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notepadsandtealeaves · 3 years

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Dabi // Touya T.

NSFW ABCs || A Thot’s Thoughts 💦

MINORS/AGELESS BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT || 18+ ONLY ||

|| ao3 version | mha tag | m.lists | main blog ||

↠ Requested By: The Thirst™ ↠ Reader Gender: Neutral ↠ Content Type: HELLA NSFW ((Minors, kindly ✨ fuck off ✨)) ↠ CWs/TWs: Any applicable warnings can be found before their respective sections, tho the ‘Kink’ section does get kinda wild (exhibitionism, choking, fear play, knifeplay, allusions to CNC, and degradation). Also I’ll go ahead and throw in a general warning for Dabi being Dabi and all that entails—because lbr that man is a gd walking crisis lmao—as well as Dabi-typical trauma. ↠ Betas? Where they do that at?? ↠ Total WC: 10k~ ((…yeah… lmao))

↠ I’ve got the worst case of horny Dabi brainrot and I’m determined to make it the world’s problem.

((Since a lot of new people have been stumbling across this lately I figured now was as good a time as any to update it. There hasn’t been any major changes; it’s mostly just cosmetic, with a few nips and tucks to the writing itself to make things flow better.))

If you’re familiar with my writing you’re probably damn tired of me doing these ABC’s and also not finishing my other works you’ll know that I tend to venture well beyond the boundaries prompts. That is to say that this shit’ll be kinky, yeah, but also a character study; sex and intimacy are such personal, intricate and integral things, often fueled by emotions and experiences that one doesn’t even readily know are at play. I like to use these prompts as a way to really dig my grubby little paws into a character and find out what I personally think makes them tick. If that sounds like your bag, then please join me in this feels-lined pit of depravity lol…

At current I’m anime only, so aside from a few spoilers and consuming fics I don’t know much about our favorite burnt bacon bitch other than the fact that he’s hot (in more ways than one), angy (and subsequently murder-y), and a Todoroki (which is synonymous with emotional repression, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and a whole bunch of other things that make my heart hurt to think about). So if anything sounds out of character in this that’s why. Also any CWs will be posted before the applicable letter.

But that’s more than enough rambling from me. Let’s get into things, shall we?

Aftercare || What they’re like after sex.

AfTErCaRe??

Lmaoooooo, bitch byeeee…

Wtf even is that, honestly? ‘Tending to your partner after sex’—yeah, that shit sounds fake to him. This man does the bare minimum to keep himself (mostly) functional, do you really think he has the mind to pat someone up after fucking?

Hahahaha—no.

Most of his hookups are just that, one time deals that aren’t meant to last much longer past the time it takes for him to put his clothes back on and fuck off into the sunset. He doesn’t trust anyone enough to stay over at their place, and bringing them back to wherever the fuck it is he’s crashing at currently is a big ol’ ✨ Nope ✨ so anything other than a “That was fun” coupled with a smirk and a wave has never been a thing he felt the need to provide.

If you become a reoccurring fuck buddy, or gods help him, his actual significant other, then…

Look if he likes you enough to sleep over then he definitely probably likes you enough to try, but…

Intimacy is a thing that terrifies him, okay? Being that close to another person has never ended well for him in non-romantic situations; things always soured, always turned volatile and violent and terrible and that was just his familial relationships, things that weren’t nearly as complicated as whatever… this is the pair of you have going.

Whether you’re friends with benefits or something more he refuses to put a label on it because words and titles would make it real. This thing you have may be without any true form, but he likes it that way—he likes you, if he’s honest (which he so rarely is when it comes to things like this, even in the confines of his own mind, ‘thinking makes it so’ and all that noise). He wants to keep you around for as long as possible and if that means tossing a bag of your favorite snack and a bottle of water on the nightstand for you before he pounds you into the mattress then so be it.

As you’d probably expect his version of aftercare isn’t exactly a gentle thing. He’s more opt to use a discarded shirt (always yours because it’s definitely the cleaner of the two not to mention the fact that he has to put his back on when he slinks out of your window at o’dark-thirty) to clean you up than a towel; more likely to tease you until you’re a blushing, stuttering mess than to outright praise you; more prone to fucking you in the shower than actually helping you to bathe.

But still, he’s sweet in his own way.

Like I said before he’ll make sure that you have something to munch on once your session finally sees its end. If he’s done his job right—and he always, always does—then you’re probably too tired to actually feed yourself. Though he’ll tease you about it, he won’t hesitate to prop you up against his chest and pop the morsels into your waiting mouth. Yes, he does this in the most suggestive way possible, and yes, he oftentimes ends up eating a good portion of the food himself, but it’s all good because he brought extras—“So quit yer complaining, brat, and let me take care of you. Ol’ fussy ass…”

If he’s been especially rough with you, and you’re really insistent on not limping in to school/work/wherever it is you have to go the next day, he’ll give you a rubdown and my god is it heavenly. He heats his hands up just enough for you to really feel it and just digs and in and ahhhhh~

I really just sat here and made myself jealous over a fictional murder man giving a self-heated massage to an amalgamation of readers, huh? Damn, I really need to get out more lmao…

Anyways!

This is only if he’s feeling especially soft and generous. He knows he can’t claim you in any official capacity for several reasons, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want the world to know that you’re his that someone’s already taking care of your needs, thoroughly, and we all know that he’s more than petty enough to leave you in a state that just screams ‘I got my soul fucked clean outta my body last night’ lmao. So if you start talking about someone else just a touch too much, or mention a colleague that reads as just a little too friendly for his liking he’ll pipe you down good and make sure that you’re damn near crawling out of the house the next day.

Yeah, he’s a petty, possessive prick—what about it?

Body Part || Favorite body part, on them as well as their partner.

On him it’s probably his cock.

Are you honestly surprised? Because you really shouldn’t be lmfao.

Look, Dabi knows that other people find him attractive, but for the half-dead life of him he can’t figure out why? He is a literal burn victim, half of his skin has been seared away and what little there is left is attached with fucking staples. He thinks we’re all a bunch of weird ass freaks, but luckily for us all he’s into that shit lmao. That said any confidence he has in his looks is derived from the thirst of others. It’s a hollow thing, but given everything else he has on his brain he doesn’t feel the need to delve into that shit too deeply. If his doll thinks he’s attractive, he’s not going to argue—after all, you’re the one that has to look at/fuck him. If you like your men burnt all to be damned and homicidal then who tf is he to judge?

Whatever confidence he does or does not have in his looks is irrelevant once he gets you between the sheets—or against the wall or on the couch or maybe even bent over the balcony’s railing, the cool night air caressing the whole of your very much exposed body… (yeah, our mans is an exhibitionist among other things, but more on that in ‘K’). He knows his stroke game is on point, knows how to roll his hips and angle his dick so that it hits that spot that makes you see stars every time… Even if he wasn’t so damn talented he’s sure that it wouldn’t take much to bring a mf to their knees; he’s long and thick and curved just so and yeah… Dude slangs cock, and he does it damn well.

On you it’d have to be your chest.

It doesn’t matter what you have going on there, your chest is his new favorite pillow. If you ask him about it, he’ll play it off with some lewd remarks—as well as a few gropes and tweaks at your nipples for good measure. He wants you both to think it’s just an extension of his physical attraction to you, and that is indeed a part of it, but…

Look he loves really likes you, yeah? You’re one of the few people he feels at ease with, probably the only one in the entirety of the whole ass world that he lets his guard down around. Just existing in the same space as you is enough to calm his racing thoughts, and touching you… Sometimes you blue screen him with your sweet, casual touches, ngl. He wishes he could say that he didn’t know how touch starved he was before meeting you, but that’s something he’s been keenly aware of since childhood. We all know the shit his snatchbag of a father* got up to, so I think it’s safe to say that he doesn’t have the best relationship with touch. Outside of sex he’s one to actively avoid it at all costs as it hurts too much—physically, emotionally, and mentally—to entertain otherwise.

But like with most walls he’s built, this is just yet another one that you scaled without ever actively trying.

All it took was for him to crack, just a little bit, to seek your hand only to be offered so much more for him to start craving your touch. And you’re always so, so damn gentle with him, both physically and emotionally; he knows that he never has to worry about pain or rejection or anything of the kind when he comes to you. He starts off hesitant, with his temperament being akin to that of a beaten dog, but once he realizes that he can trust (not only in you, but also in himself to not screw things up) it’s a thing that he actively seeks out with varying degrees of desperation.

But no matter how he comes to you, things oftentimes end with his head pillowed against your chest.

Why? Because that’s where your heart is.

The beat of it reverberates with all of the care and warm feelings you for some odd as hell reason harbor for him. He just cannot get over the fact that you love?? him the way that you do. And while he knows that your heart isn’t actually the organ that’s responsible for all that he, like most people, has been conditioned to associate these emotions with it nonetheless. Those metronomic thuds that lulls him into a contented puddle are just further proof to how much you care, and he lives for that shit–

–that this also gives him ease of access to some of your more sensitive areas is just a bonus…

*Given the state of this fandom I feel the need to say that while I don’t like Endeavor, I absolutely fuck with his fans ((and tbh I’d totally let him wreck my shit because GODDAMN, god-fucking-bless the Todoroki genes, tho I’d probably feel bad about it later lmaooo)). Like who you like, my good dudes, this is a safe space lol…

Cum || Anything to do with cum…

Lbr—Dabi’s definitely the type of asshole to cum all over you regardless of how you feel about it.

That said, if you really don’t like it and make that clear then he’ll refrain from cumming on you (dude’s not a complete asshole, at least not when it comes to you), but your sheets are fucked. What? He’s gotta finish somewhere, esp. if he’s fucking you raw and you have a womb. Doesn’t matter how much protection you use, his first instinct is always gonna be to pull out and empty his balls onto something less perilous. And since you don’t want it on you or in your mouth then the sheets really are his only alternative.

I mean yeah, he could cum into his hand or a tissue or something, but lmao—no.

If you are down, however, he absolutely loves to make a mess of you, but will bitch to no end if you dare to do the same to him. Don’t let that stop you tho; he just likes to complain for the sake of complaining (I would not be surprised to find that he has a kink for his own damn voice, tbh), but in all honesty he couldn’t care less. Reduce him to a sweaty, cum-stained mess and he’ll adore you just that little bit more. Just know that he will get you back next time, fair’s fair after all…

Dirty Secret || Pretty self-explanatory—a dirty secret of theirs.

I picture Dabs as being the type to put all of his shit out there p. much from jump and he expects you to do the same.

The way he sees it, if you’re fucking on the regular you might as well know what your partner does and does not like. It keeps things from getting awkward and potentially dangerous down the line, plus it makes things a thousand times more fun/exciting when he (or you) tosses in something new into your sessions at random. Keeps things fresh and suitably spicy.

That said the thing he thinks to be the dirtiest secret of all is his feelings for you.

Dabi knows who and what he is and makes no apologies for it—usually. Prior to you he never once bothered with any self-examination, and why should he have? What do labels like ‘hero’ and ‘villain’ matter when people on both sides of the line don’t seem to have any compunction about crossing it whenever it suits them? It’s actions, not words, that he places his trust in.

Life has shown him that it’s always a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’ when it comes to literally everybody and their motivations. People’ll always hang themselves if you give them enough of the proverbial rope that is time—and honestly he isn’t any different, though he likes to think himself better. He doesn’t hide behind smiles and genial conversation and all those other bullshit social constructs that people like All Might like to put on to make the masses feel at ease; though he’ll never admit to it ever he’s like his father in that way. His smirk is lined with stilettos and his words are just as sharp and vicious. What you see with Dabi is what you get, and he doesn’t make for a very pretty picture.

Nobody in their right mind would ever want to get close to him, so it really freaks him out when you start showing signs of wanting him around for more than his pipework, like…

Are you a Commission plant, luring him into a false sense of security with copious amounts of orgasms and what is frankly the best damn sex he’s ever had in his life? Or perhaps you’re the family member of one of the many asshats he’s killed but never bothered with remembering their name if he ever knew it in the first place? Maybe you’re something far more twisted than even he, and you plan on trapping him in a dank basement somewhere so you can do all types of unsexy things to his charred body in the name of pseudo-science.

He’s not sure what your motivations are, but your walls are too fuckin’ good to give up without a damn good reason, so… He’s pretty sure he can take you if need be, so it’s fine.

But then it turns out you’re fueled by something that’s far too terrifying for him to have ever considered—you’re actually interested in him. As in him-him, as in Touya-him (tho naturally you don’t know to put that label on it, on him, no one does, he’s made damn sure of that).

What’s worse is that some ill-advised part of him wants to give you exactly what you looking for. He knows that he can’t, obviously—that’d put both of you in far more danger than you’re already in—but at the same time he’s in things too deep to just fuck off now. But he should, he really, really should. You’re too damn good for him, for this shitheap of a world, honestly. Who is he to come along and sully you? To drag you down in this pit of hatred and death that he’s dug himself into, to stain your skin with his blood soaked hands? Not once before you, not fucking once, did he ever give a shit about the lengths he had to go to in order to get his revenge, but now…

He’s not stupid enough to think he has a right to absolution, doesn’t allow himself to wish for a remission of sins committed—it’s too late in the game for that shit—but he does wish that he had met you sooner. He has no idea when would’ve been a good time—maybe once upon another life, when you were both still kids, smiling and carefree, but that’s a past that never was. Your lives wouldn’t have synced up back then, hell they barely fit together now; your shared harmony is more cacophonous than anything, but he finds that he loves the clamor. Still, maybe if you’d been the one to find him once Enji had abandoned him then maybe he wouldn’t have devolved into the man he is today. He knows that you would’ve extended him a hand without hesitation, giving him shelter and solace, sweet as you are, as you’ve always been…

But in the same way that he knows that you would have loved him, even then, he knows that there’s no point in focusing on what could have been since it was not. But a man can still dream, yeah? And he’s taken to doing that a lot more since meeting you. Sometimes, when he allows his mind to wander it conjures up images of a future with you by his side. They’re never plausible, and how can they be when his skin is as smooth as porcelain and his mother is smiling and you’re wearing a ring and taking his name, a name that he himself is somehow okay with? Silly, stupid, painful fantasies, but a man can dream…

He wishes it was just the bomb ass sex, that he could mourn and move on from, but you’re under his skin and steadily moving deeper, settling into his very bones. He knows that he should get out now, before it’s too late and he really fucks things up in one way or another, but… If he’s being honest (and really he’s gonna have to get on that shit sooner rather than later) he knows that he’s already ventured well beyond the point of no return. All he can do now is hope and pray that he doesn’t take you with him when he inevitably burns himself alive in his quest for vengeance.

Experience || How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?

I personally canon Dabi as a big ol’ ho, but like only sometimes lol. He’s v. focused on his goals, so his sex drive takes a backseat more often than not, but when he does allow his carnal desires to come to the forefront…

Is slanging his thang all over town the safest option given how many wanted lists he’s on? Hell no, but nobody’s ever accused him of making quality life choices.

He fucks, and he fucks a lot. And since practice makes perfect, well… I think it’s safe to say he damn well knows what he’s doing.

Favorite Position || What it says on the tin.

CW for v. brief mentions of neck grabbing, spanking, and general rough treatment, but like ~lightly so~ lol (Reader receiving).

One hundo percent his all-time favorite is hitting it from the back.

Just the thought of you on your hands and knees, back arched and throwing it back like your gd life depends on it is *chef’s kiss* He will absolutely grab a fistful of your hair, or better yet get a hand around your cute lil neck, and just lay into you. Also expect lots of smacks to your ass because he loves to hear you squeal for him.

Other than that he does like having you ride him, preferably in that good reverse cow ish. Look he’s an ass man, okay? He loves having your cheeks pressed against him, gets off on sinking his fingertips into the flesh of your undulating hips hard enough to bruise. He’s taken in by the wave that your body makes as you fuck him, the light sheen of sweat that coats your back. Don’t be surprised to feel his fingers tracing patterns into the mist, patterns that may seem nonsensical to you, but if you were able to concentrate on anything other than the feeling of his cock hollowing you out you’d realize were declarations of devotion, possession (mine-Mine-MINE).

Rounding out the top three is spooning. He thinks it’s sappy of him, but like… Having your back pressed against his chest as he lazily pumps into you is everything tbh. He only does this in the wee hours of the morning, when you’re both caught in the haze that exists between slumber and waking. His hands are unexpectedly soft—cautious—as he settles your leg over his and slides into you, your shared rhythm languid as you enjoy being connected so intimately. This is one of the only times he’ll allow himself to say that he loves you, though he’s only mouthing it against you neck, his voice caught in his throat, the muscles there strangling the words before they can dare to breach the air. Saying it aloud would manifest it, or so his thinking goes, and he can’t afford for such sentiments to be real. Not when he is who he is, not when he knows how things are destined to end for him.

He’s a cruel bastard, and no doubt about it. He’s already taken so much from you, but to force you to bear the burden that is his feelings for you is a step beyond. Even the most fucked up of villains have their hard limits. There aren’t many lines left in his life at this point, but this is certainly one of them—perhaps it truly is the only one left, he honestly isn’t sure anymore, but whatever the case may be it’s the only one that he’ll never dare to cross…

Goofy || Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, relaxed, etc.

Dabi laughs a fair bit in bed, but it’s usually at you and not with you.

His chuckle is a dark and rolling thing that curls around and flows through you to leave you a flustered mess every time without fail. He’s such a cruel and teasing bastard, but in the best of ways. He’s always taunting you, making you beg—but we’ll get into all of that in ‘U’.

Aside from that, he lands on the more… not really serious side, it’s more so that he’s really focused on what he’s doing. He’s more worried about getting the reactions that you’re both craving, so if that means he’s gotta hit you with a witty one-liner that’ll leave you snickering then so be it. That’s rarely the vibe with him tho, so don’t expect to be laughing too often…

…well unless he decides to tickle you.

He’s got a bit of a sadistic streak on him, so sometimes he’ll just start feathering his hands along your ticklish areas while he’s giving you head and it’s so weird? Like bruh wtf?? Asshole just likes to get a rise out of you, plus there’s the bonus of having you writhing harder than usual; fucker gets off on you struggling, ig. But what’s really annoying is how strong he is. Looking at him you wouldn’t think he could pin your hips down with one hand, but fuck around and find out lol. He’ll somehow manage to keep you in place, his mouth still putting in that good work, while his other hand keeps on tickling you and it’s annoying as hell. Luckily he’ll stop before things get too uncomfortable, but still. He doesn’t know why you put up with his irritating ass, but he’s glad that you do.

Lol, jk, he know his dick bomb and you couldn’t stay away even if you wanted to, which let’s be real—you don’t. Dabi’s a mistake that most people are all too eager to make at least twice. It’d be sad if he wasn’t likewise hooked on you, but good luck trying to get him to admit to that shit aloud unless you tie his smug, bratty ass up and fuck the confession outta him, but I digress…

Hair || How well-groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.

Given that his cock is still intact and functional it’s probably a safe guess to say he still has pubes? Maybe?? Idk, his skin grafts are weird, man. If he does I can see him keeping that shit trimmed just because it’d get on his nerves otherwise. That you benefit from it is just a happy bonus.

He dyes his hair—or at least he did—so the curtains don’t usually match the drapes. Actually, even without the dye it doesn’t match. Idk what fucking color his hair actually is; when he was little it was red and now it’s white, like??? I’ve since been informed that his hair started going white when he was a kid due to some medical reasons which more than likely means that all of his hair has since followed suit, but, I refuse to let go of the crimson pubes theory because that shit’s funny af to me. A weird hill to die on, but I’m making my stand nonetheless.

