#blur transition tw

[mvthr]

MATT MURDOCK AND ELEKTRA NATCHIOS

❝you're in the wind, i'm in the water nobody's son, nobody's daughter...❞

@lgbtqcreators creator bingo - transition

[doodleswithangie]

a gift for @this-bumblebee-commands-the-sea as part of @gospexchange! i was immediately drawn to one of her song choices "the fall" by half•alive and went all out. hope you enjoy!

[Video Description: A "Good Omens" animatic of Aziraphale and Crowley at the end of Season 2, set to the song "the fall" by half•alive. Detailed description with lyric trasncript under the cut. End VD]

Aziraphale and Crowley's argument at the end of Season 2 plays out to the first verse, culminating in their big kiss:

It’s like waking up in surgery. I can’t seem to see right past the lights and I’m So scared to take a knife to my chest And let you see the heart that's inside Oh I’m just trying to introduce you To this idea that I’ve grown used to It’s like sharing a dream with someone Once you say it out loud, it can’t be undone Yeah, once you say it out loud, it can’t be undone I can't trust the fall

They are thrown back to memories of their truce for Job, the 1941 magic trick, the reluctant gift of holy water in 1967, and outsmarting heaven and hell after Armageddon.

I jump off and into your arms But I can’t trust the fall Take my voice I’m giving it though I don’t feel safe at all (Chorus repeats)

Aziraphale recalls when their first meeting in the stars, then their first meeting in Eden.

It’s like sharing a dream with someone Once you say it out loud, it can’t be undone

Snapping back to reality, Aziraphale pulls out of the kiss with a gasp. Crowley looks resigned. Fade to black.

I can't trust the fall

The sound of birds chirping leads into Aziraphale sat at his desk. A casually dressed Crowley brings him tea. They toast with content smiles, and from inside their South Downs cottage, look out on the apple tree in their garden. Fade to black.

[prentisssmut]

Unexpected | Emily Prentiss x Reader

pairing: emily prentiss x bau!reader

summary: you get some unexpected news and confide in your girlfriend, emily

content/tw: pregnancy, mention of abortion, established relationship, AFAB reader

a/n: my first fic! i imagine this happening sometime around season 4.

Sunday - your apartment

Pregnant.

Positive.

+++++++.

There was no denying it now. You were pregnant. Your period had always been irregular, you wrote it off as a result of your high stress job at the BAU. But then it didn’t come a second month in a row. There was no way. You hooked up with that guy once. And he was wearing a condom…right?

You were wasted and lonely on a night out with your friends, craving some form of intimacy and he was just the first person that approached you. Your friends couldn’t believe you’d gone home with him…with a man in general. You hadn’t done that since college.

Tears began to stream down your face. Your chest was tightening and your heart was pounding. You couldn’t believe that you had fucked up this bad. 

Your first urge was to call someone. Let them make the decision for you. You were tempted to call Emily, but it was 11 pm on Sunday, no doubt she’d be asleep. 

Fuck.

You stood up and walked over to the mirror, lifting up your t-shirt. There was a slight curve to your belly, but whether that the result of your recent voracious appetite or the pregnancy, you weren’t sure. You quickly put it back down.

Should you call Emily? No. No.

Walking over to your bed, your buried yourself deep beneath the covers and prayed that when you woke up, it would all be a bad dream.

Monday - the BAU

Not a dream. Still pregnant. Still fucked.

At your desk, you reread the same line on the press release for the tenth time, chin resting on one hand and pen in the other.

“Long weekend?” You looked up at Morgan, who had a glint of mischief in his eye.

You gave a weak laugh while rubbing your eyes. “Yeah, something like that.”

Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry. 

He gave you a pat on the back as he sat down at his respective desk.

Emily eyed you across the bullpen. She always knew when something was up with you, and you with her, even before you two had begun secretly dating. It had only been a few weeks, but you two were happier than ever.

You used the term “secretly” loosely; you worked with a team of professional behavioral profilers, so you two weren’t fooling anyone.

She came over to your desk, mug of coffee in her hand. “Hey,” she said softly, holding out the mug to you.

“Hey,” you replied, taking the mug. Were you even supposed to be drinking this? Could pregnant women have coffee? Whatever. It’s not like you were going to stay pregnant.

“You okay?” Emily asked, her voice laced with concern.

“Yeah, yeah, no yeah like Morgan said, long weekend.” You gave her a sheepish grin. “Thanks for this,” you said, gesturing to the mug. 

“Can I give you a ride home tonight?”

You hesitated. You were so full of shame and embarrassment that the thought of telling Emily made you want to vomit (or maybe that was just the morning sickness). But she had been the first person you thought to call when you found out. Maybe you could make something up to satisfy her curiosity and just keep this a secret. A big, fat, bloated, pregnant secret. But also you’d taken the Metro to work and would love to not have to deal with rush hour commuting on public transit.

“Sure, thanks. I’d really like that.”

--

The day flew by yet seemed to stretch 100 hours. It was a blur of paperwork, meetings, and coffee refills. Emily was at your desk promptly at 5:00 pm, coat and car keys in hand.

“Ready to go?” she asked, giving your shoulder a squeeze. 

“Let’s hit the road.” You quickly shoved a few files into your bag, fully knowing that you weren’t going to be looking at anything tonight.

You both walked to the Quantico parking garage. Emily unlocked her RAV4, opening the passenger door for you.

You raise your eyebrows. “Wow such a gentleman.”

“And they say chivalry is dead,” she gives you a quick, chaste kiss, closing the door after you slide in.

After hoisting herself into the driver’s seat, she turns to look at you. “Okay, what’s going on?”

You can’t even meet her eyes. Putting your head in your hands, you burst into tears. After holding them back all day, they flow freely now.

“Hey, hey,” Emily reached across the console to hug you. She held you as you cried and cried. She didn’t pester you to say anything or reveal more, just stroked the back of your head. She eventually broke away, starting up the car and pulling out of the garage.

“We’re going to my place to properly talk, okay?” 

You sniffled and nodded. With her left hand on the wheel, Emily used her right hand to grab yours. She held it for the entire 30 minute drive.

Monday - Emily’s apartment

Sergio greeted you and Emily as you walked in the door, nuzzling up against your leg. Emily dropped her keys in the ceramic bowl on her entryway table and headed for the kitchen.

“What do you want,” she called. “Water? Wine? I have a cab sauv but if you’re feeling white I think there’s some chardonnay in the fridge. I also have tea.”

You plopped yourself down on the couch. The same couch you’d sat on countless times before, drinking and laughing; more recently kissing, learning the shape and curves of one another’s bodies. “Um, I’ll just have some water for now, thanks Em.”

Emily filled two mason jars with water and set them on the coffee table.

“Okay babe, now I’ll really ask you — what’s going on?” Her deep brown eyes were filled with concern.

You took a deep shaky breath, willing yourself not to cry again. “Um, well, like in February, I was at a bar with my friends and we were drinking and I got like…so trashed. Like so, so trashed it was really embarrassing. I was also just like so emotional that night and was really craving some kind of just like human touch.”

You put your head in your hands again, the tears coming back in full force.

“And this guy started talking to me and then we like started making out and I went home with him. We slept together and I could’ve sworn he put a condom on but again I was so fucked up. And he was too.”

You pulled away from her.

“I’m pregnant, Emily.”

Her eyes widened with shock. “Oh, honey.” She enveloped you in a hug. “It’s okay.”

You weren’t sure how long you stayed in that position, Emily holding you on the couch as you cried. When she pulled away, she tucked your hair behind your ears and held your hand.

“Do you know what you want to do?”

“I mean there’s no way I can keep it, go through with it. I’m 28 and have only been on the team for like 8 months.” You wiped your eyes on the sleeve of your shirt. Emily grabbed the tissue box from the side table and placed it in your lap. “Thanks.”

“And that’s totally okay. You absolutely don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” She held your hand again. “Thank you for telling me.”

“I don’t even know who else I would’ve told.” You looked into her eyes. God, the urge to kiss her hit you like a ton of bricks. “I guess I’m also, you know, like, I don’t want this happening to like…mess anything up.”

Emily was confused. “What do you mean?”

You looked at the ceiling and sighed. “I mean…us. This thing we just started. I don’t want you to, like, hate me or think less of me or anything because like—”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Emily said. It was her turn to take a deep breath. “When I was 15, I got pregnant. By my best friend, Matthew. We were just two ambassadors kids in a foreign country making dumb decisions to piss off our parents. We didn’t fully realize the consequences of it. He helped me.” Her eyes began to water. “He found a doctor, brought me there, held my hand, never told another soul. He saved me, in a way.”

“Oh Em.” You wiped a tear from her cheek.

“All that to say, I have been in this position, okay? You are not alone in this.” She took both your hands and kissed them. “This is not going to mess anything up. This happened before we even kissed for the first time, right? That was March, you said this was in February. I do not think less of you, I do not hate you. I don’t think I could ever hate you.”

You pulled her in and kissed her softly. “Okay,” you say almost under your breath. “Well, I guess I have to figure this out. Soon.”

Emily stroked your hair, pulling you in close to her. You nuzzled into her neck. She smelled incredible. She smelled like home. “We can worry about that tomorrow morning, okay? For now, how about we order some Chinese and watch Real Housewives?” 

You hummed into her neck. “That sounds really nice.”

[cumtastiics]

Sadistic vampire lord kidnapping and turning his human bride (literally or just by role) into a vampire? Then caring for said bride when they wake up hungry.

YAN! SADISTIC! VAMPIRE LORD x FEM! READER

tw(s): kidnapping, yandere, bro is lowkey mean!!! a/n: ty for requesting! feel free to send more reqs!! (posted this late bc school!!!!1!!!!)

YOU NEVER THOUGHT THERE was anything wrong, or strange about him.

He even proposed to you.

He acted like a normal human.

You saw him, his skin had become ashen, his nails pointed and long. Yet, his eyes stayed the same. The same look he had when he first met you.

"You-" You stopped, unsure what to say, unsure of how to respond to him.

"I'm?"

"You're a monster," your voice was quiet when you spoke, almost a whisper. You felt your lips dry, your fingers cold, but your heart racing with fear.

He laughed, a cold and mirthless sound that made your skin crawl. "Yes, my dear," he said, tracing a finger over your cheek. "I suppose I am."

He revealed his fangs then, as if to underline the fact that there was nothing human left in him. "But you'll come to love me," he said, his eyes glinting with a cruel light. "I'll make sure of that."

You were frozen when his mouth came closer, your heart pounding in your chest. Your wide eyes locked onto his sharp fangs, glistening with a hunger that sent shivers down your spine. The room felt suffocating as he leaned in, his breath icy against your skin.

"No," you managed to whisper, the single word filled with desperation and fear.

But he paid no heed to your pitiful plea. Instead, a sinister smile twisted his lips as he brushed his lips against the vulnerable curve of your neck. His touch was both chilling and electric, sending a wave of anticipation mixed with dread coursing through your veins.

As his fangs grazed your flesh, you felt an excruciating pain surge through your body. You gasped, a strangled cry escaping your lips, but the sound quickly faded into the air as darkness clouded your vision. It was as if your very life force was being drained from you, leaving you weak and helpless.

Your consciousness wavered, teetering on the edge as your body succumbed to the transformation that was taking place. In the midst of the agony, a strange sense of euphoria began to weave its way into your thoughts, blurring the line between pleasure and torment.

Everything around you became a blur of shadows and whispers, as if reality itself was warping under the weight of this dreadful transition.

Your last coherent thought before succumbing to unconsciousness was a desperate plea for freedom, for escape from the clutches of him.

"You're awake," he hummed, sitting next to you watching as you rubbed your eyes open.

You could hardly remember what happened before, your hand flying to touch your neckwhere he had bitten you. You felt the mark still there, a slight ache under your fingers. You looked up at him, at the monster who had turned you into a creature of the night.

"You're a vampire," you mumbled, glancing around the room in confusion. "And I am too?"

He nodded, an expression of intense pleasure on his face. "Yes, my darling. I have turned you into one too."

You didn't know what to say.

Yet you were hungry.

Thirsty almost.

"I'm hungry," you said simply, staring at him.

He folded the collar of his shirt, making his neck more accessible.

"Bite away."

[imagination-mess]

IMAGINE Human Turned Vampire Touya Todoroki

Takes place at the university level; there is some lore about him. Here is some lore of the University, it is open ended though.

Here is Ghost Izuku, Werewolf!Katsuki, Vampire Shouto

Sorry for any grammar and spelling mistakes. There is purely word vomit within headcanon format. Word Count: 1, 700+

TW: Alcohol drinking, monsters, reading monster romance

Human! Touya comes from an interesting, complicated family. He was not always a vampire. He was human, just like everyone in the world, along with his siblings. In short, his mother's vampire genetics were dormant growing up just like the rest of his siblings. 

Human! Touya was the one who had the roughest transition when it came to living in the mortal world into a world where there were monsters in every corner when he was a teenager. He does understand why his family had to move at once, only taking things that would fit in a backpack. It does not make it easier to get used to it. 

