#I tried to make this one simpler I really did I just cannot resist the sparkles

[classpect-tailor]

id love to see mage of void, mages already are kinda lackluster to non-existent and i love seeing what people do with them

Epic Nightlight

[luzial]

For the DADWC: “I’ve never seen anything more inspiring.”

also + Library for the location

Thank you for the prompt! This is some new relationship Solavellan in Skyhold. It’s been a rough week for being online and also for trying to write, so this was one of those “force the words out” kind of nights. It definitely helped to get back into the habit, though.

Read on AO3 || @dadrunkwriting

“Solas?” 

“Inquisitor,” Solas says, looking up from his desk in the rotunda to give a polite nod of acknowledgement before casting his eyes down again. 

It has been a week since their encounter in the Fade. He hasn’t been avoiding  her, exactly. That would be quite impossible since a rockslide has blocked the road to Redcliffe. The Commander’s forces are working to clear it, which has left everyone cooped up together in Skyhold until the work is complete. Solas has simply used the additional time efficiently, reading and rereading several books on loan from the university in Orlais. 

He’d told her he needed time to think, but Solas has spent the week thinking about anything other than the way her fingers felt against his cheek, or how he had been unable to resist pulling her in for another kiss.

The Inquisitor clears her throat. Solas looks up again to find her tapping a finger on the edge of his desk - whether in irritation or anxiety he isn’t certain. 

“I apologize, Inquisitor. Was there something you needed from me?” 

“I was hoping I might borrow you for a moment, if you’re not too busy,” she says. 

“Of course.” He gestures for her to lead the way.

A few minutes later they reach their destination. It is a small room, not far from the kitchens, which until recently was filled with nothing but dust and cobwebs. But when Solas enters he finds it well-lit, clean, and sees that a large desk and comfortable chair have been carried down from elsewhere in the fortress. The shelves that run from floor to ceiling have been filled with dozens of books.

“I thought, now that Dorian has joined us and is using the bookshelves in the rotunda for the items he brought with him, that perhaps you would like some additional space to store your own books,” Lavellan explains. “I noticed your desk - and the sofa, and really the entire floor - were becoming somewhat cluttered. So I had everything moved down here.” 

At first Solas worries that this is a complaint, but her voice is quiet and her eyes are focused entirely on him in a way that seems to request approval. It is a look she would not have given him a week ago. It is a look filled with entirely too much vulnerability for someone in her position.

It would be simpler, perhaps kinder, to shatter things now. If he feigns disappointment, or even disinterest, Solas knows he will see Lavellan’s face slip back to the hard mask of the Inquisitor. But, though he knows better, he does not want her to stop looking at him the way she is now.

“I have never seen anything more inspiring,” he tells her.

Lavellan glances at him sideways, raising an eyebrow. 

“Inspiring?” she repeats. “Are you - is that a joke?”

Solas hears the confusion and hesitation in her tone and realizes that, somehow, even when he tries to say the right thing, he has managed to say the wrong thing instead. And then, his hands are on her shoulders and trailing down her arms before he can think better of it.

“No. No it is not a joke,” he tells her as he takes each of her hands in his. “Perhaps I chose my words poorly-”

“No,” she says, and Solas feels her hands tighten on his own. “No, I’m sorry. I just -” 

She looks down at her feet for a long moment before she speaks again.

“We haven’t spoken in a while. I’m sorry if this is a little awkward.”

And then, fool that he is, Solas pulls her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her. His mind screams objections and consequences but he forces them away until the entire world is reduced to nothing more than the warmth of her body against his.

“I meant only that it is inspiring to see the transformation you affect, even to a dreary place like this one,” Solas says quietly. “You have changed Skyhold for the better in ways I did not anticipate. To be the focus of such a change is a kindness I did not expect. 

“But perhaps I should have started with ‘thank you’ instead,” he adds.

Lavellan chuckles and Solas breathes again. It is a dangerous line he walks but one he cannot tear himself away from. Even a small misunderstanding leaves him rushing to find ways to bring the smile back to her face.

“You’re welcome,” she says, and pulls back to look up at him. “I hope you won’t mind - I looked through the list of titles you’d requested and added a few suggestions of my own. That’s why there are quite a few more books here than you had up in the rotunda.” 

Mind? he thinks. I could kiss you.

So he does, first her brow and then her cheek and then her lips. And he wishes she can find a way to make him new.

[reddapologist]

Acceptance - Yadira

CNs: murder, violence, mental and physical torture, degradation (but not the sexual kind), non-consensual knife-play (also not sexual), sadism (not sexy again)

A woman’s face hit the ground, and her moans of pain mingled with the heavy rain and the sound of heels clicking on the wet cobblestone which rang across the yard. Night had fallen some hours ago, and most of the windows of the city had gone dark by now.

“What do you want from me?” she stammered out, and Yadira laughed.

“Only your life, honey.”

“What?” The woman tried her best to put some distance between herself and her pursuer, crawling, feeling her feet unable to carry her.

Still, Yadira laughed. “I will tell you exactly what I’m gonna do with you. Not that it matters to you, because the first step is that I will kill you. Nice and simple.” She caught up to her victim, who quickly found her limbs cramping, and her cries became nothing more than a low whimper as she collapsed onto the ground once more. Now unable to talk or move much at all, she could only watch as Yadira knelt beside her and pulled her chin up to look into her eyes, widened in fear.

“Don’t worry, it’s not because of anything you did,” she explained, “I’m new here, you know, and while I could get the information I need to blend in by asking around, doing some field work… Taking a local’s shadow is so much simpler, and more fun too. So I’m gonna take yours, pretend to be you for a while, and learn all I need to know from what is left of your soul. I could have compelled anyone in that bar to come here with me, you just happened to catch my eye. Bad luck, really. That’s all this is.”

The smile on her face grew even bigger at the woman’s reaction. Seeing her realize just how little her life meant was exhilarating. That blank fear in knowing it could all be taken from her for no good reason, through no fault of her own; Yadira loved to see it. But she was not done yet.

“You seem to get my point. So you know there is nothing you can do to stop me from slitting your throat, which means I don’t need to hold you back, right? You’ll just stay here and let me do my work? I cannot promise you that I will make it quick if you don’t resist, but maybe I will be more considerate to your family when I take your place for the next few days. Depends on how annoying they are. Anyway, you get what I’m saying?”

The woman, of course, did not reply, but Yadira noticed the slight change in her expression, showing that she understood, and that look of surrender was almost sweeter than that of blank fear.

“Alright.” She stood up, dropping the spell that bound her victim in place, and drew her blade in the same motion. The woman shivered, shook, but stayed where she was. “Get up.” Yadira hissed, and she complied as well as she could, for her knees were still far too weak to support her standing.

Even through the darkness and rain, she could see her attacker roll her eyes. “Kneel, then.” Yadira sighed, and that command was followed without much issue. She smiled, and the woman got the feeling that this was where she would have ended up either way while her eyes focused on the rapier now placed under her chin.

It would take some time for Yadira to grow tired of toying with this one, but sadly she had other things on her schedule.

“I’d have gotten to know you better some other day, maybe…” She thrust the sword forward, and as the blood spilled from the woman’s neck, her body began to crumble under the blade. “Say hi to Seth for me if you meet him.”

Yadira turned away from the body that was already dissolving into a pile of red sand, which the rain would soon wash away entirely. She made sure to apply her newly acquired glamour before she reached the street, and already began to peruse the information the woman’s mind yielded. Not much that was interesting about her. Mother of two, both moved out of town already. Her husband had died in some war years back, so she lived with her brother, a cobbler. A role Yadira could play easily.

[kellylanesvault]

Slim in My 40s As in My 20s ?

I’m Hannah and I’m a 42 year old single mom and I used to be fat.

If you give me 5 minutes, I’d like to share a personal story that I know will resonate with you…

Did you know that overweight people are as much as 1,200% more likely to develop diabetes?

Did you know excess body fat is a ticking bomb ready to blow your life into pieces?

Nope, I didn’t know any of this either.

I only found out after I almost died from a heart attack…

And my blood sugar levels were through the roof and I was borderline in developing full Type 2 diabetes.

You’re not worried about diabetes or heart diseases, you say?

Okay, here’s what else being fat has done to me:

Chronic pain in my head, back and joints — day after day I felt miserable with no end in sight.

Always feeling tired and lacking energy — I’d slogged through my day and then find that I don’t sleep worth a damn at the end of it!

Dramatic risk of heart attacks, cancer and stroke constantly stalked me.

Risk of depression and even brain diseases like Alzheimer’s still haunts me. Enough said.

I know it’s hard to break the fat cycle.

In fact, I know why it’s hard — and the truth is that it’s not really your fault.

You see, I dealt with my weight problem for years…

Hell, I was 40 pounds overweight, and for a woman who’s 5 foot 5, that’s pretty much obese!

I used to hate the looks I’d get. Like I was doing something wrong just by being fat and doing it around them!

People looked down on me and figured I was just lazy and didn’t care about how I looked.

In truth, I was actually trying all kinds of stuff to drop the weight.

It’s a lot tougher than most people know. And that’s because most people don’t know how the body actually works and how to get the body to burn fat rather than store fat.

I tried diets, fasts, fad workouts and nothing really helped.

I’d lose a few pounds but never really seemed to look better or feel better, for that matter. Even when I ate organic healthy foods, it didn’t seems to do anything for me long term.

And did I put the runners on and hit the streets? Sure did – and as it turns out, this was actually hurting me rather than helping!

I just felt awful, physically and mentally… I was ready to give up until I saw an ad on a Facebook group I was part of.

This guy John Barban was looking for overweight women over 40 to volunteer in a study for a newly developed all-organic weight loss supplement.

I’d heard of John before, although I didn’t really know much about him.

But I’ve tried everything to lose weight, so I figured what did I have to lose?

I sent a message to John. He called me that same night to chat about my situation and his new weight loss supplement.

That talk really opened my eyes and opened a door to a better life for me… and the shocking part was that the true way to lose weight is simpler than you might think…

It’s all about leptin — the hormone in your body that controls how much you eat. See, when you eat, your fat cells release leptin, which sends signal to your brain to let it know that you’ve had enough to eat and that you should stop eating.

But that only works if your body isn’t resistant to leptin.

The trouble is because of our continuous 21st century exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC), our bodies inevitably become resistant to leptin — making it impossible for leptin to send signals to our brains.

So, in a nutshell, leptin resistance is the main reason we are always hungry and cannot control the urge to keep eating, keeping us gorging on food all day, everyday.

For every morning in the next 2 months, I took the one tiny plant-filled capsule that John developed with a glass of water.

I look and feel great now.

I dropped 40 pounds overall, narrowly missing the on rushing diabetes train and heart disease which was threatening me.

My depression went away and I even met my new husband shortly afterward!

John literally saved my life!

1 week, 1 vegetable capsule each morning with water and 9 pounds lost!

No starvation, no crazy foods, no hours in the gym and no gruelling cardio – just simple science based on ancient wisdom.

With such tremendous success with the study, John has since made it his mission in life to bring his weight loss supplement to women across the world.

If you are a woman who has struggled to lose weight in the past, you owe it to yourself to watch John’s presentation, which you can find here.

Turn up your speakers and click the play button to watch now.

I really hope it has even a fraction of the impact on your life that it has had on mine because the information you’re about to learn has forever changed my life.

[unstoppableforcce]

what we do now that it’s over ( 3.5 )

alt. title : I must fix what the war broke 

a finnpoe series but this half chapter is Rey-centric. our boys will be back next chapter. read on Ao3

a warning ! Kylo ren/ Ben Solo is discussed. he’s certainly not my favorite guy, but I can’t ignore him either. it’s not R*ylo but Rey and force ghost Luke talk about him - r.e.

It was only Poe and Finn who trekked back once the sun began to set. After at least ten minutes of Poe first explaining, then repeating his explanation of the path to follow to get back, he gave in to Rey’s pleads to stay out there alone for longer.

He warned her of the larger beasts who could creep up from behind without so much of a sound, of the bugs that could bite without even being seen, of the many dangers of getting lost out there with no water or food… She made it very clear she understood and still opted to stay. He left his handheld communicator out there with her despite her protests, insisting that if she had a problem, she had to call.

She was his guest after all.

With one final word of agreement, a nod of reassurance, and a gentle squeeze of both Poe and Finn’s hands, the two of them trekked back to the house and she stayed with the tree.

The setting sun left a rustic orange glow over it all, cascading through the trees, finding every space between the canopy of leaves and dousing the jungle in warmth. As if she needed the extra heat while out there.

She settled into the base of the tree, dragging her fingers mindlessly over the roots which surrounded her, encapsulating her in the aura created by the behemoth-like power the bark contained. It was real. It was tangible when she was there. For the many nights she spent keeping herself up wondering, she could feel it here. It was real.

Such a simple reminder to restore a faith she didn’t even realize was dwindling since it all ended.

That night on Exegol, the power she felt as all the Jedi spoke to her… She hadn’t felt it since then. And she thought that was okay at first, she thought it was because she had restored the balance, that she had ended the tension and what came after was meant to be this quiet. But she couldn’t even convince herself of that.

Not when it all came rushing back through her, sat next to the tree. And now all she could wonder was if she was broken without the direct connection, why she couldn’t feel it until she got here.

Her fingers grazed the roots then moved to grab a few of the fallen leaves and flowers, her fingers mindlessly twisting them together.

“You did everything right.”

The voice came like a whisper in the wind. At first, she didn’t think she was actually hearing it, thought it was just her desperateness playing a trick on her. But it came again.

“You cannot blame yourself.”

She was sure it was real now, her head lifting from the mess of roots and knotted flower stems in her hand to search the now red-hued jungle around her. There was less light, but it was somehow warmer than before as the crimson tore through the leaves and branches, dousing her in an almost unsettling color.

The red, not like blood but brighter. Like the red of the battle of Crait. From what she had seen as they flew away, from the dust she brushed off Finn and Poe the second they ran aboard the Falcon.

It was a color she could only associate with the emptiness she felt as Luke left.

It was his voice, she knew that for sure.

“I don’t blame myself.” She shot back, using the thick root on her left to boost herself to her feet, scanning for the source of the sound.

“It really doesn’t do you any good to lie to me, Rey.”

He emerged from behind the tree, blue and flowing forward as his mere presence made the aura surge tenfold. The red didn’t cut through him, it only glowed around him, and for a second, he almost looked as tangible as the force felt.

The strength coming from him, he didn’t need to be physical to be real, she could feel him as if he was really there.

“I’m not lying.” She tried to counter, holding her ground and he encircled the trunk and moved closer.

“You are. You blame yourself, you shouldn’t.” He had such a soft curve to his face. After it all ended, she looked back through some of the old archived footage, some of the clips of him, Leia, and Han. Seeing him so young was almost shocking, but he hadn’t changed.

Seeing him again now, she was certain of that. He had been roughly the same age after the battle of Endor when he ended his war. She could only wonder what she would look like when that old, would she wear it as well?

Would her eyes be as soft even though the horrors she’s witnessed, everything she’s been a part of?

“He knew what he was doing.”

She caught the tears before they could come out. She could still feel his hand, the touch of warmth which brought her back. The memory made her resent the heat now, it felt almost mocking.

“There was no redemption for him, Rey, not after everything he had become.” Luke continued, stepping closer.

She wanted to reach out to him. But she couldn’t. He was real, he just wasn’t there.

“He gave his life for me-”

“You’re telling me you wouldn’t have considered doing the same for him? Had the tables been turned?”

She couldn’t lie, he had already told her that. He could see through her as easily as he had the first day they met. Upon first words, she felt as if she had known him for ages, she imagined he felt the same.

“You would have been wrong to, but you would have. That’s just who you are.” He argued, gesturing for her to take a seat back down where she had been and him doing the same across from her, onto one of the larger roots.

“He came back for me…” She fought stubbornly, pointing into her chest because she had nothing else to do with her hands and she had to manage something.

Luke gave her a look, somehow superior in its ‘all-knowing’ but soft in its fatherly downturn of his smile. Her hands went back to playing with the flowers she had discarded.

“He did. And saving you was his last full measure of devotion to you and to the Force.” Luke nodded but stopped after a few slow beats of his head. “But that didn’t erase it all, everything Kylo Ren did still bled onto his hands.”

She knew that. She couldn’t imagine a world where she brought him off of Exegol and tried to explain it all to someone like Poe who had suffered so much at his hands for years in the Resistance, or Finn who was stolen from a family he’ll never know to fight his war for him as an expendable number. She couldn’t explain that Ben was someone else because even she knew it wasn’t entirely true.

He became better. Coming to save her, that was his redemption, in Luke’s eloquent words, ‘his last full measure of devotion’. But that was his path.

And she knew that, and maybe that was why she felt so guilty. To know that someone’s path existed just to save her, that he gave his little remaining life for her. He may have been what he was, but she still felt it, she could recognize the situation for what it was and still feel for him.

She didn’t know how to explain that to Poe or Finn. She barely knew how to explain it to herself.

And with how warm they had been to return to, holding on tight to them as nothing else mattered in the world… They had become everything, they mattered to her, she couldn’t bring herself to say what she had to say about Ben to them, she couldn’t explain it.

It was guilt. Luke was right. She blamed herself for so many things.

“I don’t know how to explain what it is that I’m feeling.” She repeated her thoughts aloud to Luke, hoping he had some further realistic Jedi insight.

Maybe he could throw a rock at her and tell her she was overthinking things. Anything to snap her from this strange force funk.

“You don’t have to.”

She glanced back to him, eyes desperate and reddening with the set of the sun, a fallen purple beginning to set over them, redder than blue, but a mix of the two all the same.

“What you feel is real to you, you don’t have to explain that to anyone.” He continued, pointing to her chest with a steady hand. “Ben and everything he gave to you, lives within you. You keep him with you as a dyad in the force. That’s yours alone.”

“Finn and Poe-”

“Are two of the best of them, but people keep things for themselves. You don’t exist for them, you exist for you.” Luke continued with a sigh as he glanced around at something she couldn’t see, she tried to follow his stare but came up with nothing. “Kylo Ren and Ben were the darkness in the force, everything wrong with him lives on just as everything right does. It’s a balance. The light is in you just as the darkness is, as it always has been.”

“How do I feel it all again?” She sighed, “After Exegol, after coming back… It’s harder than it’s ever been.”

“Well.” He shrugged with a laugh, “You were a natural, of course having to put work into it is going to feel hard.”

She wanted to laugh, but her chest felt too heavy.

“You used the force of a thousand generations. I don’t know how to put it simpler than to say you’re tired, you need to rest, to take it slow and easy. It will come back as you do.”

