#Share of itc

[coredatabase]

ITC Ltd Q4 FY25 Results

ITC Ltd Q4 FY25 Results: Exceptional Profit Surge and Robust Dividend Announcement

ITC Ltd, a diversified conglomerate with interests spanning FMCG, hotels, paperboards, and agribusiness, has reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025 (Q4 FY25). The company has demonstrated resilience and strategic growth, delivering strong financial performance despite a challenging macroeconomic environment.

📊 Consolidated Financial Highlights

Net Profit: ₹19,807 crore, marking a substantial increase from ₹5,121 crore in Q4 FY24. This surge is primarily attributed to an exceptional gain of ₹15,145 crore from the demerger of its Hotels Business into ITC Hotels Limited, accounted for under discontinued operations.

Revenue from Continuing Operations: ₹20,376 crore, a 10% increase compared to the same quarter last year, surpassing analyst expectations.

🏭 Segment Performance

FMCG Segment

The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) segment, encompassing both cigarettes and other FMCG products, reported:

Total Revenue: ₹14,732 crore, up from ₹13,996 crore in Q4 FY24.

Cigarette Revenue: ₹9,228.66 crore, an increase from ₹8,688.92 crore.

FMCG-Others Revenue: ₹5,503.33 crore, slightly higher than ₹5,307.94 crore.

Hotels Business

Following the demerger, ITC Hotels reported:

Net Profit: ₹257 crore, a 41% year-on-year increase.

Revenue from Operations: ₹1,061 crore, up 17% from the previous year.

💰 Dividend Announcement

The Board of Directors has declared a final dividend of ₹7.85 per share for the financial year 2024-25. The record date for determining shareholders eligible to receive this dividend is May 28, 2025. This reflects the company’s commitment to delivering value to its shareholders.

🔍 Outlook and Market Position

Despite the exceptional gain from the demerger, ITC’s core operations have shown resilience. The company’s diversified portfolio across FMCG, hotels, paperboards, and agribusiness provides a solid foundation for sustained growth. Analysts remain optimistic about ITC’s long-term prospects, citing its strong brand presence, robust distribution network, and strategic investments.

📈 Stock Performance and Investor Sentiment

Following the announcement of its Q4 FY25 results, ITC’s stock witnessed positive movement, reflecting investor confidence in the company’s performance and strategic direction. The declaration of a substantial dividend further bolstered investor sentiment, highlighting the company’s commitment to shareholder returns.

📝 Conclusion

ITC Ltd’s Q4 FY25 results underscore its strategic initiatives and operational efficiency. The exceptional profit growth, coupled with a robust dividend declaration, reflects the company’s strong financial health and commitment to delivering value to its stakeholders. As ITC continues to leverage its diversified portfolio and strategic investments, it is well-positioned to navigate future challenges and capitalize on growth opportunities.

[parveensssssssssss]

ITC Ltd Q4 FY25 Results

ITC Ltd Q4 FY25 Results: Exceptional Profit Surge and Robust Dividend Announcement ITC Ltd, a diversified conglomerate with interests spanning FMCG, hotels, paperboards, and agribusiness, has reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025 (Q4 FY25). The company has demonstrated resilience and strategic growth, delivering strong financial performance despite a…

[rashmikamoddi]

ITC Share Price Target - Today Live Updates

ITC share price target, analysis, and trends. Stay informed with real-time stock performance and expert insights to make informed investment decisions.

[noragaur]

 ITC's Strong Performance and Strategic Moves: A Closer Look

ITC, a prominent player in the Indian market, has reported a consistent rise in consolidated net profit, showcasing a 7% growth in Q3. The company has been releasing its quarterly results, demonstrating steady progress over time. Additionally, ITC has recently made notable strategic moves, such as acquiring stake in Delectable Technologies and incorporating wholly owned subsidiaries. They have also ventured into new sectors, including dairy products and food manufacturing. With a focus on their FMCG business, ITC aims to drive growth and enhance consumer spend. Stay updated on ITC's financial performance and corporate developments on Ticker Finology.

[financestudy62]

[animestsstuff2]

‘Gumi

Prompt: in which your best friend Megumi (Gumi) goes away and you don’t see him again for a really long time…what does he look like again?

Megumi Fushiguro x FemReader

————————————————————————

“Gumi! Wait up!” You whined as you chased the street after Megumi. He was laughing as he ran his hand held high in the air as you puffed trying to keep up.

Your foot tripped not as aware or as coordinated to avoid the crack in the path as Megumi had done before you. Your knees taking the brunt of the stone ground, scraping as you fell onto your stomach. Your tongue caught between teeth as your chin hit it next. You bit down, hard.

Megumi skidded to a stop chest puffing and cheeks bright red as he turned on quick feet. He stalled as he seen you lying there, cries quickly erupting from you which sent his body into action as he bounded over, falling to his own knees. The hard ground having no effect on him as his small hands clambered to your face. Your sniffles and fat tears made him panic as his eyes fell to the red blood around your mouth.

“G-Gumi!” You wailed, stretching your short arms out and wrapping them around his neck as he quickly copied you. His own arms finding their way around your waist and pulling you close.

You always fell. You were always so clumsy but you hadn’t fell this hard before. The palm of your hands were sore, knees stinging and worst of all your tongue throbbed as the taste of a copper penny filled your mouth. Your eyes screwed shut as you cried.

“C’mon gotta go to Tsumiki” He grunted as he stood on wobbly knees. His hands grabbing at you as he lifted you up. Your face was buried into his top, blood and tears staining it as you continued to hiccup and sniffle.

Megumi just wobbled down the street. You both had ran pretty far from his house. His back was getting sore as he continued walking. You were smaller than him but by just a bit and he wasn’t all that big to begin with. You picked your head up, resting it on his shoulder now as you peered out ahead. Your wet eyes focusing on a tall man behind you both. You couldn’t make out his face or what he was saying as he caught up to you both.

“Hey you’re Megumi Fushiguro right?” Your chubby fingers curled into the back of Megumi’s shirt as his own hold tightened around you as the man suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Whats it to you?” He snapped, brows furrowing as he stared up at the white haired stranger. Gojo smirked as he stared down at the boy. The boy who was the spitting image of the man who tried to kill him.

Gojo opened his mouth ready to spew everything he had gone over, explain to this boy his importance, who he was, who he came from and what happened to his father when the sound of your hiccups met his ears. His brows knitted and he crouched down with a pout. His glasses sliding a bit on his nose as he cocked his head.

“Whats wrong with her?” He pointed a finger at your back and Megumi tightened his fingers around you. Megumi’s eyes narrowed as glared at the pointed finger.

“She fell.” He stated not wanting to share any information with this man.

“Is she badly hurt?” Gojo asked as he retracted his hand and scratched his head.

“Shes fine” he snapped “what do you want?”

“Oh right, yeah” Gojo trailed off as you sniffled and shuffled a bit eyes narrowing in on Megumi’s wobbling arms.

“Maybe we should bring her home first before i tell you what i need to tell you” he explained standing back up to his full height.

“I can take her for you?”

Megumi shook his head once more squeezing you tighter as you sniffed again. Your cries had calmed down a bit as you tucked your face back into Megumi’s shoulder.

“Okay. I won’t take her for you” Gojo laughed a bit as he stared at the protective boy. He turned on his heel, looking over his shoulder as he motioned forward with his head.

Megumi took a hesitant step forward as he guided the way back home. He brought you back to your mother who thanked Megumi and went back to the tall man to ask what he wanted, itching to get back to you already.

“So lets talk Megumi”

…

“Suka C’mon I don’t want to be here” you whined as your shoulders sagged inwards. The creepy abandoned house was groaning under its own weight as your friend dragged you further inside.

“Just until we check this room Y/N!” She told you. The flash light she held being the only source of light in the dark house. You groaned as you tightened your hold on her hand, ever since she became part of some stupid occult club.

You stepped lightly eyes honed in on the direction of the flashlight. You hated creepy houses, hated scary movies and yet here you were. Your skin was prickling, hair raising and heart hammering. You didn’t like being anywhere creepy or scary because of what you always saw, those slimy, scary and unnatural creatures that lurked in the shadows of places like this.

Your cheek was sore from where your teeth had been chewing it as you tried desperately to ignore the heavy breathing from the back of the room. You had spotted the creature the minute you entered the place but you couldn’t tell your friend—no, of course you couldn’t tell her then she’d think you were crazy and you didn’t need that, not when your mother already thought so.

Your hands curled around the set of die in your pocket, knuckles cramping and growing more sweaty as you tried so hard to ignore the creature. You entered the last room watching as your friend swished the flashlight around completely oblivious to the creature. You weren’t sure what you were going to do once your friend decided to leave. You weren’t sure if that creature was planning to bother you or not.

Sometimes they did other times they left you alone. Your feet shuffled forward with your friend as she hoked about broken shelves and dusty boards. Your mind tracking back to the first time you had ever seen one of these creatures.