Human! Touya had to transfer into a new high school along with his sister in the middle of the school year. They were the new students in the high school where it is mixed with humans and monsters. They had to enroll with different names which took a while to get used to and respond to. 

Human! Touya has a vampirism virus running through its veins. The only way to awaken that virus is by dying. However, his body is already acting as if he is a full-fledged vampire; his body craves drinking blood, even more as he gets older. 

Human! Touya and his siblings would have to resort to drinking a special drink created by a witch to make it more manageable. It satisfies the hunger for blood. They would also have the same struggles that vampires would, like being deathly allergic to real silver and not being able to be around certain flowers.

But in the Human! Touya’s situation, the witch had to make it stronger for him seeing how his body is craving more than the special drink could offer, which is why he is always walking around with two metal bottles. He is running through his slash faster than his siblings which is raising concern from his mother and the witch who has been helping them. 

Human! Touya does not want to admit to it and ignoring the possibility of what his father has done to his body is now catching up to him. He volunteered on numerous trails with his father before he became obsessive and lost his damn mind. 

When Human! Touya entered the Arcane University, one of the prestigious universities of the country that only allowed supernatural creatures with few expectations. A part of the reason he decided to go to this university is because he has a lower chance of attacking a human by accident. It is already getting harder to use solely the special drink that is losing its effect. At Least the students in this university are allowed to defend themselves using whatever they want. 

At the age of nineteen, Human! Touya was starting to feel like he was having better control of his bloodthirst and having a group of friends that are annoying but look out for him. He was figuring out his life, until it got ripped away from him quite literally. 

A fatal car accident that should have killed everyone in the car that got pushed off the road and rolled down the mountain. If it was not for mostly everyone being part monster, not a simple car accident can kill them. Injured them, yes, but to kill them, no. 

It was a blur for Human! Touya who was between life and death barely hanging on consciousness. He was hanging upside down feeling his bones broken and in extreme pain. He got dragged out of the demolished car by his friends. 

Touya had died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital to get brought back to find himself laying in one of the carts of a morgue at the basement of the hospital. Thankfully, the mortician was a monster and was not surprised at the sight of the blanket rising before being removed to show his face making eye contact with the mortician who was already getting a blood bag ready for him. 

Vampire! Touya took much longer to adjust to his new body and bloodthirst. He will occasionally slip up before catching himself what he is doing. Arcane University was flexible with him, and he was one of the few students who got told about the news before it was officially announced to the rest of the student body. That Arcane University that was once only exclusive for monsters is now being open to normies aka original humans. 

Vampire! Touya told the school to do what they wanted. He must learn to control his bloodthirst eventually. They offered him if he wanted to opt out from the classes that have humans. The only reason they are offering him this choice is due to being a newly turned vampire within a year. The higher chances of losing control. 

When the new semester started with the normies on campus, Vampire! Touya got territory and possession over his living space that he thankfully shares with one of his friends to keep the normies out of their room. He stayed in the frat house along with his friends. He is an asshole to the new students that were able to pass the test to get into this frat house. 

Vampire! Touya was not expecting to meet someone from the past before he entered the world of the supernatural completely. Someone that was extremely closed and forced to abruptly cut ties with you. A human at that. You were not mad but wanted to know how he was since it has been years. 

Vampire! Touya was not counting on catching up with you and started to hang out with you due to having the same classes. It just happened overtime. You even recognized him with his black hair instead of his natural white hair. 

Vampire! Touya was not starting to gain feelings with you. You were respectful to his space and always announcing your presence anyway you could without catching him off-guard.

Vampire! Touya was not guarding you like a guard dog during the parties from other creatures who are using the party to feed on humans. He was getting beer bottles from different coolers that were your original beer, unlike the others that were mortified and stronger for demons to get drunk. He kept his eye out for you, but also made it known to the other blood sucking creatures that you are his prey. Even though he has thought about how your blood would taste but never acted on these thoughts. 

Vampire! Touya and you get together after a frat-party forced confession, due to something bringing in true serum alcoholic drinks. 

Vampire! Touya likes being referred to as your boyfriend by your normie friends. Other students, including supernatural creatures, know you are his. As possessive as that sounds, he likes it knowing that someone needs to be extra dumb to mess with you. 

Vampire!Touya really tries his best to take you out to places that you haven't seen, including spots that are normie friendly. Not a lot of humans know about it.

Vampire! Touya acts like he knows what he is doing but does not know at all. He never passionately kissed someone until you came along. You were really his first for typical couple things which made him anxious to fuck something up.

Vampire! Touya has thought about telling you what he is but decided against it. After seeing some pathetic first-year student crying his heart out after getting broken up with his girlfriend. Due to breaking the rule of letting normal people talk about the supernatural. Her memories were manipulated to forget about the supernatural realm. 

Vampire! Touya is being dragged along to double dates by his girlfriend, but as much he is annoyed. He does not mind it if he gets to see you smile and have fun. It also provides plenty of blackmail on Tenko, being a lovesick loser, who glares at him whenever he sees him having his phone out. Unknowingly, Tenko was also blackmailing him. They are both lovesick losers whose girlfriend has them wrapped around their fingers. 

Vampire! Touya wanted to get the phone out of Tenko's hand, but the demon kept avoiding his attacks. He had a picture of him holding the girl's purse and holding their stuff as they went to the restroom at the movie theater. He was wearing goof ass enlarge sunglasses from the photo booth.

Vampire! Touya for the Halloween party, he slapped some fake blood on him and cut up old shirts with his black leather jacket. He completely let his fangs out. Himiko held all of them hostage because their costumes were not good. Himiko put on some eyeliner and some makeup to make him more like a sexy vampire, instead of a Walmart vampire. 

Vampire! Touya did not expect to see you flustered seeing him with his fangs. He looked even more attractive, including his fangs. It matched his aesthetic. He also made a mental note to buy Himiko the next stash of blood bags, because you enjoyed his costume more than you were willing to be vocal about it. 

When it was a Vampire! Touya’s turn to the person who finds people in the frat house in the hide and seek game. He targeted humans to make their blood pressure spike up and smell their fear. It did not help that he let out an unhinged laugh when the lights were off stalking people and scaring them. He was terrifying, having his icy blue eyes glowing in the night. 

Bonus: When everyone is wasted, Mina the succubus demon drunkenly outed a bunch of girls for reading monsterfucker or monster romance books due to the book club. You were horrified and hiding your face from his mischievous stare. Touya felt relieved. You would not take the news of him being a vampire too hard if you are already reading books with humans falling in love with monsters. 

You found his vampire form to be attractive, not knowing it was still him. You could not keep your eyes from him. He teased nibbling your neck to only get flustered with his behavior, but you did not push him away or was vocal about it. You liked it.

Please feel free to ask me anything to request anything within this universe. I am sucker to supernatural au.

[ladybirdswritings]

Silken Webs & Pirouettes - Miguel O’Hara x Reader

Summary: (transitional chapter) you are far too drunk to understand what just happened on the dance floor. Ballerina!Reader & CEO!Miguel. Alternate Universe with most of the characters included as seen in "Across the Spiderverse." Many cameos ahead. Miguel is a successful business owner but personality is canon. This is a steamy reader insert, Miguel x You! Enjoy and pls leave me lots of love and comments as it keeps me motivated <333

TW: indications of sexual ab*se, coercion.

chap nine 1/2

You’ve made many interesting decisions in your life. Some of them causing you to lose the only all you’ve ever had. This, however. This is new. This is different for you. Dancing with a man who made you hyperventilate only a week prior. A man who you can’t be in a room with for more than five seconds before becoming infuriated.

God, your head is spinning.

Your heels feel too tight now, your dress too stuffy and scratchy. You need to change everything, including your rose print panties. You’re not thinking of anything else other than the doors as you push through the crowd.

Only this time? You actually make it out, away from him.

The December chill greets you viciously, like an old friend scorned. Oh, you forgot your sweater inside. It wasn’t on your mind. Your dress is not enough to keep you warm, so you create one with the hug of your arms against your ice bathed body.

The chill turns your nose pink, alongside the apples of your cheeks. Gusts of December’s breath are like harsh slashes against your supple skin.

It’s so terribly cold that you can see each and every exhale that leaves you, your breaths tangling in the air for your gaze to follow. The cold hurts your eyes, as do the faint streetlights that look like blurred watercolor from where you stand. You hide them.

It’s only until your eyes shift from being squeezed tightly shut to opening that you realize how truly drunk you are right now.

Oh…

You need to get home, the stars in the sky are spinning and your head is pounding. You’re so nauseous, so tired. Jagged rocks meet your palm as you steady yourself upon the wall. You can’t decipher where you are. The street signs seem so far away, but the stop sign is close and it’s doing pirouettes before your very eyes.

Did you take the wrong exit?

Oh you must have, no wonder there’s no crowd. Regardless, it doesn’t matter right now. A taxi will have to stop by eventually.

The chill makes you shiver, nails digging into your arms as your teeth chatter. You don’t think you can stay upright for much longer without emptying dry cereal and free alcohol onto the concrete. Your back falls against the jagged rocks.

You’re bound to be beyond hungover when sunrise greets you, you’ll dwell over what you ran from no doubt. The thought is already plaguing you. You tilt your head back, watching your breaths float all the way up to the sky.

You feel it far too much now. What you were chasing away with the dancing. God, why did you drink this much?

You attempt a weak whistle, hoping a taxi man will take the wrong exit too. None do. Cars pass you by, probably amused by how pathetic you must look trying to keep yourself upright against the rocky wall.

You need to sit down, you’re about to faint.

“Hey hey, you alright?”

Your eyes snap open, body doing its best to straighten up as a stranger with two heads and bodies comes to your sights. Sight.

You don’t know.

“Oh yeah yeah, m’ fine.. just waiting for a cab.”

The man smells of boxed beer, and he looks scruffy even in double vision. Both pairs of his eyes are glistening for a reason you’re unaware of, and his voice seems so far away. Even so, your body knows he’s close. His hands— donned in itchy gloves, they fall upon your elbows.

“Come on sweetie, I’ll take you back home.

Before you get the chance to inhale a breath so you may protest, the man slides an arm round your lower back, pulling you off the rocks. Oh, he really does smell like beer. Your eyes are glazed over with tequila’s hold on your stability, but they still wander upon his features to find that he’s missing a tooth.

The handsy one, from earlier. The one Cindy scared away.

“Wait I know— know you.” You attempt, a hiccup breaking apart your sentence into two. You find yourself stumbling as he tugs you a bit further now and with a bit more force. He’s quiet, focused. Rushing.

You don’t like this.

He’s so sweaty, so close. His skin upon your own, it’s nauseating. Perhaps he’s getting the wrong message. You’ll just be kind.

“Oh no no it’s okay mister— I have a cab it’s coming.”

He’s not listening.

Your breaths get a bit quicker now, more panicked as realization begins to settle in. He’s taking you. Even though you know this, you can’t find the energy to form more words. To tell him to stop— to do anything.

Your body stumbles alongside his and you try to plant your heels into the concrete divots but he’s far too quick and far too big.

He’s stronger than you.

His car is worn and adorned with tinted windows.

“What are you doi-” Your speech is slurred, he interrupts you.

“Shut up.” It’s all he says as he opens the paint-chipped door. Your heart is pounding fast, banging against its bone cages. If it could, it would leap right from your throat.

And god— you are so sleepy, but fear won’t let your eyes rest. It’s all so quick and sudden. You hear the same metal doors you escaped from close, you jump. He doesn’t spare them a glance; he’s trying to push you into the back seat with even more urgency now.

“Wait— n-no.” You whisper as your trembling, numb fingertips which must be frost bitten by now, shoot up to grasp the snow fallen metal; attempting to keep your body out from the car. Though he is relentless. He pushes harder, you fall in.

Your head presses against the cool leather, body laid out long ways in the back seat of his dirty vehicle. It smells even worse than him. There are cigarette buds on the carpet, and empty beer cans in the seat pockets. You’re so drained, you could just close your eyes right now. But you feel his own gaze, looking over you.

You can’t give into it, not right now. You won’t.

Your mind is on autopilot, dazed by the shots you downed. Your body? It’s trained. You try to sit up but he immediately pushes you back down with a calloused and rough palm. His gloves are off now.

“But my cab mister… I gotta leave n’ I gotta-”

You hear a grunt, and in one swift motion— toothless is snatched back from where he once stood over you. The car creaks and shifts with force as he’s slammed up against it and in a spout of adrenaline, you shoot up— body steadying itself by leaning against the door.

Oh, woah… what a nightmare. Two Miguel O’Haras— and both of them have picked this overweight man up off of his feet.

Wait—

You blink lazily, watching as Mr. O’Hara— er a guy who really looks like him, drags the one-gloved man to the same jagged wall you once leaned up against. Your eyes watch through the tinted window as he slams him against it, sharp teeth bared like an animal while his veins protrude.