She nodded, already beginning to feel it just by being there.

“You need to find a new way to channel it. Without the war, you need to find somewhere else to focus it.” He explained, standing up and dusting off his legs even if he wasn’t even physically sat in the dirt, just to manage a laugh from her. “I think you already know how, too.”

“Finn?”

“Smart girl.” He pointed, gesturing for her to come back to her feet. “He’ll need training, and you’ve got everything you need to do just that.”

His hand ghosted over her heart, tapping a few times and she could feel the vibrations of it all even without him making contact.

“I don’t know how I’d do this without you. I wouldn’t have been able to manage it on Exegol, we wouldn’t have won-”

“Nah, you’re managing just fine.”

She wanted to argue otherwise, but he was so confident, she immediately felt caught off guard by it all, a faint voice in the back of her head mentioning she may be wrong.

“The war is over, and you’re allowed to feel everything you’re feeling. Not just you, all of you. There’s a lot that comes with the shift from battle to quiet.” He added.

“How’d you manage it?”

He smiled, wry and incomplete. “The wrong way. We all did. But you’ll do better.”

“How are you so certain?”

“Because you are better.”

He faded out with the night, but he wasn’t ever really gone, not when he could still feel him.

She walked back to the house with a warmth she couldn’t explain, even as the night fell and the wind began to chill, the warmth was there, inside of her.

[save-the-spiral]

InkWizTober Day Twenty-Four: Dizzy + Round Table

Welcome to day Twenty Four! Wrote about Avalon! Warnings for traitors, blood, graphic depictions of violence, death, suicide mention, swearing, and dying thoughts of main character.

(link to prompt lists) (link to inktober tag)

The young wizard stumbles as they race down the dirt road, a hand pressed to their side. Things in Avalon were going bad. 

Like bad bad. 

The wizard trips over themself as they whip around the cobblestone hut by the roadside. Their scraped palms burn on the stones as they squeeze between the cut cliff of earth and the home. Small bursts of colors in the blackness of their desperately closed eyes were their only company as they tried to calm racing pulse and breath.

The young wizard listens as what sounds like the entirety of the Knights of the Silver Rose passes by, Queen Gwendolyn barking orders.

“Fucking cheater.” They find themself whispering once they’re sure their only company is the multitude of gross bugs they likely just shacked up with for the sake of a hiding place.

Sliding out of their hiding spot, the wizard takes off in the opposite direction, trying to stay on top of the large swath of tracks the knights left. The bright blue sky of Avalon was mocking them, and they wanted to stop to appreciate the juxtaposition, but they didn’t have time. Staying on the tracks, they went back to Abbey Road, quickly hiding outside the wall to shed their armor and cloak, leaving them in stained casual clothes that one would expect from a Ravenwood student.

Cursing, the wizard grimaces, moving their hand off of their side, and defacing their shirt with blood to make it unrecognizable, as well as coating their face and running their hand through their hair for good measure. It was a lot of blood, and they sway on the spot at the thought, but stumble and continue to move.

When they enter Abbey Road a few merchants shriek, though Prospector Zeke and his companion don’t spare a glance.

Barely having to fake their cries to disguise their voice the wizard speaks to the nearest merchant. “Please, the knights-”

The fox points them towards where they knew the knights’ headquarters are with no hesitation. “Most left- a hunt- but-”

The young wizard sprints, almost blacking out at the pain racing them up their side, ripping at the seams of their stab wound. They vault over the ruin of a wall, fuzziness crawling in their vision.

Doors still wide open to the headquarters, the wizard closes them, gasping in pain.

“Fuckin- Fucking traitor.” They bite out, grinding their teeth to prevent the groan of pain that tries to escape them.

They fumble around the table, before grabbing the parchment and quill Queen Gwendolyn had previously used to write out supply lists and battle plans. The young wizard begins to write, clumsy as their vision dims more and more.

They try not to fall asleep, and it reminds them of back on Earth, of babysitting young children who never wanted to nap, of arguing with their young siblings they practically raised themselves, who are going to miss them, miss their bedtime stories-

The Knights of the Silver Rose do not return to their headquarters until far after nightfall, the full moon lighting their way, though a few pyromancers light torches anyway. Their chainmail and plate armor betray their approach, loud alongside their conversations.

Their faces, the ones not hidden by helmets, are grim. A determination is set into every wrinkle, every haunted eye. A bad hunt always meant bad luck was on the horizon, and this one was no different. 

When a scout races in the darkness towards them, panting hard, out of shape from their retirement, everyone else stands at attention. Still breathing hard, the scout simply waves a hand for the rest to follow. 

They do, and are shocked by the find.

“They returned?” Sir Pike Del Lago asks incredulously. 

“It appears so.” Queen Gwendolyn says dryly, her disdain clear enough to make some of the weaker willed knights shiver.

“They were bleeding, how did we not know-?” Sir Perry Gilliam sniffs the air, grayed jowls shifting. 

“It matters not. Let us hope to find merely their corpse in the Abbey, and hope they did not sabotage our equipment.” The Queen replies, tone sharp as her blade.

A chorus of “Yes my Queen.” makes Queen Gwendolyn sigh and remember why things were much simpler in Dun Dara.

The merchants appear to have gone to bed, leaving only a few lit torches. The knights follow their queen, silent and tense. 

The doors to the headquarters are closed, but unlocked, which leads Queen Gwendolyn to send back a glare to those in charge of staying back to guard the headquarters, the badgers in question whimpering slightly. The queen just huffs in disappointment, before pushing the doors open herself. She is glad that the room is not in disarray, but still finds herself dreading what lies before her.

The room is lit only by the full moon streaming in through the stained glass window, illuminating the slumped form of a small human in softly colored shapes. The queen steps forward, crossing the room swiftly to check the pulse of the poor creature.

Finding the human dead, Queen Gwendolyn sighs, but isn’t surprised. The amount of blood dripping off of their new round table is too much for the human to have been alive. At that point it was a blessing for them to have died. 

In the middle of the Round Table, however, right at the base of the silver rose’s bloom, was a torn sheet of parchment, held in place by an athame with a bloodied handle. With the human’s hand clenched and reaching, it seemed to have been their last action.

Gingerly, the queen lifts the parchment up, letting the top of the page tear more once they recognize the handwriting.

My dearest Queen Gwendolyn,

You have a traitor in your midst. And no, it was not me.

She inhales, glancing back at the blood smeared human’s face and recognizing it.

Whether you believe this or not, do not betray emotion while reading it, for your own safety. He has been waiting for years, and was in on it with the late Sir Malory, having worked to orchestrate your husband’s death. I know it may be hard to realize, but he has been a traitor since he was given his title. 

I don’t know the depth of his plans now, but they fully intended to kill your husband and usurp his thrown if the plan had not worked. He challenged me to a duel when I confronted him, and I couldn’t resist. I suppose my heroics are my end, as you warned me they would be. 

He cheated. He betrayed even the sanctity of the battlefield, revealing how little honor he has. A coward- when I had the upper hand he even tried to bring me in on it, telling me he’d forgive me if I murdered you, my queen. He is the type to monologue, like most villains.

I’m sorry I was too brash. I insulted Pike Del Lago, and died for it, I suppose. I died for the cause. I died for nothing, because no one else will save Avalon if I do not, I died for nothing and I will be known as the second coming of Sir Malory. I’m dying right now and all I can think about is my little siblings, how I promised I’d come back, and now they’re going to be sitting up at night waiting for bedtime stories like I promised, 

Im sorry my queen   Im a coward a fool a dea d wizar d please forgive me and take my quest, save the spira l         lik e I  did, kill morganthe     be the hero please plaese plese ple s pl

Queen Gwendolyn is breathing raggedly, blinking back tears. She is royalty, born and raised, and will not cry at the fact that a person’s last words are lost in the stain of their own blood. Back straight, she folds the paper neatly, slipping it into a breast pocket.

Turning around, she walks through the crowd of her knights. Once she has cleared them, she whips back around. “Well? Are you not coming? I will not hold a meeting over the corpse of a traitorous wretch.” 

She leads them out into the grass, under the light of the moon. She remembers how the young wizard once pleaded with her to return to the war, how they did anything to please her. 

“I cannot do this alone.” She repeats their words to her under her breath. Gwendolyn finds her paw reaching for her sword as the memory almost overtakes her, though the pleading face is replaced by one pressed into the very Round Table the wizard fought for, blood smeared and too rounded with baby fat to be that calm in death.

Gwendolyn wants to believe the wizard so badly. Wants to blame a man instead of a child. But she doesn’t know the full truth yet. She sees Pike Del Lago standing tall, laughing at the side of one of the younger recruits.

Pike had revealed the wizard as a traitor to the knights, had said they would be running away. He was the one who sent a mob after the wizard.

She doesn’t want either to be right, but only one can be. Either that, or both are traitors, and her heart cannot take that.

“My Queen, if I may, what was in that note?” Sir Guy Gascoigne asks, still hesitant to look her in the eye after all these years.

“It was a suicide note.” Gwendolyn responds, tone clipped. She settles on a ruin of a wall, idly noting the small bloodstain on it. 

A few of the knights jeer at the fact, and Gwendolyn wonders just how jaded they have become after war. Or are they naturally cruel, as too many men seem to be? Do they, too, exist to cause pain, only to find it so much easier under the guise of lawfulness?

How many men here have the potential to stab her in the back and spit on her corpse as they spit on the corpse of the one wizard who saved them, gathered them?

“A shame, really. The wizard was skilled in battle.” Gwendolyn begins, “I doubt any of us could have truly beaten them in a fair fight.” She examines her claws, picking at some fur.

The knights silence at that makes her heart race. Will the plan work? Is there really the traitor right in front of her?

“Imagine- the one who defeated them in combat would have been a true hero, if the wizard were not such a coward. I would have likely given the one who bested them anything they asked- if I had not gotten the honor myself. Though, the wizard was a savior of worlds. I doubt we as an army could have taken them on, not without cheating. It is truly a shame they decided our world was not worth saving-”

“My Queen-” Sir Pike starts, his voice failing him.

“Sir Pike.” Queen Gwendolyn stood, approaching him, grabbing one claw in her delicate paws. “Truly, you have my thanks for outing the traitor in our midst, though I’m sorry to say that even you could not have fought them- they were-”

“I DID, my Queen!” Sir Pike begins to look almost excited, a cruel gleam to his eyes that she had never seen before shining in the moonlight. “I fought them- it was how I could warn the rest of their actions-!”

“Oh, Sir Pike!” Queen Gwendolyn feels dread and rage fill her system, pour down her spine. “What did they say when you battled?” She bats her eyes, riling the man up.

“They tried to stop me- told me I could never follow up Sir Malory-” Sir Pike trails off, stepping back.

Gwendolyn unsheathes her sword, then promptly resheathes it in between the plates of the knight’s armor and shell. 

“That was for the young wizard.” She snarls, blood splattering her fur. Pulling out the sword, she finds the rage overtakes her, and she does not stabbing for a while yet.

It takes her knights pulling her off of the desecrated corpse of Pike Del Lago, her screaming about his cowardice, that she stops stabbing him.

[zardoru]

Clans of the desert

Part 3, Chapter 6

"Goooooooooooooooooood morning!" A piercing shout resonated across the walls of the cave as everyone, with the exception of Mud, begrudgingly lifted their heads to see Tija. Fri was glad Tija was back in spite of the rude awakening.

"Awfully rude," complained Astra. "You could've waited outside."

"Wow, you're the one to talk," said Joy.

"The difference is that we don't have to hunt this morning," said Astra.

"Tija," said Tuga, putting both claws against her forehead. "I was just dreaming of you. That, or your shouts just pierced right into my dreams."

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to surprise you," she said.

"Well, Queen Desertwalker, you did," said Astra, moving the left leg spread to the side below her, lifting her head from her right leg, and sitting as she let out a yawn. "Oh, you're not in the best of moods, are you?"

"No," said Tija, changing her enthusiasm for solemnity. "It wasn't the greatest of trips."

"Well, at least one of us is having a good rest," said Joy, looking over Mud, who was sleeping belly up, front legs on the air, kicking her leg against the air with some drool coming to the side in an uncomfortable posture. "So how did it go?" She continued, "you used to be super excited to go to the desert."

"Well..." said Tija, making short furrows on the ground with her claws, grimacing. "It's complicated."

"Don't talk about anything you don't want to, Tija," said Astra. "These things are never easy to talk about."

"Oh, I cannot... not tell you. Which is to say I must, because..." Tija paused.

"Our impression of you will not change," said Astra. "Go ahead. We're here to support you, no matter what."

*What could have been so bad? *Tija was uneasy around us for the first time since Fri could remember. It must've been bad. At least, for her.

Tija nodded solemnly. "Okay, here goes."

I never told you why I wanted to go to the desert. It's not the first time I had been there. I was raised there, by two loving parents. I had a brother too. When I escaped in a tantrum I thought I'd live on my own for the rest of my life, but I couldn't stop thinking that I had left them. I've spent the last few years thinking of meeting them again. Since we had a few months to gather everyone, I thought I had time. I did, but I also didn't.

If you've never been to the desert, you should know that the dunes are always changing, and it's not hard to forget where you are. Every other grain of sand looks like every other grain of sand at a distance, even if they are all completely unique.

Hah. I thought I would be over them after all this time. I found you all, you became my new family; and we've already achieved so much! But my feelings kept working against me. As much as I proved myself successful on my own, I miss them. And I never will really have the chance to ever tell them that I'm sorry for leaving them...

Because all I found was bones. Bones of animals. Dragons. Even scavengers with their empty water flasks, that most likely never knew where to find any water. It's all mostly silent and quiet, with the occasional dry, dusty wind shifting the sands. No matter how much the dunes reshape themselves, the desert is still a desert.

I think that's why I kept going.

Maybe with the trinket Fri gave to me --- besides this weird scorpion tail --- I'd eventually find them. If the desert stayed the same, and I also couldn't let them go, there was a chance that I could maybe find them again.

The river. If they were anywhere, it'd be on the river.

The oasis. If they were anywhere, it'd be on any oasis.

You saw the number of dragons that lived in the desert; we're easily the smallest tribe of all. It's impressive, even in the arctic lands of the continent you found more dragons than I did. Most of what I found was corpses, picked off by the vultures already so long ago. Every body far from water.

I wonder what made them wander here when they were clearly not as prepared as I was to the heat, or the thirst, having grown here. Though, among you, eating cows, so close to a river, and with so little fighting with other dragons compared to when I saw my family fight for the right to have some water off a band of dragons, I had grown a little soft.

I followed the stirring glow of the piece of amber I got from Astra. Its direction didn't change for a long period of monotonous flight, until I saw some holes in the sand that seemed to go from some far away place, and go all the way in the direction I was heading to. Someone must have traveled from far away in a minuscule period of time, I thought.

I had no hope that I'd find anyone I had cared for, but I wanted to. I followed the trail all the way to the end, to find a dragon carrying one of their clan-mates to their part of the river.

You see, back then, I remember my parents explained that we organized in clans, different groups of dragons that competed for all the different so--- I already explained this! So, these two were very badly hurt. One of them --- the one that was conscious --- was bleeding from one of their missing wings. They had opaque, yellow scales. The other one was missing all of their claws, with darker, mustard scales.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Flightless and Clawless," explained the one without a wing. They were reluctant, because they clearly would've tried to fight me believing I would've attacked them, but they didn't have the energy. I like to think that I'm still a bit menacing even if I am not the fighter I used to be.

I grimaced at their response, though. "Why those names? Who could've named you something so cruel?"

Flightless snorted at me, and dismissed answering, drinking some water and trying to wash their partner's freshly cut off talons. "Are you going to ask stupid questions, are you going to kill us, or are you going to help us?" they finally responded.

*Oh, what an idiot I am, *I thought. I helped them lift the other dragon from the sand and helped them suspend their friend on the water. Flightless stared at me with a piercing gaze, probably thinking I'd harm them while they're down. I avoided making eye contact and laid their brother in the water to clean up the wounds. "I never expected that I'd ever see help from anyone, much less of a dead clan," they explained.

A dead clan, I thought. That was worrying; I still expected to be able to see my family, as well as the rest of the clan. I didn't know what of me gave it away, so I asked.

"It's the golden coloration of your scales," they explained. "They're a dead giveaway." I never believed that something so trivial could meant something to others. And come to think of it, my own family often rejected other dragons that were willing to give their lives for us if only we allowed them to stick with us. Three moons, we killed some dragons only on that basis.

I wasn't as eager to meet them after that.

"You asked about our names, didn't you?" asked Flightless. "It was that bunch of cowards, the Windraiders, attacking us at night, right at our home."

That name woke up some unpleasant memories. That bunch always played dirty. I heard that they had an artifact they stole from the... As Tuga described, "the white dragons," like you, Fri.

"They stole from my family?" said Fri. "Did you learn anything about them on your journey?"

I did, but not much. We eventually managed to convince one of them --- the one who stole it --- to tell us about them, but all he said is that they were being protective of the only egg they had in years, which I presume is yours. He said he'd threatened it, and with that they let him go without any further discussion. The parents were livid, he said. "Let him take it! If this is the dragonet you were really talking about, these items will be completely redundant! Just please, don't give our child's life for a stupid trinket!"

Anyway, the artifact I brought with me, and it's supposed to let you speak with humans, but I'm not sure how to use it. Maybe you'll be able to figure it out, Fri. Though, with your ability to enchant, I don't think you need it, but it could be good emotional support, nonetheless. Your parents really loved you, didn't they, Fri?

We have a few things in common. Neither of us can tell them we felt the same way after all this time.

... So anyway, the Windraiders.

"What happened to your clan?" I asked.

The look on their face changed to resignation. "We're all that's left of the clan, now. And these snakes, they let us live, only to shame us with our names; they cut my wings, and took his claws," they said, with a slow buildup of rage. "And neither of us can make them pay, as we are. We were just the last two to die, and they wanted to desecrate our clan's memory as much as they could when they realized they had killed almost all of us."

So I guess I remembered my mission, and I figured we'd have to face them at some point anyway, so I offered them, "Hey, just about everyone hates them, and I and some friends are just going to take down humanity, so how about you come with me? I'll have to make them come around at some point or probably get rid of them if they resist, anyway."

"You? On your own?" they laughed. "It's far more likely that it rains than that you could take them down on your own."

"I'd demonstrate," I said, "but I think neither of you are in conditions. Besides, my plan is far simpler than whatever you've got in mind."

"What are you thinking of?"

"Well, uniting all the clans against them, of course!"

And they stared at me with disbelief. I guess with good reason. Haha.

