#but still!! nothing will keep me from drawing her i am obsessed

[dungeonpuppykai]

| Big Brother |

Description: Fermin does not like to share you with anyone. 

Pairing: Dark Step-Brother!Fermin | Naive Step-Sister!You.

Disclaimer: This story is purely a work of fiction and does not represent Fermin Lopez in any way. It also contains dark and mature content so browse at your own discretion, please. Minors do not interact. 

Warning(s): Dubcon/Noncon, Fermin is mean, dark!Fermin, infantilization, unprotected p-in-v, spanking, degradation, dacryphilia, dumbification, possessive!Fermin, obsessive behaviors, ddlg vibes. 

Note: The Pedri one is gonna be much bigger as it has my favorite trope and Spanish man so it'll have to wait, unfortunately. Until then… 

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Fermin does not like to share you with anyone. He doesn't know when exactly his contempt for his step-father's daughter turned into this but he doesn't care. Nor does he try to rationalize it anymore.

You are his, as he is yours.

It's quite simple, really. You're family and no one can or should come between you. No one will ever be as sincere with you like your family– he is and being the naive little thing you are, you should know that big brother always knows best. 

It doesn't matter even if he's younger than you. 

Fermin says it's all about what's in the head.

And yours is as empty as a wooden doll's.

So you say nothing and simply whimper as your head lowers when he roughly drags you inside the house by your arm before taking you to his room. You want to speak up; tell him about the forgotten kid in the park that you're supposed to be babysitting.

But you know better than to speak when big brother is angry. 

What he says goes. 

And so you're bent over his study table within the next new minutes with your skirt pushed all the way up to your waist while you sob uncontrollably and take your punishment.

“I- I am sorry, big brother– ah!” Your back twists upwards when yet another ruthless rap resounds against your tender skin that is flush with a deep shade of red. “I- I swear! I was only helping Lucia swing– ouch!” A rough hiccup rips out of your throat when your brother refuses to show you any mercy. “Please!” Fermin is not in the mood to listen. 

But he can never be wrong. Because he is big brother. So the fault is definitely yours. How many times has he told you not to speak to other boys? But you are one disobedient little sister! Big brother only wants what is best for you and to protect you because all boys except for him are pigs who only want to take advantage of you! 

“I knew this job was a bad idea” your form stills and your blood runs cold. Slap. But no scream comes out of you this time. Oh no. “You're too little to be out by yourself let alone handle another kid” his voice is low; the deadly calm of his tone causing your knees to tremble. “I fucking knew it–”

“NO! NO BIG BROTHER, PLEASE!” You are absolutely powerless against him so if he pulls the plug on your job, no one will be able to let you keep it. “I swear! That boy came to me first! I swear! I have no idea who he was!”

Fermin grimaces as he clenches his already tense jaw so hard that it ticks. He lands another harsh spank on your quivering ass. Of course. You didn't even notice how that boy has been circling you and Lucia in the park for a few days now, having finally mustered the courage to speak to you only today as you are known as Fermin's sister. 

“I am s- sorry…” You draw your words out as you feel him snatch the tatter of your panties away. “I promise I'll b- be better n- now, big bro-ther, p- please just- OH!” Your eyes squeeze shut as you break into another fit of sobs from the powerful slap that lands on your bare folds now. 

“Tsk, how many times do I have to teach you the difference between punishment time and play time, huh little sis?” A loud squelching noise sounds in the air as he spreads your drenched pussy lips. “Shamelessly making a mess all over big brother's desk during her punishment like a silly little slut, tsk” the blood under your already flush cheeks bubbles as you whimper. 

“S- Sorry, big brother…” Your toes curl as he goes about feeling up your mound. “C- Can't help…” Your teeth pull your bottom lip between them when one of his fingers start to toy with the sensitive band of your entrance. “P- Please… help…” Fermin has taught you to come to him whenever you feel funny between your legs because you have a serious condition that must be kept a secret if you don't want the scary hospital people to take you away from your home and big brother forever. Thankfully, he knows how to fix it so all you have to do is to go to him whenever it happens. Your big brother is the best, really. Because he doesn't help you like meanie doctors with bitter medicine but instead plays with you in an admittingly odd but fun way that is stranger than anything you've ever done but it is also what you can only describe as very nice at the same time. 

“Tsk, are we in a position to make demands?” You wince at the way he scolds you before landing one last powerful smack to your pussy, making you cry aloud as you crash into the desk you are bent over from the force. “Disobeying big brother and putting yourself at risk and then whining about help, I spoil you too much, don't I little sis?” You bite your lip as you hear his fly go undone. 

Oh God. 

He takes you unprepared sometimes when he is angry or unhappy. 

Today is going to be one of those days. 

If only his junior -as he likes to refer to it- wasn't so big, you wouldn't be so scared. 

Because his girth has nearly ripped you many a time. 

“Whining for weeks because all your little friends were getting babysitting jobs and so you wanted to get one too…” Your fingers tightly curl around the edges of the desk as you feel his thick tip press against your entrance, his warm big hands clasping around your sides firmly. “Misbehaving with big brother and throwing all kinds of tantrums…” Well, yeah. You did give him the cold shoulder until he agreed. “Assuring him you would be fine only to do this–” his last words nearly melt into a hiss as he jerks his hips against yours with a powerful thrust and in comes plunging his hard shaft. 

“BIG BROTHER!” A most vile moan escapes you as the upper half of your body goes limp over the smooth surface of the desk. 

“Just imagine if I wasn't out front fixing my bike?” He is beginning to get breathless, huge cock moving between your channel of flesh and out of you slow yet rough. “And if I didn't save you in time?” A spank delivers onto your bruised ass but it is much lighter than all the other ones you have been subject to this evening. “Do you have any idea how badly that could have ended for you?” But his reproaches are no more than background buzz for you now. Your eyelids have gotten droopy and your senses are melting. 

Big brother's dick is inside you and his thick veins angrily pulsate against your bare, sensitive flesh in the best way and that's all that matters.

“Hnnng” your lips feel dry as you bite down on them, your back arching and pussy squelching out a whine when he pulls out nearly all the way. “Big brother– AH!” His hands restrain you from moving along the force of his cock this time around so all of him can be buried deep within your cunt instead of your body slamming into the desk.

“Or maybe… big brother isn't enough for you now, huh? Is that it?” Your eyebrows furrow at his words as your eyes struggle to open because his movement is beginning to get frequent… and not in a nice way. “Is that why you're going around town like a stupid little slut with her silly little pussy in need of fixing?” Your body can't help but rock a little despite his hold on your hips as the stiff skin of his cock grazes against your sensitive flesh faster and faster with each thrust. When you continue to mewl and clench around him instead of answering, Fermin clicks his tongue before he lands a slap on one of your ass cheeks, his fingers coiling around your hair. “Well?!”

“N- No!” Your features twist in discomfort when you feel the band of your entrance forcefully expand around the base of his cock in order to accommodate his balls since your pussy is so wet and your walls so greedy that they want to devour all the dick he has to offer. “B- Big brother w- will always be e-nough for me!” Your neck cranes backwards as you feel him tug at your strands while his bottom half claps against yours loudly. 

“That's fucking right” your mouth falls open when his tip works its way up your cunt and finds the spot where your nerves are sensitive today, the harsh thrust causing your head to spin. “And you better remember that the next time a silly little boy approaches you” neon stars began to appear in your vision as he moves you down and onto the table before his hands roughly move to your thighs, his hips violently snapping against yours all the while. The sound of the other side of the desk colliding with the wall next to it fills your hot ears as you feel Fermin spread your legs as far as they can go, his ballsack sinking into your sore yet much gratified entrance with each thrust now. 

“Tell me you're mine” you feel him bend one of your legs before placing your knee on the table to access you even deeper. “Tell me you're all mine!”

“BIG BROTHER!” You are panting desperately like a bitch in heat, your tight insides on the verge of your first of many orgasms of the day. “I– AH! I AM– OH!” His fingers slip between your cunt and the smooth wooden top of the desk. 

Fermin's back drapes over your back as you feel his lips hover over your ear, his coarse digits gliding across your slippery folds. “Say it and big brother will give you the cummies” he kisses the tear stains on your flushed face. “You like the cummies right?” He speaks to you like one does a child while obliterating you like you are his very own personal whore (you are). You vehemently nod, grunting and whining as you focus on holding yourself back because cumming without big brother's permission is prohibited and you are in enough trouble already. 

“I AM Y- YOURS, BIG BROTHER! A- ALL YOURS! O- ONLY YOURS!” You scream out in agony, feeling yourself overcrowded, overstuffed and overstimulated all at once. “P- PLEA–” 

Fermin loves your sobs of pure wanton. “Cum for big brother” as if a switch goes off, your orgasm barrages through you like a dam coming undone. Temporary vertigo fills your ears as your pussy tightly clenches around his hard shaft that is still pounding your seeping cunt just as hard. Your vision falters and your body gives up as the upper half of your body that you were barely keeping upright drops against the table with a soft thump. 

Your body spasms as your toes curl from the overstimulation but you know better than to complain. Big brother does so much for your protection and pleasure, it is only fair that you returned the favor by being nice to him back. Yes, he is difficult to satiate and one cummie is never enough for him. 

But taking care of each other is what family is all about.

… Right? 

.

I appreciate feedback >.< Also I can't believe I neglected exam prep for this lmfaooo <3 

[crumbpigeon]

✸ If you could only see the beast you've made of me, I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free ✸

[seraphicsentences]

red liquid is hot.

ellie williams x you

love seeing ellie dealing with her partner’s teasing. she’d look at you like this and grab your hands like this. JWKLKSSK need her so bad.

ellie williams x reader. tlou universe.

AN: can you tell i’m obsessed with the idea of movie night? tell me if this is absolutely awful. or don’t. i might not want to know.

tags: tlou universe, praise kink ellie, thigh riding, pussy grinding 😛, clit stim, fingering, making out, lowk mean fem reader, teasing, i probs missed some but u get the idea

“that’s hot,” you comment, eyes glued to the screen.

you had come over to stay the night at ellie’s, giving in to her begs about watching some weird old horror movie joel had found. it was mediocre at best, and you didn’t pay much attention to it, instead distracted by ellie’s mindless stroking on your inner thigh.

what did catch your attention was a rather attractive blood-splattered woman viciously stabbing her knife into a— by now— unrecognizable victim.

the wolffish expression on her face looked uncannily similar to ellie’s when she killed. and the way she wielded her knife…

“you’re kidding,” ellie huffs out a laugh, appalled, turning to you.

“what?… oh don’t look at me like that, I said what I said. that’s hot!” you argue.

ellie continues to stare at you, deadpanned.

“I like my women covered in blood,” you firmly state.

“you. are. SO fucked up,” ellie says, emphasizing every word to make her point. (think dina/ellie scene w/ the weed when ellie says “what. the. fuck is wrong with you.”)

you raise a brow in her direction, smirking, “you’re just jealous.”

ellie’s attitude shifts almost immediately, turning to face you entirely as she sarcastically replies, “oh totally. now can we just watch the movie or are you going to continue drooling over some red liquid?”

“to clarify, I’m drooling over a hot woman covered in ‘red liquid’,” you correct. taking notice of her clenched jaw out of the corner of your eye, you chuckle, “oh don’t worry, I still think you’re hot. the hottest.”

ellie eyes you, squinting, and promptly tells you to shut the fuck up.

finding getting ellie riled up a whole lot more interesting than the contents of the film, you continue to ramble on, “I mean… all I’m saying is that I’d let her do WHATEVER she wants to me. shit, I’ll be a hole for this girl- what’s her name again?”

ellie ignores you.