Must suck to be that guy.

You know what it’s like to be cased up against a wall while he’s angry with you. While his jaw is tense and his eyes are wild and overflowing the brim with fury.

Why is he so angry?

You hear his voice, far far away.

“Te gusta aprovecharte de las chicas? Eh, cabrón? Tienes suerta de que no te arranque el resto de los dientes de la boca…”

Something about his mouth. Something about his nauseating ways. If it were any other girl, this would be chivalrous. Maybe he just feels pity for you. The thought makes you wince.

The toothless man, his eyes are wide as he shakes his head back and forth. Panicked, frightened and desperate.

“Come on man, I don’t know what you’re saying! I don’t understand!” He’s pleading with a madman.

You don’t know how it’s possible, but Miguel drags him even further up the wall with just the strength of his arms alone. He does have big arms…

The jagged rocks slide into his tan skin, slicing it open until crimson pours from the fresh wounds— making him cry out.

Mr. O’Hara’s voice is low now, scarier. He speaks through clenched teeth.

“Understand this. If I see your face here again, I’m gonna bludgeon it. Get out of my club.”

His club?

You can’t unpack the idea of it, the door suddenly isn’t enough to keep you upright. You huff as you fall back against the cold leather. It smells of cigarettes and sex in here. It’s nauseating.

You can’t feel your feet, the chill has eaten away at them too. Faint footsteps kiss the worn pavement— closer and closer but you’re too unavoidably tired now to move from them. You can hear your own heart pound, hear each breath muffled in your pink-kissed ears.

You hope the toothless man doesn’t come back. Maybe he already has… maybe you’ve already fallen asleep, maybe you’re just dreaming.

No. The scent of firewood and bourbon is an entirely new and undiscovered sensation to the rest of the world— singular to you, it has recently become. Far too vivid and warm to simply exist in a state of your slumber.

“Dios mío…” he whispers for only the night to hear, for the wind to take with it.

Warmth, familiar and baffling wraps around your ankle. He tugs your body to him with ease, but your dress lifts. You’re not wearing anything but your soft, rosy panties beneath it.

Your eyes fall shut, lashes fanning upon your skin— hearing an echoed noise from the back of his throat. He smells more of bourbon than firewood today. He’s been drinking too.

He doesn’t tug again.

“Vente, cariño.” His voice, it sends a shiver up the base of your spine. So filled with heat, honey and silk even in this horrid weather.

Maybe your mind wants to stay right where it is, not by choice but rather impairment. Yet one command from him and your body complies, unsteadily forcing you to sit upright. You practically slump right over when you do.

He robs his shoulders of his navy coat— but it’s not like he will suffer much without it. He must have an internal heater built within his chest. He wraps the soft material around you tight. It’s far too big, it engulfs you.

When you’re close enough to him, he reaches his arms around you. God— so warm. Mm, and he smells intoxicating. Intoxicating enough to forget the events of the week prior, and even the events of tonight. Yes, he’s a stranger. Kind and chivalrous. Sweeping you away to keep you warm.

Beyond the firewood and bourbon, he smells of spices. Strong and sultry in his hair. You’re up in his arms in a swift movement, so high up from the ground where he always towers over the rest of the world. You understand now why he feels so powerful all the time.

He holds you in a fireman’s cradle, your face buried in his neck. It’s heated there too, and you don’t have the strength or energy to part from it.

His leather shoe kicks the car door shut with force— annoyance. No— anger.

“Man I’m sorry again I-”

“Cállate.” He practically hisses. The stranger complies, quick footsteps hurrying off.

You’re so exhausted, and he’s so cozy. Just a quick nap, maybe. You’ll have plenty of time to feel embarrassment tomorrow. Not now. No— you’re just so drained right now. Not just from the shots, but the feelings. The dance, the gaze, the intensity. You’ve had enough for one night.

Your soft breaths kiss the place where his pulse rises and falls, body moving in a soft sway with each commanding step he takes. A singular metal door creaks open.

“Thank you, Cindy.”

“Yes sir, of course. Everything is in there— her keys, wallet, phone. She left her sweater too, but we can’t seem to find that…”

“She doesn’t need it, I’ll get her home.”

“Sir…”

The door slams shut— and no other words are spoken, you only feel movement. You only hear breaths. His… and maybe your own. Though they are softer now, your heart doesn’t pound as loudly. Your breathing is drastically different. His is laced with the remnants of his fury, and yours is only laced with your peace.

He must feel on top of the world, so high up like this. His feet pound against the pavement, it echoes in your ears. The soft hiss of tires rolling against pebble halts at the curb. Another different set of footsteps open the car door and scurry to open another. Mr. O’Hara approaches and you’re immediately placed inside. The seats are warm, heated you think— and the car smells of him. Far different from the one you were once inside of.

Your seatbelt is fastened, hair brushed away from where it tickles your face. The warmth, it’s as if you’re a child again— aching from the harshness of the icy world until steamed milk is offered to you. The feeling lulls you— and it isn’t long before your eyes fall shut.

Just for a little while, that’s all…

Then? You’re fast asleep…

🏷️’s @reirain @needybitez @migueloharastruelove @laysmt @maomaimao @daisy-artfield @poutysprouty @chorizobeets @tabalittlelong @iitangerine @dprmoon @neptunieesworld @cyd2301 @amelialysm @justanothers-things

[yanderesimp2000]

yan Adam x fem reader chap 6/6 "the end?"

Finale? kinda I might do a spinoff to this series in the future but the reader is pregnant because you people kept asking for it

CHAP 1

https://www.tumblr.com/yanderesimp2000/745338401920860160/extreme-yandere-adam-x-fem-reader-chap-15-start?source=share

CHAP 2

https://www.tumblr.com/yanderesimp2000/745426251094818816/extreme-yandere-adam-x-fem-listener-chap-25?source=share

CHAP 3

https://www.tumblr.com/yanderesimp2000/745572611124232192/yan-adam-x-fem-reader-chap-35-someone-else-dares?source=share

CHAP 4

https://www.tumblr.com/yanderesimp2000/745703396615520256/yandere-adam-x-fem-reader-chapter-46-this-is?source=share

CHAP 5

https://www.tumblr.com/yanderesimp2000/746049756622716928/extreme-yan-adam-x-fem-reader-chap-56-look-at?source=share

TWS ,HEAVILY BRAINWASHED READER, Adam being Adam,possessiveness, Inceliness

Tags, Marriage proposal , snuggles, fluff, Travel, I tried way to hard on heaven world building

BTW this takes place in a universe where Adam won in S1 EP 8

You just finished making lunch from Adam he was laughing about something while he ate something about Lucifer's face when he killed his "precious daughter" you heard story's about what Lucifer did and you were glad he was suffering "serves that scum right" was what you thought Adam then finished his food and said "y'know what we should do today, We should go to the Empathy borough there lots of fun shit to do their and... I got a surprise for you" he teased

your face lit up you were excited to finally be able to go out somewhere after the "incident" Adam was very very controlling and made sure you were either locked in a room or in his sight at all times Adam cackled and said " that means I get to dress you up again my little doll" he then gently picked you up and walked you over to the closet where he started to look at dresses before finding one a red dress that was elegant but also soft and gentle it was perfect for you. You quickly put it on and it was perfect you looked amazing adam chuckled and said "thats it hottie" before slapping your ass

Adam started to put on his robe that he wore everywhere and then said "y'know we should fly to the transport system it would be nice to get out of the house" usually Adam would just use his high ranking angel magic to teleport but I guess he wanted to fly to the transport station which was who low ranking angels got from borough to borough heavens boroughs are HUGE most of these boroughs were about the sizes of the rings of hell so flying is not that feasible for traveling long distances but the transit station was a 7 minute flight from Adams house

Adam then grabbed your hand kissed you on the cheeks and said "ready to go hot-tits" you nodded your head before starting to guide you to the door before you two left to go to the transit port

the Virtue borough was the most well known of the 17 boroughs it was the most populated and home to all of the important stuff like the seraphim, the elder angels, the arch angels, the saints and much more. the Virtue borough has huge Golden skyscrapers and marble road you would think it would have a lot to do but no it was pretty boring "even the angels here are boring " Adam said you couldn't argue because unlike the other 16 species of angels virtue angels have no species wide ability that they all have. Adam tells you that you are a humility angels you trust him because your life before that was a blur and why would he lie to you, as you flew to the block were the transport station was Adam said "your gonna love this surprised I'm so fuckin pumped to see your reaction" his joy was plasterd all over him he was practically shaking as you two entered the transport station

The transport station was exactly what you would expect from a VERY high class area of heaven golden lots of guards and very fast lines you and Adam got on the teleportation pad leading to the Empathy ring you two chatted and waited for about 2 minutes before a voice on the intercome said "Virtue station 17 departing to Empathy station 3" and suddenly the doors closed before you all started to be teleported to the empathy ring

you guys quickly arrived at the empathy ring in around 3 minutes which was VERY LONG because Empathy is on the far west of heaven and virtue is on the East-central part their about 13 boroughs in-between the two borough. Only the humility and sacrifice boroughs are east of the Virtue borough so you were far far from home so that meant new customs to get used to

when you got out the station the first thing you noticed about empathy was how different it was The borough is Literally a group of 1160 small densely packed floating islands that are connected via bridge and instead of having the same white and gold color scheme of the virtue and other central and east boroughs the empathy borough was made of emeralds and has a dark blue-green color the entire borough looked like a rain forest and you loved it and another interesting thing about the empathy ring was their people they looked aquatic even though they didn't need to be underwater to survive. the diffrence between empathy and the seaside borough is that the seaside borough usually get no rain while its always almost wet in the empathy ring but not rainy just wet

Adam looked around seeming unfazed before laughing at how amazed you are "what are you so shocked about theirs nothing extraordinary about this place it just a little different" he mocked. You quickly agreed with him and said "yeah theirs nothing special about this place" you don't know why but when he said that you immediately agreed with him Adam then said "now I wanna show you all the cool shit to do here" before Grabbing you and flying couple streets down till you get to a restaurant that he always talked about

You two walked in and the waiter there looked shocked but said "oh oh my sir it is a pleasure to be in your presence" before bowing Adam just looked annoyed and said "you didn't have to do all that but it was still fucking sweet I just want a table for 2 in my usual seat" the waiter got up quickly and said "oh right this way sir" before Before raising his arms and quickly one of the display little Lakes where some koi and other fish were turned into a staircase of water you were at first a little scared but Adam quickly put his foot on it and he could stand it was strange you are just shocked he started walking and said "come on babe what the fuck are you waiting for get up here" before taking your hand and you to start to walk up this is the first time you've seen the power of these angels and it was very surprising you thought they just lived with water you didn't know they could control them but after all there was a lot of things you didn't remember that's why I needed him right?

The waiter walked you to what he said was his favorite see it it was a wonderful seat overlooking one of the many gorgeous parks of the empathy Borough you two sat down and he said "man this place is even better than when I last came don't know why I didn't take you here sooner just it's a long way but that's no excuse I'm fucking sorry babe I deprived you" you just said sad that you made him feel bad " it's okay don't be sad we would have gone here eventually so why Rush" "Yeah you're right" Adam said then saying "let's just enjoy The View" the view was gorgeous it was facing right next to one of them thousands of parks inside the empathy Borough this one had waterfalls and wonderful Greenery you two are sat next to each other so you cozied into him "awwwww how precious" Adam teased before putting his hand on your head you were disappointed when the waiter interrupted your moment to ask what your drink order would be you ordered what you thought would be good the dragon fruit smoothie Adams are they ordered something non-alcoholic instead " aww is wittle baby too scared to get drunk that's okay" he teased then saying his order " I'll have the white vodka with fruit juice and three shots of strawberry syrup" the way to seemed to be anxious why though why would he be anxious around Adam the gracious first man "o-o-o-ok sir right away" he stuttered before scurrying off somewhere 

You and Adam went back to looking at the wonderful view of the park his wings seemed to snuggle around you since you cleaned his feathers they've been really soft almost like a blanket so you didn't try and complain not like you were going to anyways but it was just nice to be wrapped around the big blanket like feathers Adam seem to pull his wings closer to him also pulling you closer to him as he started to pet your back and said "you're all mine you know that I'll protect you and keep you safe and make sure you don't see or think anything dangerous" it's really the least I could do as a decent husband you're nodded and ran your hands through his feathers seeming to make sure that was nothing stuck in between them and if there was anything you would pluck them out because you didn't want him to have dirty feathers it just urked you Adam chuckled and said ' that feels nice you really are perfect" he kept petting you and even going down to your wings even though they were slightly smaller because of what happened he's still said they were cute and adorable and it was even better that you couldn't fly so you couldn't try and do anything "rash"