“Y/N don’t be scared it’s okay” Your tear filled eyes looked at the hand outstretched to you before flickering back to the weird worm thing in the corner of the room.

Your brows knitted together as the blurry memory flashed through your mind. Who did that hand belong to?

“Ugh! Nothing! Absolutely nothing” your friend whined as she spun around to face you. “Heh I’m sorry I dragged you out here Y/N”

You forced a smile on your face as you felt the creature enter the room now. Its grotesque noises were making your skin crawl and stomach bubble with sick as you forced a cool face for your friend.

“Its okay! Maybe next time?” You shrugged and she nodded as she made her way past you and back to the door. Your heart leaped in your chest as she headed right in the direction of it. The orange, ugly, slimy thing that resembled some sort of animal? Or maybe a mixture? It wasn’t human anyways.

“Suka!” You yelled loudly, cringing at your volume as she looked over her shoulder “can I hold the flashlight?”

She furrowed her brows at you before shrugging and nodding as she handed you it. You stepped forward now face to face with the creature that was groaning louder, drool hanging from its stretched mouth as you sized it up. Your heart was hammering now as you sucked in a deep breath and threw your hand from your pocket. The die rolled onto the ground and you watched as the number one faced upwards. Your eyes widened in pure disbelief. Asuka’s head immediately spun round to see what had just rolled and as she did you switched the flashlight off.

The dark incase you both and as it did she squealed and you punched landing a straight shot against its face sending it flying back and into the floorboards that groaned loudly under its weight. Asuka’s hands grabbed onto your shoulders as she begged you to turn the flashlight back on. You quickly switched it on, found your die and you both ran out and by the dazed monster.

“I’m so sorry I dragged you in there Y/N!” She wailed as you both stood outside the abandoned house slightly hunched over as you took short breaths.

You shook your head ready to tell her it was okay but as you straightened up your eyes landed on two men behind Asuka. One had bright white hair that stood out against the dark back drop. He was tall with a blindfold on? The other man was slightly shorter. Asuka followed your focused gaze as she turned around to find the men now walking towards you.

“Hey there! You girls okay? We heard screaming” You immediately stepped forward ahead of Asuka as you stuck your hand into your pocket, cupping the dice.

Your chest was telling you something was off both these men had some energy about them. It felt the same as when you used your dice. The same as the creatures you’ve encountered over the years. The white haired man stopped just a few feet away from you and you glanced over at the shorter m—boy, he was just a boy who looked around your age. His eyes darted to the side as he displayed a bored expression.

“Yes we are fine” you answered curtly not wanting to give any information to a stranger.

“You sure? Didn’t see anything weird in there?” He asked, tipping his head slightly. Your brows knitted further together at his tone. He was implying something, was he asking about that creature?.

“Anything weird? What do you mean” You couldn’t help yourself. This was the first time you had met someone who felt like you, felt the same energy you had encountered so many times. This man knew something. You had to know—needed to know.

“Just y’know creepy old house coulda’ met a ghost or a curse…” he trailed off, lips tipping up in a knowing smirk. Your brows raised and your heart skipped a bit.

He knew. He knew exactly what you had always been seeing. You opened your mouth ready to reply, to tell him yes! Yes theres a gross being in that building to ask a billion and one questions about it all when the shorter boy with dark hair stepped forward. His face now stony as he walked by you. Your head followed now focused on him, brows furrowed as you tried to place why he seemed so familiar. He was already by you now though and you turned to follow where he was walking as your eyes seen the orange creature force its way out of the house now groaning louder and moving quicker.

“Let him take care of that. I want to talk to you” Your head snapped back round to the man who was now leaning down. His hands pocketed. You stepped back from the sudden closeness and remembered your friend who was beside you.

“Asuka, a-are you alright?” You asked seeing as she just stared at the tall man.

“U-Um yeah, i—I think it’s getting late, shouldn’t we go?” Her cheeks were red as her eyes darted between him and anywhere else.

“Oh right, um—do you wanna stop at the shop on xxx street?” Your eyes met his again as you stated the street name. A raised brow was all the confirmation you needed.

He walked by you and towards the boy with dark hair whose wolves were ferociously ripping into the creature. You quickly took Asuka’s hand and darted off to get her home so you could meet this man who seemed to know all about the crazy stuff you’d been experiencing.

Stranger danger completely thrown out the window.

[mariocki]

Stuart Damon plays pretend as secret agent Vince in The Adventurer: Poor Little Rich Girl (1.2, ITC, 1972). Damon was initially cast as a recurring supporting character, one of a group of assistants that work with lead Gene Barry, but he was dropped from the series (almost certainly at Barry's behest) and appears in just two episodes

[qalma-e-azadi]

BDS SAFE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (INDIA SPECIFIC)

Parent Companies

ITC: Sunfeast, Fiama, Vivel, Engage, Bingo, Yippee, Dark Fantasy, Savlon, Classmate

Amul Co-operative

Skincare, Bodycare and Haircare

Nyle

Khadi Naturals

Himalaya

Nykaa Naturals

Parachute

Joy

Minimalist

Buds and Berries

Wishcare

Dot & Key

Lacto Calamine

Dr. Sheth's

Aroma Magic

Alps Goodness

Everyuth

Soulflower

Mamaearth

Wow Skin Science

(plum is not on this list as the company has some shares in Unilever)

Makeup

Huda Beauty

E.L.F

Swiss Beauty and SB Craze Range

Insight Cosmetics & Insight Professional Cosmetics

Makeup Revolution

Blue Heaven

Mars (homegrown)

Sugar and Sugar Pop

Nykaa Cosmetics

Miss Claire

NY Bae

Cuffs n Lashes (homegrown)

Purplle Cosmetics

Iba Halal (homegrown)

The Real Woman

Food, Drinks and Snacks

Balaji

Bikaji

Snac Tac

Top Ramen (personal fav: their noodles in curry flavour SLAP)

Ching's Secret

PaperBoat

Parle

Britannia

Lotte

Search Engines

Ecosia (personal fav)

OceanHero

Tor Browser

DuckDuckGo

Remember Indians, that this is our time to promote and foster “Made in India” products!!!!

Beware Of These Logos and Do Not Purchase:

Palestine will be free in our lifetime! Boycott with your whole power!

Viva La Intifada! 🇵🇸

[hauntedparaclassics]

‘Ghost Adventures’ Zak Bagans Blindsided By ‘Poltergeist’ House Investigation

By Jamie Colclasure - April 14, 2025

Ghost Adventures is kicking off the new season with a two-hour special on April 16. Zak Bagans, along with Aaron Goodwin, Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley will be investigating the iconic Poltergeist house in Simi, California. They are the first paranormal crew to investigate this legendary cursed house. What will they find? Zak shared eery details about what fans can expect to see and hear. Keep reading to get all the details.

Ghost Adventures Zak Bagans Reveals Details Surrounding Poltergeist House

Ghost Adventures is kicking off its brand-new season on Wednesday night, April 16. Zak Bagans spoke with People prior to the premiere. The crew will be investigating the actual house where the 1982 horror classic Poltergeist was filmed.

Zak, Aaron, Billy and Jay will work with the new owners of the home to uncover if the rumored curse is real. The investigation is not what Bagans expected at all. He said, “It was mind-blowing. To be in the house that was in the movie, but also to know that there is actual paranormal events occurring there, it just blindsided me.”

Poltergeist instantly became a hit and a total of three movies were made. Sadly, several of the cast and crew associated with the film died either during or shortly after production. One of the most famous and tragic was the death of Heather O’rourke. She died at the age of 12 shortly before the third installment of the film was released.

There were also others who died at young ages either from horrible diseases or tragic circumstances. One was murdered by an ax.

Zak has been fascinated with the rumored curse that surrounds this home for the longest time. His fascination increased when he opened The Haunted Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. Prior to going on one of their famous lockdowns, the Ghost Adventures crew collected items from cast and crew members that they believed were trigger objects for the curse.

Their findings on this investigation were so incredible they turned their findings into a two-hour special.

Bizarre Findings During The Investigation

Ghost Adventures lead Zak Bagans also revealed a bizarre fact about the Poltergeist house. Not only was the house built on an ancient Indian burial ground in the movie, but it was actually built near sacred Native American soil.

Bagans said, “We worked with some members of the tribes, and as soon as they gave us information about how real this curse could be, that’s when things got really serious.”

He went on to share that the television which is iconic in the movie and used as the focal point. They used this television as well for their own investigation. Zak said,

“There was a lot of truth to the television acting as a piece of ITC, which is Instrumental Transcommunication, where spirits use electronic devices to communicate to us by using the electromagnetic spectrum. We literally adhered our ITC equipment to it, our spirit boxes. You’ll see my reaction to the communication we started receiving from a spirit all of a sudden. We’re living in the movie, but everything’s real.”