But seriously tho, just imagine seeing him naked for the first time, like… He’s expecting you to be put off by all the staples and charred skin, but all you can focus on is that damned thatch of red hair lmao. When you inevitably question him about it (and how can you not, it’s just. So. Red.) he’ll just roll his eyes and tell you you’re a fucking weirdo–

“But if you’re that interested, doll, you might as well get a lil closer. Open that pretty little mouth of yours and I’ll make sure you get a real good look.”

Intimacy || How are they during the act, the romantic aspect…

If it’s just a hit it and quit it type deal he’s getting himself off and getting gone. If he’s feeling generous he might be inclined to stick around long enough for the other person to cum too, but tbh he’s one of those “Well I got mine” kind of assholes lol. Luckily for his past partners, Dabi’s good with his hips so they usually ended up getting off without him having to do anything extra.

But you, you’re his baby, so your pleasure is his pleasure and vice versa. Dabi’s version of romance isn’t that typical gooey sweet fluff that one might attribute to the word (tho it can be in those rare moments of softness that become far more common the deeper he falls into it with you), but more so in his attentiveness. His aftercare can use some work, but when he’s in the moment? You’ll never feel more cared for. It doesn’t matter how rough and nasty things get you’re always gonna feel safe in his hands, he’ll made damn sure of it.

One bit of softness that he indulges in more regularly is hand holding. Missionary is a position that you always end up in at some point during just about every session, and when you do he’ll thread his fingers between yours and it’s just so sweet? Well usually. Sometimes it’s this tender thing, others he’s using this connection to pin your hands down as he fucks you hard and deep. But regardless of which it is, there’s always gonna be something soft syruping around in his eyes, an amalgamation of emotions too complicated to parse out, but easily defined by a four lettered word that he’s still too scared to say.

Jack Off || The Masturbation Headcanon™

I know I said he was a ho before, but like he also has his shit in check.

Dabi’s a man on a mission and he’s not gonna let his libido get in the way of that. He’s got shit to do, yanno? He’s only out there wetting his dick when he has the time to, and when he doesn’t he’s usually too focused on whatever it is he’s doing to worry about being horny. Once he’s got the time to actually focus on such things he doesn’t actually jack it all too often. It’s not like it’s hard for him to find a partner to lend him a helping hand, or willing hole as is his preference.

Oddly enough once you two are a thing he actually finds that he has to masturbate more often as finding a random for a hook up somewhere nearby is no longer an option, and you’re not always a viable option (be that because of distance, his needing to lay low and not drag the law to your doorstep, etc.).

Masturbating isn’t overly enjoyable for him, in fact he actually gets p. annoyed when he has to resort to it. He’d much rather be buried inside you than thrusting into his own hand, but again that isn’t always possible. Sometimes his activities keep you apart for long stretches of time, and even when you’re together sometimes you’re just not in the mood, or too tired or whatever and that’s okay too; it’s not as if he expects you to fuck on command or anything like that.

When he has to take care of himself it’s a pretty efficient affair. He’ll lube himself up and get to work, moving at the pace he knows will get him off the quickest, his mind digging through the vast catalog that is his spank bank until he finds something that does it for him. Unless he’s trying to entice/tease you he’s actually quiet, usually biting down on his shirt to muffle any stray moans and hisses that manage to slip through. Though he’d like to blame practicality for all of this, really the habit was picked up back when he was still under his father’s tutelage. Enji believed such activities to be distractions, but knowing that the release would be necessary for the growing boy he basically told him to get it over with as swiftly as possible and yeah…

Sheeeesh, there’s just so much to unpack there, isn’t it? From what I’ve gathered it seems as if Endeavor has some type of familial redemption arc going on, and good on him for trying to make things right even if it’s well after the damage has been done (it’s never too late to do better, after all), but still… At least let Dabi kick him in the gooch one good time. (Yes, I am vaguely aware of what he actually did do, and it was fucked, which is why I’m offering this alternative lol.)

Kink || One or more of their kinks.

CW for detailed descriptions of choking, fear play and all that entails (including a v. brief mention of knifeplay as well as shades of CNC), as well as degradation and all that entails (including a v. brief mention of spit). Exhibitionism is also a thing that’s discussed. These are all found in their respective sections (tho the fear play naturally blurs into the choking bit as well).

Unsurprisingly this fucker is kinky as hell. It should be said now that these particular kinks are… a bit more extreme/dark in nature. Aside from the cock warming that I threw in at the end because I am a self-indulgent little shit, exhibitionism is the mildest one on the list, so that should tell you something lol. So if you read the title and think ‘Yeah, no, that’s not for me’, then yeah, no, it’s not for you.

That said anything mentioned here would only be engaged in if all parties involved are abundantly enthusiastic and willing because while Dabi may be a giant fucking asshole—by both consensus as well as his own admission—he is not one for forcing shit like this. That would be v. wrong and unsexy of him, and he’s not with that fuckery.

Anyways!

I don’t have the time to lay out everything I think he’d be into, but a top five (made in no true order) list seem to be the best way for me answer this one in the most succinct manner possible, so without further ado, leggo.

1 || Exhibitionism

CW for—you guessed it!—public sex. …It should also be said that ya boy isn’t above making death threats (and promptly following through on them) if someone takes issue with him taking you…

This asshole is the type to take you any time and any place. Clubs, back alleys, on the gd train—he really does not give a fuck (well, he’s certainly giving you the fuck, but you know what I mean). If someone’s foolish enough to try to confront you he won’t hesitate to reduce them to cinders, if he can do so without drawing the attention of any cops or heroes, naturally. He’s not too keen on the prospect of either of you doing time, especially for something as lame as this. Thankfully it hasn’t ever come to that as usually all he has to do is flash a palmful of blue flames and folk know to back the fuck off.

Potential for homicide aside, he loves the thrill that comes with doing something so inherently taboo. Plus he’s a giant fucking showoff. He knows that there isn’t any other person out there that can do what he can, no one else who can lay claim to your body as masterfully as he, and he wants the world to know it too.

Annnnd there’s also a not-so-small part of him that wants the world to know that you’re his just as much as he’s yours, but shhhhh, we don’t talk about that bit lol… If you thought you saw his softer side showing shut the fuck up no you didn’t. >.>

2 || Choke me like you hate me, but you love me~

CW/TW for choking, obviously lol…

This one’s p. self-explanatory, I think. Dude likes having his hands around your neck, plain and simple. He relishes the deep, creeping fear that syrups around in your teary eyes, lives for the way you gasp and writhe under his grip…

If you let him he’ll squeeze until the delicate skin there blooms with bruises that match the curve of his palm; until you’re clawing desperately at his hand, your rapidly constricting lungs begging for just a sip of oxygen; until those pretty little eyes roll back and you cum so hard that you go limp under his still rutting hips…

Yeah, as you can imagine safe words/actions are very much a thing you have to incorporate into your sessions.

And with turnabout being fair play, as they say, he’s v. much down for you returning the favor. Go as hard as you like because homie can take it just as good as he gives it—in fact if you’re not squeezing tight enough he’ll grab your hand in a bid to get you to shore up your grip. He won’t be happy until his vision is dancing with little black spots and his lungs have all but emptied out.

Naturally this isn’t something he’ll engage in to this degree unless he has the full trust of his partner and vice versa.

3 || Fear Play

CW/TW for brief mentions of stalking (in a predator/prey kinda way), knifeplay, and what can pass as CNC if ya squint.

Were he more introspective he might worry about what this particular kink says about him.

Like he adores you, right? Always wants you to be happy and safe and smiling–

But on the other hand your fear is so deliciously beautiful.

It should feel like breaking you, seeing the terror that etches itself into every part of your being when you play like this—it does feel like breaking you, and maybe that’s part of the appeal. Even if you’re a villain yourself, Dabi is convinced that you will never be as wicked a creature as he. It doesn’t matter if you just went on a whole ass killing spree and are still covered in the resulting blood—he sees you as something better, something more. So to rip into that perception, to turn you from a thing to be protected into prey… It just hits different and oh-so-good and god, he really is fucked up isn’t he? But he knew that already and so did you, so there’s no point in shying away from it now.

It doesn’t matter if he’s stalking you through the city’s seedy back alleys, sneaking through your window and breathing a threat into your ear as he presses a nearly scalding hand over your mouth when you least expect it, or fucking you with a blade just millimeters from sinking into your flesh—he’s gonna revel in your fear, licking away your tears as he promises not to hurt you too bad–

“–so long as you keep being my good little doll. Now whimper for me some more, sweetheart…”

4 || Degradation

CW for exactly what it says on the tin. Dabi’s a mean SOB, so name calling, rough treatment, and humiliation are all par the course.

Dabi can be downright mean when he wants to be—which honestly is like 87% of the time. Definitely the type to step on you while calling you all sorts of names (whore, slut, cocksleeve, needy bitch, just his little hole to fuck), maybe rough you up a bit, spit in your mouth…

Yeah, shit gets nasty.

Of course he’ll only go as far as you’re comfortable with, so expect a very involved conversation about boundaries and limits once you start getting that work on the regular. He’ll also want to field test things right afterwards, if you’re that way inclined; if not he’s gonna go rub one out—very loudly, hell maybe even right in front of you because this asshole has NO shame, in hopes that it’ll get you hot enough to reconsider lmao…

This particular kink usually makes itself known in short order, but what a lot of people don’t know is that it goes both ways.

Tell him that he’s just your little fuck toy with no worth outside of the pleasure he can give you and he’ll damn near nut on the spot. Is this a healthy dynamic/coping mechanism? Nah, probably not and he knows it, but you can’t help what gets you hot, ya know? Were you anyone but who you are to him he doesn’t think that he’d be okay with it, honestly, but he feels safe with you. He knows that you see him as something more than a thing to be used, that you’re just as deep into things as he is, and that allows for him to explore this space.

If you do decide to indulge him, don’t do so too frequently. He’s five feet and nine inches of emotional baggage, so that which is cathartic can just as easily turn poisonous if not handled with care. Honestly this is something that only someone who really knows what they’re doing should attempt, imo. At any rate, when you finish the session make sure that you love up on him extra good because he’s gonna drop hard and he’ll really need the reassurance and care.

5 || Cockwarming

Think of this as a little palate cleanser after all that deliciously dark sinning lmao.

This is a kink that he didn’t know he had until the first time you guys did it, and said time wasn’t even on purpose—he was just too tired and injured to fuck you properly, but being the stubborn asshole that he is he insisted on trying anyway. Cue him plopping you down on his lap, but not being able to lift his hips because separated ribs are a goddamn fucking bitch. You were ready to end things there, maybe get him off with a lil suck and tug before finishing yourself off and calling it a night, but…

He held you in place, a dreamy look on his face that you would’ve attributed to the painkillers he’d gotten from god knows where, but his breathing had deepened and his dick was kinda twitching inside of you?? Ofc this set your walls to fluttering around him, which in turn got him going even more and yeah. Y’all got caught up in that loop of gentle pleasure real quick lol.

That first time he was content to just lay there with you until he finally dozed off. It was v. cute and intimate and all that good noise, but as you’ve probably guessed that’s the exception not the rule. Pretty much every time since then has involved him being a teasing little shit. He’ll play with your clit/cock just enough to get you to shuddering around him, but not enough to cum; those wicked and clever fingers of his opposite hand will be just as busy, either with keeping your hips still or with groping at your body and playing with your nipples. It really is just a whole ass terrible thing, but you’re here for it.

He especially likes to do this when he wants to get it in but you have work to do. It’s an incentive to work faster and more efficiently, or so he says, just a promise of things to come once your responsibilities have been sorted. You know he’s playing you, with his smug little shit-eating smirk, but dammit if you’re not gonna let it happen lol.

But ofc it’s not all teasing. He really does adore you and sometimes he just wants you close. When he’s in his feelings like this he’ll lay back with you on his chest, cock buried deep as he runs his hands along your spine with slow, measured strokes. Return the favor by playing with his hair or running gentle fingers along the lines of his scars and you’ll damn near bring him to tears. And if you hum/sing to him—game fucking over. Doesn’t matter if you think you’re any good or not, he’s gonna be so fucking enamored with you that he’ll swear he’s being serenaded by a chorus of heavenly beings. A bit fanciful, that, but it makes sense to him—whether you know it or not, you’re his angel, the one saving grace he has in this fucked up world…

Location || Favorite places to do the deed.

Anywhere he can get it in is his favorite place, tbh. But if you just force him to pick it’s definitely gonna be your home. Doesn’t matter where in said home, but like…

Deep down Dabi just wants a bit of domestic bliss. Given what he is he knows that’s not exactly possible, but that doesn’t stop him from playing at it whenever he gets the chance. You’ve made it clear that your home is his home too, and dammit if that’s not all he’s ever wanted. He has a place here, space to stretch and grow and be himself, flaws and all. He has no idea how you do it, or why you do it for that matter, but he’s so very grateful nonetheless.

Ten times out of ten whenever he’s taking you at your spot his mind’ll conjure up imaginings of a different sort of life, one where the pair of you can be together without any fear or baggage weighing you down. It’s an alternate reality that will never come to pass, he knows, but it’s still nice to think about…

Motivation || What turns them on/gets them going?

Touch him.

That’s it, that’s all I got folks. Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk. Get home safe.

But really, this boy is touched starved all to be damned, so simple touches really can do him in. He’s not a horny teenager, so you’re (usually) not gonna get him going from a simple brush of skin against skin, but tbh if you’re touching him with any sort of affection he’s gonna get at least a little turned on. It’s not his fault—you’re, well, you. You’re beautiful, both inside and out, and he’s so damn taken with you that he honestly doesn’t know what to do with himself half the time. Add to that the fact that he hasn’t had anyone touch him with any level of warmth since he was a v. small child and…

Look, just don’t be surprised if every once in a while he pops a boner while you’re playing with his hair or something equally innocuous is all I’m saying.

The longer you’re together the less effect casual affectionate touches have on his libido, but let’s not get it twisted—dude’s still very touch motivated. Feather your fingers over the seams in his skin, run your tongue over the shell of his ear, or brush your ass against any part of him and he’ll be all over you within moments.

No || Something they’d never do/turn offs.

Though he’s a kinky fucker, the one thing he’ll never ever do is share you.

Dabi does not share—anything, at any time.

You’re his not really-but totally very much, definitely so partner and he’ll be damned if he gives some other asshole leave to even so much as glance at you with a hint of interest.

This is a two way street, btw. Once you’re unofficially official, he’s not fucking with anyone else. Hell that’s honestly how he knew he was in shit too deep. He tried chatting up some attractive rando outside of a club, but before he could get too into things all he could think was how much of a disloyal bitch he was being. How could he ever even consider looking at anyone that wasn’t you?

You, who’s too sweet and kind and beautiful both inside and out for their own damn good… You, who despite having excellent taste in literally every other aspect of your life, had chosen to lower yourself by allowing him into your world, your bed… You, with your cute smiles and annoyingly endearing habits and perfect body and delicious moans…

He’s too selfish a thing to warn you away from him, too self-indulgent to ever give you cause to send him away. So if that means keeping his dick outta anyone that isn’t you then so fuckin’ be it.

Oral || Preference in giving or receiving, skill level, etc.

At the start of things Dabi would rarely go down on you. The way he saw it, head was just something that was done to get his partners going. Most times he could get by with just a lil finger work, as the people he was hooking up with were usually already raring to go, and those first few times you weren’t much different. That heady mixture of adrenaline and genuine attraction coupled with the newness of things meant that it took very little to get you ready to take him, and that suited you both just fine for a while. Once things became a bit more habitual, however, he found himself wanting to give you something more.

Ngl, his first attempts were kinda clumsy and sloppy and rushed, but thankfully for you both Dabi’s a fast learner. He studied and cataloged your reactions with an astuteness fit to rival Midoriya (albeit with less muttering and notepads involved lmao). It doesn’t take long for him to figure out just what he needs to do to reduce you to a shaky mess within minutes.

But naturally receiving’s a different beast entirely—he’s been down for that shit from jump. Definitely loves to face fuck you, thinks the way you gag and drool around his cock is just *chef’s kiss* Will totally shove the whole of his length clean down your throat and just hold it there, enjoying the way the muscles flutter around its girth and your reflexive lil swallows, until your need for oxygen demands he pull back. But really he’s only gonna let you take a few shuddery breaths before he pushes back in because the sight of you about to knock out from sucking his cock is just too damn pretty. And he prefers his head sloppy, like grossly so, so don’t be embarrassed about how wet/messy things get, not that he’s gonna leave you much choice in the matter lol.

Pace || Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.

When you first start out, things are always rough, but the speed varies.

That very first time—back when he was still living in the blissful ignorance of thinking of you as nothing more than a casual hook up—he was ready to get in, get off, and get gone. But the minute he felt your warmth around his cock he knew he had to take his time with you. He went in hard and rough, but did it at a pace that had you begging for more damn near from jump (which just lead to him fucking you deeper, not faster, btw lol). What was only meant to be a twenty minute affair, tops, became an all-night thing that left you both exhausted, soaked, and sore. This became the norm for y’all for a while, with him only going at things super fast when your schedules demanded it.

As the pair of you got closer he found that he didn’t mind going a bit softer from time to time. At first he claimed he was just tossing you a bone, sparing your dignity so that you didn’t have too bad a limp that following day, but you knew better (just like you knew not to comment on this or any of the other little ways your not-a-relationship relationship had been evolving). Eventually you guys reach a place where pretenses are dropped and he can make love to you as slowly and sensually as you want without him falling too deeply into his head, but unsurprisingly it’s gonna take a while for you to get there.

Quickie || Their opinion on quickies versus proper sex, how often they indulge, etc.

He doesn’t really have strong feelings on them one way or the other.

Naturally he does prefer proper sex but sometimes all you have time for is a quickie, and that’s just that. As for how often it’s really just whenever your schedules demand it. Quickies aren’t something he goes out of his way to initiate, if anything he’d rather wait until he can give it to you good and proper, if you’re that way inclined. But sometimes you just need to get that work before work, he knows this, and is p. much always willing to oblige.

Risk || Are they game to experiment, take risks, etc.

As you’ve probably gathered from ‘K’, Dabi’s no stranger to risk and experimentation. Chances are if you wanna try it, he’s already done it at least once. He prefers a partner that can keep up with him, which doesn’t necessarily mean that he needs you to have a lot of experience—in fact he’d be lying if he said the thought of corrupting you a bit didn’t get him off—but rather that he wants someone who’s at least open to trying things, ya know? If you’re willing to meet him halfway, he’ll certainly hold up his end of things. Even if you end up not liking something he’ll be hella proud of you for making the attempt which will lead to him spoiling you and that’ll lead to him burying his head between your legs yet again and yeah…

Stamina || How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last?

CW for talk of the aftermath of Dabi’s quirk trying to slow roast him. I don’t go into too much detail at all, but I thought I’d put this here just in case.

Providing he hasn’t been using his quirk too much beforehand his stamina’s pretty good; this is due in large part to his propensity for teasing. Dude can and will edge you for ridiculous lengths of time, be that with his mouth/fingers or cock. Nine times out of ten he will outlast you even if it’s purely out of spite lmao.

That said, he can definitely get on some Energizer Bunny shit if you catch him on the right day. Once you’re together-together he’s definitely the type to recharge between sessions with a break and lil snack or even a nap, all done so that he can fuck you until night bleeds into a new day. It should also be said that he isn’t above using a cock ring if his body looks like its gonna give up the ghost before he’s ready. But not every encounter can be a sex marathon, more’s the goddamn pity, in which case he’s good with just racking up a few orgasms between you before calling it for the night.