You then saw the waiter  come over with your drinks he put them down on your guys table and said "enjoy" in that same anxious tone before scurrying off somewhere again " what's his problem" Adam Scoffed " I only banished three of the waiters here to hell it wasn't my fault they will be until slow and they were heaven born anyway so nobody really cared" he said with a slight sadistic undertone you two then kept looking around at the park " I wish this moment would never end" you said so Adam knew you were happy " me too... because this drink is fucking delicious" Adam said as he asked you what you wanted to order " I think the Tropical salad would be delightful" you said Adam was shocked and said "ugh diet food I'm gonna get the marinated Teriyaki ribs extra ribs" he mocked before calling over the waiter and placing the order " you better be quick or you know what happeneds" in a cruel the threatening way but that's just because he wants his food not because he's evil or anything it's their fault is what you thought he waiter then scurried off again and you two kept looking out at the park as he cuddling you ever so gently it was like the fluffiest down pillow " keep doing that babe its adorable" Adam whispered into your ear making you flustered which adam just found even more adorable "I love you and you're all flustered like that it's so hot" Adam teased you just giggled enjoying his teasing you like that when I talk to you like that you found it attractive for some reason but it's best not to question it right? The waiter then came rushing in with your food the plate the atoms ribs are serve one is bigger than you and you think the ribs were around half your size your salad was a bit more modest but you're still big it was served in a nice wooden Bowl it was filled with colorful fruits they didn't even know existed along with crumbly cheese pieces of crispy bread and very fresh vegetables the waiter then left in the same anxious pace as last time 

You and Adam continue to eat your food it was delicious and he seemed to love it too " told you this place would be delicious they make these ribs so good I just can't eat thousands of them at a time you know what I'm feeling " you're nodding along listening intently but not knowing what to say Adam seem to be very passionate about this place "I swear this place ever goes out of business I'll kill everybody who helped to make it out of business the tax  the people who chose to shut it down and the owners for not telling me that it's shutting down " once you to finish your food Adam just picked you up and flew out of the window " don't worry I'm allowed to eat here for free they  love me here "

He then landed with you at the same park you guys were overlooking it was beautiful there was a wonderful draping trees and all sorts of colors and the path you are on was there for thousands of years this park was one of the oldest in heaven so you could see all the old landmarks that were there since the times of the elder  angels " pretty soon we're going to be at that place where I have a surprise for you" Adam said as you two continue to walk

 The park was better than anything you've ever seen there were traditional old monuments there from the era before Humanity was created it depicted beautiful Elder angels and the entire shrine was grown with vines but strangely it felt like it was meant to be that way it matched the aesthetic of the green Lush empathy ring Adam then chirped in and said  "I'm so pumped to show you my surprise your gonna  love it you're going to be like wow Adam you're so great I love you that's fuck" you blushed slightly trying to hide it you are so excited to see what a surprise was it's like Adam was a genius the setting the ambiance there was light roses everywhere and Lush flowers to compliment it it was a perfect place to  visit especially on a nice spring day you and Adam eventually got to a small area where nobody was right by one of the hundreds of lakes in this park he lifted up a vine to show a small area not for you too that was beautiful flowers it was a little cave basically made of flowers and it was right by the water he sat down in motion due to sit next to him " well I know what technically "married " but I don't feel like I made it official you feel me so will you spend the rest of your life with me " Adam then pulled out a beautiful ring it was everything you could have imagined that had a beautiful rose gemstone on it complimented with the wonderful gold exterior " yes yes yes Adam I will " you said before leaning and giving them a big hug he hugged you too and said " I knew you would say that sorry for not proposing earlier I was scared you would get overwhelmed or some shit like that women are strange and sensitive like that " he said before continuing to hug you you to stayed like that hugging each other just enjoying each other's company until Adam finally said " let's go home babe we can prepare for the wedding " before I picked you up and you too flew into the distance

[guangshi-091305]

For the danmei fanfic nightclub: XiXian angst possibly prisoner of war canon divergence.

How dare you make me inspired to write ten minutes after waking up? Suffer now!

Cw/Tw: warnings, heavy angst, psychological torture, isolation, self-loathing, suicidal thoughts, near-death experience. Hopeful ending because I am not entirely a monster!

Word Count: 3.2K

“The Lan Clan’s losses can never be compensated, even in a hundred years which is why the Jiang Clan has come up with something. We only hope this formal apology serves to restore the relationship between YunmengJiang and GusuLan. We also wish for Hanguang-jun to have a smooth transition and a better life in his next reincarnation.” Wei Wuxian would joke about how he was proud that Jiang Cheng managed to stay civil and formal at the same time and for such a long time-

“What is it that you’re offering?” Trust Lan Qiren to never waste time with skippable formalities.

“Wei Wuxian, Hanguang-jun’s murderer as a prisoner of war. This will be the last time we will do anything related to Wei Wuxian again. He is under your care now and you may feel fit to do whatever,” he spat the last word towards Wei Wuxian.

-if only he weren’t being sent to his slaughter amidst the internal cheering of the cultivation world.

“We accept, but instead of a prisoner to be tortured, I would like to take Wei Wuxian as my lawful spouse. I would love to live a long life with him. There is no resentment in Cloud Recesses to cloud his mind after all,” Lan Xichen spoke evenly but even from a distance Wei Wuxian could see the gleam of hatred in his eyes. Oh yes, he understood what the Lan Clan Leader was doing. Torture and killing him wouldn’t last as long as a marriage and captivity in the clan would. He would be proud of Lan Xichen for finally showing his true emotions if he wasn’t in danger.

“Lan-zongzhu is most merciful.” He bowed, trying not to clench his fists. There was nothing more he could do. He was Lan Xichen’s to do with as he wished and from the look in his future husband’s eyes, Wei Wuxian would suffer for years. But that’s alright. It’s what he deserves and worse. For being the reason Lan Wangji died. For telling him he was going to destroy the Yin Hu Fu and the mechanics behind it and for letting his guard down around a man so determined to stick around him.

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

He finished his three bows without fanfare the next day and moved into the Hanshi a few hours later. With everyone he cared for dead and everything important to him having been burned in Lotus Pier years ago, it didn’t take long. He only had to bring himself.

“You’ll sleep on the floor near the brazier,” Lan Xichen informed him and Wei Wuxian gulped before offering a small bow. “The Clan leader needs to look like the paragon of the Clan as such, I must take care of myself before anyone else. I am sure you understand how politics and gossip work, Yiling Laozu.”

He didn’t, and on the off chance he did, he didn’t care about what people thought anyway but he nodded to show he understood.

“Well, I hope you see him in your dreams tonight because I am sure he would’ve loved to see you in his.” It was said lightly but Wei Wuxian understood it for the curse it was. Not even half a day had passed since his sham of a marriage and his husband had already cursed him to nightmares.

“Have a pleasant rest, Lan-zongzhu,” he responded, settling his tired body near the brazier.

The next few weeks were a blur of doing nothing, getting sneered at by everyone and thinking of Lan Wangji. It always got worse if he would look in a direction and remember what Lan Wangji had done in that area years ago. He could picture him stomping around in that elegant manner of his in his mind and it never got easier, knowing he was never coming back.

Because he had learned to be a self-sacrificing fool from staying with him. Wei Wuxian would cuss him out if he wasn’t worried about how every one of his actions could affect his reincarnation. He probably thought too highly of his influence with fate but it was better to be careful.

The constant ache of feeling like something was missing, something was wrong, the nightmares and the bland GusuLan fare that was surprisingly not poisoned caused his health to decline steadily. He lost weight, his body ached constantly and his mind was in tatters, warring with immense guilt and self-hatred at all times of the day. So it wasn’t a surprise when the thin line between his guilt and lack of self-worth finally snapped. Frankly, he was surprised it took two months.

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

“Excess emotion is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses,” Lan Xichen reminded, as he found his husband with tears streaming down his face again. He didn’t even seem aware he was crying but didn’t look surprised as he wiped his face free of the residue of his guilt.

“Why are you being so cruel to me? You won't let me die and now you don’t want me to feel,” he whispered listlessly, the rays of the setting sun making the harsh lines of his face more pronounced. He had known his husband wasn’t eating but surely a cultivator of his calibre could practice inedia for weeks, couldn’t he?

“Every Clan member has to abide by the rules and you are part of the main family now.” He pointed out.

“I didn’t take you to be so skilled at torture, Zewu-jun, but I was wrong. You’re so good at this, aren’t you? Ordering the kitchens to send me food Lan Zhan used to like better, not stopping anyone from whispering and jeering and taunting my dead family, letting everyone remind me how I failed at being a father before I could ever become one… before I could ever save my A-Yuan.” He choked on a sob and Lan Xichen was surprised. Yuan-er, dead? Who was telling him such lies? “I really despise you.”

“That’s alright. The last person in our clan you seemed to like was my brother and we all know how that went.” It was instinct, lashing out at a husband who never fought back because the guilt of having a hand in his brother’s death was too much for him. If he hadn’t whipped Wangji. If he hadn’t left him unsupervised. If he hadn’t underestimated the depth of his brother’s feelings for Wei Wuxian… It was no wonder Wangji overexerted himself and reached the Burial Mounds before the siege did.

The pain on Wei Wuxian’s face made him stumble. The guilt on his face had left its mark on his once-youthful face. His eyes were dull, and his smile, ever-present in his teenage, was twisted into a loathing grin. One directed at himself.

No. Lan Xichen won't sympathize with that man. Doing so was the cause of his brother’s downfall. He needed to hate him forever and needed to ensure Wei Wuxian got what he deserved and more.

“I didn’t come here to talk to you, I came here to tell you we’re having tea with the elders today. Make yourself presentable. Your Lan robes are there, wear them.” Lan Qiren had gotten Wei Wuxian an ill-fitting –more now than before because of all the weight he had lost— set of robes, plain white to signify that while he was married to the leader, he was nothing more than a prisoner. An unwanted.

Lan Xichen should hate him, he really should. It’d make things easier. So why then, did hearing Wei Wuxian’s heart-wrenchingly agonized sobs make him want to cry too?

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

“You are a disgrace upon this clan and to every cultivator alive! How dare you look at me with such an accusatory expression?” Elder Zhou yelled, breaking half a dozen rules about composure. Lan Xichen looked at his husband and realized the elder was right. Wei Wuxian was glaring at him. Could it be that he realized who argued with him the most to make sure he punished his brother with the discipline whip?

“You’re only lucky Xichen wanted you alive. Your status as his legal spouse is the only thing keeping us from seeking justice! You don’t deserve to take a single breath of Gusu’s air with all the crimes you’ve committed!” Elder Wang spoke up too and was it him or the Elders had invited them to tea solely to take turns hurling accusations at Wei Wuxian. He had thought this was a formality, yet there seemed to be a reasoning behind every carefully worded barb. And it was working. Wei Wuxian’s clenched hands were shaking, his lower lip was bleeding from how hard he was biting it and there was an unmistakable wetness in his eyes.

“I think that’s quite enough.” He stood up, offering Wei Wuxian his hand. His husband quietly followed his lead. “Don’t forget in whose presence you are because you all have broken two dozen rules so far. Submit yourself for punishment tomorrow.” And then he was leading Wei Wuxian out and away from the Elders. Should’ve done this earlier, a voice in his mind grumbled and he was tempted to agree.

But the damage was done because as soon as they were in the Hanshi, Wei Wuxian fell to his knees, clutching his robes. His surprise made him speechless.

“Kill me, please. I can't do this anymore. Everywhere I look, I see him, I remember the lives I snuffed out and I feel the guilt. It's been getting worse, Zewu-jun, I can no longer take a single breath without feeling weighed down by self-loathing, deserved as it is.” His voice was hoarse from the tears, his form bony from starving himself, yet the grip on his robes was unyielding and spoke of someone who used to have so much power. And now he had been reduced to begging.

“It's killing me, I know that was the purpose but the soul-crushing agony I feel is unbearable. I am going insane and I don’t want to become a danger to the Clan. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I hurt another soul again. So please, please kill me. End this farce and free yourself. Shatter my soul too after so I can never reincarnate again. I don’t have a golden core so it’d be easy and I know I don’t deserve to ask this of you but please make it quick. I want to have one last moment without pain-“

“Wei Wuxian, calm yourself!” He fell to his knees and grabbed his husband’s hands. “Take a deep breath and explain what you mean.” Because he couldn’t have heard that right. Wei Wuxian was the strongest cultivator alive, how could he be that without a golden core?

“I would if it’d make a difference but… I can't, I can't breathe I can’t-“ Lan Xichen realized too late. Wei Wuxian looked dead, his outward appearance reflecting on his mind’s condition. He was right because Wei Wuxian was on the brink of insanity and begging him to kill him so his people stayed safe.

“He’s good, he’s one of the best people out there, Xiongzhang, so please help me bring him to Gusu.”

Ah. So this is what Wangji meant back then. This is why his brother wouldn’t budge in his defences of the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.

I see it, I see it now, Wangji. But am I too late?

His eyes were a dull, lifeless grey. They seemed to be seeing through him. Wei Wuxian was dying. And most of it was his fault. He did this, he tortured the man his brother cared so deeply for with every member of the Clan. He should’ve felt happy, proud of breaking the feared Yiling Laozu. So why then, did the sight of Wei Wuxian almost dead make him feel like scum. Like a murderer. Like someone who killed an innocent.