"How are you going to do that? And how could we help like this?" asked Flightless.

"We'll figure out a way," I said, not with anything in mind yet.

Flightless eyed my tail suspiciously, and I had to explain to them your enchantment thing, and showed them the magic artifact. They saw the thing stir around and point someplace else now that I had met them, and I explained how it worked.

"Is that one of the artifacts from the white dragons?"

"Well, yes and no, it's from a different one, a friend."

Fri chuckled.

Flightless asked for my permission to look at it, and I allowed them to play with it for a bit. They were fascinated, almost like a dragonet playing with dying prey: they juggled a bit with it, gave it a nibble, a lick, a smell, and even rubbed it against them. "It is so mundane, yet so magical." They hoped to meet you at some point.

We cleaned up Clawless. Once he woke up, Flightless ran over to help him get up. Clawless complained about how painful it was to stand up at all, and so he sprawled himself on the floor so that the ends of his limbs wouldn't support his full weight. The poor guy wasn't doing too great.

"Can you move?" asked Flightless.

"I'm sorry," he said with an unexpected high pitched voice. "I'm not sure I can walk like this."

Flightless snickered at their mate, and said, "Well, I can walk, and you can fly, so that makes us one whole dragon."

Clawless merrily sighed and bumped snouts with them.

Flightless explained the situation; they also introduced me, noting that I was a friend of the white dragons. Or just you, really. Flightless asked me for the amber piece and showed it to their partner. He gave it a brief, dispassionate examination, not bothering to take it away from Flightless' talons.

"What are we supposed to do?" he said. His voice was heartbreaking, grieving and defeated. I could understand them well. Not being able to fight here is a death sentence, but they may not know how to live anywhere else. Living away from what you're used to can be tough, and even more so when hunting like you always have can prove... challenging.

Flightless tried to be as encouraging as they could, and pointed to me a few times saying that we'd be fine if I had managed to be on my own for this long.

They didn't know I hadn't been on my own at all, but I had to pretend that I was a hero, one that could live on their own and was leading the initiative to end with humans and unite the clans of the desert.

We chatted some more just to know each other a little better, so I told them that I had abandoned my family when I was younger, and that I regretted it some, but they assured me that doing so was wise, as none of my kin ever showed up around them; they firmly believed there was no chance of them being alive.

But you know, that's not the end of that, at all.

We followed the amber piece until we saw smoke during the cold desert night rising from between the dunes, with me walking alongside Flightless, Clawless aloft with the seeking artifact. We climbed the dunes and only peeking our heads in case someone in the basin caught a glimpse of us.

There was a long river that seemed to reach all the way from the east to the west. The opaque, yellow dragons slept underneath these wide, bushy threes with bright greens that seemed white under the dim moonlight, but closer to the bonfire they'd made in the middle of their makeshift camp, had a yellowish reflection. You could see some of the alligators that live on the river sleep right next to some of the dragons, as if they were old friends or even couples.

But then, I saw them --- my siblings --- living alongside this body of dull, sleepy dragons that could've easily been assaulted as they were so obviously overconfident; with numbers that big, they must've relied on being possibly the largest of all the clans around now.

I guess the union of the small clans had already been over before it had really started for me, or I hoped so. Challenging the leadership should've been enough.

That reminds me, I presume we're going to preserve that, right? If my rule is strong, nobody would challenge me, and if it is weak, a better leader will surely rise from the aftermath of the duel. It makes sense, doesn't it?

Anyway, we waited until the next day. I told the other two that we'd try to mix in with the group, though I was eager to try to talk to my brothers and sisters, it'd surely have to wait until I figured who was in charge.

Flightless and Clawless were, in contrast, anything but. They noted it was dragons of this clan that had left them in the state they did; were they to be recognized, it would surely cause trouble. I told them that it'd be the perfect opportunity for me to seize the leadership, as a challenge to protect them is the most honorable way of proposing a duel.

They didn't like the idea very much, but they didn't have many options; they could try to leave for the mainland and adapt to their situation on their own, try to find a clan that will have them, which, generally, don't like giving dragons in their situation a chance even though they absolutely deserve it, or try to live on their own and most likely die. I explained it so to them, and they found themselves in agreement, so as undignified as it seemed, they had found a strange purpose.

We followed this newfound clan that seemed too numerous to notice that we were there at all, and so, they organized themselves in cells day by day, where small groups would perform different tasks throughout the day, and I found myself following my siblings' cell only to know what they were up to. Of course, I didn't let myself known, though my tail barb made me very simple to identify; enough that eventually, I was called "The Scorpion," which is funny to me. Though that happened later.

My siblings weren't doing any good things, of course. They'd learned the ways of the desert, and intimidating other groups and threatening them with the whole clan being thrown at them, bullying, clawing and biting the food out of the smaller clans after they managed to hunt some large lizards --- much like vultures, except those are scavengers, not bullies.

If they deemed it necessary, they killed off those that stood up against them --- which weren't that many. It was enough of a deterrent to say "We're from that large clan by the river, fear us."

So the worst part of it is, I just didn't seem to know them, or care much about them; they weren't the warm caring dragons I lived with, these were as far off from my memories as I could've thought. It was disappointing, but I was ready for it; I already thought they were dead.

Flightless and Clawless caught me staring and tearing up because of them, and quickly put me in my place. I wasn't here to know the fate of my family, because, as I explained to them, the Fire Wing was my family, not this band of hooligans. I was here to give them all a better life, and maybe, if they do change their ways after we manage to ensure our living spaces, and bringing everybody in, I could possibly bring in this new vision we've had together of thriving instead of surviving.

So, we left to stir up some conflict.

"We don't want to stand back and let you do this on your own," said Clawless. "We deserve to fight for our own vengance."

I stared at both of them thinking how the snake they were going to do that. They clearly noticed.

"We're not going to do this on our own," said Flightless. "All we ask is that you let us deal the fatal blow."

Oh, how was I going to let them, they deserved it and I was not in a position to stop them. "Go ahead," I said. "The fight is going to be over in seconds." I waved the barb at the end of my tail back and forth just to hint at what I had in mind.

Well, my pride wasn't going to let me just use it right away. That'd be boring. I hadn't had a fight in years, and I wanted to make sure how much my own two claws could damage this stupid leader that decided to use their strength to subjugate other clans instead of helping them. I knew what I wanted. I knew I wanted to draw it out, make the coward bleed.

The call wasn't so dramatic. I openly called the leader to a challenge after waking everyone up extremely early; I was surprised to see that their leader was an old and feeble dragon. But not just any dragon.

"Tija!" he said, confusing me because I had no idea how he knew my name. "My daughter, you are alive!"

My heart sunk. Suddenly everything made sense; why her siblings were there, though I cannot guess why they didn't tell him earlier, I am most certain they knew I was there, but that's why they didn't attack Flightless and Clawless on sight, or so he explained. I had to stick my arm in my mouth not to scream at him why the hell was he attacking the other clans.

"We thought they had taken you away," he explained to me. "This was our vengeance, to do onto them what they might've done to you a hundred times over."

Well, that was unexpected, to say the least. I always thought they were dead, but of course... this wasn't just any clan. It was where I came from. "It's us! Your mother went on a quest so long ago to find you, but we found her corpse on the dry desert, bleeding out and being eaten by impatient vultures; all because these snakes attacked her."

But none of them deserved it. I ran away. It wasn't their fault. And my mother died because of me, that is to say, I was not having much fun in my journey back home at all. I know for a fact that if I had stayed with them none of it would have happened, but I would've acted the same way had my own child disappeared under my nose.

I asked him why they thought why the other clans might've done whatever he thought they did to me.

"It was the small corpses of the hatched dragonets they tested out in the desert, leaving them to die," he said. "I always thought one of them might've been you, dead in one of their barbaric tests."

I chuckled, because obviously, he tried too hard to protect someone that already was able to hold on their own. It's almost infuriating. I made a promise to Flightless and Clawless, however, and now that was weighing heavily on me. I said the only thing that could be said. "We need justice for the clans you've wronged."

His scales went pale as Flightless and Clawless came to my sides, bloodthirstier than ever. I explained to them that he was my own father, and to wait for a moment. Father trembled as I hesitated until the very last moment, whether I would actually kill him or not, and then I remembered what our objective was.

We are going to kill all of the scavengers who had wronged us.

I don't need to tell you what we did to him next, because I already told you. We killed him; I stabbed him in the head with my tail, and Flightless and Clawless bled him dry for his wrongdoings. He begged me for forgiveness during the last moments of his life. I didn't want to hear it.

He was responsible for the death and agony of countless others, and I could not let that go with impunity.

We invited the rest of the clans into submission, promising a life without violence. Almost none of the clans accepted, but they'd come to us soon enough. We acquired control of the water with ease, which is as non-violent of a method as I could manage.

My siblings protested, of course. It didn't take much to strike them down. It's almost not worth mentioning.

I am not sure if I did the right thing. Not at all.

Tija looked at the ground. "But that...is what I did."

Loud noises interrupted everyone's astonishment at Tija's decision to kill her own father; making the small group, with the exception of Tija, look outside as a flock of dragons with scales with tints of orange and red, large wings, and an exceptional discipline of formation loomed above.

The loud dragon had arrived.

[homesoutofhuman]

Bluebeard: John wick/reader  Chapter 13: Defeated by love

A beat, and you both move. You’ve been taught how to be fast, and being smaller than John, you reach the gun first, by a hair's breadth

He stares at you as you aim you the gun at him, walking him back towards the door.

“Don’t do this.” it is not a plea, John Wick doesn’t beg, he is asking you, and through the haze of fear and panic that made you lunge for the gun, you hear him.

“I’m sorry…” you reply, motioning with the gun for him to sit down on the sofa. You’re like a mini assassin, but Baba Yaga is afraid of no man, and he just sits, watching you as you sit next to him, still aiming the gun at him, but with much less confidence.

“Have you even fired a gun before?” Strangely, John is smiling now, how can he be amused by this?

“Yes...I’ve...practised..on cans…”

“Oh…” he nods, acting impressed and you pout, which is enough to break the tension and he grabs you gently, quickly disarming you and pressing you against his chest.

You feel relieved, a little embarrassed, and he kisses the tip of your nose.

“Beautiful and dangerous. How can I resist?”

You look into his umber eyes, begging him not to tease you “John…don’t mock me..”

“I’m sorry. “ he says, genuinely “You’re just too cute...I can’t help it.”

“John!” You scream and hit his chest, laughing and letting all your fear and worry go, he grabs your arms playfully and you tussle a bit. It ends with you in his arms, the gun lying forgotten, and he brushes your lips once, twice, the mirth in his eyes swirling into desire as he feels you kiss him back.

“Hmm...how the hell am I going to wait until our wedding night?” he sighs, kissing your temple and holding you close.

Your mind is racing “I thought you didn’t want to marry me…” you say, in a small voice.

He shushes you and you try to relax and let the questions go for now. Hero comes sniffing up to the two of you and you scoop her up for a cuddle, the three of you making a pretty domestic picture.

“Well isn’t this nice?” the voice of your father breaks the happy scene instantly and you jump. You feel John tense behind you, even he didn’t hear your father break into your house, and to see him there, in the little world you and John have built together, is strange and jolting. You’d thought you were homesick, but now you realise you’ve come to think of John’s house as your home.

Your father is dressed in a dark suit, not a social call then, and he hardly looks at you, focusing on John, who is fast untangling himself from you.

“John? A word.”

John moves instantly and the two men disappear into his study. You are left alone, you hug Hero close and feel her soft tongue on your cheek, reassuring.

Let them talk then, you tell yourself you don’t care, but you are hurt, hurt by your father’s indifference and John’s obedience to him.

You sit there for hours, listening to the low murmuring of the two men talking next door, stroking Hero’s soft fur, your eyes grow heavy.

Hurry fall asleep or the boogeyman will come for you

You open your eyes, a cry caught in your throat and John is there, shushing you. He lifts you up into his strong arms and carries you upstairs. The house is quiet,  your father must have gone home. You cling to John, soft in your sleepy state, and nuzzle the warm spot between his collar and his jaw.

He sighs, sounding content, and deposits you on your bed gently. You don’t let go your arms from around his neck.

“Stay….it’s hot...I can’t sleep…” you turn your cheek into the pillow, whining and too dozy to care. The events of the day, all the emotion and turmoil, have taken their toll and you feel weak, even poorly.

John doesn’t move away, but strokes your hair, half humming, half murmuring a lullaby

You strain to understand the lyrics but you cannot make them out. All you can hear is the haunting melody and John’s raspy but tuneful voice.

You hold his hand until you fall into a fevered sleep, and sense rather than feel him brushing your lips goodnight.

(The lullaby John sings)

-----

The next day you come downstairs to find him, holding Hero’s lead in one hand and a takeout cup in the other. He thrusts the coffee into your hand.

“Let’s take our pup for a walk…”

You are not too sleepy to notice the use of ‘our’ and you sip the hot coffee gratefully.

“Thanks...I slept heavily…” you scrub at your eyes and spot John watching you fondly.

“You needed it.”

“Hmm...well...I had a lot to process..”

John frowns, gently tugging Hero away from the road and moving closer to the woods.

“We should talk. About yesterday. What you found…”

“The arsenal of guns large enough to hold up the Bank of England?” you retort, and John’s glare gets darker.

“It’s not...what you think…” he tries, but you interrupt

“You know John I think it’s exactly what I think. You’re working with my father...and your business together...is something underworld..”

“You mean underground..” he corrects

“I know exactly what I mean.” You snap. Feeling out of your depth so getting defensive.

“I thought you knew.” he states, firmly, trying to get the conversation back on track.

“I think I did know...but you...distracted me...with your dark eyes and your rough hands and your soft kisses.”

John is staring at you, holding his breath. You can tell he wants you to go on, so of course you shut your mouth and bat your lashes at him.

He rolls his eyes and scoffs. “You wanted to talk to me about our mystery…”

“Oh yes...you think you know the perpetrator?”

“I have my suspicions.”

“John come on…”

“That kid…”

He means Kamau “Oh don’t start this again.”

He holds up a hand “I mean it. He knows the layout of the house, so he could safely do it without risking hitting you...he has reason...to dislike me.”

“No he doesn’t.”

John stops short. Hero is running happily off her lead just ahead, and you suddenly realise you are surrounded by nothing but trees, in the middle of the woods, alone, with a possibly murderous wild man.

“Uhm…” you bite your lip and look around.

John of course, can read your body language “I would rather die than hurt you so don’t even start..”

You huff out a breath. The strange sixth sense you seem to have around John - when he states something- you know it to be true- kicks in again.

“But then your problems would be over.”

“Trust me.” he chuckles “they wouldn’t. But if you won’t listen to me, let me tell you, your father thinks you are in danger, and will be until we are married. So..” he barrels on, as if afraid of your response “We are moving the wedding forward, to next week.”

“Shit.” you turn away from him, and look for a few moments, into the deep dark of the forest. You always loved being outside, with nothing but trees to talk to, they were always good company, and you never felt afraid or lonely.

A yearning for a simpler time swells in your chest. You can hear John’s feet crunching on the leaves behind you, hesitant like you’re not used to seeing him.

Next thing you know he is kneeling at your feet, pulling a box from his pocket and opening it up to you.

“John...what are you…?” you feel a rush of panic, that turns to shock when you see the ring, sparkling diamonds twisted with silver,  but at the heart a ruby gleams, so dark red it almost looks purple, nestled like a drop of blood in the centre.

He smiles up at you, this tough man humbling himself and it breaks your heart.

“I know I never really asked you...but….do you want to marry me?”

Not will you, that part has already been decided for you both, but he is asking if you truly want to, and you find in that moment that you do.

You nod, not trusting yourself to speak and he holds your hand and pushes the ring onto your finger where it gleams, a flash of crimson against your skin.

The moment is surreal, things like this happen in fairytales, and you’re not sure it suits you.

John, still on his knees, grabs you round the legs and you shout with laughter, he uses his grip on your legs to pull you off your feet, breaking your fall as you hit the ground.

You lie amongst the dry leaves and he moves over you like a friendly lion, smile on his face but still looking like he could kill you and speaking in his low, rumbling voice.

“You’re slipping...a few weeks ago I never could have caught you off guard like this…”

You reach your hand out to caress his face, your ring glinting in the sunlight “I could say the same to you…”

“That’s true..” his kiss so passionate it pushes you back into the leaves, you grab a handful and playfully tip them over his head.

John pulls back to look at you, green leaves caught in his dark hair. His eyes are a heartbreaking mixture of annoyance and affection and for the first time you can believe this man could be your husband.

------

Tags @everyday-imfangirling @eriberry2000 @imbadnatured @formerinterndana

I feel like there was someone else wanted to be tagged but tumblr keeps deleting my asks and messages so I am sorry, please message me again!

Title from Defeated by love by Rumi

[theprojectatedensgate]

If it's okay with you could I get a short little ficlet where John and Sharky see Fem Deputy shot down by Jacobs men and since John is...well mentally damaged he just loses his mind and Sharky just stops fighting back cause John's immense grief over the deputys death and nonstop killing is too much to watch

I apologise for hurting every ones feelings before I begin, but you asked and you shall receive!

Warnings: Implied self harm, graphic depictions of violence, angst, may cause heart break.

“…I loved and I loved and I lost you…”

Have you ever seen a meteor shower before? As it plummets bright through the night sky, the white hot rock and metals burning off into the atmosphere as they rain down onto Earth? Fire pouring from the realm of angels? Your stomach lurching in primal fear at something so wondrous and full of awesome power?

Sharky was a pyromaniac, there was no simpler term for him. Every sight of fire brought a passion though his chest as he watched the flames eat at the fuel it had been gifted. Fire was his life. Fire was his soul.

But as he watched the plane explode in a thousand shards, fire and smoke pluming around it, the scraps of metal raining down onto the tree canopy. He felt no passion, he felt no stirring in his gut at the beauty of it. No… Sharky felt hollow, like his heart had been torn from its resting place.

And he would never feel the same again.

He fell to his knees as it happened, an inhuman wail a breaching in his lungs. His partner, His cop, his friend… 

The Deputy was dead.

It was Jacob’s doing, and none of that surprised anyone. He was not a man to be reckoned with, but the she had survived so much, giving the illusion of immortality that only God’s chosen few could embrace. Now, the one he had called his best friend, was in the embrace of death…Over… In the blink of an eye.

John had witnessed the explosion from his balcony, tugging the binoculars to his eyes. He recognised his big brother’s choppers, in attack formation as the wreckage tumbled to the ground. He smirked at Jacob’s ferocity, he always was a fighter. The crackling of the radio at his side startled him, tsking at his over reaction, he clasped his fingers around it, bringing it up towards him.