But looping back to how this all relates to his quirk—using his fire really takes it out of him, though you never knew how badly it affected him until you were p. deep in your relationship.

Your seeing him like that, all worn down and overheated, is the absolute last thing he wants, and the first time it happened it was completely by accident. Like he came to crash at your place because it was comfortable/safe, and he was fairly certain that you weren’t due back for several hours; by then he’d be mostly okay, or at least okay enough that he could write his sorry state off to general fatigue and not his body trying to cook itself alive. He was posted up in your bathroom tending to a seam that had partly ruptured when he heard you keying in. He knew that he didn’t have time to make himself presentable, so all he could do was hope that you’d just popped in to get something you’d forgotten before fucking off again.

But of course his luck had never been that good.

With no recourse left to him, he explained the intricacies of his quirk with a resigned sullenness, answering your questions and addressing your concerns as best he could. It ended up being a somewhat tense exchange because you were obviously concerned, as any loving partner would be, and the casual disregard he showed over it all was kind of maddening. Still, you knew that his lack of care was more of a coping mechanism that he’d probably never shake in full (unsaid was the fact that you were well aware that not even his love for you could keep him from throwing himself headlong into his goals). And so, instead of turning the whole thing into what would’ve been one hell of a nasty argument, you opted to help patch him up and cool him off as best you could and that was that.

Typically he isn’t really trying to fuck so soon after he’s roasted himself, but on the off chance that he really wants it he’ll let you take the reins. Please be gentle with him, he’s so fragile when he’s like this—both physically and emotionally. He’s risking so much in allowing you to see him in such a weakened state so please handle his trust with care.

Toy || Do they own toys? Do they use them on themselves or their partner?

Honestly he’s not super into them.

Like he’s not against them and will use them from time to time, but he prefers to be the sole provider of your pleasure. So unless you’re doing something that absolutely requires outside aid he’s not gonna break out the toy box.

That said the pair of you do acquire a small collection—mostly vibes, a few plugs, some cock rings, rope, blindfolds. It’s all p. basic stuff, with the wildest thing being a spreader bar, which again is on the milder side of the kinky scale, I think. He’ll also get you a strap if you don’t have a dick of your own because while he prefers to be in charge a good portion of the time, he cannot deny that he lives for the days when you bend his bratty ass over and take him to task.

Unfair || How much they like to tease.

Dabi is a huge goddamn tease. I would invite you to try to change my mind if I wasn’t spitting straight up facts.

Your only real saving grace is that he doesn’t have the willpower to (completely) deny you for as long as he’d like. He loves to hear you whine way too much, lives for the way your tears of desperation streak that pretty little face… All it takes is for you to give in just a little and he’ll give you what you want—tho it may not come in the form you want. Were you begging to cum on his tongue? Well get ready to orgasm again and again and a-fucking’-gain. He’ll stop when he thinks you’ve had enough. Getting all weepy because you need his cock? He’ll grind it against you for what feels like forever, content to keep you on the edge and those tears flowing.

Conversely he loves a brat too. Breaking your kind is always so damn satisfying, but even if you’re able to hold out he’s gonna be all too ready to pipe you down because that type of defiance is just plain ol’ H O T . You think you can take his cock without breaking? Well get ready to eat those words as well as a copious amount of cum because he’s gonna fuck that smart lil mouth of yours until you go hoarse. Every other hole you’ve got is getting the exact same treatment, btw, so I hope you’re ready to be reduced to a walking wet spot. Or maybe he won’t give you the honor of his touch, maybe he’ll just tie you up and force you to watch as his long, slender fingers run along his thick shaft. He’ll keep going until you apologize and ask nicely for him to stuff you like the good little doll he knows you want to be. If you’re smart you’ll give in sooner rather than later, because once he empties his balls things are only gonna get worst for your bratty ass (which, lbr, is probably what you both want lol).

No matter what the deal is the teasing never really stops, but rather it switches gears. He’ll get at you for being such a needy little thing, so desperate for the least touch. All of your sounds of pleasure are like music to his ears, your writhing poetry in motion, but that won’t stop him from telling you how damn sad it is that you can’t even catch his dick without making a spectacle of yourself. God, he just so damn mean, but clearly we’re all here for it.

So TL;DR—he’s a teasing little shit from start to finish, but honestly would you want it any other way?

Volume || How loud are they? What sounds do they make?

Dabi’s not quiet nor is he overly loud—well, unless he’s trying to prove a point.

You want to get back at your shitty neighbor who loves to blast their music at crackhead hours? He’ll position your bed so that it’s right against the connecting wall before starting up that good headboard drumline lol. He’ll definitely make sure that that asshole knows both your names by sunup. Also isn’t above calling up any of your old flames or anyone else that may be looking to hook up with you so that they can hear how a real man takes his lover. ((Ugh, he so damn petty—I love it.))

When he’s not being performative his volume is p. standard, rising and falling with the session’s vibe. He’s definitely a talker, as we’ve established by now, but when he’s not busy running his mouth he makes some of the sexiest sounds ever. Moans that ripple along your spine, dark little chuckles that settle their weight into your gut, sighs and hisses that leave you clamping around him just to hear more… I’m honestly not sure which is hotter, but it’s all just as well as you never have to choose. If he’s feeling good—which he always is whenever he’s with you like this—then you’re damn well gonna know about it.

Wild Card || Get a random headcanon of my choosing.

One day long ago when the League was young, Toga and Jin wrote a really spicy friend fic (oh who am I kidding—that shit was straight up smut) about Dabi and Shiggy. That in itself is bad enough, yeah, but naturally that disaster duo had to take it a step further by reading it aloud to their little core group.

Or at least they tried to.

Naturally the MCs, being who they were, chose violence instantly. Meanwhile Twice kept making clones of Toga who had internalized the story and was reciting it by rote. By the time Dabi caught up to the main instigator (knife wife) and Shiggy got majority of his hand on clone husband they’d gotten pretty far into their tale. With the threat of just straight up death so close and quite literally at hand the pair relented, but it was a real Pandora’s Box situation for the two young men. It was weeks before they could look each other in the eye again lmao. But who could blame them? That shit was so damn graphic and detailed and annoyingly well written.

Neither of them could understand why the pair had thought so much about them fucking, and more disturbingly why they knew exactly what their dick measurements were? Like… how???

It didn’t help matters that there was always– not exactly attraction per se on Dabi’s part, but dude’s a thrill seeker. Fucking a guy that could end you with a single touch? Kinda hot. Meanwhile Shigs hadn’t ever considered the burned man to be anything more than a useful pawn/royal pain in his ass, but once the thought was planted he couldn’t not notice how infuriatingly attractive the fucker actually was. Needless to say he stamped that out real quick for several reasons, not least of all because to do anything less would mean that those two asshats won and he couldn’t have that lol.

Though their leader made them swear to stop writing that ‘weird ass, Google search page 76, freaky ass bullshit’ that didn’t stop the authors, tho they were smart enough to keep it away from their muses and really that’s the best anyone could hope for.

(Meanwhile Kurogiri out here really considering publishing some of their stuff—modified so as not to reveal anything of note—to help fund their schemes lmfao…)

X-Ray || How do they look with their clothes off?

Dick piercings.

That’s it, that’s all I got.

Honestly I would’ve thought that he’d never voluntarily want to get more bits of metal shoved into his flesh, but his numerous other piercings says otherwise. Personally I prefer him with a Jacob’s ladder, but whichever combo you find hottest he’ll totally rock. Freaky lil shit prolly has nipple piercings and a tongue ring too 😩

Aside from all of that he’s about what you’d expect. Thin, but fit, a mosaic of burns and flesh and scars, and a big ass dick lol. I just know his dick big y’all, I know it—I feel it in my guts heart. Dude’s totally got that big dick lean and the attitude to match and damn if he doesn’t have what it takes to back it all up…

Yearning || How high is their sex drive?

I’d say it’s about typical for a guy his age, tho it does fluctuate. Like I said back in ‘J’, he’s got his shit in check. When he’s focused on his… uhh, work? I guess we’ll call it?? he’s got himself on lock. Wrapped up in his goals as he is, he isn’t exactly worried about getting his dick wet during those times, tho once he goes from an ‘I’ to a ‘we’ that dogged focus wavers on occasion. It usually only happens when he’s missing you more than usual, which only happens when you’re apart for an extended period of time. This’ll lead to him rubbing one out if he can’t get to you directly before getting back to the (other) grind.

His sex drive’s probably at its peak when he’s frustrated. Before you came along this would usually end with him going on a sex jag—which to be fair he still does, but all of his energy and desires are focused on you and that is a terrifying/sexy position to find yourself in. When he gets like this your best bet is to take some sick leave or vacation days or w/e, stock up on lube, and order some groceries because your ass is gonna be bed-bound for the next couple of days at least.

Zzz || How quickly do they fall asleep afterwards?

It really just depends. Some days he’s hella tired and will be halfway knocked out before he even fully pulls out, others he’ll be weirdly alert—like ‘I’m gonna go play Dark Souls, call out if you need me’-levels of alert—and others still he’ll be content to drift in the blissful languor that comes with the afterglow, holding you close and sharing breaths and kisses and sweet little whispers as he finally, finally allows himself to admit freely that he loves you.

Your arms are his home now and he can only hope that they’ll never drop, that you’ll never turn him away…

© notepadsandtealeaves, 2021 || Please do not repost, translate, or otherwise alter or distribute my works without my express permission. And for the love of god keep it away from Youtube and TikTok lol…

#((Immy does fan fiction: Plus Ultra Babies))#fun fact: the first time i tried to post this i used the beta post editor and boy howdy was that a bad idea #shit wouldn't let me save my draft #luckily i hadn't done too much yet but still wft tumblr??#anyways...#dabi x reader #dabi x gn reader #dabi x gender neutral reader #dabi x you #dabi imagine #dabi is touya #should i tag that as a spoiler? are there ppl that don't know this??#idk man--if so let me know #today i offer you something you never asked for #tomorrow? who knows #((lol that's a lie it'll be a whole bunch of nothing b/c this is the only thing i have written atm lmfaooooooooooo))

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k7l4d4 · 3 years

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Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 5 Part 10

Hello, and once again, I welcome you to Midnight Striga. Please, enjoy.

Perry Porter strode into the Covention Center, eyes easily panning across and compartmentalizing the tragic sights around him, a skill he picked up by virtue of sheer experience. Clinically, he noted the amount of bodies present, living and dead, as well as the brow-raising sight of what could only be human corpses, if the ears were any indicator. He felt a sinking sensation within his stomach; whatever had occurred today would rock the Isles to its core, of that he had no doubt.

Shaking his head, Perry scanned the crowd again, eyes widening at the sight of a hand waving him over. Rushing over, he slid to a stop in front of his son, Augustus; his silly, energetic, passionate, brilliant son, Augustus, alive and well. “This is Perry Porter, on the scene saying,” He started, before pulling Gus into a hug. “I am so happy you’re alright.” He sighed, relieved, feeling Gus relax into his grip.

“I-I am really glad you got here so quickly dad.” Gus choked out, a light sprinkling of tears in his eyes. “A lot’s happened, and I really, really want to talk with you about it, but something more important came up, and I think you can help out, you know?” He put on his bravest smile, trying to hold in the scream that was building ever since he had managed to process that yes, everything that had happened to today was all but over.

“I really think it would be best that I try and talk with you about what happened here,” Perry began, before noticing the stubborn expression on his son’s face, “But I can see that you won’t budge on this. So, shall we?” He calmly asked, gesturing for his son to lead the way, which he did with a beaming smile.

As they walked through the clinic, Perry idly noted the general behaviors of the people around him; there was his son’s friend, Willow Park, tearfully talking with her parents, a relieved smile on her face. There were the Blight Children, the two eldest tightly squeezing themselves around their younger sister, a baffled look on her face. He saw the crowds of crying, pleading, nervous faces all around. As his son led him into a backroom of the small clinic that had been established, Perry came face to face with three figures; the Emperor’s Coven Head Lilith Clawthorne, Eda the Owl Lady, and a human girl, all seated around a central table, gesturing for him to sit. As his son quickly saw himself out of the room, Perry had the sinking suspicion he was in a bit over his head.

After they explained the situation, as much as they could at least, Perry took a deep breath, holding in a sigh. They wanted his help to spread this information, which he could see the basis behind it- a group that invested this much effort into an attack wasn’t going to just stop and people needed to know about them- but the sheer depth of this reveal would completely change the social landscape of Bonesburough. “Very well, I agree to help with this. Do you have a plan for how we go about this?” He asked Lilith, who seemed to be trying a bit too hard to hold authority over this meeting, despite the lack of resistance from the other two.

Lilith nodded. “We have two real options at this point.” She said, holding up two fingers for emphasis. “We can either do multiple takes and present them later, or we can have this meeting broadcast live as breaking news.” She ticked off the options on her fingers, a grave look of contemplation upon her face. Lilith pursed her lips. “Personally, I favor the second option.”

That caught the group by surprise. “Huh, I honestly thought you’d prefer to get this all perfect and have it presented later.” Eda commented, arching a brow.

Lilith snorted. “Please, sister, give me some credit. The longer we go without addressing this, the more severe public unrest and hysteria will become. While the release of this information will certainly have its own consequences, those are still preferable to the people being left in the dark, and drawing more unsavory conclusions.” Lilith calmly stated, gaining impressed looks from the others.

Perry calmly assembled the equipment he would need, adding in his own take on the situation. “While an official report would normally be prepared by the Emperor’s Coven,” He carefully ignored Eda’s derisive snort, “that would be contingent on them possessing factual information to present. Without it, anything they provided would be woefully inadequate for informing the people. While a Live Report of this interview will most certainly cause a stir, it will ultimately be a mere fraction of what would result if the Emperor’s Coven issued a report that ultimately proved to be false in some capacity.” The group blinked, but, after mulling it over, agreed with what he said; it made sense, if people placed trust in an organization and it failed them, whether as a result of malice or otherwise, there would be backlash.

Perry clapped his hands. “So! Let’s begin, shall we?” They all shared a look, and nodded.

As they gathered around the table, Lilith leaned forward. “Now then, human, it’s time for you to answer my questions. The People of the Isles are dying to hear what you have to say.”

Luz gave a challenging grin. “Ask away. I’m all ears.”

Taking that as his cue, Perry started up the broadcast. Turning the camera to himself, he began, voice grave. “To all the citizens of the Boiling Isles, this is Breaking News, Live from the Covention. I am Perry Porter, reporting on behalf of Emperor’s Coven Head Lilith Clawthorne.” He paused, allowing the prepared footage to play across the crystal balls of all watching; the broken walls and shattered stands, the caged prisoners held under guard, and the bodies of all those who’d died, some gathered together for examination, others… not so much. He continued. “Today, tragedy has struck. For the first time since Emperor Belos’ ascendancy, an organized attack on our people has been committed. Of the over 2000 attendees, approximately half have been slain, and a third of the remainder have sustained moderate to severe injuries. Many of them were children. Of the 300 Coven Guards assigned to the Covention, over half of them have died, with all but a quarter sporting severe injuries.”

“What is most shocking, however, is that those claiming responsibility, a group known as the Black Dog Squadron, working on behalf of a group or individual known as Oroboros, are humans. That’s right, humans!!” Perry exclaimed, milking the drama a bit more than he liked, but needing to keep the audience invested; tragedy could only captivate for so long. “During the attack, all displayed some form of magic, but none, bar a handful who commanded Plant Magic, utilized any of the Nine Magics. How is this possible? Why did this happen? What will we, as a society, do next? To help answer these questions, Lilith Clawthorne has initiated an interview with a human who fought on behalf of our people, one Luz Noceda.” He knew that the girl’s image was now emblazoned across every crystal ball on the Isles at this very moment, leading further weight to his broadcast, in theory at least. “I am here with Coven Head Lilith herself,” He indicated the prominent Witch, who raised her hand to the audience. “To broadcast the interview to you all. Please be advised, some of what may be discussed may be shocking to some viewers.” With his part finished for the moment, Perry fell silent, allowing the broadcast to focus on the interview, more of an interrogation really, going on in the room.

“To ensure that what you say is true,” Lilith began, cutting right to the chase. “I must insist that you swear an Unbreakable Vow to that effect. This way, none can claim you are attempting to deceive us. Is that acceptable?” She asked, holding her hand out to begin forming the spell.

Luz raised an eyebrow, but saw no problem with the spell. She shrugged. “Sounds fine to me.” She said bluntly, prompting a nod from Lilith as she formed the spell. When the circle was completed, the two shook hands through it, sealing the oath. Luz was blissfully unaware of the shock rippling through the Isles, as now none would be able to refute or deny her words without looking insane or foolish. She had effectively solidified her legitimacy irrefutably in a single instant.

“Excellent.” Lilith replied, a grim smile playing across her face. She began. “First of all, I must ask, for how long have humans been capable of magic?”

Luz gave a shrug. “I can’t give you an exact figure, but at least 700 years, most likely more.” She said, unaware and uncaring of the shock that erupted at her statement. Even Lilith wasn’t totally immune, managing to school her features, expertly concealing the bewildered shock at the girl’s reply.

Lilith cleared her throat, forcing her instinctive urge to dive into the historical implications of that statement. As calmly as she could, she continued. “I see. How is magic utilized in Human Society?”

Luz tilted her head a bit. “You’re gonna have to be a bit more specific than that. There are a lot of Human Societies, all of whom have magic capable individuals, and all have their own ways of doing things. A benefit of being the dominant species in our world, is that we can afford to divide ourselves into a LOT of individual cultures and communities.”

Lilith paled at that, unable to stop the question that bubbled up in response. “Just… how many humans are in existence, exactly?”

Luz pondered that for a moment before replying. “I can’t give you an exact number, but I’d say there’s about several hundred million of us. Our world is big, and there are very few places we can’t survive on it.”

Internally shaking her head, and forcing herself not to focus on all the implications that came to mind, Lilith continued with her questions. “What is this Oroboros that the attackers claimed to be working for?”

Luz’s eyes sharpened, a burning hate filling her eyes, enough that even those watching at home suddenly felt very unsafe at the moment. “Oroboros is a criminal organization; specifically, they are the single largest Dark Guild active in the world right now. Oroboros prides itself on its ability to seize control and orchestrate things to its own benefit, without any regard for the harm and chaos that erupts in their wake. Cruelty and brutality are prized and cultivated among their members, almost as much as magical power is. No crime is too heinous, no line too sacred for them to cross.” She hissed out, the pure malicious hate coloring her tone forcing Lilith to gulp in nervousness.

“I see.” And Lilith did see. She had personally borne witness to the aftermath of that cruelty and indifference; however, Luz’s response brought another question to mind, one she felt she needed an answer to. She narrowed her eyes. “Edalyn told me you would be an excellent source of information for this. So far, you have proven to be so, even if my questions have not been exacting enough to gain satisfactory answers as of yet. But that response of yours has me thinking. How do you know about Oroboros, Miss Noceda?” Lilith inquired, eyes focused.

Luz raised an eyebrow, stood up, and turned around. After ensuring her back was presented to the broadcast, she reached back, and pulled down at the back of her outfit. Seared into her flesh lay a symbol, a serpent arranged into a Sideways eight, biting its own tail. “I used to be a member.” Luz said, voice dead and hollow. She turned a heartbreakingly sad smile towards Lilith. “Specifically, I was a member under protest.”

“Elaborate.” Lilith ordered, voice hard and unrelenting. She could feel the urge to bring out her staff and blast this child into oblivion, but tamped it down. She didn’t have all the information yet.

