to the Tsaritsa is unquenchable, but I think there are still those shreds of doubt deep inside asking whether he wanted this. Low energy is an aspect of Strength reversed, and is shown right after his show of strength as Foul Legacy, his battered and weak human body coping with the transformation effects. In conclusion, he is the perfect person for this prompt, in my opinion. I also just wanted to show how it’s okay to be weak sometimes, that strength isn’t just physical and yeah.

gn!traveler! reader (reader is not lumine or aether, just a traveler from another world; weapon is more of a melee/close combat weapon)

warnings: genshin archon quest (liyue) spoilers, violence, aftermath of foul legacy, no one dies, but there's blood, typical golden house violence, childe is slightly ooc towards the end but that's because he’s soft and mushy, also poor medical knowledge sorry to any medical people reading this, there’s a bit of angst but a lot of fluff 

in which u beat tartaglia up then look after him then kiss him to shut him up

series m.list

Blood drips from your weapon as you hold yourself up, panting heavily. Red tints your vision, the harsh crackle of lightning coming from Foul Legacy’s polearm harmonising with your pulse resounding through your ears. It’s overwhelming, yet you’ve never felt more alive.

You’ve been fighting Childe for the past hour, and the quick defeat of his first two forms is eerie. Have you grown stronger? There’s no time to wonder as his flurry of attacks force you to leap out of the way in defence. The squeaks of your shoes feel almost comical in this dark place, the only light being from the moon glinting off the Mora lying all around, piles and piles of the gold causing a warm glow across the room that was never meant to be used as a makeshift arena. 

His attacks are becoming slightly repetitive, the same three slashes, and just when you think you have an opening, he summons the godforsaken whale, leaving you to sprint to the side of the arena lest you drown in the incoming flood. You’re closer to him than you thought, and you immediately get on the offensive, slashing out and barely scratching through his armour. 

Childe laughs, the sound distorted by the mask materialised by his transformation. He sounds terribly amused, you scowl, and dodge his polearm swinging down at you, stabbing at the slight gap in his armour, not expecting it to connect. When it does, you slide the weapon out in shock, seeing the crimson drip off the blade, yet are left with no time to marvel as Childe immediately starts a new sequence of attacks, and you are once again on the defensive.

A slight pause in the sequence is enough for your red stained blade to rain down upon his armour, the weapon beating down upon his arms, the Harbinger countering with double blades. You’re shoved back with the force, coughing slightly at the impact. The night is still young, yet it feels like hours since you first began.

Your lungs burn and your head feels clouded. Yet as you stand there, watching Childe warily, you notice that his movements are slowly becoming sluggish. Have you worn him down? The very thought gives you an energy boost, your screaming muscles are not heeded as you circle him slowly, his movements becoming slightly easier to read. He is incredibly strong, you admit to yourself, but tonight you’re walking out of here the victor. 

You spring out of the way as he speeds past you, twisting through the air as you kick him in the back, unbalancing him with his momentum just enough to hit him with the butt of your weapon, hard. He stumbles, and that is enough to bring him down to the floor with a barrage of your attacks. 

He doesn’t get back up. 

Unsure, you stand with your weapon poised, the dried blood a testament to his injury. Childe fought well, and you cannot tell if it is just a fluke that you emerged victorious. 

A small gasp alerts you, Childe’s Foul Legacy form dissipating from his body, which is littered with cuts and bruises. Your eyes immediately are drawn to the deep wound matching your blade shape on his torso, and his eyes fly open. A weak smile is on his face.

“You fought well, comrade,” Childe grins, his face pallored and sweaty, and you drop your weapon. “Putting your weapon down? No matter how injured someone may be, never let your guard down around them. Especially a Harbinger.”

He somehow wrestles with the ground enough to sit up and kick your legs out from under you. You land with a heavy thud, a breath of air getting knocked out of you as you grab your weapon and point it at him, worry obvious in your face at his flushed, sweaty face. He looks sick. Is it the wound? You grab your belongings.

