#Journey to the West - Asking Path

[naffeclipse]

Okay hear me out.... Journey to west au. Sun being the monkey king from the book and Y/N a traveller. Y/N rescues him from under the mountain and he joins them in their travels. Moon is a demon that's terrorising a town until Y/N and Sun stop him. Moon then joins the two. Finally Eclipse is another demon that kidnaps Y/N in order to eat them but instead is so utterly charmed by them that he joins the party. Shenanigans ensue... Thoughts?

The great monkey king is indebted to a mortal but he has little qualms with escorting you on your travels as a way to give his thanks for rescuing him from underneath the mountain. His magic and strength are at your disposal. Strangely, you prefer traveling peacefully and quietly, avoiding trouble and helping those in need when the two of you come upon them. The monkey king thinks you are vulnerable and too trusting, and he decides to protect you at all costs.

The lunar demon does not take kindly to his mischievousness and destruction being wrought, but when you and the monkey king stop the mayhem he inflicts upon a small town, the lunar demon can't help but become amused and intrigued by a daring, bold mortal who is so calm in the face of dangerous, sharp teeth, red eye demon. He thinks you are naive and foolish, but he follows you and the monkey king because who else will watch over you at night? Who will keep you safe from the other toothy and red-eye demons?

It is not too long down the road of your seemingly endless travels that a problem arises. The monkey king and the lunar demon venture to the river to fetch you food and drink and while you toil, you feel the shadow of a great personage fall upon you before you are snatched away. You struggle and call for your dear, new friends, but the dark being smuggles you into his cave. He ties you up and leaves you on the floor of his home as he prepares to eat you. You, however, remain calm and speak with the great demon and learn he is the eclipse prince. The eclipse prince wants nothing more than to cook and devour you, but you convince him to allow you to serve him tea first. Pleased by the offer, the eclipse prince unties you. You serve him a tea you have used to comfort the monkey king and calm the lunar demon, and speak with the eclipse prince. The conversation continues until the pot of tea is gone and he tells you to prepare another, pot after pot until he is laughing and telling you that he has forgotten his hunger—your charm and allure have sated him. He will let you go and return you to your companions, but you invite him to join your company.

The eclipse prince is pleased to accept. He opens his cave and returns with you to the monkey king and the lunar demon. When you come upon them, they are furious and frantic. They act quickly to take you back and prepare to attack the one who carried you away before you calm them. The eclipse prince stands rather unapologetically as you explain that he is now joining the three of you. The lunar demon does not take kindly to this change and the monkey king hovers close to you, refusing to let you leave his sights while the eclipse prince seamlessly joins the camp and prepares a pot of tea for you to drink.

You continue your travels, glad to have such devoted company.

[the-monkey-ruler]

would you say macaque is something like a necessary evil in the novel?

I would say you are talking about the Six Eared Macaque right? There are a few Macaques in the story. I mean I wouldn't really say he is "necessary" as that isn't really the role he plays within the novel.

When I think "necessary evil" I think more like a force in society that is kept in order to keep the peace or to preserve other social forces that are considered more important to keep than to lose. A necessary evil is an evil that someone believes must be done or accepted because it is necessary to achieve a better outcome—especially because possible alternative courses of action or inaction are expected to be worse.

Which I do not believe the Six-Eared Macaque plays at all.

He is to play the role of the mirror to Sun Wukong. He is supposed to represent the absolute worse of what Wukong is capable of, not really being the opposite of Wukong but rather more of a foil to show Wukong what he could have been (I actually think another great foil character is Erlang Shen for different reasons). A version of Wukong that if he continued to be a warlord, continued to kill without regard for the value of life or consequences that the would turn into him.

The Six-Eared Macaque is not given a backstory so it's hard to say if they have similar backgrounds but rather it is that they are the same species and have the same drive that Wukong had at the start of the novel. Both being of immense power and, like Wukong, The Six Earred Macaque's greatest desire was to get fame and glory and to be recognized for it, despite the consequences.

Personally I believe that the Six-Eared Macaque was inspired by the Buddist saing “The dharma is not to be transmitted to the sixth ear" which means that there isn't a third person around to easdrop, usually between student and teacher. This is only used once when Wukong was speaking with Master Puti and this is where I think that the Six Earred Macaque learned the same skill that Wukong did.

Of course, this also means that he doesn't have a complete understanding. He would always be slightly off with his own teachings, always a step behind, and only be able to imitate what they were eavesdropping on as they were never told directly.

Kind of like how Wukong is supposed to be a master of transformation when he fought Erlang Shen and still lost the SIx Earred Macaque is supposed to discern and have knowledge but he is still just eavesdropping. He is never going to have the real thing.

Wukong is meant to represent Nothingness or emptiness, literally in his name meaning "Monkey Awakened to Emptiness" and how he and the Six Earred Macaque are meant to be of one mind but they are "two mind" that are fighting each other. One being one's natural impulsive thoughts and the other is the self-control people practice to think ahead. They are both inside a person's mind but only one can have full control of the body so to speak. I think a good western example of this would be like Ego vs ID but please don't take that as a one-to-one, it's not!

It is connected to how Wukong is the mind monkey and in order for him to reach his namesake that state of overcoming uncontrollable thought he needs to fight the worst version of himself, which is what I think the Six-Eared Macaque is supposed to represent. This actually goes with how I think Wukong and his connection with Bailong being the Horse of Will show how Wukong has gradually started to overcome his own thoughts and practice self-control though his dedicated willpower. (Bailong is an important allegory yet again.)

Long story short I think that the Six-Eared Macaque is to more represents Wukong's character growth. Rather than be a "necessary evil" he is another milestone to show that Wukong is about to look at the worst traits of himself and through fighting himself and wrestling with who he is, he is able to come to accept himself as well... and by defeating his doppelganger he shows that after battling himself he comes out the victor. Him moving on and changing throughout the journey shows him to be stronger and more sure of himself both mentally and spiritually.

[lustspren]

D.A | Con te partirò ft Hanni

length: 12.8k words✦

Hanni & Male Reader. 

Diamond Eyes AU.

genres: sub! Hanni, blowjob, oral sex, hard sex, breeding, daddy kink, creampie, fluffy, anal, car sex, love making ✧ 

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Did you need to rent a Ferrari? Absolutely not. Would it be worth it? Absolutely yes.

So many months of hard work streaming 8 hours a day had to somehow be worth it. You could afford it, and you were going to do it. The only bad thing about that decision was the time it took you to choose a car at the dealership. About half an hour wandering between cars until your capricious ass decided to choose the most expensive but also the most practical. A Ferrari Purosangue, the brand's newest, expensive and most innovative model. Choosing it in red would have been the most normal thing, but you chose it in all black, even the interior.

With the car already chosen, you received instructions regarding its functions and handling, upon completing it and having all the paperwork already done, you went directly to drive through the streets of Milano, your hometown. You linked your Spotify account to the car stereos through the digital panel behind the steering wheel and blasted Kanye West's Carnival at the highest possible volume without bursting your eardrums, which helped make you feel like a god as you drove past the Palazzo Reale di Milano.

After about 20 minutes you had already made lap after lap through the city center, just enjoying the beautiful roar of the twelve-cylinder engine and your music. But just as you turned the corner after a traffic light, you received a message from the real reason you had flown to Italy from Korea in the first place.

She then sent you a full body photo of herself. You had to alternate looking between the road and your phone screen. She looked so stupidly beautiful that she made you question all your past decisions to know if you really deserved her. You came to the conclusion that you were simply an overly lucky bastard. To respond to her you had to wait until another traffic light.

After finishing talking to Hanni, you put the phone between your legs and took a new street in search of something to eat. Your stomach was growling; since you landed in Milano that morning you hadn't had the chance to even have a full meal, you had only been eating sweets that you brought with you from Korea. You were crazy to get your teeth into something, and since you were in Italy, you couldn't find a better option than going to your favorite Pizzeria in the entire city: la Zia Esterina Sorbillo on Via Agnello.

After having eaten a delicious salami and cotto pizza, you just waited in the car, parked in a square covered by the shadow of a building to your right, which you didn't mind too much considering everything the car offered in terms of comfort. It had already been an hour since Hanni had entered the event, but it wasn't until two hours later when you received the message you were waiting for.

With the green light already granted, you made the respective call before you forgot—again—, you pressed the touch button on the steering wheel to start the engine and headed to the Fonderia Carlo Macchi, the place where the Gucci event was taking place. It would be approximately 15 minutes of travel from where you were, you would have to make a good selection of music if you wanted to enjoy the journey. You started with Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 by ASAP Rocky, Who Dat Boy by Tyler the Creator, 5% TINT by Travis Scott and Justify My Thug by JAY-Z.

When you entered the Via Enrico Cosenz you had to considerably reduce the volume of the last seconds of the last song. The entire street was filled with people and camera flashes, as well as luxury cars and police guarding the perimeter around the warehouse. As soon as you approached, an officer blocked your path with a wave of his hand, you rolled down the window and he stood next to you.

"Buon pomeriggio, signore. Dove sei diretto?" he asked. You knew he did it routinely and that he kept doing it considering there were more cars behind you.

"Sono qui per ritirare uno degli ambasciatori dell'evento," you responded, one hand on the steering wheel.

"Nome?"

"Hanni Pham. Se hai bisogno di un'autorizzazione, posso ottenerla per te."

"Sì, grazie," you called Hanni's manager and handed the phone to the officer, seconds later, he returned it to you, "Avanti, buon pomeriggio."

"Grazie mille! Anche per voi," you smiled at the officer, rolled up the window again and drove until you parked next to the curb.

Parked there, you took out your phone and told Hanni that you were out. While you were waiting, you watched as the camera flashes took over the entire street. The photographers and the crowd of people were in constant movement, celebrity after celebrity being photographed as they entered their respective cars; you should have expected it, but you were still shocked to see Salma Hayek so close while she was leaving the event. You also saw Kirsten Dunst, and as a lover of Sam Raimi's Spider Man movies you couldn't help but fanboy a little.

From one moment to the next you noticed how the crowd of people began to concentrate much more towards the gate that led to the warehouse; You noticed that the flashes also multiplied. You sharpened your eyes to be able to distinguish any notable figure among the mass of photographers moving outside, until you finally saw her. Much more radiant and charming than could be seen in any photograph.

As always she saw everyone with a warm smile and she greeted all of her fans with contagious joy; she came over to sign a few autographs here and there, with camera flashes and dozens of phones pointed directly at her. You couldn't take your eyes off her for a single second; her walk was mesmerizing, from how her hips swayed from side to side to how she exuded pure class and elegance. She was fine as fuck, and she knew it perfectly.

A little more than a minute passed when the crowd finally dispersed and she could have a clear view of the road. It was then that she saw your car and had to put her hand over her mouth to cover her shock, but no matter how much she tried to hide it, you could see it in her eyes, and you were more than happy to surprise her.

She approached the passenger door, opened it, and greeted a few more fans before entering the car, where no one could see what was happening inside thanks to the tinted windows, not even from the front.

"Oh my god hiiii!" she squealed in pure happiness, lunging at you for a tight hug.

"Hello, Phampy," you smiled, reciprocating the hug and then separating, putting your hands on the wheel. You drove onto the road again, "How was everything?"

"Everything was wonderful! The organization and treatment were incredible, and I met many nice people!"

Every word she said was like music to your ears; she had one of the most beautiful Australian accents you had ever heard, and it was one of the reasons she drove you crazy.

You reached the roundabout and made a U-turn to return along the street you had arrived on.

"I also had to take a lot of photos and make videos, but it was all very nice. And my goodness! What is this car?" She laughed in amazement, examining her surroundings.

She ran her hand across the leather dashboards and touched the carbon fiber of the roof. You noticed her wanting to touch things on the touch screen she had right in front of her but she restrained herself.

"I couldn't come pick you up in a piece of tin, could I?" you saw her out of the corner of your eye, "Hanni Pham only deserves the best of the best."

"Oh yeah? That's why I have you too, right?"

She leaned towards you and grabbed you by your face to plant her lips on your cheek. You were sure that her lipstick must have been left marked on your skin.

Just when you were going to talk to her you received a call from her manager. You left one hand on the wheel and answered as you rounded the curve at the Piazza Giovani Bausan roundabout. You put the call on speaker so Hanni could hear too.

"Yeah?" you asked.

"You better take her directly to the hotel, she still has a pending appointment tonight," the manager told you from the other end of the line, the severity in her voice telling you that it was best to obey.

"You say it as if I were going to take her to Greece. Well, I don't lack the desire to do so."

"Don't even dream of it. Just take her to the hotel, please. I'll send you the location."

"Yeah yeah, chill. You know you can trust me."

"I only tolerate you because Hanni likes you. Bye," she finally hung up.

Hanni laughed at that. Seconds later you received the location of the hotel. It was the Palazzo Parigi Hotel, possibly one of the most exclusive in Milano. You weren't surprised.

"How lovely," you joked, putting the phone back in your pocket.

"I would tell you that she is just joking, but you do make her life a little miserable."

"She'll have to get used to me. Straight to the hotel then?"

"Uhm, we don't have a choice, I guess..." she said, and then she thought for a few seconds looking out the window, then looked at you again, "Daddy... Do you think this outfit suits my body?"

You knew her and that tone well enough to know where she was going with that question.

"Well, of course. That skirt highlights your hips very well... and that top makes your tits look very pretty."

You turned right and entered Via Valtellina, driving straight towards the city center. Low by SZA started playing on your Spotify, you raised the volume a little with the button on the side of the steering wheel. Hanni became thoughtful again, she looked at the road for a few seconds and then at you.

"And... Do you think it also makes me look more fuckable?"

"Where are you going with that question, Phampy?"

She remained silent. She waited until you stopped at a traffic light so you could see her, then she slowly hiked her skirt up until it was all wrinkled at the top. Her perfect, pale pair of fleshy thighs were exposed to you, as well as her red lace panties, which you noticed were also Gucci. You were automatically turned on, but the light turned green and you had to turn your eyes to the road.

"I don’t know… you tell me."

Her hand went to your crotch, slowly squeezing and massaging the bulge in your pants. You noticed her gaze fixed on you, but you couldn't turn around in any way unless you wanted to cause an accident.

"Fuck Hanni..." you muttered, pursing your lips.

"Mmm..." she let out a subtle moan, "You're already hard daddy."

She pulled up the bottom hem of your sweater, unbuttoned your jeans and lowered your zipper to reach into your boxers and pull out your cock, which was already completely hard.

“Baby, we are in th-” you tried to protest.

"Hush. Eyes on the road."

She had seen you turn up the volume on the stereo a few minutes ago, and she used the visual information she remembered to reach her free hand over to the wheel and turn up the volume as well. A few seconds passed and the song changed to The Color Violet by Tony Lanez. You had no choice but to continue driving through the streets of downtown Milano, taking as many roads as possible to divert you from the original destination while she slowly jerked you off.

Seconds passed. Hanni kept moving her hand up and down your cock, which was throbbing between her fingers. Her movements were slow and perfect, the months of experience you had together allowed her to know how you liked to be touched. You felt a drop of precum leak from your tip; she noticed this, and took a moment to kick off her heels, climb on her knees onto the seat and bend over towards you, leaving her butt raised toward the passenger window and her face right above your cock. Then, grabbing it by the base she took it into her mouth, her glossy lips wrapping around your shaft.

Luckily for you, just at that moment you stopped at a traffic light, which allowed you to look to the right and see Hanni's thick ass raised and adorned by the g-string she was wearing, both buttocks on full display so you could grope them and squeeze them. All the while, she moved her head up and down slowly, taking in a little more than half of your cock with each pump in a sensual, slippery blowjob.

A few seconds passed and the traffic light turned green. You were forced to look forward again, but that didn't stop you from grabbing Hanni's panties and pushing them to the side to rub your fingers on both her plump pussy and her butthole. She responded with a deep moan around your shaft. You gave one of her ass cheeks a dry spank before taking your middle and ring fingers to your mouth to fill them with saliva and take them inside her pussy. Hanni moaned louder around your cock again and increased the pace of the blowjob, taking you out of her mouth at times to fill your shaft with kisses and licks.

The song changed, now playing Bermuda Triangle by Zico, Crush and Dean, the bass from the stereos making the seats vibrate. You took your fingers deep into Hanni's pussy, and there you began pumping rapidly in and out. She matched the pace of your wrist and moved her neck accordingly, now she was giving you a sloppy, frantic blowjob.

“Fuck,” she pulled you out of her mouth with a sharp intake of breath.

She jerked you off quickly. Your cock now completely soaked with her thick, hot saliva. When she raised her head you noticed that a string of saliva was hanging from her lower lip.

“I need you to fuck me right now daddy, I can't hold it,” she begged, placing kisses on your jaw and chin.

"I'll look for an alley to stop in."

"No," she quickly said, "You just keep driving and leave it to me."

She sat back down in her seat and raised her hips to pull her panties down her legs. When she took them off, she took them in one hand and wrapped them around the base of your cock, a detail that was enough to make you gasp. Then she maneuvered herself over to your seat and climbed on top of you, planting her feet on either side of the seat and taking advantage of her short stature so she could completely impale herself on your cock.

"Oh my god Hanni," you moaned, slowing the car down on pure instinct as she slowly went up and down on your cock.

"I really needed to feel your cock filling me again daddy... mmmh," she moaned into your neck, wrapping her arms around  and clinging to it.

You thanked God that the suspension of that car was that good, it made driving in that state much easier. Still, you had to do an incredible concentration job to focus on the road with Hanni's heavenly moans in your ear distracting you.

Hanni subtly stroked the hair at the nape of your neck, tangling her fingers between your strands and giving them subtle tugs as she filled the entire side of your face with wet kisses. She started bouncing on your cock. Frantic and strong jumps that, no matter how difficult it seemed, could be heard even with the music playing at full volume in there. Ironically and completely randomly, at that moment Be Quiet and Drive by Deftones started playing.

"I fucking missed you so much daddy... oh god!" She moaned in your ear, clinging even tighter to your neck.

There came a time when pleasure inevitably made you drive worse. You made strange gear changes, and also strange steering wheel movements. Anyone who saw the car from the outside would be alarmed thinking you were having a seizure or some weird shit, but the reality was you just had a Gucci ambassador jumping like crazy on your dick.

"You missed daddy huh? Then fucking cum on that cock," you growled, fingers tightening on the steering wheel. You entered la Corso Sempione, a wide and uncrowded street at that time. Perfect to let yourself go a little.

"Yes daddy, yes! I'll cum for you like a good girl!" she whimpered, pressing more kisses to your neck.

You roared the engine a couple of times and accelerated up the street, that made Hanni cling harder to your shoulders and crash into your pelvis much harder—apparently the speed sensation managed to give her some kind of stimulus. If she kept giving you those jumps she would probably take your breath away for a few seconds, but it didn't take long for her to explode in a tide of spasms and screams. She slumped down, lowering her knees and squeezing her thighs on either side of your hips. She ground back and forth as she rode out her orgasm, and then began to move sensually up and down.

"Fuck, I can't take it anymore," you gasped, "The hotel will have to wait a little longer."

You took a curve to the right and hit the accelerator straight ahead, desperately looking for an alley in which to stop. It was not an easy task, Milano lacked this type of space since it was full of short buildings stuck side by side, but finally you found the perfect place: the back alley of an old warehouse, to the right of which was the left fence of el Cimitero Monumentale—you were outside of it, so you weren't desecrating anything. There were a couple of cars there, but at that time no one would be out since it was still working hours. You went to the end of it, stopping when a small gate cut off the path.

You turned off the engine and could finally focus on her. You wrapped both of your arms around her perfect body and pressed her against your torso to kiss her. She moaned against your lips and cupped her hands on either side of your face to get deeper into the kiss; your tongues met and swirled around each other again and again. You moved your hands to her ass and then gave one of her butt cheeks a harder spank. She squealed and bit your bottom lip.

"Fuck me hard, daddy," she begged in a sensual, pleasure-laden voice, "Fuck me and give me all your load."

"I wouldn't want to stain that outfit in any way..." you peppered her chin and neck with kisses.

"Then make sure no drop goes to waste... put it all inside me."

"Are you sure?"

"I've been taking contraceptives for months, there won't be any problems..."

"Let's go outside then."

You opened the car door and made her get off your cock so she could get off first. You noticed the nervousness in her eyes as she looked toward the beginning of the alley, so you found it necessary to comfort her.

"Honey, I know this city like the back of my hand, no one will come here," you said, getting out of the car as well.

Those simple words seemed to make her nervousness disappear, as she immediately lunged at you with both arms around your neck and kissed you again. You wrapped your arms around her naked waist and lifted her into the air; she wrapped her legs around your torso and you took a few steps forward, positioning yourself on the side of the hood of the car and sitting her on the edge of it.

She let go of your torso and spread her legs wide, leaning back and leaning on her forearms to give you a look that you always interpreted as 'destroy me'. You pulled your pants and boxers down to your ankles, and with her panties still wrapped around the base of your cock, you sank back into her wet, warm pussy.

Hanni let out a loud moan that you silenced halfway by putting a hand over her mouth—no one would be out at that time, but you still had to be careful. She let her head hang back, and you grabbed her legs by the back of her knees to start moving your hips back and forth. You made sure she received every inch of throbbing cock with every thrust, jiggling the flesh of her thighs and her buttocks.

She was an obedient girl, so just one time of covering her mouth was enough for her to silence her moans on her own. She did it in several ways, but the most common was to put an arm around her head and press her mouth against the inside of her elbow. You thrust fast and hard, letting out grunts of pleasure as you felt the quivering flesh of her thighs between your fingers.

Hanni's eyes rolled back as you heard her let out loud squeals of pleasure. Out of the corner of your eye you saw how her toes curled. You brought her legs together and then pressed them towards her body, hammering her pussy so hard it echoed throughout the alley. You tried your best to keep your mouth shut as well, but her pussy felt so good and so wet that you couldn't help but let moans escape from your mouth.