Fans of the show have seen the Ghost Adventures crew use paranormal equipment before with astonishing finds. It looks like this will be just as incredible.

As for the rest of the season, Zak teased that it will feature some of their most iconic investigations. In fact, he says one of the highlights of his time on Ghost Adventures will happen this season when a skeptic sees evidence and they capture the reaction on film. Bagans says it was incredible.

Are you excited to watch and learn more about the legendary Poltergeist House?

Ghost Adventures premieres April 16 at 10 PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel.

Source: TVShowAce

[trainsinanime]

Another early internet meme that keeps being very distracting for me is Longcat. Not because the cat is so long, although it is.

That is in fact literally what she's known for, according to Wikipedia.

No, what keeps sending me on tangents is the poster in the background. The one with the race cars.

See, because I know that race car. I've seen it race. I've hated it. I've seen it up close.

Well, not quite the same one. This is number 8, Ellen Lohr's car, and the one in the poster is number 1 of Bernd Schneider. I took those pictures in 2017 (wait, that long ago!?) at the Essen Motor show, when it was already a very historic car.

For context that nobody needs but that I can't stop myself from sharing: This is a Mercedes Benz C-Class, type 202, the first car that got the name "C-Class" after the previous 190 E. But not any C-Class, this is the DTM version.

DTM is basically but also not at all German NASCAR. It's historically the racing series for the crowds, with cars that look like the ones you drive home from the race track. None of that weirdness with ovals and love for dirt tracks or anything, just normal racing with cars that look like normal family cars. It's had major ups and downs, but it was almost on par with Formula 1 at times, and it seems to be in a solid if weird spot these days. It was historically the playground of the big German car manufacturers, and it was very popular in the 1980s and very early 1990s.

In 1993, they introduced a new rule set for cars. Other similar series around that time adopted the class 2 or "Super 2000" rule set that was used across the world. It was very successful and very competitive and started a golden age for touring car sport in e.g. Britain or Italy. But Germany, rich and recently reunified, decided that wasn't good enough. They wanted the fastest, most amazing touring cars ever. The resulting specification was known as "Class 1". Incredible technical freedom, with computer-controlled suspension, traction control, all-wheel drive, engines similarly complex as Formula 1 at the time, carbon fibre bodyworks, everything you could think of.

It was loud. It was fast. It was glorious. It was a complete and utter commercial disaster. BMW pulled out almost immediately, Audi completed one prototype before pulling out as well, leaving only Mercedes-Benz, a very hesitant Opel, and new entrant Alfa Romeo from Italy.

My family drove an Alfa 33 at the time, and so I was an Alfa Romeo fan. Still am, actually.

Look at this! The Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI looks amazing, sounds amazing, it's red, it's unique rather than a race version of a car you see on every street corner. What's not to love!? Alfa 155 for the win.

Anyway, Alfa won the 1993 season, in part because Mercedes's C-Class (and Opel's Calibra) weren't done yet, and so Mercedes was still running the old 190 E race version, which is considered a legend in its own right. 1994 was still a successful year. Mercedes-Benz won back then, and I visited my first race, at the Avus! One of the last times that race track was used. Which makes sense, it's objectively a bad track. The DTM race that I watched from the grandstands was very much proof of that, ending in two successive massive start accidents. But still, I get a bit wistful when I see the old bleachers whenever I'm in the area to take pictures of new trains.

Anyway, in 1994 the trouble was already apparent: The series was just way, way too expensive for anyone. What to do?

Go international! In 1995, the series got split into two: The classic DTM in Germany, and the new International Touring Car Championship or ITC that ran elsewhere, with the hopes of attracting more fans and more manufacturers. In 1996, the series would only run as the ITC (even though everybody still called it the DTM).

In the end going international didn't save it; the class 1 specification was just way too expensive. If anything, going international doomed the series, because traveling to Brazil or Japan, countries where Alfa and Opel didn't even sell that many cars or at all, was expensive. Both of them pulled out at the end of 1996, and with only Mercedes-Benz, there was no point anymore, so the series ended.

It got revived in 2000, but without Alfa Romeo, so who cares. Originally they went with a simpler, cheaper solution, but over time they developed it more and more, until they developed the most ambitious spec yet, called "class 1", which was too expensive. They tried to offset this by going international, but that failed, so the series almost ended again in 2020. Who could have foreseen this?

Today it runs with GT3 cars, which are almost mass-produced race versions of expensive luxury cars that are designed to be easy to drive and all basically equally fast no matter which one you pick. That means the cars are no longer the visual equivalents of family saloons at all; last year, Mirko Bortolotti won in a Lamborghini, the first Italian brand to claim the title since Alfa Romeo in 1993.

Anyway, the weird combined DTM/ITC season of 1995 is long forgotten. Clearly not even the DTM officials remember it anymore, given that they repeated the exact same thing that sunk the series back then in 2020. And it's not like that's such a huge loss. Let's be real, car racing is difficult to justify at the best of times, and given global warming of today, we're absolutely not at the best of times. For me this is literally a throwback to the days when I was six, seven, eight years old or so, but it's not like you need to share this interest of mine.

But the memory of this weird time in the weird field of German touring car motorsports lives on, visible for all those in the know to see, in the background of a picture of a Japanese cat that became an internet meme. I don't know why that poster is there, it's a bit of an oddity especially since we know the picture was taken in Japan. The ITC did go to Suzuka there, but only in 1996, after the season this poster refers to. Who knows.

More people have seen the words DTM/ITC in the background of this cat picture (well, TM/ITC, the D is cut off) than have ever known what the race series was supposed to be. And that's kind of amazing to me, and me personally. Thanks longcat!

[typewriting-robin]

Sinner Like Us

Alfons/Robin OC (M x F)

Rating: E/Dead Dove

Serena, a brainy but bitter Robin with a storied past arrives at Crown. Alfons Sylvatica takes an interest in playing with her, giving her an offer she can't refuse. She agrees, not knowing she is way in over her head.

cw: yandere, obsessions, stabbing, references to physical assault, blood and depictions of blood, knifeplay, dubcon, noncon, loss of virginity,

Word count: 8,132

note~ it is recommended but not required to read the OC/MC master list and scroll to Serena, the Robin that corresponds to Alfons.

It happened again. Another nightmare.

“Roxane and I are going to be married and there’s nothing you can do to stop it!” It was unmistakably Patrick’s voice that rang out in the darkness. Slowly, he began to materialize. First came his medium brown hair, then his blue-green eyes. Roxane did too. Her face always burned into her memory. Her large blue eyes and perfect blonde ringlets.

It had been love at first sight for Patrick and Roxane.

All of her chances were lost the moment those two locked eyes.

And now, she had nothing to live for.

“I can absolutely stop it! I can! I can! I can!” A primal roar began to come out of her diaphragm, like she was in an opera and playing a scorned lover. A knife, much like her former love and his love, materialized in her hand. “You don’t know me, nor what I’m capable of!”

She knew exactly what to do, running to her target with inhumane speed.

She raised the knife against Roxane’s perfect form, took in a deep breath, and plunged down with force. She ignored the screams Roxane made.

Raise.

Plunge.

Raise.

Plunge.

It didn’t stifle the screams that Roxane made but she kept going, mechanically, like a machine in a factory, she had no will, nothing left of her own. Blood pooled around them and she was covered in it. Sticky, squelching, slimy. The texture viscous, flowing everywhere, seeping into her fingers but she did not care.

“Stop it! Stop it , Serena. Serena, SERENA!”

Patrick’s voice roused her from her sleep, rising as she awoke to her empty apartment above the bakery. The sun wasn’t fully out but it was moments away from daybreak.

“Again,” she said. She had that nightmare again. Sometimes she would stab Roxane. Sometimes it was Patrick. Occasionally it would be both. 

It always served to remind her how she got here and why this was her final chance at living. She stepped into the shower and bathed, then got ready for her day as a Robin for the post office, putting on her glasses and her green ribbon. Serena didn’t start wearing glasses until after she moved to London. At first it was supposed to aid her disguise, along with the haircut she had given herself, but since she had taken to writing so late at night, the glasses became necessary.

She didn’t look like the Lady Serena Hastings of old. Now she was Serena Harlow, a simple Robin who delivered letters and correspondences. It was a respectable job for someone as disreputable as her. 

“This is for you,” her boss said when she entered the post office. It was her weekly check, made from her various side jobs, where she would write various gossip columns and serials--all under different names. Her side job. The only thing that belonged to Serena Hastings. The only thing they could share under the veil of anonymity.

“Thanks,” she said, hiding the check in her pocket.

It seemed like an ordinary day, until she spotted a man so unusual. He reminded her of Patrick, even though they couldn’t have been more different. He was elegant, dignified. Ethereally beautiful, his blood red eyes firmly on her. She looked away before continuing with her business.

But then, her day took an unexpected turn after delivering her latest love letter.

“Serena! I need you to make a night run.”