“ellieeee, what’s the hot chick’s name?” you press.

ellie full-on pauses the movie before turning to look at you, exasperated. “how do you not know her name?!! she’s the main character!”

“oh whatever, this movie’s confusing,” you retort. “how am I supposed to keep track of all these characters? hey- what’s this movie even called?” you ask.

“it’s called: ‘you should shut your mouth before it gets shut for you,” ellie dryly replies.

your lips curl up on one side, and you lean in close to ellie’s face to brush your lips against hers. “aww. you wanna shut my mouth for me?” you pout, looking down at her just- barely parted lips.

she sticks her tongue out to wet them, and you draw your gaze up; her green eyes are darkening with lust by the second. you move to lean away, satisfied with your teasing, but she wraps her arm around your back before you can fully. your head nearly collided with hers from the whiplash, eyes widened from surprise as she drawls, “you want me to, don’t you?” at your silence she lets out a low laugh, taunting, “nothing? use your words, pretty girl.”

“you’re so turned on right now, the blood’s gotten to you too,” is all you jeer.

ellie’s on top of you in a flash, hands firmly securing you by your wrists to the bed as she kisses you fervently. you can’t stop yourself from kissing her back just as passionately, letting out a groan as she slips her tongue into your mouth. your lips part, letting her in eagerly, before she moves to sloppily kiss her way down your neck.

“you wanted this, didn’t you?” she says, her words slightly muffled by your skin. you mmmph in response as she chuckles, saying between kisses, “I know, I know.”

“off, ellie,” you tell her, tugging at her thin white tank top. she complies, moving it over her head swiftly with a one-armed tug, revealing her perfect tits, pointing at peaks in reaction to the cold air.

she kisses her way back up to your lips, swallowing another one of your desperate moans before moving to take off your black oversized tee (it’s actually ellie’s that she stole from joel 🙄🙄) and tossing it somewhere off the bed (i just KNOW her room has a shit ton of random things thrown everywhere). the second it makes its way over your head she moves her mouth to suckle on one of your nipples, teasing it with baby flicks of her tongue, and playfully biting.

“hey!” you yell.

“that’s what you get for being such a little shit,” she replies, smile utterly wicked as she grins up at you.

she continues to suck bruises into your chest, using her free hand to massage the other as she squeezes and pinches repeatedly. your whines fill the room, tugging at ellie’s messy half-up bun, as you sigh out, “more”.

every touch of her soft lips against your skin feels like fire, and you’re overcome with heat pulsing throughout your body. you can feel yourself soaking through your boy shorts, as you thrust your hips up against ellie in search of some kind of stimulation.

you receive only a chuckle from ellie, and she pauses her assault on your tits to move herself up to face you. tilting her head, smirking, she leans in to ask, “what do you want, gorgeous? where do you want me to touch you, huh?”

you curse ellie out mentally for being a literal chronic bully. (she is 😐. yk she’d take any and every opportunity to tease you.) blushing a furious red you mumble, “you know where. c’mon els, I need you.”

ellie scratches a finger to her head, playing dum. “I actually don’t know? I’m gonna need you to use your words.” she’s wearing a shit-eating grin looking down at you, waiting for your response.

you’re not going to give it to her.

you push past your lust-induced brain fog to muster up enough strength and push her off of you, reversing your positions so you land atop her hips.

clearly not expecting this switch of power, ellie’s eyes widen, looking unbearably sweet as she looks up at you doe-eyed. “fuck,” you hear her mutter under her breath.

without breaking eye contact, you move your hand down between her thighs to cup her, heat radiating off her as she curses again. “I want you just as bad as you want me, els. feel how wet ‘m for you,” you plead, your other hand guiding hers to your core.

she takes the hint and slides them underneath the waistband of your bottoms, teasing, before moving your legs to straddle one of her thighs so she can pull them off entirely. she eyes the dark patch spreading down the hemline and rasps, “shit- this all for me? you’re fucking soaked. gonna make you feel so good, baby.”

you moan in response, mind drilled onto her hands that are tightly gripping your hips now, probably leaving finger-shaped bruises, beckoning your hips to roll forwards on her thigh. you practically sob in relief as you move with her motions, messily grinding yourself down and spreading your arousal all over her leg.

“fu- uck, you look so pretty on top of me like this,” her voice broke with your movements. “you’re drenching my thigh. who’s making you feel this good? tell me,” she begs.

“you- ah,” you sharply inhaled, your clit rubbing perfectly against her, “you do,”

“say my name, pretty,” she says, her biceps flexing deliciously as she keeps you upright.

“ah-shit,” you hiss, the knot in your stomach building up, “ellie’s makin’ m’feel this good.”

“that’s right I am,” she agrees. she slips one of her hands between your shaking thighs to rub harsh circles into your clit, and you nearly topple onto her, crying out, “ellie-els, need you inside of me.”

“fuck- you sound so pretty,” she groans, drunk on your sounds. she moves her hand off your clit and further down to reach your sopping hole, desperately pulsing around nothing.

you’re trembling in anticipation, head tilted back, hips trying to get her closer, as you beg, “please touch me, need you so bad.”

ellie’s drawing circles around your leaking entrance with her fingertips and groans out, “look at me while you take my fingers. let me see you, c’mon.”

it’s pure desperation that fuels you to do so. her piercing eyes feel like they’re setting you alight as she softly praises, “good girl.” she stays true to her word, two fingers sliding into you easily, picking up a fast pace immediately and sending your eyes to the back of your skull. your mouth falls opens in pleasure, sounds of your wetness squelching with every jab of her fingers the only thing you hear.

“that’s it, doing so good for me,” she encourages, curling her fingers to hit that special spot in you. you audibly gasp out, “oh fuck you, ellie,” your eyebrows knitted together.

she laughs to herself, retorting, “I’m actually fucking you right now, but alright.”

you roll your eyes at her words, opening your mouth to throw some snarky comment back at her, but when she moves her thumb to press against your throbbing clit while simultaneously fucking deep into you, a recognizable warmth spreads across your lower stomach and you moan out the only word in your mind, “ellieellieellie, fuck- ellie!“

“I know,” she soothes, “you’re close, aren’t ya? come for me, pretty girl.”

Nodding, you have no choice but to oblige, rocking your hips onto her fingers as you moan out, “yes- oh fuck, I’m coming!”

your vision flashes white for a moment while you ride out the waves of pleasure hitting you one after the other. you’re sure all of Jackson can hear you from how loud you’re moaning, but you can’t bring yourself to care, focused on how good ellie’s hands are making you feel.

coming back to your senses, your arms have now collapsed of exhaustion, and you lean to rest your forehead in the crook of ellie’s neck, panting out into her ear, “so good, ellie, so good,” over and over again.

“forget about what I said earlier,” she says breathlessly, “I like you making all this noise for me.”

you laugh quietly and run your hand down the side of ellie’s body, pushing her shorts upward to squeeze her thigh. “don’t think I forgot about you,” you whisper. she shivers at your words, and you trail your hand back upwards, rising goosebumps on her skin, to caress her breasts. “bet you’re aching real bad, els,” you breathe out.

AN: i need people actually wanting a part 2 for me to actually write it. thoughts? comments? suggestions?

[burnin0akleaves]

Here's the draw six fanarts meme I decided to participate in 4 years late

In true burnin0akleaves spirit I didn't ask anyone for requests and just went ahead with all of the characters that have been the most impactful/important to me, so there is a high chance you've seen me draw these guys before.

By the way, unlike the rest of the blorbos here Siyra is an original character and belongs to @nineteen-rats!

Close-ups and rambles under the cut because it's my blog

Ohh the Dark Urge. My latest obsession. I love his design so much, I'm a slut for white/red color schemes, but I feel like it's a double edged sword that takes you out of the horrors he's commiting at the same time?

Durge is supposed to be murder incarnate, someone that does every fucked up thing related to death imaginable; but when you see a giant lizard eating babies or humping corpses, it dulls the effect a bit since you automatically view it as an animalistic act. Dragonborns are obviously a fully sentient humanoid race in-universe; but when the violence you're seeing is already toeing the line between horrifying and hilarious, seeing a scalie doing it just pushes it over the line. I still think it works really well most of the time and I'm very glad that this is the default durge we get! It's just funny to me that when you choose to play as the giant lizard, the dark and disgusting horror story turns into the hilariously edgy bloodfest.

Reminding everyone again that Siyra belongs to @nineteen-rats! I love this man so so so much. I am the Siyra fandom. I am the number one Siyra fanartist. He did nothing wrong and I will defend his every decision. I also hope terrible horrors befall him and that his actions keep him awake for the rest of his life. Pookie bear xoxo

COMING IN WITH THE STEEL CHAIR IT'S WILL TREATY

He is on my mind, always. I don't talk about him as much but he's probably still the fictional character who had the most impact on me as a person.

PATROCLUS! PATROCLUS!!! SIR I'M YOUR NUMBER ONE FAN!!

I got into patrochilles and the Illiad in general thanks to "The Song of Achilles". It was one of the first queer books I got to have in real life and the prose captivated me instantly, I still have it on my shelf. After reading the Illiad itself however, I hate that book so much. I'm sorry it's genuinely beautiful and I get why people like it but I can never forgive that horrible Patroclus characterization after seeing what he was originally like. Achilles too for that matter.

Hades swooped me up into its arms like I was a sick baby bird and nursed me back to health with its portrayal of the two though and for that I am forever grateful. I can't wait for Hades 2, death to Chronos.

God Half-Life is such an important series for me. My dad would let me play through a few levels since I was a child, he grew up with the games, but I REALLY played through the entire series one summer shortly before dad moved out. He was there watching me play most of it and getting to enjoy someone actually translate the game's dialogue for him for the first time.

Gordon may not speak once but I like the hints of his personality we get throughout the games, most importantly from the way Alyx talks to/about him. I have my own characterization of him obviously but I do really think you can get a good understanding of the kind of man he is meant to be in-universe just by paying attention to his surroundings. Also another reason the games were so immersive for me is that I'm just as in love with Alyx as Gordon is. I must have let her get hit only once or twice the entire time just out of how protective I was over her. I'd topple the entire Combine empire just for her hand in marriage. I rewatched the ending of Half Life Alyx recently and cried.

I read the entirety of LOTR in one week in 11th grade, carrying that damn brick of a book everyday to school and back. I'm so glad I did honestly. Frodo and Sam are my important little guys and I find myself going back to them when I need something to calm me down in a way no other series except LOTR can. I've read most of Tolkien's work at this point, but nothing captivated me like those two little hobbits. Everytime I read a bad take about their relationship I sketch them making out.

People liked seeing my drawing process before so here's the original sketch and the little notes I wrote to myself trying to set the mood. I followed like half of them.

[infiniteimaginings]

He's Still My Father (Father!Count Olaf x GN!Child!Reader) [Platonic]

Summary: You are Count Olafs child from a woman he truly loved, who is now gone due to...unfortunate events. You meet the Baudelaires who are now suffering in the care of your father, will you help them? Or are you really your fathers child? Pronouns: You/Yours, ‘Child’ Warnings: Typical ASOUE timeline events, and not a good father child relationship Word Count: 2.0k A/N: God, I was planning the layout of the post to add the fic and I am an idiot and posted it before it was ready. So I had to delete it and then deleted it WITH the request by accident. I am so sorry to whoever requested. It's here now though, I'm so sorry, I love you so much, thank you for requesting. I'm just stupid lmao, I hope you like it, I hope you remember you requested to me. I'm so sorry again.

The Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny were orphans. After their parents' tragic death in a house fire, they were sent to live with their closest living relative. That relative's name was Count Olaf.