She couldn't scream it for obvious reasons, but if she could she would have screamed at you that she was going to cum around your cock again. It wasn't necessary, you could tell by how her eyes glazed over and then she laid her back flat on the car hood. Seconds later she exploded once again, and she had to add her other arm to make sure that her intense screams of pleasure did not escape in any way.

Her pussy clenched around your cock and suffocated it, a sensation that was deadly to you and your senses. You spread her legs and now held on to her waist—which was possibly one of your favorite parts of her body— to fuck her with all your might and enter the final stretch.

Her body shook back and forth violently. She raised herself up on her elbows again and looked at you with those deep, lustful eyes again. You grabbed her by the gold necklace she was wearing and pulled her towards you to grab her neck with both hands. You pressed down with your fingers and cut off her breathing. It only took a few more thrusts for you to explode inside her.

The pleasure unconsciously made you press harder on her neck. You grunted giving her slow but aggressive thrusts, shooting stream after stream of cum into her silky pussy. She grabbed your wrists and gave one of them several pats that brought you out of your trance. You let go of her neck, noticing that you were squeezing too hard.

"Fuck... I'm sorry baby..." you gasped, still pumping until you finished draining inside her.

"You gave me the fuck I just needed today… don't apologize daddy," she managed to smile at you, even with heavy breathing.

"And what would have happened if I wasn't here? Would you have fucked some other Italian guy?" you raised an eyebrow.

"A few minutes ago I begged you to fill me to the core with your cum...," she leaned forward to give you a small kiss, "And here you are, balls deep inside me after shooting a thick, hot load straight into my womb. That makes me completely yours."

"Completely mine huh? I love the way that sounds coming out of your mouth," you cupped her face with your hands and gave her multiple short kisses on the lips.

"Yeah, and if that wasn't enough, you fucked me in a Gucci outfit, on top of a Ferrari, and in Milan. So consider yourself the luckiest guy in the world," she patted your chest a couple of times.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world since I kissed you for the first time, Phampy," you continued to shower her face with kisses as she giggled.

"Damn, what a rizz huh?" she joked.

"Shut up dude," you laughed back.

"Hey, how much did this thing cost you? I feel like if I dent it I'll get a million dollar lawsuit."

"Two thousand euros a day, and if I want to buy it it's four hundred thousand euros. I’ll save money for it."

"Yep, I better get out of here asap," she nodded and gently pushed you back.

Your cock came out of her pussy, from which not a single drop of your cum came out. You took her into your arms and helped her off the hood. Once on the floor you removed her panties from around your cock and held them out to her.

"Nah, keep them as a souvenir," she gave you a kiss on the cheek, pulled down her skirt as if nothing had happened and got back into the car.

"Well damn, sure thing," you nodded, watching as she climbed into the passenger seat.

You pulled up your boxers and pants and got into the car again. You put Hanni's panties in the storage compartment between seats, earning a laugh from her. You left the alley, and after making sure there were no snitches around, you headed towards the hotel. After about 10 minutes you were already around the corner.

"Hey, there won't be any fans here now right?" you asked, the car stopped before turning.

"I'm sure not. But there will be later," she leaned to the right in the seat to try to make sure there was no one, "I think only my bodyguard will be there."

"I hope you're right."

Just as she said, the street in front of the hotel was completely clear. Only her bodyguard, who you recognized instantly, was there waiting patiently. When he saw you approaching with the car he approached the sidewalk, but first you made a small U-turn so that Hanni's door faced it.

"See you inside daddy," she gave you a peck on the cheek and got out of the car. The bodyguard closed the door back, and then escorted her inside.

You parked the car diagonally across the entrance, in an area marked out just for that purpose. You turned off the engine, grabbed your things and got out. You walked around the car and went to the trunk to get your backpack out. With nothing else to do out there, you crossed the street to enter the hotel lobby, which alone looked like a beautiful and elegant royal palace, made almost entirely of perfectly polished marble. Hanni wasn't there, you assumed she had gone straight to her room.

After having gone through a small security check by one of the workers, you approached the reception and began the entire procedure to get a room. Using Hanni's room never crossed your mind, it was a controlled environment that Gucci had given her and that her manager probably also used, so you were never going to have privacy. You had to get a deluxe room, which wasn't cheap at all and gave you another little pain in your wallet.

Once everything was done, you were given the key to your room. You took the elevator and went directly to your floor to look for your door. Inside the room you were greeted by a short hallway, with a small counter on the left where was a small plate with cookies and biscuits, an espresso coffee maker and a bottle of San Benedetto sparkling water. To the right was an electric door that led to the bathroom, which had a double sink and a large mirror, in front of which were first the shower cubicle and then the bathtub.

Past that hallway was finally the bedroom. The king size bed was to your right, with two nightstands on either side and a wide stool at the bottom edge. In front you had the large window, whose light was blocked by white curtains that could be folded even more to cover the window completely. To the left was a glass table with two chairs on each side and a pot with beautiful white orchids on top of it. Finally, next to you as you exit the hallway, a smaller circular table with a tray full of fresh fruits, plates with napkins and cutlery, two covered drinking glasses and a note from the hotel staff giving anyone who entered the room a welcome.

The first thing you did was drop your backpack on the bed and lie face up on it to close your eyes for a moment. After your small minute of rest, you took out your phone and told Hanni that you could come now. Not even ten minutes had passed when you heard the knock on your door. You got up and hurried to open it.

"Damn, you're fast aren't you?" you asked with an amused expression.

"Being away from you hurts my little chicken heart, don't you understand?" She stood in front of you to give you a kiss. She then walked in front of you towards the bedroom.

"You got a scolding from her, didn't you?" you sat on the stool in front of the bed to look at her.

"A small one, yeah," she sighed, "But I honestly don't care, I feel exhausted."

Having said that, she began to undress, first taking off her heels, then her skirt, her top, and finally her necklace, which she left on the table next to the orchids. The only thing she needed to take off was her black bra, and once she did she dove face down onto the bed, her feet dangling next to you.

"Go take a shower then, sweetheart," you said, climbing into bed with her, only to lie down with your face right against her ass.

You made yourself comfortable there, hugging her hips as if her buttocks were your pillow—they weren't too far from that, they were soft like cotton.

"Mmm only if you come with me," she giggled, subtly shaking her butt under your cheek.

"I should be ashamed of how easily controlled I am by this piece of meat, but it's okay, come on."

You gave her a kiss on the buttock and stood up to go directly to the bathroom. She came in behind you, and helped you undress between adorable little kisses on your lips and chin. Once you were both naked, she tied her hair in a high bun, and you entered the shower cubicle, whose space was not too big and forced you to be slightly close together the entire time—it didn't bother you at all.

You and she took a completely normal bath without lewdness. It was a purely romantic and fun experience for the two of you, where kisses and caresses were not lacking. It was the perfect example that many times intimacy was not just about sex, and you enjoyed those moments as much as the sexual ones, they made you feel that there really was something there and that not everything revolved around carnal pleasures.

Once bathed and dried you went back to the bedroom. Hanni took off the towel, untied her hair, and threw herself back onto the bed.

"Your manager said you still had a pending appointment tonight, how much time do we have right now?" you asked, taking off the towel to continue drying your hair.

"Mmm… we have three hours, then I'll be there for about two more, and after that I'll be completely yours," she told you as she crawled under the covers and settled herself towards the center of the bed.

"Aight," you nodded, leaving the towel on the floor to go turn on the air conditioning, "Anything in particular you want to do?"

"I want you to take me out to eat and drink, can you?" She asked you, covered up to her neck with the blanket.

She looked so adorable and cute that you couldn't help but grab your phone to take a photo of her.

"Hey!" she laughed, giving you the perfect smile you needed for the shot.

"Of course I can, baby," you nodded, "I know the perfect place, in fact."

"I almost forgot that you were born here. Let's see, would you say something to me in Italian?"

"Tesoro, ho bisogno di dormire perché sono seriamente esausto," you told her, going to close the curtains. The room was now left in subtle darkness.

"That was so fucking sexy, oh my god," she breathed in, surprised, "But what did you say, I know tesoro is a cute thing."

The way she said that word made you smile.

"I said I'm exhausted and I need to sleep, honey," you climbed onto the bed and got under the blankets with her.

"Well, that's timely, because so am I," she sighed, turning her back on you so you could hug her from behind.

She raised her head, and you put your arm under her so she was resting on it. Then she pressed her back and her ass against you, and you wrapped your free arm around her in a warm hug that felt like lounging at a campfire in a Dark Souls game. You buried your face between her shoulder and the back of her neck, breathing in the delicious red fruit aroma of her skin.

"Hey, how do you say I love you in Italian?" she asked in a small, soothing voice.

"Ti amo," you responded with your eyes closed.

"Then ti amo, honey… uh, how do you say a lot?"

"Ti amo tanto," you said with a giggle, and opened your eyes to place kisses on her neck and cheek.

"Yeah, ti amo tanto baby," she laughed too, and turned her head so you could kiss her lips multiple times.

"Go to sleep now, dude, you have things to do later," you gave her a couple more kisses and returned to your initial position on her back.

"Yes daddy!" She responded obediently and clung to the arm you had around her body to sleep.

-----------------------------

As was usual every time she and you slept together, you woke up first. You gave her a kiss on her temple and carefully got out of bed to go put on some clean boxers, brush your teeth, and return to her. You climbed onto the bed and crawled carefully.

"Honey, wake up, it's a matter of time before the harpy calls you," you said softly, shaking her shoulder lightly.

"Mmmm..." she shifted on the bed and opened only one eye to see you, "What time is it?" she asked with a frown.

"6PM."

As soon as you told the time she sat up and started rubbing her eyes, then she got out of bed and checked her phone.

"Damn, I need to hurry. They're already waiting for me in the lobby."

"Already? There's still an hour left."

"Yeah, but you know how things are," she moved around the room looking for something, "Damn, I left my luggage in the other room. There's a landline phone here too, right?"

"Uh huh, next to the bathroom."

She ran into the hallway, and then you heard her talk to her room service to bring her luggage, which arrived just before five minutes. With her clothes already in your room, she put on clean underwear and went into the bathroom for a few minutes. When she came out, she started to get dressed. All while you were checking your phone without bothering to put on anything other than your boxers.

"So, how do I look?" she told you, coming out of the bathroom for maybe the 6th time in half an hour.

You looked away from your phone and examined her from head to toe. This time she had put on a black cardigan with gold buttons, some flared jeans and a couple of elements from her previous outfit: the red heels and the gold necklace. She gave you a couple of flirtatious spins and blew you a kiss.

"As beautiful and spectacular as always," you winked and smiled at her.

"I'll be back. Wait for me right here, okay?" She approached you, placed her hand on your chest and gave you a kiss on the lips.

"I don't feel like going anywhere else without you, honey. Go," you nodded toward the exit hallway.

"I love you! See you later!" She grabbed her handbag and with the phone in hand she disappeared down the hallway.

"I love you too!"

You heard the door open and then close again, a sign that you would be alone for the next two or maybe three hours. You had slept less than three hours in twenty-four hours due to all the hustle and bustle of the trip and the trip itself, so you took advantage of the moment to sleep again.

---------------------------------

A weight on top of your body and multiple soft kisses all over your face were your alarm clock. You slowly opened your eyes to find a cute smol bean straddling you, an adorable smirk on her face.

"Wakey wakey, sleeping princess," she said as if she were singing you a lullaby. You almost fell asleep again.

"Hmm?" You rubbed your eyes with your fingers and finally opened them to take a good look at her, "Did you just get here? How did it go?"

"Nope, I got here an hour ago, but I wanted to let you sleep a little more," she leaned in to kiss your cheek, "Everything went great, I had one of the best cheesecakes I've ever had in my life, honestly."

"Did you bring me sum?"

"I would have if I had paid for it," she chuckled, "come on, get up, we have a date honey."

"Has everyone left down there? I thought I heard the commotion when you arrived."

"It's 11 at night, people should sleep, right?"

"Yeah but some people are crazy. You know how things are."

"Take it easy babe, we don't have to leave the hotel together anyway. It can be like when you picked me up at the event early."

"The most discreet thing is to go out as if you weren’t going to do anything important at all, it attracts less attention."

"You just want to leave the hotel holding my hand, right?" She raised an eyebrow. You were caught.

"I mean," you pursed your lips and shrugged, "Yeah."

"Alright, alright," she laughed, "But go get dressed then, I'm ready to go."

"If you would just get off of me I could, sweetie."

"Right, sorry," she nodded, and then got off of you.

Looking back at the amount of time it took Hanni to get ready and how long it took you made you feel a little ashamed of being just a man. It had only taken you about ten minutes to get ready to leave. You combed your hair, put on perfume, and put on all your rings: two on your right hand and two on your left. Choosing an outfit was quite easy for you, especially if you took into account that you were going to have a late-night dinner in one of the fashion capitals. A white turtleneck sweater tucked into khaki pants, a dark brown trench coat, and black Chelsea boots.

During the time that you had been getting ready, Hanni was taking photos of herself all over the room, in the end she showed you one that she took in bed and another that she took in the mirror.

"You look gorgeous, what the hell. Are you gonna post them?," you asked, making a few final adjustments to the collar of your sweater.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing, I just want you to make sure I don't show up in any mirrors or some shit," you laughed, "I'd be hung by the balls in ADOR."

"Honey, there aren't that many mirrors in the room."

"Knowing my bad luck, my stupid ass face would show up in the reflection of the bathroom mirror," you grabbed your phone and your wallet to put both things in the pockets of your trench coat.

"But it didn't, let's go!" She gestured you toward the door.

"Did you make sure no one was outside?"

"Manager nim is aware of that, as the hotel security, so we have the green light."

"Aight, but what happens away from the hotel is our business, right?"

"Yup," she nodded.

"Fair enough," you sighed, "Let's go, honey."

After making sure you didn't forget anything, you and she left the room heading out of the hotel. You were lying if you didn't say you were nervous as shit as you walked through the lobby with her holding your hand. As you walked through the revolving door of the hotel you couldn't help but think that the best thing would have been to put on a mask and a cap, the same for her, but at that point you didn't give a damn. You were just a couple of very young adults wanting to be happy together.

You left the hotel looking in all possible directions, then you crossed the street and went to your car to get into it.

"Well, that went well didn't it?" you asked, starting the engine, which roared through the block.

"I mean, I can assure you that this thing just drew all the attention here," she laughed, and you drove away from the hotel grounds.

"In this city we're used to the sound of sports cars, honey, no one cares anymore," you laughed, driving down Via Pontaccio.

"Waaaaoh, that's the most presumptuous thing I've heard you say since I've known you."

"Non è che sia una bugia, amore," you turned for a second only to blow her a vain kiss.

"Yeah yeah whatever you say Mr. Pepperoni," you couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Can I play music?"

"If you have a perfect song that's about five minutes long, go for it," you nodded, still smiling.

She, who had perfectly understood the mood and the context in which you were, played PRIDE. by Kendrick Lamar.

"Damn, this city is beautiful, especially at night, isn't it?" She said looking out the window as you passed around the Giuseppe Garibaldi statue.

"Yes it is," you nodded, "It's gotten a lot better since I left. It feels good to be back."

"Would you bring me here again? I'd love to go sightseeing here with you..." she continued looking out the window, completely mesmerized by the city.

"Of course honey. I could even take you to meet my grandparents."

She turned around with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

"What?!" She exclaimed, causing you to laugh, "Oh no no no, I'm not ready for that, shut up."

"Sooner or later you will have no escape."

"I know, but I don't want to think about it. Shut up, shut up."

After a few minutes you arrived at your destination, the Horto Restaurant, located on the Medelan terrace, a historic building that was previously known as Palazzo Broggi. Now it was full of shops, offices of major banks and conference rooms. You went up to the terrace, asked for one of the tables on the balcony and went to sit down. It didn't take long for the waiter to arrive to pick up your order.

"I didn't ask you earlier, but how the girls are?" she asked you.

You went blank for a few seconds, formulating the answer in your head because that question encompassed a significant number of girls in your life at that moment.

"Fuck, where do I start," you sighed, "Well, Sullyoon and Haewon are perfect, I haven't been able to spend almost any time with either of them because they've been busy with their activities. Chaeyoung and Sumin are on tour. Rei is giving concerts too. And Yeseo gave a concert yesterday, I think."

"And what about Jinni?" At that moment the waiter brought you two glasses of Masseto wine, "Thank youuu!"

"Grazie mille," you thanked too, "Well, Jinni doesn't talk to me anymore. I can imagine her reasons," you shrugged.

"Oh… that sucks," she grimaced.

"Yeah but I'm not at a point in my life where I want to worry too much about that. How’s Dani?" you asked her, taking a sip of your wine.

"Oh she's great!" The smile returned to her face, "She's on vacation with her family in Australia, I guess she told you."

"Yup, but I haven't talked to her in a few days. The last thing she told me was that she wanted us to meet when the three of us were back in Korea."

"Sleepover at your house?" She took the wine from her with both eyebrows raised.

"You are more than welcome," you smiled.

"Can we take Minji?"

You stopped to think about what that question entailed and you thought about it for a few seconds.

"Only if you promise to behave," you crossed your arms, looking at her with your head tilted.

"We always behave... daddy," she gave you an innocent little smile and seconds later your food arrived.

By the end of your dinner you had also finished your first glasses of wine. The next thing you did was order a dessert, along with two more drinks. She ordered a tiramisu, and you ordered panna cotta. When you also finished the dessert you stood up, wine glasses in hand, and approached the railing to admire the city.

"Gosh, what a view huh?" she said as she looked at the west wing of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. She took a photo from there.

"You like them?" You took a sip from your glass as you looked at her.

"Are you kidding? I feel like I'm in a Renaissance painting, it's beautiful."

You took a step back and pulled out your phone to point your camera at her as she drank wine.

"And I feel like I'm in a Michelangelo painting looking at you, sweetie."

Hanni had a small moment of panic at your compliment and put her hand to her mouth to squeal in the middle of a silly smile. It was your perfect moment to take the photo. Then you sent it to her.

"Were you waiting all night to say that line?"

"Nah, it came spontaneously from me."

"Uh-huh, you wouldn't believe it yourself," she laughed, setting her almost-finished glass back on the table to approach you, "Hey... thanks for flying all the way here just for me babe... I was feeling kind of sad to have to be here alone during such an important time."

At that moment, Vivo per lei by Andrea Bocelli was playing inside the covered area. It sounded somewhat muffled due to the distance but it was perfect for the romantic moment, because the breeze also began to blow stronger.

"You have nothing to be thankful for, Phampy. And hey, you wouldn't be alone, you'd be with the harpy," you both laughed.

"Yes, it's basically like being alone," she snuggled into your chest and looked up at you, "But seriously, thank you, it means a lot to me, honey. You're wonderful... and I love you."

You should have told her that you loved her back, after all it was the most normal thing, right? Well no. Up there, under the clear night sky of Milano and with one of the most beautiful romantic pieces in history playing in the background, the first thing that came from the bottom of your heart was to surround her waist with your arms, press her to your body and kiss her.

Hanni wrapped her arms around your neck and clung to you, stroking the hair at the nape of your neck as your lips danced together in a slow, tender kiss. What you were doing was not entirely responsible, you were in a more than public place and on a terrace from where almost anyone could see you. You knew it, yes, but you didn't care in the least. That was a significant moment for you, one that would remain embroidered in your memory and your heart forever, the last thing you needed was to worry about a random snitch.

"I love you too, Phampy," you murmured against her lips, who knows how long after you'd been kissing, "Thank you for letting me be a part of your life, this honestly feels like a dream."

"You're so cute, god, stop it," she giggled and gave you a peck, "You know, the night is still young..." she put her finger on your chin and traced soft scribbles on it, "Why don't you take me back to the hotel to put the icing on the cake?"

"By cake you mean your cake, huh?" You raised an eyebrow with an amused expression.

"By cake I mean I can't wait for you to fuck my ass today. You know what the icing is... daddy," she moved closer to your neck and gave you a quick lick so no one else would see.

"Aight, we're getting out of here."

You hurried to pay the bill (another hard blow to your wallet) and you both got out of the building, got into the car and headed to the hotel again, which you arrived in record time and probably breaking some maximum speed limits. You hurried to take the elevator and go up the hallway, but Hanni, seeing that there was no one there, couldn't hold back the urge and kissed you right there.

You moved between kisses with clumsy steps and slight stumbles, in the end you saved yourself any future effort. As soon as you opened the door you picked her up so that she clung to your torso with her legs and you entered the room. You threw her back against the bed, and being between her legs you went deeper into her kiss. All tenderness had already disappeared, now you were eating each other's mouths in a fierce and passionate way, she letting out constant little moans against your lips.

Hanni took your coat off your shoulders and you helped her by taking it off your arms—when you threw it on the floor your phone must have taken a good hit, but at that moment you didn't even think about it. She also took your sweater out of your pants and put her hands in to caress your abdomen and chest. You separated from her lips and dove into her neck to fill it with kisses and light hickeys. As you did so she pulled the hem of your sweater up to take it off as well, and with your torso now bare you returned the favor by unbuttoning her cardigan and opening it wide, to reveal her black bra underneath it.

As you took off each shoe with your feet you began to trail your kisses down to her collarbone and her shoulders, making sure not to leave any non-wet areas before moving on to the next. You focused now on her tits, which contrary to what they might seem, were not small at all. Each mound was filled with kisses and licks, but before you freed them from the annoying bra, you now moved towards your favorite part of her body.

Kissing Hanni's belly always felt like kissing a soft sugar cloud; it was so perfect that you could literally spend hours just being there, filling it with kisses and licking it multiple times. While she caressed your hair and gave it little tugs with one of her hands, you unbuttoned her jeans and lowered the zipper, and without still lowering the jeans you now kissed her lower belly and her pubes above of her panties.

"Mmm..." you heard her moan softly, "Is daddy going to eat me? I would love for daddy to eat me..."