“Huh? Me?” she asked. “Why?” She wasn’t a particularly outstanding Robin. Others were much faster, more efficient, more ambitious. Besides, she had gotten some gossip about one of the Queen’s grandchildren that she was itching to write.

“There’s no one else. You’ll get the pay you want so please do this delivery.”

She sighed, not wanting to fall out of the lines she had been given. This was her extra chance at life. Her father helped her sacrifice everything for this one shot to live anew. Just as she had helped that thieving girl hours ago.

Which came crashing down in an eerie echo when she saw her mail recipient drowned in a pool of his own blood.

The chain of events that resulted were almost dreamlike for her. 

“Seize her belongings,” the leader, the same man with the blood red eyes, who had the same aura as Patrick said to the rest of the men. She couldn’t believe they had crossed paths again. “Let’s take her to Crown Castle.”

The man with the mint green eyes sat next to her as he read her paycheck out loud as they waited for their true leader to arrive. “‘Thank you, Lady Blare and Sir Samuel Harlow. London is now watching thanks to your erstwhile off-season gaze.’”

“That’s private!” she said, yelling. Her mid-length red hair was bobbing as she tried to snatch her letters back. Which would never happen as the Patrick-like man, William, kept her rooted to the spot.

“But your name definitely isn’t Samuel. Nor is it Blare,” Harrison, the man with the mint green eyes said.

She shook her head. “They are me, but not me,” she said.

The man with the ash-gray blue eyes and cat-like grin raised her by her chin. Their eyes locked and she felt herself drowning in the pool of his empty eyes. “She’s not lying,” he said, his voice slinky and graceful. He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Do tell us your real name, my dear.”  Her heart pounded from the way he had touched her.

She felt a compulsion rise through her spine. “S…Serena Harlow.”

“That’s a lie,” Harrison said. One of the men drew his weapon. The man with the cat-like grin retracted his hand from her chin.

“Shit!” she cursed to herself, remembering she was using up her final chance at life and she couldn’t waste it on a simple, yet honest mistake she made. “My apologies. That’s the name I go by now. I was born Serena Hastings. Please do not call me Lady Hastings. I am Harlow now.” She thought herself pathetic as she heard herself speak with a pleading edge to her voice.

“Lady Blare? The Lady Blare?” a voice rang out, interrupting her plea. It was a man with impossibly long black hair and jewel toned eyes. “I know you quite well! Why, you were the thorn in the Queen’s side, reporting over the epic highs and lows of Princess Beatrice and Louis-Napoleon. It had almost gotten in the way of her marriage to Henry of Battenberg.”

Serena couldn’t hide the redness of her cheeks. Of course that story would come to mind. Although this happened when she was still Serena Hastings, it was some of her best known work. She sympathized with the lovers somewhat, until Beatrice married Henry of Battenberg. Maybe that was what fate wanted. Just as Patrick should have married her.

And yet…

Somehow this is what ultimately spared her and the man, Victor, made a deal to use her writing talents to become something known as a Fairytale Keeper. And then there was the party full of parlor tricks and magic tricks. 

Serena lowered her guard now that she knew she would keep living on another day and made her observations. All of the men of Crown were ludicrously attractive, even the one with a horrible temper.

If her parents had introduced her to other men and not just set her up to fail with Patrick, could things have ended up differently? She raised her glass of water and drank.

“Would you care for a glass of wine?” the man with the raven hair and slinky voice said, interrupting her reverie. He held up a bottle of wine.

“No, thank you.”

“Ah, but it’s a celebration and you are the guest of honor,” he said, pouring a second glass. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Besides, it’s vintage and from the countryside of Italy.” He sat down in front of her. She recalled the way his gloved hand touched her chin earlier that night when he searched her gaze.

“A gossip columnist,” he mused. “I don’t know exactly what Victor is thinking but…” He offered her the glass and clinked them together. “Congratulations.”

“I’m not just a gossip columnist,” she said, trying to rein in her temper. The fact that she was reduced to Lady Blare and not Samuel Harlow was infuriating. “I write stories too! Poetry as well!”

“I’d have to read them sometime.” His gaze traveled to the sinister man with the overcoat. “Jude over there…he never goes without his morning paper. Of course, I always attend to Lord Elbert in the morning so newspapers are difficult to come by with my schedule.”

Out of all the men here she knew Lord Elbert. Not that they had met, but the stories surrounding him were aplenty. He was the most beautiful man here but never said a word. This one in front of her was his mouthpiece. “I did not get your name, sorry.”

“Alfons. Do care to remember it, my dear.”

She sipped on more wine. “I suppose I’ll see you around, Alfons,” she said, watching him leave the room in the same way a cat would slink away, slipping into the night.

****

This time, she had stabbed the two of them to death. No more Patrick. No more Roxane as their bodies lay in a bloody heap. What changed, however, was the playing of a piano.

“Well done, little Robin,” William said as he applauded.

“You are as sinful as the rest of us. Just like us,” Victor said. 

The rest of the men of Crown joined in a circle, surrounding her and the lifeless husks of Patrick and Roxane, chanting, spurring her on.

Serena rose from her bed in a gasp. She made a loud gasp, her eyes wide as she woke from another nightmare. It was the dead of night. She had only slept for an hour.

She rubbed her temples and got out of bed. She didn’t care much for her appearance ever since she left home but didn’t bother to brush her hair as she made her way into the kitchen, searching wildly for any chamomile herbs. Or perhaps valerian root. 

The noise she made eventually attracted someone.

It wasn’t the maids but Alfons. He wasn’t wearing his jacket but the white undershirt he wore underneath it.

“It’s you,” she said.

He grinned, reminding her of a cat again. “You won’t find Crown’s secrets in here, Miss Serena” he said, teasing her.

She tried to play off her frustration. “Only if those secrets are of chamomile and valerian root,” she said pleasantly.

Alfons kept his grin, sitting on the cabinets opposite to where she was searching. “You’re warm,” he said. Serena went left. “Colder now. “ She went back right. “Warmer.”

Her temper got the best of her as she shouted. “Just tell me where they are!”

Alfons only looked more amused, his smile as wide as a Cheshire cat. “And spoil the fun? How do you know I’m not lying?”

“Because I already ransacked that side. It’s on this side.”

“Correct. And you’re starting to burn up.”

Despite, or perhaps, in spite of his words, she did feel heated but opened the cabinet where the tea leaves were. This was what he meant. She grabbed some chamomile and brewed it using the tea kettle she had found.

“You can find tea leaves at Roger’s but he’ll insist you owe him.”

Serena nodded. “Wouldn’t want that.”

“No, I’d rather you owe me.”

She stopped at his words. “Don’t these belong to Crown?”

“You are uneducated in our ways, but don’t worry, I’m here to help.” He got off the countertop and sauntered over to where she was. “I bought these for my Lord, of course. You are borrowing it but I’m afraid you owe me now.”

“Then I’ll stop making it.” She tried to move the tea kettle away but his gloved hand covered hers.

“No need. What’s done is done, Miss Serena,” he said, keeping his hand over hers, his fingers intertwining with hers. She was trapped. It made her heart skip a beat.

“So what do I owe you?” she asked. “What could you possibly want from me?”

He did not move his hand. “Simple. I want Lady Harlow to study me and only me for her Fairytale Keeping duties.”

“That’s not a good idea,” she said. “In the gossip world, it’s important to maintain as many sources as you can.” She couldn’t believe she was bringing this up.

“Ah yes, but…” He loosened his hand and stood up straight. “Once you get that incredibly juicy morsel, you start digging, wanting, yearning for more. I can give you all that. Access to parties, of course but also…” he leaned in. “Many of those people…the ones we love to read about…have the darkest of secrets. Love. Pleasure. Pain. And I can be the conduit for you.”

“I thought you said I owed you. This is an equivalent exchange,” she pointed out.

He responded by moving a strand of her unruly bedhead. “Correct. I’ll have to think up a more immediate payment in that case. But come tomorrow, Victor will tell you to focus on one member of Crown. He will want you to shadow William but I don’t think you’re suited for him. I can see it in your eyes.”

“And what, pray tell, are you possibly going about here with that?”

Alfons leaned in. “It’s simple, my dear Miss Robin. You’re not suited for the self-righteous monarch. A leader of the dark like him? No, you belong somewhere deeper. Somewhere few would dare to tread and come back.” She took a step away from him, wondering if he could read her, his voice hypnotic. There’s no way he knew of her past and the terrible thing she did.

“I’ll…consider it…”

“Now as for the matter of payment for the tea.”

Alfons leaned in, his lips sealing hers with his. She was startled by his kiss, his lips brushing hers with a lightness to it. It had reminded her of—

The tea kettle made a high-pitched noise, indicating the tea was ready. Without saying another word, Alfons walked out, not even bidding her goodnight as she was left with a screeching pot of tea, her hand lifting to touch the very lips he had kissed, as if she had been kissed by a phantom. 