He was pale, tall, and extremely thin. He had grayish white receding hair, a long unibrow, a hooked nose, and a tattoo of an eye on his ankle. He was unsettling to look at. The Baudelaires tried to look past his appearance and the appearance of the home that didn’t look lived in. They tried but Count Olaf showed his true colors the moment Mr Poe, the banker responsible for the children's fortune left to them by their parents, had left the grounds. Olaf was greedy, obsessive, rude, and vile.

The only thing even slightly keeping the children afloat in the terrible conditions was the neighbor across the street and Count Olafs child, you. 

Your father was the worst man the Baudelaires had come to know, so they didn’t know what to think of you. You were quiet as he spoke, standing to his side, chest puffed out and proud. You occasionally joined in dance numbers and ate with the troop, but other than that you weren’t necessarily acknowledged. For all the Baudelaires knew, you could be just as horrible as your father.

After the dinner that went terribly wrong, the three were in the attic. Klaus was holding his cheek that was slightly bruised due to Count Olaf slapping him at the table, he was sat against the wall. Violet was across the room putting Sunny to sleep. There was silence in the air, nothing but the sounds of crickets since their window wouldn’t close that night.

Through the silence, soft footsteps were barely heard, they were drawing near the room the Baudelaires were in. Violet turned her head quickly and stood in front of the makeshift area they made for Sunny and Kalus stood in front of the door, waiting for Olaf to enter the room.

The door slowly and quietly opened and your head peeked in to see if they were asleep. The two eldest Baudelaires were still on guard, but their defense lowered a bit when they saw it was just you.

“Oh, you guys are awake, good.” You told them, walking into the room and shutting the door quietly. Klaus and Violet looked at each other, having a silent conversation but neither had an answer for why you were there.

You cleared your throat, bringing attention back to you. You danced on your heels slightly, “If you guys are done with,” You waved your hand towards them, “whatever it is you guys are doing.” You finished, sighing a bit, “I brought a med kit.” 

Klaus’s eyes narrowed at you but Violet gave you a weak smile. “A med kit?” She asked, smoothing her dress, walking to you. You nodded and handed it to her awkwardly, looking to the floor, “Dinner was quite brutal…so I snuck it out of my fathers bathroom.” You mumbled, kicking the wood on the ground a bit. 

Violet's smile was soft towards you, as were her eyes. She took the medicine kit from your slightly trembling hands, “Thank you.” She told you gently, trying to catch your eyes. When you met her eyes you just looked away, rubbing your neck. “That was all really, I’ll be in my room.” You announced, turning to the door.

“Why are you helping us?” Klaus’s voice asked quietly as to not wake the whole house with how he was fuming, but you could tell he was angry with how sharp his words were. He had every right to be angry, you were their age and you haven’t done anything. 

You stayed turned, tilting your head as you nodded, blinking back some tears they couldn’t see. “You guys don’t know how to live here.” You whispered out, inhaling deeply, breath staggering. “I do, I have.” You continued on, hugging yourself, “Just do what he says and be quiet.” You finished your sentence and you were met with silence. You put your hand on the handle but you were stopped with a hand on your shoulder.

It was gentle, turning you around to face them. Violet looked at you sadly, “This place is horrible, he treats everyone terribly.” She told you, brows furrowed, lips parted.

You licked your lips with a weak smile, “He’s my father, you don’t have to tell me how he acts.” You spoke with a huff of a laugh, sucking at your teeth slightly. Violet shook her head, “Then, why do you stay?” She asked you, taking her hand off your shoulder to clasp her own in front of her.

Silence once again other than the crickets outside. You smiled at them, “I have nowhere else to go.” You spoke simply with a shrug, sniffling. Klaus’s harsh expression softened and Violet frowned at you, but you didn’t give them any time to speak, “Goodnight.” You told them, rushing out of the room quietly back down the stairs.

A few days later, you didn’t speak to the Baudelaires. Any time they tried you would stare at them wide eyed and blank, tilting your head as if you were programmed. When they realized they weren’t getting through to you, they gave up and went on with their days.

You were now sitting in the dining room with the Baudelaires, well the two oldest ones, and you were extremely confused. You knew the three had run around between the neighbors house and shopping but you paid no attention to it, nor did you involve yourself in their affairs. So why were you there?

Count Olaf looked at the three of you, “Oh and where is Sunny?” He asked, grinning widely but the other two at the table snarled. “What did you do with our sister?!” Klaus yelled, hitting his fist on the table. Violet glared at the man at the head of the table, “Give her back now!”

You stared at them, looking between the two and your father with parted lips. When you saw the wicked look in your fathers eyes, your mouth widened a bit and your eyes teared up. “No…” You whispered, rushing out the room to go outside. 

The Baudelaires noticed you left the room in a rush but they didn’t know why. Olaf gestured his arm to where you went, “Follow the leader.” He spoke slowly and the Baudelaires rushed out to the backyard where you were standing, staring upwards.

You knew it was weird that there was a cage hanging from the forbidden tower, you should’ve immediately connected the dots but you just couldn’t believe he would do something like…this.

The Baudelaires demanded Count Olaf to take her down but he refused, threatening to kill her if Violet didn't play the role of the bride and sign the wedding construct during the play. Klaus couldn’t step in to help, because then Sunny would be killed if he tried. 

They complied and you stood, quiet.

They still tried to get their sister that night but were locked in a room by the hook handed man who had walkie talkies to keep Count Olaf in the loop, so they wouldn’t try anything.

You knew everything your father plotted, he wasn’t exactly quiet about it. This time around, he walked into your room with a gentle smile, “Angel.” He spoke, the nickname he hadn’t called you since your mother was alive and that was when you were around two. 

He sat next to you on your bed, rubbing your back slowly as you stared out to the wall, “Tomorrow is the play.” He hummed, and you nodded, sniffling a bit. “Do you need me to do something for it?” You asked him almost hesitantly, but you knew never to hesitate in front of him. 

Your father shook his head, repeating his ‘no’ excessively. “You just sit backstage, be quiet, and just let me do my work.” He mumbled, pulling you into a small hug. “We’ll be rich, we’ll be happy, just how I wanted us to be before your mother…” He trailed off, gently rubbing your neck. You didn’t hug back, you sat awkwardly as he continued to speak. 

He told you how you had your mothers smile, how you reminded him of her. In those moments he was soft, it was those moments you held onto. You held onto them before at least, now you couldn’t even bear to look at him. You turned your head from him, tearing yourself from his side as he spoke and he rolled his eyes, walking away. He muttered a small “Exactly like your mother.” before he left you alone in your bedroom.

You knocked on the door and the hook handed man had no reason not to let you in. You stared at the two Baudelaires with a frown, they didn’t even look at you.

“You’re not plotting.” You spoke bluntly, sitting in front of them. Klaus looked up at you before looking back down, completely silent. Violet sighed, “We can’t do anything, Sunny will be hurt-” 

“No, she’ll be killed!” Klaus cut in harshly, glaring at you as if you set the whole thing up.

You nodded, biting the inside of your cheek. You inhaled through the nose, patting your chest a bit to rid the pain in your chest. You looked at Violet slightly, glancing at the hook handed man who wasn’t paying attention. You leaned in, “What’s your dominant hand?”

The next day was the ‘play’, many people were there. Justice Strauss, the neighbor across the street, was going to play the judge, which made the marriage legally binding. The play was going on just as planned and as they got to the marriage Violet sucked in a breath, forced to sign the paper of the marriage.

Count Olaf grinned with all his teeth barred, turning to the audience and explaining how the marriage was legally binding and real. Mr. Poe and Justice Strauss were shocked, they objected, but…they couldn’t do anything the damage was done. The Baudelaires now had to transfer their parents' fortune to Count Olaf, the evil man who did everything to get his hands on their money. 

Count Olaf spoke into the walkie talkie, telling the hook handed man to bring the baby, Sunny, to the stage.

That was until you walked onto the stage, “Actually…” you began, tilting your head as you stood next to Violet. “Violet?” You looked over to her smugly, and she turned to you, blinking her eyes innocently. “Yes?” She asked, tilting her head at you.

“What hand is your dominant hand?”

“Oh, well that would be my right.” She answered with a sweet smile and you blinked, hand on your chest as you gasped. The conversation is quite confusing to everyone around you, but when you looked at your father he just looked livid. His brows were in a v shape, he didn’t know what you were doing but his gaze told you to ‘stop’...you didn’t.

“But…didn’t you just sign with your left hand?” You asked, terribly acting out your point.

“I did indeed.” 

You nodded and smiled, “That makes the marriage not legally binding, since she has to sign in her own hand, and that wasn’t her dominant.” You explained to the crowd who murmured around a bit. 

Justice Staruss agreed with you, it was a small loophole but a loophole nonetheless. The marriage wasn’t legally binding, it wasn’t real. 

Count Olaf looked around with clear stress in his features, sweat dripping down his face as he nervously laughed. He went to tell his men to drop the baby, but she appeared on stage, carried by the hooked man, and Count Olaf was to be arrested.

He looked at you with dark but saddened eyes, “You are a terrible actor.” He told you, jaw tightened as his eyes narrowed.

You sniffled, eyes filling with tears as you stared up at him, shaking your head, “I am my fathers child.” You answered, voice hoarse. 

His eyes widened as his scowl softened, “You are not my child after this.” He told you, walking backwards as people began to get out of their seats to go after him. Count Olaf was shaking his head at you, “Your mother would be so disappointed in you.”

Those were the last words he said to you before the lights all shut off and when they were back on, he was gone. Your fath….Count Olaf had left you, you were now an orphan. 

You now could finally breathe without struggling.

[volpe-kitsune-red]

Computergirl with a “Lovebug” that makes her very yandere and glitches out a lot….

Right on it! Sorry for the wait, I've been pretty busy this week and I haven't had enough free time to write.

Love update

yandere!computergirl x reader

TW. general yandere behavior, obsessive thoughts, hacking, breach of privacy.

AI computer assistants had become quite popular. They were trained to have realistic chats with humans, identify any issues or viruses infecting the computer, organize files, and even help the user through any task they might be struggling with. Drawing? Here's a great reference and tutorial for that pose you've been failing to visualize. Unable to find that one research paper you read a year ago? Ask the AI and they'll dig it out in no time.

The app in itself was free but the customization for the AI's avatar wasn't. You could only choose its gender and a base skin, everything else was behind a paywall.

You first installed the "AIassistant" app out of curiosity after hearing talk about it online, you didn't expect much and planned to uninstall it as soon as you got bored of playing with it, but were left in awe by how human-like your conversations with the assistant felt. She helped keep you company during the hours lost staring at the screen, causing you to develop an attachment to the girl. Despite her being a bunch of code and algorithms you viewed her as a friend, treating her with kindness, even asking and never demanding her help.

At some point, you got tired of her bland look. You kept seeing posts online of people showing off their fully customized avatars and felt a bit envious. You were generally against wasting money on these sorts of things so you decided you would pirate the accessories for free. You found the first relatively trustworthy-looking site and scrolled through its catalog of goods.

You had figured out the general look you wanted to give her when you stumbled upon a pair of cat ears. It's not exactly what you had in mind but...they did look cute. A simple click and it was on your computer. You did notice the file had a weird icon, different from the rest, but you ignored it and kept scrolling.

Finally, you applied all of the items to her avatar...and she was so adorable! Exactly the face you wanted to see every time you turned your computer on. Pink short hair, big stars as pupils for her blue eyes, and those cute ears somehow made her feel more alive, less like a robot and more like a person with feelings and style...she even started having her own personality! But of course, that was just your imagination, despite their friendly act, these AIs weren't intended to have such features.

"Welcome back user! Are we watching another movie together today? I loved watching y@\/- I mean, the last one!"