Luz gave a chuckle, bitter and full of the kind of spite that made people glad for what they had. “Oroboros has no limits to what they are willing to do, and that extends to what lengths they are willing to go to for recruits. Whenever someone with a useful skill or magic appears in their information network, they send out recruiters. For those with a few too many morals, such as myself, they like to employ a more… decisive argument.” She turned an empty smile upwards, oblivious to the daggers Lilith was glaring her way. “Oroboros kidnapped my sister, and used her as a hostage to keep me in line.” Lilith froze, unblinking.

Luz continued, oblivious. “Whenever I talked back, Vee was beaten. Whenever I failed an assignment, she had a bone broken. Whenever I completed a job, she got a good meal, after having been starved and deprived of water to just short of death that is.” She smirked, an angry, tired thing. “I hated myself. I wanted to die. I only kept living for her. And then she died; one of her guards decided they wanted to have a little fun with her, and the next anyone knew, the guard was dead, and my sister had a knife in her liver. I was free in the worst way possible.”

Stunned silence rang throughout the Isles, such that even Lilith herself was rendered speechless. Forcing herself to speak, Lilith asked the next question on her mind, one she felt the Isles would wish to know. “Should we consider this an act of War from the Human Realm?”

Luz blinked. Then, she laughed; a deep, cackling laugh filled with so much loathing and misery it was genuinely astonishing a living being could make such a sound. “No. Or at least, not the way you’re thinking. Oroboros is in no way affiliated with any form of Government or Ruling power. It’s a criminal organization that supports itself alone.” She gave a poisonous smile. “While I have no way of knowing if any Human Governments know about the Isles, I can assure you that none of them were involved in this.”

“Well, that’s something good at least.” Lilith said dryly. “What can you tell us about Oroboros in regards to how it is structured?”

Luz leaned back, gathering her memories on the subject. “Oroboros originally began as a Dark Guild that took jobs that other Dark Guilds shied away from, stuff that was extremely messed up and depraved in what was involved to go about them. When the big three Dark Guilds were dismantled, Oroboros clawed its way to the top of the heap after all the infighting died down. After that, they started breaking down and assimilating other Dark Guilds that they thought might be useful. You actually met one of them out there.” Luz offhandedly mentioned.

“Truly?” Lilith broached.

“Yup.” Luz nodded. “Before they became the Black Dog Squadron, the Squad was originally a guild in its own right, Barghast. Barghast was a mercenary guild at first, selling the services of its members as soldiers and fighters to the highest bidder, with an emphasis on fighting in wars. But when the local groups started fighting less, Barghast decided it would be better to start the wars they fought, and sell their services to both sides to keep the conflict going longer.” Luz smiled at that. It was not a nice smile. “When their little scheme came to light, they were branded a Dark Guild and went on the run, before being absorbed into Oroboros.”

Luz leaned forward. “Oroboros likes to present itself as one big unit, and while it can act like one in the field, Oroboros is full of splintered factions and units. The Black Dog Squadron is one of the neutral factions, actually; they don’t care which faction is using them, just as long as they can cause as much suffering and bloodshed as possible. I was an unaligned member, mostly because none of the Squadrons trusted a conscript like me not to stab them in the back, so I didn’t really work with any of the Factions or Squads outside of being paired with them for missions. My jobs were assassinations, thefts, and… less savory things.” Luz admitted, eyes downcast. Tears pooled in her eyes, dripping onto the table.

Lilith pursed her lips, feeling unwilling to judge the girl for compromising herself in the name of her loved ones; if anything, she was impressed the girl had the sense of self not to justify the atrocities she had done as anything other than what they were, a means of sparing the life of her loved one at the expense of others, and felt remorse over having done so. Still, she had two pressing questions to ask. “I must ask, you keep referencing Oroboros as a Dark Guild. Just what is a Guild?”

Luz slumped, feeling spent from the roller-coaster of loathing that always came when she thought about… all she had done. “Guilds are the Human Version of your Coven System, if far less restrictive. I won’t go too far into it, that would take way too much time, but Dark Guilds are essentially guilds that flout the laws that govern what Guilds can and cannot do, and actively have their members engage in crimes. If I had to give a close equivalent, Dark Guilds are basically for us what an Assassin Coven or Thief Coven would be for you. An organized effort to commit crime with little to no regard for who would be hurt as a result.”

Lilith felt a chill run up her spine at the thought. The idea of the Coven System being twisted like that, perverted into a warped, criminal mirror of itself, made her shudder; the implications of what such a thing could do, producing criminals whose magic was specialized to enabling criminal acts… it was a horrifying thought. Lilith swallowed, before jumping into her last question. “I thank you for agreeing to this; some of what you’ve revealed could not have been easy for you. But… I must ask you this; can we count on you to aid us against Oroboros?” She peered forth, unknowingly mimicking the apprehension of many of the citizens watching.

Luz gave her a smoldering glare. “You don’t have anything to worry about. I’ve already seen enough misery because of Oroboros. I won’t let them do as they please anymore, not while I can do something about it.” Luz paused, a thought coming to mind. “Huh, this reminds me of something my teacher said while I was training.”

Lilith raised any eyebrow. “Oh?”

Luz gave Lilith a soft, tired smile. “Yeah.” She reached up, rolling back her sleeve; Lilith recoiled at the sight. From her elbow to her shoulder, Luz’s arm was a maze of scar tissue, deep gouges and rents woven through the veil of poorly healed flesh; the fact she could use her arm without issue was awe-inspiring, when one considered the pain she must feel every day from such an injury. “I got this when I first tried using my Magic in a combat situation. I was fighting a monster that was bothering some of the fields near the village I was staying at during my training. I had barely been training for a week, having only just barely made a proper spell for the first time less than a day ago. The monster dashed me against a cliff, driving my arm so deep against the stone that it started scraping bone. If my teacher hadn’t intervened, it would’ve eaten me.” She turned to Lilith, sober eyes burning with shame. “I was an idiot. My teacher made sure I remembered that. What they said to me that day, I’ll never forget.” Luz leaned back, before reciting something with the air of quotation. “‘Magic is an unreasonable force. It is wondrous and horrific. It cares nothing for good or evil, or the intentions of those who use it. If you wish to put your skills to such a task as fighting for truth and justice, grow strong. Otherwise, you’ll never be anything more than prey for those with less moral compunctions than you.’” Luz gazed fondly at the ceiling, tears pooling at the memory. “Ever since that day, I swore I would never let myself be too weak to stand up for myself, or what I believe in. I would be strong enough that I could protect others, but also to protect myself.” She gave a chuckle. “Things didn’t work out too well for that promise.”

Lilith just looked on with pity, before turning to Perry. “I think that would be a good point to end the interview. At least for today.”

“Indeed.” Perry nodded. “Well then, you heard it here first, Citizens.-”

“What are you doing?” Lilith queried.

Perry blinked. “I’m… ending the broadcast.”

Lilith shook her head. “Not yet. I still have one thing left to do.” She beckoned her sister forth, who had been silently looking on as the interview went on. Eda’s mind was brimming with questions for Luz, but she was willing to put it aside for when they got back home. For now, she had her sister to deal with. Lilith gazed upon her sister, an unreadable look in her eye. “Earlier, when you defeated me in a Witch’s Duel, your request for your win was that I would tell the truth about your curse to the public, dispelling the official story. We even swore an unbreakable vow over it.” She held up her arm for emphasis, her arm flashing with a white ring. An ominous smile graced her features. “Well, I do believe a live broadcast all across the Isles is certainly public, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah, it is. And I’m glad you’re not putting it off, I am! But… are you feeling okay sis? You seem a little out of it.” Eda asked, genuine concern coloring her voice. The hysterical laugh Lilith gave just added to that concern.

“Oh Edalyn, if you only knew.” She said, wiping away a tear from her outburst, before sobering. “But then, I suppose you will in a moment.” Turning to the broadcast, Lilith braced herself, fully willing to bear the backlash her actions would cause against herself and the Coven from this. “Citizens of the Isles, I, Coven Head Lilith Clawthorne, stand before you to reveal a bitter truth. For years, the story of the Owl Lady has been told, how her defiance and dismissal of the Coven System was punished by the Titan. That story… it is a lie.” She bluntly stated, almost feeling the gasps rippling through the Isles. “The Emperor’s Coven itself has no knowledge of how Edalyn was cursed, but it was most certainly no work of the Titan, or its will.” A mysterious smile, almost beatific were it not so filled with pain, crossed her features. “The one responsible for Eda Clawthorne’s curse was a witch. Specifically… the one responsible was myself.” Lilith felt more than saw Eda freeze up beside her. She could see it now on Perry’s own face, the look of horror, accusation, dumbfounded shock.

Lilith turned to Eda, feeling an almost spiteful glee at the look of horror, denial, and hurt that crossed her features. “Y-your lying, Lily. You-” Eda stuttered (Edalyn stuttered!), denial and shock filling her voice. Lilith slowly stroked Eda’s cheek, an almost tender gesture.

“Edalyn, we both know that, for all your hatred of the rules and authority, you are far smarter than this. You know I can’t be lying.” Lilith said, just barely loud enough for the broadcast to pick up. “Think about it, you’ve surely pieced it together after all this time. Who else could’ve gotten into your room to curse you? Who else would’ve had reason to curse you?” Eda shook her head, denial still burned across her features, backing away from Lilith.

“Why?” Eda hissed out, forcing it through the denial. “Why would you do this!? To me!? TO YOUR FAMILY!?!?” She screamed, hurt and rage finally making themselves known in full.

Lilith chuckled, the same bitter, empty laugh Luz herself had used previously when discussing her failings. “Because you were going to win, dear sister!” Lilith cried, almost relishing the horror on Eda’s face, were it not for how sick she felt at it all. “We were set to fight for a place in the Emperor’s Coven, and you would win!! I knew you would!! You were the prodigy, the gifted genius that everything came so easily to when you bothered to try, the powerhouse who could already level buildings at the age of TWELVE!!!” Lilith felt the tears coming, the bitter, hot tears of her own weakness surging forth. “I was the one who wanted to serve the Isles, I was the one who wanted to help people!!!! You only cared about joining the Coven so you wouldn’t have to give up any magic! So why should I have given up my dream, my future, for you!?”

“I ONLY WANTED TO BE PART OF THE COVEN TO SUPPORT YOU!!!” Eda cried, her own angry, hurt-filled tears flowing. “All I wanted was to support you, to give you the future you deserved!!” She shook her head, anger and shame filling her heart.

“I KNOW!!” Lilith shrieked. “I Knew it then, and I know it now!!” The tears were like waterfalls now, bitter pain coating her every word. “But I couldn’t accept it, the idea that you, someone who so effortlessly and deliberately flouted the rules, would have what I wanted, what I dreamed of! How could I have known that you would forfeit, how could anyone!? A position in the most prestigious and influential of covens, and you throwing it away for me!?” She shook her head. “No. I didn’t believe you could be that selfless.”

Eda gave a bitter snort. “And I didn’t believe you could be that selfish. I guess we were both surprised.” Not staying to hear another word, Eda grabbed Luz, who wordlessly followed her, and stormed off. Luz shot Lilith a look of empty disappointment. It was exactly what Lilith deserved.

Lilith turned to the still running broadcast, a blank smile on her face. “And you’ve heard it here first, folks.” Lilith mockingly imitated the standard reporter line. “The Enforcer of the Emperor’s Will is a cheat, scum who would betray her own family, and a fraud. What a shocking revelation, is it not?” She wandered off, tears still streaming. Perry wordlessly cut the broadcast. He suddenly felt the need to give his son the biggest hug of all time.

All across the Isles, people were reacting to the horrifying news. Some focusing on some parts over others, of course, but none could deny that the Special Report was on everyone’s minds.

“This is unacceptable!!” Kikimora cried, frantically pacing in front of the Emperor’s Throne, heedless of her standard deference. “How could Coven Head Clawthorne reveal such sensitive information through a broadcast of all things!? Your Highness, this mutiny cannot stand!!” Normally, Kikimora would never be so blatant and emotional in front of her lord, but she felt now, of all times, was the best moment to voice her worries.

“Hmm… it seems I must adjust some of my plans.” Belos murmured. While Lilith publicly revealing the secret she so fervently guarded was certainly a surprise, if anything the revelation of her obsession should make her even more fervent in her future attempts to apprehend her sister. The revelations of Human Realm Magic now infesting his realm… oh he would definitely need to broach this carefully, but his ultimate goal remained unchanged. Wild Magic would be PURGED from the Titan, that was non-negotiable. But the revelation of Human Magic would certainly prove a useful tool for later…

“My lord!?” Kikimora frantically pleaded.

Hunter contemplated the revelations he had just witnessed. Humans were capable of magic, something deemed impossible. If it was possible for them… could it prove possible for himself? Something to think about for later. Right now, he had to attend to his Emperor. He owed the man everything, and this did not change that fact. He would probably have to keep a closer eye on Lilith though,

Alador calmly adjusted the latest adaptation to the Abomiton project, carefully tuning out his wife’s frantic screams and rage. She would burn herself down, if not out, in a little while, and then he would intercede. For the moment, he needed to properly calibrate the Coiled Composition System, truly a marvel really; if it worked properly, even the lowest quality of Abomitons would be a force to be reckoned with.

Odalia slammed herself down across from Alador with a huff, blistering rage burning in her eyes. “Well, at least now we know who our mysterious clients are.” She bit out, forcing herself to calm down with a cup of tea. Alador merely raised an eyebrow. He would see what she said in full, before replying. Odalia chuckled, a nasty, angry sounding thing. “It truly makes sense, you know. Such mysterious customers, wanting such a variety of goods and supplies! And they turned out to be murderous criminals. Fitting.”

“Will we stop supplying them, then?” Alador faux-absentmindedly asked. He had a feeling as to what she would say, but it was still imperative he hear it in truth first.

Odalia snorted. “No. We’ll keep selling to them. We’ll just covertly sabotage the goods we grant them, and use our dealings to pump them for information. Once we’ve gained everything we can, we use the resources we’ve acquired in our dealings to crush them.” Her eyes sharpened. “They endangered our children. Our FAMILY. They will not be allowed to survive for this offense.” Alador gravely nodded. Oroboros had made a crucial mistake already. They’d tried to challenge the Blight family, and harm their children. There would be a reckoning for this sin, of that neither Blight had any doubts.

Raine Whispers was conflicted. On the one hand, they now knew who had cursed Eda, and their heart went out to their old flame about what she must be going through. On the other, more clinically minded hand, the revelation that Humans could wield magic was in itself a massive blow to Belos’ authority, particularly in regards to his edicts on magic and the Titan. It was certainly something to explore for the future. For the moment, they had to get to their meeting. If all went well, they would finally, finally have prospective members willing to step out of the shadows with them. To be honest, that Katya girl had seemed almost too eager to join up, but they would at least give her a chance to step back and explain before making… hasty judgments.

Eda slammed the bottle of Appleblood back, her tears pouring down as fast as the heavy beverage went down her throat. It still hurt. Luz cuddled up to her, lending a comforting presence, King sitting on her lap. Words could wait. The three of them had enough pain to work through. Eda allowed a small smile to cross her features. At least they had each other to share the burden.

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beelspillowpet · 4 years

Note

I keep constantly rereading your 'MC is a lesbian' and 'MC is dating Liza' head cannons because WOW I feel validated

Send me more lesbian prompts. I shall provide ;)

Don’t be afraid to send some gay and trans ones too if you can/want to! Always lookin’ to rep the lovelies <3

Liza would like more love tho hahaha

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faelune-home · 4 years

Text

FFXIV Write 2020 #10: Avail

(A/N: Based on the interpretation of the word “to be of use or value”, I took this opportunity to look at my miqo WoL’s willingness to help others and her own thoughts on being the soldier on command. Contrary to everyone saying she’s being used or treated as expendable - Fray included, since she’s dabbled in the darkness lol - she’s actually more than happy to help if she think she’s making someone happier or their time easier.

It’s something a lot of players tend to pick at and complain about, whenever the story makes us do small chores cos “we’re the warrior of light but the story just nudge nudges and jokes that we’re pushovers”, and it comes up in the DRK storyline as well. This isn’t a critique of the DRK line tho, I still really enjoyed the writing there. But I will say for miqo!Fufu, while maybe there’s some frustration or minor resentment, its waaay deep down, and she’s otherwise genuinely just happy to help.

Doesn’t stop the ever helpful Fray from bringing out an uncharacteristic anger in her anyway.

Set during early Heavensward after the Halatali rescue, no direct spoilers alluded to. I allude to two other fanfics I’ve done tho - only briefly, not necessary to read - the previous “Muster” prompt fic and a fic from June pre-ffxivwrite.

Word count: 1351

@ffxiv-writers)

To be free of Halatali’s claustrophobic halls, especially after the poisoned mists that had assailed them, felt like true relief. Even Raubahn, hobbling as he was and half leaning between Yugiri and Fufu for support, had an air of ease about him. Alphinaud prepped his grimoire all the same, ready to provide aid to the man. For the moment at least, before considering any further moves, they could be at peace.

They waited some time, with Yugiri dictating orders to her shinobi in pursuit of the Braves, until at last she returned to them, frustration plain on her face. “My apologies, Master Alphinaud. My shinobi can no longer find any trace of them.”

The elezen grit his teeth, biting back a curse. How he wished Ilberd could finally be caught and made to answer for his crimes. Instead, he let out a huff, saying, “As regrettable as that is to hear, I thank you and your men for their work. We owe you a debt for all you have done.”

Yugiri shook her head. “You owe us nothing. It is we that still owe you and your companions so much for granting us shelter and work. This is us continuing to repay you for your kindness.” She bowed, then with a glance at the haggard hyur seated on the old coliseum steps, she added, “I shall take over the general’s care until we make to leave. You can rest.”

With the general being tended to, Alphinaud sought instead to join the Warrior of Light, who stood at the other entrance to the plaza, her hands unusually stiff on her hips and her tail swishing back and forth roughly.

“Might I lend an ear for whatever troubles you?” he asked. Her ear flicked before she turned to face him, her mouth set in a firm line.

“I take it there’s no sign of him?” she asked back, glancing behind him. Her shoulders drooped when he frowned and shook his head.

“Unfortunately not.”

Her tail lashed again. “Dammit. I wish he’d just get caught and stay caught. We had him cornered and then he slipped out.”

“I share the sentiment, my friend, I truly do. Ilberd has been quite the thorn so far for both of us,” the younger boy said.

“I didn’t like what he said in there,” she stated, catching Alphinaud off guard for a spell.

“All that talk about me being used, like he knows a damn thing about me,” she scowled. The boy frowned, trying to ignore the guilty feeling gnawing at his gut. He wouldn’t speak over her now, even if he felt some truth to his former charge’s words. If only because he’d promised his friend that he wouldn’t continue to blame himself for the events of that night or his former actions.

Unaware of her company’s silence, Fufu continued, “I don’t like how he talks like we’re some kindred spirits, like I’m somehow shackled by my responsibilities and can’t go off doing anything else. I choose to follow orders ‘cos I know I’m helping people. Every little thing, every tedious act. Just ‘cos I’m the Warrior of Light doesn’t mean I’m suddenly above some menial work!” A growl had seeped into her words as she ranted, and what almost looked like a flash of red in her eye, startling Alphinaud such that he unwillingly stepped back from the woman. He didn’t know she was capable of such...fire.

As though suddenly conscious of her tone, Fufu winced, her ears flattening against her head as she said, “I mean, I said it to you, didn’t I? It’s not about being used, it's just ‘cos everyone else has better plans than me. It's better to follow them. I don’t mind.” She trailed off, brows knit together with worry.