***

As she got dressed the next morning, she thought of the kiss from last night. Alfons’s kiss was too similar to the ones she shared with Patrick. He had kissed her for the first time when she was fifteen, him eighteen. It was not long after their engagement and she had considered that to be the best day of her life.

His kiss was gentle and featherlight, sincere, and yet powerful with how it made her stir.

Alfons’s kiss was also gentle and featherlight, but it lacked any of the sincerity Patrick had in his kiss, right? But she had thought about it nonstop, even as she was treading her way to Victor’s office.

“Good morning, my chirping little Robin! Would you like some freshly baked scones made by Yours Truly?”

“Good morning to you too,” she said, trying to keep herself chipper as she accepted a scone, lavishing butter on it as Victor began to speak.

“I know today marks your first official day at Crown so I wanted to have a little chat and suggestion as to how you’d handle your duties. Of course, you could do a general report but it would be better if you just focused on one member of Crown.”

Serena nodded, not giving away that this was the exact conversation she had with Alfons last night. This was where she was at a crossroads. Alfons said Victor would want her to study William but now she had the power to choose. But what if she took a third option instead of William or Alfons?

She sifted through the men in her head who weren’t Alfons.

Elbert? Too quiet.

Jude? Sadistic.

Ellis? Odd. Also did a sharp one eighty after Victor said not to kill her.

Roger? He was just like Alfons. Another side of the same coin.

But Alfons’s kiss reminded her of her past. And his offer. What was it? She conjured his words in her mind.  I can give you all that. Access to parties, of course but also…” he leaned in. “Many of those people…the ones we love to read about...have the darkest of secrets. Love. Pleasure. Pain. And I can be the conduit for you.

“Miss? Robin?” Victor waved his hand at her.

His hand brought her out of her stupor.  “Sorry, I was thinking a little. You want me to observe William?” she asked, searching his jewel toned eyes.

“I did! See, William is my fellow cofou—”

She cleared her throat, interrupting him, and then immediately regretting it. She never was very good at social manners, even less after she assumed her new identity and began throwing caution to the wind. “I wish to observe someone else,” she said.

“Of course! But I can’t make promises that they will have your best interest at heart. William is my longest known acquaintance and the most trusted member of Crown. You can count on him.”

“I understand but I would prefer to observe Alfons.” 

There was a pregnant pause between them. 

But before she could justify her words, Victor spoke. “Not the worst choice of my sons to work with but I’ll allow it.”

“There’s a worst choice?” she asked, unable to hide her curiosity. 

Victor laughed. “Why of course! I have made my own tier list of my sons from best to worst when with others. Personalized, of course based on many factors including forming partnerships, working well with others. Alfons belongs in hmm…tier B, I believe? But now that I’m thinking about it, he would be a suitable partner for you, yes yes. He is delightful and adorable!” 

“He works for Lord Elbert, no?” Serena asked, trying not to hinge too much on Victor’s strange perception of Alfons. “Delightful” and “adorable” weren't words that seemed to aptly describe Alfons.

He smiled. “Yes, and he goes to many, many lavish affairs. Affairs that Lady Blare would not be shy to report on. Ah yes, but do be careful about him. Out of all my sons, he is…perhaps the most pleasure seeking and his abilities are very much attuned to that affinity. You must understand that before moving on because once the glove comes off…I’m afraid you’ll be on your own. Will you accept that risk?”

“I will.” She thought of the kiss he had given her. He was pleasure seeking, alright. The way he had held her chin, her hand over his, the way he handed her the wine. The way he always toyed with her like a cat tossing a ball of yarn. There was no doubt of that. She knew what she was getting herself into. Maybe. Right?

“Let me talk to him. I’ll get started right away.”

***

Alfons was in the foyer, elegantly taking tea with Lord Elbert, who watched her with interest.

“Good morning,” she said to him, curtseying. Alfons’s gaze was directly on her.

Elbert set his tea down. “Good morning.” He looked at Alfons. “Tell me, Al. Is she beautiful?”

“Of course not,” was his instant reply. Her face fell at his lack of hesitation. “Her hair is a red rat’s nest and her eyes the color of…hmmm that pet monkey you bought when you were seventeen, remember? And she needs visual aids. No beautiful thing would need something so imperfect.”

“Excuse you!” she said, huffing. “And I was just about to tell you that I had chosen you! You…you…” She was ready to throw curses at him, Elbert's ears be damned!

Alfons’s smirk only widened. “Yet another reason why you cannot have her, Elbie. She’s mine.”

“Hmm,” Elbert said. He sipped his tea, not saying another word. She ran off and of course, Alfons followed her. He pulled on her wrist. 

“Where are you going?”

“Perhaps I’m going to tell Victor that I’m choosing William instead of someone as rude as you. That he was right all along.” He didn’t have to go that hard about her insecurities. She was unconventional. She knew that. She had lost the love of her life to a head turning beauty. A fact that she had never, ever forgotten about.

“If I told Elbert the truth, that your eyes are as green as a tigress about to pounce, that your hair is as red as a rose in bloom. That you stand out in a crowd, you would never see us again.”

She froze in place. “Okay now you’re just laying it on thick.” She couldn’t get a read on him. Was he attracted or repulsed by her? 

Alfons laughed. “I cannot win with you, but I’m a patient man.” His hand moved up her elbow and to her upper arm, resting on her shoulder.

“Well, I did actually commit myself to studying you.” She studied his features. If he found her to stand out, truly, she found him to be…almost nondescript. Or at least, deliberately so. Everything about him oozed darkness, even here in the light. Like he was an intruder. 

“A wise decision. Elbert…well, he hasn’t stuffed a human yet but perhaps it would have been a matter of time.” His hand moved to her chin, tilting it upwards to gauge her reaction.

“A taxidermist?”

Alfons hummed cryptically. “Meet me tonight at hmm…ten for a little chat,” he said, changing the subject.

“Where?”

“We could meet in my bedroom,” he said.

“No thanks.”

“Yours then.”

“Try again.”

“Here then. In the foyer. For tea.”

“Are you upcharging me? Or should I bring my own tea?”

“No need this time. I’ll see you then, dearest.” He moved his hand from her chin to her hair, ruffling it up further. “And do wear something comfortable.” He smirked before they parted ways.

***

Serena spent the rest of the day getting to know the rest of Crown and studying them for her note taking skills. Victor probably didn’t expect her to get much done on Day 1 but she was persistent if not anything.

That and it was honestly the longest she had gone without thinking about Patrick and Roxane. Everyone was such a nice distraction.

Alfons was there in the lounge at the specified time. She made sure to brush her hair and wear it in her usual pigtail style that she had adopted as a Robin. More importantly, she had a switchblade hidden in her pocket. It was one of her few possessions she was allowed to keep at Crown because Victor said, “she needed a final means of defense”.

As she descended the stairs, she could smell the fragrance of tea. Alfons was as he was last night, only in his white undershirt and black trousers that were meant for sleeping.

“Good evening, Miss Serena.”

“Good evening.” He handed her a saucer of tea. “What tea is it?”

“Bergamot. With a drop of lemon and honey for added taste.”

“Thanks. It smells really nice.” She raised her glass of tea to her lips, gingerly taking a small sip in fear of burning herself.

Alfons only surveilled her. “You don’t act like it but when you hold the saucer, you remind me of the noble ladies at the parties I escort Elbie to.”

Serena cast her gaze away from Alfons. He was right but she was never a shining example of a noble. “Why did you want to meet me this late at night?”

Alfons chuckled. “You are always quite to the point, Miss Serena.”

“Because ‘a little chat’ could mean anything.”

Alfons relaxed on the sofa, setting his tea down. “Very well. I will answer your blunt question with a blunt response.” He faced her completely and Serena was reminded how much larger he was than her. He raised his hand, his leather clad thumb circling around her lower lip before Serena caught it.

“Stop.”

“You kiss like an innocent little noble,” he said, making good on his promise of giving her a blunt answer. It blindsided her enough that she lowered the hand that was covering Alfons’s. “Tell me, were you thinking about that paltry little kiss all day long? Did it make your heart race?”

Serena was too stubborn to answer him because she knew the answers to his questions were all “yes”. All she did was turn away and try to grab her tea.

Alfons’s laugh was louder. “How amusing. That’s how they all kiss, by the way. One brush of the lips and it sends them to the brink of insanity.”

“Are you here to just goad me?” She knew there was absolutely zero chance she would win with her switchblade but maybe if she threw hot tea at his face…

“Of course not. However, if you intend on staying on as my dutiful fairytale keeper and fellow co-conspirator, I have to insist we get better acquainted.” Serena knew that was a given. But…Alfons continued. “That’s why I wish to kiss you like a man does a woman. Won’t you do that for me?”

Serena instantly wanted to say no. Up until yesterday, the only person she had ever kissed was Patrick. She would always compare them, no matter what.