Her low, angelic voice always managed to make you feel things, and at that moment it turned you on so much that you pulled her jeans and panties down to her knees in one tug. She gasped, seeing you kneeling in front of her with the biggest 'fuck me' eyes. You took off her heels and threw them to the floor, and with her feet now free you finished removing her jeans and panties off her legs.

She crawled into bed and laid her head on a pillow to spread her legs wide, bringing one hand to her pussy to rub it up and down with two of her fingers. You dropped onto your stomach so that your face was just inches from her crotch. Normally you would have done some foreplay and been gentle, but you were too hungry for her. You grabbed her by both her soft, fleshy thighs, and without thinking twice you buried your mouth in her pussy.

"Hmm!" she moaned louder, "Yes daddy... eat your little baby's pussy, make me cum all over your face, please..."

You could always be the top and the dominant, but the truth is you were at the complete mercy of her and her requests. If she told you to jump into a puddle of mud so she could pass, you went at record speed to do it; if she ordered you to bungee jump without any type of rope, you would jump blindfolded. That was the level of control she had over you.

With how turned on you were, you didn't bother to be passionate or sensual, you got straight to the point with intense, wet kisses up and down her slit. Hanni tangled her fingers in your hair and grabbed a handful of it to tug gently. You used your tongue to give her frantic licks up and down, the velvety folds of her beginning to get wet and delicious.

Your grip on her thighs tightened. The flesh beneath your fingers trembled, and her fingers pulling at your hair made it harder and harder. You noticed her wanting to close her thighs around your head like she always did and like you always loved it, but you wanted to make her wait a little.

"Just like that daddy… yes, yes!" She squealed, pulling harder on your hair but also stroking it knowing that she hurt you.

You pressed her thighs as far back as you could, concentrating on attacking her clit quickly and sloppily, alternating between long up-and-down licks and stimulation on her hole. With your peripheral vision you noticed how she reached one hand under her back and unclasped her bra to take it off. She just left her open cardigan on. Her beautiful pair of breasts were exposed, and you soon reached up to grope one of them.

Her thighs were already too tight to contain, so you let go, and as soon as you did she trapped your head between them in a tight, soft meat sandwich. You intensified your efforts, now also adding one of your fingers to pump it in and out of her.

"Don't stop daddy..." she gasped, "Oh my god don't stop don't stop don't stop!!"

And you didn't do it in any second. Not until the pressure on either side of your head became so strong and her body became so trembling that you knew her orgasm was just around the corner. Seconds later she came, arching her back and gripping the pillow beneath her head with both hands. You collected every delicious drop of fluids with your mouth, sucking and licking up and down her pussy until they were gone.

She finally let go of your head and relaxed her legs to the sides. You wiped your chin, and knelt up to look her in the eyes.

"Do you feel like sucking daddy's cock?" you asked, unbuttoning your pants and unzipping them.

"I always feel like sucking daddy's delicious cock..." she responded breathlessly, then sat up and took off her cardigan to throw it in with the rest of her clothes.

Already completely naked from head to toe, Hanni got on all fours and crawled up to you with hungry eyes, looking up at you when she was in front of your hard bulge. She grabbed the hem of your pants and pulled them down to your knees. Her lips were planted on your bulge above your boxers, kissing the outline of your cock and also kissing your balls. It didn't take long for the drops of precum to leak through the fabric and make a stain, which she then collected with her tongue before lowering your boxers as well.

"How can I not always want to suck daddy's cock?" she asked as she set your throbbing shaft free, "It's so juicy..." wet kisses on the backside, "So big..." kisses now on your balls, "And it fits so well in my mouth."

She gave your cock a long lick from the balls to your tip and swirled her tongue there before taking a couple of inches into her mouth. A few sucks on your tip were enough for her to take a couple more inches, then she started pumping back and forth, taking a little more than half of your cock in and out of her warm mouth.

You had a wonderful view: her beautiful arched back and her perfect upturned ass. While she slurped over and over on your cock you leaned forward slightly to grope her ass to your heart's content. You squeezed each of her ass cheeks hard, and also gave a couple of spanks hard enough to make her moan around your cock.

She pulled you out of her mouth with a sharp gasp of air and spat a large amount of saliva onto your cock to jerk you off quickly. She looked into your eyes for a few long seconds, her mouth purposely half open so you could see how a thread of saliva dripped from her lower lip onto the bed.

"Does daddy want to fuck her little baby's mouth?" she asked, then started sucking your balls and filling them with saliva.

"If you promise to be a good girl and swallow it all..."

You grabbed a handful of her hair and made her lift her head slightly to lick all the way from her chin to her upper lip. That made her moan.

"I'm always a good girl... you should know that daddy… Now put that hot load down my throat,"

By her saying that you forced her to return to her initial position. She opened her mouth wide and stuck her tongue out as far as she could. You gathered as much of her hair as you could into a ponytail and held it to take your cock into her mouth. You let out a long gasp, starting to pump your hips back and forth.

Hanni stuck to being a good girl as if it were a divine commandment. She remained with her tongue hanging out and her mouth wide open; it didn't matter how deep you pushed or how fast you did it, she always did what she knew you would love. And in that moment, as you fucked her mouth faster and faster, you felt like you were going to explode at any second.

She wasn't able to take you all the way down her throat, but she did such a good job with her tongue that you didn't care at all. Her saliva began to spill down her chin, bubbling and falling to the mattress with each thrust. You moaned loudly, releasing her ponytail to now grab two handfuls of her hair with both hands, then you began to move her head against your cock.

The frantic gag sounds were like music to your ears. You growled, releasing one of the fistfuls of her hair to give her a harder spank that made her moan again. The vibrations sent to your cock were the finishing touch that with a couple more pumps, made you explode inside her mouth. You buried her head against your cock as much as you could, shooting your entire load down her throat.

"Oh yeah... take it all baby," you gasped, hearing her cough and seeing the veins in her neck pop out.

She closed her lips around your cock so that no drop of cum would escape as she swallowed it all. You stroked her hair and then the side of her face, as a reward for swallowing your entire load once your orgasm passed. You pulled your cock out of her mouth, and she took a sharp breath. Multiple thick strings of saliva connecting the tip of your cock to her lips.

"See daddy? I'm always a good girl... I swallowed it all," she stuck her tongue out for you to check.

"And since you're such a good girl..." you leaned in to give her a kiss on the forehead and another on her nose, "You deserve for daddy to make love to you."

Hanni's face lit up like a streetlight and a smile spread from ear to ear. She knelt and then fell back to lay on her side, her head on the pillow.

"Come here and kiss me then, dear," she said back in her small, soothing voice.

You raised knee by knee and finished removing your pants and boxers off your legs; then you lay down on one side of her and pressed her back and your chest together. You repeated your same sleeping position, her lying on top of your right arm and her entire body against yours. Only this time you took your cock with one hand and made her put her ass back, so you could make your way between her buttocks and find her pussy, which you rubbed several times with your tip. Your cock was already well lubricated and her pussy extremely wet, so it took no effort at all to take your entire cock inside her in one smooth motion.

"Mmm..." she let out a long, adorable moan. You hugged her with both arms and began to shower her jaw with kisses, "God..."

You began to move your hips slowly, taking the entire length of your cock in and out of her wet pussy with sensual movements. It was the perfect moment for you both to enjoy each other's bodies as much as you could. With your right hand—the one around her neck—you grabbed one of her tits and massaged it, playing with her nipple from time to time. With your left hand you explored every possible corner of her body within your reach; you started with her perfect belly, caressing it from top to bottom with the palm of your hand; then your hand went to her soft thighs, squeezing one of them and later moving to her ass, which you also squeezed hard.

From her position Hanni couldn't do much, but she used what little mobility she had to caress your hair, the side of your torso, your hips and finally your butt, which she also squeezed before turning to look at you. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyebrows were arched in pleasure. She looked at your lips, and pulled you towards her to kiss her.

While you shared a kiss full of passion and small moans you lifted one of her legs, holding it by the back of her knee and pressing it against her torso. Hanni moaned louder against your lips, and you did it back, feeling in absolute heaven as you fucked her with slow, strong, deep pumps.

"Oh my god... you drive me so fucking crazy darling..." she murmured against your lips between gasps.

"You drive me crazy too, baby..." you bit her lower lip, then looked into her eyes, "I absolutely love every part of you... you're so fucking perfect."

You gave her a few harder, faster thrusts for a few seconds, now kissing her chin and neck. She pulled you gently by her hair.

"Absolutely every part of me is yours... my entire fucking existence belongs to you, fuck," she moaned, breathing becoming louder and more ragged.

You let go of her leg and let it fall back so that it was bent toward her body. Now you rested that hand on her soft waist, holding on there with your fingers as hard as you could.

"Say it... tell me you're completely mine," you murmured against her neck, which you then bit gently.

"I'm completely yours, damn it! And I love you so much that I wouldn't mind being it forever! Fuck!!"

That last sentence of hers, said between loud moans and gasps, was the precursor to one of the strongest orgasms you could ever cause in her. She clung to your right forearm with both hands, letting out beautiful squeals of pleasure that urged you to kiss her again. You fucked her non-stop during her orgasm, which made her writhe in your arms and let out a small load of hot fluids that you felt soaked part of your cock.

"And you..." she whispered, "You are completely mine," she looked into your eyes, "You belong to me. Every part of you, from head to toe. Everything about you says Hanni Pham’s property."

Her words were a breaking point for you. You couldn't take it anymore, and with a sudden burst of energy you forgot that you were making love to her. You fucked her as fast and hard as you could, holding on to one of her tits as if your life depended on it and putting such pressure on her waist that it could very well hurt later. You buried your face in her neck once more, and it only took a few seconds for you to explode inside her again. This time filling her pussy with so much cum that you felt like it was already spilling out after a couple of pumps.

"Oh yeah... give me all that load dear, put it all inside me, fill me and make me more yours than I already am..." she said in a low voice as you spilled the last drops.

"You're lucky you're on the pills..." you mumbled between tired breaths, "Because if you tell me that I just want to put a baby in you."

"Right now it's impossible... in the future, who knows."

You looked up to look at her for a few seconds and then kiss her again as you let your cock slide out of her pussy—forming a massive pool of cum on the mattress that you didn't bother to clean up at the time. You two completely lost track of time, two minutes or two hours could have passed while you were kissing. You didn't know, what you did know is that it didn't end there. And also that you already felt ready for one last round.

"The icing is still missing on the cake... don't you think?" you asked, and she gave you a mischievous smile.

"Did you bring lube? I didn't think I'd need it."

"Unlike you..."

You got out of bed and went to your bag, you dug to the bottom of it and took out the water-based lubricant that you and she always used.

"I'm always prepared for anything," you winked at her and went back to bed.

"How do I know you haven't had it there since you went to fuck Haewon or some shit like that?" she raised both eyebrows in an expression that made you laugh.

"As real as that sounds to you and me, no. I put it there thinking exclusively of you," you gave her a peck on the lips and gave her a little spank.

"Wow, that's thoughtful, isn't it?" you noticed the sarcasm in her voice, "Does that mean you really fucked her ass?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask her?"

You grabbed her by the waist and forced her onto her stomach, then she herself lifted her butt and got on her forearms and knees for you. You settled on your knees behind her pretty round ass, your cock resting between her butt cheeks.

"Because I don't care, no ass will feel better than mine to you."

She looked over her shoulder at you with a mischievous expression and arched her back even further, pressing the side of her face into the bed. You took the bottle of lubricant and started pouring it all over her ass, including your cock in the middle. After having poured a not at all modest amount you put the bottle aside and began to spread the liquid, making her pale buttocks so shiny that they reflected the ceiling lights. You repeated the process with your cock, and then used your fingers to spread it into her butthole as well.

"That's a pretty humble take, huh?" you imitated the sarcasm in her voice.

"Put that cock in there and you'll find out, daddy," she returned to the spiciest tone of voice, the one that made you fuck her in the middle of an alley.

You didn't make her wait. You took your cock in one hand, pressed it against her butthole and slowly sank into it. She frowned and moaned, engulfing your cock inch by inch until it disappeared between her ass cheeks. You let your pelvis rest against her ass, all the while you just looked at her.

"Fuck, maybe you're right. I don't think there's an ass that feels as good as this one."

You gave one of her buttocks a hard spank, the hardest of the night, and repeated the same with the other. Hanni let out little squeals at both of them. You began to move slowly back and forth, slow pumps at first to let her walls get used to it.

"Is this daddy's favorite ass then? Hm?" she asked with a provocative tone.

Certainly Haewon's ass was a strong contender, and Rei's wasn't that far off either, but you had to give in to the truth.

"Yes it is..." you replied as you made circles on her buttocks with your hands, "now shut up and let daddy pound it really good."

As a good man of your word you did so. You clung to her waist with both hands, making sure she was looking at you before you began to increase your pace. With each thrust Hanni's face twisted more and her face became redder with pleasure. Her body shook with increasing violence as your pelvis slammed harder against her ass and filled the room with the sound of your lewd act.

"Give me your damn hands," you ordered, and she obediently put her hands behind her back.

You put her hands on top of each other and then grabbed both of her forearms with your hand. With that point of grip you began the real action, now fucking her ass in such a way that even that bed squeaked every few seconds. You raised your free hand and gave her another hard spank.

"Oh fuck!!" She squealed, "Give me more daddy! Let your good girl's ass fucking red!!"

You switched the hand you had on her forearms and now gave her other buttock a series of consecutive spanks that made her scream into the sheets. You didn't stop until her right buttock was as red as a tomato, and then you repeated the process with the other. With Hanni's request fulfilled, you brought her knees together and made her lie on her stomach to now fuck her prone bone.

"Now you feel kinky huh?" you growled.

You let go of her forearms and leaned forward, grabbing a handful of her hair and lifting her head just to shower her neck with kisses. Hanni clung to your neck with one hand and you felt her grip her fingers around it. You pumped up and down as hard as you could, pinning her against the bed.

"I-I..." she stuttered, "D-Daddy, I'm going to... HMMM!!"

Just before she finished her sentence you noticed all the muscles in her ass tighten around your shaft. Hanni's legs began to shake, and she rolled her eyes back as she grunted in pleasure. You stood up straight again and released the handful of her hair with a sharp downward push. She leaned on her hands and watched you over her shoulder as you continued fucking her ass.

"So? What are you waiting for to put the icing on the cake daddy?" she raised an eyebrow letting you know that she was ready for more.

"I hope you know how to hide the pain in your legs, you slut."

You pulled out of her ass and made her lie on her back. She spread her legs wide, gripping her own thighs, and you returned inside her butthole with a single strong thrust. Now you were looking into her eyes, and she was looking straight back at you. You let her take care of holding her legs, and you concentrated on bringing her hands to her neck to press your fingers around it.

"I don't care about the damn pain..." she managed to say through her throat slightly clogged by your fingers, "Just put all that load inside me, daddy..."

You didn't need to remember how much power she and her words had over you, but those damn words made you feral. You removed her hands from her thighs and grabbed them yourself, only to pull them back and press them tight against her torso. You leaned forward, and placed your hands on her sides to use your body as weight.

Now your face and hers weren't too far from each other. She cradled your face with her hands, and made you stare at her while you pounded her ass like an animal. The tide of stimulus soon became too strong. Her deep eyes fixed on you; her blushing cheeks; her mouth half open and gasping with pleasure; her sweaty skin constantly rubbing against yours; and above all, her incredibly tight ass, which in a few seconds brought you to one last orgasm.

"Mmmghh!!" you growled, tensing all the muscles in your neck as you gave one last hard push down.

"Hmm!!" She moaned with you, "That's it daddy, give it to me all... all of it!!"

You didn't hold back the urge to kiss her as you shot thick jets of semen into her ass, now giving slow, deep thrusts so that she felt absolutely every drop of it filling her. She moaned against your lips, and released her legs from the pressure of your body to wrap them around your torso. Then she wrapped her arms around your neck as well, and once again, you kissed for longer than you could imagine.

"What a way to end the night, huh?" you asked between labored breaths once you maked out for about five minutes.

"Oh yeah..." she nodded, placing kisses on your chin and another on your nose, "It was more than necessary."

"Are you flying to Korea tomorrow?"

"I think so, and you?"

"I don't know, I might stay here a couple more days before I take the flight."

"And keep paying for that damn beast down there?" she laughed.

"Oh hell no, our mechanic friend already did his job perfectly. But maybe you'll see him again in Korea."

"Then I'll pull your ears for spending that kind of money."

"It's not like you didn't like it," you laughed.

You stood up and started looking for things for you and Hanni to clean up. Once both bodies were clean, you turned on the air conditioning and turned off the lights. Now you only had the light from one of the lamps on each side of the bed. You settled under the blanket, she clinging to you with her arms and legs like a koala clinging to her branch.

"I love you, Phampy... sweet dreams," you kissed her forehead and then her lips.

"I love you too dear… thank you for being here with me," she said softly before closing her eyes.

---------------------------------------

Spren Notes: Well, first of all, I must apologize once again for filling this piece with so much Italianness everywhere lmao. It was necessary. This is probably the most personal and close to my heart piece I have ever written. I just hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

[kyber-crystal]

scarlet ibis (songbird) || anakin skywalker

summary: they say the purest love takes the longest time, and your story is nothing short of that. there’s fragility within beauty and to him, you’re a mosaic of stained glass (alt title: 5 times you call anakin skywalker by his last name, and 1 time you finally call him by his first.)

words: ~3.2k

warnings: angst, mild violence, mentions of blood + death (but no major character death dw), two oblivious idiots in love

a/n: 2nd place fic from my mini poll! not my best work LOL, but i think this is one of my favorite fics i've written (so far). i've had this in drafts for about a year or so as well...

one

It was safe to say that even a nanosecond of interacting with Anakin Skywalker made your blood boil. 

He knew just how to push all your buttons and you hated it. How could one person exist for seemingly one purpose only—to piss you off—you didn’t understand it and weren’t sure if you ever would. “Loyal Jedi” my ass. 

If you were the first person to speak up during meetings, he was also the first to counter your points and shoot you down. If you were late to meals in the mess hall, he took the last roll of bread, so you’d have to wait an extra half hour for more to come out. If you were dueling together, he would always point out every microscopic flaw in your technique. You were sure that your head would explode at any moment by his existence alone.

This is so ridiculous—you’re ridiculous.

“You know I can hear you, right?” Anakin glanced at you in his peripheral vision. “Don’t be mad because my plan worked, and yours didn’t. There’s this thing called accepting defeat.”

“Just because I don’t do things the way you do doesn’t mean they’re wrong.”

“They’re not wrong, but they’re not safe. You can’t declare safety compromisation a success. There’s a clear difference between the two.”

You scoffed. “Since when did you, out of all people, account for safety?”

“I should be asking you the same thing.”

“You’re not answering my question.”

“And you’re not answering mine, either.” He reaches behind his ear and turns his comms on. “Now are we going to head home or what?” 

“Aye aye, General,” you responded sarcastically, rolling your eyes. “Let’s embark on the journey of a lifetime.” 

Awkward silence pierces the air like a dozen tiny needles, but you’ll take it over arguing with a wall any day. You knew what you were fighting for and why. You were confident in your actions and believed you always stood on the right side. 

Except, he didn’t. 

It was a quick two day recon and you got the job done in half the allotted time. In and out faster than you could blink. Of course, Anakin would find fault in that one way or another…and he did. You got caught as you were escaping…dragging the mission duration out by an extra day.

Granted, you were only delayed by a few hours, but it was enough to upset him. You couldn’t even feel the ropes digging into your wrists after hour two, anyway. But from the moment he broke in and saw the first speck of blood on you, a look of fury flashed across his eyes. I’d be surprised if he had even half a heart under all that thick skin, you grumbled to yourself. He’ll slice at anything that moves. 

“You know—” Anakin’s voice breaks through the tension-filled air. He wants to say something else, but the words get stuck in the back of his throat and his tongue goes numb.

“I don’t care.” You pick at your scabbing wounds, not caring that they’re starting to sting and peel all over again. Before he can catch you doing so, you tug your sleeves over them and grit your teeth. “We got the job done, Skywalker, that’s all that matters.”

two

Maybe it was time to stop trying to commit mass murder on the punching bags. They weren’t going to do anything except break after two minutes of merciless attacks. 

Hopefully…you wouldn’t get in trouble for the glass vase that happened to get in your path. Nobody ever bothered to wander to the west wing of the Temple often enough to notice, anyway.

As you clenched and unclenched your fists, the cracks in your knuckles slowly started to stretch out like thin, red spiderwebs. The dots of brilliant ruby seemed to glitter among the pristine flooring—almost like they were meant to be there from the start. 

With every shard you threw away, the cracks and fury dug themselves further into your skin, threatening to explode.

You didn’t even need to look up afterward to know his scalding gaze was on you again.  

“Are you trying to get an infection?”

“Fuck off.”

He ignored your biting reply and kneeled down to clean up the mess. Once he was done, he stood back up and grabbed you by the wrist, leading you down the hall to his quarters.

As soon as he sat you down at the edge of his bed, you shot him a death glare. “What in Force’s name is your problem?”

“My problem,” Anakin replied, “is that you’re about to bleed all over the place. Let me help.”

“I don’t need fixing, Skywalker,” you snapped. “It’s just a cut.”

Anakin raised a brow at you, then looked down at your hands. “Too bad, I think you do. Broken glass will buryinto places you don’t expect.”

“Then you’re severely underestimating what I’m capable of. So let me go,” you snapped, jerking your wrist out of his grip. You unfortunately did this too fast, and hissed in pain as a result. “I’m fine.”

Sighing, the young Jedi reaches for the bacta pads next to him and works carefully to patch you up. He pretends not to notice the tears welling up in the corners of your eyes. Or the way you pick at the skin by your thumb, or the way your left foot taps the floor in a nervous rhythm. He pretends not to notice everything you do, but you’re everywhere. It frustrates him because he can’t escape. 

“Why do I have a feeling that exterminating the centuries-old vase of magic and splendor wasn’t in your original plan?”

“I was,” your voice wavers, fingers twitching. He notices this, too. “Leave me be.”