“The Deputy is dead! God has purged the sinner from this land!”

Time had cease, the blood flowing thick in his veins froze over, the numbness swallowing him whole. He stared at the pocket of air where the plane had been, a deep nausea climbing up his gut. Everything became a blur, his surroundings moved too quickly and too slowly all at once, he felt everything and nothing, every fibre of his being torn to shreds, his mind unravelled before him. He felt lost, helpless…

He felt Rage. 

His hand crushed the radio, squeezing it so hard the plastic cracked under his fingertips, causing the crackle to cut off, his blunt nails scratching against it.

Sharky had heard things, rumours of John’s Wrath. The concern Joseph had for him. There had been killings, some resistance, others… Their own flock. Corpses hung from the bridges and tunnels, ripped open at the abdomen for all to see, eyes and tongues removed, and blood poured from the hollow sockets. It had been a month now, the emptiness still chewing his insides. He didn’t understand John’s fury, shouldn’t he be celebrating? His mind flashed back to night he caught them both, their lips pressed together under the pale moonlight. Guilt clawed at his brain as he remembered, to judgement he had placed upon the Deputy, how they begged him to give him a chance. Sharky didn’t trust him then, he had been in Hope County his whole life and witness the atrocities of the Cult, but now it was different. The Deputy had truly loved John and generously returned the favour. She wanted no bad blood between them both, being the most important people in her life. She did everything for the County and both men, holding them close through her time here. John was actively killing out of revenge, he refused to speak to his eldest brother, and if he wasn’t out causing death and destruction, he was holed up in his Bunker, torturing all those who resided within, his sadism had a whole new meaning. Whispers in the leaves reminded of Sharky of her, and he could hear her voice.

“Help him.”

Sharky fumbled with the radio, perched on top of his trailer, nerves causing sweat to pool in his palms. Why was he doing this? Was it to stop the whole sale slaughter of Hope County? Maybe. What is to ease his own regret? Perhaps. Was it because that Dep’ would have wanted? Definitely. He flicked through the channels, hesitating when found the frequency he wanted, he glanced up to the night sky, a tear streaming down his cheek. He’d do it for her, he always would.

“John?”

The static crackled with interference, bile rose in his throat at the tension, it was so unusual of him, but it must be done. Finally the static quietened as he got a response.

“Who is this?”

Sharky sighed, taking off his cap and running a hand through his hair, he chewed at his cheek. John sounded exhausted, his usual flourish and smug tone now non existent, he was a man plagued by grief.

“John, don’t hang up okay? It’s Sharky. I just wanna’ talk.”

The silence was deafening and Sharky could almost see John’s confused and irritated expression, there was a metal clattering on the end of the line.

“Charlemagne.” His voice was filled with venom. “You picked a bad time to mock me, did you not?”

Sharky clutched the radio to his chest, attempting to search for some inner strength.

“Actually, I didn’t call to fight, there’s no reason for us too. Not now.”

“Then what do you want?” John hissed through the radio, and Sharky remembered just who he was speaking to, he was playing with fire. And no thrill came with it.

“Look man. I know we had our differences, we didn’t always see eye to eye and I know I made some mistakes about you and Dep’. You did too, but we were her priority. We mattered to her more than anything, more than herself

Sharky was greeted with a silence and his chest tightened. He knew it wouldn’t be easy for John, it wasn’t for him either. But the man who gave the impression of someone who had next to no emotion apart from anger and gratification at peoples misery, his heart broken in two by the bereavement. He saw the love John held for them, in the form of broken and bloodied bodies.

“So… I called to say that I won’t be fighting anymore, not for the resistance, not for no one. I can’t do it. And I want the same for you man, you’re tearing yourself apart. I don’t care what side your on, you loved them and I see that now. I’m sorry for putting you through so much shit about it, I just care about her, she’s my best friend.

“Don’t you dare speak of her. How do you know how I feel? You only wanted her for yourself, your selfishness and greed. You have no idea, how I could possibly feel. You didn’t understand. You didn’t believe. You didn’t care! I should string you up with the rest of them.”

Sharky nodded at his words, true he had craved the Deputy’s affection ever since he met them, he allowed jealousy to plague him often. But all had changed now, this isn’t what the would have wanted.

“I know and I’m sorry, my feelings got in the way. But I know pain, John. She wouldn’t want you to do this. Didn’t she always say how badly she wanted things to be still between us? Isn’t it only right that we fulfil that? Not mindless killing  in their name. You know that wasn’t her way.”

The radio was silent for what felt like a thousand years, Sharky’s heart beating the only sound in the darkness. He looked over the radio, fidgeting with his hands.

“…It’s the only way.”

“It’s not John, she wouldn’t want this. She would want you to be strong for her, not punish everyone around you. And you believe in God right? Well I bet she’s with him right now, telling him how much of a good person you really are. Do you want to go against that?”

“…Thank you, Boshaw…”

Sharky couldn’t believe it, his mouth hung open with relief and astonishment. This was the most civil conversation they had ever had, born from loss.

“What for?”

“I know you didn’t accept us, I know it tore you apart from the inside out. And I rather enjoyed it, but she spoke of you all the time, how important you were to her, how you made her laugh… Your little adventures together. I admit, I was envious of the time you spent with them, working hard to undo all my work. But she spoke of your qualities, the talks you would have over a drink, how much those mattered…”

He trailed off, and Sharky picked on the sound of a muffled sniffle on the line. Was he really crying? He let John’s words ring in his head, he couldn’t stop the tears that fell, attempting to keep them hidden.

“She said that?”

“She did. I cannot control the Wrath that’s buried so deeply in my core, I carved it onto to my flesh over and over and over until I dulled the blade. I used to crave her death before I knew of my feelings, dreaming of wrapping my hands around her throat and holding her there till she stops kicking, wishing for end to her belligerence but now… I’d kill anyone for a chance to see her again.”

“I understand. But John, this isn’t your fault you can’t blame yourself. You cared for her, deeply. More than I’ve ever seen you care about anything that wasn’t yourself.”

A broken chuckle came through end, and Sharky cracked a grief stricken smile, masking over the sounds of quiet sobbing. Sharky’s heart crushed at the sound, tears of his own falling into the dirt. 

“Where did we go wrong Boshaw?”

“We went wrong, when we caused a War.”

There was another long pause, Sharky tried to collect his emotions together, but they tumbled from his arms, he heard the sounds of scraping on the end, and grimaced.

“We are in too deep now Boshaw, the choices we have made will define us both in the end… The War won’t end until the county is soaked in blood. I could cease killing, but it wouldn’t make a difference. Tomorrow more will die, by my hand or God’s.”

Sharky sniffed, nodding his head lowly.

“You’re right. But whatever choice you make now, do it for her. Always do it for her. I’m leaving for the mountains, I’m going to search for the wreckage, I don’t think I’ll find a body…You can come with me if you want? You don’t have to tell anyone, I have a cabin that my uncle used to own up there, it’s real cut off from everything and everyone. It would just be us, no one else.”

John straightened himself up, looking down at his blood soaked forearms, a mix of his and the others. He considered Sharky’s offer, though it would be strange if people saw them, he wasn’t sure if he would ever speak to Sharky again. But that’s not what she wanted, and he couldn’t disappoint her.

“I’ll pick you up first thing tomorrow. Be ready.”

And he would be, they would travel to the North together. A new friendship formed out of loss and grief. Out of the end, a beginning, and rising like a phoenix reborn from the ashes, the fires of hate born anew, into companionship, a new dawn.

And they would do it for her…They always would.

This killed me! And I’m going for a cigarette lmao Enjoy! (if you can?) and thank you for requesting, this got me in the feels.!

[angstymarshmallow]

Wilted and Burdened (Jax x MC)

[A little note: Originally I was working on something trr related but abandoned that idea entirely and tried my hand at writing angst for Jax and MC instead. I can’t resist writing some good ol’ angst. From the way I say I love you prompts - 32 In a way I can’t return, thanks anon!] 

[Word Count:1789]

I love you.

Three little words that meant everything for a lot of people. Three little words that held a type of joy from effortlessly falling for someone. Three little words that made nothing else matter. But for others it was more complicated - too complicated to keep and more simpler to abandon. And to the rest it meant empty promises said in the heat of the moment, only for the regret to come later. 

But for Harlow, those three little words had meant the first thing. They had meant everything. A new and surreal experience she had finally realized with alarming clarity that had sent her heart racing. For her, it meant the beginning of something with the man nestled beside her.

He had been watching her sleep when she awoke and the words had tumbled from her lips after seeing his affectionate smile. A-spur-of-the-moment decision that rang with absolute clarity inside her heart despite the warning bells in her head; imploring her that it was far too early in their relationship. 

But slowly, the implications of her words dawned on her. And very quickly, I love you was becoming her ultimate demise as his eyes widened in shock.

He remained silent. 

And the words seemed to hang in the air between them; filling the room with uneasy silence left behind by his unspoken answer.

Harlow froze.

Her lips formed an o while the rest of her was still reeling from how quickly their circumstances had changed. It wasn’t long ago when the thought of vampires yet alone falling for one was inconceivable and yet here she was. 

When she met his unblinking stare, she swore the fine hairs on her skin went completely still. Unable to speak for a moment, she tried to close the increasing gap between them, wanting nothing more than to prove how much she loved him - only for him to pull back seconds before she could reassure him with a kiss.

His eyes had changed from its dark crimson back into its dark pools of abyss; eyes that she had often gotten lost in during moments like this were now looking at her strangely. 

He was staring at her in disbelief instead of echoing her sentiments. “What…” He slammed his mouth shut then opened it again. “What did you say?”

“I said I loved you.” She repeated, with more conviction this time. She had meant to be reassuring but instead her eyes caught the flash of panic staring back at her, mingled with the shadow of a pain she had seen only once before.

Was she completely wrong to tell him how she felt? Was everything she thought she felt between them was a lie?

No, she didn’t believe it was a lie.

“Jax…” Harlow trailed off. She tried to reach for him again until he shook his head. Her hand fell back to her side.

“I –” She stopped short, failing to find better words in explaining how strongly she felt for him. How far she had fallen since they met. And the more she thought about it, the more she thought those three little words weren’t nearly in describing how he made her feel and for everything he had ever done for her.  

. But saying it happened in a moment of weakness – a way for her to say she wanted forever – because being with a vampire, meant more than a temporary and fleeting whim. It was a declaration of love that she wanted with him for eternity.

And yet, watching the light she adored in his eyes snuff out – she was beginning to think that telling him the truth was a mistake. A mistake that made him stare at her as though she was a stranger instead of the woman he hadn’t spent the last few hours making love with.

She was wrong.

He hadn’t been ready to hear it – she knew that now as he got to his feet without meeting her expression. She knew that now as apprehension settled near the pit of her stomach and she rolled across the bed to try and find her bearings, to fight for composure. Blinking back tears and the sting of rejection, she tried again. She needed a reason to believe that he hadn’t felt the same, when everything he had ever done for her – seemed to tell a different story. “I don’t understand…did I do something wrong..?”

Why can’t you say it back? Why can’t you tell me you love me too?

She knew he thought about her. She could tell his feelings were strong from the amount of times she caught him staring, laughing at something she said and even from the way he held her inside his arms – there was never a moment since they grew closer with each passing day that she doubted he did.

               And yet the second she saw his panic – she wanted nothing more than to take the words back. To run to him and make some off-beat joke about how corny love confessions are; anything to bring his smile back. But she couldn’t. Even if she really wanted to, when she spoke those three little words into existence was the exact moment she had sealed her fate.

And fate was telling her, he was it for her. The real deal.

“Jax –”

The vampire who had often resonated quiet strength and resolve, an undeniable fierceness she admired seemed to be all but missing now. Instead, he clumsily slipped into his boxers and in his quick haste, yanked his shirt over his head to ignore her. “I should go.” He responded tersely, still avoiding her stare.

“Jax wait –” She sat upright, leaned close enough to grab his wrist – only for her fingers to come up empty.

“I shouldn’t have come by,” He continued as though he hadn’t heard her. “Coming by was a mistake. It’s unsafe for us right now…especially for you,” he took a ragged breath, finally meeting her stare with a clenched jaw. “Seeing you was selfish. Selfish and stupid.”

“That isn’t true.” Harlow said indignantly, jutting her chin at him. “I wanted to see you – you know nothing would’ve stopped me from coming to see you.” She took a deep breath for a moment, fighting the lump she felt by her throat. “Seeing you is the only thing that still makes sense in this – in this fucked up world we’re in right now.” Getting to her feet, she made quick strides to stand in front of him.

“And being with you…it’s like…” she trailed for a moment, searching his eyes. “It’s the only thing that still makes sense, especially when the rest of the world right now is falling apart.”

“Harlow –” His voice was weak, a gentle plea for her to stop as he took a step back.

“Why can’t you say it back?” She demanded suddenly, taking a step forward. She pointed her fingers to his chest until he caught her hand. “Why can’t you say you love me too?” She demanded, feeling the corner of her eyes sting. “We see each other all the time – and every moment I’ve spent in your arms, is the only time I’ve ever felt loved. Cherished.”

Eyes flashing in anguish, he looked away and dropped her hand. “You only think you do.”

“Oh no, you don’t get to do that.” Her voice was rising, spiralling out of control with the rest of her emotions. Everything had been on edge for so long, she felt as though the rest of her was on standby to fall apart. “You do not get to tell me how I feel,” she shook her head adamantly. “Even if you can’t admit it to me, I know you love me too.”

Her voice softened a fraction as she tried to cup his cheek, forcing him back to stare down at her. “Jax…why can’t you tell me how you’re really feeling – ” when he tried to interrupt, she continued quickly, “ – and not about the clanless, or the war brewing over our heads now with the Council on our tails. Why can’t you just tell me how you feel about me? Just me.”

For a moment, hope flares in her chest as she watches him. His eyes wander over her face as if he was trying to remember every detail. Then it dies just as quickly the second she felt him slip away; his eyes going carefully blank – his posture remaining stiff as he shrugged off her touch.

Placing a wide berth between them, he cleared his throat. “I have to go.” He said abruptly.

And with it, a dam inside her burst. Tears blurred her vision for a moment, and she quickly turns away from him to rub her eyes. “Okay, then go.” Her words are sharp now, buried underneath layers of hurt until he touched her arm. “Just go.”

“Harlow –”

“You shouldn’t care what happens to me anyway, I’m just some human.” She rushed on, swiping her bangs from her forehead. “And in a few weeks you’ll forget all about me –”

Jax whirled her so fast that the rest of her sentence was cut short and her gasp became muffled as she felt his lips crash against hers, molding her to him like the pieces they always knew they were – fitting together despite their differences.

A whimper escaped her throat. Her fingers made tiny fists into his hair as he slid his tongue into her mouth, deepening their kiss.

“I can’t Harlow,” he whispered against her lips. She could feel his fingers faintly rubbing across her back. “I can’t love you.” He said hoarsely.

Her heart sunk with every word he uttered. “But…but why not?”

“Because there is too much at stake.” He released her then, running his thumb over her lip. “There’s too many people counting on me. And I don’t - I couldn’t live with myself if you get hurt, because of me.”

She stared up at him. “What’s life without a little risk?”

“Safe. You need to be safe.” He continued, dropping his thumb after she pressed a kiss there. “I can’t risk this. I can’t risk you.” His brows creased, “I can’t afford to...to be distracted when my people need me.” He looked away after catching the flash of hurt inside her eyes.

“My people are too high of a price to pay for a distraction.” His voice was filled with regret, “I could see us…in another time maybe.In another place,” he muttered, “I could see you us settling down somewhere - away from all of this. I could see you being everything,” his voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “But I will not allow it. Not now. I cannot love you because my people need me. And I cannot put you over my people.”

She flinched then, feeling as though he slapped her with every word. “You need to leave.”

“Harlow I –” He tried to reach for her but she shoved him back.

“Don’t.”

Nodding slowly, Jax pulled on his pants and grabbed his jacket on his way out. Once his hand was by the door, Harlow spoke up.

“I get it.” She threw her hands in the air. “I get that you’re this badass warrior that-that has to bleed himself dry for the people he cares about,for the people that look to you for guidance – but what about what you want?” She couldn’t meet his eyes, knowing it would shatter her heart if she did. “Doesn’t that matter at all?”

“What I want....I can’t allow that to matter.” He said slowly; her heart sinking with every word. “Because until this war is over – there can never be an us. Not a real us anyway.”

-

[knightofbalance-13]

https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/177509479149/back-on-my-bullshit

Welp, guess you can take mine then.

Let’s tweak the lore a bit.

*slaps five bucks on the table* I’m betting you fundamentally break the lore until it doesn’t work anymore.

During a discussion with a friend of mine I was going on about inconsistencies in rwby cause she never watched it but was aware of some of the flaws and was curious. The conversation soon turned from my disdain for the series flaws (really I’m so tired guys) to fixing certain flaws in the narrative, and during our swapping she asked me how if yang had aura did adam cut through yang’s aura.

You know, I’d bet that all those ‘flaws’ are just bullshit you told her.

Also: If you hate the series, why the fuck are you supporting it? or are you pirating it in which case, you don’t get to complain.

I told her want miles told us and I can tell you the look on her face was priceless, she then asked why his blade was pure red and frankly after 5 seasons we don’t know shit about adam but one can assume it could be made from metal that cut around aura.

Did you tell her about that time Monty literally fucked up one of his own twists by putting oin Penny in a fight where she wasn’t needed?

because knowing Monty kind of helps understand most of the decisions of early RWBY.

One would argue why everyone doesn’t have this metal then but that’s a different subject altogether, Point is We fixed the lore and it was a long ways back we had to go to do so.

Grab the popcorn everyone, he’s gonna fuck it so badly.

(If you watched Celtic phoenix’s lore video on the grimm this makes a lot more sense.)Suffice to say: Grimm leave behind the white bone like armor when they die.)

*ducks as a gear flies over his head*

Literally the very first statement you said broke the lore. Grimm don’t leave ANYTHING behind. That is CANON. And if they do leave the white armor behind when they die, that REALLY defangs a lot of their horror since, if they can leave things behind they7 can be studied, weaknesses can be found and it takes away from the unusual horror they exude as they solely attack humans and leave nothing behind, defying two things that the animals they emulate do.

So adam’s sword is an expensive and rare type of metal obtained by one grimm. The elephant grimm, see as we see them in the series they seems to stand far off from cities and we never seen any fight so like real elephants there’s something spectacular about their bone plating, they eat precious gems and metal unlike other grimm and hunters during the graduation into full time hunters have the option to go kill these grimm for some incredibly powerful metals stored in the bone plating on the grimm.