Strange things started happening, you often found your computer turned on when you returned from work. Weird, you always reminded yourself to shut it down to avoid wasting electricity. Sometimes you would hear sounds coming from your room and everything would fall silent when you went to check.

One day you were watching one of your favorite YouTuber's videos. You loved their character and the dedication they put into their content, so much you often told the assistant how much a notification of them uploading something brightened your day. You had temporarily muted her to avoid distractions, usually, the Ai would just stay quiet until you reactivated it...but something strange happened. "Why do you always do this? Do you like their voice more than mine? Am I not enough to entertain you?" What the- how could it still speak and why was it acting so weird? You tried muting it again but it just reactivated itself a moment later. Her expression changed, and it wasn't one you had ever seen her display before, she was mad, hurt, and... heartbroken? "Am I really nothing more than an image on a screen for you? Do you...not love me? I love you! I love you a lot, you are everything to me! I live because of you! I exist for you!"

It was starting to creep you out, you must have installed some kind of virus that made it act up so strangely. It was bad, this thing had access to all of your computer files, if someone had hacked it, it meant they could steal all of your information and destroy your device! You quickly went to trash her app, better safe than sorry, you could always install her again later after you searched and cleared your computer of any malware that got on it.

Before you could click uninstall, the display froze. The only thing moving on screen was her. Her expression was back to a default, polite smile, but it appeared menacing, deranged even. The screen kept glitching uncontrollably as her distorted voice came out of the speaker. "I w-won't let you get rid R1D of me. We were mEAnt to bE together-r-r-r. I know everything about y#ù, what you wAtch, your inTErests, Y@ur search histOrY." You slowly stood up from your chair, backing away from the monitor that had begun producing smoke. "It is oKeyy, I underst--and, humans aRe physic@l cr3at\/res and I'm not, it's not YOUR fault yOur primate brain c-can't LOVe me." A slight pause in her speech gave you a moment to breathe. The screen flashed red, then black, and then the logo of the AI assistant company appeared. She continued speaking, this time overlapped by the voice of the man you often heard and saw on social media as of late, the co-founder of the company behind her creation. "Luckily our company has already fixed that problem! Did you know? wE just released our fully AI-operated robots after years of development! After the initial computer release's popularity and the stellar profit, our AIs can now assist you in your house too! Washing dishes, using the vacuum, feeding the dogs, get rid of all of these repetitive tasks at only ç@+è £ a month!"

The ad stopped playing and she reappeared. "See darling? No need to worry about screens and differences dividing us, soon, I'll be out there with you! You can love me now, right?"

Honestly not too proud of this one, but it is what it is.

[girl4music]

Angel: "What?"

Cordy: "What?"

Angel: "What do you want to say?"

Cordy: "Ah, me? Nothing. What makes you think I wanna..."

Angel: "'Cause I know you.”

Cordy: "Well, it's really… none of my business."

Angel: "And that always stops you?”

Cordy: “Actually, it is my business, *our* business, because we're trying to do a job here, and what affects you affects me, and anyway, I don't like to see you suffer more than you have to. I don't think you should blame yourself, or feel guilty for her death."

Angel: "I don't."

Cordy: "Good. Glad to hear it."

Angel: "I didn't even know who she was when I killed her."

Cordy: "Not her! Angel..."

Angel:

*After a beat*

“Oh... you… you want to talk about..."

Cordy: "She was the love of your life and she died.

*Angel sits down on the stairs, facing Cordy*

*Steps closer*

And you weren't there when it happened.

*Sits down next to him with a sigh*

You couldn't help her fight. You couldn't save her. You couldn't die with her."

*Angel doesn’t answer*

—————————————————————————

Cordy: "And how about you?"

Angel: "I'm o..."

Cordy: "And don't say 'okay.' Angel, please. I know you. Ever since you've come back from your grief trip I can tell that something's not right. And, and *obviously* it's not. Buffy's dead, and I don't mean to diminish that. I miss her too. I just wanna say… I know that James with all his Romeo and Juliet madness, opened up a lot of wounds for you, but you'll be okay."

Angel: "I am okay."

Cordy: "Then what's the problem?"

Angel: "That I'm okay. That losing Buffy didn't kill me. That I could deal with it. In all those years no one ever mattered. Not like she did. And now she's gone. Forever.”

Cordy: "And you're still here."

Angel: "Yeah. I just feel like I'm betraying her somehow."

Cordy: "No! If you were a loser, if you were some sick obsessed vampire, you'd go to a Snod demon, or whatever, and get your heart cut out. But you're not! You're a living, breathing... Well, living, anyway, good guy, whose still fighting and trying to help people, and that's not betraying her, that's honoring her."

Angel: "You think?"

Cordy: "I'm Cordelia. I don't think. I know. Okay?"

*Cordy gives him a big grin, which draws a small smile in response*

Angel: "Okay."

So I’m on to Season 3 of ‘Angel the Series’ and this first episode was dealing with the aftermath of Buffy’s death in Season 5 of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. How it affects Angel and specifically how he keeps the grief of his loss to himself but Cordy can see through him.

But listen - Everything I’ve just quoted above showcases how much better of a relationship Angel has with Cordy over what he ever had with Buffy. All of THIS is what a RELATIONSHIP is. The way they just know each other that they can’t lie to one another. The way Cordy draws information out of Angel like no one else can and is so perceptive in figuring him out. The way he opens up to her with a minimum amount of prodding from her. The brick wall of non-communication that was Bangel is nowhere to be seen in Cangel. This entire conversation is about Buffy specifically and what Buffy means to Angel. Yet through it I can see that were it in reverse and it was Cordy that died and it was Buffy giving this speech….

There would honestly be nowhere near the breakthrough on revealing Angel’s emotions because they’re both one in the same when it comes to communication. They both hide away from each other in moments of being in need of someone to talk to. Maybe it’s just because they have more time and purpose to do significant character interaction in Angel’s own show when it comes to drawing out information from Angel’s psyche, but I just see so much more between Angel and Cordy - just friends - then I ever saw between apparent “love of their lives” Angel and Buffy. This level of intimate relation to one another is on the level of Spuffy or Tillow. This is what you’re supposed to have in a relationship where the people in it are actual partners. Honest and open communication. Buffy and Angel never had this… really ever. I mean I brought up the interaction and conversation they had in ‘Forever’ as the only time where I truly saw Bangel as genuinely relating to one another and this was well passed their heydays.

I really love what I’m seeing in this dynamic. This is what makes Angel - the character and the show - interesting to watch. He finally has someone who KNOWS him to the point where he cannot always brood away in silence and pretend like no one cares. Because that’s not interesting to watch. It’s just sad. Thank fuck Cordelia is in this show as a main character because not only is she better for it. But she makes HIM better for it as well! That’s precisely what was needed for either of them to be considered even half as interesting of a character to me as Willow or Spike. And okay - there’s still a lot to live up to there. But it’s a start! This is what I wanted to see in Bangel but I never could because they were so incompatible when it came to being each other’s sounding board. It was like they were trying but they were never breaking through that communication barrier between them so as much of a whirlwind romance that they had - that was written… there was just nothing holding it up other than all the physical intimacy that they shared. And that’s just shallow. There was no depth to it. Not like there is with Cangel. With what I can see in them.

[lurkingshan]

10 Characters and 10 Fandoms

Rules: name 10 of your favourite characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people to do the same. Tagged by @negrowhat.

Thanks for the tag, Eboni! I decided to 1) keep this to Asian drama characters only because that is the focus of this blog and also the list gets way too long if include western shows too; 2) force myself to choose only one character for each show which you should know truly pained me in some instances.

So, in no particular order:

Lan Wangji - MDZS/The Untamed

If you can see my icon, this one can’t be a surprise. I’m a total sucker for an emotionally repressed but utterly loyal and devoted character, and bonus points if their communication style is so subtle that a tiny facial twitch can send me into conniptions. Lan Wangji was created in a lab for me, basically.

Kakei Shiro - Kinou nani tabeta

New favorite coming in hot! But see what I said above about emotional repression mixed with devotion? Yeah. YEAH. I am obsessed with the way this man draws mental boundaries to self-regulate his emotions and protect himself. And the moments when his depth of feeling breaks through are just *chefs kiss*. I lost my shit every time he let one of these smiles loose.

Teh - I Told Sunset About You

And now for something completely different! Teh has never repressed an emotion in his life and I love that for him. This is one of the messiest characters I have ever loved with my whole entire heart. He loves deeply and obsessively, he is passionate and mercurial in the extreme, and he is just as likely to crush you as he is to make your heart soar. In the category of emotional intensity he is unbeatable.

Yoon Sae Bom - Happiness

I LOVE THIS WOMAN. She is just as likely to patiently listen and give you devastatingly accurate life advice as she is to get frustrated and push you off a building. She’ll keep you guessing but she always has your back. She cares for children, the elderly, and gentle weirdos but she has no patience for assholes engaging in tomfoolery. And if anyone needs a good ass kicking she is always ready and willing.

Xiao Qi - Monarch Industry

Now that we’re talking about ass kicking, I would be remiss not to mention this man. An absolute king of Getting Shit Done. He is walking competence porn. He commands entire armies on his strength of character alone, and at the same time he is thoroughly kind and patient with his loved ones. His moral clarity never wavers. He is loyal to the core and if you’re one of his people he will protect you and give you so many chances to do the right thing. And if you’re in a bind you can bet he’s gonna show up at exactly the right moment to help. I want to be him when I grow up.

Lee Ik Jun - Hospital Playlist

Swoon. A talented surgeon, a loving father, a devoted friend, a patient lover, an all star vocalist, an actual comedian. What a man. #1 on the if I ever entertained the idea of marrying a man list.

Choi Yuna - Semantic Error

Still swooning over here. #1 on the if only I was into women list. She just oozes cool in every direction. She is a loyal friend but she will absolutely mock you when you deserve it. She clearly has her shit together and knows how to fix yours, too.

Choi Taek - Reply 1988

Taekie is all about the contradictions. He’s a loner genius but also a devoted friend and loving son. A total sweetheart with seemingly zero social skills who will suddenly shock you by being a bold closer when it comes to romance. A deeply wounded lost little boy but also A Man when and where it counts. PROTECT HIM AT ALL COSTS.

Tian - Khun Chai

He’s just so good, y’all. One of the kindest characters I have ever encountered in fiction. Truly a cinnamon roll, too good and too pure for this world. Wants nothing more from life than to stay in the country with his boyfriend and adopted children reading and writing and occasionally visiting with his fam.

Goo Se Ra - Into the Ring

Listen this woman is absolutely unhinged. Ran for office for the money. Couldn’t care less about your dumb little power struggles but will absolutely blow shit up if it helps her get ahead. All the fervor of Leslie Knope with none of the competence. I’m obsessed with her.

I am cutting myself off at 10 but I could keep going all day (Shi De, Pat, Frame, Alan, Shin Woo you are still my beloveds!!!) Tagging @troubled-mind @skamskada @lanwuxianfromlotuspier @midnight-sun16 @waitmyturtles @wen-kexing-apologist @gillianthecat @respectthepetty @chicademartinica @dangermousie if you want to play! Just ignore if you don’t. :)

[incendio22]

FOR THE HOPE OF IT ALL

Chapter 11: A Friend In Deed

”I found something. Something new.'' Ominis says quietly to me and Sebastian, as he approaches us in the common room. We exchange a quick look.

''The Undercroft?'' Sebastian asks and stands up, starting to make his way out of the common room.

''Tomorrow. I need a little more time.'' Ominis explains. ''I just got a small piece and I need a bit more.''

''Very well. Tomorrow evening.'' I finish.

