(AGHHHHH OMGGGG FINALLLY!!! ART!! I haven’t drawn Wally in ohhhh so very long. And I think this is by far the best Wally I ever drew. Holy shit I’m so proud of this piece!)
(Extras under the cut!)
Without text + noise effect.
Closeups!! (You all know how much I love TEXTUREEEEEEEEEEE)
He was more than a man; a creature ripped from the smothering hell he vacationed in. Agony and anguish reeked through his pores, blending into the crimson ichor that he doused himself in. Like a person madly driven off the edge, he’s done something that would put his name down in history for all to remember.
They made him do it. It wasn’t his fault. He repeats this inside his head, over and over—clinging to it with desperation. What he’s done is justifying. There was no other way. He was right… and they were wrong. All of them were wrong for him. All of them but… one.
Like a statue that will one day be built in his honor, Julius stands immobile in a one man blood bath. The smell of copper lingers in the air, the iron sword in his hand never felt so light since the day he learned to wield it.
If they had just stopped mettleing with his life for once, then maybe they would still be here and he didn’t have to kill them. But within the royal walls, everyone was cold and guarded, lacking warmth and affection.
His parents ruled with an iron fist, their words were absolute. Money and power were the primary aim. Why were they so surprised when their own son gave them exactly what he was taught? They should..would be proud.
It was their strictness and high expectations that kept him away from society if not business related—he didn’t even have a single friend. He can’t complain for the most part. His upbringing brought him to you, albeit a little too late.
His angel, the only light to his hellish world, was betrothed to another. Imagine his devastation when he came to find out it was his cousin, the son of a Duke. That could have been him. It should have been him. It will be him.
The injustice of it all ignited a simmering resentment within him. Blame fell squarely on his parents for shaping a life that kept you apart from him. They were asking for death the second they denied his request to break off the engagement. A viscount child has no business with a future king, they said. Who are they to tell him who he can and cannot want?
They’re just lucky their deaths were quick. He can’t say the same for all the other women they pushed on him over the years. He didn't mean to do it the first time. It was entirely an accident. She just wouldn’t shut up. Everything that came out her mouth was horse shit. One fork in the neck, blood spat in his face and on the tea table, there she laid lifeless.
How many people did he have to kill to get it through their thick skulls that he only wanted you? Too many, he’s lost count and they still didn’t care. They brushed all of them off as collateral damage… oh how pathetic they must have felt in their last moments realizing that’s exactly how Julius saw them.
Unnecessary baggage in the way of something greater. Something he’s spent many nights awake, contemplating how to get to you and finally make you officially his. Don’t be confused; you were already his the second he laid eyes on you, but it felt like forever you’ve been out of reach.
Footsteps thud against the marble flooring before coming to a stop behind him. He doesn’t need to turn around to know reinforcements have come, but they weren't fast enough. “Do you think it wise to make an enemy of me?” Julius mocks them, waiting for them to rush him. But they never do. He humors them by peeking over his shoulder, smirking at finding them all kneeling before him.
That’s more like it.
He turns back forward, stepping over the remains of his deceased parents, may they rest in hell where they belong and ascend the many steps to his rightful place: the throne. It sits atop in pure gold, decorated with patterns that go back centuries.
Now for first order of business… he sits on the throne, glaring down at the solders who shake in their armor up at him. Perhaps it was the slow drying blood on his face that got them spooked? His lips twitch, finding this way more amusing than he anticipated.
“Bring them to me.”
That was all the information needed. They knew exactly who he was referring to. Over the last few years, the ex prince has been very foolhardy about his attraction to an already spoken for woman. It’s almost like his mannerisms flew out a window in a blink of an eye.
One man hesitates to leave with the others to receive the person of interest, causing Julius lips to twist into a scowl at the disobedience. “…?” he silently question the man with his steely purple eyes, tilting his head and resting it on his hand in a sense of boredom.
The man swallows thickly, raising a shaking finger to his parent’s corpses, “The bodies, sir?” Well good on him for managing not to stutter at least.
Julius waves him off, “Leave it. A gift for my beloved.” The man flinch at his curt dismissal of his parents, whom he doesn’t refer to as actual beings at this point. He opens his mouth to reply, but Julius cuts him off, now sitting forward on the throne, “Perhaps you’d like to join them since you seem so concerned?”