“Leaving already?” Childe’s lazy smirk is betrayed by his voice cracking slightly. You ignore him, rummaging around in your bag for needles and thread, ointment and bandages. You return, and he looks at you, lips parting in surprise as you kneel by him, your weapon left by your bag.

You wordlessly gesture to his outer clothing on his torso, and he is unusually quiet as he slowly slips his shirt off, his flushed face getting even more red as your hands guide him to lie down. You clean your hands and the wound and take out the sterilised needles and begin stitching, taking out your seelie to better aid you in seeing what you’re doing. 

After bandaging the wound and helping him put his clothes back on, Childe is wordless. You’ve been so gentle with him, even though you don’t particularly like him. He calls you his friend, yet he knows deep down he’s lying to both himself and you. He knows you don’t view him as anything but an evil Harbinger with bloodstained hands, and he definitely doesn’t view you as a friend, he views you as so much more. How he longs to throw away the crimson mask he wears constantly, a brutal reminder of the role he has taken on, and join you on your travels across Teyvat. Yet reality is merciless, and his hopes are constantly shattered when you leave once again, eyes dancing with mirth as you interact with the citizens of Liyue. 

But not when with him. Your face is not carefree when with him, it is a battle mask of bared teeth and frenzied eyes. He loves seeing both your faces you show, but he wishes you’d laugh when with him. His eyes are cloudy, and as you gently run your hands through his hair, they close. Just for a bit, he thinks. I’ll let my guard down just for a bit.

When he wakes up, he isn’t in the Golden House anymore, but a soft bed. Golden ribbons of light pierce through the shutters, and he immediately sits up, wincing slightly at the sharp pain in his torso. He looks down, noticing a figure slumped over the bed from a chair, and is struck at how beautiful you look when asleep. He holds his breath, hoping you stay like that for a while. 

You yawn and awake, stretching your arms out and over your head as you stare at Childe. After he passed out from your ministrations, you mentally groaned and carried him out of the Golden House, all the way over to your small apartment on the outside of Liyue Harbour. Were you regretting it? Definitely. Were you feeling bad for him? Yes. Was this a stupid decision? Of course. But seeing his pretty face sleeping almost made up for it,

“Hey comrade,” Childe smirks. “Sleeping in the same bed as a Harbinger? This really wasn’t your brightest moment.”

Your nod is perfunctory and you stand. “Glad to see you’re alive.”

Childe curses at himself mentally. Why is he provoking you? 

“I’ll go make something for us to eat,” you stand up, leaving to go to the kitchen. ���Stay here.”

Childe looks down at his hands, confusion seeping its way into his brain. Why were you being so kind to him? Why weren’t you making the same remarks as always? He doesn’t deserve it. So why?

You return with a large plate of fried eggs and toast. Childe takes it numbly, not caring to check if it’s poisoned as he swallows. 

After he’s done and you’ve gone back to the kitchen, he decides he’ll leave. Why burden you further? He grabs his scarf you’ve neatly folded and placed on the dresser, the scent of your laundry detergent lingering on it and he short-circuits. It smells like you. He wraps it slightly tighter and walks to the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” you stare at him with concern in your eyes as you make tea. The look in your eyes makes his heart pound. You’ve never looked at him this way before, and he feels his walls threatening to crumble. 

“Well, I figured I’d get going,” he rambles, waving his hands as you stop what you’re doing and walk over to him. Childe’s eyes dilate slightly and he feels his pulse speed up. “You know, I’ve got stuff to do and comrades to train and you’ve been really nice-”

He’s cut off when you pull him towards you by his scarf and kiss him. His heart almost gives out before he realises that, holy shit, he’s being kissed by you and oh Archons it feels amazing. And he’s holding your waist, and you’re pulling him closer and closer and if you asked right now for the world, he’d give it to you. And he’s kissing you back, the warmth you share drives away the morning chill. 

When you finally pull away, Childe looks like he’s over the moon. 

“Finally, quiet,” you speak first, imitating his annoying smirk as you gesture towards the kitchen table. “Would you like some tea?”