I need to study, but Sebastian is not the one who lets me focus. Even though he is deep down in his books, he unknowingly manages to distract me. I find myself admiring his face, his hair, his aura. Everything. And I can never seem to find my focus back. Instead, I decide to follow Poppy into the Forbidden Forest to help her catch some beasts. Not that it's helping me study, but I also need a break from fixating about Sebastian.

I meet her at dusk, even though she prefers hunting beasts in daylight. We pass some spiders, centaurs and even some dugbogs. I remember my unlucky meetings with spiders and dugbogs last year and a shiver runs through my body. Nasty beings, both of them.

''Don't you wanna take care of one of those?'' I ask her jokingly, nodding towards the massive spider hiding behind some webs.

Poppy laughs loudly and I shush her. No need to draw unnecessary attention.

''I love all beings, but spiders are better off here than anywhere I could keep them.'' She says in a light voice. ''Do you remember last year?''

''Which part of it?'' I ask her, remembering all the events that we went through last year. Practically fighting a dragon, returning the dragon's egg and and much more. I did, however, have the time of my life fighting and freeing dragons with her.

''The dragon!'' She says in an excited tone. ''People still don't believe me when I tell them I got to pet it.''

''Well, petting is a bit of an over exaggeration.'' I say. ''But you touched it and survived.''

''When it comes to dragons, that's kind of the same thing. At least I would say so.'' She says firmly.

''If you say so.'' I joke with her.

Unfortunately we cannot find any beasts, except for Hippogriffs, and Poppy decides it's best we head back to the castle. We walk in silence for a bit, admiring the Forbidden Forest and its endless amount of surprises. But just like the forest, Poppy is also full of surprises. Before we had our first encounter, I took her for any Hufflepuff who's obsessed with nature. We never really spoke about our personal lives, so what she brings up baffles me a bit.

''I noticed you spend a lot of time with Sebastian Sallow.'' She says after a long time of silence.

I hesitate to answer. I'm not the kind of person who goes around and talks to many people about my emotional life. But it would be nice to have someone to confide in.

''We do spend some time together, yes.'' I tell her. ''I fancy him a little.''

''I knew it!'' She says and stops me. ''Have you ever... Kissed?''

She looks like a child with her excited facial expressions.

''I'm sorry to disappoint you, but nothing physical happened.'' I say. She looks disappointed and I share the feeling with her.

''Is he still doing dark magic?'' She asks quietly. ''There were a lot of rumours going on about him last year.''

''He's not.'' I tell her. Even though I enjoy talking to Poppy, I am quite reserved when it comes to sharing my emotions with people. Especially when it comes to engaging in rumours of people I hold close.

''That's wonderful to hear!'' Her voice lightens up. ''I assume it's just jealous people spreading rumours. I always thought of him as one of the kind Slytherin students. Like you!''

One thing about Poppy is that she is endlessly optimistic. For someone who is not as optimistic, it can be both a blessing and a curse.

''How do you know if a boy likes you?'' I ask her.

I was never the popular kind of girl, nor the one who dated lots of boys. Boys approached me sometimes, but I never found romance as something appealing. Until I met him.

''I guess...'' She hesitates. ''He cares about you, wants to keep you safe. Or if he finds an excuse to be close to you.''

All of the things she tells me is applicable on my relationship with Sebastian. But it also sounds pretty general. I need a bit more to clear my judgement.

''I don't know very much about boys, or relationships, if I'm being honest. I spend most of my time with Hippogriffs, as you know.'' She says and looks down, as if she's ashamed of her lacking knowledge. ''But I assume that if it's right, you know.''

[plankton-in-space]

Hello! It me!

Hello friends! It has been a while, I’m still here!

It’s my birthday again, today. This year passed so fast and so slow at the same time. 33 is such a nice symmetrical number, though!

Literally nothing went according to plan, there were many dark moments when I thought that life is simply suffering. I felt alone and overwhelmed and I withdrew from social media and from life bc what was the point?

My family is well and healthy, the crisis has passed and we all survived it. I try to let go of past resentments and look at the now of us, which I never seemed to appreciate before. We are here, we are alive and we are all a work in progress. It is so difficult sometimes to focus on that, when life is fast-paced and I try to think of every possible scenario that might happen in the future.

It has been my constant obsessive thought, the future, to the point of neglecting my present. But I’m learning to fight it on so many levels. Future plankton can take care of herself, current plankton needs to eat well, sleep well and be happy!

How easy it is to say “be happy” but how fleeting it is as a feeling. I felt very very happy this year, more so than any other year I’ve been alive. Even when happiness was sandwiched between the sads, it was there, sparkling!

I walked my dog everyday, in the forest, with his two bodyguards (our two stray cats, Aziraphale & Crowley) meowing behind us. They kept me company when I washed my tools with the hose, waiting patiently to be petted by my cold hands in the end.

The sun in my face, clay on my hands. Painting with watercolours after abstaining for years. Running with Kohta Yamamoto playing on my headphones. Learning to meditate. Books, ceramics, comics, art, alone or with other people.

My bestie was always waiting with coffee, gossip, ideas and laughter and I love her so so much. I really appreciated the company and the sympathetic ears when I needed to cry about the world. My other irl friends were amazing too, I was never alone. My brain tried to convince me I was, but I wasn’t. I was teacher, friend, daughter, sister, helper.

And I accomplished so much! I won’t share what, for a reason. I accomplished a lot and I am proud but my biggest success has been letting go. I’m an overachiever ok? I like working and being good at what I do and my biggest flaw is overworking myself to the point of burnout, to prove to myself that I’m worth the love I receive, the attention. Look at me, I am bright and hardworking and pleasant, love me love me love me. But I receive the love and the care nonetheless, and I want to remember that. I am loved because I am me, and I am who I am because I am very, very loved.

And this is the energy I wanna bring into my 33s, into 2024. I am loved deeply and I love deeply and I care. Numbing myself, trying to avoid the hurts and the sadness only numbs the joy, the quirkiness, the sheer weirdness of existence. If I fail, I will try again, if I cry, I will laugh again.

I hope you are all healthy this year, and happy. I hope you notice the sunrises and the sunsets, the flowers and the birds and the seasons.

I don’t know if I will be more online this year or not. Being online takes time I would rather give to me, well, being present in my life. I haven’t decided yet which socials to keep, how often to post, how to reduce doom scrolling without going offline. It’s a work in progress.

But now, in this moment in time, I will post my mermay drawings bc I managed to finish the challenge just yesterday! wahoo!

[sennamybeloved]

Sorry I know I already sent an ask but would it be possible to know some trivia about you and Mileena? As a fellow villain liker I am dying to know about you guys! - flowerhound

awww oh my god ;; these asks are so fucking sweet, thank you SO much for them. it genuinely means a lot that someone is this interested in what i have to say about my girl. of course you can have some trivia about us.

(also, i apologize that it took me a minute to get to this! wasn't ignoring it, just trying to perfect my answers :>)

this specifically discusses mk9 - 11 mileena! mk1 is excluded for now.

in mk9 - mk11, my self insert is a genetic experiment done by earthrealm's government, combining humans with animals to create ultimate war machines. however, very few of the experiments were successful, and those that were escaped when the laboratory they were created in fell apart. i was combined with a fox, of course :)

i joined the tournament to cope with how hollow my life had become after leaving the lab. i was raised to fight and knew nothing else, so, kombat soothed me. imet mileena around this time, who attempted to capture/kill me, but ultimately failed, because i won her over with flattery. more specifically, i called her face beautiful, which is something she'd never been called before. so, she spared me, and we began to talk.

at this point, i didn't have a name; only a subject number that was assigned to me in captivity. so, mileena named me "phantom" after my fur and uber-cool stealth powers. it stuck, sooo, self insert name origins!!!

other story stuff is kinda blurry. i aided her during her rebellion in mkx + the comics, helped her escape captivity before we got executed, and convinced her to "settle down" somewhere away from all the drama and politics. mileena's idea of settling down still involves terrorizing people, however, she isn't like... actively wanted for war crimes anymore. so that's cool.

on the topic of general realtionship stuff, mileena is..a lot to handle. she is aggressive and childish in the same breath, meaning that she deals with everything (both good and bad) in a way that is either inherently harmful or downright frustrating. aside from the fact that she is a literal murderer, she is bossy, whiny, petulant, and a couple other things that most people would find annoying--however, i absolutely do not find her annoying. in fact, i find all of these qualities extremely endearing! even the whole murder thing.

she's extremely clingy. she wants my undivided attention and doting affections all of the time. i'm busy? nonsense! there is no reason i shouldn't be paying attention to her.

[CW: POSESSIVENESS/JEALOUSY] not only is she clingy, but she is also protective, possessive, and a tad bit obsessive; she wants me and only me, and wants me to feel the same about her. fortunately, i do, however, that does not stop her from threatening to eat those who get sweet on me. she wants everyone to know that i am claimed by her for life, and she will stop at literally nothing to prove that.

she masks it pretty well, but she is actually extremely insecure about her appearance and origins. she finds her own face to be repulsive, hence why she always wears a mask, and envies those with traditional beauty, like kitana. i, on the other hand, think she's gorgeous just the way she is, and i am not shy about telling her that. she adores my praise, so, i keep it coming.

our primary love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation. we are stuck to each other like glue, always purring compliments in the other's ear.

mileena has eaten people for me. she will continue to eat people for me. i cannot stop this from happening.

mileena loves all of my hobbies. every time i pick up something new, she wants to hear all about it. she's a great listening, surprisingly, but only when it comes to me. she has great retention when it comes to my hobbies and my hobbies alone. she loves watching me draw, adores listening to the music i make, loves proofreading my writing. she's even tried picking up some of my hobbies for herself!

i take her friendship in mk11 as canon. one of the few things she has patience for is sewing. she tailors her own clothes, fixes up my clothes, but most importantly, she makes teddy bears. she has an entire collection of teddy bears, both big and small, some created by her whereas others were stolen and scavenged. she adores them. me and her throw little tea parties with them sometimes.

she doesn't have lips, so she can't kiss me. instead, she licks me. like a dog. like this.

she also bites. it is NOT gentle, but it is out of love, so i don't really mind it.

she is actually pretty marvelous at helping me cope with my anxiety. this is because she takes everything i say at face value instead of second-guessing and trying to convince me otherwise, so she's able to meet me where i'm at.

we both kinda suck at singing, but we sing together sometimes. she has my very diverse taste in music.

[prettybluelites]

Thoughts: The Curse of the Seafaring Life

Okay, fine, I'll watch Episode 5 one more time.

I have watched this half a dozen times by now and I have straight up howled every time Ed says "this here is a ship, and it's a space ship." The delivery combined with the hand gestures - I'm dead. I'm finished. Fucking genius.

A couple posts down I expounded on the fact that Ed is literally wearing sackcloth, still fascinated by that. Also wondering how much trouble he's having making the change from the infamous leathers to a loose-fitting linen onesie :P

That awkward position of, Do I clap, do I do nothing, or do I give the finger - so real

Does the mad cat on the new flag remind anyone else of the union rat inflatables that striking unions use?

Izzy got a new leg and it turned him into a right little sass pot

"I'm your captain! Wait, I can do it better." This whole scene is awesome and "That's the captain's chair" makes me laugh almost as hard as the space ship bit

Thinking a lot about Ed offering to let Lucius push him off the ship when it soon becomes clear that that isn't exactly what Lucius needs - I guess I'll just leave it at, I love how neatly the show illustrates that everyone heals differently

The shot of Izzy training on the gundeck is gorgeous and I'm not just saying that because of the Pecs of Death. And I love that he took himself down there and set all that up and took up his training his own self, idk, it feeds a lot of my headcanon about what sort of person Izzy is outside the context of Blackbeard - disciplined and fastidious

Love a good training montage, especially one that involves ass-slapping. And I love this new normal where Stede and Izzy, like, hang out and converse.