A. It is expressly SAID and SHOWN they will fight if they think they can win.

B. Grimm have never shown any other biological functions like eating or sleeping. That helps make them scary because it drives a FURTHER disconnect between what we as pattern seeking beings we are would assume of them.

C. These Grimm are shown to be bigger than skyscrapers and have hides that shrug off bullets. They are some of the strongest Grimm in the series and now you make them look like slightly tougher Ursas.

D. Their PLATING is not special, THEY are. 

And E. HOW is it that consuming gem stones and rare metals makes them grow this strong metal? How? Rare metals are NOT strong weapons, they are in fact pretty damn fragile when it comes down to it. Gold is actually pretty soft you know?

If it’s magic...HOW does the magic work? And why is magic not universally accepted in RWBY then?

Oh and F. You ripped this off from Sableye from Pokémon. For a guy who screeches about RWBY barely holding a resemblance to anything, your ideas seem heavily reliant on others.

Problem is these grimm have a high kill count, cause they’re elephant like and they’re smart so they stick in groups deep in forest with traps and the aid of less intelligent grimm that they can command.

A. HOW can a fucking elephant make traps that aren’t super obvious?

B. WHY would other Grimm hang around these creatures? They are not pack creatures nor would other Grimm be smart enough to listen to them.

C. If these Grimm are so intelligent as to make traps and command less Grimm why have they NOT killed off humanity long before this setting? 

C2. If not THAT, why haven’t these intelligent Grimm that can apparently command other Grimm not command their underlings to eat rare gem stones and rare metals in order to have this super metal too?

Occasionally you’ll find a really good Titanium like metal made from grimm that seems to bypass aura like they do (recently that’s changed but we actually seen grimm cut and bite despite aura existing) and that’s why adam’s blade ignored yang’s aura instead of “Well it’s awesome heheh.” This way besides just killing grimm it makes the world feel a little more alive, people can kill certain grimm for certain metals (students at signal start out with more down to earth metals and when they graduate they can go hunt a grimm as graduation form their more fantasy like materials to make new or improve their weapon.)

You know, that Titanium comment really goes to show your double standard about RWBY.

Titanium ,as you are thinking of, RARELY occurs in nature and instead is found mostly in sand as numerous different types of minerals. To get pure Titanium, you’d need to REFINE it. And Titanium, in and of itself, isn’t actually very durable. As a natural metal yes it is for how light weight it is as well as how resistant it is to extreme tempetures. But it’s still only equal to common low grade steel and like many metals, it’s true strength lies in being mixed into alloys where it becomes a component of the metal.

AKA Titanium as we know it, made from it’s pure state along with being mixed with certain metals, CANNOT BE FOUND IN NATURE. So such a metal WOULDN’T EXIST in a Grimm due to eating NATURALLY MADE metals.

You could explain it away with “magic!” but A. that defeats the entire purpose of you making all these details just to end it with “magic!” and B. We both know you’d be attempting murder on Miles and Kerry if they tried anything remotely similar.

And there lies the hypocrisy: your explanation has the EXACT SAME ISSUES you have with Adam’s original explanation (in which it makes no sense) except it takes far bigger leaps in logic, breaks several rules of canon to the point of needing NUMEROUS retcons to fix it and being over complicated as FUCK. And yet you have the audacity to claim you fixed anything.

Same thing with the Shade Academy thing: It’s same shit you bitch about with the Fanaus except you have set ZERO foundation for the culture of the area to support such an idea unlike the Fanaus.

You BROKE canon.

And worst of all: there was a MUCH simpler explanation.

It’s just a tweak but what do you think? got better ideas? Or addtions?

Yeah:

Adam’s sword had Dust.

Or his Semblance lets him cut through people’s Auras.

The original explanation of “He just hit her hard enough” makes more sense AND is much simpler to understand.

There’s a saying Sokumotanaka:

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it.

You gave a giant convoluted bullshit explanation that sounds like M. Night Shamalyan wrote a WOR episode when much simpler and more effective answers stared you in the fucking face. Ergo, you don’t know how to actually WRITE RWBY.

Because god knows what you’d do to the main conflict.

[besidemethewholedamntime]

everything you wanted (and everything you don’t)

For @whistlingwindtree who told me I could do it.

Summary:  There are decisions she wouldn't make again no matter the consequences, and yet somehow those consequences have given her the things she loves now.

(Read here on Ao3)

                                                           -x-

May never says, rarely even allows herself to think it, but sometimes she wishes for a simpler life.

To say she loves the life she has now would be a bit too far, would be a bit too simple, but all in all she’s usually quite satisfied with how everything’s played out.

There’s pain. Of course, there’s pain. And there are regrets and there are things she wouldn’t do again no matter the cost. And lately there seem to be more and more of them, softly stacking up that she doesn’t notice until she really thinks and oh wow suddenly it’s like she can’t breathe.

But she’s okay. She’s Melinda Qiaolian May and she’s fine.

There are, however, in those moments before sleep that revelations appear, thoughts of how her life might have turned out and, tentatively, she allows herself to follow the thoughts and see where they go.

What if she had stuck to ice-skating?

What if she had never joined SHIELD?

What if she had never gone to Bahrain?

Logically, she knows there’s no point in wondering for these things that cannot be changed – thinking of them and of what if will only hurt her more.

Though sometimes she cannot help it and falls into the downward tumble that only causes pain.

Sometimes, however, she is able to resist and instead she allows herself to think of a life beyond the broken loop.

Maybe a life with Phil, maybe a life where she could just simply grow old and do Tai Chi every morning because it keeps blood pressure low and not because she needs to maintain her flexibility for a life of constant fighting.

A life where she gets to be content and watch her bus kids heal and grow and be the future.

It’s not as though she says it out loud. It’s a tightly kept secret, something she doesn’t admit even to herself. That’s not to say it’s not there; it’s always in her mind but she actively tries not to think about it.

Because they are not children, and they are not hers. They do not belong to her, they are not things to be claimed as her own. She can’t, because they all have mothers who brought them into this world and shaped the people they are today in various ways. She can’t, because it might be the end of her to take another child.

That, of course, is not to say she doesn’t love them.

She loves them so much even though she tries not to think about it, tries not to allow her brain to go to those forbidden places. Loving them will not save her. Loving them will not save them.

There’s little pieces of herself in each of them, perhaps in some more than others. The way Jemma fires a weapon, the way Fitz is much less afraid of the field. The way Daisy fights, the way she controls her powers. She taught these things to them, she left a lasting impression and perhaps that was the beginning of her descent into love.

When she first met them, they weren’t children then either, except they were. They were wide-eyed and young and looked to her and Phil to guide them and to lead them (and to keep them safe). They all wanted to so desperately believe that these agents in the levels above them, these veteran SHIELD agents had everything well in hand, and that they only had to worry about what they were told to worry about, do what these older agents, these ‘experts’ told them to do. Because they knew everything and they could save the world.

Sometimes she looks back at those wide-eyed children and misses their naivete. It meant that nothing so bad had happened yet that wasn’t reversible, nothing irredeemable had taken place that meant they had to harden and wisen up or risk not making it.

These children needed her, and maybe in a way she needed them too. She needed something to fix, needed something to put back together since she couldn’t do it to herself.

If she takes a step back and looks at her handiwork, she’s not sure of what to think.

Fitzsimmons don’t need her anymore. They have each other to call home. And in a way she’s glad, because something’s worked out for them and they’ve come so far from those two non-field agents she met on a plane all those years ago. They have each other in a way they’ve never had each other before, and in a way she’s sad because the job being done means that the job is finished.

Daisy doesn’t need her anymore, or at least not in the way she used to. This girl has a special place in her heart, because, even though she would never utter it aloud, she would be more able to admit this once-girl could be hers in another world. Because aren’t they two halves of the same broken heart? Wasn’t Daisy looking for someone to love her as a mother loves a child, and wasn’t May needing someone to give her love to once again.?

This girl who when they first found her knew nothing of what it took to be a skilled fighter, a good leader, is now well on her way, if they break the loop, to becoming the new face of SHIELD.

And May is not that self-doubting, she knows which pieces of Daisy are reflections of herself, what she gave to her. But lately it feels as though she has given her everything she is able to, and the things she needs to learn now are only what Phil can teach her, only what leaders can pass on to the next generations, only what fathers give to their daughters.

She feels redundant, as though there’s nothing left she can give these pieces of her heart anymore.

If this is what she feels, with those children who aren’t and were never hers who now no longer need her the way they once did, then how do normal mothers survive it? How do they ever let their children go?

Then there is the man who holds a part of her heart she doesn’t ever remember giving, but one day realising that now suddenly he had it even if he didn’t know it. This man, who since day one she has been here to protect, who’s unwavering faith in the organisation which brought them together makes her want to believe, who’s optimism is infectious and who’s love and loyalty give her the strength and conviction to keep fighting what already could be a losing battle. This man who she loves.

As if that already doesn’t say everything that needs to be said.

This is why she doesn’t think of what if’s, doesn’t think of the could have been’s because then she has to ask herself the question of would you give up everything you have now for the chance at what might have been?

To never know these people who she now considers to be her family is something that wounds her far more than any weapon ever could. To have never known SHIELD, to have never known her ‘bus kids’, to have never known Phil…

To have a life in which she’d never know these people that, although she would never admit it, fixed what was broken within her, gave her back those parts of herself though to have been stolen from her forever is a life she doesn’t want to know. No matter how normal, how simple an alternative might be.

To say she loves the life she has now would be a bit too far, would be a bit too simple.

But the truth is that while there are things she wouldn’t do again no matter what, she’s here now where she is because of those things that have already happened and cannot be changed, no matter how much she might wish it to be so.

And she can ignore the past and she can bury its pain and pretend as though those decisions made lifetimes ago haven’t influenced every single choice since but in the end, it doesn’t go away.

Because it happened and it hurt but it gave her the things she has today. The things she loves.

It’s time to stop looking to the past, to stop wondering about everything that might have been if only.

It’s time to start looking towards the future, to tomorrow and all the days that come after.

It’s time to let go.

[mint-yooxgi]

Under His Influence - Yandere!Vampire!Minseok X Reader

Yandere AU - Part of the Yandere!EXO X Reader Series

Genre: Horror, Angst, Mature, Smut (Masturbation - let’s just say someone has a very active imagination)

Pairing: Minseok X Reader

Words: 10,036

Warning: This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: It’s here! Finally! The next part of the Monster Series you’ve all been patiently waiting for! Yay! I really hope you guys like this one, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I kind of took the vampire ideas from The Vampire Diaries and also mixed in my own interpretations for the story. As always, this is my take on this AU. I do not believe Minseok, nor any of the members, past or present, of EXO would act like this. This is just my interpretation of the song and this archetype. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

A small smile makes its way onto Minseok’s face as he stares into your room, watching you move back and forth as you get ready for bed. He feels calm knowing you are near, especially when he can check up on you. He sees you pull out a change of clothes for sleeping and licks his lips as he sees you reach down to take off your shirt.

“Are you spying on her, again?” A voice says from below his perched location on your balcony, making his head turn towards the sound. By the time he turns back around to look at you, you’ve already changed. He sighs.

“Shut up, Yixing, you know I’m only making sure she’s safe,” Minseok replies, jumping down to meet him on the ground.

“Hmm, okay, if you say so,” Yixing replies sceptically. “You seem to do a lot of that considering she’s only your friend.”

“Exactly,” Minseok replies with a roll of his eyes. “She’s my friend whom I love and worry about.”

“Seems to me that you love her as much more than a friend,” Yixing teases as they make their way down the street and away from your house. “One might say you’re almost obsessed.”

“So what if I do?” Minseok rounds on him, ignoring the second half of Yixing’s statement and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I know she’ll never love me the way I love her.”

“You never know until you try, my friend,” Yixing replies, shaking his head at Minseok as they continue to make their way down the street.

Once they arrive back at their shared house, Minseok makes his way immediately to his room. Shutting the door behind him, he moves to his dresser and picks up the picture he has of the two of you smiling at the beach during the annual bonfire. He remembers that night like it was yesterday, the way you smiled at him the entire time during the festival.

He wishes he could go back to a much simpler time. Before any of this happened to him, before he was changed. Maybe if he was still human he’d allow himself to be with you, but the constant fear of hurting you if the two of you are together is always in the back of his mind ever since he met you.

He was only 26 when he was turned. He didn’t know it at the time, but he had come down with the plague, a horrible disease that he knew he wouldn’t survive from, but his wife back then couldn’t live without him. She payed the ultimate price, seeking out a healer of the time, not aware of the danger she had invited into her house in order to save her husband’s life.

The healer had come that night, shrouded in a dark grey cloak with hair as black as night, and eyes even darker. He made Minseok drink a certain liquid, claiming it had healing properties, and it most certainly did. Minseok would later come to learn of the healing properties of his own blood after he turned, but back then, he thought it was a miracle.

Just as Minseok felt his strength returning to him, the healer had snapped his neck. His wife, too busy making tea for the guest had no idea what was going on, and when she came into the room a few minutes later, the healer informed her that Minseok was just sleeping. The healer told her that he would need to stay until Minseok woke up just to make sure the antidote was working properly.

A few hours later, in the very early hours of the morning, Minseok wakes up with a great pain in his neck. Sitting up in bed, he rolls it from side to side, allowing it to crack.

“Good, you’re awake,” the healer had said.

“What happened?” Minseok questioned, now noticing the burn slowly making itself apparent in his throat. “What’s going on?”

“You’re in transition,” the healer had replied.

“Transition?” Minseok inquired.

“To becoming a full vampire,” the man replied, smirking down at Minseok. “That burning you feel in your throat is the desire to feed, and you’ll need to feed soon, or else you will die for real this time.”

“No, this isn’t real. Vampires do not exist,” Minseok tries to reason, throwing the covers off of his body and trying to stand from the bed.

Minseok takes a look around his room, and it is only then that he realizes there is no light, yet he can see everything clearly. He can also hear faint breaths coming from the next room over, as well as a consistent thumping that makes his mouth salivate. He licks his lips and feels his tongue brush against something sharp. His eyes widen and he rushes over to the old mirror in his room, opening his mouth to see his canines have extended. He looks up into his own fear filled eyes and sees them flash red. He stumbles back, tripping over his own feet, and landing on the floor, making a loud thumping sound.

He hears the breathing in the other room pick up and the shuffling of feet getting closer until his wife arrives at the doorway, oil lamp in hand. He squints at the sudden brightness, his eyes not used to the change in atmosphere, and hears a gasp fall from her lips. She quickly places down the lamp on the side dresser and runs over to him, throwing her arms around his neck and falling into his embrace.

“Minseok, you’re okay! Thank goodness,” she cries, pulling his face closer into her neck. “I thought you were going to die!” A chuckle is heard from the healer, making his wife look towards where the healer is standing. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. You’ve saved my beloved Minseok!”

“Don’t thank me just yet, ma’am,” the healer chuckles once again, noticing how Minseok tenses with having his wife so close to him.

“Minseok, what’s wrong?” His wife asks, noticing how tense he is in her arms. She pulls away from him only to let out a gasp when she sees how his irises have changed from their usual warm brown, to a deep red. She lets out a shriek when she notices his elongated canines peaking out from his parted lips.

“Run,” He can barely get out, doing his best to resist every instinct of his that’s telling him to rip out her throat and drink her blood.

Luckily, she immediately stumbles out the door, sprinting down the stairs only to bump into a firm chest as she reaches the bottom. She shrieks again as the healer grabs her by the arms and holds her in place.

Minseok sways as he stands, feeling dizzy. He goes to run out the room, only to bang into the doorframe and then the walls multiple times, not used to his newfound speed yet. However, at the first smell of blood, he finds himself in front of his wife who is still being held by the healer. He notices that she’s bleeding from her neck, and he can feel the burning in his throat grow more intense with every breath he takes.

Suddenly, his wife is thrust at him and he can’t comprehend what is happening. His fangs are now in her neck and warm blood travels down his throat, soothing the burn. He can’t find it in himself to stop despite his wife’s pleas and whimpers. He doesn’t stop until she has no more blood to offer him, but his throat is still burning, and his eyes have turned an even darker shade of red.

Minseok lived in a small village of about 50 people. No one survived the night.

It isn’t until the first rays of dawn hit him in the face that he is pulled out of whatever murderous rampage he was in. Looking around, he sees the bodies strewn upon the ground, blood covering himself all over, especially his hands and all over his face. He looks up to see the healer approaching him.

“You’ve got quite the appetite,” he says, smirking.

“Why?” Minseok asks. “Why did you do this to me?”

“Why?” The healer repeats. “Because I need an army for war.”

Minseok lets the meaning of those words sink in as a tear escapes his eye. He stares down at his blood stained hands which start to shake as the reality of his situation sinks in. He’s just slaughtered his entire village. Men, women, and children, none spared from his wrath of hunger, of his desire to kill.

Minseok sits on his bed, staring once again at his shaking hands as the memories of that night haunt him. He lets out a shaky breath, running his hands through his hair. He glances towards his dresser, where the picture sits, almost mockingly.

“Besides, who could ever love a monster like me?” He mutters to himself sadly.

Minseok lays in bed that night, unable to get any rest. Every time he closes his eyes, he’s faced with the gruesome images of his massacre, his bloodstained hands, and the look of fear forever engraved on the faces of his victims.

Eventually the sun starts to peak over the horizon, signalling the start of the day. Minseok sighs as he throws off his covers and sits on the edge of his bed. He’s used to not sleeping, but sometimes it is nice to actually get a few hours during the night. A few minutes pass by and Minseok decides he’s done feeling sorry for himself. He’s come to terms with his past, and he cannot change what has happened. If he could go back in time and prevent it, he would, but then he would have never gotten the chance to meet you.

He stands up and makes his way over to his bathroom to get ready for the day, as he plans to spend it with you. The two of you are going to go out for lunch, then go to the art museum, possibly catch a movie, and then go out for drinks to end the night. He can’t wait to spend the entire day with you and be surrounded in your scent.

One of his many favourite things about you is your scent. How you manage to always smell like lavender and mint, he’ll never know. Sometimes he swears that he gets lost in your intoxicating aroma, and how it’s so uniquely you. Not to mention the sweet smell of your blood, which he longs to taste but knows he could never do that to you.

Considering how sweet your blood smells, he can’t help but wonder what your arousal smells like. What you taste like, in more ways than one. He’s constantly imagining scenarios in which you return his feelings and he makes love to your body all through the night, getting you to moan his name while coming over and over again.