That’s shut him right up. He bows in respect for the throne before shuffling out of the gigantic room with his tail between his legs. Julius hums in contentment, sitting back against the throne. Now alls that left to do is wait for you and start a life together, as it should’ve been.
He taps and taps and taps his fingers on the gold arm rest of the throne as seconds turn into merely minutes. But it was minutes far too long for him as he grows impatient waiting. It was quiet, he was alone; that was never a good thing. His mind starts to question your hold up.
Did you get hurt? He will murder all of them if even a single hair on you was harmed. What if they decided to use you as a bargaining chip for him to step down from the throne? It’s be a cold day in hell before he allows either two to play out. From where he’s sitting, he figures he has to go find you himself before he drives himself mad with what ifs.
When he finds you because he will find you—he always does somehow. Sometimes you’re not even aware he has…. You’re in the middle of being tugged by the forearm back in the direction of the palace entrance by none other than your fiancé.
The guards are trying to stop him, which is ridiculous to Julius. The man was half his size. A puny little punk. All he would need to do is—one little push—and he’ll fall like a domino overtaking. But this kind of scene needs a different set of actions.
“Have you all lost it? They’re my fiancée!” he shouts repeatedly, face pink in anger as his chest heaves up and down when he pushes a soldier back enough to continue dragging you.
A tantrum that falls on death ears because all Julius can focus on and care about was you. His sight goes fuzzy, black dots dancing behind his vision as his skin grows impossibly hot. How dare… How dare he continue to touch you like you were his? How fucking dare he continue to challenge him, even now?
“Brandon, Let me g—“ your cut off by some liquid splashing specs on your face. The scream came immediately but you were still registering what just had happened with rapid blinking. Everything from there was moving at a speed of a snail.
The soldiers who once tried to stop Brandon before, step back in fear. This is exactly what they were trying to avoid, but he persisted in taking you back home where you belong. The King made it abundantly clear you belonged to him.
Brandon kneels on the ground, wailing uncomfortably in agony as he holds his gushing arm. The bleeding flowed with urgency, the liquid was everywhere! The pink in his skin was losing color quick, you’d think he saw his worst nightmare if you didn’t know any better. It was just Julius, but then again it’s not too far off.
He raises his sword just as Brandon looks up in terror, swinging it down so vigorously, it matches the same fire found within Julius eyes. It strikes Brandon across the chest, deep enough for him to cough up blood but still be conscious…if you can call him that after he falls to the floor, shaking like a newborn cub first time in snow.
“You’re being a bit dramatic, cousin.” he taunts, pointing the end of his sword on his cheek, pressing into it to draw beads of blood, “Truly pathetic considering you bold attempts to go against me.”
Brandon’s lip tremble like he wanted to say something in protest but it couldn’t open wide enough to say even a syllable. Igor stains the corner of his lips and chin as his mind struggles to decide on which wound to aid to first with a single good hand left.
His current state…it pleases Julius so much. Slowly a twisted grin surfaces on his face, making him look even more demented than his actions already have. He’s grown to like crushing those that didn’t understand their place. It’s unfortunate that it’s been mainly family who never heed to warnings.
It finally registers what you’re witnessing, an ear bleeding scream rips from your throat as you fly your hands to your mouth to muffle it. It only aid to hyperventilate you when Julius turns to you, face devoid of the blood thirst from earlier, now evidence of concern.
“What? What’s happening?!” he asks, dropping his sword in favor of seeing about your wellbeing. He was standing in front of you with three long strides. He reaches for your hands, pulling them from your face, gripping them tightly to still your trembling.
When that didn’t work, he places them on your face, forcing you to look at his, which is still soiled in the blood of his opponents. “Tell me what troubles you, my love?” You claw at his hands in a desperate attempt to separate, but he doesn’t even flinch.
Words can’t even describe the fear rattling your very being. He wasn’t even human—a monster—that’s the only explanation for the lack of empathy and ability to harm others without a second thought. Were you next? The thought made you sob harder.
He didn’t like that. Not even a little… Maybe it’s because he’s foolishly in love with you but your scared expression wasn’t one that sit well with him. It both worried and irritated him the longer it went on. “Stop it now.” he demands, holding your face tighter, eyebrows furrowed as he focused solely on you, “I didn’t give you a reason to cry.”