Shadows of the late afternoon light dance across the bridge of your nose, and he lets himself stare for a bit longer than normal. And…being who you two are, neither of you realize the fact.  

“You can go now, if you want,” he finally says after the sun begins descending into the horizon. “But make sure not to overexert yourself again.”

You don’t move. You stay there; quietly sitting in the middle of his room with glistening cheeks. Anakin doesn’t bother asking you to leave a second time. 

A fallen angel trapped in an endless prison; a halo and fractured wings that rendered her unable to fly. And yet, amidst all that death and despair, nothing could mar her beauty.

He feels those same little spiderwebs running through his palms, and he feels them shorten. Just a little bit.

three

The halls of the Temple were eerily quiet early in the morning. You would expect more Jedi to be up before the sun rose, but today, all activity had seemed to stop. Gathering the ends of your cloak into your arms, you made a careful climb up onto the rooftops to watch the sunrise. 

It seemed like you weren’t the only one who had this in mind, though.

“The hell are you doing at this hour?” 

“I could ask you the same exact thing,” Anakin replied as he stood up and turned around to face you. “You’re going to fall.” 

“I’m fine, don’t—” You let out a small squeak as you lose your footing and slip. Luckily, though, he catches you in time by wrapping an arm around your waist and holding on tight. Fire shoots through your veins at the feeling of him pressed up against you. “Let go of me, Skywalker!”

Once he leads you to where you can get more stable footing, he lets you go. But even then, there’s a hand that hovers over the small of your back. 

Brilliant bursts of sunlight stream over the horizon and wash over the world in pale red and pink. It stops you from saying something snarky to Anakin because you’re speechless at the breathtaking sight above. 

“I have…something for you,” he clears his throat. “—And don’t hit me. I’m not trying to poison you.” 

“Okay…?”

He reaches into his cloak pocket and pulls out what appears to be jewelry of some kind. 

“How many innocent beings did you kill to get this? Please don’t tell me it was smuggled. Or that you robbed someone for it. I can’t keep something like that.” 

“Y/N.” 

“What?”

“Do you…like it?”

You paused and took one good look at the necklace in his hand. It had to be the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen in all twenty years of living, and even that was an understatement. A teardrop-shaped, deep vermillion stone encased by tiny, glittering jewels—it was as if he had captured the stormclouds himself. It was perfect—too perfect, almost. 

Your voice came out in a whisper. “It’s so pretty.”

He takes a careful step to stand behind you in response. His fingers brush against your neck as he puts the necklace on, and fireworks explode behind your eyes.

Without another word, you turn towards him and rest your chin on his shoulder. He pulls you closer, and your heart feels a little fuller than before. 

four

The warzone was an ugly place. 

If hell was a real thing, this had to be it. The sky is bleeding red and each burst of lightning splits it further apart, the smell of death swirling around with the debris. Battle droids push forward in a stampede and you try your best to ignore the sickening crunch of bone beneath their metal feet. You squeeze your eyes shut as you tighten your hold around your lightsaber and pray to every god out there in the universe because war was cruel and mean and you just wanted to go home and sleep forever because anything, absolutely anything, was better than the suffering you were having to endure now. 

When the shot originally meant for Anakin hits you in the side, you’re unable to fully comprehend the pain because your brain won’t let you. You force yourself to keep going. Pain was temporary…you’d deal with the aftermath later. You could afford to.

What feels like hours passes by and the gunfire doesn’t stop. The incessant ringing in your ears is something you’ve forced yourself to grow accustomed to. 

“Y/N!” Anakin’s voice manages to cut through the howling winds. “You need to—”

He doesn’t get to finish his sentence before a grenade detonates near you and throws you against the walls. A searing pain shoots through your body at the impact and the world tilts on its axis. Scarlet seeps into your tear-stained vision and suddenly, the whole world is drenched in blood.

This was it…

If you were going to die now, it would be as far from pretty as you could possibly get. 

It’s another slow few minutes before he finally finds you slumped against the stone. Somehow, you manage to shoot him a small smile before wincing. “Took you long enough to get here.” 

“You…”

“Oh, wow, I’ve been shot,” you let out a dry laugh, pressing a hand over your wound. The color immediately drained from his face as he saw blood seeping through your fingers. “That’s a whole lot of red.”

He crouches down next to you to assess your state, pressing the commlink in his ear as he does so. “Why is it that you’re always getting hurt?” 

“My middle name is Trouble, that’s why.” You cough, and more red drips down your lips. “Trouble follows me around wherever I go.”

“It’s not fair,” Anakin mumbled under his breath, applying pressure to your torso as you wince again. “I’m supposed to be jumping in front of bullets for you and getting close to being blown up, not the other way around.” 

“I decided that your massive ego needed a little break so I took the workload for you,” you snarked. “Happy now, Skywalker?”

For the first time ever, he doesn’t bite back with an equally sarcastic response. You don’t question it. “No. I’m not.”

The returning journey's dead silent, save for your labored breathing due to your cracked ribs. You try to sit up, but he places a firm hand on your shoulder to keep you from moving. 

“I told you I’m fine—”

“You need to rest,” he exhales, the distress and tiredness evident in his eyes. “Please.”

“Okay…”

Wordlessly, Anakin reaches over to cup his hands over yours and and brings them to his lips. A pleasant sense of warmth overtakes you and you can almost pretend like the ship’s heater isn't broken and you’re melting, little by little. And if you look closer, you can see clusters of galaxies and shooting stars behind his steel blue eyes. The thought alone comforts you and starts to lull you to sleep. 

His eyes shift to the necklace; the gemstone sits still against your sternum as your chest rises and falls. Beauty among chaos. He wonders every day how such stark differences can coexist in a peaceful manner. 

“For what it’s worth,” he murmurs long after you’ve drifted off, “I never really hated you.”

five

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

You placed your hands on your hips as you observed the pitiful scene before you. The Jedi Order could host extravagant events and use expensive artillery and clones, but wouldn’t account for comfortable sleeping accommodations. Making a mental note to politely complain to Master Windu, you let out a long sigh. 

“If I stretch out, I’ll fall off,” Anakin pointed out as he too stared at the small queen bed (you were sure it was a twin, though). 

“I’d fall off, too.”

“You know what…I’ll take the floor. I don’t want to hear you complaining about back pain in the morning.” 

He was about to take his pillow and toss it to the floor before you grabbed his wrist. “Are you nuts? I can’t let you do that.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” 

You rolled your eyes. “I don’t know, share the bed without kicking me in the middle of the night?”

Both of you stopped and stared at each other at this. 

“The audacity you have to say that when you’re the kicker…” Anakin began. 

“I’m using the bathroom first.” You pushed past him to go wash up. “Don’t be a bed hog, Skywalker.”

Minutes later, you’re both settled in under the covers and have fallen into a comfortable silence. The only things you can hear are the crickets chirping outside and Anakin’s steady breathing. If you ignored the fact that you were on a mission and crammed into an incredibly tiny motel room, you could imagine that this was a peaceful weekend getaway to some tropical planet. 

You’re the first one to break the silence and speak up. “Do you wonder when the war will end? Or if it’ll end at all?”

“All the time.” He rolls over on his side to face you. “And what I’d do afterwards.”

“Where would you go?”

Anakin hums for a moment before responding. “I don’t know. You?”

“I’d go back to Naboo. To the lakes, where the water is so clear you can see your future, and the roses are redder than your face under the summer sun. Padme would take me there all the time when we were younger.” 

“I think I’d follow you, then.”

“But there’s sand, and lots of it,” you laughed. “Are you sure?”

“I’d be willing to bear its coarse, rough, and irritating qualities for you. Only once, though. I have my limits.”

Your heart warms at the mini confession. “I wish we could just end everything now. Call off the troops, sign a few treaties or something…end the war. I’m tired of the violence and bloodshed. I know everyone else is too.”

“I know.”

Anakin’s hand finds its way into yours, and the tension in your shoulders slowly unravels as your fingers lace with his. 

And all the cracked and bleeding crevices on your skin start healing the longer you lean into his touch. It’s like he has a needle and spool of thread in hand, and he’s slowly but surely stitching you back together. 

plus one

The giant metropolis of Coruscant had gone quiet under blankets of snow—it was a sight unlike any other. You hadn’t seen a speck of snow hit since you stepped foot onto the Jedi Temple as a child. 

You stood alone in the hangar bay with bated breath and reddened, frostbitten fingers. Like you’d dipped them in blood before letting them dry for a bit.. He had to be here any minute now; you didn’t want him to return and not have anyone to welcome him back. So despite the subzero temperatures and barely-healing knuckles, you remained in place. 

When his ship touches down and he hops out with a wide smile, you can feel a giant weight being lifted off your chest. He jogs toward you and brings you in for a crushing embrace, and for once, you finally feel at home. 

“It’s freezing. What are you doing here?” He’s sweating, even though he looks like he should be cold. “You should’ve headed inside.”

“I waited for you, what else would I be doing?”

Anakin grins again and hugs you even tighter. “I missed you. More than anything.” 

Your heart suddenly starts to ache at his admission and that’s when the realization kicks in. “I thought I lost you, Anakin. You could’ve died. I couldn’t sleep for three days after I lost your signal. And yet you’re standing here acting like it’s no big deal because at least you’re alive and in one piece.”

“Y/N…”

A chill runs down your spine and you know in that moment that it has nothing to do with the weather. You knew this wasn’t right; you weren’t supposed to be doing this, but it felt more natural than anything you’d ever done.

That’s when you find an Anakin-shaped shard of glass wedged deep in your heart and you don’t know how it found its way there, but you don’t even bother pulling it out. Glass splinters are supposed to be these jagged, disfigured things, but this one is beautiful and even shines amongst the rubble. It’ll bury its way into places you don’t expect. With the way he fits against your body, you can’t help but feel like he was meant to fill the gaping hole in your heart. So wholly, so perfectly without a single scratch or flaw. 

You look up at him and feel your breath get caught in your throat. Since when did he make you so nervous? 

He’s even closer now and so are you, so you press your mouth to his as if doing so would save you from falling apart. Your brain short-circuits, and as you sink into the sudden burst of warmth you realize you don’t want this to end.

“Took you long enough,” he mumbles against your skin as you pull apart. “I was starting to wonder when…”

“Shut up. Don’t ruin the moment,” you muttered before bringing your hand to his cheek and kissing him a second time. He doesn’t object and tightens his hold around you, and a fire spreads through you from head to toe. 

“I love you,” Anakin says after a while. “Even though you like sand, and I don’t.”

“I knew that already,” you joked with a smile and close your eyes, taking in a deep breath. “You’re not exactly the most subtle person ever.”

“Neither are you,” he chuckles.

“But I love you too.”

tags, including people who may be interested: @arkofblake @dameronology @fl0ating @voguesir @lady-elena-adeline @aliciaasky @katelynnwrites @freeshavocadoooo @buckysbeloved @kelieah @kaleidoscope1967eyes @lam-ila @unstablecaffeinatedmind @elenavampire21 @joyfullyswimmingface

add yourself to the general taglist/top gun specific taglist !

[baldursyourgate]

Transcript of "Baldur's Gate 3 Interview [Emma Gregory] Minthara Voice Actress" by Skycaptin5 on YouTube

What I did: cleaned up filler words (um and ah), repeated words due to automated captioning, and added punctuation.

Purpose: providing an easier point of reference.

Q: A staple I do in all interviews in order to start things off, is to ask that you elaborate a bit about your work, and this particular role for those not familiar with it.

A: Hi, my name is Emma Gregory and I play Minthara in Baldur's Gate 3. I've been an actor for a long time: I come from very much a theatre background, I've done a lot of theatre and a bit 'telly, and a lot of voice work. I do lots of audio books, for example and games and lots and lots of things but I've done a lot of big theatre like Shakespeare for the Royal Shakespeare company and West End theatre, and all that sort of thing. I absolutely love it and I love playing Minthara too. She was a great challenge, Minthara's situation in Baldur's Gate 3.

Q: In Baldur's Gate 3, you provide the performance for Minthara. Could you tell us a bit about the character and the situation she finds herself in?

A: Well it depends on which path you go down. There are millions of paths in Baldur's Gate 3. Minthara is a drow from Menzoberranzan comes from the sort of leading family of house Baenre in Menzoberranzan. She finds herself in a situation in Baldur's Gate 3 where she has been lured into the cult of the Absolute by Orin, who she has quite a backstory with. She has been brainwashed and in the game you can choose to recruit her and rescue her from the Cult of the Absolute. (...)

She is a very paranoid character, very set in her ways and finds it extremely difficult to trust people; but through the course of the game, she comes from sort of quite a chaotic background of not knowing what she was doing because she was brainwashed into then being... hopefully if you guys recruit her, being part of the party and companions, that she learns to discover she needs in many ways, because she is an exile from Menzoberranzan and having given up the worship of Lolth who is the god of where she comes from. So she finds herself an outcast, once she's not part of the absolute so she finds that she needs the companions in many respects, but of course what she would like them to do is to take over the world you know and have her rule it in many respects, possibly.

I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't played yet but I guess she's one of those characters that people might come to a little later. She is... she has a sort of reputation of being quite brutal, and she is a brutal character. One of the amazing things about her is that if you rescue her, she sorts of... once she's in the party sort of says, well you know? "Why would you do that why would you leave your enemy alive why would you not kill them?" because for her, things are very linear you know? You get rid of enemies and that's it. So she's quite interested in the fact that they've and challenges them to say well you kill when I kill it's for a purpose why are you killing? I know why I kill and I have a very clear purpose about it and I kill my enemies and that's it. They're eradicated but why, why are you doing it? So she questions the party and makes them think which I think is rather good and then also...

I'm giving you a very long-winded answer Jason, but this is her. This is the complexity of Minthara which is wonderful to play, and I hope that people really enjoy discovering her that she's not just a killing machine... she is that but there is much more to her, many more layers I think and reasons for why she is who she is.

Considering where she comes from and her upbringing which any DnD fans can read around, her background is quite brutal, so yeah.

So in the course of the game, it's interesting to see how she learns to trust people, always for a purpose and what she wants of course but there is an arc, a journey for her.

Q: When preparing to perform as Minthara, were you given any initial direction in regard to the character, just in terms of an example of prep work to get into the mindset of this particular performance?

A: No. I mean obviously it was given a little bit of background about the story, but not too much. I was told of qualities of the character by the studio, and the sort of type of voice and things that they were looking for and then the rest of it, I pretty much got from the lines I was given.

I mean I'm guided by a director obviously who I've been living with Minthara for four years so uh that's a long time to make her grow and create her; and I also had the benefit of having the most wonderful writer in Adam Smith, who's the lead writer at Larian Studios and he created between us...

We'd never met and it was quite interesting. Over the four years we'd never met at all, but we did this sort of sort of dance, where you know, I would give him an interpretation of his lines and he would take that and go "oh wow okay let's go down this path with her", you know and so between us we developed someone who we feel is very complex and layered, which is great.

We were given wonderful free reign with them as well as keeping within the storyline and what needed to be achieved, but we were very much given as actors which Larian is so wonderful at doing... They trust their actors, and you know, you're given the role for a reason, which is your ability to play it and they trust you in that. And that means as an actor you're very free, because you can bring ideas to the table as well, and for the character and that's a beautiful thing so as Minthara.

Q: You've mentioned your character goes through a bit of a positional shift as the narrative progresses you know, obviously for running the goblins to then stuff happens. Did that adjustment in your character's role impact how you approach the voice performance for the character?

A: Yes, very much so, and because it was also Al motion capture where you're, you know, you're literally in a bodysuit. And you got sensors all over you, and you're so you're able to really fully physically explore the character as well. Which I believe, you should do anyway in all voice work because it's not just acting from the throat upwards.

It's like any acting, you get into the character that you're playing, and you feel that physically because then that determines your breath and how you live and breathe the character, and that's got to come from your whole body, your whole soul.

You know with Minthara I very much felt there was a journey with her vocally. I made a decision, I suppose which... I guess everyone backed because nobody told me not to do it, but she's quite staccato in her vocal delivery and I think that very much emphasizes and shows her lack of emotional centeredness if you like.

She's not someone who delves into emotions very often, and yet, she's a very emotional character. She keeps it like a pressure cooker I guess... but I discovered as well that along with that staccato kind of delivery, there was a sort of shift we found in in movement and voice between when she's under the influence of the absolute and when she's then freed from that, and I think it's interesting for her to explore how that freezes up vocally a little bit.

Maybe not quite so tight in the throat once she was freed, you know, learning to relax a little bit, as much as Minthara can. So yeah there was a nice shifting slightly of Minthara, just slightly. I hesitate to use the word softening, but yes, softening a little bit, softening the edges a little bit vocally and physically once she's gone through that journey of being not brainwashed and discovering who she is again.

You know yeah, I thought that was actually really interesting in the game because she comes off as very... You know dark, intense, and then immediately once that's gone, I was kind of like okay there's a lot more under the surface.

Yeah I mean she'll always be dark and intense, she is, in inverted commas, an "evil character", she's not to sit and you know talk about fluffy kittens.

You know but actually she might! She quite likes animals. But she does definitely go on a journey of finding out that she needs allies. Because certainly by the end of the game, I think she's got quite a soft spot for many of the companions as much as she can have, she has had quite a few of them you know, like Lae'zel for example, and Shadowheart and Jaheira.

Yeah, so that was interesting to explore physically how she can soften, and in intimate scenes or romance scenes with her, she can play the part of being soft and intimate. Whether she's really feeling that inside is another matter, depends on who it's with, I guess. But yeah, that was interesting to explore vocally, from being less sort of rigid and staccato like during the absolute brainwashing, and then finding she's always staccato but whether there's more sort of range and colour in how she speaks once she's freed of the tadpole swirling in the mind swirling in the mind when performing the role.

Q: Were there any particular lines or moments that really stuck out to you whether that's a behind the scenes moment or something from the dialogue?

A: I gosh I love all our lines. Well I love the obvious jokes that lots of people love like that "it was a beautiful webbing", that sort of thing. I love the lines that she's given when she's explaining, you know, when she's grateful to having been rescued and explaining that, no one would know about her and all the vulnerable moments that she has when she's talking about how she feels, about... I think she's quite shocked, you know, having had the brainwashing happen to her, having been so deceived. And so, the dialogue that happens once she's rescued, and she's sort of discussing that with the player are beautiful lines, of sort of realizing my God you know I trusted this person and Orin, and I can't believe that's happened to me and also that she misses her home you know.

I think she really loves Menzoberranzan and her upbringing too but also recognizing how brutal that was too and so all of the that sort of dialogue, cut scene dialogues I think, are beautiful really lovely. And I love it when she challenges if the player decide... I think there's one scene where the player decides to go with Minthara I think it is and then Minthara challenges that yeah. Lots of different lines that I love be hard to pick one but that sort of thing and...

Actually, oh I don't want to do any spoilers but if Minthara is Romancing Karlach, there's some beautiful dialogue in that which was really moving to play, and particularly around Karlach possibly dying that's all I'll say for anybody who has not played it yet. That's certainly a player driven decisions, deeper level of role playing and choice behind Baldur's Gate 3.

Q: What are your thoughts of the mini layers to what choices players could pick and the response you would be performing in reaction to player-driven decisions?

A: Oh my gosh repeat that last bit Jason

Q: Essentially there's many choices people can make, what are your thoughts on the branching choices that could pop up? You know, this decision here this decision there and how you would have to respond to that?

A: I love the huge range and option and diversity in the game. I think that's what people are really responding to. You can be anything, do anything you want to do in the game, and I believe that's quite revolutionary in this game, quite unique. I think that's why everybody's getting such a kick out of the game because there's so many options you know. Just Minthara for example, I know I'm very aware that people are going to very often not choose her to begin with, and then they can go back you know.

My nephew for example's played the game three times you know and each time he's chosen many different paths including Minthara now and so I think that's fantastic for people to have that option that it's not rigid. It's really fluid in terms of you know race, colour, creed gender options, dark, light whatever you know, whatever path you want to go down, there's a million options for you to choose. Is that what you meant by the question? Relatively specific then give me something more specific if you want me to further answer that.

Q: No, I think it about covers it and I think we covered this next one a little bit, but let's dive into it a little further.

So Minthara has a rather enchanting romance option with the character. What was it like to bring that connection to the player to life?

A: Beautiful, really amazing certainly for Minthara who you know because that's part of her journey of discovering who she is and what she needs, and how she feels about people, and discovering relationships. I don't think she's someone who you know she's had partnerships before, but I don't think it's someone that...

She's always used them for a purpose. And I think exploring being hurt if the player makes a decision to go with someone else or the player rejects her. It's really interesting to play those sorts of vulnerabilities and colours, really. I enjoyed that, because that was part of exploring her softer side… or brutal side, depending on what the reaction is from the player because she can be quite… you know, she can dump you.

She can challenge you as well. I like the fact that the characters challenge the player you know Minthara does Minthara says well you've rescued me why, why did you do that surely it would be better for you not to have an enemy in your party you know and so I think that's one of the great things about the game is, the game makes the player think and that's you know rather than just shoot it up or kill.

If you kill for no reason, you have characters like Minthara asking you why and I think that's really interesting.

Q: Some other performers from the game have been playing the game and attempting to romance themselves, have you given the game a whirl and have you or would you try to romance yourself?

A: I've seen some of the others doing that, it's really interesting, it's very funny. I've watched some of their live streams.

fun fact: there were screenshots of her commenting in Lae'zel's VA Devora Wilde's livestream where Devora was trying to and eventually getting Minthara's romance scene.

I haven't yet played it, I'm very much excited to do so which I will be doing in this new year. I don't know about... I've been asked whether I'll do it live, quite a lot of people want me to do that. I don't know yet, don't know whether I've got the confidence to do that, because everyone just seems so brilliant at it. And I probably really wouldn't be, but I've looked at a lot of the game, obviously, and I just think it looks so incredible, so I'm very, very excited to play it.