Alfons spoke again. “Perhaps I thought incorrectly of you. You struck me as someone who could survive the depths of pleasure, pain, insanity,...” He was closer to her, definitely goading her.

He was more than attractive, that much she could admit. “One kiss.”

Alfons didn’t hesitate, bringing himself close to her, his hand expertly reaching to stroke her bottom lip. “You have beautiful bone structure,” he said. “High cheekbones. Full lips. Perfect for kissing.” Alfonse moved closer, his lips finding her upper lips, caressing them with his. His lips moved down mid-kiss to squeeze her lower lip. She inhaled as she tried to control her out of control heartbeat as he cupped her cheeks with his hands, his kiss firm and yet so practiced. She couldn’t help but clumsily follow his lead.

He broke the kiss, where their lips made the softest popping noise. An unmistakable noise of two lovers caught in a liplock.

She was dazed for a moment before the instant comparison arose. This wasn’t anything like how Patrick kissed her. It wasn’t desperate, nor urgent but she felt…wanted. She moved away but he kept his hands on her cheeks.

“Did you enjoy that? No matter what you’ll say I know you did.”

Serena took a deep breath, unable to counter him. “I did.” 

“Good. Now…” Alfons brought himself close to Serena once more, their lips meeting again as he kissed her squarely in the middle, their lips meeting each other’s again and again as his hands stayed resting on her cheek. She threw her arms around his neck, getting on her knees to match him, even though she knew she was inexperienced going against someone like him who was leagues ahead of her.

Alfons’s tongue prodded at her lips, parting them as he entered her mouth slowly, getting a taste of her. Serena was surprised, lost until his tongue found hers, caressing hers. She followed his move, like a mirror. There was increased urgency as his hands began to move down to her chest, ghosting over her breast as their tongues moved together, which caused her to breathe in sharply.

He broke the kiss. “Very good,” he said, licking his lips. Serena couldn’t help but think he looked so damned seductive and she knew he knew this terrible fact.

“It was. I…”

Alfons interrupted her. “Want seconds, Miss Robin? Let me sink us down to the depths of pleasure.”

Alfons closed the gap between them, his taste of Bergamot once against enveloping her as his tongue found hers again. She wondered if this is how Patrick and Roxane had kissed. Meanwhile hers were the chaste, reserved kisses. If Patrick wanted her, truly wanted her, he would kiss her like this.

Alfons startled her by lifting her up from the sofa. This time she ended the kiss. “Where in the world are we going? And the tea set?”

“While I love a good clandestine rendezvous, there was a reason why I wanted to use the bedroom as our meeting spot. As for the tea, the maids will pick it up. Don't worry about something as trivial as that.”

Serena understood as he carried her up the stairs. A whirlwind of thoughts began to stir. Alfons would eat her up but…but…how many times had the love of her life lay with that woman? And here she was, finally wanted. She would never marry Alfons, no one would want her. So why…

“I can walk by myself,” she said.

“They say it’s more romantic this way. The way a groom would carry his bride, no?” She couldn’t believe his words, nor what was happening. He moved her up to nibble on her ear before he whispered. “I’ll be gentle. Don’t be afraid of me.”

“I’m not.”

“You should be.”

Alfons’s room was elegant yet also spartan, with sprawling mirrors everywhere, including the ceiling. He set her down on the bed, which felt like she was a poor insect and Alfons the beautiful spider, trapping her in his web as he caged his body on top of hers, resuming their kisses. 

He spoke between kisses, his gloved hands palming her breasts, which caused her to reflexively inhale deeply. “Poor thing. You’ve never been touched.” His hand slipped under her pajama blouse, squeezing her breast, his skilled fingers kneading her, drawing out her nipples. He watched her reactions with endless amusement as she squirmed underneath her. “Does it give you pleasure? Remember that lying is pointless.”

“Yes,” she hissed as he began to unbutton her pajamas. “It feels really good. Happy?”

His skin was impossibly clear, glossy in the moonlight. “Next time I’d rather you wear a chemise or a nightgown,” he said, freeing her of her top before moving his lips to her breasts, drawing out her nipples with his skilled tongue, swirling, putting just the right amount of pressure. He moaned as he consumed her, causing her to moan in turn.

Alfons stopped for an agonizing few seconds. She whined. 

“My, how quickly have you taken to such pleasure. We haven’t even started yet.” Alfons began to lower his kisses down her stomach, leaving a tantalizing trail of kisses, his lips continuing their sensual pressure as he undid her silk and lace bottoms, lowering them and her underwear. He let out a small laugh as he kissed her womb, moving lower as his gloved fingers brushed against her hairs.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’re just as red over here. Quite a rarity,” he said, twirling a strand, which caused her to yelp.

“R-really,” she said, trying to mask her pleasure, or perhaps her yearning to see what he’d do next. 

“Yes,” he echoed. “Relax for me.” She followed his instructions as his kisses got lower, inhaling her as he parted her folds. She gasped. “There, there. I said I’d be gentle,” he said, breathing against her arousal. “This time.” Then his tongue elongated, licking a stripe of her wetness, causing her to moan. She lifted her hand to cover her mouth but Alfons’ hand caught her. “No. I want to hear every sound you make. Don’t hold back and neither will I.”

He began to focus entirely on her, parting her legs and setting them on his back as he vigorously licked her. He was teasing her relentlessly as she would gasp every time his tongue found her clit, then moved to stroke the rest of her folds with her tongue, then back again. Each time she moaned. 

She remembered reading about this act in her mother’s secret erotic novels, fantasizing about this exact scenario on her wedding night to Patrick. But instead, she was getting this from…from Alfons’s skilled tongue as he teased her every corner, his tongue filling her before he began to flick relentlessly on her clit, now trying to get her to come. She moved her hands, gripping the pillow behind her as he rolled her hips up and down, keeping her legs open, ignoring the reflection of her writhing in pleasure as he continued taking her with his tongue. Serena breathed in and out, panting in a steady rhythm as the heat grew and grew, like a hot air balloon welling deep inside her. And then she felt it, a tidal wave of pleasure as Alfons’s tongue hit her bundle of nerves and everything that came with it, his tongue lapping up her every juice, her every pleasure.

There was a moment of silence between them in the darkness of the room. An eerie calm had enveloped the bedroom until she heard a rustling noise.

Alfons’s voice cut through the darkness. “Was that your first orgasm?”

She shook her head. “N-no.”

“You’re not as innocent as you seem. Noble girls…” he laughed, crawling up her body, giving her an upwards trail of kisses. “Unmarried noble girls like yourselves, are just like unplucked flowers. But you…” He coaxed her legs up to remove her bottoms, rendering her naked. 

“Have you had a virgin before?”

“Many.”

“Then I’m just one in a long line.” 

“You will have your qualities. But it’s only a matter of time and with some searching…you’ll stand out above the rest.” Then what could possibly make her different? “Are you ready?”

Alfons pulled at his drawer, taking out a small contraption she didn’t recognize. “What’s that?”

“To practice pleasure, one needs to exercise caution. While you are one hundred percent free of disease, I don’t wish to conceive a child, and neither do you.” A grin escaped his face. “Care to help me put it on? I’ll teach you.”

He began to strip out of his clothes, pulling his top up and his bottoms down, exposing his length. It was bigger than she thought they’d look as his cock seemed to be pointing at her entrance. “N-no thanks,” she said, noticing her throat was dry. “D-do it yourself.”

With the contraption, he rolled it up his length. She saw him, a perfect vision in the darkness. Only naked save for his hands, which she thought was odd but the last remaining rational vestiges of her mind reminded her that they were likely there for a reason. 

Alfons began to kiss between her breasts, then her lips again, taking off her glasses and setting them aside on the nightstand with her small pile of clothes. He loosened her pigtails. One, then the other. She breathed in as she felt his erection against her entrance. He shushed her. “You won’t regret this.” He coaxed her upwards, their lips gently meeting for deceptively gentle kisses, much like their first kiss before she felt something stretching her below, an intrusion. He moved to fit in deeper, deeper, contrasting the tongueless kisses he was giving her.

She didn’t move as he entered her, shocked at the feeling of him inside her and he stopped kissing her.

It was an agonizing moment of silence. Then he started to withdraw, which caused her to whine.

“Shh, shh,” he whispered. “Trust me just this once.” Then he slammed into her, causing her to hiss in pleasure. He began slowly, his strokes soft. 

“Am I doing this right?” She hated how vulnerable she sounded but Alfons paid it no mind.

He smiled. “You are,” he said amidst the darkness. “You’re doing amazing. Wrap your legs around my back and let me take care of you.” She did just so, her legs latching at his back as he began a steady rhythm. 

Serena gasped from how good it felt.  

“Let it all out.” Spurred on from her gasps, Alfons’s pace began to steadily move faster, more ruthless. His gloved hand traced her lips as they kept moving together, breaths steady. Alfons began to move his tongue back to her breasts as he kept going, her breathing growing heavier as he began to roll her hips with his other hand, squeezing her every curve.