Because that’s what his husband was. An Innocent. The pieces clicked in his mind. The rumours of Jiang Wanyin losing his core but coming back even stronger. The Demonic Cultivation. The pushing people away. The desire to stay away from Wangji yet be helpless to resist his light. The lack of Yin Hu Fu. The desire to keep one more person safe from his hands if that was the last thing he did.

Wei Wuxian had been innocent and Lan Xichen had committed a heinous, unforgivable crime.

“A-Ying, husband, I am here. I am here.” His hands were clutching at bony shoulders, pulling the man into his arms for a tight embrace. He held him as he shook, body wracked with sobs and unintelligible sounds of grief and guilt and he held him as his own eyes grew misty. He realized how every horrible thing that had happened to this poor, innocent man had his hand in it. He wasn’t any better than the things he was punishing Wei Wuxian for, was he? What was the purpose of being a Clan Leader, someone said to have infinite wisdom, both theoretical and real, if he was going to be blind in the face of his own guilt? He was a disgrace, he had tortured a man whose only crime was caring for others, and he had let others take part in his depraved schemes.

He was a monster.

“I am sorry, I am so sorry, please stay with me. Stay with me!” He couldn’t disguise the desperation in his voice as Wei Wuxian went slack against him. Would he be able to live with himself if Wei Wuxian died? Would he ever be able to face his brother with his hands tainted in his most cherished person’s blood? “A-Ying, A-Ying I am so sorry please don’t leave me, please! I’ll do anything you ask for, give you anything, please don’t go too, please please-“

He heard shouts in the background, he heard the word Qi Deviation being muttered and felt the oppressive feeling of untamed panic as the door to the Hanshi was kicked open. Yet his arms never let go of his husband, even when the world went dark.

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

He sat up with a harsh breath, wondering where he was. Looking around didn’t tell him anything. He tried to remember what happened, where he was… It was then he noticed a weight on his left hand and turned to look at what had him in such a death grip.

Wei Wuxian slouched on the floor, seemingly asleep. But the grip on his hand was unyielding. It was also warm. Warm with life. Warm with proof that his husband was alive and that he had time to make amends and be a better person for him and Wangji.

“A-Ying,” he whispered, and Wei Wuxian sat up with a grumble, eyes red with interrupted sleep.

“Oh… I should call the healers since you’re awake,” he muttered and moved to get up. Xichen wasn’t having it, so he pulled Wei Wuxian towards him, making him stumble and fall onto him gracelessly.

“Don’t go yet, stay with me, A-Ying,” he whispered in his hair as his arms tightened around his husband. His husband. Wei Wuxian was his husband. How had he never realized how significant that fact was?

“I- alright?” And then he climbed into the bed and wrapped his arms around Xichen, offering him comfort he didn’t know he needed so badly.

“You’re alright. I didn't lose you…” He shuddered at the thought and felt Wei Wuxian look up at him. “You’re here…”

“I am.” Lying was forbidden in the Cloud Recesses after all. “Where am I?” He still felt disoriented, as if he wasn’t quite feeling or seeing everything around him yet. His head hurt and it made him realize he couldn’t feel his spiritual energy.

“I had to seal your spiritual energy so it wouldn’t harm your meridians. You were qi deviating and I didn’t know what to do. Turns out it was a good idea because Xiansheng told me I just saved your life. It’s a little fascinating, he said he had never thought of stopping a qi deviation fit before it killed or permanently rendered someone from cultivating by sealing the energy and forcing the disruption to contain itself and-“ He tuned out the rambling in favour of staring at his husband’s face. For the first time in years, he saw the passionate interest reminiscent of a scholar again.

The war had taken so much from them all. He had forgotten it had been taken from Wei Wuxian too. His core, his family, his standing in the world, the reputation of his deceased parents. It had taken the spark, the warmth that had made Wei Wuxian Wei Wuxian and none of them had realized.

Seeing him now, so alive and only because he had gotten over his pain and guilt to save Xichen’s life. Watching him gesturing minutely with his hands as if he could draw him a picture of every genius thought that crossed his mind to explain his thoughts better, Lan Xichen realized he was alright. Wei Wuxian was alive and so was he. Their relationship had been riddled with pain and guilt, doomed from the beginning. But maybe, just maybe, they could make something beautiful out of it.

Beautiful… It was the same word he could use to describe Wei Wuxian now, with his eyes full of life and his voice going hoarse from the constant rambling. His cheeks were flushed and he was panting as he stopped his tirade and looked at him with a look full of so much indignance he giggled.

“You’re not even pretending to listen to me!” He wailed dramatically, a triumphant smile touching his lips as Lan Xichen laughed again. So this was Wei Wuxian, the real Wei Wuxian. Someone who was so smart, not just in mind but in action. Someone who was kind and selfless. Someone who found joy in making others happy regardless of who they were and what wrongs they had committed in life.

Lan Xichen didn’t blame his brother anymore. He could see it. Feel the first dregs of infatuation coursing through his veins as Wei Wuxian pouted dramatically at him. Feel a stirring in his heart that could only be the foundation of love as he tightened his hold on his husband. Feel the warmth of a blush as it spread on Wei Wuxian’s cheeks and his ears as he leaned forward to kiss his forehead, whining about how unfair he was being, taking away his thoughts just like that.

“A-Ying,” he sighed and Wei Wuxian’s flush darkened as he looked away from him, a shy smile touching his lips as he hugged him back harder with utmost nonchalance.

“A-Huan…” It was Xichen’s turn to freeze, his face beginning to burn and Wei Wuxian cackled inelegantly in his embrace.

They would be alright. There was a mountain of hurt between them, unanswered questions, withheld knowledge, the grief of losing Wangji, and the lingering effects of war, too. But for once, Xichen was convinced, his optimism not unfounded.

They would be alright and they would be happy. It would take time but he was sure of it, surer than he had ever been of anything.

He smiled down at his husband and pulled him to rest against him, a hand moving to stroke his hair. Wei Wuxian sighed softly and began the process of lecturing him about being reckless and following in his example of idiocy. And as those lips moved against his neck, reprimands falling from them against his skin, he wondered what it’d feel like to kiss them.

[bluesheep23]

Hi guys, Aaron backstory post,

Heavy TW i guess??

I'm just copy pasting from the discord server ig so no smooth transition or whatever

It's kinda long so super duper sorry for that, and it makes no sense with bad grammar.

Aaron is a single child to a couple who live in upper gotham (saffer than usual gotham, but still gotham) and they were like a happy family, until they weren't.

His dad lost his job and started to drink as well as cheat on his wife behind her back. And like one day Mom funds out and divorces him and they also go to court for custody of Aaron because mom does not want him to live eith a drunkard. but dad somehow bribes the judge into giving him full custody with drugs and money.

The house they lived in was under mom's name so dad and Aaron had to move to the bad side of gotham. Where his dad later found a job in a night club, meaning he would never be home and when he was he would be drunk and with a girl.

This Led to Aaron hating his dad but it never stayed. Everytime he would see his dad coming back from his job (most of the time high) he would fall to his knee and start crying, the only word that would leave his mouth was "Im sorry, i ruined your life" over and over again until he passes out.

That always made Aaron's resolve to hate his date crumble. During this time he started to avoid his dad and would just stay in his room, since he felt that he was being a terrible song to his dad, because even after everything his dad did he's still his dad and is trying to improve their lives and how much he regret doing what he did.

Also i should mention that Aaron is his dad's will to live, like he bribed the judge out of desperation since the mom was also going to take away visiting permisdion or whatever divorced people do. So like if Aaron wasnt in his life he would have killed himself the day the divorce ended.

Okay so while Aaron is in his room, trying to avoid his dad and the girl he was seeing these past few weeks he overhears the lady propossing to his dad that they should elope and start all over again and stuff but this meant that he wluld have to leave Aaron behind, to which his Dad flat out refuses.

He said thing how he would kill himself if Aaron wasnt with him, how he needed to take responsibility for him and how Aaron was his will to live as well as the thing that kept him going in life.

And at that moment Aaron realised that no matter what his dad did he couldn't bring himself to hate him, so from then on he tries to improve his relationship with his dad.

Okay so it also turned out that the lady was in an abusive marriage aswell and that was why she proposed to elope.

And somehow the husband of the lady find out and goes ballistic and breaks into their house to catch them and kill them (he was on drugs).

Okay so while Dad and lady are making out, husband pulls up and confronts them, they have a screaming match before the husband takes out a gun and shoots them both.

At the same time Aaron returns home and finds the man looming over his Dad's body, the husband realises that Aaron was also there and shoots him.

Okay so while Aaron eyes flashes before his eyes, his vision rapidly blurring, a window panel pops up infront of him, asking if Aaron would like to play a game, and if he said yes it would let him live.

Aaron presses yes and then a warning pops up, saying that everytime he would revive, someone else at random would die, a soul for a soul to keep things balanced. Howver Aaron doesn't read the last part and just presses confirm and revives.

The Husband watches as Aaron gets up after getting shot in the chest, looking perfectly fine, his hair just slightly red.

The man as he was on drugs thought he was going crazy and shot Aaron over and over, Aaron kept reviving and taking a step towards the man, getting killed like 6 time while making his way to the man before gets scared and drops the gun in fear, thinking that aaron was a demon that was after him.

Aaron then picked up the gun the man dropped before shooting him in the heart. After that he just fell down onto the ground and broke down crying.

After the whole ordeal he was put back in with his mother. He never told anyone the truth abt what happened and his new abilities.

Just lied to people that the husband killed himself after killing both his dad and the lady since he was high.

Also chat he has like mission panels that help him out and stuff like when he was put with his mom he got a mission saying something like

[NEW MISSION]

{LIE TO MOM ABOUT THE EVENTS THAT HAPPENED}

<failure to complete the will cause the game to end>

something like the solo leveling system panel and other system manwha.

Thinking abt highschool era asswipe that had a wolf cut who was probably closeted pansexual teenager.

Okay, what if he was in the popular group in high school, but like most of his school was homophonicmeaning, so was his "friend" group.

and like his group, like bullied a boy who was rumored to be gay but like asswipe didn't bully him, but he didn't stop it either.

because he didn't want them to like think he was into men (he was) because he like stood up for a gay boy, so he just stood by as they bullied him.

Also going to make that aaron had multiple crushes on dudes, that were his friends drowing up but didn't say anything because he was scared

okay so maybe Aaron and the boy (I'll call him Michael) gets like paired together for a project and they like start meeting up for it

michael is distant at first but then slowly warms up to Aaron as the story progresses and they later start to fall for each other, but aaron like pushes his feelings to the bottom since he doenst want to get bullied and shit by his so called friends

okay so maybe one day while they have like HUUGGEEE tension they end up kissing and aaron comes out to Michael abt being pan

and like they secretly start dating

but liek at the same time Michael's bullying becomes worse since one of the guys from the grouped saw Michael all giddy and happy while texting on his phone and snatches it from him to read it and saw that he was texting his "secret" boyfriend

they didn't know it was Aaron, and like the bullying gets worse, aaron still doesn't do anything about it and michael is like excusing his behaviour because he knows how aaron struggles with his sexuality and stuff.

but one day he overhears one of the group member asking aaron why he was so buddy buddy with michael, and he's like trying to avoid the questions until one of them asks if he was also like a f slur like michael and aaron freezes up

and then he lies that he's not and that how he's only nice because he wants a good grade on the project and how michael is doing all the work for him

and ofcourse since he michael overhears it he assumed it was true and and caused a big fight between them when he confronted aaron abt it causing them to go on a break

Okay so during this era the bullying gets even more worse, with even michael's parent getting called in and they're like super strict catholics and homophobes and like his life just goes down in general

during this, he's just waiting for any sign of aaron defending him or anything, but it never happens since Aaron is like 1000× more scared than he ever was

and during this time michael starts to resent Aaron like crazy and like makes a plan to get back at him.

meanwhile Aaron's mom finds out abt his sexuality and is like super supportive and like basically nothing how aaron thought she was going to react. and he like decides to finally do the right thing and stick up for michael even if it means he would get bullied like crazy

so he gets a bouquet of flowers and decides to confess to michael in front of the class and make things right between them

But it was too late,

SINCE WHEN HE ENTERS THE CLASSROOM THAT MORNING WITH THE FLOWERS HE FIND EVERYONE HUDDLED AROUND THE THE CHALK BOARD WHERE

okay like tw ig

there was the messages between him and michael plus michael had edited Aaron's face on gay porn thing and printed them, sticking to the board with a suicide letter basically just blaming him for everything.

So like michael had killed himself.

Oh and then aaron gets bullied and it's like really bad.

oh, after he graduates, he cuts his long, luscious hair since the hair holds memories thing. and promises to never let himself fall in love with someone else since he thinks that he'll only make them suffer. and after that, he joins a pop band that was his safe space before he gets kicked out for not fitting their aesthetic.