I think I would play myself yeah, I don't know if I'd romance myself, that would be weird, but I've seen a lot of the romance scenes anyway, so I'm not sure about that, but I would love... I'd definitely play, I'd definitely recruit Minthara yeah for sure and that would probably be my first playthrough actually going down the "bad route" in inverted commas.

So yeah, I'm definitely going to play it and I will play me, but I don't know if I would romance myself yes.

Q: We had an interview there with Lae'zel's performer Devora and she's like oh yeah, I romanced myself. She was very, very into it.

Q: What's it like to see your voice and movement attached to a game character?

A: Oh, it's amazing it's just amazing because obviously, we don't look anything like our characters it's really, I remember being so bold over when I first saw what Minthara looked like and in any of characters I've played in other games. But that's the wonderful thing about voice acting is, you know you can do it forever there's no time set on it is a real freedom as an actor.

You can play a million parts that you'd never play maybe on TV or film or theatre and yeah, seeing your voice attached to something very otherworldly is amazing.

I love how my voice works with Minthara and also our movement and our expressions and what Larian have taken, and the animators have taken the visual artists have taken from how they've seen us. Because when you're in the studio, they can see what you're doing obviously, your morph suit and it's funny to see some of our expressions or you know obviously as well as the map come into the character and how that affects the voice, and how they've put that onto the game.

Yeah, it's lovely, it's amazing to see. It's very exciting.

Q: Is this a character you'd like, Minthara, sequel, prequel; to return to down the road if possible?

A: Oh my gosh yeah definitely very, very much so. I adore her, and I adore her because I've been allowed with Adam and Sven and Larian to explore so many different layers of her as well as keeping within her aim, her goal which is ambition and revenge and all those things.

I think her story and the Menzoberranzan story, the Underdark all of that is extremely interesting so it would be amazing wouldn't it, Jason? Let's have Baldur's Gate 4 where we explore the Underdark. Yeah, I'd live with her forever if I could, you can almost do a Minthara prequel. For sure that would be amazing, yes. Explore her childhood all the way up and how she's got to where she is now, and then also be interesting to see what happens to her after Baldur's Gate 3, where she ends up. Does she survive or you know, who does she ally with and does she go back to Menzoberranzan and take over the Baenre because there's a lot of stuff there that's unresolved.

Q: Where do you stand on the whole evil aspect of "Is Minthara Evil ?"

A: Minthara... Well, she is an evil character. I mean there's just, you know, she's not going to, there's no, there's no redemption there, I don't think, although there is... because in the long run it's going to always be for her about ambition and drive and getting what she wants: power, being in control in her in her way...

Whatever that is, eventually, but along the way with that there are people that she will gather, and trust I think, and learn to trust more, but in terms of Baldur's Gate 3 the game there are lots of other characters who do lots of really nasty horrible things, so I feel sometimes... since the game was released and I've been sort of in all of this and watching everybody's response I also feel that...

You know the tiefling bit is not the only bad bit in the game.

There's lots of other stuff going down and lot of other people making big decisions about stuff, so I think, she's not the only bad character in it. You know I sometimes find it hard to sort of understand the difference in the game between you know good killing and bad killing. You know she she's very much in the bad killing bit, it's like, well killing is bad, so you know you got to have a bloody good reason for doing it oh sorry I swore Jason sorry.

I don't know, it's hard for me Jason, because I'm inside her as it were as the actor, so I don't see her as evil necessarily, but I understand that she is labelled that, yes. Because obviously what she does is brutal, and her background is brutal and she's not going to change.

So yeah, she is evil but one of the great things about the game is that it's not just black and white, that it's, you know there are layers. There are grey areas, there are reasons for things, and you're allowed to explore that in the game. And that's what makes the game so interesting.

Q: What are your thoughts on DnD and or other role-playing games in Thoughts on D&D & Roleplaying Games Genre general?

A: I love the world of DnD and I mean my only other, a long time ago, I used to sit around with friends of a weekend if we had nothing else to do, and we would spend an entire weekend playing Call of Cthulhu. I really loved call of Cthulhu very, very much and I loved that whole experience because it for me as an actor obviously, allowed me to just sit with some characters and get into taking them anywhere I wanted to, take them obviously with whatever the games master would allow obviously, but it just fires up your imagination. You could see the worlds blah blah blah what they're wearing where they're going how they look so I really, really love roleplaying I don't do enough of it, and I should do more... And Dungeons and Dragons is an extraordinary world and I see that too in in in other worlds.

I do a lot for Warhammer and the Warhammer worlds. When I go to do recordings for them at their base in Nottingham for Games Workshop, and I pass by the area where people are going to play the actual games on tables and stuff: the kingdoms and the characters and the and the models, and the things that people are creating and the love and devotion for that, is just beautiful because it is escapism, isn't it? It allows you to leave your own troubles behind for a bit and get into a world where you can do anything you want, and be anything you want, and do things that you wouldn't do in this world, you know and that's really interesting to me or be a god or be a wizard or be a saint, or Minthara or you know. It's beautiful I love it!

I love the imaginative escapism of it and the confidence that it gives people actually, Jason, because we've had... a lot of us actors have had a lot of fabulous response from people who've got so much out of Baldur's Gate 3, where it's allowed them to express who they are to maybe in this world express who they are. It's given them a confidence to do so to be who they really are in real life and be okay with it. And that's beautiful that they identify with our characters to give them confidence.

Q: And that leads very well to my next question because I was going to ask what are other characters of viewers might know you from, and with that as you just mentioned, I understand you're fairly well-known Warhammer wise would you care to give us a taste of that in action?

A: What do you mean you mean...

Q: Perform a bit of it just a little line or something?

A: No, no there's enough out there for people to go and explore no I love I love all of those all of those characters all of those worlds and I love all the characters I've played I appreciate the fact that I've been involved with Larian before in Divinity: Original Sin one and two.

So, I've played everything for them from Minthara to talking chickens to Bears to wizards to all sorts of different to princesses or whatever to, you know, yeah that's great and Harry Potter and Star Wars and all those wonderful games that I've been involved in. I'm just really, I really love it I just love the imaginative creativity of it and yeah Warhammer! Very fortunate to be a battle sister or Celestine the living Saint, yes all of those big characters that I've played which people can go and explore in their own time, don't need me to do any of that right now.

Q: I guess that doesn't farewell for my next note where I'm like "would you mind giving the audience a brief line or "Taste of Minthara", taste of Minthara in action?"

A: [Using her Minthara voice] Jason why are you asking me to do lines there is enough in the game, Jason. You don't need me to sit here and recite more. [/end]

There you go, that took you by surprise!

Jason: Perfect, yeah you got me there. You really did.

Q: Okay and for my final question. I always like to leave a spot for you to say anything or go over anything I might have missed during the interview anything you want to pitch or whatnot, that you're working on?

A: Don't need to pitch anything, working on a lot of things but can't say what they are. This is often the way with things, but I'd just like to thank everybody again for the amazing response to this to this game and to Minthara, and to ask personally, as actors it's been extraordinary. The support has been extraordinary and I'm really, really grateful. I'm really grateful and also everybody supporting all of our other work that we've done in the past, you know before Baldur's Gate 3 and obviously in the future and yeah keep listening keep playing, and we'll hopefully, we'll and also all the people I've met at conventions and stuff like that just fantastic really beautiful the love that people are showing so yeah let's keep on doing that been really great thank you./.

Note: Gods. This took longer than I expected it to. Btw every time she said Jason (the interviewer's name) my mind just autocompletes to Jason Derulo.

[apomaro-mellow]

King&Prince 2

As was well known, King Edward did have control over many creatures and beasts. Some he used to perform the most subtle of espionage. Such as the pure black raven that had traveled from the land of the Harringtons back to him, perching itself on his arm.

"And what news do you have for us?" He nodded and hummed along as the bird whispered into his ear, grinning as it got better.

"What's going on, Eddie?", Jeff asked. Their game of chess had been interrupted.

"They're shipping off their son. Get your men ready. The little prince is going to take a detour."

---------------------

While Steve's escort party traveled north, the path took them a little west, which put everyone on edge. It was already starting to feel colder and it had little to do with the change in latitude. Every sound in the distance had the potential to a petal-faced beast. Something that would tear into their flesh while they screamed for mercy. They were about two days into the journey now.

Steve was keeping himself entertained by humming songs to himself and looking out the window when he saw a strange shadow in the trees. His eyes narrowed and just when he thought to find it odd, he heard shouts from the men and his carriage suddenly stopped. Bandits, most likely. It could be a monster but Steve heard no snarls.

He knew he was expected to stay inside and let the guards handle it. That was their job. But they could end this quickly by either just giving them what they wanted (his parents could afford it) or by having more men to fight them off. Either way, Steve couldn't just sit here while people were fighting.

He opened up the door and drew his sword, ready to take anyone on.

"Eyes on the prince!", someone shouted.

"Someone grab him!"

Steve elbowed the first one that tried right in the face and slashed towards the next one, their swords clanging together as they parried back and forth. While he kept that one at bay, Steve tried to take in the situation. No bodies on the ground yet, so no one was dead. These men didn't cover their faces in masks. So they weren't bandits. Then Steve saw a clear emblem on one of them.

It couldn't be.

"Just come with us nicely, Your Highness", the man he was currently fighting said, quite politely honestly.

"You've got manners for a mercenary", Steve grunted. "Your name?"

"Jeffery Kinsey. Not a mercenary, a knight."

"My apologies", Steve said as he pushed him off and got some distance between them. "I'm just not used to knights ambushing a traveling party."

"Oh? How about a village of innocent people?"

"You-"

"Stop chatting like it's a tea party!", a woman attacked Steve now, her sword quick and her attacks fatal if they were to hit. She was really trying to kill him.

That knocked some sense into Jeff and he started to get serious as well. Steve was no slouch but two on one was enough to overwhelm anybody, especially in a situation this disorienting. Clearly they were from the enemy kingdom and this ambush had been planned. But how did they know? What was their aim?

While he was trying to figure this out and fight the two of them back, he felt a hard blow to his head. He heard them continue to talk as he blacked out. Something about a big wheel? Getting all the credit? But a robin got the last hit? Had he been attacked by a bird in the end? All he knew was that he felt a deep sense of dread as hands touched his body while he lost consciousness.

--------------------------

The first thing he noted was the cold. He felt it down to his fingertips. Then, the hardness of stone. Steve sat up and opened his eyes but that didn't help much with how dark it was. There was a small bit of light coming from a torch that was lit from farther down, allowing him to see some of his walls. He reached out and felt the bars of a cell.

"Shit", he hissed quietly.

Then he heard a chuckle in the blackness. Steve froze. He wasn't alone. He moved away from the bars just as another torch suddenly lit up, revealing the silhouette of someone sitting just on the other side of the cell bars.

"Welcome to my home, Your Highness." His legs were crossed in his chair. He reached behind himself to grab the torch off the wall and now that the light had moved, Steve could see his face.

"You...You're..." Steve had seen his visage on tapestries, walls, illustrations in books. He had the long, curly hair, the pale skin. But he was missing a few things. "Where are your horns?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your horns? And your fangs and claws? And aren't you supposed to be bigger?" Even though he asked this, Steve kept his distance from the bars.

His question was met with raucous laughter. Even a knee slap. And wiping a tear from his eye as his laughing slowed.

"Didn't they teach you about aaall my different forms?"

"I know you can shape shift. I just never imagined you would...I just thought you'd choose to always look intimidating. Not like", Steve gestured to him. "This."

"Oh. Ouch. My pride. The little prince doesn't find me at all scary. And after I went through all the trouble of waiting in the dark to surprise you. How'd you like my welcoming party?"

So this really was the king. And he had Steve trapped. Miles from home with currently no hope for any rescue. He crossed his arms, trying to look defiant, but really just trying to keep himself warm.

"What exactly do you aim to do with me?"

"Oh it's all so very easy. I'll send a message to dear old dad, telling him I've got his precious heir. He'll either promise to stop disturbing my people and their lands, or he'll declare war. I'm ready for either."

He didn't relish the idea of war. But at this point...If that fool of a man kept on trespassing and hurting his people, then there was no other choice.

Steve let out a breath and leaned back against the wall, then came off it when he felt the cold bleed through his clothing. "So I'm a hostage for ransom?"

"In essence, yes." The king stood up and Steve saw that they were pretty much the same height. From all the stories, he thought he would be much taller. More monstrous and ugly, the kind of visage that would strike fear in all who saw it.

But he just saw a man.

"Someone will be down eventually to feed you. I suspect we won't be seeing each other again until the hand off. Ta-ta."

Steve watched him leave and waited until his footsteps faded away before sinking down to the floor. There was a cot off to the side that had seen better days. No windows to speak off. And no hope of getting out unless he suddenly developed super strength. He pulled his knees up to his chest. He imagined his father getting a letter about his capture. It was hard for him to imagine any worry, but surely he wouldn't be slow to get Steve back?

After all was said and done, he was still the prince. He wouldn't just be abandoned here. He had to believe that. He had to.

Above the dungeon level, Eddie met back up with some of his most trusted friends to debrief and prepare for the next stage. In his study there was Jeff, a long time friend and knight. Along with him was Nancy, originally a scholar but she had changed paths to warrior a couple of years ago. There were others he considered to be part of his inner circle, but they were all tending to some minor injuries or other business.

"Do you really think King Alric will avoid a war?", Nancy asked. "He's all but declared it."

"He's a king and kings avoid wars unless they know they can win", Eddie said. At least a smart one would. "Just our population of demobats outnumber their soldiers. Forget if we send anything else. Alric will ask for his son back, and we'll return to that oh-so-sweet tenuous peace for about another twenty years before little Stephen gets it in his head about attacking our lands."

Eddie fiddled with a quill as he slowly walked the room. "Such is the cycle I and the Harringtons have been in for years." He sat behind his desk and crossed his legs at the ankles while resting them on the top. "Now help me pen a letter that's just the riiight amount of condescending."

Part 4

Tag Team

[tendaysofrain]

“How Often Does Such a Bright Moon Come Around?” (水調歌頭 · 明月幾時有) Translation

(Another year, another Mid-Autumn Festival, another poem translation. This particular poem is very famous because of the first and last lines, which are frequently referenced in popular culture. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!)

How often does such a bright moon come around?

By Su Shi (Song dynasty, 1076 AD)

Mid-Autumn of the year Bingchen (2), drank all night in celebration, became heavily inebriated.  Composed this poem to commemorate this occasion, and in dedication to Ziyou (3). (4)

How often does such a bright moon come around?  With wine in hand, I ask the heavens.

Wondering what year it is for this day in heaven (5), in the palace high above.

Wishing to ascend on the wind, yet I cannot stand the chilly air around those lofty towers of jade.

Dancing and amused at my own crisp shadow, the frigid heavens surely cannot compare to the mortal realm below.

Rounding the vermilion building, hanging low near the intricate windows, the moon casts light over the sleepless (6).

The moon should not feel bitter jealousy, so why is it only full on parting?

Humans feel grief and joy, partings and reunions, just as the moon waxes and wanes.

For both of these heartening things (7) to happen together is very rare indeed.

May we be blessed with longevity, so that even when thousands of li (8) apart, we can still gaze upon this wonderful moon together.

—————————-

Notes:

This poem is in the Ci/词 format, and follows the rhyme scheme (Cipai/词牌) called Shuidiaogetou/水調歌頭/水调歌头.

Bingchen/丙辰 is a year in the Chinese Sexagenary Cycle, which is known in Chinese as Tiangandizhi/天干地支 ("Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches") or simply Ganzhi/干支 ("Stems and Branches"), and is used to record time. This system has been in use since at least the Shang dynasty around 3000 years ago (oracle bone artifact bearing inscriptions of ganzhi has been found at Yinxu/殷墟, the archaeological site of the ancient capital of Shang dynasty; however, during Shang dynasty the Ganzhi system was used to track days and not years, unlike how it has been used in later times). Because there are 60 years in one cycle, it is possible to trace back to specific years. In this case, Bingchen would be exactly 1076 AD.

Ziyou/子由 is the courtesy name of Su Shi's brother, Su Zhe/蘇轍.

This section is a short introduction to the poem, which begins after this section.

This may be a reference to the concept that "a day in heaven is a year on earth" ("天上一天，地上一年"; famously included in Journey to the West), which in turn is a reference to the ecliptic plane (called Huangdao/黄道 in Chinese), since for an observer on Earth, the Sun appears to move in an elliptical path throughout the year. This means that it takes a year (i.e. "a year on earth") for the Sun to "complete" one round in this elliptical path (i.e. "a day in heaven").

Here, "the sleepless" is a reference to the poet himself.

"Both of these heartening things" refers to reunion with family and/or friend, and the occurence of a full moon.

Li/里 is a traditional unit of distance. During Su Shi's time (Northern Song dynasty, 960 AD - 1279 AD), 1 Li ≈ 576 meters = 0.576 km or 0.36 miles (Note: link leads to pdf).

—————————-

Original Text (Traditional Chinese):

《 水調歌頭 (1) · 明月幾時有 》

[宋] 蘇軾

丙辰中秋，歡飲達旦，大醉，作此篇，兼懷子由。

明月幾時有？把酒問青天。不知天上宮闕，今夕是何年。 我欲乘風歸去，惟恐瓊樓玉宇，高處不勝寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人間。

轉朱閣，低綺戶，照無眠。不應有恨，何事長向別時圓？ 人有悲歡離合，月有陰晴圓缺，此事古難全。但願人長久，千里共嬋娟。

[cheesemonky]

Chapter 3: And The Journey Begins

pairing: fairy!felix x fairy!reader

Series Masterlist

Word count: 1.5k

summary: A fairy gets their wings once they're 13. A normal one at least. You're 23, and still without any. This leaves you without a mate, because who would love a wingless fairy? So when you decide to leave, it's quite the surprise to find a fairy with a wing missing…

warnings: reader has a swearing problem lmao, FUNKY LITTLE CAMEO FROM ANOTHER AUSSIE :3, felix is a cutie NOT PROOFREAD

“You heard me. I’m coming with you.”

“Didn’t you say the exact opposite last night?”

“... I mean yeah, but I can change my mind if I want to.” He couldn’t tell if you were kidding. Even you couldn’t believe what you were agreeing to. You had thought

“In that case… sure! You can come.” It surprised you a little with how easily accepting he was of your change of mind.

"But just a warning. This journey won't be easy. I’ve lived in the Bush for long enough to know. Are you sure you're ready for it?" He nodded his head confidently, smiling at you before speaking up. It scared you that he knew more about where the two of you were going, yet had no idea how to handle himself in the Bush.

"I would walk my way through the gates of hell to get my wing back. I'm not about to let anything stop me now." Your heart melted slightly by his brave and determined outlook. It was quite obvious that he probably couldn’t handle anything of that degree, but the enthusiasm was not unwelcome. Not to mention his beautiful smile. And those eyes! That bright and lively spark in them...

"Alright then. Let's get going."

“Let’s just hope that we don't get lost on the way.” You teased with a dry chuckle, but he laughed along with you. You couldn't help but think that he was just so adorable when he laughed.

“I really appreciate you coming with me. Just so you know.” His eyes were fixed on your face, and you almost felt a blush creeping up your cheeks. Almost.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever… I’m only doing it for myself anyway.”

"That's a funny way of saying that I'm so gorgeous, that you couldn't help but come with me." You couldn't help it. His teasing made you want to tease right back. It also made part of you want to tear him apart, but that doesn’t have any value to your conversation, so you keep that hidden.

"Just don't come crying to me when you miss your mom or get a splinter." You said, trying to hold back your grin. Now that you were both on the same page, getting along proved to be much easier. His warm presence made it so easy to talk to him.

"Let's get going, yeah? Which direction are we going in?"

"Well actually, in the story, it says that you have to collect the clues to get the key, which unlocks the door to The Heart of Eris." Right, because that's what happens in stories.

"So where's the first location?"

"Uhh, which way is Glebe?"

"East."

"So that means we go West."

"And where does that lead us?"

"A nice little fairy neighbourhood. Much smaller than our villages."

"Sure. I'll lead us West then." And finally the journey began. As you ventured into the unknown, the atmosphere between you and your unexpected companion remained surprisingly light-hearted. The landscape around you transformed as you headed west, entering the deeper areas of the outback. The scenery gradually shifted, and you found yourselves walking through dried paths. The air was filled with the sounds of nature, and the warmth of the sun peeked through the leaves overhead. As you continued your journey westward, the landscape became more rugged, the vegetation sparse and tough, adapted to the harsh conditions. The sun beat down relentlessly, casting long shadows across the dusty trail.

"So, any idea what we're looking for in this fairy neighbourhood?" you asked, breaking the silence that had settled between you as you walked. He scratched his head thoughtfully.

"Well, according to the story, the first clue should be hidden somewhere ‘among those people who wander the night, and they live off no sunlight’, whatever that means.”

“...huh?”

“Yeah, I don’t know either… welp, we’ll just figure it out when we get there.” You weren’t sure what scared you more. The fact that he didn’t even know what you were meant to be looking for, or that he doesn’t seem to mind. You probably should have considered this a bit further. But it's too late now. Plus, you don't exactly want to go back and leave his cute face to die. 

As you continued to walk, the landscape began to change yet again. The terrain became less harsh, and signs of life started to appear. Small patches of vibrant greenery dotted the landscape, and the air felt cooler as you approached what seemed like a small fairy neighbourhood, just like he said. You finally arrived at the outskirts of the quaint town and it was indeed much smaller than your villages, with little cottages nestled among the trees. The air was filled with the delicate fragrance of flowers, and the sound of laughter and chatter drifted through the air.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Felix looked around in awe of the place. Such a small place, yet the beauty the landscape held was immense.

"Yeah, it is... we should find somewhere to stay, like an inn." You suggested, and he turned back to face you, a determined smile painting his face. But as you searched, there was one thing you guys didn't account for.

"So you're telling me... that you're a fairy... without wings?" The receptionist questioned, unbelieving of your story. "And this fella here had one of his taken?"