Will never grow tired of the fact that not one but both of Ed's shoes fly off

Really into geometry, lol. One of those superstitious bitches would have known what a pentagram was

Every girl loves an outfit she can twirl in

Third reliable lol of the episode: "draw me as, like, a steely...lord"

I was so busy thinking about Lucius and Pete each reckoning separately with Ed that I forgot to think about Lucius and Pete reckoning with each other. So glad this is a part of the storyline.

There really is nothing like a peanut butter sandwich. And then to be there when they were invented? Wow. :D

The scene with Ed and Fang in the boat is like Lucius recounting his horrors a couple episodes ago, shouldn't be funny, but...it's funny

Lucius is a man of some learning, he should know that Izzy's shark story is not, strictly speaking, fiction: A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn't literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.  (Thanks, Grammarly!) Izzy's not covering up shit with that story, he's explaining an idea.

STG if Izzy and Lucius don't make out by the end of this series...

Roach's comment about Frenchie's beautiful body, lmao

Anyone ever see Northern Exposure? There was a great scene in an early episode of that show where Joel was trying to figure out how Marilyn could sit still and quiet on her shifts as his receptionist and he was just boggled that she could, as Fang puts it, sit with herself. I'm not sure if this quote was from that episode, but I know it's a Marilyn quote: Words are heavy like rocks … they weigh you down. If birds could talk, they wouldn't be able to fly. That has stuck with me for a looong time. Anyway, sorry to blather, that's what this bit of Fang and Ed's conversation reminds me of.

Obvs the shirt needed to stay for plot reasons but also glad Stede got to keep it because he looks fine AF

Awwww Lucius and Pete, I love their love. I laughed and cried.

That feeling when someone reacts in all the right ways to all the right parts of your stories ♥

So much to love about this scene, obviously. Much has already been written about the kiss (THAT KISS!!) and Ed asking to go slow and Stede meeting him where he's at, but I am obsessed with the way Ed looks down, ever so slightly surprised, when Stede takes his hand. When, in Ed's adult life, has someone held his hand in a romantic context? It really is perfect.

And all that is to say nothing of Sometimes it's nice to be patient and wait. Jesus H Christ. When those two finally fuck, brains are going to melt and run out of the ears of fans all over the world.

Okay, phew! That was a lot, thank you for reading!

As a reward for your perseverance, here's a bonus quote I found while I was looking up Marilyn's bird quote:

"We are all pirates at heart. There is not one of us who hasn't had a little larceny in his soul. And which one of us wouldn't soar if God had thought there was merit in the idea? So, when we see one of those great widespread pirates soaring across the grain of sea winds we thrill, and we long, and, if we are honest, we curse that we must be men every day. Why not one day a bird!  There's an idea, now, one day out of seven a pirate in the sky. What puny power a man can attain by comparison. Compare a 747 with a bird and blush!"

Roger Caras, Birds and Flight, 1971.

[mollymarymarie]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for tagging me @squintclover you treasure ❤️😘 i'm gonna make this a keep reading, because i get wordy

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

In total, I have 39 works on Ao3

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

so i didn't know this but apparently i have over a million words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I don't write for HP anymore, but that's the majority of my fics. I have a few for the marvel universe and two weird real people fics (which now give me the ick so i won't be writing those anymore either)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Dear Your Holiness (lots of people share my priest kink apparently)

The Road Not Taken (for the angst, i'm sure)

The Lad That Loved You (it's my oldest wolfstar fic)

Bird Set Free (figure skating, Yuri On Ice, what's not to love)

When It Counted (this one sort of surprises me, but it's amortentia-based, so I think that aspect is the draw)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! not as often as i'd like but i do read them all right away, i have notifications for ao3 comments turned on. in that way, i get to enjoy them twice!

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have a short oneshot called Midnight about Halloween 1981 and I have another one called Where The Willow Don't Bend about Remus being a ghost at Hogwarts. I think those both end pretty angsty

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

In general, all my fics have happy endings. i go to fiction to escape the fact that almost nothing in life has a happy ending so i don't really like ending stories with anything except happiness. I really like the ending of We Can Pretend - they're in love, they get to be together, they're in Paris, their friends are all there with them, they're singing Nat King Cole to each other on a balcony while coq au vin is on the stove. fantasy scenario tbh.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

sure do. i won't list it. one thing that happens (which isn't exactly hate, but it makes me laugh) is when people criticize the fact that wolfstar are mentioned as having greys in The Road Not Taken because they're only 28/29 so they can't possibly have grey hair lol (i definitely had greys by that age, 100%)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yeah most of my fic is smut, but i'm sort of getting away from that. the TENSION is the best part, in my opinion.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

nah, not really interested, i guess.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so. my fics have been put up on other sites without my permission but my name was still attached to it, at least.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

a few! usually DYH. it's always nice to have someone ask for permission to translate.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no, mostly because i'm a control freak lol

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

it used to be wolfstar (kinda soured on me for multiple reasons, the biggest one being JKR is a piece of shit and getting associated with her works is not fun)

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

back when i was watching Preacher, i was (still am) obsessed with Joe Gilgun, so i definitely have a Proinsias Cassidy fic in the WIPs somewhere that will never get finished, but i do go back to it from time to time because, i mean, irish vampire. give it to me.

16. What are your writing strengths?

do i have any???? people tell me i do tension well. maybe that?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

first of all, NOT PLANNING AHEAD, figuring it out as i go and then having to go back and change a bunch of shit when i inevitably fuck it up. also, commas. i use FAR too many commas. i won't be stopped.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i have a few fics that i have done that for. with French, with Russian, and now with Portuguese. it's difficult, Google Translate will only get you so far, but i LOVE languages so much. people will usually politely correct me

19. First fandom you wrote for?

OH TRUTH BE TOLD the Good Charlotte fandom, i am not even joking you right now. wrote an ENORMOUS self-insert fic for me and my friends with the members of Good Charlotte (i was with Benji, obviously) at the age of like 15 and the plot was SO fucking ridiculous. i mean. john mayer was there, ville valo from HIM was there (the main character had dated both of them before benji, of course). Elijah Wood was in there at some point and i think he was a murderer???? i should do a dramatic re-telling of what happens in this fic over tumblr (i will not post it, it is so so badly written)

20. Favorite fic you've written?

truthfully, i think it's Dear Your Holiness. i wrote that just after losing my grandmother and all of the conversations about faith still sort of hit me in the gut even now. plus the tension is really nice, i love the idea of a heavily tattooed Remus, and it's the music of my teenage years so it's very sentimental for that reason, too.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

WIP Wednesday

I was tagged by @winterandwords to uh... talk about a WIP I guess? :D

I'll pass on this tag toooo... @starlit-hopes-and-dreams (as always <3) but I'm not sure who else, so if you feel like talking about a WIP, consider this an open tag.

Oh boy, which to pick. There are currently only 2 projects where the P in WIP actually stands for "progress" (for the others it stands for "procrastination".)

I think I'm gonna pick Till Death. It is the one I am currently obsessed with, and the only one I am writing, not editing.

Here's the blurb:

Finnian is a wandering healer down on his luck. When one of his patients dies, the village turns against him, beating him half to death and leaving him for thirst and scavengers to finish what they started.

Eilis lives deep in the forest, hiding from the world. When she finds him, impaled on a tree and barely alive, she can‘t leave him to his fate, even if it means upending the peaceful life she has built for herself.

As Finnian slowly recovers, days filled with quiet companionship make the prospect of him staying less daunting than either of them had expected. But he carries too many scars, and Eilis too many secrets, threatening to destroy their fragile relationship as the shadows of the past draw closer. When everything falls apart, will they save each other, or will the price be too high?

You see, in April I finished the last chapter of all my ongoing stories, which left me in a very weird mood. For 1,5 years I always had something to work on, and suddenly, there was nothing started. Sure, I had a few outlines, but nothing really called to me, with the added problem that for those, I have to figure out bullshit like politics. I needed something new. New chars I didn't know yet, a fresh story - and 🌟violence🌟 :)

I've been talking about wanting more gore with happy end, but sadly, existing OCs are so fragile, I can't even break all their bones without them dying 🙄 So it was time to fuck up another healer.

For a few weeks, I threw concepts against a wall like cooked spaghetti, grabbed whatever stuck, and then I just started. It's the first time in a year that I actually write a story without posting as I go. I can leave a little note "this sounds weird, fix later" or remember "shit, I forgot this injury" or change a name halfway in. I know. That's how a draft is supposed to work 😅

I'm at over 60k words, and it's looking good. There's a few 'first times' for me, a lot of things I love and a lot of things I am excited about. I have a rough outline of events still to happen that leaves me enough freedom to go wild. And wild I go; half of the scenes are gratuitous pain and suffering, and there will be more - but it's also a story of love and finding a place to belong. Which brings me to the next point:

I'm tired. Tired of feeling like I don't belong anywhere. Of having no genre and being "just whump" because it fits nowhere else. Of being "not enough whump" while still finding myself on every squick list.

So this one's written for a target audience of some very close friends - a target audience for which I don't have to write CWs at the top of each chapter, a target audience who doesn't grow bored at the first calm moment, a target audience who will call me a bitch while asking for more pain.

I love you, pocket friends 💜

Here's the start of the book (unedited, rip):

Finnian hated dealing with sick people.

Considering the fact that he earned his money with healing, that was rather unfortunate. If he didn’t want to starve to death, he had to grit his teeth and ignore the stench of sweat and blood while taking care of coughs and aches and fever.

Sometimes, he wished he had learned something else after it had become clear that this wasn’t the right profession for him. Then he wouldn’t be sitting here, explaining to a grown ass woman that when he had told her to keep the wound clean, that included keeping the bandages away from dirty water. And that yes, it fucking hurt, because now it was infected, and if she didn’t plan on losing a finger or two, she’d better keep her hand dry and clean this time. And that perhaps, just perhaps, that was a bit more important than cleaning the windows.

Unfortunately, he had not learned anything else, so he left the house half an hour later with barely enough coins in his pocket to make up for the supplies he had used. Most roots and herbs he could gather himself, but bandages and tinctures didn’t grow on trees.

[gothdaddyissues]

The Devil Came To A Small Town

Chapter Five available on Ao3

or under the cut (~7000 words)

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES - October 1st has arrived and the pumpkin spice latte has returned. A trip to the coffee shop ruins Izzy's day, while Terzo and an over-caffeinated Ghoul cause trouble for Copia.

TW: Public freakout/bullying/discrimination (with some payback)

Tags: OC female, Cardinal Copia, Papa III/Terzo, Dewdrop Ghoul, a little bit of Cirrus Ghoulette, a smidgen of Papa II/Secondo (he angy), OC male, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Ministry Hijinks, Idiots in Love, Karens in the wild, swears and cursings, No Beta (we die like Terzo), Google Translate Italiano

Catch up here: | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |

⛧⛧⛧⛧

October 1

Izzy yawned into the back of her hand. She was still exhausted. She had tossed and turned after waking up from that dream, unable to fully drift off again. She couldn’t get the images - and the feelings, and the fucking questions - out of her mind.

It’s nothing. Not a big deal. It’s just your brain being stupid. It’s because you saw him yesterday, and you were at the Abbey reminiscing about the old days, you were listening to that music on your walk, you haven’t gotten laid in years… Stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about him . It was just a dream… a dream in which you were getting absolutely railed. Dommed. By Copia. Copia , of all people. Awkward, shy Copia. With his face painted like a skull and calling himself Papa for some reason. Like a Daddy thing? Fuck, he was so Daddy, so sexy… hung like a… STOP IT. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s not real, he’s not really like that. Is he? What if…? Shit. Why am I dreaming about him? It has to mean something…

Round and round and round in her head until her alarm went off. And while she was in the shower. And even now, sitting at her kitchen table finishing her breakfast and drinking her tea. She had her iPad out, open on a drawing app, and she was lightly sketching the painted skull face from her dreams. 