A shiver of pleasure makes its way down his spine as his eyes close and he envisions one of these scenarios now. A low growl escapes his throat and he opens his eyes to see his reflection staring back at him with red eyes. After a minute, they return to their normal colour.

Stripping himself of his clothes, Minseok steps into the shower, turning on the warm water and letting it cascade down his back. This gives him time to think about things, especially the situation with you.

He decides that he’s finally done feeling sorry for himself, and that he’s going to take Yixing’s advice and actually try with you. No more being afraid. No more hiding his feelings. He’s going to win your heart no matter what it takes starting today, but first, he needs to take care of his ‘little friend’ who’s made himself known thanks to that all too real vision he’s had of you.

About ten minutes later, Minseok is out of the shower and is currently drying the excess water from his hair with a towel. He changes quickly and checks the time on his phone. He still has a good few hours before he’s supposed to meet you at your house to go to the restaurant together. He sighs as he makes his way down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab something to eat. He wishes time could go faster, he just wants to be with you already.

“You’re up early,” Yixing comments as soon as he sees Minseok walk into the kitchen.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Minseok replies, opening the fridge and moving things around until he finds what he’s looking for. His eyes light up as they find the hidden blood bags, pulling one out in the process. “Besides, I’m spending the day with (Y/n).”

“Of course you are,” Yixing smiles, taking a sip of his own drink. “Going to continue admiring her from afar then?”

“No,” Minseok immediately answers. “I’m done with that.”

Yixing chokes on his drink. “What?”

“I’ve decided to actually take your advice and go for it,” Minseok shrugs, sitting across from Yixing at the kitchen table.

“Are you serious? Minseok, are you feeling okay?” Yixing asks sceptically, not believing his friend’s words.

“I’m feeling fine, Yixing,” Minseok sends a glare towards his friend.

“I’m just teasing you,” Yixing jokes, chuckling while raising his arms in a defensive manner. “I just thought I wouldn’t see the day where you actually would take my advice.”

Minseok just rolls his eyes in response, sipping on his blood. A sort of calm silence settles between the two as they each check their phones. The scraping of a chair is heard as Yixing stands up and goes to put his glass in the sink.

“I’m assuming you wont be back until late then,” he says, turning to face Minseok who is still seated at the table.

“Don’t wait up,” Minseok replies.

“I wasn’t planning too,” Yixing smirks while walking out of the kitchen, but not before calling over his shoulder. “Don’t fuck up!”

Before Minseok can react, Yixing has left the house. Minseok rolls his eyes and sighs, getting up to clean up the dishes. He takes one final look around the kitchen before returning to his room. He still has some time to kill before he has to meet up with you, so he decides to read a book. Might as well take his mind off things for a while until he has to deal with how he’s going to confess to you.

A few hours later, Minseok stands outside your door. His dead heart is racing and his palms are sweaty. He has no idea how this day is going to go, but he keeps reminding himself that it’s just like any other day he spends out with you, not a date.

He raises his hand and gently knocks on your door. He can hear the soft sound of your footsteps coming towards the door, and a few seconds later, he’s greeted by your smiling face.

“Hey, right on time, as usual,” you comment, opening the door wider so he can step inside.

“I’ll never be late, if it’s you,” he replies honestly, looking into your eyes as he steps inside.

You just smile back at him and shake your head while letting out a small chuckle. You close the door once he’s inside your house.

“Let me just grab my jacket and we can get going,” you say, not even waiting for an answer and instead going to grab your jacket from the living room. “The Thai place, right?”

“Yep!” Minseok replies with a smile, holding the door open for you once you have your shoes on.

You thank him as you step outside and he waits as you lock your front door. You both walk to the bus stop and wait for the appropriate bus to come pick the two of you up to take you both downtown for the day. Eventually, it arrives and you both take a seat near the back. It’s about a 45 minute bus ride into the city, but neither of you mind. Besides, who wants to waste money on a cab?

Minseok is glad for these days that he gets to spend with you where you both go out and do something for the entire day. He loves getting to watch how excited you get over all the little things, it makes him feel human again and forget, for a time, what he really is. Another perk would definitely be getting to be so close to you all day. Like now, for instance, sitting beside you so close on the bus he’s able to breath in your scent deeply, and god, do you smell good.

He feels you rest your head against his shoulder and he tenses ever so slightly. He’s used to you being affectionate towards him, that’s how you are with all your friends, but today he cant help but read into it a bit more. He thinks that maybe, just maybe, you want him just as much as he wants you. He smiles to himself and leans his head on top of yours, allowing himself to enjoy the moment while it lasts.

The bus periodically stops to let more people on and off, but one man in particular catches Minseok’s eye. He had gotten on a few stops ago and now he doesn’t seem to want to take his eyes off of you. Minseok stares down this man with his almost predatory gaze he has towards you.

Sensing he is being stared at, the man makes eye contact with Minseok and Minseok narrows his own eyes at the man. Flashing red for the briefest of moments, the man’s eyes widen and he, almost robotically, gets off at the next stop, making Minseok smirk in victory. No one should look at you like that, no one but him.

About twenty minutes later, the two of you find yourselves in your favourite Thai restaurant ordering your favourite meals. You both tell each other about your week and Minseok can’t keep the smile off his face as he watches you recount the past events of your week. Your happiness makes him happy.

Eventually, your food arrives and the two of you eat in somewhat silence, enjoying the food too much to talk. It’s times like these that Minseok wishes could last forever.

Once the two of you are done, you walk the few blocks there is to the Art Museum down the street. The whole time, you have a smile plastered on your face, practically dragging Minseok down the street by his hand.

“Come on! I really want to see this exhibit,” you say, getting in line once you arrive at the entrance.

You can barely keep still, bouncing on the balls of your feet the entire time while waiting in line. Minseok thinks you look adorable, especially with the way your cheeks puff out in impatience. He smiles at your antics as the line moves forward slowly.

Eventually, the two of you make it inside to the exhibit, you immediately running off to the piece you’re most excited to see first. Minseok follows you around the exhibit like a puppy, paying more attention to you then to the artwork surrounding him. To him, you are the most beautiful piece of art he has ever seen, and he’s been around for a while.

A few hours pass by and you’ve both made your way through the gallery, taking your time to admire the artwork. Minseok spends the majority of the time just watching you, the way your eyes light up when you study a piece of art, the small smile that tugs at your lips as you read the inscriptions. He finds he can’t take his eyes off of you despite being surrounded by these works of art that hold your undivided attention.

You’re so engrossed in the painting you’re currently looking at that you almost miss Minseok’s ‘I’ll be right back’. You nod your head absentmindedly regardless, eyes never leaving the painting. An unfamiliar voice startles you out of your thoughts about a minute later.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” A male says from beside you. “It’s almost as beautiful as you.”

You simply raise an eyebrow in a ‘really’ manner at the guy standing beside you. You roll your eyes and choose to ignore him, bringing your attention back to the piece of art in front of you.

“Okay, you’re right, that was really cheesy, I’m sorry,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck nervously with one of his hands. “I’m just not used to talking to girls. Especially not pretty ones, and normally I wouldn’t have bothered you but I figured life’s too short to not take risks, so here I am.”

“Here you are,” you repeat, still not giving the guy your full attention and instead moving onto the next piece of art which happens to be a sculpture near the centre of the room.

“My name’s Greg, by the way,” he says, following your movements.

“(Y/n),” you reply, deciding to give this guy a chance, being the nice person you are.

Meanwhile, Minseok fixes his hair in the bathroom. He feels like today is going great so far, he gets to spend time with you and watch you without you noticing. He thinks the way you observe the art is the cutest thing ever. He could watch you all day if you’d let him. Well, he usually does anyways, not that you’d know.

His hand pauses in the middle of fixing his hair when he hears a laugh, but not just any laugh, your laugh. His eyes narrow questioningly at what on earth you could possibly find so funny here in the Art Museum. That is, until he hears a male voice and then you replying to said male voice.

As quickly as humanly possible, Minseok is by your side wrapping an arm around your shoulder. He glares at the guy the entire time.

“Oh, there you are Minseok,” you say happily, grin never leaving your face.

“Yep, here I am,” Minseok replies, almost bitterly.

“Well, anyways, we should probably get going now,” you say. “It was nice talking with you Greg!”

With that, Minseok leads you rather swiftly out of the Art Museum and away from this ‘Greg’ guy. He left you alone for five minutes and already you were laughing with another guy like the two of you were old friends. Minseok needs to hurry up and make his move, before it’s too late.

“So, who was that?” Minseok asks as the two of you walk down the street, his arm still tightly wrapped around your shoulder.

“No one important,” you reply nonchalantly, shrugging. “Just a guy.”

Minseok hums in response, his face set in a hard expression. He lets it go for now, but he still doesn’t like how close the two of you were. One might say he is getting jealous.

“There’s time to go catch a movie if you want,” you says, checking your watch for the time and seeing that it’s only 4:30 pm.

“Sure, anything in particular you want to go see?” Minseok asks.

“Yeah, actually, there’s this really cheesy chick flick that just came out,” you tease, knowing how much Minseok can’t stand cheesy romance movies.

“Action movie it is!” He cheers, dragging you along with him down the street, his arm still firmly wrapped around you. You giggle at his antics and he smiles, glad to know he was the cause for your laugh this time and not this ‘Greg’ guy.

You both make it to the theatre and grab your tickets. Minseok grabs the snacks while you grab the seats. You choose a row near the centre since the majority of the seats were taken near the top. You sit down and get settled, waiting for Minseok to come with the snacks.

A few minutes later Minseok walks into the theatre, food in hand and spots you almost immediately. He hands you your stuff with you quietly thanking him, and sits beside you, his ears picking up on all the conversations around the two of you. One in particular catches his interest.

“You think that’s her boyfriend?” A male voice says.

“I hope not, she’s way too hot for him,” Another replies.

“They look awfully close,” the first voice says.

“They could just be good friends, relax. Besides, you should still go up to her and talk to her, you’re so much better than him anyways,” a separate voice says.

Minseok can feel the anger rising in his chest, yet he remains calm on the outside. This is the third time today something like this has happened, and he doesn’t know how much more he can take.

He’s always noticed you’ve been somewhat popular with boys, even with girls at times, but this is the first time it’s really bothered him. He usually just shrugs it off, but since he’s now decided to confess to you how he really feels, he can’t help but feel jealous at everyone who interacts with you. He wants you all for himself.

Throughout the movie, he overhears those boys whispering about you and him, so just to spite them, he casually wraps his arm around your shoulder. You lean into his embrace, making him smirk in victory not only at your action, but the reactions of the guys sitting behind the two of you. That makes them shut up for the rest of the movie.

After the movie is over, the two of you stand just outside the theatre, deciding where you want to go next. You’re just in the middle of making a decision when you feel a small tap on your shoulder, causing you to turn around and come face to face with the three boys that were sitting a few rows behind you. Minseok narrows his eyes in annoyance at the three boys, his eyes flashing red for the briefest of moments.

“Um, sorry to bother you on your date, but um, my friends and I think you’re really pretty and we just wanted to let you know,” one of the unnamed boys says, blushing and looking away shyly while the other two nod their heads behind him.

Minseok scoffs and you elbow him quickly to shut him up.

“That’s very sweet of you three, but we’re not-“ before you can finish your sentence, Minseok cuts you off.

“As you can see, she’s happily taken. So if you’ll excuse us, we have a date to get back too,” He says, grabbing your hand and pulling you down the street and away from the three boys.

You roll your eyes and after about a block or so, plant your feet firmly on the ground and pull your hand out of Minseok’s grip.

“Minseok, what the fuck was that?” You say, crossing your arms in front of your chest.

“Nothing,” He replies gruffly, looking straight ahead.

“That was not nothing,” you reply with a scoff.

“Can we please just drop it?” He asks, pleading with his eyes.

“Fine,” you sigh. “But don’t think I’m letting you off the hook that easily, you have to buy me a drink then.”

“Okay, I was planning to do that anyways,” he says as the two of you continue walking down the street.

“Two drinks!” You say, holding up two fingers to get your point across.

“Fine by me, now, let’s go eat dinner,” Minseok answers, leading the way to the restaurant.

The two of you eat dinner in an uncomfortable silence with you trying to figure out what exactly is going on with Minseok today. He’s been acting strange all day and he almost seems, jealous? There’s no way he could be jealous though, he’s just a friend, right? Well, there’s one way to test that theory.

After dinner, the two of you head to the bar. You figure alcohol will help solve your issues for the day. While at the bar, you ignore Minseok somewhat, which makes him upset. He’s angry at himself because he knows he did this to himself, but also sad that you would choose to ignore him and blatantly flirt with this fuck of a guy sitting beside you. He needs to do something, and fast.

Luckily, the guy you’re talking to gets up to use the restroom, so Minseok takes this opportunity to follow him. Not that you would notice, you’re too busy smiling to yourself.

In the restroom, Minseok pins the guy to the wall with his arm across the guy’s chest. His red eyes glare into the brown eyes of the guy, his teeth bared in a snarl.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing with my girl?” Minseok growls, his eyes compelling the truth out of the unsuspecting victim.

“Trying to get laid, what’s your deal dude? I didn’t even know she was your girl,” the guy replies, trying, and failing, to shove Minseok off of him.

“Why her?” Minseok pushes even harder against the struggling man.

“She looked easy! Plus she’s fucking hot, who wouldn’t want to get in her pants?” The man answers, not knowing why he’s saying these things out loud.

Minseok’s rage comes to a boiling point, yet he manages to stop himself from ripping out this guy’s throat. Instead, he comes up with a better idea.

“You’re going to march right back out there and tell her the real reason’s why you’re talking to her. You’re going to be the biggest asshole possible and get her to hate you,” Minseok compels the man who blinks a few times in confusion as Minseok releases his hold on him.

The man slowly exits the restroom and makes his way back over to where you’re sitting at the bar, Minseok following shortly behind with a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. You turn around when you sense a presence beside you and smile slightly when you realize it’s the kind man you were talking to before.

“Alright, listen babe, I’m going to be honest with you, the only reason I’ve been talking with you for the past hour and a half is because you looked like you’d be easy. Plus you’re fucking hot. I just want a good fuck and you fit the bill, so if you wouldn’t mind being a good girl and hurrying things along so I can get in your pants already, that’d be great,” the man says, eyes roaming over your figure hungrily.

Instead of giving the man an answer, you smile politely while standing up, drink in hand. Your smile morphs into a face full of anger and disgust, throwing the rest of the contents of your drink all over the man who looks stunned, to say the least.

“C’mon babe, don’t be like that,” the man whines.

“Minseok, let’s go,” you state emotionlessly, looking straight past the man. You start to walk towards the exit while muttering an ‘asshole’ towards the man who is left standing dumbfounded alone at the bar.

Minseok smirks to himself as he follows you out, quickly wrapping his arm around you in a sort of comforting motion. He can’t believe how well that worked.

You quickly call a cab, figuring you have no patience for the bus. Minseok keeps you wrapped in his arms the entire ride back to your house, letting you cry into his shoulder. It pains him to see you get so worked up over a guy you just met, but he did what had to be done. The next words that come out of your mouth break his heart.

“Am I just that unlovable? Is all I’m good for just a quick fuck and dump?” You sob, voice cracking.

“No, you’re so much better than that. You’re worth so much more,” he coos, gently running his fingers through your hair in a comforting manner.

The rest of the ride is spent in silence with the occasional sob coming from you as Minseok comforts you the best way he can. When the cab arrives at your house, Minseok ushers you inside after insisting to pay for everything. He guides you to your couch and gets you to sit while he goes to get you a drink.

A minute later, Minseok reappears with a glass of water in his hand. He hands it to you as he sits beside you on the couch. You once again, curl into his embrace, grateful to have him with you.

By now, your crying has stopped and the two of you sit in a comfortable silence. Your head rests on his shoulder and your hands play with his own. Minseok feels at peace and lets this moment sink in, basking in the feeling of you next to him, intertwining your fingers with his over and over again. He wishes that this moment could last forever.

He figures now is the best time to confess to you, seeing as you’ve calmed down and there’s no time like the present. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he prepares to tell you what he’s wanted to tell you since the first time he’s met you.

“(Y/n),” he whispers your name, successfully grabbing your attention. You turn your head to look at him with curious eyes, and he can’t help but stare into them. “I love you.”

You stare at him for good thirty seconds, occasionally blinking up at him before a smile breaks out on your face. A relieved sort of expression takes over Minseok’s own face when he sees your smile, but it immediately falls when he hears the words that come out of your mouth.

“I love you, too, Minseok. You’re my best friend, and I don’t know what I’d do without you,” you reply, hoping he didn’t mean what you’ve already realized throughout the day.

“No, (Y/n), I don’t think you understand,” Minseok grips your face in his hands gently, whispering the words you don’t want to hear come from your best friend’s lips. “I’m in love with you.”

With those words, he closes the short distance between the two of you and places his lips upon yours. To Minseok, your lips feel like heaven, a sort of bliss he can never get enough of. To you, you don’t know what to feel, but all you know is that your best friend is kissing you and you don’t know how to react.

After a moment, Minseok realizes that you’re not kissing him back. He opens his eyes to see you’re already staring into his own, an unreadable expression in them. Inside, Minseok is conflicted, this is all he’s ever wanted, but you’re not reacting the way he’d hoped you’d react. He wants you to want him as much as he wants you, as much as he needs you. A spark of anger flashes through him and before he knows what he’s doing, he’s speaking.

“Kiss me back,” he demands, eyes flashing red for the briefest of moments. So quick that you swear you imagine it, but at his words, you feel yourself doing just that. Kissing him back.

Of all the sensations he’s felt throughout his entire life, kissing you has to be the very best. God, if kissing you feels this good, he can only imagine what tasting you is like, and how your lips would feel wrapped around his cock, how your walls would feel clenching around him as he brings you to orgasm after orgasm. He feels his whole body shudder in bliss as he pulls away from you with his eyes closed.

Opening them, he’s greeted by your beautiful face, morphed into an expression of confusion, shock, and, is that fear in your eyes?

“Minseok, what was-“ you take a deep breath. “What the hell was that?”

“Me finally working up the courage to tell you how I really feel about you,” Minseok replies, stroking your face with his thumb lovingly.

“No, Minseok, that’s not what I meant,” you say, brushing his hand off your face, to which he frowns at. “The confession I can deal with, but your eyes, they turned red. Not just once, but twice!”

“Oh,” Minseok sighs, looking away from you. So that’s why you looked at him with a bit of fear in your eyes.