"Look ma'am, I know it sounds unbelievable, but I swear to you, it's true."

"Uh, yeah right. I'll let you stay once you stop lying. Unless you aren't a fairy at all. Then I can't let you in." The frustration became evident on your face and you clenched your fist to stop yourself from punching something or someone. Before you could reply, Felix stepped in to talk for you.

"I'm sorry, but we're doing something *really* important, and we need somewhere to stay a few nights."

"I know, and I'm saying, I can't let you stay. She for sure is not a fairy, and you're missing your wing. You could be dangerous creatures for all I know." God, this lady was insufferable. A sudden boost of confidence led you to step in front of Felix and lean over the counter to talk some sense into this woman. At least, that's what you were meant to do.

"Listen here, you little shit, my friend and I have been through a lot, probably more than a measly receptionist, and you fucking around doesn't help. Honestly, people like you are such cunts, like let us the fuck in you son of a bi-"

And before you knew it, both your asses were on the floor outside the inn.

"Stay out, pests." The gruff voice came from behind you and the door slammed in your face.

"Nice going, Y/N."

"Whatever, this place was shit anyways..." You mumbled under your breath. You were the one messing up now, and you weren't sure you liked it. Usually, you didn't pay mind to others' disappointment, but Felix was different. He sighed deeply, getting up and dusting himself off.

"It's okay, we'll try somewhere else." Unfortunately, you soon realised that everywhere you tried would give the same reaction. For hours the two of you went around everywhere, to every inn, pub, even a farmstead! But your efforts were to no avail. The two of you walked the streets in silence, both in deep thought as to what to do next.

"I mean, you still have your stuff, we can set up a little sleeping place outside the town."

"There is literally one blanket and I'm not sharing it with you. And we're not alternating either, there's no danger here."

"... they could try and kill us in our sleep, but whatever I guess..."

"We wouldn't kill you!" Felix let out a small noise at the sudden voice, and you snapped your head to look at the source. It was a young man, seemingly around both your age, his black hair framing his face perfectly. His smile was cheshire, and his eyes held a sense of mischievousness.

"Uh, thanks..? Who are you though..?"

"I'm Jake! I've been away for a while, but the people here are nice enough not to kill you!"

“That’s… great?” He smiled wider this time, holding his hand out for either of you to take. Felix, being the friendly man he is, takes it without hesitation, shaking it vigorously.

“Can you please help us? We need somewhere to stay.”

“I mean… I could let you stay at our holiday house, but I’m not sure if my friends would be okay with that-”

“Please?”

“... Okay fine. But if they don’t like you, that’s not my fault~!” 

“Yes, let’s go!” Your surprise knew no bounds. How and why was Felix so quick to trust?

“Felix, wait-” You grabbed his arm, and pulled yourself up to reach his ear. “This might be dangerous.” You whispered, keeping a close eye on Jake.

“Do you have any other ideas? Because I don’t” You held your breath, trying to find a reason to make him stay. Oh, how stupid you must’ve looked. Rejecting a kind (but strange) offer of help when that’s what you’ve been looking for.

“We don’t bite, I promise you~” One last time, you took a good look at Jake. He didn’t seem to impose any threat and his offer seemed genuine.

“Fine. But I swear to god, if you pull some weird ass shit-”

“Chill, chill, hahahaha~ you’re in good hands.”

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leisel's note: i'm not dead!! just busy with uni and stuff :3 almost at 100 followers, so exciting!! im debuting a new blog at 100, so stay tuned ( ´ ▽ ` ) once again, reblogs are always appreciated, even if they're small 💗

[plump-lips-imagine]

Wisteria And Monkey Fur (Journey to the West Au)

(Yes, it's demon slayer inspired. Don't look at me. Just read.This was plaguing my mind for a while.)

You walk along the lone path, your journey to nowhere starting again as the residents from the village you are leaving from,waving goodbye, sending you are on your way. Some had sad looks on their faces, some wore a look of gratefulness, some with worry, and a few even prayed as you left, hoping luck will always be with you. 

You smile back at the villagers and waved back as you continue on your journey, gifts of food and clothing nicely set in your bag. You couldn’t stay long, as your work never allowed it. 

Why, you may ask? 

Well, Dear. It’s because you are a Demon Slayer.

You happened upon this Village when it was being terrorized by a Bear Demon. The smell of blood and distress still lingered on your nose when you first arrived. You came just in time before the Demon could eat any more innocent lives. Fighting it made you break a leg in the process but the villagers let you rest and recover for saving their lives and were then happy to aid you in the way they could. But after you were healed, they had to watch you go as you had more lives to protect on your journey.

You had already swore an oath to save and protect humans from demons, but there was a special mission you were currently on. 

During the time that you were in recovery, you had a peculiar dream that felt too real to distinguish from reality.

The dream was peaceful. You felt calm and serene as you were supposedly sitting above the never ending pool of clear water as being on a Beautiful Lotus Plant sat across from you, beaming with light and radiance. It made the feeling of  confusion or anxiety leave your body as you realized who it was. It was Guanyin, Bodhisattva of Mercy and Compassion.

As you bowed your head in respect, She smiled gently and told you she had a task for you to do. She requested that you aid her by helping a monk and his disciples to go West to retrieve sacred scrolls. She saw something in you that made you perfect for the job, and she promised a reward for helping her aid in such a voyage. A reward that you made you jump in the opportunity  to become part of the Journey.

So here you were. Traveling to find the Pilgrims and aid in their Journey. 

The Problem  however was that you didn’t know exactly where to find them. Let alone catch up with them. Guanyin didn’t really give you clear instructions. She just smile and said:

‘Worry not, young one. The Path to them will not be hard.You will find them. Trust the Path you walk along.’

You heeded her words but still can’t fight the doubt in your mind. It’s not like you don’t trust her or anything, but-

“Where do I even start?” You ask yourself quietly. A few minutes quickly turn into a few hours and a few hours turn into a few days. The Search continues forth.

‘Am I doing this right? I probably should have asked for a hint before walking so aimlessly.’ Sweat trickled down your head as your mind began to race. ‘Now that I think about it. I don’t even know what to look for! I forgot to ask?! I can’t expect them to just appear out of nowhere and tell me everything I need to know?! Do they even know I’m coming!?’

Your body stopped as an aura of Gloom surrounds your body, eyes staring at the ground with a look of exasperation and comical dread. “I think I’m lost…Am I a moron?”

Nothing but the silence of the wind answers your question. A weak chuckle was all you could do.  

Your thoughts were interrupted by a familiar scent. The air around you became repulsive , smelling of rotten meat and decay. It could only mean one thing. A demon was nearby. 

You straighten yourself up and ready your blade. You run quickly and follow the scent, pulling your mask down to your face as you run into an unpredictable battle.

***

A certain Buddhist monk laid in a cave, tied up and bound as his eyes held distress for his current situation. He had been kidnapped while his disciples were distracted and the demons were eager to devour him to obtain the power of immortality. Cackles were heard in a different part of the dark cave as Tripitaka pondered if he would be saved in time.

He silently prays for his rescue, becoming more unaware of his surroundings. He didn’t even hear the footsteps of a swordsman coming to his rescue.

A shadow loomed over him,  the light sudden change causing the monk to open his eyes. It was no demon, nor was it any of his colleagues to his rescue. 

It was a human. Or at least he thinks they’re human. It was hard to tell because their face was covered up. He was staring at a mask that resembled that of a fox. It held a small painting of a blue lotus on its forehead, while the rest of the mask had a long scar-like shape run across it. The beaded eyes of the mask caused Tripitaka to flinch in place. This was not what he expected.

“H-”

The swordsman quickly held a hand up their mask, silently shushing him. They looked around and came closer to the monk. It made the monk both curious and afraid, not knowing this new person’s motive.

“Be still, and don’t say anything. I’m here to help. We must go before they come back.” They began to untie the knots that held tightly on the monk.The cool yet comforting voice of the stranger made Tripitaka ease up. As naive as it may be, he felt like he could trust this person.

Before the restraints could be undone, a spear suddenly came honing towards them. The Swordsman quickly picked the monk up in there arms and swiftly got the way as a crater was formed from the attack. The attack came from none other than the two giant demons that took shelter in the cave to eat the poor monk.

“What Lowly creature dares to take what is rightfully ours?” One Demon snarled. The Swordsman just stared at them while the monk stared wide-eyed at the large demons.

“I’m simply returning him to where he belongs. You will not be dining on anything tonight. Let us leave or I’ll have no choice but to kill you.” They State calmly to the Demons, as they began to howl with laughter at the claims of such a small human.

“As if a weak human girl could even lay a hand on us. Maybe you will make a nice pet. Or perhaps an even better appetizer.”

‘Girl?’ Tripitaka looks up at the masked woman in shock. More shock at the fact that not only had she carried him with such ease, but she also stood with confidence at the demons. Like a certain disciple of his.

“...Very Well. You Leave me no choice.” She placed the Monk down behind her and unsheathed her sword that was enveloped in black.

“Wait, MIss! This is absolutely dangerous. Are you absolutely sure you know what you’re doing?”

She didn’t look back at him, her eyes only focused on the demons that prepared their own spears at her. “Don’t worry. It’ll be Okay. Get to a safe distance and guard yourself.”

He did as he was told, but still stared at her with worry. But this worry soon turned into disbelief as one of demon attempted to Spear through her body, but the sharp weapon only met the ground as a blur was only seen as the the sickening sound of a swift slice through bone was heard, the hand of the demon that held the weapon now laid on the ground, separate from its host, blood splattered going everywhere. The demon screamed in pain, holding where it used to be its hand in pain, Anger flashed in his eyes as he  raised a fist to the girl. 

“You BITCH!!” He punched at the ground where she stood, But she was faster. She went up the arm of the giant demon and raised her sword. She took a Deep Breath.

“Water Breathing:First Form…”  Water began to form from the sword. The black blade now engulfed in the waves, ready to hit its target. “Water Surface Slash!” 

The Blade hits its target's neck, swiftly decapitating the demon in one slash, ending its life. His body goes down with a sickening thud, the ground jumping up at the impact.

The monk watched in pure disbelief from a distance. No thoughts were able to form at the scene before him.

A low growl broke his trance as the other demon loomed over her. Violence feeling their eyes as their boy began to morph. Two more arms formed from the body, as more weapons appeared in the demon's hands.

“I should’ve known that a demon slayer appeared before us. You insolent human!! I will avenge my brother and tear the skin from your body!!” Flurries of Spears of swords came down your way, the demon making more weapons appear as you swiftly leaped out of harm's way, imitating that of a dance, moving as swift as the waves of shore. But the weapons did not stop coming even as you danced away from the attacks.  Sweat began to form as on your brown as the attacks didn’t let up. A spear grazed your arm, blood began to seep out of the Haori uniform. Tripitaka's body filled with panic at the injury while the demon held a wicked grin on its face

“This is your end. I’ll mount that fox mask as a trophy!”

You said nothing as your breath became still. The thread became  clear as everything felt still. Water formed around you, your blade raised up. 

“Water breathing.Third Form: Flowing Dance.” A flurry of water began to form as the water around the demon became ribbon liked. The flow of water dances beautifully, that demon distracted by graceful flow. The  Demon couldn’t react fast as you not only chopped off the 4 arms it bared, but also the head on its body. Its eyes widened at how sudden it was defeated, its body disintegrating alongside its brother. With its vision blurry, it saw how the demon slayer came to its body slowly before it stopped at its head. With its last strength in its body, it could only glare at her, thinking that the girl came to gloat and stand in triumph over it.

The Demon slayer only lifted the mask of its face and the demon could see what they truly looked like. There was a deep scar that ran across the girl’s face .The slayer's eyes held that of gloom for the demon as compassion was shone in their eyes.  The demon slayer then brought their hand to the temple of its head and closed their eyes, kneeling in front of it. As the head was the last to disintegrate, it heard the words of the demon slayer, in such a soft spoken way.

“Whoever hears me, Please let them be reborn as humans in their next life.” A silent prayer for the demon is heard. Before the head disintegrated into nothing, its eyes let out a few tears before disappearing.

The Monk that stared at the Slayer could only stare as he was mixed with bewilderment and relief. He was saved, and it was thanks to the compassion and bravery of the swordsman.

When She made her way to him, she swiftly cut the ropes of his body, freeing him finally, his silk and fancy monk robe became more visible to her as he shone brightly.

***

“Thank You Miss! I'm forever grateful. You have saved my life.”  The Monk before you smiled warmly at you, making you fidget in place. The mask you wore wasn’t on your face and you honestly felt a little embarrassed by this praise. It did swell your heart with joy, but when your face was exposed, it  made you feel a bit…vulnerable.

“It-it’s no problem,really. I’m just doing my job.” You cleared your voice to save face. “Now, Are you alright, Sir? Any Scars that were cast upon you? Do you know where your home is? I’ll make Sure to bring you there.”

“No, Miss. I am fine, really. You saved me just in time.” The monk answered you frantically, surprised by the sudden questions heading towards him. “If I am to be honest with you, I am more worried about you.That Demon seems to have gotten you on your arm? Are you going to be okay?” He says looking worried at you, the large gash on your arm still oozing blood.  But you thought nothing of it.

“Trust me, I’ll be fine. I’ll be better once we get you out of here.” You said matter of factly. You then promptly carried Tripitaka in your arms again, surprising him.

“Wait, Miss. I can walk. There’s no need to-”

“I know but I’m not taking any chances. There’s no telling if there’s another demon ahead. Besides, It’ll be quicker this way. Trust me.”

The Monk could only look at you confused. 

“How will it be faster for you,Miss?” If anything, it would most likely be sower this way, especially at such high altitudes in the mountains.

You pull down your mask and walk towards the entrance of the cave. 

“You’ll see, don’t worry. Just tell me the direction I need to go and I'll take you there.” Your voice went back to being cool as you stared forward at the open space of land.

Although doubt was still in him, Tripitaka compiled. “Well, I’m actually traveling towards the West, me and my disciples on journeying there. They are probably looking for me.”

“Got it.” There were mixtures of scents on the monk that were not his. But the one that stood out was that of a horse. If you were to get close enough, then you would find them. 

“You may want to hold on tight. Trust me on this.” The monk did as he was told as you began to run. The speed that you were going already made the monk hold on tighter to your body. And you seemed to be getting even faster.

“Total Concentration…” You whispered to yourself. The legs go into inhuman speed. Water can be heard from behind as The monk could only hold on for dear life,The slayer leaving waves in her path.

***

We now follow three pilgrims as they travel to find their kidnapped master. A Monkey sage  wears a look of frustration, A pig demon wears one of exhaustion, while a river demon wears one of worry.

As much as they have now gotten ‘used’ to their master being kidnapped, it still didn’t make it any less tedious. Especially for The Demon Monkey that always had to go rescue him.

“Unbelievable! Way to go,pig. You are the worst.Bodyguard.Ever!!” Wukong shouts at Zhu Bajie, while the Pig demon snorts at him with a gruff voice.

“Me!? Well maybe if you weren’t taking your sweet time gathering up food, I wouldn’t have fallen asleep! Some Great Sage!”

“I swear, once we find Baldy, I’m gonna-”

“Brothers, be calm!None of this will help us find Master anytime soon.”

The three continue until Monkey spotted something peculiar in his vision. He saw a figure traveling at full speed, if it was anyone else, they probably would have seen a blur, but his eye could see that it was a person, or perhaps thing: that was carrying their master in their arms a the Monk look petrified. The figure had a weird aura as their fox mask covered their face, and the clothes on their back was covered in blood.

It was hard to tell if it was a demon or not, but the Monkey knew only one thing. His Master was in trouble. This gave him enough reason to pull his staff out of his ear.

***

You could smell the fear of the monk that you were currently holding. But you couldn’t really blame him as you were going at max speed. 

‘Maybe I should try to slow down a bit. Regular people aren't used to these movements. Plus,the scent is getting Heavier. That must mean I’m near. Hopefully they’ll be able to spot-’

You abruptly stop your train of thought, stopped in your tracks while holding the monk tightly as you jump back. A heavy thud is heard as staff meets ground, leaving behind a giant grater as the ground shakes at the impact. Only rubble hit you as you stared at the monk that began to cough at the debris.

“Are you alright,Sir?”

“I’m fine, but-”

“Unhand my Master, Stranger!” 

You look up at the sky and you see what appears to be a Monkey. Well, more of a humanoid version of one as it wore a silk robe and a tiger kilt. His red and golden eyes pierced at you, coming closer to you as you gave the monk you were holding a look.

“Is this one of your disciples?” 

“Yes, he is.” He gave an  apologetic look before he yelled up at the Monkey. “ What, Wukong! This is just a misunderstanding. They actually-”

You set the Monk back down as you jump again to get away as The Sage saw an opportunity to strike you. 

“Stand Still, demon!”

You only moved away as a flurry of attacks came your way. You couldn’t attack him like you would usually as this was a disciple of the monk. You had to think of a creative way to pacify him. 

Tripitaka looks at the one sided battle between you and Wukong. He would have to do something. He quietly began to chant quietly as the circlet that was around Sun Wukong's head began to tighten, but it was only enough force to make him stop to grab his head in pain.

You saw the opening and took off your mask. You jumped up at him, Sun wukong saw your face and raised his eyebrow confused. 

‘A Human Girl?’

“Calm.DOWN!!” 

Without Warning, you take your head and bash it against the Demon Monkey. The Impact is loud as the thud is heard between the collision that happened. A Small Crack was Heard but there was no telling who’s skull it came from as both of you jumped back.

…

Both of you only stared at each other, making it a pseudo showdown. The rest of the pilgrims stare in disbelief at the display, expecting you to fall, but it looks like a close one. Blood began to seep out of both of your heads, the look of discomfort present in both your bodies. However, your eyes roll in the back of your head as you fall down, getting knocked unconscious.

The Monkey King wanted to grin in triumph, but as his vision blurred, he too also went down not long after, getting knocked unconscious as well.

The Group could only see the two. Nothing was said  at the display that was just shown on them, while they laid unconscious on the ground.

***

“Ah! So you’re the legendary monk on the Journey To The West! Tripitaka, was it?” You asked with looks of wonder in your eyes.

It was nightfall and they had set up camp. Sun Wukong and the girl were bandaged up as the group settled down. The former had a peeved look on his face, glaring at the girl that caused the bump to form on his head, while the former held a look of amazement at the group, not caring about her current condition.

“That’s right, Miss. We’re on a journey to pick up some sacred scrolls and bring them back to the East. It…Hasn’t been an easy journey as you can see.” He sighed, taken aback at how so much has happened in one day.

You nod your head at his words. “Doesn’t look like it. Such an Important task seems like such a great feat. Doesn't it help that you seem to attract demons…also traveling with them?” You tilt your head in confusion.

Tripitaka smiled  sheepishly. Yes, to normal bystanders, it would be questionable to have such strange company around him. It was always a chore to explain to people. 

“Do not worry ,Miss. They will not harm any human in their path. They are also monks on this journey too.”

You stare for a moment before smiling at him too. “Well, if they're with you, then I suppose you're right!” 

It felt right to trust the monk. Now that you think about it, It was easy to talk with him. Something about him and his crew made the gears in your head turn as you felt you were forgetting something.

Something…important..

You get up from your sitting position.

“You're the ones Guanyin Wanted me to find!” You pointed at the group that shared the same face of bewilderment as you pointed at the group. Wukong squinted his eyes at you, itching to grab his stuff if you pulled any funny business.

“Guanyin?” 

“You know, Calming presence, Lotus Flower, Bodhisattva of Mercy and compassion-”

“Yes, I know her. But, She has also talked to you as well?”

“Well, it’s more like she appeared in my dreams. She asked me to aid you in your journey and help you get to your goal! No wonder he didn���t tell me where you would be, you were already on my path this entire time!”

‘I can’t believe I almost forgot such important information.’ You silently scream at how useless your brain could be some time but still save face.

You cough in your sleeve and  straighten up to bow at the Group.

“Let me formally introduce myself. I am (Y/N) (L/N). I am happy to help you on your journey.”

The group gave each other looks that were hard to read. This was much more interesting than they thought.

(I typed this out for a two days. lol. I decided to enter this monkey hell in my own creative way. I thought it would be interesting if the reader knew how to fight. And I love demon slayer so...yeah.)

[talonabraxas]

Ehecatl : God of Winds

Ehecatl: Ignite your Passion

Ehecatl-Quetzalcoal (Ehecat) is the Aztec God of invisibility and intangibility who oversees the mysteries of passion and love.

In order to fully understand adult love one must experience loss in a personal manner. This takes place at all levels in our life. Last week the day Winds of Spirit arrived by UPS, I experienced a few losses as well: the front gates which house my former Healing Arts Center were stolen; my boss who provided the space to write the book took a new job at another company; and a tenant is leaving. Winds seek balance, and intensity will always swing towards disappointment or lethargy, then back again.

Seeds of passion sometimes grow in the ashes of disappointment, and later blossom into fragrant spring lilies. Like the wind, love, passion and relationships are also mysterious forces.

Aztec cosmology is built on the framework that there are five suns. Each sun represents a creation story in which humans are born, sustained and destroyed by the elements of nature; earth, wind, fire, water, and earthquake respectively. Ehecatl is one of the many faces of the Quetzalcoatl, the famed feathered serpent deity. In Nahuatl, Ehecatl means four winds, referring to the four cardinal directions.

Ehecatl presided over the second sun of creation that was called, “4 Wind.” During this period, human beings fell from the grace of the Gods and were destroyed by a hurricane. As Ehecatl blew, it swept away the debris, and those who survived were transformed into monkeys. Ehecatl reappeared in the Fifth Sun after the world was destroyed by fire.

Ehecatl traveled deep into the underworld and persuaded Mictlantecuhtili, the God of Death, to give back some ashes and bone. Ehectal mixed the bone with blood from the Gods and created humanity.