He meant that in a reassuring way—that’s how he tried to come across but you interpreted it differently. With his appearance and actions, it was terrifying to say the least. You’re shaking your head in protest, “Please don’t hurt me. I’m sorry,” you apologize for no reason.
Hurting YOU was the farthest thing from his mind now that you’re within arms reach. He wants nothing more than to keep you close, where you can suffocate him with your unconditional love that he craved since laying eyes on you. So don’t you look at him like that and don’t you speak to him like he didn’t jump through hoops to get this far.
Before Julius can try to soothe your woes, a tug on his trousers leg caught his attention. He tsk looking down, seeing Brandon, who somehow pulled himself together and crawled over to him. From where Julius was standing, he really did look like a pest—he just keeps pestering and meddling in his affairs.
It really pissed him off that he didn’t just die already. Can’t he see he’s in the middle of something? Well… since he wants to be a pest so badly, he might as well be treated as one. The corner of his lips twitch, rising into an unsettling grin as he still holds your face firmly.
He doesn’t even consider how he might look in your eyes as he lifts his leg up, slamming his foot down on Brandon’s face, barely making a dent in his skull. To your horror, he repeats it over and over again, each stomp more aggressive and purposeful than the next until his brains were peeking outside his head and his eyes popped out of its sockets.
“Hey—“ Julius calls out to you after a while. He noticed your lack of attention on him. You were too busy gawking at what remains of your ex-fiancé. “Look only at me. Are you trying to upset me?…”
He wasn’t already???
“As my lover, you’re not allowed to look at any other man… unless you want me to gift you their head as consequences.”
Look, sometimes Danse needs to be beaten with a bat, but please only beat him for things he actually did.
My boy has never indicated that he thinks all ghouls should die, nor does it appear to be Brotherhood policy to kill them. (Actually, there’s evidence that this was the case back in 3, but here they seem specifically obsessed with killing ferals). He does make one horrible comment about killing Vault-Tec Guy specifically, but otherwise 1. Is protective of villagers at the Slog, 2. Is kind to Fridge Billy, and 3. Likes Kent and rips into you if you kill him.
There are lots of reasons to hate my darling Buzz Lightyear. You don’t need to invent them.
A Proper Etiquette request based on this prompt from @scatter-mind001: (Reader is nervous about initiating intimacy but wants to work up the courage but doesn’t know how to express it properly, so, throughout the day, she tries to drop hints to snuggle times, but then butterflies take over and she runs away and Rygel’s sexual frustration just builds up and eventually explodes and reader is like, “I just wanted cuddles but this is better.”)
Cw: anxiety, dry humping, size difference, allusions to sexual content but it fades to black pretty fast
word count: 1k
Adjusting had been hard. Rygel had never pushed you, let you move entirely at your own pace, but it was still a slow, frustrating process.
You’d gotten used to everyone else pretty quickly. You didn’t judge, passively watched everyone else going about their lives.
It was the doing that was hard. The manners that had been drilled into you were not so easily dropped.
You were almost certain that half the reason it was so daunting was that everyone else was so used to it. They all just understood what they should be doing. You had to work for all of it, push yourself past boundaries you’d never imagined having to tear down.
Today, it was touch. You’d gotten better at initiating it in private, Rygel always quick to reciprocate, but in public it was a different story.
It’s not like you never touched in public. On the contrary, Rygel loved publicly showing his affections for you. It was initiating them that you were struggling with.
You could never shake the idea that you were doing it wrong. Rygel was patient and kind but in public there were too many people, watching, staring, inevitably judging you for doing it all wrong.
Your hand shifted over to his arm, trying to look casual but you dropped it in a second. You were certain you were being clumsy and obvious, that what everyone else could do so casually looked alien and childish on you.
When Rygel did it, there was confidence behind it. He knew he was doing it right and you were more than happy to hide behind that confidence and follow his lead.
But that wasn’t what today was supposed to be about.
So you tried again.
Your next attempt was on your way to dinner. You leaned against his side, doing your best to mimic the way he pulled you into him so often as you walked. He looked down at you curiously, with no judgment in his eyes, but even that felt like too much scrutiny and you drew away once more.
Dinner didn’t go any better.
You thought the shield of the table might be good, make everything feel a little less public despite the dozen people in the room with you, talking away, barely taking notice of your presence.