“Yeah, ‘oh.’ So care to explain to me what the fuck is going on, and why the fuck your eyes turned red?” You’re standing by now, pacing in front of your couch, not being able to comprehend the situation.

Minseok stands up and grips your arms, holding you in front of him. You refuse to look him in the eyes and he can hear your heartbeat speed up. The fear alone that he can smell coming from your body makes him let go of your arms.

“There’s not really any easy way to put this, so here goes…” he trails off, a nervous smile taking over his features as you stare at him, waiting of him to continue. “You see, I’m a, uh, I’m a vampire.”

“Right, and I’m the queen of Narnia,” you look at him sceptically. “Minseok, vampires aren’t real. Now would you be so kind as to tell me what the fuck kind of drug you’re on so I can take you to the hospital and get you the proper treatment for it?”

“I’m serious, (Y/n), just listen to me,” he follows after you as you go to put your shoes on and grab you coat.

“No, you listen to me Minseok-“ your words get caught in your throat as you are no longer staring at your front door, but are now back in your living room on the opposite side of your house in the blink of an eye. Minseok kneels in front of your form sitting on your couch. “How- how did-“

“I told you, I’m a vampire. Super speed and all,” Minseok replies, nervously smiling at you.

“I still don’t really believe you,” you narrow your eyes at him, calming your racing heart.

“Well, for starters, I can hear your heart pounding in your chest and smell the fear coming off you,” Minseok explains, and before you have a chance to protest, he continues. “Oh, and also I can do this,” as he says that, he vanishes from the room and reappears seconds later with your favourite stuffed animal from when you were a kid that you keep hidden in your closet in your room upstairs. “And if you’re still not convinced,” at this he’s back to crouching in front of you. He bares his teeth and you notice how elongated his canines look, and watch as his eyes flash red once more.

Your heart skips a beat as you watch him change right before your very eyes. Instead of feeling the regular fear you normally would, you feel calm.

Minseok slowly looks into your eyes, sure that all he’s going to see now is fear and disgust in your eyes, but instead he’s met with wonder and amazement. The fear is slowly being replaced by a sense of awe.

“So, you mean to tell me, this whole time, vampires are real?” You say, a sense of wonder in your voice. Minseok just nods his head in response. “Wow.”

“You’re not scared of me now?” He asks, curious about your answer.

“No, not really. More shocked is all,” you reply honestly.

“I could kill you, though,” he replies.

“Yeah, well, so could another human. So could a car. I could choke or drown. Besides, I have a feeling that if you wanted to kill me, you would have done so already. I’ve known you for how many years now, and I know you wouldn’t hurt me. Besides…” you trail off, shrugging your shoulders, and then biting your lip.

A silence settles between the two of you as the information settles. You refuse to meet his gaze, but not because of the news of him being a vampire. You’re more concerned about what your relationship is going to be like now that he’s confessed to you.

Minseok chews on his bottom lip. He can tell you’re concerned about what he’s confessed to you, but he’s dying to know your answer. He wants to know how you really feel, and he’s starting to get a little impatient. Before he can say anything, you beat him to it.

“I know what you’re going to say, Minseok, and honestly, I don’t know myself. I just need some time,” you tell him truthfully.

“Okay,” he whispers, standing up. You follow him to the front door and watch as he puts on his shoes. There’s an unreadable expression on his face as you stare at each other in silence. “Take all the time you need.”

Before he takes one step out the door, his lips are on yours once again in an instant. He needs to feel them against his own one more time tonight. He pulls away and looks deeply into your eyes, his own flashing red.

“Forget that,” he commands, and within an instant, he’s gone, leaving you alone with nothing but a faint tingling sensation on you lips. You don’t even remembering him leaving.

Meanwhile, Minseok’s dead heart is racing as he enters his room. After compelling you to forget the second kiss, he sprinted home. His head is spinning and he feels like a little kid again. That went better than he could have ever imagined. Well, he would have preferred if you reacted differently to his confession, but you’re not scared of him. You’re not scared of what he is.

He lays on his bed with a stupid smile on his face. He’s never felt better. He feels like he could conquer the world, as long as you’re by his side. His emotions are all over the place.

A knock comes from his bedroom door, and after mumbling a quick ‘come in’, he’s greeted by Yixing’s face in his doorway.

“I’m assuming since you’re acting like a giddy little school girl, things went well?” Yixing teases, leaning against the doorframe.

“They went great, actually,” Minseok replies, smile ever present on his face.

“That’s great man, I’m happy for you!” Yixing says, smiling himself. “Anyways, I’m going to bed, don’t stay up too late, man.”

“I won’t,” Minseok replies as Yixing exits his room and closes the door behind him.

Minseok lays in the darkness of his room, staring at his ceiling. He can still feel the softness of your lips on his own, still taste you on his lips. He brings his hand up and touches his lips, running a finger over them gently. God, how he wishes he could kiss you again.

He falls asleep that night, dreams filled with images of you. Your smile, your laugh, everything you. He dreams of a life where the two of you are together, where he spends every day showing you just how much he loves and cares for you. He dreams of taking his time to map out every curve of your body, of pleasing you in every way he possibly can, making you whimper and moan for him, and only him.

He wakes up the next day with a smile on his face. For once he wasn’t haunted by visions of his past for the night, and instead he was filled with images of you. He feels a sense of bliss wash over him, and he checks his phone to see if he has any new messages from you.

His smile drops slightly as he sees that you haven’t sent him any new messages yet. He sighs, but almost immediately his smile is back on his face. Nothing could bring down his mood.

The day continues with him constantly checking his phone for any new messages from you, and him continuously being let down. He knows he said he’d give you time and space, but he really wants you now. He’s never been one to believe in the whole concept of soulmates, but with you, he’s positive you’re his. You’re all he can think about.

The next few days pass by with him hearing nothing from you. He’s starting to get impatient. All he wants is to be with you, to be able to spend time with you, but he can’t. Each night when he closes his eyes, you’re all that he sees, and he can feel his love growing for you even more.

About a week after his confession he remembers some things that his creator told him when he was a new born vamp. One, that vampires can mate if they choose to, but they have to be careful. If a vampire mates with a human, they have to mark them in order to protect them. Two, falling in love with a mortal can be painful, especially since they do not live long. Three, be careful when dealing with mates, for if you’re sure that they’re the one, you can no longer love another.

Minseok is sure that you’re the one for him. He just needs you in his life and everything will be okay, he’s sure of it. He knows he loves you, and he know’s he wants to be with you for the rest of his immortal life. You just have to say yes and that would make him the happiest person to have ever walked this earth.

The next day comes and still no word from you. Minseok decides that by the end of the week if he doesn’t hear from you he’s going to go check on you. He sent you a text the other day asking how you’re doing, but you just replied with minimal answers. Neither of you even mentioned his confession and he’s starting to worry.

Doubt clouds his mind, filling his thoughts with uncertainty. He doesn’t know what you’re doing, who you’re with, what you’re thinking. Normally, he would go check on you, but he feels like he’ll get caught now that you know what he is. Besides, he doesn’t want to break your trust now, not when he’s so close to having you all to himself.

That night, Minseok has the house to himself as Yixing went to go visit some friends for a few days. Once again, his mind is filled with images of you. Everything about you drives him crazy, he can feel his want growing more and more each day. He wants to feel your lips again, against his own. He wants to run his hands all over your body and find out what drives you crazy, do whatever he can to please you in ways you never thought possible.

More than all of that, he wants to make love to you, and show you just how much he appreciates you. He wants to taste your blood as you come undone for him, letting him mark you as his and his alone. He lets his imagination run wild and he can tell his eyes have turned red in hunger and lust for you.

His mind creates an image of you so real, he swears he can almost smell your intoxicating scent. He watches as his vision of you slowly walks into his room, closing the door behind you, and crawls over him to straddle his lap.

“I’m sorry for not coming to you sooner,” he hears your silky voice purr from above him. “I just didn’t realize how much I wanted you before, how much I need you.”

Minseok lets out a low moan. Those words are everything he’s ever wanted to hear from you. He knows this is just a vision, something that his mind has created that only he can experience, but he can’t help but to hope it’s real, that it becomes real. He’s always had an overactive imagination when it comes to you, but this time it feels different.

He watches you lean down and kiss him, recalling the feel of your actual lips placed upon his own. He feels a tingling sensation wherever the vision of you touches him, his body remembering everything about your real touch, making this situation that much more realistic.

He quickly throws off his shirt, watching as you kiss down his chest. His head is thrown back, red eyes closing as he palms himself through his sweats, but instead of it being his hand, he envisions your hand instead. You’re doing this, not him.

He watches you tug down his sweats, throwing them to the side once they’ve come off, leaving him in nothing but his boxers. You go back to stroking his member over his boxers, and he lets out another low groan.

He watches the vision of you smirk before taking off his boxers, his hard length springing free, and almost immediately your hand is wrapped around him. You lick your lips before biting them and he groans, wanting nothing more than to feel them again.

He feels your hand start to move along his cock until he pictures you running your tongue against the underside and against his protruding vein. He swears he can almost feel the wetness of your mouth as he sees you take the tip of his cock into your mouth, swirling your tongue around the tip. He watches as you slowly take all of him into your mouth, bobbing your head up and down.

His hand follows the rhythm of the vision, making sure to adjust his grip accordingly to every action he sees you make. He can’t help but moan louder the closer he gets to release, but just before he can, he stops himself, making the vision of you pull away as well.

You stare at him with half lidded eyes, licking your lips once again. God, how he wishes this was the real thing, the real you so he could have you moaning beneath him from his tongue, his fingers, his cock. Anything to hear you moan his name over and over again, to get you to come for him until you’re so sensitive from his touch that the slightest of movements have you trembling in ecstasy.

“Make love to me, Minseok,” he hears the vision say with your voice, and he feels a shiver go down his spine, his eyes turning an ever darker shade of red. That’s one of the many things he’s always wanted to hear you say to him, and he’d happily oblige.

In an instant, he has the vision pinned beneath him. He can only imagine what this would actually feel like, and he knows for a fact that if your lips felt like heaven, then actually being inside you will feel like paradise itself.

He imagines just that, slowly pushing into you and letting your walls envelope him. He starts off slowly, making sure you’d feel every thrust of his hips, every inch of his length buried in you. He picks up his pace, moving his hand quicker as he hears your voice ringing through his ears.

He flips himself back over, imagining you riding him now, how you would look like on top. He bites his lip as visions of you throwing your head back in pleasure fill his mind. He feels himself getting closer and closer to the edge, letting out low growls every now and then.

Your name continuously falls from his lips in whines as well as one other word, repeated over and over again as the pressure finally becomes too much for him to handle, and he’s releasing all over his stomach. He calms himself down while whimpering your name and the other word repeatedly. Mate.

Minseok’s breathing is heavy as he drags himself to his bathroom to clean himself up. He flicks on the lights, grabs a towel, wets it, then looks at his reflection in the mirror as he cleans himself up. His eyes are the darkest red he’s ever seen them, and usually they don’t stay this red for long.

He stares at his reflection for a few minutes, just watching his eyes. Eventually, the red fades back into his usual brown, but there’s still a vibrance to them that wasn’t there before. He blinks a few times and shakes his head.

He makes the decision that tomorrow he’s going to go visit you, whether you want to see him or not. He needs to see you, to be with you. He needs to know your answer, after all, you’re his mate.

The next morning Minseok wakes up feeling a bit nervous. How will you react when he tells you you’re his mate? What will be your answer to his original confession? Thoughts race through his mind at lightning speed, making him shake his head to try and clear them. One thing’s for sure, he’s going to get an answer from you and make you his.

Around ten o’clock he makes his way over to your house, gently knocking on your front door once he arrives. He breathes deeply, inhaling your familiar, comforting scent as well as an unfamiliar one. He also notices there’s the stench of hormones in the air, and it seems to be coming from your house.

His eyes narrow into slits when he sees an unfamiliar man open the door to your house, the stench hitting his nostrils full force once the door is opened. A growl sounds at the back of his throat as he realizes what has happened. This man has touched his mate.

“Babe, there’s someone at the door for you,” he hears the man call over his shoulder.

Rage begins to cloud Minseok’s vision and he can feel his eyes starting to turn red. He walks past the man standing in the doorway to be greeted by you standing in the hallway in nothing but a tank top and shorts. He takes in your messy hair and notices the bruises lining your neck and collarbones.

“Minseok, what are you doing here?” You ask him, but he completely ignores your question, instead turning on the guy still standing near the door.

“How dare you touch my mate,” Minseok growls, pinning the man to the wall, ready to kill. His eyes are blood red and deadly.

“Minseok, what the fuck!” You exclaim, staying where you are in fear of getting between them. Minseok chooses to ignore you at the moment.

“You’re going to march right out of this house and forget all about this, and her. You’re going to go on with your everyday life like normal before I rip your throat out,” Minseok snarls, finally letting go of the man after compelling him to leave.

The man immediately does as told, grabbing his coat and shoes and heading out the door without a glance in your direction. You stand there shocked at Minseok’s actions.

“Minseok, again, what the fuck!” You repeat.

He turns around and looks at you and you feel your heart stop in your chest. His look is nothing but predatory, making you feel small and weak under his intense gaze. He slowly advances towards you, backing you into the wall. He doesn’t say anything as he presses his entire body against yours, successfully trapping you between himself and the wall.

“God, his scent is all over you,” Minseok snarls, breathing in deeply. He bares his teeth in disgust. “How dare he touch you.”

“Minseok, what are you talking about, you’re scaring me,” you reply, bringing your hands up to his chest to try and push him off of you, but he doesn’t budge.

“Do you know how long I’ve watched you, how long I’ve waited for you to notice me? For you to see me as something more than just your friend? I’ve always loved you, (Y/n), and I’ll always love you,” Minseok says, nuzzling his face into your neck and breathing in your scent. His hands grip your waist tightly, but not tight enough to hurt you. “I used to never believe in mates, but I’ve come to realize that you’re mine, and nothing can change that.”

“Wait, what? Minseok, what the fuck are you talking about? I’m not your mate!” You exclaim, trying once again to push him off of you. Words of denial spill out of your mouth which just makes Minseok more upset.

“Shut up!” He commands, looking straight into your eyes as his own flash red. Immediately, you comply, ceasing your struggling as well. “Now listen to me, that thing, has tainted you all over,” he says, bringing his wrist up to his mouth. “His marks need to go,” with those words, he bites his wrist, feeling his blood starting to trickle down his arm.

“Minseok, what are you doing?” You barely have time to finish your sentence before his wrist is on you mouth. Your eyes widen in surprise and fear, making sure to keep your mouth closed.

“Drink,” Minseok growls, looking straight into your eyes, and immediately you obey, feeling the warm liquid run down your throat. Minseok smiles at this, watching as the bruises fade from your skin, his own scent mixing with your own.

Eventually, he pulls his wrist away and you watch him with fearful eyes, unsure of what he’ll do next. You no longer recognize the person standing in front of you. He’s no longer the best friend you know and love, now, he’s someone, something completely different. Something unrecognizable.

A little bit of his blood is still on the corner of your lips and he takes this opportunity to do what he’s been wanting to do for the past week and a half. He kisses you, and to him, it feels so much better then the first times he kissed you. You make sure to keep your lips sealed tight and not kiss him back. He growls and pulls away.

“Kiss me back,” he snaps, but you don’t look into his eyes this time.

“No, Minseok! Stop this! What has gotten into you?” You ask, once again fighting to get free, making him chuckle at your weak attempts to free yourself.

“I’ve just come to realize a few things over the past few days. You know they weren’t lying when they said that absence makes the heart grow fonder. You’re my mate and nothing can change that. I love you, so much,” he tells you, trailing kisses up and down your neck.

“I don’t love you. At least, not it the way you want me to,” you reply. “And what’s with this mate nonsense? I am not your mate!”

Minseok growls once again at your words. He grips your chin in his hand and forces you to look at him, making you stare deeply into his eyes, which are blood red and darkening with each passing second.

“I didn’t want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice,” he sighs, eyes staring deeply into your own. “You are my mate and you always will be. You love me just as much as I love you, and you will never think about leaving me or running away. You will accept my love and stay by my side for the rest of eternity.”

You freeze for a moment as his words sink in. You feel your body start to calm down, and a sense of comfort coming over you. You continue to stare into Minseok’s eyes as they start to change back into their regular colour. Your hand comes up to caress his cheek lovingly and he moves into your touch.

“Minseok,” you whisper his name affectionately and he feels a shiver run down his spine. He looks into your eyes and sees nothing but love and want, which are reflected back in his own.

“(Y/n),” he whispers your name just as affectionately, his hand coming up to cover your own.

“I love you, Minseok,” you say, throwing your arms around him in an embrace which makes him smile in victory.

“I love you,” he replies. “My mate.”

[sobtanian]

On how I really tried to love the Nuraphone

I was really excited when I found out about Nuraphone headphones. Combining both over-ear (for bass/haptic feedback) and in-ear technologies, as well as customising the music to suit your particular hearing profile (something that the brilliant AKG N90Q did with great success), it was a combination that was too good to resist.

They arrived yesterday, and I was really eager to give them a spin!

Build quality is really very, very good. They feel solid, not cheap and plasticky, with nice soft over-ear pads that are made from a velvety plastic. The in-ear portion of the cans are nice and flexible and not intrusive at all. These don’t feel like IEMs in your ears, more like you’ve gently inserted a small finger :)

To customise the listening experience you have to use the Nura app, which couldn’t be simpler. Wear the headphones, pair them with your phone, be quiet, and listen to various bleeps and bloops for a few minutes while it calibrates to your ears.

After that’s done, you’re given a demo song that plays using the generic profile. The app tells you to swap to your calibrated profile when you’re ready. It is here that I noticed something not right...

You see, the generic profile sounded unbelievably crap. We’re not talking about cheap ear buds crap, but actually like it was intentionally fucked up with so much DSP: tinny highs, muddy lows, hardly any mids. It really was rubbish, and felt as if it was intentionally made that way, to make the customised profile sound even more amazing.

I was ready to switch to my calibrated profile, which I did and WOAH! What a difference. Everything sounded just right, and really quite good. Exciting!

I fiddled about with the “immersion” setting: what this does is change the degree of vibration on the over-ear parts, as well as how loud the bass is. The idea is that you can be “front row” with bone-ratting base, or turn it off completely, and anything in between.

Again, with the demo song, fiddling with this was quite unique, with true shaking bass at the most extreme setting, and smooth bass to accompany that, and none of that when it’s off. I settled for a setting in between.

Finally, the app told me to customise the buttons on the headphones. There’s one on each side and they’re (very) touch sensitive. By default, the left one toggles the immersion setting, while the right one plays/pauses. I left them as they are.