“Ah,” she moaned.

“More,” he said, moving more forcefully as he now began a pattern of withdrawal then slamming back inside her. “Ah yes!” he said, as if savoring her.

“God!” she whispered, closing her eyes as she felt a second tidal wave hit her. Alfonse began to sense this, his movements now more urgent, frenzied as they rocked together and she felt her walls clench and push all around him as a sweet release began to take hold of her. “Ngh!” She couldn’t form a coherent word as she came. Alfons buried himself in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply as he let out a groan of pleasure, of satisfaction.

He let out a few haphazard strokes as he came, then pulling out and rolling over to her side.

“Did you enjoy that?” He was facing her, stroking her cheek with a gloved finger.

Serena wanted to lift a blanket to cover herself, but there were none nearby. “Yes, it was pretty good. Not how I imagined it, though.”

He rolled over to his stomach, propping himself on one elbow, a finger running up and down her arm. “Will you tell your lover how you imagined it?”

“Lover? Let’s not go too far.” She looked out the window, watching the shadows of trees move. “I had imagined it with my fiance.”

“Fiance?” he asked with a laugh. “How naughty of you to be so attached…”

“Ex-fiance,” she corrected.

“Ah, I see. How unfortunate for you, I suppose. And now you’re in my bed.” He kept stroking her arm. “I can share secrets with you. Will you allow me that honor of having yours?”

“You already had the honor of taking my virginity.”

“I’m a greedy man.” He began to flick his finger at her nipple.

“Stop that!” She began to do the same to him with his nipple, which made him laugh once more. “When I was a teenager, I was engaged. I loved him with every fiber of my being.” Alfons stopped playing with her body. “But he broke it off for another woman. They’re married now, with two little ones. And here I am.” That wasn’t even the abridged version of the story. She was deliberately missing out on so many details.

“Here you are,” he said, an echo, as if a mirror on the wall, his blue eyes not leaving hers. “What was his name?”

“Patrick Villers-Howard.”

“Patrick,” he said, nodding. It was odd to hear him say his name, a name she hadn’t muttered in years. A name that caused her much pleasure, yet so much heartache.

“The moment he met her, anything we had was doomed.” She couldn’t believe this was happening. She was stark naked with a man she barely knew talking about this topic in particular.

“I see,” he said. “But perhaps he didn't want you in the first place.” He brought his propped up hand to his mouth, and pulled it with his teeth. Her eyes widened at the unexpectedly seductive move. He withdrew his playful hand from her body, repeating the same action with his teeth pulling off his glove. The gloves made a small plop, plop noise as they fell onto the bed, falling gracefully. Her eyes saw his hands, smooth and without a single scar. 

She couldn’t understand what was happening but her adrenaline began to rise from his actions, like she stumbled upon a sight she was not meant to see.

Alfons’s bare hand stroked her cheek, his thumb padding over her cheekbone and giving her forehead a gentle kiss. “Close your eyes.”

She was trapped in this vortex of Alfons’s bed and so she did the most illogical thing imaginable. She closed her eyes, feeling fingers scrape throughout her body. Then whispers sweet as candy filled her ears alongside featherlight kisses on her earlobe. She felt a pair of hands reach the nape of her neck, stroking her softly, causing her to shudder.

“Relax…relax…” A soothing voice said.

She felt herself falling…falling…falling….falling into a pit of depths disguised as satin sheets and pillows. The world shifted and a ghost from her past emerged as she took in a deep breath, exhaling.

There he was. Brown hair and captivating blue-green eyes. A handsome, golden face and he was naked beside her. “Patrick!” 

“Serena,” he said. His voice…it felt like she was a desert flower and he the rain. A voice she only heard in her dreams. Without thinking twice, she threw her arms around him. “What are you doing here?”

“I left her. My family was right. It should have been you I married.”

“Patrick.” She crawled towards him and took his hand, kissing the palm of his hand. “It always should have been me, you buffoon. I was the perfect woman for you. Made myself perfect for you,” she said between kisses. Then she set down his hand and pushed him down the bed. “All for you to fuck it up with some adopted penniless girl.”

“It’s you I love.”

Hearing those words made her heart soar. Patrick, who had never said those words to her. She moved to kiss his lips, his kiss deep and all-encompassing. She broke their kiss. “I love you too. More than you’ll ever know.” She began to kiss down his body, worshiping each part of his body with reverence, with love and adoration. His chest, his thighs, feet. She put every part of her soul into her kisses. 

He moaned. “Please, Serena.”

Serena pushed him down on the bed. When the rumors began, when there were whispers of him kissing and holding Roxane in the garden mazes, Serena would fantasize about cornering him and taking over, ensuring that he would never forget her.

“Please, Serena, I want you,” he said, pleading, his voice matching the many late night fantasies she had of him when they were engaged.

She climbed him, watching him open a drawer and sift through it. She moved to the discarded pile of her clothes on the other nightstand, grabbing her own beloved item as he got himself ready for her.

“After this, love me and only me,” she said as he helped her down his shaft, filling her wet warmth with his eager cock. How she had fantasized about this. She rode him slowly. “You feel as good as I imagined.”

“So do you…Serena…Serena…”

“Patrick…if I ever see you with that bitch again, I will…I will…” she unleashed her switchblade on his neck, careful not to let the blade touch his perfect skin. 

His eyes widened and yet, he sighed in pleasure, as if betraying the surprise as he squeezed her ass, moving her to his liking.

She moaned louder as she ran the knife down his body, careful not to hurt him. Their movements were primal, rhythmic as she rode him, trying to match it the way her fantasies went. The knife moved down to his nipples, then his abs, careful not to break the skin as she cut a mark. 

“I’m marking you,” she said. “You’re mine. All mine. No one else’s.”

She rode him harder as she wrote S.H on his chest, careful to make the wound shallow. Satisfied, she cast the knife aside and threw it to the side, giving him short but impactful rides as their bodies squelched together. 

“Patrick, I’m so close….please….” She begged, watching the small droplets of blood drip down his chest, exciting her more. “Fuck…”

“Serena…I love you,” he said.

Those were the magic words that made her feel an ecstasy unlike anything else she had ever felt before, arching her back as stars filled her eyes. Patrick came right after her, letting out a yell of pleasure.

She collapsed on top of him, but refused to pull out, cuddling him. “You bastard,” she said. “Just for that, you’re not leaving me, not for a moment.” She kept him inside her, even though she was sore and bruised, she needed him to stay. Stay with her forever.

“I couldn’t leave you if I tried,” he said, cooing into her ear and rubbing his delicate hands on her body. Their legs intertwined as exhaustion finally set in. But as she began to fall asleep, she saw a shift in Patrick’s hair, momentarily matching the inky black depths of night.

***

The first thing she felt when she woke up the next day was something warm inside her.  She stirred, remembering the night she had spent with Patrick. A night with no nightmares, only sweet dreams.

But when her eyes awoke, she didn’t see the soft brown of his hair, but black strands. She was cuddling him.

She jolted, feeling disoriented. It woke up the man next to her as they lost their connection and he was no longer inside her. “What…what the…”

Her bed partner woke up. It wasn’t Patrick. Memories flashed in her eyes. No, this was one of the men of Crown, Alfons Sylvatica. She was in his bed, holding him, cuddling him tight. But…she had also been with Patrick. Right?

“Good morning,” he said, removing his arm from her. “I didn’t take you as a cuddler, but then again, that was quite the sweet dream you had. Did you enjoy it?”

“The fuck did you do?” Pleasantries be damned.

Alfonse calmly propped himself against the headboard. “Why, I’ve helped you, my dear. In more ways than one.” He took a strand of her hair, his ash gray eyes shining with a look she couldn’t place. “Did you enjoy it? ” he asked again. “Your first time with Patrick?”

Bile rose up her body. “W-what?”

He moved closer to her, a finger caressing her cheek. “Allow me to introduce you to my Curse—Magic Mirror. One bare, naked touch to the nape of your neck, and I will show you the most beautiful, fleeting dreams. Your endless desires.”

Serena quickly put the pieces together. He had manipulated, made her see what she wanted to see. 

She recalled Victor’s warning yesterday: “Do be careful about him. Out of all my sons, he is…perhaps the most pleasure seeking and his abilities are very much attuned to that affinity. You must understand that before moving on because once the glove comes off…I’m afraid you’ll be on your own. Will you accept that risk?”

Slowly, the proof showed itself. There was a mark on the center of his chest. A shallow mark reading S.H. She remembered carving that on Patrick’s skin, not Alfons’s. Her eyes widened in mortification as she shook. 

“No. That’s not…”

“Who cares whether it’s the truth or not?” He kissed her cheek. “More importantly, wouldn’t it be more appealing to have a fleeting dream with me?”