He simply nodded, in response to her first question directed at him. A pregnant pause grew between them, neither ready to burst the bubble. A caw sounded in the distance, and closer was Raubahn’s hacking coughs.

She finally spoke again, still worried looking, but a lot calmer too; her tail no longer lashed violently and her shoulders were less tense. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get that worked up. I just...I don’t like when everyone else talks like I have no say in this. Like I’m being jerked around and toyed with. I know you tend to guilt trip a lot lately about how you treated me like a soldier always on call--”

Alphinaud winced, yet before he could say anything or do anything, she instantly flicked his forehead, prompting a hissed, “Ow!” from him before she leaned in, smirking in her usual playful manner, “And that’s not your cue to start again now.” Despite his irritation at the unprompted attack, he couldn’t help but give a small smile back.

“--Anyway, where was I? Just ‘cos I was at your beck and call or whatever doesn’t matter. I was happy to do it ‘cos I thought I was helping and making a difference, and if I really didn’t like what was happening or didn’t want to do something, I could’ve said so.” With a final huff and a firm nod, she finished, arms folded against her chest.

“I’ll ignore the unnecessary assault and simply say this; your candor is refreshing my friend. And although you didn’t wish me to mention it, I do have to say that your own willingness to follow orders doesn’t then forgive my attitude about it. I’m not saying this to have another ‘guilt trip’, as you would put it. Rather I would follow your example and simply acknowledge the facts.”

Fufu pouted, a flash of frustration in her wide purple eyes. “Fine, you can have that. But then also acknowledge that you know better now and are growing from it. Right now.”

Amused at her insistence, he nodded. “Very well. For all my esteemed education, there is still much and more for me to learn, and I can still improve.”

Her ear flicked, and her eyebrow raised, but rather than question his phrasing, she smiled and said, “That’s good. No amount of fancy learning means you know everything in the world. Even if you knew more than me.”

She laughed, “The closest thing to any scholarly learning I’ve had is asking the other Scions to teach me fancy words I didn’t know. I almost panicked thinking I’d be letting people down if I didn’t know any big long words in mission briefings.”

Despite her levity, mention of their missing comrades brought a heavy air over the boy, smile falling and his gaze turning to the ground. Noticing his shift in mood, Fufu placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and murmured, “We’ll find them. We have so many people looking for them now, the Flames and Yugiri’s shinobi. We’ll look under every rock if we have to, literally.”

“I know you’re right,” he sighed, “There can only be so many places to look.” He stood straighter, trying to look more assured. Turning to see the Auri woman helping Raubahn to his feet, he said, “The general appears ready to move on. I would like to give him another look over myself before we make for Camp Drybone to procure transport to Vesper Bay.”

Fufu nodded. “Alrighty. I need a moment, but I’ll keep an eye out here until we head off.” Alphinaud tipped his head to the side, curious, however he didn’t pry. He made his way back to their companions, now joined by the shinobi scouts, yet couldn’t help but peek back over his shoulder.

The miqo’te stood, frowning deeply at her hand, gripped tightly around something he couldn’t see clearly. The late Thanalan sun, dipping lower in the sky, caught the item, a harsh orange glint shining back at him.

Curiosity truly piqued now, he almost considered returning to her side. But he shook his head and stayed firm, continuing as he was. As her friend, he should allow her her privacy. After all, with all the work to be done in Ul’dah, when will they have another moment of peace?

#ffxivwrite2020 #ffxivwrite #alphinaud leveilleur #yugiri mistwalker #raubahn aldynn #keeper of the moon miqo'te #my wol #fufu faelune #my writing #ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #heavensward

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im-the-king-of-the-ocean · 4 years

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Mantle Nights

a bit of bonus material related to my fic, Dead Souls Living. This scene takes place concurrently to the events that’ll happen in Ch12, tho it will not appear in the fic itself. It was written as a sketch to get an idea of what information every set of characters is working with and overall dynamics.

To recap, Ruby and Penny have just escaped from Atlas to Mantle (via crash-landing).

The Atlesian perspective (Ironwood, AceOps, etc.) knows a lot about the situation (Ruby and Penny’s identities, why they’re fleeing, why it’s important to get them back (Silver Eyes/Winter Maiden Powers), etc).

The Happy Huntresses know Ruby and Penny are kids who’ve run away from Atlas and don’t want to go back, but Atlas is very keen on getting them back. They’ve been able to guess Penny’s identity (since she did have a rather public, onscreen death at the Fall), but they don’t know who Ruby is.

the rumor going through Mantle is that there’re some high profile Atlas Academy runaways being hidden and the general feeling is sympathetic toward them.

(for the record, Souls Ch12 will be mostly focused on Penny’s POV and what’s happening in her immediate vicinity. With this oneshot, I wanted to get a feel for the wider scope of effects the escape has set into motion.)

You wouldn’t know it’s usually the quietest time of a Mantle night just by looking, Robyn muses. For the first part of their walk, she kept a running tally of how many Atlesian Knight patrols she and Joanna passed. She got to fifty or sixty, and then gave up. Between the knights and the swarms of drones buzzing about, it’s more than clear Atlas’s fury has been invoked, and come down on Mantle.

They’ve been given no explanation as to why the military suddenly cares about the security of their streets, but no one’s fooled themselves that it’s out of actual concern for them. Atlas wants something, and isn’t going to stop until it gets it.

Robyn frowns. She’s been running through scenarios of what will happen when Atlas doesn’t get what it wants. None of them are remotely good. It would be so easy, she knows, to just let them have what it is they’re after. Robyn has a fairly good idea what that is, and, more importantly, where to find them.

She won’t. Of course, she won’t. She has morals. Even if Robyn doesn’t know all the specifics of the situation, she knows enough.

Robyn and Joanna stop across the street from the Mantle Police Department. Joanna looks to Robyn and raises an eyebrow in a silent question. Robyn nods once, curtly, and then advances toward the municipal building alone. It shouldn’t come to bailing her out (or, at worst, a prison break), but it’s safer to have backup at the ready.

Nothing seems out of the ordinary when Robyn walks through the doors into the department’s lobby. The woman who works the front desk, a reindeer Faunus named Gwen, looks up when Robyn enters. She opens her mouth to say something, but a man walks through the door leading into the back of the PD, beats her to it, and makes Robyn’s night infinitely worse.

Clover Ebi smiles at Robyn. “Ms. Hill, it’s nice to see you.” He holds out his hand. Robyn doesn’t take it. Briefly, Clover grimaces, but he conceals it under another a smile a second later. “We just have a few questions. I’m sure you understand.” He gestures for her to follow him into the back.

“Care to tell me what’s got the military so riled up?” Robyn asks as she follow him. They stop at a conference room.

Clover gestures for Robyn to sit down on one side of the table. He goes to a small counter off to the side and prepares two cups of coffee. Robyn doesn’t take the one he offers to her. If they want her fingerprints or DNA, they’re going to have to ask. Nicely.

“Alright. I’ll get straight to the point.” Clover sits down across from Robyn. He pointedly sips his own coffee. “Do you know the current whereabouts of May Marigold?”

Robyn sits back in her seat and crosses her arms. “Can I see the arrest warrant?”

Clover purses his lips. “I can assure you, no one is under arrest. We just need to know where Ms. Marigold is.”

“Why’s that?” Robyn asks, considers for a moment, and then adds, “This wouldn’t be the first time her ‘family’ has decided they don’t approve of her occupation.” Sure, the Marigolds don’t care about May as a person, but when they found out she still goes by their name. Yeah, they’re not exactly thrilled with that.

“The Marigolds aren’t involved in this particular situation.” Clover gives Robyn what she supposes he thinks a pleading look must be. He places his scroll down on the table and opens a video file. “Earlier tonight, Mantle street security footage captured Ms. Marigold at a scene the Atlas Military has under open investigation. We need to know where she went afterward.” Clover plays the video.

The staticky recording shows what appears to be a random Mantle street. Something bright green hurdles down from the sky and crashes. A blurry, blue-haired figure that could be identified as May approaches and disappears into the impact crater. The camera isn’t angled right to see what happens in the crater. Minutes later, Atlas Military personnel appear at the scene.

“What am I looking at here?” Robyn asks, genuinely. Yes, she knew there was a ‘situation’, but this is the first she’s learned exactly what went down.

“Like I said, it is a matter under open investigation by the Atlas Military. I cannot share the details, but we believe Ms. Marigold walked away with crucial evidence before we could examine it.”

“Based on your video.” Robyn gestures. “It doesn’t appear that whoever that was walked away at all.”

“We both know what Ms. Marigold’s semblance is, Robyn. She has the capacity to move freely, undetected.” Clover takes a breath. “Please. As a potential future member of the Atlas Council, citizen safety should be one of your highest priorities. We believe what was taken from the scene poses a high-level security threat. We need to know their current location.”

“Right. I don’t have that information, Clover. I barely know what’s going on.” Robyn shrugs. “All I know is one minute I’m going about my business, the next, the sky is swarming with Atlas ships and I’m being called here to answer questions.”

Clover looks at Robyn critically. She meets his gaze. Nothing is said.

Then, Clover states, “It would be in your best interest to help us, Robyn.”

“Like I said, I don’t know what’s going on,” she responds. “Is that all?”

“For now.” Clover exhales a long sigh. “We’ll be in touch.”

“I’m sure you will.”

On her way out, Robyn is stopped by Gwen from the front desk. “For the girls.” The Faunus woman thrusts a plate of cookies covered over with plastic wrap at Robyn. Once Robyn takes it, she hands her a carrying tray with two hot chocolates. “It’s been a long night,” Gwen explains, and then hurries off without explanation.

Robyn looks down at the offerings, allows herself a small smile, and then heads off into the night. She collects Joanna, who acquired an armload of thick blankets, coats, and at least one pair of sturdy, weather resistant boots while she waited.

Together, they take a meandering path to the drop point and only arrive at their destination when they’re sure they’ve shaken off the last of the drones. They leave their bundles of clothing and food, and head off to rendezvous with Fiona, who’s been following up a theory at Dr. Polendina’s pharmacy (the military had indeed shut the place down and maintains a presence there. In all likeliness, Pietro is being held up in Atlas, most likely under some kind of house arrest.)

Some time later, a person, who cannot be seen due to her invisibility semblance, comes for the supplies. Even though seeing the abundance of Mantle’s offerings warms her heart, May curses at just how many there are and doubles back for Maria to help her carry everything.

They get the lot sorted, check for hidden tracking devices (there are none), and take everything to the safehouse (actually just Maria’s house, but now that it technically houses fugitives, a name change seemed appropriate).

They arrive as the doctor they called, Klein Sieben, is returning down the stairs, trailed by not-actually-dead Penny Polendina.

“The girl is sleeping,” Klein informs May and Maria without prompting. “Her injuries weren’t severe, but her general health condition leaves much to be desired. I shall return in the morning to check up on her. Until then, I suggest you let her be.” He turns and gives Penny a pointed look. “And rest up yourselves. Your friend wasn’t the only one who fell from the sky, my dear.”

Penny nods, but doesn’t say anything. Whatever’s going through her head, she’s careful not to let any hint of it show on her face.

“Don’t worry.” May approaches Penny, plate of cookies in hand. “Mantle always provides for its adopted runaways.”

#rwby #robyn hill #clover ebi #dead souls living #whirls writing #also i just really wanted to write robyn hill alright #fun fact: i originally planned for it to be her not may #who comes across ruby and penny #but the scene didn't really work until i switched to may #so that happened

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fueledbysprite · 4 years

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abandoned wips masterlist

so not too long ago i did an insta poll asking if i should expose all my abandoned fic drafts cause i mean it’s not like theyre ever gonna see the light of day otherwise. i was going to do it when i hit 3k kudos on ao3 and i did so i suppose it has come time for me to expose my mistakes

for obvious reasons, don’t repost these (idk why anyone would lol) but if you really like one of these and want to see it continued, just hit up my ask box and i may or may not consider~

Miscellaneous Fandoms:

Ninjago: Zephyr - a Morro backstory fic bc the hageman bros refuse to feed me more content of my son. barely started it but yknow its there

Miraculous Ladybug/BoBoiBoy: this failed attempt at a fanginette fic bc @secretagentspydetectiveninja got me invested even tho writers block is a binch hahshs

BoBoiBoy:

kokotiam gang angst that reminded me i cannot for the life of me write emotional angst (or any angst for that matter oop)

ramenzo (and kaifang) angst that i churned out on a saturday afternoon on a writing spike instead of doing homework bc I Do Not Control the Writing Juice

au where bbb is a forest guardian(?) and fang just wants away from Society (same fang same) i will probably be yearning for woodland aus till the day i die bc who *doesnt* wanna ditch everything and go live in the middle of the woods amirite?

ramenzo n boifang water fight bc you cant convince me these idiots dont get up to ridiculous shenanigans on their downtime

abandoned draft for the sequel to the og ramenzo fic (dont bother reading it literally nothing happens i swear)

i literally don’t remember where i was going with this i think it was supposed to be fang introspection but idk??

uhh kaifang with ramenzo vibes i think this was gonna be? i genuinely don’t remember anymore oop-

RAMENZO IN QUARANTINE yes this one was regular au (i mean duh) and it’s a shame i never ended up finishing it-

i am actually goboifang t r a s h...until i realized im going to have to make all the food by myself and i never learned to make food :’)) (fr if anyone provides me with any kind of fanon gbf content i will love you forever pls)

this...exists even tho i honestly prefer it didnt but ramenzo is ramenzo n ramen has freckles i will fite u on this (dont read it pls)

if anyone wants ramenzo crumbs (and i mean that quite practically) then feel free to consume the Specks

dont read this pls im begging just dont lets yeet it into the void it doesnt exist~ I Do Not See It

update: i discovered this uhh kaifang post-bora ra incident thing in my other drive

Miraculous Ladybug:

okay forewarning there are wayyyy too many of these so im skipping the ones that are sequels/dependent on other fics for context just to spare myself from having to sort through this mountain

i was planning to participate in chlonath week 2k19 (unfortunately for chlonath nation I Do Not Control the Hyperfixation oop) if you want context then ask

marcnath crumbs thats it thats the doc

oh look allya is self projecting again (writing is still pain) (marcnath)

for the one who requested chloenette with the dialogue prompt i am so sorry

idk why this feels like something ive posted before but then again all lovesquare is the same to me (dead) so who knows im not gonna bother checking hshsh (marichat)

chlonath go to comic con or sth idk chloe is tsundere as always (or would have been anyway if i ever ended up Finishing this)

i *think* this was based on a @terrible-miraculous-ladybug-aus post but heck if i remember now- (lukanette??)

i have absolutely no recollection as to where i was going with this but if anyone finds the concept interesting then by all means go ahead n snatch it- (manon finds the miraculous i guess?)

this is a great. opening. to a chloe fic. that doesnt exist. oof :,)

caline bustier’s home for orphans amirite (i mean she basically already adopted the whole class so)

im genuinely not a fan of the jealous!lover trope but someone in the marcnath server wanted some at one point so i. attempted. and failed but you know thats to be expected at this point :’3

oh look allya is projecting her writing struggles onto marc again is anyone surprised?

theres probably a museum brotp story in here but it doesnt exist and at this point it never will rip

oh good lord not this again i genuinely managed to forget about it for a while until now-

i just read the first line and im already reeling what the heck is this nathanette(??)

WHY IS THERE MARICHAT IN MY WIP FOLDER WHAT

allya stop projecting onto emo weebs challenge failed

i really wanna know where the context for chlonath skiing trip came from i literally have 0 recollection of this at all??

YO I ACTUALLY REMEMBER THE CONTEXT FOR THIS ONE anyway nath n aroace!alix arranged marriage au anyone?? well too bad cause i abandoned it oop-

ahahahahahahaha wdym i wrote 7k of chlonath and then ditched it i would never do that lmao-

i think this was a hunger games au uh

something something marcnath

marcnath angst i guess? *allya pls stop trying to write angst we’ve already established that is not a thing you can do*

something something chlonath

im never gonna forgive @powerdragonmoon for the fact that i thought “beecock” while glancing over this to figure out wth was going on. cholaon works here too tho so that is what i shall call it //sideways glare at moon

take your otp. now put them on a trampoline. but heaven forbid you ever finish the fic- (chlonath if it wasnt obvious)

nathanette doll au from forever ago with @lotus-duckies that was a real concept its a shame i have 0 commitment

i wanna call this lukanathanette but i honestly don’t remember where i was going with it so idk

hi uhm what is this and why is it so depressing allya fr quit self projecting on emo tomatoes oml

chlonath established relationship i guess??

museum brotp go skating?? is that what this is?

how much chlonath do i hAVE also chloe u tsundere

nathaniel is Yearning n tbh i dont blame him cause same (ft. marc)

i could swear this was gonna be luklonath (chlolukanath??) but i wouldnt be able to remember-

if anyone can figure out what’s going on with marc pls tell me bc i dont-

cholaon but theres no context

Oh god im finally done good lord that’s all of em i hope i never have to look at a mlb doc again in my life anyway pls be grateful n enjoy the crumbs n stuff thanks i sacrificed my sanity for this-

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vroenis · 4 years

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When The Best You Can Do Is Shoot A Gun

The Animal Crossing / Doom Eternal Covid19 launch coincidentally seems to be related to this discussion, even tho I’d say Doom Eternal has an excellent combat system and isn’t really relevant to what I’m going to bring up. I don’t have a problem with shooty-shooty, I have purchased, played and will continue to purchase and play plenty of video games that engage with firearm violence. There are plenty of discussions about how intelligent, consenting adults can do this without any problems and I won’t retread them here. Doom is simple game themed vaguely around demons; demons bad, player protagonist good, good player shoot bad demons - OK you got it, apply an incredible movement system into that and enjoy.

What I want to discuss involves of-course that pesky word and idea nuance, which annoys the shit out of more people these days, for its applications and misapplications - fingers-crossed I don’t fuck it up, but first I want to bring up Ubisoft and systems, so now’s as good a place as any for a stolen picture from the internet.

As far as concept art goes, that’s actually very representative of the final product in-game.

Ubisoft appear to have a long-term open-world tech development objective. I believe at some point very soon, these individual objectives will converge into one single middleware product with a mandate to producce retail licenses that combine what each of these individual franchises have been testing and achieving in isolation, those being;

Ghost Recon Wildlands and Breakpoint: 3rd person Load-On-Demand

The Division: 3rd Person Cover and interactivity

Assassin’s Creed: Environmental mapping and interactivity

Starlink: Scaling Load-On-Demand

Far Cry: First Person implementation of various combinations of above

I’ll put it another way;

Ghost Recon: Load everything

The Division: stick to everything

Assassin’s Creed: climb everything

Starlink: scale everything

Far Cry: do it in first person perspective

It looks like all of these games are running in Ubisoft in-house proprietary engines. Ghost Recon and Assassin’s Creed are running in Anvil, developed for the very first Assassin’s game and in which the Prince of Persia 2008 and Forgotten Sands also ran in. Oddly, (Rainbow Six) Seige, Steep (lol) and For Honor are also running in Anvil.

Both Division games and Starlink are running in Snowdrop and this appears to be due to The Division having come from Massive Entertainment. I’ll be honest, from the perspective of a consumer (read: punter) and someone with extremely minimal 3rd-hand development experience, The Division looks far more impressive than both the Ghost Recon and Assasin’s games, and former Massive brand and art director Rodrigo Cortes has said of the engine that it was design to “do things better not bigger” and I think it shows. Anyway, it was still developed with Ubisoft so as I understand it, they own it. Massive is a Ubisoft subsidiary, their studio based in Sweden.