According to Aztec legend, Ehecatl snuck into the lower world, abducted the maiden Mayahuel, and brought her to the middle world. Their passion was so great that they became one and merged into a tree. Upon awaking from sleep Tzetzimutl journeyed to the middle world, pulled the lovers apart, shredded her grand daughter Mayahuel into pulp, and then returned Ehecatl to his rightful place in the wind.

”Whenever the wind blows, the Aztec believes it is an expression of Ehecatl’s desire.”

If Ehecatl appears as a longing East wind, it is time to listen closely to your heart.

East

If Ehecatl appears as a longing East wind, it is time to listen closely to your heart. New projects, new lovers, art and/or music will ignite your passion.

As a contrary wind, Ehecatl can remove worn-out love stories and soured memories that are preventing you from experiencing a new cosmic order in your life. It is time to examine your beliefs regarding love.

South

Ehecatl is fanning the flames of your innermost feelings and hidden desires. A willingness to love again will arise from the ashes. You are worthy of love and passion. Allow the mysterious thread of the universe to carry you into the next cycle.

Unlike Ehecatl, who was molded from a stone knife, you are an emotional being who thrives on love. In the contrary position, a howling Ehecatl is prompting you to open your heart to love. There is a wind-stirring deep within asking you to soften your heart in order to forgive those who have harmed you. Now is the time to heal the emotional scars left behind by abuse, loss, or abandonment.

West

Ehecatl brings the rains to nourish your crops, signaling the end of the dry season. Wash away your inhibitions, and rejuvenate your body with physical activity. Celebrate by dancing, hiking, gardening, swimming or sex.

When Ehecatl appears in the reverse position you are being offered forbidden fruit, so be alert and cautious. The sun may set on your goals if you merge with the wrong energies, as in the tale of Ehectal and Mayahuel.

Misguided passion and intrigue might pull you from your true path if you do not establish clear boundaries. Ask Ehecatl to help you to sweep away any blocks that stand between you and a bountiful harvest.

North

When Ehecatl blows in from the North, it is a sign that invisible forces are at work in your life. A soul mate isn’t necessarily your lover; it might be someone who has your back, no matter what troubles you may be facing. Enrich your life by connecting deeply with the people you love, and with those who have your best interests at heart.

In the contrary position Ehecatl points out that you are neglecting certain daily rituals which prevent you from keeping your spiritual life in order. Ask Ehecatl to help you understand the deeper aspects of your true self. It might be something as simple as rearranging your altar, planning a vacation or going on a spiritual retreat. Ehecatl : God of Winds ART: Corazon Mexica @MiCorazonMexica

The creation of bats. This is a new painting, which is part of a cycle of paintings that tell the story of the birth of flowers. It begins with Quetzalcoatl, who is the wind and creation, pleasuring himself on the banks of a river. His seed falls upon a stone, and from the stone is born the first bat. When the bat emerges from the stone, he asks it to go to Tamoanchan, the 12th heaven, and bring him back the “flower” of Xochiquetzal, who is love and flowers. The bat is thus the child of the wind and of the earth, and the story goes on to describe this theft, and describe the origin of flowers and menstruation.

[lotusconstellation]

“Shy Confessions” Pt. 1

Reborn Sun Wukong x Gn Reader

Story by: @queenofroses22

Written by: Lotus_Constallation

When hearing about the great tales of Journey to the West, you’ll often hear the stories of the great and all-mighty Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong. The great sage equal to heaven, the celestial monkey that was born from a stone and set off to cause mayhem amongst anyone that crossed his path without any concern or hesitation.

You would also hear about the laughingstock of heaven and, honestly, of hell as well. The tales of Zhu Bajie, also known as Pigsy, a man who used to be a heaven official but made the mistake of refusing to believe he’s lightweight when it comes to alcohol, leading to his banishment and being cursed to be a pig demon for all eternity.

It’s also no doubt that you would hear about Tang Sanzang, formally known as Tripitaka, the powerful yet peaceful monk who had set off to fulfill his destiny!

There is also Sha Wujing, also known as Sandy, there’s not much about him but everyone knows he’s a water demon who fought courageously.

And finally, Ao Lie, the white dragon horse, who was also disguised as a white horse for Tripitaka to ride on while they make the hellish adventure to get those scriptures.

All of the people I have listed so far are very obviously well known. Some more than others. All have backstories worth mentioning even if there isn’t much. However, what if I told you there was one other person who, too, followed the demons and the monk on their journey, but you won’t find them in any stories. Not even a brief mention of their name. And that’s because this person was no one special. I apologize profusely, but those are the words I’ve heard from time and time again when I would ask why this person isn’t written down in history like the rest.

Surely, if they were a part of The Journey and were brave enough to follow the rest down the path of chaos and destruction, with a high risk of death, and trusting your life with 3 demons, that in itself is special, no? Unfortunately, people don’t see it that way. If you do not have some sort of spectacular fact about yourself that would capture the eyes of a dozen citizens, then you are nothing but a worthless little pebble under someone’s shoe. It’s a harsh reality.

However, that is why I am here! I am here to tell the tales of {Full Name}, Whether people like it or not, Because I firmly believe that they too deserve to be written down in history, just like the rest! And who knows, maybe you’ll learn a thing or two, but enough chit-chat, Let us begin!

𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪 𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪 𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

This story starts with a small village that sits just at the bottom of a mountain. And on this mountain, lived a vicious demon.

The demon had been around for what felt like centuries, and often loved to cause havoc amongst the town’s people. The demon would poison the soil so nothing would grow, destroy stalls, steal from said stalls, smear mud and dirt on any clean laundry, and would run people over with a mysterious carriage. People of the village constantly prayed and prayed to any god to take care of this demon, but upstairs always remained silent. Eventually, after realizing that no one was going to save them, they decided to take matters into their own hands.

Chaos could be heard from a mile away as the townspeople shouted over each other.

“We must slay this demon!” Someone from the crowd shouted.

“With what?! Pitchforks and dainty knives? We’ve all seen what this demon is capable of, what we have won’t do shit!” Another one rebutted.

Throughout all this chaos, a rather average looking person stood off to the side, trying to share what they had to say, but their hushed voice was drowned out by all the other booming voices in the room. It’s quite funny, really. This person, {Name}, spent– heaven knows how many hours practicing what they were going to say, was also the first few to show up, only to be pushed into a corner. And no matter how much they tried to step through the crowd or raise their voice, all their attempts were futile. Eventually, {Name} let out a heavy sigh, before making their way through the crowd to leave through the front door.

Upon stepping outside, {Name} felt the spring breeze gently caress their skin, they inhaled deeply, letting the faint smell of blossoms ease their mind. It was a rather peaceful evening, despite all the ruckus going on in the house behind them. The air wasn’t too hot or too cold, flowers were starting to blossom from all around, the petals and their scent being carried by the wind, and the sun was just starting to set over the horizon, with the skies becoming a mixture of blue, orange, and a dash of red. Honesty, all of it was a sight to see, but sadly, everyone was too frightened to pay it any mind. Who could blame them though, really. With this demon who’s caused nothing but constant dilemmas and chaos for heaven knows how long, it’s no wonder everyone here would be in distress all the time.

{Name} sighed heavily once more before rubbing their temples, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. All the commotion, and the sudden sound of glass breaking was truly starting to get on their nerves. Unfortunately, however, it had always been like this, whenever the town’s people would try to talk about getting rid of this demon, it always ended up getting physical, and In the end, getting nowhere. Honestly, all of it was ridiculous and {Name} was starting to get irritated by it. I mean, that’s why they attempted to be a part of this meeting in the first place. They thought maybe, just maybe, they could take some initiative and try to have everyone think rationally for once, and not be so hostile and rowdy.

Though, I guess looking back on it now, it was stupid to think someone so bashful and run-of-the-mill as them, could make a difference. If they can’t even fake the confidence to take matters into their own hands. Then hell, what good are they? The thought alone made them feel…useless. {Name} tilts their head back, in a poor attempt to keep the tears from falling. However, the tears trickled down their face regardless. Embarrassed by their current state, {Name} took off towards the direction of a nearby forest. They didn’t know where they were going, they didn’t think of how close it was to nightfall. All they could think about was getting to a safe place to let out their woes without any judgment.

𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪 𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪 𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

The labored villager continued to run throughout the unfamiliar territory, making impetuous twists and turns for heaven knows how long, trying their best to jump over fallen logs and moss covered rocks, and unaware of their ankles getting little cuts from open thorns and sticks.

{Name} continued on until they found a spot behind a tree, sinking down to the floor as they finally let go of all their sorrows. They didn’t want to continue living like this; Living in constant distress, with nothing ever being solved because everyone was already so stressed out and exhausted from this blasted demon. I mean, what did the people in the village ever do to him? Why must he keep coming back to attack everyone — even children? Is there some sort of unknown history we were all unaware of? Does the demon know something we don’t?

Whatever the case may be, {Name} just wanted it all to end. They couldn’t take another second of living in that village; where the people do nothing but scream and yell at each other and don’t take a second to just think rationally. There needs to be a change before this demon eventually gets bored of terrorizing everyone and does something worse. {Name} wanted to be that change. But they were foolish enough to think that would ever happen. “Why?” {Name} spoke. Their voice low and raspy from crying so much. They looked up at the starry night sky, unable to realize just how long they’ve been crying for. “Why must this happen to us? What did we ever do?” {Name} honestly didn’t know who they were talking to, or if they were even talking to someone at all. Hell, it would be a blessing in itself if their voice was even loud enough to reach anyone. “We have done everything. Prayed, made offerings, dedicated ourselves to you,” {Name’s} voiced a little louder, their face contorted with anger. “So why do you choose to ignore our pleas? Are we simply not worth your time?” A gentle breeze passed by, but {Name} paid it no mind as they waited for a response, a voice. A comforting breeze will do no good, it will not just magically make up for the constant neglect from the Heaven’s. {Name} knows they shouldn’t dare think this way, they know such thoughts would poison their soul, but they felt like they deserve some sort of proper response from someone. Their childhood had been damaged because of this vile creature, they watched as their parents went from kind and caring folks to aggressive and hostile ones. They used to welcome {Name} with loving arms, often trying to encourage them to be more confident in themselves, to not be afraid to stand up for what was right. But slowly, over the years, they started getting more…aggressive and uncaring towards {Name}.

Out of respect, I will not mention the things they have done. Though, I will say that it unfortunately got to the point where {Name} had become very skilled in tending to wounds.

The lonesome village felt another tear prick at the corner of their eyes, their head dropped as the fresh set of tears left little stains on their clothes. Please, just send someone, anyone, to take care of this demon. I would do anything in return, I promise.

…

The rapid crackling of leaves suddenly reverberated around the forest, {Name} nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard it. The lonesome villagers quickly wiped the remaining tears from their face before attempting to see the source of the noise.

From where they were, they managed to see a tall, humanoid figure running as fast as they could, the figure was wearing all black colored clothing so they could’ve easily blended in with the night. The only reason {Name} could see them was because of another figure dressed in all white colored clothing that was lazily thrown over the other one’s shoulder.

“WUKONG!! SAVE ME!!” The person in white yelled.

Without thinking, {Name} got up from their spot and started chasing after the strangers to the best of their ability. Their name wasn’t Wukong, but regardless the stranger was in trouble.

𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪 𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪 𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

The figure dressed in black was fast, {Name} will tell you that. The figure was jumping around while also making unexpected turns—which threw {Name} off a bit—all while the person in white continued to cry out to someone named Sun Wukong. Which, {Name} had no idea who that was, but they’re assuming Sun Wukong is this guy’s friend. Though, what’s a bit strange is that this guy, despite crying out for help, made little to no effort to fight against the person who was holding him captive.

After what felt like hours, {Name} managed to follow the figure to a cave that was located at the top of the mountain. {Name} heaved while trying to force themselves to walk further up the steep hill. Once at the top, they leaned up against the entrance of the cave, trying to catch their breath. “I wasn’t built for this shit,” they thought.

A moment or two had passed before {Name} looked further into the cave, borrowing the faint moonlight, {Name) couldn’t help but sigh in awe.

The cave was covered in foliage, with a few small waterfalls that flowed down from a few openings in the walls, and the moonlight only gave the place an ethereal glow.

(Artist: Unknown. Source: Pinterest).

{Name} was astonished, never in their life have they ever seen something as elegant as this. It all made {Name} ponder about their own life choices. From their younger years, there were always these rowdy kids who always dismissed the adults' concerns and went as far as they wanted into the woods. The kids offered for {Name} to join them one time, but they timidly refused. Now looking back on it, Perhaps it wouldn’t have hurt to accept their offer.

After what felt like an incense time, {Name} carefully moved towards the cave, the light from the moon slowly warning the further they went, relying on the tiny luminous blue flowers that scattered throughout the cave. As time passed, {Name} couldn’t help but grow more nervous. I mean, what were they going to do? How were they going to save this stranger from someone who could be armed and is undoubtedly stronger then {Name} was, when just prior they were sitting in the dark crying because they can’t even get their voice to go up an octave or two.

Honestly, the smartest thing to do would’ve been to go search for this “Wukong” guy but nOoOo, they just had to prove themselves.

Sighing heavily, {Name} continued on, trying to ease their mind by taking in the scenery. Whoever that black-clad man was, and as horrible as it sounds, {Name} was glad this was the place the man led them to. While they walked, they suddenly came to an opening with a bunch of stone staircases leading in all different directions, leading to multiple different rooms. {Name} was about to walk past it before a rather rejoiceful voice echoed throughout the room. “How lucky, How lucky I am today!!” {Name’s} blood ran cold, they recognized that voice. It was the demon. {Name} had followed the demon back to where he lived!

…

Shit.

End of part 1!

I really hope you and Queen enjoyed it. I can’t guarantee when the next part will be out, but keep an eye out 👁️

Love you all!!

[the-monkey-ruler]

Journey to the West - Asking Path (2023) 西游之问道

Director: Liu Hongyang / Qiu Xinyu Screenwriter: Wang Ruoyi / Zhong Shuang Starring: Hong Tianzhao / Tong Fei / Zhang Lanyi Genre: Action Country/Region of Production: Mainland China Date: 2023-03-19 (Mainland China Internet) Duration: 90 minutes Also know as: Journey to the West: Questions Type: Reimagining

Summary:

It tells the story of Sun Wukong who defeated the Buddha and led the demon catcher Hua Qing to save all living beings in the demon world. Ever since Pangu opened the universe, the struggle between the gods and demons has never stopped. Sun Wukong, who committed a heinous crime, followed Tang Monk to learn the scriptures. On the way, Wukong defeated and sealed his old friend the Bull Demon King who came to seek revenge. Since then, Sun Wukong has been regarded as an unforgivable traitor by the demon clan.

At that time, Red Boy, who was ordained and cultivated from the Bodhisattva, wanted to restore the glory of the demon clan on his own, kill Wukong in revenge, and rescue the Bull Demon King. Red Boy was revered as the Demon King by the demon clan with his super magical power. Under his leadership, the entire demon clan was ready to make trouble and started to cause trouble and kill innocent people indiscriminately. In order to save the common people, Sun Wukong returns to the mortal world. On the way, he encounters the demon hunter Hua Qing, and the two work together to fight against the demon king Red Boy. The demons massacred the gods and the demon hunters. The Erlang Shen, Yang Jian ordered the demons to be killed without mercy. A bloody battle between the gods and the demons was inevitable.

Source: https://mov-20.chinesemov.com/2023/Journey-to-the-West-Asking-Path

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4I51zBihwY

[journeytothewestresearch]

JTTWR Story Idea Directory

I was influenced by @digitalagepulao's recent post to list my own collection of story ideas.

These are set in the Buddo-Daoist disc world system of the original novel.

1) The Origin of Sun Wukong

This provides three fictional origins for the Monkey King based on my past research. He is ...

The spiritual offspring of supreme ape immortals who have served as teachers of countless mortal and divine beings, the later including the Buddha and Master Subodhi. The couple rebels against the heavenly hierarchy for failing to keep an ancient promise.

The offspring of an ancient evil who intentionally bred him to destroy the gods.

A former hot-tempered, Vajra warrior-like Bodhisattva who is exiled from paradise for killing a being who seemingly offended the Buddha. He is punished to ten lifetimes as a figure of great strength who is continually bested and forced by circumstances to protect something or someone weaker than him.

Each origin has pros and cons.

2) Immortal Warriors and Shaolin Monks

Master Subodhi's mountain is the training ground for an immortal monastic army similar to Shaolin. Monkey gains combat experience as a monk soldier.

3) The REAL Reason Subodhi Expels Sun Wukong

Sun's much, much older spiritual brothers and sisters attack him out of jealousy for quickly climbing the ranks of the immortal monastic army. Forced to defend his position, Monkey's anger drives him to take on a monstrous, 100,000-foot-tall cosmic form to defeat his opponents. Subodhi fears Sun's limitless potential and great anger will lead him down the path of villainy, so he uses the pine tree incident as an excuse to expel him.

4) The Reason for Sun Wukong's Rebellion

Subodhi warns Monkey to protect himself when mastering the "Multitude of Terrestrial Killers" (i.e. the 72 changes) because said deities are considered baleful stellar gods who bring bad luck and disease. But the Terrestrial Killers exploit a chink in his spiritual armor and feed him small suggestions that have compounding effects on his personality, making him increasingly egotistical and combative. This eventually leads to his rebellion against heaven.

These are set on our Earth.

1) Sun Wukong vs Heracles/Hercules

Heracles, the Buddha's protector, is called in place of Erlang to end Monkey's rebellion. After the latter attains Buddhahood at the end of the journey, the Tathagata asks the son of Zeus to escort Sun through the Greek world system.

See the 07-08-22 update (refer also to section 3 for background info):

2) A Realistic Retelling of Journey to the West

The story follows the itinerary of the historical monk Xuanzang, and the various episodes from the original novel take place both on the way to and coming back from India. The disciples are acquired during the initial journey; however, their order is reversed—Sha, Zhu, and then Sun.

The past punishments of the disciples are still the same. But Monkey's history is changed because Taoism didn't exist in ancient India. Instead of becoming an immortal, he is a Hindo-Buddhist rishi who rebels against heaven.

See updates here and here.

[pompomqt]

Journey to the West Chapter 42

Bull Demon King (Sun Wukong) warning Redboy about Sun Wukong:

And you stole his Master. And Pigsy to I guess.

This week on Journey to the West with @journeythroughjourneytothewest we continue our adventures with the fiery Redboy. So let's get into it shall we?

We start back up with where we left off, with Monkey eavesdropping on Redboy telling his minions to go invite the Venerable Great King to dinner. So Monkey hedges his bets and takes a gamble that he must be talking about his father, the Bull Demon King. And luckily for Monkey he knows what the guy looks like since they were buddy's 500 years ago. I guess Monkey is counting on the Bull Demon King not getting a new haircut in the last 500 years. Anyways Monkey skedaddles from the cave and plops himself ten miles up the path before transforming himself into the Bull Demon King.

Sure enough, as soon as the minion demons spot the 'Bull Demon King', they invite him to dinner and leads him back to the cave. Redboy is like 'Well that was quick', but quickly goes to respectfully greet his father. Anyways Redboy excitedly tells him all about the tasty monk he has acquired for them to eat. The 'Bull Demon King' asks if this monk happens to be the master of one Sun Wukong- scourge of heaven itself. Redboy confirms it, and 'Bull Demon King' recommends he just send the monk back, because Sun Wukong is far to dangerous to mess with, and if they eat the Monk he will definitely flatten this whole mountain.

Redboy however isn't worried, after all he's managed to chase him off with his True Fire of Samadhi twice now. The false Bull Demon King warns him that Sun Wukong is very tricky and transform to look like anything- like say- something as tiny as a fly- or even something as large as say- a Bull Demon King. Redboy however just scoffs and says that he would definitely be able to see through Sun Wukong's transformations! Anyways seeing that scare tactics aren't going to work on Redboy, Wukong switches to stall tactics. He says that while he would love nothing more then to have some tasty monk meat he unfortunately can't today. He's trying this new diet where he goes vegetarian once a week, and today is the that day, but he'll totally be up to it tomorrow.

Redboy however finds this suspicious since the Bull Demon King is always down for chowing on humans. So Redboy asks his minions where they found this Bull Demon King, and they say they found him on the way, not at his actual house. Redboy is fairly certain that they've been deceived, but can't be to hasty just in case it really is his father, so he resolves to question him first. So Redboy tells his minions to be ready to jump the fake king when he gives the signal, and he goes to question him. So Redboy asks him to tell him the exact time and date of his birth. Sun Wukong sweats nervously at the question because how the hell is he supposed to know that? However he gives what I consider to be a perfectly adequate dad response in: "I don't know, I'll ask your mother." Apparently unlike most fathers though, the Bull Demon King actually does know the answer, and apparently never shuts up about it. So Redboy gives the signal for his minion demons to attack. Sun Wukong of course reverts to his original form and blocks the attack before pulling off his vanishing in a flash of light trick. But not before mocking Redson for being a bad son and attacking his own father though of course.

Anyways Monkey is jazzed from his victory over Redboy and wastes no time in going to brag to Sandy about it. And while he hasn't rescued Tripitaka yet, he's feeling well enough about his victory to go fetch Guanyin himself now. So Monkey quick travels to Guanyin's place and has her secretaries announce his arrival. So Guanyin gets right to the point and asks what he's doing here, and Wukong also wastes no time in summarizing the current arc for her. Guanyin listens to the story calmly until he gets to the part where Redboy disguises himself as her in order to fool Pigsy, where in she throws her vase into the water in an apparent fit of rage. Which Monkey thinks is a shame and that she should have just given him the fancy vase instead of smashing it.