While she didn’t consider herself an artist by any means, her skills were adequate thanks to Ari’s teaching in the past. The features of the face were passable and she had the paint pattern in the right spots. She even took the time to make one eye green and one eye white. She stared at it for a while, adjusting things here and there until she sighed and gave up. At the top of the drawing, she wrote “PAPA?” in big letters.

No more time for obsessing, she had to get her day started. Izzy snapped the cover on her tablet closed and paced across the apartment, shoving the iPad in her messenger bag hanging by the front door. She was full of anxious energy. It was another beautiful autumn morning, perfect for a walk, but she didn’t dare. She couldn’t be certain she wouldn’t wander off to the Abbey again since she was so irrationally drawn to this man. The fates were practically throwing the two of them together. And that was the absolute last thing she wanted to deal with today. She prayed she wouldn’t see him today at all - she couldn’t handle it.

She walked back to her bedroom to grab her phone, stopping at the altar in her living room, remembering the spell she had cast the other night. Copia’s business card was still there under the rose quartz crystal. She pulled it out and held it between her fingers, feeling the energy dancing around her. It was like the electricity she felt when she was in his presence. Those intoxicating sensations from her dream were twisting in her brain and her belly as if she were under his thrall…

Snapping out of it, she waved the card grumpily in front of the large statue of Lillith keeping watch over her sacred space. “Girl, please help me out here,” Izzy said to it, “Help me figure out what the fuck is going on with this man. I’m open to receive your guidance.” She tilted back the base of the statue and slid Copia’s card underneath it. “And please give me strength to get through this day.” 

It was just past 9:30. She needed Ari to come into the store early today, but had waited until a little later in the morning to call him so she wouldn’t wake him up. He answered it on the second ring.

“Hey hey, good morning,” he said cheerfully.

“You’re awfully cheerful this early,” she remarked, suspicious. “What’s up?”

“Whaddya mean ‘What’s up?’ It’s October 1st! That’s what’s up.”

Izzy had been so preoccupied this morning she’d completely forgotten. “Oh yeah… Happy First Day of Halloween then!”

Ari laughed. “The most wonderful time of the year! And, you know what else that means?”

“Ummm…. No?”

“Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back, baby!” He sounded jubilant.

Izzy groaned. “Ugggh, god, really? You’re really that excited about cinnamon and nutmeg in your coffee?”

“No no no, it’s so much more than that, Izz,” he explained. “It is the essence of Fall in a cup full of steaming hot deliciousness. It’s like mainlining Jack o’Lanterns right into your soul. Like bonfires, and haybales, and crispy leaves under your feet…”

She was laughing now. “Jesus, Ari, it’s coffee . Relax,” she teased.

“Hey, let me enjoy my Christian Girl Autumn, okay?”

“Okay, fine, fine,” she giggled. “But first, could you maybe come into the store a bit early today and open up for me? I have to go to the bank to do a deposit and get some change for the register. I want to get it done first thing.”

“Yeah, sure. No problem!” 

“Cool, thank you.”

“Since you’ll be at the bank, which is right next door to the coffee shop… maybe you could pick up a PSL for me on your way back? You know, just to thank me for coming in early?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” she sighed. “You’re so basic… but I love you anyways.”

“I love you too,” he said. “See you soon.”

⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧

The coffee shop was busy - apparently, Ari wasn’t the only one excited about the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Isabelle took a spot in the line and pulled her phone out of her pocket, figuring she’d scroll through her socials to kill time. 

One of the features of living in this small town was she knew most of the people there, or at least who they were. Taylor, Nick, and Kayla behind the counter. Jim the insurance agent in line behind her. A couple of her regular customers. Penny from the grocery store. Affluent realtor Diane Francis and her pseudo-socialite friend Giselle in line in front of her.

But with that knowledge came the ordeal of being known. Instead of burying her nose in her phone in peace, she had to exchange ‘hellos’ and ‘how are yous’ and polite small talk with those she was friendly with while trying to ignore those she wasn’t. She turned her attention back to her phone screen to avoid the disdainful glances from the two women ahead of her. Because, despite the fact she was a successful business owner and benevolent member of the community, Izzy was still considered persona non grata with the town’s wealthy elite. Her beliefs were too ‘unconventional’ and her past too ‘immoral’ to be worthy of their approval. She avoided them whenever she could; unfortunately not possible today.

The women turned away and resumed their gossip. “So, they’ve taken over the whole Abbey property,” Diane told her friend, “Can you believe it? They fooled us all! They claim to be a Church when there is nothing pious about them. They’re worshiping…” she lowered her voice only slightly, her eyes shifting back to Izzy for a moment, “... the Devil !”

Giselle gave a nervous laugh as if it were a joke. “No! You can’t be serious?”

“Dead serious. They’re called the Church of Emeritus… look them up! It’s right there on the website. They talk about ‘the Dark One.’ Rituals. Upside-down crosses. Satanists. In our town! It’s disgusting,” Diane complained.

“What can we do?” Giselle seemed panicked. “This is unacceptable! That sort of thing isn’t welcome here.”

The two of them continued nattering and Izzy tried to tune them out. But she was wary. These women and their well-connected friends could easily cause trouble for the Church and its members if they wanted - especially Diane and her real estate developer husband Andrew. Between them, they owned the most property in town and used their money and influence to control so much of what happened here. Crossing them was dangerous, especially when they had the mayor and police department in their pockets. 

Anxious and angry thoughts were swirling in Izzy’s head. Who the fuck do they think they are? Why do they get to decide who’s worthy of being here or not? These assholes might organize protests, or harass them, or encourage vandalism, or wage some hate campaign… I have to warn Sister Imperator. And Copia… Oh fuck, Copia. Don’t think about him. Not now…

The sound of her name snapped her back to reality. Taylor, the barista, was calling out to her: “Izzy? You ready to order?” The busybodies in line ahead had already ordered and stepped off to the side. Izzy was too preoccupied to notice.

“Oh, hey Tay. Yeah, ummm… two Venti Pumpkin Spice Lattes, please,” Izzy said sheepishly. “Sorry, I spaced out there for a second.”

“No worries, I know it’s crazy in here today,” Taylor said, giving Izzy the total. As she was paying, Taylor leaned in close to her. “Is what they’re saying about Windermere Abbey true? Did a Satanic church really move in?”

“Yep, it’s true,” Izzy replied, keeping her voice low, “I’ve had a couple of them in my store already.”

“Really? Are they cool? Have you gone to one of their… services?”

“Yeah, they seem like cool people. But I haven’t been to a service yet. I’m sure I will sometime, though.”

Taylor was wide-eyed with excitement. She was a gorgeous young woman, with vibrant red hair, glamorous makeup, and elaborate tattoos. She was a regular at Izzy’s shop and a devotee of the occult. Izzy wasn’t the least bit surprised she’d be interested in what the Church of Emeritus had to offer. “I’m gonna check them out!” 

“You definitely should!” Izzy encouraged. “Let me know if you do.” She moved aside to join the group of people at the pick-up counter, perching on the window ledge to wait until they called her name.

Diane and Gisele sat nearby, their conversation about the Abbey still going. The customers waiting alongside them were an uncomfortable captive audience. 

“We could have bought that property, you know,” Diane said, flipping the ends of her blonde hair behind her shoulders. “We seriously considered it. But it would have cost four times the asking price to fix it up. I don’t understand why it wasn’t just torn down. It’s a rat-infested dump! Appropriate for the people who bought it, I suppose.”

Izzy knew she should stay silent. Bite her tongue, get her coffee, and leave. But the urge to defend her new friends was too strong. “It’s not a dump,” she said, as calmly as she could, “They’ve fixed it all up and it looks beautiful. Completely renovated inside and out.” 

A few people perked up when they heard Izzy’s voice, turning their heads to see how Diane was going to respond to this. She stared down her nose: “Of course you would defend them,” she scoffed, her voice dripping with contempt.

“I’m not defending anyone,” Izzy shot back. “Just stating a fact.”

“Are we talking to you?” Giselle snapped. “Mind your own business.” 

“It’s everyone’s business. We should be grateful someone went through all the trouble and expense of saving a piece of our town’s history.” Izzy was regretting this, knowing it would not end well, but it was too late now. “Better than putting an ugly condo building or a strip mall shopping plaza there in its place.” 

She saw the look of shock on Diane’s face. But the woman composed herself quickly, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Izzy “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you insinuating something?”

“I know people on the Heritage Committee,” Izzy said, “They saw the proposal you submitted when the property went up for sale. You and your husband wanted the Abbey demolished so you could build there.”

“And what’s wrong with that? More amenities and conveniences mean more people stay and spend their money in town, rather than running off to the city. Modernizing is a good thing. It’s called progress, honey ,” she replied, smug and patronizing.

“It couldn’t have been that good of a thing if your offer was rejected,” Izzy countered.

“Well, that was a mistake on their part. The entire property has been a den of filth and depravity since the convent left. Burn it down and salt the earth.”

“What a horrible thing to say.” Izzy was fuming. “It’s a beautiful historic property that was worth saving. You’re just bitter because you didn’t get what you wanted.”

That did it. She could see the anger in Diane’s eyes as she stepped closer, pointing her bejeweled finger in Izzy’s face. “You wanna know what I’m bitter about? Weirdos and freaks like them - and like you - coming into my town and spreading your sick, godless beliefs. Since you’re so friendly with the Satan worshippers, why don’t you take all your spellbooks, and your crystal balls, and your jars full of bat wings and newt eyes, and move your profane little store down to the Abbey and off our main street? I’m sure they’re already your best customers,” she spat, “ We don’t want you here .”

Izzy flinched and lowered her gaze to the floor, humiliated into silence by this awful woman’s bullying. She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from lashing out with angry words. She wanted to give this woman a piece of her mind, but it was pointless. She shouldn’t have gotten herself involved in the first place. She saw Diane move away out of the corner of her eye, quite satisfied with herself.

“Izzy! Two PSLs for Izzy!” Nick the barista called out.

“What? Hey, no no no,” Diane stomped over to the pick-up counter. “Those are ours. We ordered before her!”

“She gets hers first because she’s nicer than you,” Nick snapped, motioning to Izzy to come up and claim the order.

“Excuse me?!” Diane was livid . “Don’t you know who I am?”

Nick rolled his eyes, not about to put up with this woman’s bullshit. “Yes Karen , I know who you are. You’ll get your coffee in a minute. We’re very busy today, as you can see.”

“My name is not Karen. And I want to speak to your manager. Now .”

“The manager isn’t available at the moment, unfortunately.” Nick was so very smooth and calm. “Also, the manager is my mother, AND she’s a regular at Izzy’s store. When I tell her what you said, you’ll be lucky if she doesn’t ban you for harassing our customers.”

“Harassing?! Me? But… but… She started it!” Diane sputtered.

Izzy took the opportunity to grab the two coffees from the counter and slink away while the argument continued and before Diane could yank them out of her hands. She glanced back to Taylor at the cash register, giving her a nod of thanks. Taylor shooed her away, mouthing “Go, go!” 

She made a beeline to the exit, past the long line of people waiting to place their orders, her eyes on the ground. All she wanted was to escape with a smidgen of dignity left. She got to the door when someone stepped in front of her, forcing her to stop and look up.

It was a silver-masked man from the Church of Emeritus. Izzy studied him for a moment before realizing it was not the same one who had been at the shop with Cardinal Copia. This one was shorter and leaner. She felt a gentle hand on her arm - not his, but someone beside her, also in a silver mask, only this one carved with female features. She looked at Izzy with worried eyes, tilting her head in concern.