You started small, shifting your knee to the side to touch Rygel’s. The motion was entirely hidden, under the table, but you drew quickly away anyways, feeling far too exposed regardless.
You knew why this was going so poorly. Every failed attempt left you flustered and embarrassed and pushing forwards so persistently kept those emotions brewing, amplified every time you tried and failed again.
Rygel had decidedly noticed that something was going on with you because the second you pulled away, his arm shifted behind your back, a steady presence you happily leaned into as he pulled you closer to him.
The second you leaned into his touch you were being pulled even further, the feeling of the chair disappearing from under you as he shifted you effortlessly into his lap.
Your face warmed but you trusted his judgment. No one was staring and part of you wondered if they ever had been at all or if your brain was simply that determined to thwart you.
You settled against his firm chest, his hands roving up and down your arms in a gesture that you were sure was meant to be comforting but only served to fluster you even further.
When you were done with your meal he was pulling you off down the hallways
The second you were alone you let out a hushed, “I’m sorry about all that.”
He cocked his head to the side at the statement, looking bewildered at you. “Sorry for what? For teasing me?”
“For… no of course not, for adjusting to all this so slowly. I wasn’t trying to tease you, I was just trying to get more comfortable touching you. The goal was to initiate cuddles, maybe? Or just any sort of physical affection I suppose. I guess I didn’t really think too much on the end goal, I was more focused on just doing.”
He let out a hearty, deep laugh. “You’re too sweet. If you want to cuddle you only need to ask.”
You huffed. “But I don’t want to have to ask. I want to be like everyone else here, to just be able to do things.”
“You will. These things take time, you know that, it’s no more your fault than it is mine when I make a fool of myself in front of your people.”
“You don’t make a fool of yourself.”
“Felt like I did.”
“I promise it felt worse than it was.”
“Oh really?” he said, giving you a pointed look. “I wonder if there’s maybe someone else who is in a similar situation who could do to hear that bit of advice.”
You hated that he was right. “Wait, but you were saying something about me teasing you. Can we go back to that please?”
He cooed at you, hand sliding under your jaw to keep you looking up at him. “Aw have I put ideas in your head? Tell me what you want from me.”
“You’re being mean,” you said with a pout.
“I’m being mean? You’re the one who hasn’t stopped touching me all day.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. You know, if you want to work on showing affection in public, I’m sure I can help with that.”
��Now who’s teasing?”
He chucked. “Call it revenge.”
He didn’t make you wait long. You didn’t think he had it in him, to make you wait. If he did, you had yet to see it.
He pulled you against him, into a kiss, hunched over to be able to meet you where you stood. You melted against him, your body relaxing easily into the familiar shape.
You felt his bulge pressed against you as well. He was already hard and you realized that maybe you’d been affecting him more than you’d intended.
He pulled away altogether too soon for your taste, looking down at you with a glint in his eye.
“Oh,” he said. “But, you wanted to cuddle. Far be it from me to thwart your plans.”
“Don’t you dare.”
He chuckled and scooped you up effortlessly, dropping you when you were a few feet above the bed so you bounced a little when you landed.
“After this, I’m done. The next one’s on you,” he promised as he moved above you, pinning you to the mattress below him, his hips rolling gently down into you through irritating layers of clothing. “How’s that for helping you learn to initiate.”
“Gives me some good motivation.”
“I gotta give you a little more, just remind you what you’ll be missing,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows as you threw back your head with laughter. Everything was easier in here, with him. Everything made sense.
“Can’t hurt to have a reminder,” you agreed readily, a smile still plastered across your face.
“And then we’ll get to the cuddling,” he reassured you, doing his best to kiss you in between words while fighting back a smile. “You can never forget the cuddling.”
I don’t think you understand how diabolically down bad I am for Julius.
I’m making him my famous cookies and be all “Juli~ I made cookies~”
But in all seriousness one of my fav tropes of all types is a cruel ruler but is the sweetest to his darling. Love to see it!
Julius will absolutely accept your cookies, in fact, he will want you to hand feed it to him yourself. Any kind of affection, whether it’s acts of service or physical makes him a very happy king—and if you can keep him happy, then maybe there will be less deaths that day. He will not make promises though, he can’t keep them…
“That idiot was practically eye fucking you right before me. Of course, I had to put his head up on a spike to set an example. You. Are. Mine.”