Also what if asswipe had like mostly blue hair in highschool but after that incident he committed several times and always revived and fell into big depression and that why his hair is now mostly red with still a few blue and the only reason he stopped was because his mom caught him when he was going to try again.

Comment 😼😼 if you made it this far.

Powers lore will drop soon and stuff ig.

[rjalker]

Please tag your videos with rapid transitions, motion blurs, flashing colors or lights, and neon colors as "flashing" and "eyestrain". No TW CW or "warning", just "flashing" and "eyestrain".

[losingdcgs]

[ … ] ❀ you’re not from around here , are you? i figured because you totally just missed { marcela everly } walking by. don’t tell me you don’t know who { she } is ? they kind of look like { giovana cordeiro } and i could be wrong but i think that they might be { twenty-eight } years old right now. they’ve been living in palmview for the last { twenty-eight years }. and i don’t know if anyone has ever told them this before but they kind of remind me of { fleabag } from { fleabag }. if you stick around the town long enough you might catch them in action working at { retro roots } as a { salesperson }. you see this town isn’t really that big of a place, some folks like to call them the { black hole } of palmview! they took a liking to the name too after a while, go figure. oh crap, they must have heard me yapping. they’re coming this way. i got to warn you though, rumor has it they can pretty { self-destructive } at times. i wouldn’t take it too seriously though, from the times i’ve spoken to them they seemed pretty { humorous } to me. we see each other all the time since they live in that { three bedroom } apartment beside me over in { sunset villas }. i better leave you to it. it was nice meeting you! 

Basics !

Full name: Marcela Everly

Nickname: N/A

Gender: Cis woman

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 28

Birthday: July 17th

Sexuality: Bisexual

Relationship Status: Single

Occupation: Salesperson @ Retro Roots

Time in Palmview: 28 years

Counterpart: Fleabag (Fleabag)

Label: The black hole

Enneagram: 7w6 (the enthusiast, the adventurer)

Aesthetic: The end of a brand new lipstick already smushed, last night's makeup smudged around your eyes, unread text messages, waking up with a pounding in your head, a trail of disaster following you, a wine bottle shattered on the floor, laughter masking tears, uncertainty hanging over your head

Quick Backstory ! (minor neglect tw)

Early childhood is one big, chaotic blur for Marcela. Maybe she's lucky that way, barely able to remember the unfit home she spent her first few years in or the memory of the social worker collecting her. What she does remember clearly is getting welcomed into the Everly family with opened arms. She lost a family who didn't seem all too interested in fighting for her, so what? She gained loving parents, a big brother, and sisters in the exchange.

It should've been a comfort, knowing this family chose her, but she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe they would change their minds. To be clear, it wasn't anything they did that made her feel this way, it was more just the fear that it would happen again. The fear didn't manifest in her trying to be some picture perfect daughter or chase her to the other extreme, instead, it just left her lost.

She made her way through life, feeling no real sense of direction and this growing void in her chest that she filled with meaningless and fleeting connections. Maybe these were things that everyone grappled with? Feeling lost in the transition from childhood to adulthood was perfectly normal, right?

Well, that feeling hasn't gone away. Stuck in Palmview (or maybe just too scared to leave the people she knows love her), Marcela is now working a sales job at Retro Roots, hoping for some sort of sign from the universe to jump out at her and let her know what she's supposed to be doing with her life.

Misc. !

The type of person to use humor to cover any serious emotions or problems until she literally can't anymore and breaks down(not ideal to her, she would prefer to continue to deflect with humor).

Lowkey a little awkward, especially when her jokes or snark doesn't land with the person she's speaking with. It doesn't seem to really bother her.

Genuinely loves the people in her life, but can honestly be a bit self-sabotage-y in romantic and platonic relationships. She's far from perfect and has definitely caused some damage in her relationships.

She got extremely lucky with her adoptive family, don't get her wrong, but there's still this lost, empty feeling inside that she generally tries to fill with physical relationships.

Would likely say disaster follows her around, when in reality she very much has a hand in the problems that plague her.

Has a love/hate relationship with her job. On the one hand she hates it because she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, just that she doesn't want to be a salesperson forever. On the other though, there is something appealing to her when it comes to selling vintage things.

Wanted Connections !

I'm going to have all my wanted connections here (I still have to go into detail about them), but I'm genuinely open to anything! Give me all the wholesome, angsty, messy connections your hearts desire <3

[roisy]

Stoner Tea (1/3) 2.6k

The one where Rebekah’s solution to Bonnie’s panic attack is serving stoner tea at her anti-curfew party. 4x03

TW:  dissociation/panic attacks.

If you asked Bonnie how she got to history class—well—she’d struggle to answer. Her morning blended into one big blur. Someone else must’ve woken up, drove to school, and walked into first period because she didn’t remember a thing. It was like the times she sleepwalked, but worse because an invisible barrier separated her from the world. It left her trapped in a fuzzy haze, while everyone else buzzed in the background at their desks. Was she even there? Awake? In a weird lucid-magical-dream? Who-freaking-knew?

A yelp across the classroom tore down the mist. Bonnie’s head snapped toward Elena, who yanked a bloody pencil out of her shoulder. The black veins under Elena’s eyes made Bonnie’s chest tighten. Elena was one of them now. A vampire. All because Bonnie failed to bring Elena’s humanity back from the Other Side before she transitioned. 

Grams had warned Bonnie against dark magic, had tried protecting her from the spirits’ wrath. Then, Klaus kept pushing and pushing her to put him back in his original body and Gram’s grip on her hands had gotten tighter and tighter—no—she couldn’t think of that right now.

Bonnie shifted her focus to the smug thousand-year-old vampire instead. Rebekah. She looked how Bonnie wanted to feel: like she didn’t have a care in the world. Rebekah offered a faux-sweet smile to Elena and slipped into a chair at the front of the class.

The bell rang before it could escalate further. Good. Bonnie’s temple already throbbed enough without a vampire fight breaking out at eight-thirty. She needed one day where everyone got along. No neck snaps or death threats—just one normal day of senior year. Was that too much to ask? 

Speaking of normal; a new history teacher offered a standard introduction. Ms. Hawthorne: a newbie right out of college. She wrote her name on the blackboard and shared her philosophy about her approach to teaching, which centered on collaborative learning. “Teamwork among students fosters an environment where you can learn from each other, share ideas, and work together to solve problems.” It sounded like a literal nightmare. 

Bonnie rested her cheek on her palm and doodled during Ms. Hawthorne’s ten-minute rant about the importance of “peer learning.” But then came the big guns: middle school styled ice-breaker activities that required everyone’s participation.

Ms. Hawthorne got everyone to write their name on a scrap of paper and collected them into the round whisker basket. The idea was to pair random kids together to interview each other so they could share interesting facts about their partner to the class. Students went up to the desk one-by-one and plucked a random name out of the basket hung at the end of her desk.

The exercise sounded simple, right? Except for Rebekah’s turn. The blonde’s reception in class was hard to ignore. First, came the bad. Stefan tapped his daylight ring against his desk, obviously paranoid she’d provoke Elena into snapping.

Everyone else had more positive reactions. Jeff Gillies, David Bance and John Albrecht sat side-by-side in the center row, wiggling their eyebrows behind Rebekah’s back as she stood up. Sarah Beasley’s desk screeched as she twisted it to face the Original vampire, and Savannah Davis drooled in the row beside Bonnie.

Rebekah’s popularity had been pretty obvious since the day she stole the cheerleading squad right out from Caroline. But there was a difference between everyone smiling at you in the hallway and people gaping at you like you owned the world. They either wanted to be her or be with her. It made sense, really. A pretty girl with a pretty accent who made hearts stop when she walked into a room. She possessed this mysterious magnetism, that certain ‘je ne sais quoi,’ which all her family had in one way or another.

Maybe humans subconsciously sensed Rebekah's power and their blatant admiration and flattery for her was their way to submit to the predator.

Or maybe they just wanted to kiss a pretty girl. 

Well, that was Bonnie’s theory, anyway.

The one thing for sure? Everyone wanted the chance to be her partner—even Elena—who sat up a little straighter with a sharp pencil poised for attack. And Rebekah? She flipped her hair over her shoulder, graced the room with a knowing hiked eyebrow, and went to dip her hand in the basket. 

Stefan shot across the room a little too fast to be normal and swiped the paper out of Rebekah’s hand. He didn’t even bother unfolding it before he declared, “Bonnie’s your partner.”

“Liar,” Rebekah accused. “It says Elena, doesn’t it?”

He leaned against the desk in a pretty bad attempt to look casual and said, “Nope.”

“Hand it here, then,” she said. 

“Do you have something against Bonnie?” he asked.

“Nope,” she mocked him, halfheartedly trying to grab the paper. 

“Sounds like you do,” he insisted. 

“I do not.”

He shrugged and asked, “Then what’s your problem?”

“I’m not the one who has an issue. What’s the matter, Stefan? Afraid to let fate decide? I wonder why that is? Hmm?” Rebekah asked, waving her index finger toward Elena. Rebekah’s smug smile radiated superiority. “Oh—Elena—there’s a splotch of blood on your shirt. Wonder how that got there? You should really be more careful. I see why Stefan’s up here and not you. Wouldn’t want you to get a papercut, would we?”

“I’ll show you a papercut,” Elena said, standing up. 

Bonnie tried to defuse the situation by ‘spontaneously combusting’ the remaining paper inside the whisker basket. Grams’ pained face flashing behind her eyes stopped her in her tracks. A sharp jolt rippled through her skull when she tried again, making her grip her pencil so tight that the tip snapped against her notebook. 

The crack caught the vampires’ attention.

“You okay, Bon?” Elena asked, eyebrows drawn together, 

“Peachy,” Bonnie replied, grabbing one half of the pencil and placing it over her heart. She asked under her breath, “Do I need to snap it into thirds?” 

Rebekah snorted. 

Stefan sighed.

And Elena flopped back into her chair.

Tension successfully cut.

“Okay, kids, obviously there’s history here,” Ms. Hawthorne said. “As much as I love teen drama, let’s all take a deep breath. It’s the luck of the draw, okay? No special treatment here. It’s designed this way, so no one feels left out. Now, Stefan, Rebekah, how do you think this bickering makes Bonnie feel?”

Bonnie almost laughed at the concern and offered, “Oh, I’m totally fine going partnerless. Thanks.”

“I don’t condone exclusion in my classroom,” Ms. Hawthorne said. Did she blink back tears? Great. Someone clearly bullied this woman in high school and now she projected her issues onto the nearest tangible target. Bonnie. “Now one of you two will be her partner, and that’s final. But the choice won’t be down to either of you. Bonnie? What do you say? Who do you want to be your partner?”

“Why do I always get caught in the middle?” Bonnie muttered. 

“My bad,” Stefan said, not-so-subtly nodding in Rebekah’s direction as he dropped the name-slip he stole at her desk.

Bonnie unfolded the scrap of paper and revealed a name scrawled in a familiar handwriting. Elena. Ugh. Stefan might’ve been dramatic about it but he was right. Elena and Rebekah? Talk about the worst possible scenario. 

“Well?” Rebekah said, sauntering over and placing her palms on Bonnie’s desk. “Who shall it be? Saint Stefan or little old me?”

“Guess we’re partners, Mikaelson,” Bonnie said. 

“Goodie,” Rebekah said, sliding the nearest combo desk close to Bonnie. “I’m so over their drama.”

Like she didn’t impale Elena with a pencil. “Uh-huh.”

“I know that look,” Rebekah said, narrowing her eyes. “You think I’m a wretched, heartless bitch. Join the club.”

“I don’t think anything,” Bonnie denied, doodling in her notebook with an ink pen. Black overshadowed the page. Creepy, wispy shadows that looked like they belonged at a death ritual. Yet she kept sketching, letting her subconscious throw up on the page. “Besides, I don’t have time for extracurriculars.”

“The point in this exercise is to speak freely,” Rebekah said, swiping the pen away. 

Bonnie rolled her shoulders back, watched the pen spinning between Rebekah’s fingers, and said, “Right.”

“I won’t bury a pen in your chest if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Bonnie scoffed. “I’m not scared.”

“So, I’m not even a blip on your radar? Is that what you’re saying?” Rebekah asked, leaning in close and bopping Bonnie’s nose with the blunt end of the pen. “That may be even more offensive, Bonnie.”

“You like cheerleading, you’re average at physics, and you’re a big on family,” Bonnie listed. “What else is there to know?”

“A lot of things.”

“Like your crush on Matt?”

Rebekah’s nose scrunched. “I think that died the moment I sent him off that bridge, don’t you? I realized I didn’t like him much, anyhow.”

“Oh?”

“Spend nearly a century in a box and your judgment on romantic prospects may suffer temporarily. No matter. My taste is back and better than ever.”

“Do I want to know?”

“That’s the point of this exercise, is it not?” Rebekah asked, tilting her head to the side. “To get to know one another better?”