Far Cry is going to be a little different, being a little older and having its roots slightly before... what shall we call this mess... the cynical age? The microtransaciton age? Anyway. The first game used the CryEngine developed by Crytek. At some point, Ubisoft seemed to develop an offshoot of the engine called Dunia because the CryEngine was licensed and clearly lucrative, I think. I’m not entirely sure, but Dunia does appear to remain in-house and under the auspices of Ubisoft Montreal. Where am I going with all this?

Starlink was “toys to life” a-la Skylanders but way too late, combined with No Man’s Sky-lite, but the game itself other than being overstuffed with Ubisoft copy-and-paste template-quests is an excellent proof of concept.

I do need to say that in general, I don’t have any particular affinity for Ubisoft. So I am yes, absolutely fascinated with something I do think is happening as far as tech goes and now I’m writing about it in this piece, and yes you can tell I’ve played and even enjoyed some of the games they’ve produced and published, but there’s a lot not to like about many of their practices, the least of which is the overbearing sense of cynicism pervasive in many of their games.

I played Far Cry 3 long after it released and got perhaps 20% thru the campaign before giving up entirely. For starters, nothing about how it controlled felt right and I appreciate that’s purely a personal preference. Being a Battlefield player, there’s something about DICE’s sense of locomotion that is perfect to me, even tho it varies from title to title from Bad Company 2 all the way to V most recently. Other things about Far Cry bother me tho - if there’s wildlife around, it always attacks the player, guaranteed. Everything about this game seems to be designed to force the player into engagement, to provide you with materials to collect, craft or sell, but also to run you short of ammunition to either scrounge for more or have to buy it because *surprise* - it prompts you to purchase ammunition for real-world money. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Fuck off. I uninstalled the game immediately. I can deal with ridiculous AI with magical aim and irrational scripting. I can deal with absurd narrative for the sake of reading (and roasting later), but the entire package culminating in purchasing more ammunition was otherworldly, it was truly bizarre. To this day, I don’t understand what world Ubisoft inhabits that this is something that makes sense to anyone in management or marketing, and yet there it is and there are consumers that not only accept it but embrace it. No doubt there are metrics from the mobile industry that support it and dear lord the capitalist apocalypse is upon us.

What will Ubisoft do when they can merge these technologies? They definitely want to and likely already have in-house, they just need the engine to run client-side for the Consumer. You and I and Inside Gaming are all laughing it up at Stadia right now, but we’re at the wrong end of the business. For Ubisoft, they can ignore the faltering at the start, it’s the long-term they focus on. The pittance Google are losing now, even if they end-up shuttering the project will be meaningless if they end-up getting the hardware to work, even if the end-result is the hardware sitting in a box in the consumer’s home in 10 years. Sure, that’s a long loop, but the journey still doesn’t matter, only the eventual ROI.

If this piece hasn’t gotten boring for you yet, it’s about to because you’re probably excited for what Ubisoft will do with this impending technological power and development and I rally am not. What will Ubisoft do with it? Probably just more Assassin’s Creed, except you’ll be able to snap to cover and have a fully mapped country. Probably more The Division, but you’ll have a fully mapped city that you can also climb on the outside of buildings and then enter them without any loading. Probably more Far Cry but with bigger maps and more interactivity and less loading. The next generation of consumer hardware consoles from Microsoft and Sony are upon us and as much as PC enthusiasts hate to admit it, the consumer market is largely gated by the generational hardware stepping of these platforms. That may change after this era depending on how Google, Amazon and indeed Microsoft and Sony go with cloud computing, but for the moment the status-quo will remain as alternative products develop. Bear in mind with Covid19, climate change and the general sustainability and ethical standards of working and living being under growing scrutiny the world over, things are changing more each day, our technology development may change in ways we don’t expect so who even knows what’s in store for the future.

So What Do I Actually Want?

Good question. NB: before you ask, Animal Crossing isn’t my thing. I played it years ago on Gamecube. It’s cute, it’s fine. I’ve no interest in it. I’m writing this note in retrospect because I realise you may say “Just play Animal Crossing or The Sims but hopefully I can illustrate by neither of those games is what I’m after, nor do I just want to build a house in something like No Man’s Sky and fill it with crap. Let’s see if I get there... A few weeks ago I wrote about how the best thing Naughty Dog did with Uncharted 4 was Elena and Nathan’s domestic spaces. I did purchase The Division 2 on the cheap a couple of weeks ago and I’ll be honest, there’s a lot about it that I’m enjoying quite a bit. For a start, visually it’s stunning. The art team have done an excellent job of both filling the world with immense detail, but also making every area of Washington unique and distinct which is a huge feat given the total space covered. Thus far, I’ve spent a whole lot of time just walking around and gathering resources, in part just to sightsee and explore without any particular objective in mind. After a while, I got the impression that the map was a bit flat, but the more you explore, the more you find places where you get verticality, and then doing missions always adds verticality and variety in environmental and art design, it’s a marvel to see.

Apologies to James and Thomas (above) for ripping these images, but I’m glad your names are in frame so you have direct credit - outstanding work. The art in this game is without question its strongest element.

And that’s just the thing - The Division is an interesting game in that what I enjoy most is the sense of walking around exploring, gather resources and helping people. I’m not here on an anti-violence kick - I play Battlefield, I actually don’t mind the shooting in The Division, it’s fine, whatever, I’m not going to justify that. What I’m saying is that it gets boring.

THERE ARE A LOT OF GAMES ABOUT SHOOTING.

Like... a lot. More than enough. There will always be a lot of games about shooting and that’s fine. I think I’ll always play them. Hey, I even play games about shooting *in very specific ways* - it’s not like I don’t care about the shooting, I’m playing The Division with only a bullpup DMR and shotgun combo, plus I’m trying to use my sidearm when traversing the streets as much as possible so don’t at me, I’m in the game.

But we seem to mostly get high detail assets in games with guns because shooty games get all the money. I get it - shooty games get all the sales because we as gamers like to play them - sure, I’m one of them, but I didn’t buy The Division until it was under AUD$30 because gotdam the shooting is so boring and even now yes, it really do be just more boring shooting, just like it’s boring in Uncharted, just like it’s boring in Ghost Recon (my goooooood so boring), just like it is in Destiny, and the umpteenth shooty mcshooty game. I’m getting too old for this.

Uncharted 4 had an opportunity to do something more and it almost did. For many players, it probably achieved enough of what I was after by those two visits to the Fisher and North residences but I wanted so much more of that. I want to see Sully’s house or houses, more of his life. I want to know where Chloe’s life is at. I want to know of their lives and emotional engagements outside of the frankly stupid narrative I have no interest in because it’s clearly stupid and an excuse for running and jumping that other games have since done better. If Uncharted as a whole was a subtext for character, then by the fourth game, the focus should have been the characters that carried the series thru to the end - no disrespect to Tom Baker - not the heretofore unrevealed older brother.

For Years I Didn’t Know “Walking Simulator” Was A Pejorative

I think this is why I replayed and continue to replay Dear Ester so much. I remember laughing my ass off at YouTubers making videos about how it wasn’t a game and that it didn’t have objectives. Yet there were still threads and might still be on reddit or Discord wherever gamers congregate these days - about “virtual tourism” and “just chillin’ in place x because it’s so awesome” etc. It’s fine, each generation will rediscover virtual tourism again and again and we can’t denigrate anyone for doing so, it’s certainly nothing we invented given it comes from literature and oral tradition before that, but it’s remarkable that there’s this resistance to experiences crafted purely for the purposes of being immersed in them.

I adore Dear Ester and Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture. Absolutely loved What Remains Of Edith Finch and only if you have already played Edith Finch, because it’s full of spoilers but also its own spoiler warnings, I heartily recommend Joseph Anderson’s outstanding video The Villain of Edith Finch. It’s a 53 minute watch so I won’t embed it, and he has a certain style of presentation that won’t gel with everyone, nor do I always agree with everything he says which should go without saying but at some point folks, you have to stop pursuing art, criticism and media that just wholly aligns with your own views. That said, I generally do find most of what he says agreeable, innit. Anyway he’s great and the video is great.

While Dear Esther is more surreal and Rapture and Edith Finch are in part slightly more fantastical than the real-life settings of Uncharted 4′s home and Division’s post-apocalyptic cities, they all visually represent dense, very human object-rich spaces that to me are quite interesting to explore. Dear Esther might be a little more rooted in nature but its human elements tie-in to its narrative in an extremely interesting way. Each game offers different levels of interaction, some that serve the narrative directly, some as subtexts and others quite mildly in the periphery.

I’m sorry if I’m repeating myself but I remember seeing a promo for Battlefield Hardline coming off the back of Battlefield 4 and the ridiculous marketing phrase “levolution” - the term they coined for large-scale environmental destruction (please take the keys away from the marketing department). I remember seeing video footage of a large construction crane falling in a level and thinking

“All this intelligence, all this tech, and this is what we do with it? Is this all we can achieve? This is it?”

That’s how I feel about this emerging technology. Somewhere out there (on YouTube, to be fair), there’s all this footage buried of the Beyond Good And Evil sequel that to everyone’s knowledge is still in development. I’d put my money on that being the first project built in Ubisoft’s convergence engine that they hope successfully implements everything that each of these games executes individually. I know the BG&E fans are frothing for it and when I saw those early demos, what I interpret of the tech did blow me away, but from an experience perspective, I did still think the same thing...

“Is this it?”

Because of-course, a huge part of the new game is going to be combat. I just - don’t - care. When I think about what was lacking in Uncharted 4, what I wanted more of, it was intimacy. What didn’t I like about the conversation and resolution between Elena and Nathan? About the tours of their homes, the little time spent playing as Cassie, the few insights into Sully as a character, the absence of Chloe who was such a great contrast to Nathan, Elena and Sully all-together... it was intimacy. Yea oroight, so I don’t exactly mean the type of real-life intimacy between lovers, do I - that much is clear. But if I don’t mean shooty because there’s enough of that, and I’m leaning into domestic detail and emotional exploration and reflections of that in objects, spaces and interactivity, then that’s what I mean.

Tho I’m loath to bring it up, I feel like in the worst possible way, David Cage is right on the periphery of this discussion (and for that reason, I ain’t tagging him or his games in this entry, get fucked). He has the most vague notion of trying to ground his games in the intimacy of human experience, so he tries to tie human locomotion and objects to the digital representations of interactivity. If we take those as perhaps the worst possible examples and then come back to some really good examples in Uncharted 4 so I can stop whipping it - I maintain that the house tours are strengths and the high-points of the game, and then look at something like The Division and consider opportunities for more complex interactivity centred around helping people and emotional engagement, I feel like that’s what I’m after.

Which is impossible, right? No-one’s going to make a game even a quarter of the scope of The Division, with all that amazing dynamic lighting, with all those awesome textures and mapped objects, animations, rigged character models, complex scripting and AI, interactivity, load-on-demand tech and full voice-talented support, just to be a game about exploring, sightseeing, meeting and learning about people and helping them? Because who would play that?

I would, for a start.

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tortoisesshells · 5 years

Note

Prompt meme! "How nice of you to take time out of your grievance to mock me" and Turn? Characters of your choice!

Turn, indeed, but a little bit of prehistory/slice of life for new Yale graduate turned schoolmaster Benjamin Tallmadge.

A Line or two can give no great Offense

Wethersfield, Connecticut Colony, Spring 1774

For all that a gull could cross the Sound in a matter of hours, and so could wake to the noise of Father’s church-bells in Setauket but – if he were determined! – find an evening’s rest among the nets and smallboats of Wethersfield’s sleepy little river-cove, the daily rounds of life seemed a much different affair between the two places. Winter, particularly. Of course he’d written Nathan about it – holed up in his room with a guttering candle for company, Benjamin Tallmadge had scratched out his complaints: the loneliness of long nights (intermittently broken by invitations to the gaiety at Hospitality Hall, where Mrs. Webb pointedly did not notice the wearing on his cuffs), the draft in the Meetinghouse he’d begun to regard as his personal property, and – most disheartening of all – the distinctive breed of parsimony that came from a prosperous town. The ink hadn’t frozen in his students’ wells, but only just, it seemed.

(This was everything – everything but the news from Boston. But then, all of New England was held still and waiting, a hunter holding his breath or the convict on the scaffold.)

He’d bundled his misery into letters to the lonely school-house at Moodus, and took himself down to the ice-choked river, of a morning, to reflect. The floes that jostled for position on their stately sweep south would pass Nathan by far before any missive of his arrived. His father had preached patience, but how hard it was to wait!

He’d missed home – missed Setauket, missed his friends, missed Nathan, missed Yale – through the winter, and yet there were consolations, which he endeavored to remember when teased for his letters’ unrelenting gloom. The conspicuous generosity of the Webbs, for one, and the warmth at Stillman’s Tavern when that failed. The people, too – and not just the Boardman girls, who Mrs. Webb seemed to be conspiring to place in his path. Outside of New Haven, Wethersfield must have had the largest number of Yale’s graduates – which was fortunate, for Silas Deane, the most prominent among the alumni, was ever too busy for questions regarding legal practice. A letter came in mid-February, blown along in the lull between blustering storms: greetings, the cold, consequences from the tea protest, his scant acquaintances in Moodus, the cold, news of their mutual friends, and, held for last – practically coyly! – an opening for a school master in New London! The current Master, it is expected, will take his leave in March. A quick reference to Providence, in whose hands all of this rested, whatever my Fate, I remain your Friend and Humble Serv’t –

News indeed! And better still, in the evenings, to speak of his friend’s good fortune than his politics at such an uncertain time, in a town not his own, where Beadle, one of the chief merchants, was not so many years removed from London.

No doubt, he’d eventually written back, New London, from its whaling Business, will be yet a brighter place. Deane’s wife (Mrs. Elizabeth Deane, not his Business and Ambitions, tho’ Deane is more frequently to be seen in the company of the latter than the former, he’d written months before, disgruntled) hailed from that port, and when not minding her husband’s affairs or her many step-children, she could be prevailed to talk of its news and its people. Mrs. Deane assures me that New London has many comings and goings, and sufficient Beauties to decorate its good Fortune. And so on in that vein.

The response arrived with the turning of the seasons, and Tallmadge read with alacrity. How Nice, Nathan wrote – an ink splatter where he’d laughed as he held his pen – of you to curtail your usual round of Weathersfield Complaints to mock me. His words had raced off: how grand the Union School would be, the challenge and prestige it would offer, pointed references to the future. Could there be a more ideal position for an ambitious young man? Even in such a precarious time? I pray you will address all Correspondence past May to New London, and even there I shall be your Friend –

He laid the letter on his table. It wasn’t so much further to New London, as far as letters went, as far as traveling went. He wouldn’t be in Wethersfield forever.

#turn amc #new fandom who's this?#my fic #fic #do you want the footnotes? because by gad there's footnotes

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ajina-apprentice · 7 years

Text

Demon Doctor

So, after going over the Tarot card writing prompts and seeing that for the Death card a Demon AU was suggested, a little story idea with my Apprentice Ajina and Demon!Julian came up in my mind. I wrote something quick and unpolished. No idea if I would ever flesh this story out, but I hope you still enjoy this little ‘pilot’ drabble. Set in a Modern version of Vesuvia.

“It was a magnificent show. I quite enjoyed myself.”

“Your enjoyment is a big reward for me. I’m glad you finally could make it Countess.”

“Please, my friend. I told you to call me Nadia.”

“Of course, Nadia. Forgive me.”

The Countess hummed pleased. “You are forgiven.” She then took Ajina’s clasped hands in her own and drew her closer. “And speaking of rewards...I want to offer you to join me at my villa this evening. After all I still need to thank you for the great help you have been to me. And I have something...special in mind.”

Ajina tried to gulp as subtle as possible. The alluring smile that Nadia made gave her an idea of what she meant with special. And even when she considered it for a second she shook her head with a rueful smile.

“As tempting as this offer sounds, I sadly have to decline the invitation Nadia. Still have work to do at my shop.”

“Well, that is unfortunate,” Nadia sighed disappointing, but then put on her usual regal expression. “But understandable.” She held Ajina’s hands to her lips to give them a quick kiss and glanced her a saucy smile. “Perhaps another day?”

“I, uhm, will see when I’m free to follow your request.” Ajina stuttered with red cheeks.

“Splendid.” Nadia purred in delight and let go of her hands. “Then I shall no longer keep you from your work. Have a pleasant night.”

With those words the Countess turned around and left Ajina alone in the backstage area of the theater.

“Puh, finally,” she sighed relieved and her whole body relaxed again. Talking with high-society people was always exhausting for her. And them being hot and flirting with you didn’t make it any easier.

She was debating with herself, if she actually should go back to her shop or do something else, when she heard a chuckling voice coming from behind her.

“My, my. The Countess seems quite taken by you, hm?”

Ajina only glanced to the dark shadows, that the curtains cast on the ground, before she walked past them to her dressing room. Hollow footsteps were following her.

“Apparently so,” she answered the voice with a sigh and entered her dressing room. “I just don’t get why.”

The door was closed right behind Ajina. Nobody entered with her. Still the voice was right beside her in the dim lit room and had a playful tone to it.

“Oh, I don’t know. I could come up with a few good reasons.”

Ajina laughed at those words. “Please, keep the flatteries for yourself.” She went behind a curtain and started to change her clothes. “It’s not like I’ve heard them a hundred times by now.”

“Ah, so should I come up with new ones? Would be no problem for me,” the voice answered cheeky.

“Oh, I have no doubt about that,” Ajina mumbled and appeared from behind the curtain again, now in her street clothes. But she wasn’t alone anymore.

A tall figure stood in the middle of the room, with ash-grey skin and a pair of black leathery wings that hung around its broad shoulders like a coat. A pair of waved horns grew out of its red, curly hair. The one eye, that wasn’t covered by an eye-patch glowed golden in the dim light.

“You know, being the lover of the Countess can entail a lot of benefits for you,” the figure said with a tone like he wanted to sell her a new car for a good price. But Ajina wasn’t buying it and only sat down in a chair at her dressing table with crossed arms.

“You really need to come up with better arguments to make me do the naughty stuff Julian.” she said with a wry smirk.

“But my dear Ajina, what better argument can there be?” Julian gasped in acted indignation and sauntered to her side, leaning with one arm on the table. “I’m sure being seen with her will grant attention. A lot more people will come to your show, maybe even enough so you don’t have to work at that shop of yours and you can do the fire dance every evening when you want.

“You know I hate it, when you call it dancing,” she grumbled and poked his hip. Ajina had to crane her neck to look up at him and giving him a disapproving glare. She always had to do that, even when she was standing, when she wanted to see more than his chest.

“Details, details” she chuckled in a chiding tone and poked her nose in return. Then his expression turned to something neutral. “Seriously tho, why don’t you go for the Countess? Others would sell their soul to spent a night with such a beauty, who is also a big gun in the city.”

“And why do you insist so much on me hoping with people into bed who can make my life easier?” she retorted and raised an eye-brow. “Sounds almost like you care about my well-being. Very unusual for a demon, isn’t it?”

A demon that was sent to lead her into temptation, to impurify her soul.

It was now three months since the demon with the unusually normal name Julian had come into Ajina’s life to achieve exactly this goal. So far he had not much success with that and had stayed in the mortal world longer than he had anticipated. While his attempts at leading her to temptation were annoying from time to time, Ajina had learnt to appreciate the entertaining company he provided, adding to the fact that he was nice to look at.

Julian didn’t react to Ajina’s accusation at first and only looked to the site, considering a good response.

“What’s wrong with combining the pleasant and the useful?” he finally answered and grinned at her again. “Besides, it would fall under the Greed category.”