“I…” She recalled how she felt when she finally had the love of her life inside her. She felt so wanted, so beautiful. “It was, but that doesn’t mean that…”

“If you can’t accept reality, then run from it. Run to me and I’ll wash them all away for you.” He kissed her other cheek, his kiss tender. Like a lover's.

Serena moved away from him. Alfons…he really was the spider weaving not just trapping her into his lair, but also weaving illusory threads built off her weaknesses. “Stop it.” Tears began to spring out of her eyes. Then she remembered the knife. The knife she had used to hurt Patrick. To hurt Roxane and she stilled, frozen as though she were to lose consciousness.

Alfons embraced her as if understanding. He kissed her forehead. “Shh…all you have to do is forget all of this fear…all of this pain and fill it with pleasure. After all, every inch of you is amazing.”

Alfons’s embrace calmed her, if only for a second, but she pulled away, quickly getting dressed. “I have to go.”

He waved his hand at her. “I’ll leave you to your typewriter. I’m certain you have much to write in your little lorebook. Come seek me out when you’re ready again, my dearest, most delightfully insane Robin.” He bowed at her, still stark naked as she turned tail and ran, escaping from his darkness, his vision of lies now that daylight had exposed their truth.

She was too disgusted to leave him with parting words.

She ran until she finally reached the light, shutting the door and locking herself in her room.

She gazed at the bright blue sky, as if mocking her.

Because she knew better than anyone, that the night would always come for her.

[thebestofoneshots]

lilly i miss you how are you doing love? i would love to hear about life outside of fanfiction for you if you wanna share.

Hey my sweet darling! I'd love to share a mini update with you!

It's been hectic to say the least! Dad is getting a big operation soon and we have to prepare the house for it (needs to be hyper-clean because of immunosuppressors). We've been cleaning, scraping, painting and fixing things around.

We'll also be travelling for the operation, and I will be locked up in the hospital (as a companion) for almost a whole month –maybe even more. But I'm hoping I'll be able to write while I'm there, perhaps even more than normal since I won't have anything else to do other than help when I'm needed. Perhaps I have a terrible idea of what it is to take care of someone post-op but I'm hoping it won't be overly demanding.

Having said that, I've also recently finished my application to a Creative Writing Masters! I've applied to a few already, but the one in this university is particularly exciting to me since it also includes screenwriting in the curriculum.

Also, I recently graduated from the online master's degree I was doing on ITC, and got an honourable mention because of my GPA, which was really exciting as well.

So yeah, a lot of things are going on, some good, some bad, some right in the middle, and to be honest, I've been neglecting the wonderful world I created inside of Gilded Constellations, but it's finally time to put on those computer glasses and get writting (literally, I'm going to go that right now).

Sending you lot's of love,

Lils xx

[extratrrestrial]

TYPEFACES I THINK THE MOBSAI MAIN CAST WOULD USE

Decided to be insane and come up with some headcanons on the typefaces each character would use. Please shout at me about it on the psychohelmet forum if you get the chance. I've copied and pasted the headcanons under the read more for your viewing pleasure.

I wanted to share my headcanons for the different fonts (using this term very generally) each of the mobsai main cast would use (if we are imagining that they were given free rein to do so for some reason, and also that they wrote using a latin alphabet, obviously) which I just made up off the top of my head right now.

Anyway, here we go:

Mob - Calibri

I think this one makes a lot of sense, just off the bat. I really don't think Mob would be a serif sort of guy, he's too plain and unassuming for that. What better than to make him a very default font. I honestly don't think you can even get more default than calibri. It even sounds a little lame when you say it. Despite that, it's a pretty dependable font, it appears everywhere, and I would argue is very powerful due to its universality and legibility on any-sized devices. But don't just take my word for it, here's what Microsoft has to say about it: "Its proportions allow high impact in tightly set lines of big and small text alike. Calibri’s many curves and the new rasteriser team up in bigger sizes to reveal a warm and soft character." I would argue that this clearly reflects Mob's welcoming character and desire to understand and empathise with any number of characters within the show.

Reigen - Arial

Again, I do feel like this just makes sense to me. Reigen is also a real sans-serif sort of guy, he's the greatest psychic of the 21st century, he's spice city's bro! Arial I feel is also a little more professional than calibri, while still being quite similar in appearance, which I feel reflects the influence Reigen has over Mob's character and development within the story. Described by Microsoft as an "extremely versatile" typeface, especially "for display use in newspapers, advertising and promotions", I think this works well for Reigen's character. It's also a pretty dyslexia friendly font, which I think would be a fun fact he'd shoot at Mob.

Dimple - Papyrus

This one was a little tricky. I wanted it to look dated, considering Dimple's been dead for some time, while also being a little flashy to reflect his desires for godhood. I settled on papyrus because, well, look at it. It's definitely what I'd consider a meme typeface (which I think is fitting for a sentient fart, honestly), but it's also loud without being too out there, and a popular and fun font to use. It's unapologetic and real, which I think Dimple represents as a character, and the complete opposite of a font like calibri. It also looks good in green.

Ritsu - Times New Roman

Ritsu is absolutely a serif guy, through and through. He's always on that 12pt Times New Roman shit, even if he's just writing a casual email to someone. Ritsu is someone who takes things seriously, and has a reputation he wants/needs to uphold. I'm sure he read somewhere that TNR (I'm not writing that shit out again) was the professional font and just made it his whole personality or something. It looks good, so I'm not complaining. I've also heard that TNR is a good font to make study notes in, because you remember it better (I think this was a myth uni students used to tell each other though) but I'm sure he stands behind this fact wholeheartedly.

Teru - Blackadder ITC

Just listen to what Microsoft has to say here in its overview of this font: "Blackadder ITC font is an elegant, yet menacing display face is perfect for theatrical uses and scare tactics." Not only is it elegant and swirly, but works well with his flashy appearances and fashion choices throughout the show. It's impressive and makes a scene when it appears, and walks the line between impressive and gaudy very well for someone as in-TERU-sting as Hanazawa. I do think he'd switch around fonts a little, but this would be his favourite for sure.

Serizawa - Roboto

This one was also hard, and I'm not sure I did him justice. I think, given Serizawa's lack of real-life experience outside of a terrorist organisation as well as his time online, I wanted to go with a font that was professionally acceptable, but still a bit of an outlier. Roboto is also the default font on android devices, and all other google services, which I figured would reflect the 'shut in' phase of his life. It's sorta plain, but does the job and follows the rules without asking too many questions. I think if we were talking specifics, he'd be Roboto Mono.

Tome - Courier New

I need to preface this explanation by saying I love Tome. More than almost all of the characters in this show. She reminds me a lot of myself as a kid. This one's personal. Tome is obsessed with proving the existence of aliens, or any sort of extraterrestrial and paranormal activity. She starts the Telepathy club to research these phenomena, she's absolutely committed (apart from in that one episode) to show the world she's right, to have her friends take her interests seriously. I think she'd want to use a font that was interesting to look at, while still being serious-enough to reflect her passion for pursuing the truth. She probably watched the X-Files as a kid and really wanted to type up some legit-looking reports on the unexplained. No I'm not projecting.

Shou - Comic Sans MS

I mean, what did you expect. He uses Comic Sans for all his reports and thinks he's the funniest guy ever for doing so. He also just likes how it looks, I think he'd be into superhero comics and would love to make any work he does look similar. Not only is it a funny text face, Microsoft also calls it "useful" due to its readability. I think that definitely mirrors Shou's extraversion and his role as a helpful figure, both to Ritsu and to his father at the conclusion of his arc. I also bet he logs on to Toichiro's desktop sometimes and changes his default email font to comic sans too, probably makes the fantastic five or whatever they're called piss themselves with laughter. Also a frequent Wingdings user, for sure.

Toichiro - Futura

Guess I have to put him in here too, since I talked about Shou. I chose Futura here for what it stands for, a purely geometric and efficient typeface which I feel reflects Suzuki's ethos of wanting to be the best and creating a world where 'supreme beings' rule over normal humans. The progressive feel Futura has here becomes skewed, not towards a bright future but towards a descruction of the old order and a rebuilding of an ESPer-led world. An incredibly popular font, which I feel is all about appearances and precision, it wants its letters to stand in line, breaking away from the old 'grotesque' style of former sans-serif fonts. Do you see my vision?

Sample of their fonts below:

[damnamour]

First off I want to say your gifs are some chefs kiss quality content- thank you for sharing. Idk how you guys do it but you do it well

Also thank you for the english translations! You're exposing me to nonamerican wlw I had no idea existed. I'm coming out kind of late and trying to consume just all the shows I can so I was wondering if you have any faves you recommend? Tbh I only speak english fluently but I'm armed with a vpn and google translate. Thanks!

hey! thank you so much for liking my gifs :))

i can recommend you two of my favs french soaps! carla & berenice from ITC (x) and sara & roxane from DNA (x) you're gonna loooove them 🌸