“I guess?”

 “Your enthusiasm is infectious.” Rebekah’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “I’ll start. First, my physics is flawless, thank you very much. I’ve recently taken up baking in my new state-of-the-art kitchen. I notice you clench your jaw quite a lot. Baking a great stress reliever. You should try it sometime.”

“You’re lecturing me on my stress levels? Seriously?”

“Don’t think of it as a lecture and more as sound advice,” she said, actually sounding kind of genuine? Rebekah’s eyes locked onto Bonnie’s, and Bonnie couldn’t help but be struck by how pretty they were—how blue— how sincere. “You’re having heart palpitations even now with zero stressors. That can’t be healthy.”

“Zero stressors?” Bonnie repeated, scoffing at the thudding of her heart. She motioned toward the blonde. “Hello?”

“I am a sight to behold, I give you that.”

“I can’t with you,” Bonnie said, laughing at the girl’s ego. 

“Oh, speaking of stressors, my brother “died” at the hands of your teacher. Mr. Saltzman was a threat to the rest of my family. There was only one way to take him out. Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same.”

“Can we not?” Bonnie asked, rubbing her temple. “I’ve got a raging headache. I don’t feel like being collateral damage when you and Elena brawl it out again.”

“I’ll have you know I tried burying the hatchet with her. I even invited her to—” she grabbed a flier and planted it on Bonnie’s desk, “—my anti-curfew party, which you are more than welcome to attend. Think of it as a clean slate. Let bygones be bygones. What do you say?”

Parties in this town never played out well. Not for Bonnie, anyway. Everyone thought they could kick back and destress and then someone’s body got drained of blood or a poor sucker got compelled to jump off a balcony. She got swept away to perform some emergent spell most of the time and didn’t even get to have one drink. What was the point? 

Just when Bonnie was about to say no, she caught Rebekah’s fingers crossed. And Rebekah remained motionless too, as if her breath were trapped in her chest. 

Huh. 

What was that about?

“Okay, time’s up, everyone!” Ms. Hawthorne said, clapping her hands together before Bonnie could give Rebekah an answer. “I want you to tell me three things about your partner. First, their name, and two interesting facts about them. It’ll make it easier for me to humanize you when I’m grading your papers. Let’s start with Rebekah and Bonnie. Hopefully, it was worth the drama?”

“Ladies first,” Bonnie said. 

“Well, if you insist . . .” Rebekah agreed. 

Bonnie crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. What could Rebekah say about her, anyway? That Bonnie successfully transferred her brother’s soul to another body—not once—twice? Or Bonnie had a habit of napping during physics class and Rebekah liked to throw balled up papers at the back of Bonnie’s sleeping head? 

“This is Bonnie Bennett,” Rebekah said, starting off strong. “Aquarius. Some might say martyr. And she’s in desperate need of a stress detox. So, in the spirit of “teamwork,” I’m assigning myself the duty of making sure she has fun today. What say you, Bonnie?”

Bonnie did a double take and said, “Say what now?”

“Wow! Hold that thought, Bonnie. I need to capture this for my records. I can’t believe I hooked up a bullied student a new friend on my first day,” Ms. Hawthorne said, taking out her phone and pointing it in their direction. “Smile!”

Bonnie’s mouth dropped open and asked, “What is even happening?”

Rebekah smushed their cheeks together and posed for the photo. “So, that’s a, ‘yes?’”

“You’re not going to stop, are you?” 

“Nope,” Rebekah confirmed 

“Fine.”

“You won’t regret it.”

“Now, Bonnie, it’s your turn. Two facts about your new friend,” Ms. Hawthorne said.

“Stress bakes. Awful at physics,” Bonnie deadpanned.

An awkward silence stretched out, followed by Ms. Hawthorne’s cheery, “I’ll take it.”

Ms. Hawthorne moved onto the next pair. The next half hour went in the same vein. Except no one else got roped into being a pet project. Bonnie resumed doodling and occasionally peeked at Rebekah, who leaned back in her seat, humming low under her breath. The bell shocked Bonnie out of her spell. No one wasted time and rushed off to their next class. Rebekah stuck around, though, dragging the strap of her handbag over her shoulder. 

“Unclench your jaw,” Rebekah said, tapping the side of Bonnie’s face. “Your car is a white prius, right?”

“Uh—yeah?”

“We’re leaving after gym class. You’re driving.”

With that, Rebekah left the classroom, not giving Bonnie a chance to argue. Bonnie didn’t have time to process because Stefan came over with an apologetic smile. 

“Hey, Bon,” Stefan said, patting her shoulder awkwardly. “Sorry for throwing you to the wolves. I figured staying by Elena’s side was my best option today. Speaking of, uh, Elena’s emotions are heightened right now. She’s clinging onto anger, anger that’s honed in on–”

“Rebekah,” Bonnie finished for him. 

“Exactly. You have gym together and I was hoping you’d keep an eye on them. You know, give them a little headache if things get out of hand.”

Gram’s pained face flashed in Bonnie’s mind. “The last time I did magic, my Grams, she . . . I got out of control.”

“I understand, but—”

“She got hurt.”

“Elena might get hurt—”

“You don’t understand,” Bonnie cut him off. “The spirits hurt Grams to punish me. I can’t let that happen again. So, no, Stefan. I can’t risk it.”

“Is there a problem here?” Ms. Hawthorne asked from across the room.

Stefan shook his head, headed for the exit, and said, “No. No problem.”

Bonnie packed up the rest of her stuff and came across the doodle she drew. She inhaled. Grams. A distorted version of Grams who pried apart two halves of a shadowy curtain. Black veins traveled all the way from her neck to the tips of her fingers. And her eyes. Her eyes were like shattered mirrors reflecting the pain of a thousand cuts. The dim glow from Grams’ eyes flickered a beacon in the darkness that was a silent cry for help, a plea for Bonnie to end her suffering.  The violent imagery grounded Bonnie for a solid ten seconds before the familiar sights and sounds of the busy hallways distorted. An almost familiar warped lens settled in front of her eyes again.

[wolpatinga]

re: syscourse. fuck it, imma go into *all* my traumas since that seems to be the official seal of "allowed to have an opinion". tw SH, SA, addiction

fucking hell, where to begin. i guess it started when i was like, 10, 11? my dad had issues, man. went into my sister's room and smashed her furniture because of some bullshit reason i don't even remember. she was no older than eight at the time. i grabbed her and pulled her out into our yard bc i legit didn't know where my dad would draw the line

this wasn't a *regular* occurence, but both of my parents would use senseless property destruction as a threat. i was twelve when i had to pull my toddler brother away from my dad because he was threatening to smash his brains in. i was thirteen when my mom destroyed my first cosplay, smashed it to pieces with a hammer

i myself wasn't beat after i turned eight, but i was beat. and i constantly had to remind my parents that if they did the same thing to my siblings, i could and would call the cops on them. which is an insane thing for a kid that just gained consciousness to do. the first alter is who would be called hyde, and he's been around for about thirteen years now. he's a defender and deeply cynical, highly aware of the effects of abuse

i first started self harming when i was fifteen. my father was violently against me wearing makeup, and when i got my nails painted at school, he made me wash it off with the harshest soap he could find. my fingertips are still fucked up from that. i figured, if i couldn't claim control over my body in that way, i'd carve control into the spaces they couldn't see. it wasn't suicidal, not yet, but it was there

from there it got worse. i switched schools, and was groomed by a much older peer. he recognized my despair and seized it. he had been actively suicidal for years, which i was unaware of at first, but he isolated me from everyone else and convinced me i was the only thing keeping him alive. for three years, i tutored him, was raped by him, was his suicide hotline, and anytime i expressed discomfort he'd pull a knife on me, or drive recklessly, or strangled me. he got me pregnant, but i miscarried because of the stress. thank god i did, because he told me that once i started to show he was going to kill me anyways - he didn't need to be a father yet

and the people around me didn't believe it. to this day my mother shows me photos of him, telling me that was the only man that was ever good to me. that period was a blur, but apparently the high stress lead to us being a very good student? i dunno. people say that was the best time of my life. it was not. i can tell silly stories of what i did to get around the suffering, but the truth is i don't really remember NASA wallops island or my engineering competitions. all i remember is my deathwish

we really fractured in our late teens. we had several suicide attempts, but evidently we failed. university wasn't much better. we finally got away from our parents long enough to get into drinking, and switching back to front while vomiting up blood was a regular occurrence. we realized we wanted to transition around this point, which lead to further abusive words from our parents. those four years, the only real socialization i had was from a deeply abusive church. one of us decided to infiltrate their ranks and preach blasphemies, but again, i don't really remember that

i tried again to self destruct during one of those church services. that lead to the *exorcism* and me being put on a suicide watch by the church. we hate surveillance. it was awful. we ended up finding the underground rave scene in that city and got into some *really* awful substances. we don't have those contacts anymore, which helped us get clean, but trying to chase those highs again is what lead to the morning glory incident yesterday

we're a wreck at the moment. we've suffered. we're traumagenic. it took ages for us to realize that the multiple people we knew ourselves to be was a known condition, something we learned from endos

we'd blocked out most of that story in our head because it hurt so badly. when we first met systems on here (almost entirely endos), we believed ourselves to be endo too. because the new host couldn't remember the everything we endured. by working with our parts, we've pieced together who we were for the first 20 years of our life, and all that entailed. but we learned this BECAUSE OF ENDOS

i will always stand on the side of endogenic and whatever else terms we use for systems. i don't care if they haven't suffered as much as i have. i hope to god they haven't suffered as much as i have. no one deserves what we endured

every endo i've met is incredibly kind and understanding of the trauma i endured, and that kindness is something i think we as humans need to show one another. shit's hard enough, and yea, some people have it worse than most. but don't go picking on other systems

[foulfowledfool]

you ever play a roblox game thats story is so good and so fruitful that you wanna make fanart but literally no one else Cares about it so.

the game was called "life purpose" and it went from a trolley problem to a guy burning down his entire village, so. 10/10 game i recommend it

tw for: heartbeat sounds, feeling of being watched, one (1) jumpscare, murder, blood, war, depression, psychological horror (?), religion (mostly buddhism and talk of rebirth and that stuff), it switches from third person to first person for the Spook sometimes (mostly in The Cave)

ahh god nevermind im just. im gonna talk about this under the cut Just. spoilers for the game if you wanna play. it took me around 30 - 45 minutes (i didnt really have a timer so it mightve been less/more idk) its Really good

^ the link. okay imma ramble about this game. play it for yourself if you wanna not get spoiled cuz imma about to do a play by play

--- IF I GET THE TIMELINE WRONG I APOLOGIZE!!! ---

okay okay so. it starts off with a trolley problem. this red ball thing (imma call him Red from now on) is here, telling you that "oH whAT a cLASSIc tRolLey prOblEM !! :)" and theres 4 people on one side, one on the other. you, the mc, cant really move anywhere, theres invisible walls. Red keeps going on and on about how this guy, the one guy, is such a loser, and nobody likes him. and oh, hes a serial killer, so he DESERVES to die, and oh, Red changed the body of the one guy into a more curvy body (im guessing male to female, congrats on the transition) and is all like "😳 i bET yOu doNT wANNa pULl tHE lEVer nOw" and then at the end, when Red is done explaining how this guys a loser and nobody likes them and theyre a serial killer yadda yadda yadda, he then goes "You have no choice. Pull the lever." and then you and the mc are forced to watch the guy plead for their life, as the train squashes them.

but good news! it was just a dream. :) he awakes in the afternoon in his cottage, on top of the hill. he looks down below at the village, monologuing about how hes alone and how the villagers probably hate him. the mc then says he wants to go to the cave. this is where it gets spooky.

he gets down to the cave. as you go forward, the perspective shifts to first person, and the movement slows. you get down to the bottom, to see a body hanging from a rock. the mc says "he got what he deserved". he exits the cave, now nighttime. the villagers are shooting fireworks. he sleeps, disgruntled.