“Sure it does,” she snorted, not believing him. Julian may be convinced that he wasn’t more than an evil spirit, but during their time together Ajina had seen glimpse of an actually kind character.

Normally she would like to tease him about it, but right now she was too tired and just wanted to go home.

“Anyway, me and Nadia is not gonna happen,” she said with a tone of finality and stood up from her chair.

“Oh? And what speaks against it?” Julian asked and followed her with eyes, while she put some of her stuff into a bag.

“First of all, my demonic friend, she is not my type. Oh she is sexy as hell and I respect her a lot, but there wouldn’t be more than a fun night in the end.” After she had finished packing her bag, she slung it over her shoulder and looked over to Julian. “And by now you should know that I’m not a person for one-nighter.”

“Yes, I know,” the demon said and ran a hand frustrated through his hair. “And you would make my job so much easier, if you would just tell me what type you have.”

“No luck with that Cupid, I don’t really have a type. I just go with the flow.” she deflected his attempt at getting information and walked towards the door.

Ajina really was tired and slowly became fed up with this conversation, a topic he pestered her a lot about recently and that she didn’t want to answer truthfully.

“You can’t fool me Ajina. You humans always get more attracted by things you like, so you do have a type,” he said in a calm, but insisting voice.

Tired and frustrated Ajina thudded her head against the door and blurted out the first words that came into her mind: “Look into the mirror then you get your answer.”

The moment she realized what she had said, Ajina tensed up. Great, was it really that wise to tell the demon, who tried to tempt her, that she had a thing for him?

She expected to hear triumphal laughter or that he would tease. But all she heard from him was a quiet “Oh.”

Perplexed by his lack of reaction, Ajina turned around to look at him.

His face was the perfect picture of being flabbergasted and...was he actually blushing? Even his ears?!

Ajina spluttered at this unexpected and fairly adorable sight, which prompted Julian only to blush harder and avert his gaze to the side.

Before she was able to form coherent words again, someone knocked at the door.

“Ajina? Are you still there?” It was Asra, Ajina’s best friend, who probably was here to pick her up.

When he had knocked, she had looked to the door for a moment and when she returned her eyes to Julian, only black smoke was there. He had vanished.

Well, after that awkward moment it was nothing she could held against him.

What had just happened?

Had he actually been flustered by her confession that she thought of him as attractive?

A smile curled her lips, when she thought back at his bashful expression. So much for being a all evil demon, huh Julian?

Ignoring the butterflies in her stomach, she turned around to greet Asra.

#The Arcana #The Arcana fanfic #julian devorak #Nadia #Fan Apprentice #Julian x Apprentice #Julian #Ajina #Ajina x Julian #Demon AU #the thing with him using the wings as cloak I have from Gargoyles #because it's aweomse #also I don't know if he wears clothes or not #if not you can't see anything of course #My Writing

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petyrbaealish · 7 years

Text

My second promised prompt for my 400 Follower Celebration. Hope you like it!

For: My 400 Follower Celebration. Halloween themed prompts.

Prompt: By @escapist-capsule: "Corpse Bride inspired (sort of) Sansa is about to marry Joffrey but she is nervous about her vows, goes to woods to practice but when she says them loud and puts the ring on a branch Petyr shows up telling her she vowed to love the lord of underworld. She probably freaks out at first but he shows her that Joffrey is basically human living demon and she chooses Petyr over him. ?"

Tags: Petyr x Sansa, Halloween, Hades/Persephone Parallels, Marriage, Canon AU, Godswood

Title: Come, Steal My Heart, My Soul, My Body (read below, or on AO3. Link here.)

Summary: Sansa seeks the godswood for comfort for her impending marriage to Joffrey. The Lord of the Underworld answers her prayers.

Come, Steal My Heart, My Soul, My Body

It was cold, the chill slipping beneath her clothes and into her bones, soothing her stuttering heart in its icy embrace. The moon hung low in the sky, its light barely visible through the trees that ran thick in the woods just outside of Winterfell. Still, Sansa could see well enough, her eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness that many found oppressive, but felt rather freeing to her. The dark held no terrors that the light did not. There were more ways to cloak a crime than the absence of light.

She was to be wed tomorrow, to a boy she barely knew. He was from a good family, his father close with her own, and quite handsome besides. They were to be married in the Sept, joined for all eternity in front of the Seven, for though her family had kept to both the old gods and the new, her husband to be and his family had long ago parted from the old ways. Sansa had always been drawn to the Sept rather than to the godswood, more like her lady mother than like her father, but tonight she sought solace from the old gods, her prayers unanswered by the Seven.

Until tonight, she’d been thrilled with the prospect of marrying Joffrey Baratheon. Never had she imagined that her life would truly be one to record in the songs, though she had hoped and prayed it might be. He looked every bit the part of her knight in shining armour. But as the day waned, her nerves slowly got the better of her. And she remembered the moments that had collected rust on that perfect vision, the hints of something horrible lurking beneath Joffrey’s handsome exterior. She wondered if perhaps the life that awaited her might not be a song, after all.

Afraid to voice her concerns to her family, Sansa had gone to the Sept, craving reassurance. Finding none, she turned to the only source of comfort left to her, the family godswood, and the heart tree that connected the living with the old gods.

As she approached the weirwood, its pale bark almost blindingly white against the black of night, the wind picked up, rustling the tree’s blood red leaves. Sansa shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around her body, the reaction born not only from the cold but from the mysteries that always clung to these woods. The old gods were listening. She could feel it.

Drawing close enough to touch the roughened bark, Sansa reached out a hand to the weirwood’s trunk, taking in a deep breath to steady her nerves. Closing her eyes, she prayed, asking for whatever assistance the gods might give her. She imagined that they could hear her pleas, that their words would come to her, drifting along the soft breeze that was playing with the loose strands of her flame kissed hair.

“We are one and the same, you and I,” she murmured. “Pale of skin, haloed in fire. A face that does little to show the depths of our character. Though you may grimace to the world, I see the kindness in your heart, just as the smile upon my lips fails to reveal the uncertainty within. I ask that you guide me along the path I am meant to take, for you know better than I.”

The air was quiet, but for the faint sounds of leaves caught along the breeze, her own shallow breaths, the thrum of her heart. Sansa strained her ears for a sign of the knowledge she hoped would come, but if the old gods were whispering, it wasn’t to her. Choking back a sob, she closed her eyes in hopes of stemming the flow of tears, and hugged the tree, the bark scraping against her cheek.

The tears never came, her family’s heart tree providing the comfort she needed despite its silence. She sank to her knees, still holding onto the trunk, drawing strength from the contact. Her mind slowly settled, the kinks unknotting in her thoughts and in her body, until she’d finally regained her calm. Perhaps she ought to be marrying in front of the heart tree, rather than in the Sept. While the Seven had done little to soothe her heart, the heart tree’s solid presence had quieted her anxieties, at least in part.

Sansa opened her eyes, calling up an image of Joffrey, seeing them wed in her mind’s eye. Her nerves still fluttered, but less so, and she rose to her feet, still picturing the scene. They would say the vows much as they would in the Sept, but here in front of the heart tree instead.

A septon stood in front of her, his voice steady and sure. “In the sight of the old gods and the new, I hereby seal these two souls, binding them as one for eternity. Look upon one another and say the words.”

Sansa fumbled in the pocket of her cloak for the ring she’d taken earlier, from her parents, the ring she was meant to give Joffrey. In a flight of whimsy, she reached for a nearby branch, imagining that it was Joffrey’s outstretched hand, that one of the twigs was his waiting finger. Squeezing her eyes shut tight, her heart in her throat, she said the words as she slipped the ring onto the twig, trying to hear Joffrey say them right along with her. “Father, Smith, Warrior, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Stranger. I am his and he is mine, from this day, until the end of my days.”

As she spoke, she heard another voice, soft and gravelly, speaking the same words. “Father, Smith, Warrior, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Stranger. I am hers and she is mine, from this day, until the end of my days.”

The realization that she’d not been merely imagining the voice only struck her once she’d finished her vows. Startled, Sansa opened her eyes and gasped. She was no longer holding onto a tree branch, but a man’s hands. A ring glinted on his left ring finger, and on her own finger was a second ring, though she hadn’t noticed the slip of cold metal along her skin. She watched, astonished, as both rings transformed before her eyes, turning silver, set with jewels shimmering in the moonlight, sparkling white and ruby red.

Feeling dazed, Sansa slowly trained her gaze upwards, taking in the man before her. Dark stubble flecked with grey peppered his jaw, thickening at the point of his chin and above his lip. His mouth was turned upwards on one side in a half twist of amusement that caught her off guard, though his eyes betrayed nothing of the thoughts within, vibrant greenery entwined with smoke. Though his hair was nearly as black as his cloak, silver temples glittered in the moonlight.

He was older than her, to be certain, but not so much as to warrant the grey, she thought. And though he wasn’t like the knights her heart normally yearned for, there was something about him, an allure she couldn’t quite define. Those eyes gripped her. That smirk bewitched her. His voice had charmed her.

Whoever he was, he had ensnared her heart in a moment’s glance, their spoken vows binding them together for all of eternity. She’d said the words with him, however intentionally so, and now she was his and he was hers, until the end of their days. She should have been terrified, bound to man she’d never met, had absolutely no knowledge of.

And yet she wasn’t.

He was the answer to all of her prayers. Sansa had asked the old gods for assistance, and they had provided. She was free from her obligations to marry Joffrey, having now wed another. A man whose very aura exuded power, even as it inexplicably comforted her.

Sansa stared at him, marveling at the planes of his face, enraptured. She knew she should say something, but her tongue had failed her, so she simply tightened her hands in his and waited, patiently, for him to break the silence.

He was most obliging.

Freeing one hand from her grasp, he raised it to cup her cheek. “What a fine Queen you’ll make, sweetling.”

Sansa leaned into his touch, though her gaze never strayed from his. “Queen?” she whispered.

He nodded, mouth quirking again. “Oh yes,” he murmured. “For I am the Lord of the Underworld. You will rule by my side, and truly, it will be for all of eternity.”

Her breath caught. He certainly had a wicked sense of humor. “Do not tempt me with such sweet lies, my lord. I am already yours.”

His smirk grew. “Though lies may drip from my lips like honey, that shall never be the case with you, my love.” He took a step closer, lips a hair’s breadth from her own. “And my lady wife has no need of such formalities. You may call me Petyr.”

Sansa licked her lips unconsciously, her tongue just barely grazing his mouth as she did so. She was trembling, though not from the cold, which had hardly seemed to touch her since Petyr had appeared. “Petyr,” she breathed, closing her eyes as she anticipated the kiss that was sure to come.

His lips were soft against hers, a light brush, drawing a whimper from her throat. Petyr chuckled at the sound and released her hands, reaching instead for her waist, pulling her closer, before he kissed her again. Sansa clutched at his shoulders instinctively, lips moving tentatively against his, her head spinning, her whole body throbbing.

She hardly knew what to think, of his words, of the way he had suddenly appeared, stealing her heart, and her soul. All she knew for certain was that she wanted this, wanted him. The details hardly mattered, so long as he kept kissing her so.

When Petyr pulled away, Sansa stared at him, chest heaving. She felt as though she were drowning, but pleasantly, exquisitely so, and she wanted nothing more than to be pulled back under the surface. His eyes gleamed as they found hers, mouth lifting in another smirk, and he stepped further away, raising an arm to gesture at their surroundings.

Sansa’s eyes widened, and she gasped, caught entirely off guard. No longer were they in the godswood, but in a cavernous hall, carved completely from black onyx, veined with silver and polished to a high sheen. Thousands upon thousands of white crystals hung from the ceiling, draped in a manner reminiscent of cobwebs, their dull lights reflecting up and down the hall so that it seemed that she and Petyr were adrift in an endless sky of stars. At one end, atop steps that rose to a dizzying height, and in front of an enormous mirror that made the room seem to stretch on forever, stood a pair of thrones. They were carved to match the room, so that whoever might choose to sit upon them would appear to be floating in mid air, among the stars. The thrones were identical in all respects save for one, ribbons of red threading through the one on the right.

She really was to be Queen. His Queen. And of the Underworld, no less.

And Petyr, he was her king. Her husband. Her love.

“What do you think, my love? Does it suit your tastes?” His voice was low, but the gravel in its timber still echoed along the otherwise empty hall, rattling her bones, her heart.

Sansa nodded, still awestruck, from the room, from how she’d come to be here, from him. “Very much so,” she whispered.

Petyr stepped closer, lowering the hood from her cloak. As he did so, she felt a tingle in the air around her, along her skin. She glanced down in surprise to see that her dress had changed, its fabric turning silky and smooth, it’s color an inky black, rare gemstones of sapphire blue and ruby red smattered along her neckline, down her hips, along the hem and the train, which pooled on the floor like liquid in her wake. An intricately woven shawl was draped about her otherwise bare shoulders, strands black and gossamer fine, mimicking the cobwebs of light up above. Diamonds dotted the shawl in abstract patterns, much like prey caught in a web, though far more precious than something whose only worth to the spider was sustenance.

Her hair tumbled loose about her shoulders and a gentle pressure atop her head told her that she now bore a crown, though she could not see its design. Sansa tore her gaze from her new finery to see Petyr’s attire had changed as well, altering slightly to match the magnificence of her own, a cloak sweeping from his shoulders to the floor, velvety black with silver accents. A crown rested atop his perfectly coiffed hair, wrought from silver, its writhing twists reminding her both of bone and of the limbs of the weirwood tree where they’d met, pillars of onyx in varying heights set about the rim

Petyr offered his hand to her, and together they ascended the steps, a journey that took far less time that she might have expected, considering their height. He led her past the thrones, to stand in front of the mirror, and her breath caught as she took in her reflection. She looked absolutely stunning, tall and poised, and somehow older, wiser, a new aura of power clinging to her with a presence that seemed undoubtable. Her dress hugged every curve, the contrast of the dark fabric with her pale skin heightening the appeal of both, and her hair seemed even more vibrant than usual, a halo of fiery curls that held a light of their own. Perched in their midst was her own crown, a delicate latticework of silver vined crawling ivy, with brilliant blood red flame tipped leaves, each its own masterpiece, the gems glittering from the light refracting around the room.

She’d never felt more beautiful, than in that moment.

Sansa tore her gaze from her own reflection to take in her new husband’s beside her, and was pleased to see how well they complemented one another, and the clear pride shining in his eyes. Wordlessly, he took her hand once more, leading her around to the pair of thrones. He stopped in front of his own, hand still clasped with hers, and with a meaningful look that prompted her as to his intentions, they each took their seats, together.

Suddenly, the room, previously empty but for them, was packed with souls. Sansa fought not to show her surprise as she took in the fathomless sea of people, who, as one, knelt on one knee before them. Heart pounding, her gaze swept over the crowd, taking in the sheer number of people she was meant to rule over.

She’d never felt more powerful, than in that moment.

When Petyr spoke, his voice was soft, tone measured but still eerily commanding. “Rise before your new Queen, the Lady Sansa.”

And they rose, in unison, keeping their heads bowed, eyes lowered, in reverence. Another beat, and they vanished, leaving the newlyweds alone once more. Sansa turned to look at Petyr, smiling shyly as he squeezed her hand.

“And so my new Queen begins her reign,” he murmured, raising their joined hands to place a kiss across her knuckles.

Sansa watched as his lips skimmed her skin with rapt attention, her heart hiccuping. It suddenly occurred to her that this was her wedding night. Though she’d of course been preparing herself for what would come, she’d not been expecting to have to worry until tomorrow evening. Of course, she hadn’t expected a lot of what had happened today. And yet everything thus far had most pleasantly surprised her. Perhaps she had nothing to fear.

“You look frightened, my love. Not regretting your decision, I hope?” Petyr asked, though he looked more amused than worried.

She shook her head. “I did not entirely wish to marry Joffrey. Something felt amiss, the more I came to know him.”

His lips curled. “I don’t doubt that. There is much evil, in the world above. Your intended, however, seemed to attract it in excess. You would have suffered greatly, in his hands.”

Sansa bowed her head, shuddering to think of what Petyr might have meant. Beside her, Petyr shifted and reached over to cup her cheek, lifting her gaze to meet his. “Do not think on it, sweetling. You’ve escaped that particular fate.”

“And why did you spare me?” she asked, voice trembling.

His hand moved from her cheek to card through her hair. “You chose me, as much as I chose you, tonight. I heard your prayers, and I saw your fate, should I not answer them, as well as every moment you’ve lived from birth, and I knew you would be my Queen. The path was written for you already, we had only need follow it.”

She felt the truth in his words, deep in her bones, and this knowledge made her heart soar. Reaching up, she caught the hand still toying with her curls in her own, placing a kiss on his palm. “I am very fortunate, it seems. Few marry for love, in this day and age. And yet, though I met my husband only this very night, I see the truth in my heart.”

Petyr’s eyes darkened, in a manner more befitting of lust than danger, and Sansa bravely pressed her lips to his palm once more. Never breaking eye contact, he rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. Her limbs felt shaky as he guided her back to the mirror, then stepped through the glass as if it were water, his hand clasped in hers ensuring that she followed close behind.

Slightly disoriented, she took in the room around her, which, judging from the enormous bed dominating the space, was a bedroom. Like the room they’d left behind, its decor was dominated in black and silver, deep red rose petals drifting from the ceiling in a gentle rain, coating every surface with their velvet touch. The petals caught in the folds of her shawl, in his cloak, in her long, flowing hair, delicately adorning their already captivating magnificence. Behind her was the same mirror she’d just traveled through, and Sansa reached out to touch the glass, flinching slightly as her fingers passed through it.

He chuckled. “There are stranger things than that yet to come, Sansa. The Underworld is entirely unlike the world above. And as the King and Queen, we can do as we please, to bend reality to our whims.”

She turned to face him again, pondering this new revelation. “You’ll teach me?”

“Oh yes. Soon, you’ll no doubt be my equal, as such,” Petyr replied. “But time enough for that later, don’t you think?”

Before Sansa could begin to imagine what it might mean to be his equal, and as Queen of the Underworld no less, his mouth was on hers, and all thoughts contrary to the need stirring in her veins were blissfully quiet. He’d stolen her heart, and likely her soul as well, and now he was intent to steal her body. And, like the others, she’d willingly give it. He could have everything she had to offer, if only she received the same in return.

Notes: I see this as an AU, set in Westeros, where Robert never became king (so Joffrey isn't royalty), and Petyr died that day during the duel, at Riverrun, only to become Lord of the Underworld.

Also, they might not have rings in Westeros, but in this AU they do :P

Hopefully you liked it! I'm really happy with how this story turned out :D

#petyr x sansa #game of thrones #fanfiction #my fanfiction #one shot #400 followers #prompts #come steal my heart my soul my body

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convenientalias · 6 years

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A Summary of My Fics in 2018

I found this post lying around and apparently I forgot to post it two weeks ago at the New Year’s when I first made it, so. Here’s a list of the fics I wrote in 2018, with some musings etc.

** = Personal favorite.

# = I wish it had more comments.

Animorphs

on a night like this one (1952 words)--A Cassie/Rachel fic written for the Smut Exchange in April, so not a whole lot of plot! I was inspired by a prompt asking for Cassie as the gentle dom, which seemed like such an interesting concept.

falcon falcon, burning bright (2264 words)--Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo in June, a fic about Visser Three capturing Jake. The square I wrote it for was “The Collector”.

Whales and Dolphins and Humans and Yeerks (1416 words)--A Cassie/Aftran fic. Written on one of those probably-too-frequent occasions I opened for femslash prompts. I’d kind of always wanted to write some Caftran? But never got around to it bc I have too many damn fandoms. (...fandamns.)