I switched over to my iPhone’s music app, and started listening to lots of different genres of music, and this is when it all fell apart :(

The main problem was that the Nuraphone was applying a huge amount of inconsistent DSP to the music, without any real consideration to what it was actually doing. In other words, if my calibrated hearing profile meant that the bass needed to be boosted and the treble lowered, it did that blindly, regardless of what that actually did to the listening experience.

To best highlight what I mean, I’ll list some example songs I listened to and what happened:

1\ Superman Theme - John Williams. The whole of this recording sounded like it was playing through a cheap bluetooth speaker, sat around 50 metres away from me. My assumption was that the mids were dampned down so much by the calibrated profile that the whole song was fucked.

2\ The Louvre - Lorde. This was a bit better. The bassy start sounded quite pleasant, but then Lorde sang, and when she went higher up on the scale her voice became sibilant and almost tinny. She drops down the scale and sounds like Lorde again. It was a really weird experience.

3\ I Want To Break Free - Queen. The best of the experiment, in that at least it was consistent throughout. However, still, Freddy’s voice sounded so artificially out of line with the rest of the song as we know it.

4\ Oxygene 17 - Jean-Michel Jarre. Again consistent throughout but it had the same problem as Superman, it sounded like it was playing through a cheap speaker.

5\ Human - Rag and Bone Man. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. When it starts and he sings, all low and that, it sounded really quite good. Then when he sings the chorus and goes up an octave or two, it immediately sounded all tinny and harsh. It was like someone had spliced two versions of the song, or like a different singer had come along to sing the chorus. A thoroughly unpleasant experience.

Another issue I noticed was with volume changes. The above songs were played via bluetooth on an iPhone 10. If I had the volume on 80% or so, some parts of the music were almost completely missing/low. If I went up to 100%, they suddenly appeared and were really quite loud. Drop the volume down and again they disappeared suddenly.

This issue, along with all the songs above, made me come to the conclusion I mentioned above: the DSP was changing everything with no consideration to what it was actually doing. It had decided that some frequencies had to be very low, and some very high, and so on. It was doing this regardless of context, so very-low-rag-and-bone-man was fine, higher-pitched-rag-and-bone-man was boosted beyond recognition. Very unpleasant.

To ensure this wasn’t an issue with bluetooth or MP3, I repeated the songs again but this time with a 3.5mm connection to my AK Jr, and FLAC sources. The exact some issues were replicated.

Sadly, by then I had come to the conclusion that these just aren’t for me. They way the same piece of music was changing as if a child was tweaking the DSP dials was just unpleasant, and I now have an RMA code to return them.

Finally, these headphones have gained great reviews on the interwebs, which does make me wonder whether the main issue is with my ears, or to be more precise with my hearing profile. I cannot see how professional reviewers can have the same listening experience that I had and still come back with a positive review. Or it could be that I was perhaps unfairly comparing them to my AKG N90Q and Sennheiser HD800S cans, both absolutely amazing at what they do. 

Saying that, however, Apple’s AirPods are a much more pleasant, and consistent, listening experience, so there’s also that.

Try as I might, I couldn’t enjoy the Nuraphone. Obviously YMMV, but at £349 I wouldn’t risk it.

[classicallyelegant]

Well, after the lil argument there, I tried to give you a little breather. Rod and Maxey can’t stay mad though, as you can see there.......so let’s move this along, shall we?

AT THE STUDIO…..

“Umm Matt, could I talk to you for a minute?” I turn around to see Rena sticking her head in my booth.

“Well, we are kind of in the middle of something here!”

“It won’t take long….I need to see you in your office.”

I reluctantly put the headphones down and follow her. What in the world does she want that can’t wait five more minutes? When we get in there, she asks me to close the door. Well this sounds serious! Hmmmm…..

“I wanted to get you alone for a minute. I have to talk to you.”

“What about?” She grabs me in a hug before I can do anything.

“Oh I’ve missed you!” she whispers.

“Huh? I’ve been right here and if that’s all you want, I’ve got work to do!” I peel her off of me! UGH! I still don’t know why this girl does this. Yeah, she claimed to be ‘in love’ with me, but throwing over your ‘friend’ to get to me…..not a good way to fulfill your wish! I still don’t know why Maxey seemed to forgive her.

“That’s not what I called you in here for…..well, not totally anyway. Have you heard from Maxey and Rod? He said he wouldn’t be in today but was vague as to why.”

“What do you want to know about that for?”

“I asked a question. How much simpler can I make it?”

“Ugh…yes, Maxey had a terrible headache and Rod is taking care of her. Anything else?”

“Why are you so testy? I just wanted to know what was wrong.”

“More like you were being nosy for information. I’ve got to go back now!” I turn to open the door but she grabs me from behind.

“No, just……OK…..have you heard the rumors about a movie company?”

“Yes, I heard they had their eye on a few people…..so?”

“So….Rod is one of those people! I really don’t want to risk one of my best actors and directors. Your name has been bandied about as well. I haven’t given them the OK yet, which is why they haven’t approached any of you directly yet.”

“They want us?”

“It’s being discussed……they’ve mentioned Dustin as well. Why do they want three of the sexiest guys I know! And wouldn’t you know….Maxey has all three of you wrapped around her little finger! They have mentioned her but haven’t put her name forth like the rest of you. I think that we all need to discuss this though. Will they be back tomorrow?”

“Why did you have to put it that way? We’re not pieces of meat for you to ogle! Rod is the main one they want?”

“Who said I ogle any of you? Even if I did, I don’t see how that should affect your work in any way! Right now, yes, he is the one that has been brought up the most. They seem to be going mostly by the shows you have done. I don’t think that means they have actually seen any of you….only heard you. With my luck….they see Maxey, they’ll be after her too. I can’t replace her as an actress!”

“You cannot replace her period! >sigh< I’ll try to get Rod. As far as I know, they should be back tomorrow. Maxey said she didn’t want him to miss today but he insisted on taking care of her.”

“Wow! The pillow treatment with a handsome nurse? She is such a lucky girl. I don’t know how she does it, but what I wouldn’t give to know her secret!?!” She wraps her arms around my one that’s got my phone. If she’s trying to flirt with me….she’s failing miserably! Ha! Found Rod’s name in my phone. I hope he hears me! “You sure know how to get things done!” she coos. Geez!

“Hey Rod….thanks for answering. Everything OK over there?”

“Yeah, everything is fine. Maxey is in the bath right now, so I’m going to make a light lunch.”

“Oh good! That sounds good. Umm, you see, there is a rumor going around here that a movie company have their eye on you. Rena wants to know if you and Maxey will be back tomorrow.”

“A movie company? Huh? Umm, as far as I know, we should be. She says her head is better but I noticed she’s still weak. They want me? Why?”

“Good question! Rena says they mentioned you the most, but they’ve also mentioned Maxey, Dustin, and me. She says we need to discuss this with everyone.”

“Well, I’ll talk this over with Maxey and get back to you, OK, Matt? She should be out soon, so I better get on with my sandwiches! Talk to you later!” He hangs up. At least the Princess seems to be on the road to recovery.

“He says he will talk this over with her when she gets out of the bath. He said they should be back tomorrow though. Now can I go?” My patience is wearing very thin.

“You sure are in a hurry! OK, I’ll get to Dustin and we should set up a time tomorrow to meet in my office.”

“Fine!” I say over my shoulder and I make my way back to where I was. I don’t know why she wants to bother me with this when I have work to do! It could have waited until later especially if it’s waited this long!

FRESH FROM HER BATH….

I make my way out of the bathroom and Rod is standing close to the sink, his back to me, so I come up from behind and hug him. >Gasp< “You scared me!” he laughs and turns around to hold me. I giggle into his shoulder.

“Sorry! I couldn’t resist! What are you up to?” He laughs slightly and moves his hand to show me the sandwiches he’s made for us. Aww how sweet!

“I wanted to surprise you!” He brings me closer to him. A soft kiss and a long gaze…..oh this guy!

“I am! Thank you very much for being so super sweet to me!” I smile back at him. “This looks very good!”

“I can do small things since I’ve been on my own for a while now.  I’m not completely helpless.” He smiles and we bring our food to the table.

“Well, I’m glad to see that!” I take a bite of my sandwich. That was awfully thoughtful of him to do. We both indulge in our food. I admit; it has helped me to feel better. He’s a good nurse!

“I have to tell you about the phone call I got.”

“OH? Your phone went off?”

“Yeah, it was Matt. He checked on you but then he told me something about the studio rumors. I don’t quite know how to tell you this, but it seems a movie company wants me for some reason.”

“They do?! That’s great news, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know….Matt didn’t sound very certain of things but he said this movie company has also mentioned you, him, and Dustin, but I’m the one to come up the most.”

“I’m glad for you, dear! You’re a hard worker so you deserve any breaks you get!” It is exciting news to hear.

“It really sounds like Rena wants to talk to all of us tomorrow about this. I must say, I was not expecting to hear such. I don’t know why a movie company would be looking at me.”

“Why not? You’re good at what you do both as an actor and a director. This shouldn’t be that big of a surprise but I have to say, I’m so proud of you!” I pat his shoulder and his smile broadens.

“I guess you’re right….I just hope that something good will come of this.” He turns as he gets up. Before I realize, he picks me up and places me back on the bed. “Now, what did you have in mind to do today?” His face so close to mine…..I’m a bit flabbergasted!

“I….I didn’t really have any plans for today.” I’m smiling so big to be this close to him!

“Nothing? Does that mean we sleep?” He moves his nose against mine. I can only laugh a nervous laugh. We haven’t spent a totally free day together at all. He’s usually got to work or I do and we just get our nightly naps together. “I told you this day is all about you!”

“Well……I have no idea! Now I really feel guilty for keeping you here.”

“No, this is not a bad thing. I know we could probably both use a nap since it seems we are going all the time! HOWEVER – I have you here and sleeping isn’t what I’m thinking!” My eyes widen and he puts his head down laughing. “NO! I meant we should do something we want to do…..something just us two.”

“Sounds like you have thought of something already.”

“Mmmmaybe! I say we wonder around town and see if we find anywhere to go…..what do you say?”

“An adventure? With you by my side? I can be ready in just a few minutes!” I’m surprised but it sounds perfect!

“Great! I’ll get ready too and we will go see what catches our eye!”

[magic5ball]

Nature Trail to Hell Arc II: Watt Outta Hell (13)

Chapter 13: The Chapter where F-Bomb and I are, Ironically, very Lucky

As they say in Soviet Russia, you don’t eat werebacon, werebacon eats YOU! Now, I don’t know much about Russians, but let me tell you, when they’re right, they’re RIGHT. Which was why we found ourselves running in circles around the pit, applewood smoked dam*nation barking at our heels. With the disco ball and the loud music, the whole thing reminded me of a roller rink my parents used to take me, except instead of trying to out skate the other guests, we were trying not to get eaten by the world’s most delicious predator.

“Say,” I asked F-Bomb between panting “Do you have any ideas?”

“What the fork do you think I’m forkin’ doing?!”

“Running?”

F-Bomb sighed. “I can’t believe this. Smartasp to the forkin’ end!”

“It’s’ been fifteen minutes!” crowed Raposa “But it seems our two NERDS just REFUSE to die! How much longer will they hold out? Are they doomed to run in circles forever? Can we do anything to spice things up?”

“Actually,” A face appeared on the jumbotron overlooking the whole schebang. Stensa, neaten but still standing “Aren’t we already dead?”

One sentence, and the entire stadium went silent. Even the werebacon looked up with what could only be called disdain.

“That was a joke, Stensa.” Sighed the Princess, flicking the guy on the forehead (or maybe foreskull?) “But you know what isn’t? A spike pit. A COMMUNIST spike pit!”  

One snap of her fingers and F-Bomb and I just barely dodged being impaled on the equal distribution of wealth through the power of a well-timed jump. The werebacon wasn’t so lucky.

Which was good, because it gave F-Bomb just enough time to think up a plan. About five seconds if we’re being precise, before the werebacon finished eating all of the communist spikes.

“Wait! What was that thing she said earlier?”

“Don’t make stupid jokes?”

“No, before that!”

“I’m Weenie and you’re Weenie jr.?”

“Firstly, I’m clearly Weenie senior, Turd. Secondly, I think it was after that.”

“That we ref-“

“Exactly! Re-FUSE! Which is longhand for fuse! Remember Dragonball Z?”

“Sorta. I kinda stopped paying attention after episode 500.”

F-Bomb gritted his teeth at this remark “Well, do you at least remember the scene where the two guys became one person?”

Now, I have a high tolerance for weird, so I think it says something I had to take a step back at this. “You mean…?”

“That’s right, we’ve gotta fuse, and we gotta to do it PRONTO!”

“B-but I don’t think our friendship level or something is high enough!”

“Well, it better forkin’ be, or so help me I’ll take my forkin’ toe claws and forkin’ disembowel you right here!”

“I’m pretty sure threatening isn’t going to up our friendship level!”

“Then what do I have to do, put you in a forkin’ pokeball?”

“You know what, let’s just dance before this gets any worse!”

And that’s how I attempted my first fusing. We tried to dance as best we could, which wasn’t much, especially since I’d never danced with my raptor feet before.

“What is this?!” gasped Raposa “Could it be our two Weenies our doing a ballroom waltz?”

Immediately a large stage light shone over us.

I just kept doing my dance, trying to ignore the jumbotron, which showed my awful moves up close for all to see.

“Oh! Oh! I think I know this one is: the constipated leprechaun!”

“Nah, it’s called the ‘Larry the Cable Dude’!”

“Mesopotamia!”

“Your MOM!”

It was around then F-Bomb and I decided to screw it and just ran into each other. There was a bright flash of light as our bodies collided, then everything went black.

                                                    .   .   .

When I came to, it was to the Hell Princess’s obnoxious voice.

“Folks, I can’t believe this is happening!”

I winked the grogginess out of my eyes, eager to see what I’d become. My feet were… exactly the same. I felt my face. Still mine. Then I saw F-Bomb, still out cold, a giant welt on his head. I felt something similar on mine, too.

And yet…

Somehow we were winning.

“Ladies and gentlemen, are you seeing what I’m seeing?! The werebacon is eating the werebacon! The alpha predator of the deli aisle has turned on itself! Who could have expected this crazy turn of events!? Because let me tell you folks, you can’t make this crap up!”

Cradling my temple, I looked up to see all that remained of the ghastly werebacon was a few scraps of the burnt bits no one likes. All that remained was a single, very fatty strip, which was currently sniffing its’ own butt. A loud hush swept over the stadium as everyone took in the spectacle. Within seconds, a sniff became a nibble, a nibble became a bite, a bite became a chomp, a chomp became a loud, synchronized chant from the crowd.

“Folks, this is unbelievable! The last piece is trying to eat itself out of existence! It cannot resist the delicious allure of its’ own succulent scent! Is that even possible?! Can he really pull off his tremendous task?! Only one way to find out!”

The crowd rooted for their hero, the chant growing faster with each recitation: “EAT! EAT! EAT! EAT!” followed by one last, very loud “HURRAH!” as the werebacon finally ate itself out existence, the ensuing paradox creating a bacon shaped black hole where the body should have been.

Around this time, F-Bomb got off the ground, all groggy-like. “D-did we wonner?” he asked.

Oh, we wonnered all right. But I would always know that, like Rocky Balboa, the werebacon might have lost the fight, but it had won an even greater prize: the adoration of thousands of fans, many of whom were throwing roses and funeral wreaths into the arena where it had made iit’s last crazy stand against itself. 

Even Raposa was sobbing as she picked up her microphone. “That- that was beautiful! Everyone, give a round of applause for our dearly departed friend… Werebaaacccooonnnn!”

By the time the crying started to slow, F-Bomb and I were waist deep in water. At least, I was. F-Bomb was so short it went up to his head.

“And now,” continued Raposa, sounding noticeably more deadpan “Let’s give a cheer for our ‘winners’ (the last word said real sarcastically) ‘sigh’ Nerd and Nerd jr.”

The crowd didn’t even boo us, just glared at us disdainfully, like we’d eaten all their bacon.

“Thas Weenie and Weenie Hud jr., ta yew, ya forkin’ morons!” Growled  F-Bomb. “Yer jush jesoush… jealoush because we WON.”

Considering how much of a crap the crowd gave, F-Bomb may as well have just screamed into the black hole that was once the most delicious predator in the world. Even I had to shed a tear at the sheer poetry of it all.

Raposa then lept onto the disco ball as unseen forces lowered it into the arena.

“So…” I asked, all trembly-like. “Does this mean you can grant our request?”

“I’m gonna be frank with you, kid: I’m on team werebacon all the way, and if I could, I would gladly chuck you into that black hole right now.”

I gulped as she leaned in close, whispering into my ear.

“But… Those dance moves were the most HILARIOUS thing I’ve ever seen! I was actually planning on letting you win by default just for those. Whichbythewaycanyouletmepostthoseonlinetheyweregreat!”

Before I could get out a solid answer, she cried “Excellent! I knew you were a good sport! So what is your request? ‘Cause I’d give you the key to the universe if I could!”

“Can you?”

“What do I look like, kid? The Queen of Norway? But I can do something simpler. So what’ll it be, kid? Fortune? Fame? A coupon for a free soda at Tako Shak?”

I whispered my answer into one of her pointy elf ears. The moment I finished, Raposa’s cheery expression twisted into one of shock.

“How did you know about that?!” she whispered as loudly as possible. The next thing she did was tell everyone they had to leave immediately or else she would subject them all to Spice Girls. Several stomping feet, tentacles, and cloven hooves later, the cathedral turned stadium was totally empty, save for Me, F-Bomb, Raposa, and that little black hole.

“Okay.” She hung her head in defeat. “I’ll take you to the Sex Masheen.”

But before we went, there was one more question I had to ask, something that’d been eating away at me for the past couple minutes:

“Uh, Hell Princess? What are you going to do with that bacon-shaped black hole?”

At this, Raposa just walked over, folded it up neat as a napkin, and slid it in my pocket.

I didn’t see my eyes then, but I didn’t need to know they were wide around as dinner plates. “You’re giving me a BLACK HOLE?!”

“Kid, I have, like, a hundred and fifty of those in my closet at home. It’s not that special. Now come on, it’s time to get on up!”

I touched my pocket, feeling the cold, lonely void within. A cheap souvenir? Maybe. But as a kid who up to that point thought plastic dinosaurs were the greatest thing he’d ever own, it felt like an amazing gift from below, a souvenir I’d cherish forever. At least until next Christmas, when my parents got me my first slinky.