Turns out however, that the vase isn't smashed, since it quickly reappears on the back of a tortoise. Guanyin asks him to bring it to her, but it turns out he can't lift it. Monkey tries to defend himself saying he's wounded at the moment, but Guanyin just explains that the vase is currently filled with and oceans worth of water, and even Wukong isn't that strong. Unlike an unlicensed thunderstorm the water in the vase does have the power to put out the true fire of Samadhi, but unfortunately he can't pick it up to take it with him. And since Guanyin doesn't trust him to not try and hoodwink any of her attendants to steal the vase, she asks him to leave behind one of his belongings as insurance. Personally I find this slightly unfair since Guanyin is one of like three people Sun Wukong actually respects and is therefore unlikely to steal from her. It's a moot point anyways though since Sun Wukong doesn't really have anything of value that he can give her that he doesn't need. Of course he is more then willing to give her the gold fillet, if she wants to recite the loose fillet spell and take it though.

In the end however, Guanyin simply resolves to go with Wukong herself in order to save Tripitaka. So after a bit of cute 'after you, no, no, I insist after you' banter, the two head out on her lotus platform. On their way she has Moksa borrow the Swords of Constellations from his father, which she then uses to transform into the lotus platform. Once they arrive at the demon mountain, Guanyin summons all the local gods and tells them to evacuate the mountain. Once they are done with that, Guanyin pours out the vase, resulting in an ocean of water leaving Guanyin quite at home in a place that now reflects the appearance of the south sea. Monkey also comments that Guanyin is rather merciful, since if he was the one with that power he would have just drowned the whole mountain without a care.

Guanyin has Monkey giver her his hand so she can write the word 'delusion' on his palm. She then tells him to pick another fight with Redboy and lure him back to her. So Monkey does what Monkey does best, and breaks down the demon's front door and uses his taunting ability to draw in some agro. So Monkey fights him for a while, and with the help of Guanyin's power of 'delusion', he successfully lures him to where Guanyin is waiting, and dives into her divine aura. Redboy yells at her, asking if she's supposed to be Monkeys reinforcement or something, but she doesn't reply. And when Redboy tries attacking her, she simply vanishes.

Guanyin and Wukong watch from above as Redboy decides that he must have defeated Guanyin and decides to take her fancy lotus platform as his prize. As soon as he takes a seat however, Guanyin reverts it back to it's true form: a bunch of pointy swords. When the demon tries to pull out the swords, Guanyin has them hook into him so they can't be pulled out. Once the demon starts crying and begging for mercy, Guanyin once again reveals herself and asks if he will become one of her disciples. The demon of course agrees, but since Guanyin didn't specify 'no take backs', Redboy tries to attack Guanyin as soon as she removes the swords.

Wukong of course moves to defend her, however there is no need. Guanyin pulls out the final gold fillet entrusted to her by Bhudda, she throws it at Redboy and it transforms into five fillets that encircle his head, hands and feet. Once they are on the demon, Guanyin recites a similar yet different spell from Wukong's, in order to subdue the demon. And with that we have reached the end of yet another chapter.

Current Sun Wukong Stats: Names/Titles: Monkey, The Stone Monkey, The Handsome Monkey King, Sun Wukong (Monkey awakened to the void), Bimawen (Banhorseplague), The Great Sage Equal To Heaven and Pilgrim Sun. Immortality: 5 + 94,000 years. Weapon: The Compliant Golden Hooped Rod Abilities: 72 Transformations, Cloud-Somersault, Ability to transform his individual hairs, super strength, Ability to Summon Wind, Water restriction charm, and the ability to change into a huge war form, ability to duplicate his staff, ability to immobilize others, the ability to put others to sleep, and the Fiery eyes and Diamond Pupils, intimidating horses, churning large bodies of water, sleeplessness, seizing the wind, enhanced smell, discerning good and evil within a thousand miles, Spirit Summoning, lock picking, object transformation, distance reduction and vanishing in a flash of light. Demon Kill Count: 9+ Unknown Number of Minions Human Kill Count: 1006 God's Defeated: 22 + Unknown number Defeats: 5 Crime List: Robbery, Murder, Mass Murder, Arson, Theft, Coercion, Threatening a Government Official, Resisting Arrest, Assault, Forgery, Employee Theft, False Imprisonment, Impersonating a Government Official, Treason, attempted murder, failure to control or report a dangerous fire, desecrating a corpse, breaking and entering, trespassing, violating Tree Law, looting corpses, trading counterfeit goods, criminal threat and animal abuse. Cry Count: 7 + 2 fake cries Mountains Trapped Under: 4

Current Tang Sanzang stats: Names/Titles: River Float, Xuanzang, Tang Sanzang, Tripitaka Abilities: Curing Blindness, making branches point a certain direction (allegedly), reciting sutras, pretty privilege, memorization and Heart Sutra. Cry Count: 20 Tight Fillet Spell Uses: 31 Paralyzed by fear: 5 Bandit Problems: 2 Kidnapped by demons: 5 Falling Off Horses: 8

Current Bai Long Ma Stats: Names/Titles: Bai Long Ma (White Dragon Horse), Prince of the Western Ocean, and third prince jade dragon of the dragon king Aorun Abilities: Transforming into a human, a water snake, and a horse, eating a horse in one bite, flight, Magic of Water Restriction, Singing, and Sword Dancing. Cry Count: 1 Crime List: Arson, and Grave Disobedience. Contributions to the plot: 2

Current Zhu Wuneng Stats: Names/Titles: The Marshal of the Heavenly Reeds, Zhu Wuneng (Pig who is aware of ability), Zhu Ganglie, Pigsy, Idiot and Eight Rules. Weapon: Rake Abilities: 36 Transformations, parting water, fighting underwater, cloud soaring, size enhancement and CPR Demon Kill Count/Kill steals: 2 Kidnapped by Demons: 2 Human Kill Count: 1 Failed Flirtation/romances Attempts: 3 Cry Count: 1 Crime List: Sexual Harassment, Murder, Kidnapping, arson and defamation.

Current Sha Wujing Stats: Names/Titles: The Curtain-Raising General, Sha Wujing (Sand Aware of Purity), Sandy and Sha Monk Weapon: Monster Taming Staff Abilities: Fighting underwater and Cloud soaring. Demon Kill Count: Unknown number of minions. Kidnapped by Demons: 2 Human Kill Count: 1 Crime List: Breaking a Crystal Cup, murder, and desecration of a human corpse.

[makingqueerhistory]

Queer Woman-led Contemporary Fiction

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The Subtweet

Vivek Shraya

Indie musician Neela Devaki has built a career writing the songs she wants to hear but nobody else is singing. When one of Neela's songs is covered by internet artist RUK-MINI and becomes a viral sensation, the two musicians meet and a transformative friendship begins. But before long, the systemic pressures that pit women against one another begin to bear down on Neela and RUK-MINI, stirring up self-doubt and jealousy. With a single tweet, their friendship implodes, a career is destroyed, and the two women find themselves at the centre of an internet firestorm.

Sadie

Courtney Summers

When popular radio personality West McCray receives a desperate phone call from a stranger imploring him to find nineteen-year-old runaway Sadie Hunter, he's not convinced there's a story there; girls go missing all the time. But when it's revealed that Sadie fled home after the brutal murder of her little sister, Mattie, West travels to the small town of Cold Creek, Colorado, to uncover what happened. Sadie has no idea that her journey to avenge her sister will soon become the subject of a blockbuster podcast. Armed with a switchblade, Sadie follows meager clues hoping they'll lead to the man who took Mattie's life, because she's determined to make him pay with his own. But as West traces her path to the darkest, most dangerous corners of big cities and small towns, a deeply unsettling mystery begins to unfold- one bigger than them both. Can he find Sadie before it's too late?

Ghost Wall

Sarah Moss

In the north of England, far from the intrusions of cities but not far from civilization, Silvie and her family are living as if they are ancient Britons, surviving by the tools and knowledge of the Iron Age. For two weeks, the length of her father's vacation, they join an anthropology course set to reenact life in simpler times. They are surrounded by forests of birch and rowan; they make stew from foraged roots and hunted rabbit. The students are fulfilling their coursework; Silvie's father is fulfilling his lifelong obsession. He has raised her on stories of early man, taken her to witness rare artifacts, recounted time and again their rituals and beliefs--particularly their sacrifices to the bog. Mixing with the students, Silvie begins to see, hear, and imagine another kind of life, one that might include going to university, traveling beyond England, choosing her own clothes and food, speaking her mind. The ancient Britons built ghost walls to ward off enemy invaders, rude barricades of stakes topped with ancestral skulls. When the group builds one of their own, they find a spiritual connection to the past. What comes next but human sacrifice?

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

Akwaeke Emezi

Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to be alive again. It's been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she's almost a new person now--an artist with her own studio and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it's time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn't ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career. She's even started dating the perfect guy, but their new relationship might be sabotaged before it has a chance by the overwhelming desire Feyi feels every time she locks eyes with the one person in the house who is most definitely off-limits--his father. This new life she asked for just got a lot more complicated, and Feyi must begin her search for real answers.

[emmaofnormandy]

The Dragon and the Rose.

• In this universe, Lady Kathryn Howard crosses path with King Aegon II. The result of it may be more surprising than what onlookers have judged at first…

Long post; fluffy.

"You need a wife", the Dowager Queen of Westeros tells his son. "As a king, specially given the current circumnstances, you need to produce an heir. Such a deed cannot be done by yourself, as you must know.”

Aegon rolls his eyes at his mother’s words. Despite his reluctance to get himself crowned as the overlord of the seven kingdoms, here he is now, urged to get married. And he cannot take his sister as his wife as former Targaryens did because she simply eloped with Aemond.

Not that I needed her anyway.

Besides, Aegon believes he can have any woman he desires. Why marrying one alone? When he makes this point to his mother, Queen Alicent takes a very deep breath as if she is beseeching her patience in Heaven before saying:

“We need allies, you fool. And a legitimate heir.” She says between gritted teeth. “If you are not looking for one, I will. Should I explain the basics to you? If you don’t have legitimate heirs, Rhaenyra’s sons will rule after you. Is that what you want?”

That has her son’s attention. Good. Alicent softens and smiles.

“You can choose any noblewoman you like as long as it’s a highborn damsel appropriate for the rule of a consort.”

“Very well”, Aegon sighs. “I will do my best, my lady mother.”

Yet, where should he begin? Perhaps Aegon should ask the aid of his siblings for that task. As he summons Aemond back to court, Aegon does not need a very long time to tell the reason why he needs his younger brother’s help.

“Ah right. A wife, a queen. I’ll pity the woman who might get all the praises but your attention when she sits in the place once occupied by our mother.”

“If I needed your disdain, Aemond, believe me… I would rather you to stay with Helaena wherever the fuck you have been.”

“Watch your tongue, Your Grace”, Aemond smirks. “Very well. I’ve been traveling for a while and if no Westerosi ladies get your attention, I can give you other suggestions.”

Aegon’s eyebrows are epically raised.

“Oh?”

And so he is told of England and its own noble houses, one of which has been friendly towards Aemond and Helaena in their journey to the west: the Howards.

***

Katherine never before felt so uncomfortable as when she was at the court of King Henry. Specially when she’s getting his unwelcome flatteries.

King he is, but he could be my father. Worse, he is not handsome at all. Why cannot he be content with his wife? Poor lady Anne does not deserve this treatment.

However, her uncle seems pleased with the idea of rising high in the court sphere once again. Whilst Thomas Howard contemplates a form to separate the king from his wife by joining him to his niece, his brother, Edmund Howard, is not sharing his enthusiasm.

In fact, without Katherine’s knowledge, her father has been entertaining other ideas. Having received Lord Aemond and his wife, lady Helaena, there had been conversations concerning a possible betrothal to Aegon Targaryen and his daughter. Eventually, though, Edmund becomes anxious to remove Katherine out of court.

“What?”, Katherine is talking with her first cousin, the countess of Richmond. “What are you talking about? Why would my father ask me to leave? You are lying.”

Lady Mary Howard sighs.

“Just read this envelope here. I’m sure you can read, can you not, cousin?”

Katherine blushes at the sharp tongue of the other woman, but takes the letter and opens it without giving an answer. As she reads the content, she is partly relieved for leaving—she’d been feeling like a fox about to become the prey of a dangerous predator with no chance to escape. On the other hand, she is somewhat preoccupied about how this will be handled.

“How familiar are you with this plan, cousin?”, inquires Katheryn, suspicious about the veracity of it.

Lady Mary shrugs her shoulders in a nonchalant posture, although her eyes give an otherwise meaning.

“Familiar enough to help you escape the hands of the tyrant. I am helping you because I’ve been there too, although he ensured to deprive me of the presence of my beloved”, she explains in between gritted teeth.

Lady Mary was referring to the days she’d been married to Henry FitzRoy, King Henry’s favoured son, albeit illegitimate. But due to the monarch’s paranoia, they never made to consummate their love for each other and what happened next was her widowhood.

Katheryn understands well her sentiments and appreciates that amongst her family members there was at least one relative she could trust. The relief is evident in her features which softens her cousin’s pride mask.

“You deserve better, cousin.”

And so the new journey to Katheryn Howard’s life begins.

***

As the feast begins, Aegon is nowhere to be found, much to his mother’s dismay. The unpleasant task to find him falls upon Ser Criston Cole’s dutifulness since Aemond has been too busy with his wife to remind Aegon of his regal duties.

“Bring him to us as soon as possible. We have been told the lady is arriving anytime now. Aegon must be here to receive her”, so the dowager queen points out as-a-matter-of-fact.

It takes little time for Ser Criston to find the king. He is in his bed, taking his time to let the hangover state out of himself.

“Your Grace”, says the knight. “Do you intend to spend the rest of the day in your bed whilst the Seven Kingdoms await your good will in ensuring its rule goes as expected?”

Aegon sighs heavily. His hair is a mess, his eyes are only half open, in a state that only irritates the knight. But before the king is lectured about his misconduct, Aegon decides to take leave of his bed.

“You may spare your breath”, says the silver haired prince. “I am doing what is expected of me today.”

Ser Criston raises an eyebrow all the whilst folding his arms, in a posture that clearly disbelieves the other’s words.

“I mean it. I am perfectly aware that very few have some faith in me”, he says grudgingly.

As if to prove him right of surprising everyone, Aegon cleans himself and dresses in his mother’s colors. Although unwillingly, he knows there is a role to play. And this is the day he ought to do things in a different way.

The moment he arrives to the grand hall is the same moment where his soon to be wife arrives too. His mother, Dowager Queen Alicent, is relieved and ensuring nothing goes wrong.

But when the doors open, destiny plays the card that will change everything.

***

It is a beautiful court, so Katheryn judges as her eyes capture the shades of dark green that somehow mixes with red and black, although it could be more colorful.

She is very impressed, though. The Red Keep is all about grandiosity, reinforced by the regality in the decoration, joined by the beautiful landscape that has been running through her eyes during her journey from London.

But nothing impacted her more than seeing the shadow of grand beasts, flying across the skies and howling through the air. Katheryn once read about them… Dragons, that’s what they were named. They were the symbol of the Tudor dynasty, the same one her beloved uncle sought to marry her into.

The prestige is not worth it, I know it in me.

Nevertheless, she wanted a good marriage for herself, being the noble lady she is. So her father sent her to be the wife of another king, whom he assured to be more gentle and closer to her in age than Henry Tudor.

Now that she is walking into the Red Keep surrounded by her retinue and her eyes are glued upon the regal figure that stands tall, Katheryn finds herself amazed.

As Aegon slowly comes to greet her, both seem to be oblivious to the anxious parts that seem to be eager to join them in sacred ceremony. They too ignore the pair of eyes that follow them curiously.

They only seem to notice each other. Whilst Katheryn is, admittedly, baffled by his Valyrian features, so is Aegon by her English inheritance. Never before had he met dark, astonishing and deep eyes staring so intently into his lilac ones.

“My lady Howard”, Aegon is the one who breaks the ice by greeting her with a proper bow. “Welcome to King’s Landing. I pray your journey has not been uncomfortable for your ladyship.”

A weak blush paints her pale cheeks as she curtseys in return.

“Your Majesty, I appreciate the kindness you display towards me. Indeed the journey has been good, thank you.”

“That is fantastic to hear”, says Aegon, unable to refrain his growing smile. Then gallantly he extends his hand to her and Katheryn promptly takes it.

It is as if the world breathes in relief when the Westerosi king is delighted at his foreigner queen-to-be. To some as the former queen of the realm, though, there is still much to wait for the unpredictable Aegon.

But even the lady Alicent is forced to admit that prospectives are positive so far.

“What are your impressions of this land you’ve set foot? In all honesty, I’ve never encountered a foreigner lady like yourself before”, says the charmed king.

Kathryn smiles, pleasantly blushed to get his attention. Indeed, Aegon’s handsomeness, gallantries and youth count positive for this alliance favoured by her father against her uncle’s ambitions in rising another of his family to occupy King Henry’s vacant side.

Even before these impressions, Kathryn is no fool. She spent enough time at the court of the old king to know that appearances can be misleading—and deadly.

This conversation is the start of something new for both parts involved… and more so when considering a new world beyond the seven kingdoms of Westeros.

For King Aegon, however, this marriage is politically fruitful: not sooner and his reign will be acknowledged before his fellow kings out of Westeros.

Yet… when looking at Lady Katherine, these dark eyes and darker hair make him forget of the true purpose of this union. Each time she smiles, Aegon realizes that maybe now… he wants more than casual flings.

***

As controversial as the wheel of fortune might be, Lady Katherine occupies the higher ground without fearing for her life. Henry Tudor is no more the reasons of her concern nor disgusts, the mere thought of him is now turned to dust.

She is queen herself… of a distant realm, where she has a husband to please and duties to attend without the fear of reprehension of her uncle Thomas Howard, even though Aegon’s grandsire, Otto Hightower, has the same likes—somewhat irksome to her.

What does it matter? I am the queen now.

In these festivities, Kathryn enjoys the attentions of her handsome husband, with whom she comes to discover there is so much they share in common.

“As soon as we can, I’ll take you to a ride. Have you ever been to a dragon’s back before?”

“I do not think husband”, she says, savouring the taste this new word brings, with a gentle smirk, “that I have ever even seen one.”

It is inconceivable to Aegon that there is a world out there where dragons are not part of it. Thus as his wife tells him about her origins, all she’d known about these flying creatures are stories, legends, myths, his bafflement only increases.

“I shall bring you to Sunfyre by tomorrow dawn”, he vows to her, very serious in keeping his promise when locking their hands tied.

In this crowded room, every sound dies before this new level of intimacy just recently disclosed. When Aegon looks at Kathryn, she knows he sees her for who she is.

Not just her beauty. But who she really is underneath all of this pomp she likes to exhibit in a form to conceal her sensibility and all of her dreams that her family despised and she had no other choice but to hide.

One gaze is enough. No more words are enough. Silence already speaks for itself.

*

“You fancy her”, observes Lord Aemond when he occupies the vacant place left by Lady Kathryn. By his brother’s side, their eyes follow the brunette’s moves, captured by the vivacity in her gracious steps as she dances.

“Could it be otherwise?”

“When mother at first suggested you to wed Helaena, you despised her.”

“Suggested?”, Aegon snorts at his younger brother. “That is kind of you. Well, Laena and I never saw eye to eye, which worked out for you just fine if I recall well.”

Aemond gives the eldest of the two a smirk.

“Indeed, though what I wanted to say is that you can be…”

“Imprudent?”

“I’d prefer to say careless”, says he. “Whereas the lady Kathryn is a blossom rose.”

Aegon’s eyes go to the woman the High Sparrow crowned, the brunette of a foreigner land he espoused. So much joy in her figure, the gentleness evident in her countenance, reinforcing a beauty that brings her the attention.

“I am not a man who shares”, says the king, subtly, giving more in these words than his pride would bend to admit.

Aemond takes the glass to his lips, pleased for the result of his match.

“I know how well you like to keep your prizes to yourself.”

And nothing further has been discussed about it.

***

“Lady, today you will experiment few out of our family has ever had”, so boasts Aegon, proudly. He likes the eyes of his wife on him, carrying a new genuine admiration he’s never found on the eyes of another.

“And what is that, husband?”, she asks, excited and intrigued.

They are out of the Red Keep this day. Though it’s not cloudy, it’s a little windy, but perfect condition to fly. Kathryn is frightened, though she struggles to conceal it, before the sight of large beasts that howl through the air and are not mythological.

“I appreciate your efforts in playing the brave, my dear”, Aegon smiles at her, bringing her closer to him. “But no need to fear. Come, let us make these new memories together.”

Kathryn is thus taken to Sunfyre, whose large yellow wings and its golden eyes impact the new queen. She blinks a few times, frozen before this encounter, but does not shy away of it.

As Sunfyre bows to her, she smiles gracefully, taking the hand Aegon extends her. The next thing she knows is adventurously wordless.

“I’ve never taken anyone to fly so high”, he whispers in her ear, pleased to see her blushing as his arms snake around her waist. “Do you want to command Sunfyre? Go on. I know you can do it.”

Kathryn gazes at her husband with a mix of surprise and atonement. Never before she was consulted in anything of the kind; her views and tastes were often disregarded as a matter of little importance.

Underneath titles two lost souls are found in a surprising alliance that is turning positively healing for both parts.

The moment she smiles, Aegon knows there is chance for redemption…. And he’s prompted to take it.

***

• Epilogue.

According to the unofficial and unnamed chronicler of Aegon’s court, the king and the queen had a very successful marriage. This gleeful union, which seems to have cast a shadow over the king’s questionable past by designing a better future, has resulted in the following children:

1. Jaehaerys, Prince of Dragonstone.

2. Elysbeth, Princess of Dragonstone, who married her oldest brother, following the Targaryen tradition.

3. Eddmund, named after the queen’s father, chose to become a Maester.

4. Alysanne, Princess of Dorne.

5. A stillborn child.

6. Daeron, who took the oath of becoming part of the King’s Guard.

7. Aemon, his twin brother, who, in due time, moved to Dragonstone and there resided with Lady Rhaella Targaryen, a cousin.

8. Laena Targaryen, who became Lady of High Garden.

It’s said that the Queen suffered with poor health after giving birth to Lady Laena. However, she managed to have a long and happy life by Aegon’s side. So then peace reigned…