Avatar: The Last Airbender

...wow, I wrote six fics for this fandom this year. Guess it was more of an ATLA year than I thought.

Largely bc of keircatenation, btw, who sent me a couple very nice prompts.

Kyoshi Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (1726 words)--Dysfunctional Tyzula fic, the first ATLA fic I have ever posted on AO3 (...though I have in the past posted a number on ff.net). Written because I listened to the song “Norwegian Wood” and instantly thought, “Welp, that’s a Tyzula vibe.” The first ATLA fic I wrote this year and it was already July...guess my ATLA content has been all in the past five months.

** every feudal lord needs a loyal handmaiden (13883 words)--Moooore Tyzula! This fic was for the Femslash After Dark Exchange in July which should make it more smutty than it is! But I figure the mature rating is justified by the various dark goings-on. Anyways, this is basically me writing the political intrigue Tyzula fic of my dreams, which is how it got so damn long. I’m quite happy with it.

a snow fight (1660 words)--...and I’m not happy with this one! I was prompted “No holds barred beatdown” for Zuko in Bad Things Happen Bingo and I tried my best but I think I just wasn’t in the right headspace. Came out kind of eh.

changing, losing, staying (3906 words)--Written when I opened for femslash prompts and received the prompt "'I can't afford to lose you too' + Suki/Ty Lee". Postcanon, pretty chill, longer than I expected it to be by the time I was done.

** because it would be a waste (1891 words)--Brief Azutara fic for the prompt of "Azula/Katara, set in a Bad Future AU where Azula is Fire Lord and Katara is her Favorite Prisoner." Written in November.

A Diplomatic Mission and Its Results (2483 words)--I was prompted diplomacy and Suki/Sokka/Toph for some poly event and I did my best! Never really thought about this ship before.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)

** Mhaacta Made Them Do It (3631 words)--Amy/Rosa treat for the Femslash After Dark Exchange, featuring ritual sex and an ELDRITCH ABOMINATION. ...technically a case fic.

Caper Court - Caro Fraser

the pupil of dover court (1543 words)-- I found this book series thru the Yuletide Exchange but only had time (...well, access, really) to read the first book. But I quite liked it and wrote a treat for the person requesting it for the exchange.

Catherine (Web Series)

there's something about catherine (1299 words)-- Another fandom I found through the Yuletide Exchange! This requester wanted some Lynchian Normcore femslash so I did my best to provide. Very easy fandom to get into, btw, webseries is less than an hour long.

Disney

** Amor Vincit Omnia (3231 words)--Maleficent/Philip Stockholm Syndrome fic, written as a treat for the Chocolate Box Exchange.

No one will hurt you (1166 words)--Inspired by a short comic by @disneyfemslashcomics, a Mulan/Jasmine fic featuring hurt/comfort and a nonbinary Mulan.

** # Old and stolen texts (2635 words)--A Belleficent fic I wrote bc idk I like Maleficent and I like Belle and the two seemed like a good ship for Stockholm Syndrome and, obviously, beauty and the beast scenarios. Quite proud of this one :)

Dollhouse

I wrote five fics for this fandom this year but I still think I kind of cooled on it. For one thing, two of those fics were assigned for exchanges--for another, last year, with little to no incentive of that kind, I wrote seven. Still had a good time this year tho.

Also, all of them were pretty dark! We’re not surprised.

** i'll take your mind (to kick around as a toy) (3095 words)--Adelle/Echo fic written for the Trope Bingo Challenge, for a square of “in another man’s shoes”. Longer than I had remembered!

Orientation (3881 words)--Possibly my darkest fic of the year, but I’m sure it’s debatable. Blatant rape/non-con between Bennett Halverson and Caroline Farrell, written for the Nonconathon Exchange.

taking turns (2008 words)--Lighter in the sense that it’s melancholy rather than dark as hell. A Claire and Topher fic written for the Remix Revival event, remixing a fic I greatly enjoyed.

# january to december, do you want to be a member? (1338 words)--Adelle/Echo fic where Adelle uses Echo as a doll. Kind of a filler fic, I’d always wanted to play with the idea but couldn’t get super into it. Ehh.

# someone to watch over me (1217 words)--Claire-centered fic with not a whole ton of plot. Again, kind of a filler fic. This is one reason I have to say I was not so into this fandom this year--2/5 fics being filler isn’t a great ratio.

Egil Saga - Faun (Music Video)

No man shall scratch runes. (1273 words)--Written as a treat for the Yuletide Exchange. H/C and some very basic worldbuilding for a weird, surreal music video. Not much else to say. Debatably femslash.

Flesh and Bone (TV)

Danseuse and Partner (1172 words)-- I got paired with someone for the Chocolate Box Exchange who requested soft and fluffy fic for Cassie/Jake, but at that time I had no fluffy Animorph feelings so I binge-watched this miniseries so I could fill their other request, which was domestic, relatively functional incest fic. Idk if I succeeded, it was an interesting prompt but I didn’t ship it. I was more vibing with the series’ femslash potential. But I never got around to writing for that.

Gattaca (1997)

Gattaca fandom, I swear I still love you! I’m just less depressed this year! Which, to be honest, IS A GOOD THING! but not very conducive to the kind of Gattaca fic I used to write lols.

** Peppermint and Vanilla (1492 words)--H/C Eugne & Vincent fic written when @trifoyle prompted me the title. I’m quite happy with it.

Of Physicists and Janitors (35780 words)-- I only wrote like a chapter of this in 2018. God. I really need to finish this. Also AO3 thinks I wrote the whole thing this year which just is not true.

Allergies (2374 words)-- Fic I started like two years ago and only finished now. Mostly Vincent-centric. Again, inspired by conversation with @trifoyle

Gravity Falls

The Pink Streak (1644 words)-- Wendy/Pacifica fic written as a treat for the Chocolate Box Exchange.

Grease (1978)

beauty queen, my best girl (1018 words)-- Frenchy/Sandy fic, written as a treat for the Chocolate Box Exchange.

Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

** A Mistress's Mistress (2178 words)-- Jordan/Myrtle fic written as a treat for the Chocolate Box Exchange. Because Myrtle deserves better, okay?

** Santa Barbara (2691 words)-- Pre-canon Jordan/Daisy fic written for a prompt of "Jordan manipulating Daisy (and Daisy kind of going along with it)." Probably my favorite Jordaisy fic I’ve written to date.

Careless Wanderers (2380 words)-- Post-canon Jordan/Daisy fic written for Trope Bingo for the “Road Trip” square.

White Lies of a Colored Past (1820 words)-- About two years ago I wrote down the idea of Gatsby incorporating Nick into his shady, multiple-choice backstory. And then this year I finally wrote it. ...probably would have been better two years ago but I don’t not like it.

** for children's consumption (3143 words)-- Someone prompted me Nick Carraway and abuse/neglect for Bad Things Happen Bingo, and I wrote this odd little gen fic drawing parallels between his past and Pammy’s present. I’m quite pleased with it.

the dawn of another summer (443 words)-- Fic found in a deleted text file. Jordaisy.

the kind of choices you make at midnight (436 words)-- Fic found in a deleted text file. Jordaisy.

Greek and Roman Mythology

Messenger of the Atreides (2035 words)-- I wrote this as a pinch hit for the Chocolate Box Exchange. Shipping Odysseus/Achilles from the Iliad. The vaguest smut I ever did write.

Hannibal (TV)

** # A similar confusion (4036 words)--Weird Gideon & Will fic bc having watched Hannibal, I really just wanted someone to be nice to Will who wasn’t Hannibal bc oh geez.

Harlots (TV)

girl in black and white (451 words)-- Short little ficlet I wrote for fuckthegods for the TV Exchange. Fuckthegods left tumblr... I’m really sad.

There is no one higher (2300 words)-- Caroline/Charlotte fic, would be PWP if I went harder on the actual smut.

Heathers

Right Answers (1667 words)-- Chansaw fic for the Femslash Exchange. Probably should have been longer but I overbooked myself this season and for once didn’t have the time.

doing an old friend a favor (2080 words)-- Someone requested Veronica/McNamara with a JESSICA JONES NOIR AU for Yuletide so of course I had to treat that shit.

How to Get Away with Murder

I wrote six whole fics for this fandom and still never wrote shippy stuff for my OTP. I NEED TO GET AROUND TO THAT. Also all my fics were relatively short and I should get on that. But this fandom doesn’t comment a whole lot and none of my friends are in it so it’s hard to motivate...

** your sweetheart psychopathic crush (2148 words)-- My first fic in this fandom, darkish Lilabecca bc of course I had to start with dark femslash.

five ways of looking at a homicide (1950 words)-- Asher POV finding out about all the shit that went down with the original Keating murder.

exam grade (1174 words)-- Annalise being concerned about Wes.

stuck in the corner (1089 words)-- Annalise/Michaela and Annalise/Bonnie in one brief smutty moment. Written for the Annual Femslash Kinkmeme.

# warm water (1353 words)-- Angsty Bonnalise bath sex. Written for the Annual Femslash Kinkmeme.

this is nice but also that is a murder bed (1062 words)-- And a random Connor/Wes fic appears.

Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers - Alyssa Wong

# the street's a liar (2411 words)--Honestly this fic (written for Dark Femslash Week) is pretty good and I would write more fic for this fandom if it wasn’t two ppl and a shoelace.

I reincarnated into an otome game as a villainess with only destruction flags

Villainesses Must Stick Together (2950 words)-- Written as a treat for the Yuletide Exchange. The rare diary format fic! Multiple realities interacting and some very mild selfcest!

Inception (2010)

** Fortifier (3512 words)-- Saito/Cobb fic written as a treat for the Chocolate Box exchange, with Saito as Cobb’s employer but also veering close to sugar daddy. I’m actually pretty happy with this.

Jessica Jones (TV)

Nothing Neat or Nice (2484 words)-- Hogarth/Jessica, plotless infidelity.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (TV)

gentleman's homecoming (1543 words)-- Lazy Grant/Jonathan fic mostly written to get my feet wet in the fandom.

** the husband in the tower (3787 words)--Arabella rescues Jonathan! Basically the fic I wanted to be the canon ending! But also written for my assignment for Yuletide! So we know other ppl wanted it too.

** Empty Houses Need to Be Filled (3804 words)-- Written as a Yuletide treat, an Emma/Arabella post-canon recovery fic.

A Strange Pact (1374 words)-- Going to be multichapter AU gen fic about Jonathan and the Gentleman. I’m working on it!

Lady of the Shard (Webcomic)

nix the new age morality (1537 words)--Noncon of the “Old God made them do it with mind control” sort, treat for the Nonconathon Exchange.

Les Misérables

you should probably arrest me (751 words)-- Enjolras/Javert ficlet, prompted.

shivering under the stars (2277 words)-- Enjolras/Javert, prompted for the “shaking and shivering” square for Bad Things Happen Bingo.

Marco Polo (TV)

Eleven fics for this fandom this year! Why, that’s quite a few! This is entirely bc of fuckthegods who a) sent me a lot of prompts for femslash and one for gen and b) just in general is my Marco Polo muse, inspires me to write fics I wouldn’t otherwise write. And now she’s gone off to Dreamwidth and I am honestly so sad but anyways.

Also, I’m not gonna tag any of these as “could use more comments” bc Marco Polo is such a damn small fandom but. That is true for basically all of these.

And I would walk five hundred miles (2514 words)-- Jing Fei/Mei Lin fic where Jing Fei survives and the two are reunited.

** Make me feel missed (2157 words)--Sequel to above, this time THERE’S SMUT.

truth in the cups (489 words)-- Written for fuckthegods in an exchange, Chabit/Mei Lin fic.

i will wait for you (1060 words)-- Jing Fei/Mei Lin episode related.

** do princes bleed blue (1643 words)-- Jingim whump for Bad Things Happen Bingo, “bleeding through bandages”.

stages of reflection (2229 words)-- Mei Lin + mirrors. For Bad Things Happen Bingo “rage against the reflection”.

an empress' softness (1558 words)-- Mei Lin/Chabi, smutty and angsty episode tag to “Measure Against the Linchpin.”

running from a savior (1459 words)-- Mei Lin & Marco, related to “Hug.”

Harmless (1158 words)-- Mei Lin/Chabi smut set in Season One, playing with power dynamics.

dance of mourning (695 words)-- Mei Lin mourning Jing Fei.

a whore's return to cambulac (2075 words)-- My last gift to fuckthegods before she left tumblr, a Mei Lin/Chabi reunion fic postcanon.

Miraculous Ladybug

Bound to Be There For You (2908 words)-- Chlonette fic written for the “tied together” square of Trope Bingo.

Original Work

** In the Private Seating (3384 words)-- Theatre smut. Femslash. Written as a treat for the Smut Exchange.

Perilous Gard - Elizabeth Marie Pope

** # The Training of a Human (5019 words)-- Dark Lady/Kate fic for Yuletide treat.

** Bangles (2485 words)-- Aaaand another dark Lady/Kate fic for Yuletide treat.

Phantom of the Opera

Me: I feel like I’ve been less active in the POTO fandom this year.

Also me: Wrote 28 POTO fics this year.

Got a lot of prompts, especially from generalsleepy, ponderinfrustration, a couple others I can’t think of off the top of my head. Thanks to all you guys for the inspiration.

Perfectionist (1617 words)-- Soft early relationship Carlottastine ficlet. Prompted.

Mind Beating Wild (1544 words)-- Carlottastine remix of the cemetery scene. Also prompted.

** Buttercup Boys and Goldenrod Girls (2990 words)-- Queerplatonic Raoul & Christine fic with aro Christine and demisexual Raoul. Kind of a wandering, collage-y fic.

** Cinnamon and Tobacco (5441 words)-- My first ever Daraoulga fic! A lot of H/C.

Nowhere, Nobody Else (1450 words)-- Cherik/Philippe fic. Prompted.

** in my heart i belong in a house by the sea (1797 words)-- Angsty as heck R/C fic. In Sweden! Prompted.

** free city for the enterprising (1746 words)-- Vaaaampires with R/C and E/R, I think it was prompted?

the more persistent spirit (3279 words)-- More generic Daraoulga fic, me still trying to figure out how Daraoulga would work.

** half-sick of shadows (3320 words)-- I just felt like “The Lady of Shalott” had strong Christine vibes, so I mixed it into a Carlottastine fic.

two divas one bed (1332 words)-- I mean what does it sound like. Modern AU Carlottastine.

** kiss me hard before you go (2489 words)-- Carlottastine but Carlotta is leaving Paris to live in the country so they’re BREAKING UP OH NO. Prompted.

hello, i want to kiss you (1009 words)-- Cherik/Philippe fic. Prompted.

Confusion of a Night (1987 words)-- Carlotta & Raoul fic, written for the “sensory overload” square of Bad Things Happen Bingo.

** two-thirty phone calls are never a good sign (1671 words)-- Daraoulga modern AU fic written for the humiliation square of Bad Things Happen Bingo.

** could you maybe act like you don't hate me (3433 words)-- Carlottastine smut mostly.

eliminate the competition (437 words)-- Carlotta ficlet. Prompted.

gala (654 words)-- A softer follow-up on “two-thirty phone calls are never a good sign.” ...I think it was prompted?

spiteful (796 words)-- Erik/Carlotta spiteful kiss ficlet, prompted.

take notes, sweetheart (466 words)-- Carlottastine antagonistic UST ficlet, prompted.

good morning erik (443 words)-- Fluffy Cherik/Philippe ficlet, prompted.

** she loves a pretty face (3966 words)-- Prompted “Raoul, scar to remember” for Bad Things Happen Bingo. Some R/C and E/R. I like this one.

lonely with you (1583 words)-- Prompted Raoul and touch-starved for Bad Things Happen Bingo. R/C, Sweden fic.

** Dolls and Goblins (5175 words)-- Prompted E/R and forced crossdressing, not somewhere I would usually go! But I think it came out well.

don't you trust me? (921 words)-- Angsty Daraoulga ficlet. Prompted.

nothing more than a minnow (1019 words)-- Quiet ghost!E/R fic written for the Darkest Night Exchange. This prompt definitely deserved better than I gave it! Idk why I wasn’t vibing with it just then.

cause you might not get tomorrow (1619 words)-- Carlotta carpe diem fic! Including Carlottastine.

long-term issues (2679 words)--Not another E/R kidnapping fic, I can’t believe it. I think this was prompted but I fucked with the prompt.

i wanna run away with you (2464 words)--Daroga joins with the R & C gang for the Sweden elopement.

Tell me the truth. (1941 words)-- Angsty Daraoulga, prompted.

...why does it feel like I didn’t write that much POTO fic? Maybe bc proportionally it’s less than in other years. But this year I wrote more fic in general, so of course the proportions have shifted.

Riverdale (TV 2017)

** the long elasticity of forgiveness (4321 words)-- FP is in jail, Jughead is being very patient.

** # My Secret Brother (7614 words)-- Technically Chic would have been Jughead’s brother too, so.

# spill some blossom blood (2049 words)-- Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt, “Cheryl, take me instead”.

Sense8 (TV)

Six fics this year :) That’s about as many as I thought. Fandom deserves more tbh.

You, Painted Pink and Blue (2652 words)-- Sun/Riley kind of smut without plot, written for the Trope Bingo square of “Romance novel AU.”

Secret Garden (999 words)-- Sun/Soo-jin ficlet.

** Such Things Are Possible (12867 words)-- Rajan’s POV of that CRAZY FINALE, possibly my most popular fic this year. I had a lot of feelings.

smart talker (1385 words)-- Capheus and Whispers and creepiness. Prompted.

** Lovely in Starlight (5080 words)-- Fucked up Lila/Kala fic bc sometimes you gotta do all the work for yourself. I like this one.

** first meetings (2294 words)-- Some Jonas what-ifs.

Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab

Missive From Halfway Through "Seeing It" (1176 words)-- My first fic of the year, a NYR treat, epistolary fic with Kell and Rhy.

Qivuak (2635 words)-- Kell/Holland sex pollen fic for Chocolate Box treat.

** Interlude at the Hot Springs (3457 words)-- Also for Chocolate Box treat, a KELL/HOLLAND HOT SPRINGS FIC. Quite possibly my favorite dumbass premise of the year.

Lily London (2083 words)-- Quiet Kell and Holland fic.

Cat on the Bed (1980 words)-- Kell/Holland smut but they’re cat boys, assigned fic for the Smut Exchange.

Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Think I Know Where You Belong (2004 words)-- Elmax fic, prompted.

** # An Errand in the City (3833 words)-- Kali meets Nancy and visits Hawkins to see El. Kali/Mick fic.

** Long Trek to a New Home (6476 words)-- Kalancy APOCALYPSE FIC, written for the apocalypse square of Trope Bingo.

we live in cities you'll never see onscreen (1321 words)-- Kali/Mick origin story, precanon.

** # hands that stitch (3187 words)-- Kali murders a dude at Nancy’s college, Kalancy.

The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner

tell me about the mede (655 words)-- I didn’t even write this this year, I just found it in a deleted text document. My QT writing is way down.

The Sting (1973)

a smaller con (1373 words)-- Look I know y’all talk about Hooker/Gondorff but the real ship here is Hooker/Lonnegan k?

イキガミ | Ikigami - All Media Types

it's galling how much i want to be good (3655 words)-- I started this fic like three years ago but only finished and posted this year. Whump.

亜人 - 三浦追儺 & 桜井画門 | Ajin - Miura Tsuina & Sakurai Gamon those who drown together stay together (1352 words)-- Kou and Kei wash up on the shore.

#statistics

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