Red is here again, and we are now in the barracks. a line up of soldiers and one of them is looking over the edge. Red then says like, "oH thIS gUy iS verY hOPEfuL" blah blah blah (sorry Red i dont really wanna paraphrase everything you say) and then the guy gets shot in the head and Red laughs about how he falls in a weird way. and then all the soldiers charge and you are forced to just... stay there. Red mocks you for that.

the mc wakes up. checks the cave. a woman has found the cave. he decides he need to kill her. he chases her, but the woman is too fast for him. he checks the house she ran into, and oops! both you and the mc get jumpscared by a cat. you cant find the woman anywhere. we then go home and sleep, anxiety building.

another dream. the mc is in a room, thats a jail. a guy is laying on the ground, kinda out of it. Red says he was framed, but he'll die because the "good" people thought he was a "bad" person. hes been in the cell for 9 years. "hE is aLIvE, buT heS bEeN dEAd a LONg tIMe" <- Red wtf does that mean. the cell then breaks, revealing three statues; a buddha, a cross, and the kabba (Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam). the screen fades to black after a couple of seconds.

a buncha stuff happens. The Spooks increase. i dont remember much for this section, it kinda just blurs together, sorry. but i do know that there were black roses that kept whispering threats, giant heads that smiled at you, and the moon was a giant face that was too scary to even describe. ughhh i hated that. i hated the moon face >:( but it fit! it fit the story!! oh and also the mc killed a monk in his dreams before that.

cut to the mc talking to his dad on a bench. they talk about life, its purpose, and then like, at the end of the convo the dad is like "what did you do after i passed away" and the mc lied and said he did good. then it cuts again, dad gone and the village burnt down, with everyone dead. Red is here, in the real world, and they talk about starting over. Red, despite loving chaos, agrees that the mc should be better. they agree to travel to a new village, where theyll be good this time. screen fades to black.

the end. :)

can you tell i loved this game. i didnt tell you NEARLY enough about this game, but if youre okay with psychological horror and a weird red energy ball calling you a loser, i think its Great!!! (also me he/him-ing Red is purely the vibes i got from Red, i dont think that thing has a gender)

[venture-through-the-mist]

Tennotober 2024

My collection of works based on the Tennotober 2024 prompts.

Hi all! I wanted to take part in Tennotober 2024, but I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to draw 31 art pieces, so I’m doing some fics instead!

The Warframe Tennotober 2024 Prompt List can be found here: https://forums.warframe.com/topic/1412660-official-tennotober-2024-megathread/

Day 15: Wedding: Fondness Lingers, Even In Wounded Souls

The Entrati family has changed drastically, has lived through wrath and loss and pain. They will never again be who they once were, yet perhaps there is merit in who they are now, and their connections to one another — new and old alike.

TW:

Mentions of paranoia, anger issues, and other mental health issues.

Going off of the above warning, there are brief, non-graphic mentions of the canon-typical domestic abuse—mainly physical, though you might see verbal if you squint—that comes with this family, as well as the lingering emotional impacts of that.

Memory issues due to the Infestation.

Just as another note, this piece does switch from Vilcor’s POV to Gomaitru’s POV about half(ish)way through. I tried to make the transition pretty smooth so it didn’t break up the flow of the story, but I do apologize if it’s a little unclear. Also, as I’m sure y’all might’ve gathered by now, this will have spoilers for Rank 5 with the Entrati family.

With everything out of the way, the fic begins under the cut.

She’s still the woman he married.

Somewhere, locked away in the far recesses of his mind, in one of the few places that hasn’t been consumed by the Infestation that worms its way into his thoughts, is a memory. It’s muddled, faces blurred and names obscured, but it’s still mostly intact. Or, rather, the important parts are.

It was a lavish ceremony—no, it wasn’t…was it? That doesn’t sound right, somehow—, but his focus hadn’t been on the sea of experts, nor had it been on their parents—his, he manages to recall…her father was already gone by then—, no. He had paid no attention to them, to the saccharine smiles and the practiced niceties that their kind was so well known for. 

His eyes were solely on her.

Her expression had been seared into his mind, those sharp, azure eyes boring into his soul, the corner of her lip turned into the faintest hint of a smirk. The dress she wore was flawless, of course, milky-white with golden accents, and her hair had been done into a style not much different from what she normally wore, save the ceremonial rings and beads adorning it. She hated it, he remembers. She had despised taking time away from her precious research to be primped and preened like some ornamental songbird. It didn’t matter anyways. Not to him.

He would’ve married her even in peasant’s clothes.

He remembers sitting next to each other, late that night, after everyone left, after all the superficial flatteries were done with. She had scoffed at him as he placed his hand next to her own. One hand rough, calloused, its nails cut short—and cleaned of oil and other debris, for once. The other, thin—not delicate, never delicate—, with sharp angles and even sharper nails, manicured so they were flawless. Despite their differences, both were united by the thin, ornately-carved gilded bands that wrapped around their ring fingers. 

That damn ring had been a bitch to find, something that wouldn’t be cumbersome as she worked, but was adequately stunning for a being of her station. He’d eventually turned to one of his colleagues—an engineer with an odd knack for metallurgy—to create it.

The ghost of a rare, genuine smile had danced on her lips, covered by a pointed insult that he knew she didn’t truly mean.

He did love her. He still does.

That’s why it hurt so much, watching as her paranoia heightened, her descent quickened by the Infestation that stole her memories, that had twisted those which remained into something toxic.

It was easier to bear the brunt of her fury than it would’ve been to break what was left of her heart.

It was easier to pretend that he hated her.

Regrettably, a part of him wasn’t pretending for a long time. He learned from his wife, learned to do what she did, to lean into his anger—his hurt—, let it consume him. Only when their Ayatan gave them the opportunity to mend the cracks did he realize that it did no one any good to keep blaming her for everything.

One mistake doesn’t change his love for her.

Not if he doesn’t allow it to.

His wedding band is gone, lost somewhere in the Necralisk with the long-decayed remnants of his left arm. He doesn’t know if she kept hers, what with all the animosity that’s gone around. It doesn’t matter, he realizes. Those bands symbolized who they were, but they’ve all changed. Perhaps not entirely for the better, but that doesn’t make it any less true. They’re scarred, and sometimes he finds himself unsure that he feels entirely comfortable with her, after everything—his body still aches on bad days like it did all those years ago.

But they’re together.

So, he finds himself moving through the tunnels, slipping around the corner towards her post. He finds himself under the scrutiny of those piercing, ice-cold eyes—the eyes that still ignite something within him, some feeling of warmth that fights its way from beneath the weight of his scars—, as he holds out his hand to her. He hopes that he isn’t imagining the way the edges of her gaze soften slightly, her jaw relaxing just barely.

His hand hangs in the air.

Waiting.

Her husband is flawed. She knows that well. She has punished him for it countless times—the uncomfortable feeling of regret is one that she is still learning to endure—, and yet, she has only recently begun to let go of her rage in an attempt to understand. 

He had only wished to help her, in his own misguided—idiotic—way. She recognizes that now, though a part of her still does not wish to accept it. That part of her still screams of betrayals and conspiracies and plots against her. 

He will leave her. He will destroy her.

Just like all the others.

She can stop that from happening if she strikes first.

With some difficulty, she ignores the voices which threaten to send her back into her fury. She decides that, for the first time in a very long time, she will not hide behind her anger. She will no longer use it as a weapon to destroy what has finally started to mend. Her tongue will remain sharp, her words pointed like the thinnest of blades, but, she rationalizes, they are used to that. She never was a weak-willed being. One can be coarse without being cruel. It is time that she remembers how. 

She did trust him once.

Her memories have fallen prey to the Infestation—more-so than the others’, evidently—, and she finds that she is unable to recall most details from before. Whenever she seeks them out, she only finds glimpses, fragments of larger moments, the context unknown to her. 

His warm, ultramarine gaze is in more of those shards than she would care to admit.

The thin, gold band presses against her neck, hidden from view behind the larger pendant. She does not remember when she had placed it there, nor the reason why. She attempts to deny the fact that her skin prickles uncomfortably at the thought of losing it, similar to how it had burned at the thought of giving up the only connection to her father.

But that shard had never been a connection to her father at all, had it?

The ring is, however, a link to her former self. It is a link to him. 

In her darkest moments, she had contemplated tearing it from its place, discarding—destroying—the ring and thus her connection to the pathetic being that she had married. 

She knows not of why she never followed through with that thought.

She is secretly relieved that the ring remains where it is.

Her gaze narrows as he moves towards her. Suspicion and fury and disgust coil around the recesses of her mind, scratching at her thoughts, attempting to provoke her wrath once more. He holds his hand out, and something new flickers through her, winding through the negativity, forcing it to quiet. It forces her to confront her more difficult emotions. 

She still cares for him.

After a few patient moments, Gomaitru slowly takes Vilcor’s hand. Her fingers entwine with his, the callouses feeling familiar beneath her skin. His muscles are slightly tense, holding a wariness within that she doubts will disappear simply because his mind has begun to forgive her. She feels the pendant on her neck shift slightly, and notices surprise dance through his gaze, his warm eyes lingering on the strip of gold that lies behind it. She fights back the urge to snap defensively, to build up that barbed shell once more, the armor which harmed others in the interest of self-preservation.

She used to think herself incapable of regret, a mentality which nearly cost her everything.

She prides herself on her intelligence, yet it had become twisted into paranoia.

Her husband has his flaws, it is true. But, although her stomach twists uncomfortably at the admission, she is finally realizing that she does as well. As she releases her grip, huffing a remark that she knows he is aware that she does not fully mean, a tiny ember of a thought ignites amidst the hissing voice of the Infestation.

He is still the man she married.

[wickedsrest-rp-archive]

Name: Raisa Paretti Species: Muse Occupation: Actress Age: 119 Years Old (Looks about 35) Played By: Beth Face Claim: Jessica Parker Kennedy

"What better way to rub elbows with royals than to become one yourself?"

TW: Train (trolley) accident

Raisa was born to Katerina Peretti at the tail end of 1904. In a town like Wicked’s Rest, the gossip of a single month could spread far, but Katerina kept her head held high. She’d only been in New York City for a few months. Still, as Raisa grew up, she loved to hear the stories of her mother’s whirlwind romance with a writer named Adè. In the months Katerina spent with him, he wrote what could have been the next Great American Novel. Alas, even a fae could only do so much, and Katerina wasn’t even there to see him get struck by the streetcar. Stuck in Wicked’s Rest as she was, Raisa thought that sounded like the grandest romance—short-lived and tragic but beautiful in its simplicity. And her mother had her to remember it!

As she grew older, Raisa quickly grew bored. She always planned to get out of Wicked’s Rest and did drift away for brief moments throughout her long life. Something about it always pulled her back, though. Every child wants to believe that nothing in their town ever stays the same, although that becomes harder for a teen to believe when they see said town partially disappear in a cataclysmic event.

Still, Raisa couldn’t help feeling that wherever she’d grown up, she couldn’t have asked for a better when. Perhaps she could have done without the 30’s forcing a sensible growing up on her, but at least it helped her see her mother in her prime as she poured her all into cultivating a crop of writers and painters strong enough to scrape a living in the arts at such a desperate time. Raisa vowed to do the same, but she couldn’t be too much like her mother. She turned to the struggling Vaudeville circuit.

Raisa certainly wasn’t the first muse to get involved at the theatre, but perhaps she was the first to make the transition onto the stage and stay there. She’d been booking acts for over forty years—aside from occasional sabbaticals to larger cities where she lived a little more freely while “looking for talent”—before the idea occurred to her. Perhaps she wasn’t the perfect 50s ingénue, but Raisa played a woman scorned like no one’s business. She worked her way up through bit parts, ignoring light warnings from other muses and barely concealed barbs from her mother about the way she was playing with fire.

But Raisa saw no reason to quit. She could take a—albeit much smaller—role across the state, far from Wicked’s Rest. The town would always be here when she got back and felt ready to reemerge onto the theatre scene as a beautiful woman who reminded audiences of a girl they used to see perform ages ago. Now what was her name? Raisa would always smile and say she didn’t know.

Her mother left the area in the 80s, ready to return to larger cities and looking for a place with more sunshine. Raisa thought she ended up in Seattle. Not much for sun, but if it made Katerina happy… Finally, though, her daughter felt like she could grow up out of that shadow. She wasn’t Katerina’s daughter in fae circles anymore, not nearly as quickly on the lips as it used to be. Raisa was a reckoning in her own right, even if it came with a reputation some found foolhardy. 

She didn’t particularly care. Raisa’s star was rising. In the fifty years since, she honed her methods into a science. Occasionally she dealt with hunger pains. Occasionally she blurred those lines that she said she never would to the point of truth. But those moments of weakness were behind her. For the first time in years, Raisa was beginning to feel hints of boredom and ennui creep into her days. Perhaps it was the roles. Perhaps it was type to branch out to new types.

Character Facts:

Personality: Driven, obsessive, cunning, confident, brazen, romantic, idealistic, resolute, cutting

She was born on December 29, 1904 and is a Capricorn.

She is bisexual. Raisa doesn’t consider herself someone who loves lightly, but she also isn’t the type to settle in unless she means it.

Raisa doesn’t necessarily strike bargains often. When she inspires, it is often on the downlow—a little feeding from a costar as they rehearse a particularly intense scene or taking in a little extra when she takes a playwright to bed. Even discussing the creative potential of a scene with some of her long-time directors offer Raisa the opportunity to feed in snatches. She can acknowledge that being on stage does carry some risk, so she tries not to mix business with pleasure.

Raisa has lived on Elm Street her whole life, though she moved out of her childhood home long before her mother left town. The neighbors don’t always agree with her choices, but Raisa can bare her teeth in a barbed smile with the best of them.

No matter how long she lives in this town, Raisa knows she’s never going to forget what the town was like before. She had friends assumed dead under the Serpent’s Flat. As far as Raisa is concerned, any time spent on or around it is just asking for trouble.