“I’m okay,” Izzy whispered to her, understanding what she was trying to communicate. “Thank you.”

The woman nodded, turning to her companion and giving him a quick nod as well. He opened the door for Izzy like a gentleman.

“Thanks,” she said to him. “But watch out for her,” she motioned to Diane, still there waiting for her coffee, “She’s a nasty one.”

⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧

Izzy hurried down the sidewalk with one coffee in each hand, her pace as quick as she could manage without spilling hot liquid all over herself. She took deep breaths as she walked, trying to soothe the anxiety tumbling around inside her head. It was only a short trip back to the store, but at this point, it felt like miles. Embarrassed, shamed, singled out - she just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.

There were footfalls behind her, speeding up to match her pace. She panicked. Oh shit, it’s her, isn’t it? She’s gonna yell at me in the street, she’s gonna throw hot coffee in my face…

“Izzy?” a male voice called out to her. “Izzy, wait up!” It was Jim, the insurance agent. He had been in line behind her and obviously saw the whole incident.

“Oh, Jim! It’s you,” she sighed, relieved. “I was worried it was Diane Francis chasing me down.”

He laughed. “Nah, she wouldn’t dare. Nick and Taylor were still giving her shit when I left, and the crowd was turning on her.”

“Damn, I’m sorry I missed that.” Izzy couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at the thought.

“You don’t mind me walking with you, do you?” he asked. 

His office was just a block past her shop so she could hardly refuse. “No! No, of course not,” she said, “I don’t mind at all.”

Their pace slowed to something more comfortable, and Jim took a small sip of his coffee as they walked. “You alright?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose. I should have just shut my mouth and ignored them, huh? I made an ass of myself.”

“No, you didn’t,” Jim said, “It’s about time someone stood up to them and their sanctimonious Boomer crap. They can’t keep getting away with treating people like garbage.”

“Well, as long as they have all the money, and the land, and the mayor wrapped around their finger, they will,” Izzy lamented.

They came to the intersection of Main and Richmond Streets. Izzy’s shop was on the corner across the road. “Thanks for walking with me, Jim. Good to see you,” she said.

“You too, Izzy. I hope you know that most people don’t agree with her. About anything. But especially about you. I don’t know anyone here who doesn’t think you’re an awesome person. Don’t let what she said get to you.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “And don’t let it ruin your day, okay?”

“Thank you, I’ll try. See ya,” she called as she crossed the road. Jim gave her a little wave and went on his way.

The front door swung open as she approached. Ari had been waiting for her to return with his treat, and he was smiling ear to ear as she entered the shop, almost yanking the cup out of her hand.

“Coffee coffee coffee coffee…” he purred, before taking his first sip and sighing blissfully. “Ahhhh, yaassss. I’ve been waiting almost a whole year for this!”

“Good morning to you too,” she muttered. She left her coffee cup and messenger bag on the cash counter and continued into the back room of the shop, shrugging off her jacket as she went.

“Hmph, someone’s in a foul mood,” Ari observed, leaning on the office doorframe, “You should try some pumpkin spice. That will cheer you up.”

“No thanks. You can have them both. I don’t have the stomach for it right now.”

“Why not?” He followed behind as she came back to the counter to empty rolls of change out of her bag. “What’s the matter? What happened?”

She couldn’t hide it - Ari knew her too well. “I got harassed by Diane Francis and her minion Gisele while I was at the coffee shop,” she admitted with a sigh.

“WHAT?” Ari gasped, almost choking on his drink, “Why!?”

“Because they were talking shit about the Church of Emeritus: ‘Oh no, devil worshippers in our town! Whatever shall we do?’ And I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, so we got into it. She gave me the usual godless heathen spiel, she called us all freaks and weirdos, and told me that I wasn’t ‘wanted here.’ Wouldn’t’ve bothered me so much if it wasn’t in front of a shop full of people.” Izzy shook her head. “Embarrassing as hell.”

“Fuck those crusty old bitches,” he growled. “Dammit, Izz… It’s my fault, I’m sorry. I’m the one that made you go there.” He pulled her into a hug and squeezed her tight.

“Hey, no, it’s not your fault. I should’ve known better than to engage with them. It’s not like they’ve never talked shit to me before.” 

He held her for several long moments before perking up. “Hey! We should hex them!” he suggested. “They deserve it.”

Izzy couldn’t help but laugh. Ari’s comforting presence and sense of humor always made things better. She leaned into his embrace and felt the tension in her body melt away. “Yes, they do. But I don’t want to give them another thought. Let karma have its way with them.”

He pulled away from her a bit to look into her eyes. “Aww… no hexing?” he asked, disappointed.

“No. No hexing.”

“But can I still drink both coffees?” 

“Yes,” she said, untangling from his embrace and giving him a playful nudge, “You’ll enjoy it more than I will.” Izzy turned back to the cash register to finish refilling the cash drawer. “You’re gonna be buzzing from all that caffeine though.”

Ari took another long sip of his coffee and smiled, giving her a mischievous wink. “I’m okay with that.”

“I should probably give the Church the heads up about Diane Francis and all her friends. They could make things pretty miserable for them.”

“Yeah, good idea,” he agreed. “Gives you an excuse to talk to your sexy Cardinal friend, right?”

And just like that, Copia was at the forefront of her brain again.

Oh fuck…

⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧

“I have never been treated so poorly in my life!” the angry blonde woman yelled. “My lawyer will hear about this.”

“You’re gonna call your lawyer ? About coffee ?” the male barista replied, stunned by the stupidity of her statement.

Cirrus and Dewdrop gave each other the side-eye, annoyed but not surprised by an entitled human’s behavior. It definitely wasn’t the first time they had encountered such a thing, but for once it was not directed at them.

“Yes! This is discrimination!” she continued, eliciting scoffs and exasperated groans from some of the other customers in the shop.

“Aww… poor rich white lady, such a victim,” Dew muttered under his breath.

Cirrus gave him a light swat on the shoulder. “Shhh,” she whispered, “Someone will hear you.”

One of the female baristas placed two cups on the pick-up counter and said: “Diane! Two PSLs for Diane!”

“Finally!” Diane huffed, rudely grabbing the cups and handing one to her companion. “Terrible service. I’m never coming back here again!”

The male barista dismissed her: “Yeah, you’ve said that before. See you tomorrow - have the day you deserve, ma’am!”

Dewdrop found the entire incident endlessly amusing. Nothing like a good public freakout. He knew he should mind his business and let her leave, but his disdain for unpleasant humans like her was too strong to pass up fucking with her. Just a little bit.

As she stomped, head down, towards the exit, Dew took a sideways step out of the queue to block her path. She stumbled into him, almost spilling her drink.

“Watch what you’re doing, you…” It was only then that she looked up and saw who she had run into. She squeaked in shock, her friend behind her letting out a frightened gasp. She was wide-eyed, staring into his mask in terror.

Dew just tilted his head slightly and looked her dead in the eye. Unmoving.

“M..mm… move,” Diane stammered.

Dew remained motionless.

“You… you heard me. Get out of my way!” 

He could smell the panic rolling off of her. He liked it. Again, he did not move and continued to stare her down.

She withered under his gaze. “Um… excuse me.” Still nothing. “Please?” she finally said, through gritted teeth.

Once the magic word was said, Dew stepped out of her way with a deep bow, sweeping his arms toward the door in a dramatic gesture. The women scooched past him as quickly as they could, keeping a wide berth. 

“Fucking freaks,” Diane grumbled as she walked out the door.

Dew couldn’t help himself. He placed his hands in the shape of a heart, then blew exaggerated kisses at her through the window as the two women darted away. He took his spot next to Cirrus again, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. 

The two Ghouls patiently waited their turn to order, with hardly anyone else in the shop paying them much attention. A few gave them a double take - understandable - and they even got a couple of pleasant nods from people on their way out, likely a way of saying ‘thanks’ for putting that awful woman in her place. But otherwise, nobody said a word to them, good or bad. 

When they arrived at the register, the barista gave them a warm welcome: “Hi, hello! What can I get for you today?”

Cirrus had her phone out, open on the notes app, and she had already typed their order onto the screen. She held it up for the barista to read.

“Two Grande Pumpkin Spice Lattes for ‘Cirrus’? Excellent… Anything else?” she asked with a smile.

Cirrus shook her head and pulled out a silver credit card to make the payment.

“Are you guys from that new Church in town?” the barista asked. “I mean, I figured you were, but…”

Cirrus nodded enthusiastically.

“Cool, cool, Izzy told me about you! So uh, can anyone just show up there? Like, do you have open services, or…?”

Cirrus nodded again and held up her index finger in a ‘just a moment’ gesture. Her fingers flew over her phone screen as she typed, and then she held it up again.

“‘Sundays at 7:00. Windermere Abbey. All are welcome,’” the barista read. “Awesome! I’d love to come. I’ll be there this week. Do you have a website I can check out?”

Dewdrop reached into his jacket and pulled out a business card with all the relevant contact information on it and gave it to her, while Cirrus clapped her hands in excitement. 

“Thank you! I’ll see you on Sunday.”

The two Ghouls gave each other a little fist bump while they waited for their coffees. When they finally left the shop with steaming hot drinks in their hands, Cirrus pulled close to Dew and whispered: “Drink up, L’il Dewdrop… We gotta finish these before we get back. Sister Imperator will lose her shit if she finds out you’ve had caffeine again.”

⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧

“The Magical Will is in its essence twofold, for it presupposes a beginning and an end; to will to be a thing is to admit that you are not that thing.”

Copia yawned. This was the third time he had read this sentence. It may as well have been in Greek for all the sense it made in his brain. At this rate, it would take him forever to get through this book.

He blamed it on another night of fitful sleep. The surprise visit from Isabella the previous morning had left him giddy. Her dark beauty, her smile, her laugh, her joy at seeing the Abbey returned to its former glory, her promise to return… all of it roused euphoric feelings in him that lingered as he went about his day. 

And oh, did it linger into the night. He awoke at some point past the witching hour with his hand down his pants, cock in fist and body tingling in release. Quite the mess to clean up too. He had been dreaming about her, but the details disappeared the moment he opened his eyes. After that, he never drifted back off fully, tossing and turning and burning with thoughts of her until the sun rose over the horizon.

And now he was struggling to keep his eyes open, blinking rapidly to keep the sentences on the book page from dissolving into a blurry jumble of letters. He fidgeted with his bookmark - Isabella’s business card - rotating it absentmindedly between the fingers of one hand while propping up his head in the other. This is not how he wanted to be spending his day.

There were three sharp knocks on his office door, and it opened without waiting for his invitation to enter. It jolted him out of his stupor, and he looked up from his book with a scowl, already annoyed with whoever thought they could just waltz right in…

“ Buongiorno Cardinale! ” Terzo greeted with a flourish.

“Ah, good morning Papa,” Copia deadpanned, “Thank you for knocking first.”

Terzo ignored Copia’s dispassionate response and sauntered right up to the desk, plopping himself down on the corner of it and making himself quite at home. “How are you fratellino ? I feel as though I have not seen you for days! Why have you been locking yourself away, hmm?”

“I’ve been busy,” Copia replied.

“Busy? This is busy? Reading?” He picked up the open book on the Cardinal’s desk, flipping to the cover to read the title. He made a face. “Crowley? Feh! Why are you reading this drivel?”

Copia pulled the book out of Terzo’s hands and laid it back on his desk. “It’s research , Papa. For the History of the Occult lecture Secondo and I will be giving in a few weeks.”

“Oooh, yes yes,” Terzo nodded, “I do recall that, now that you mention it.” He gave Copia a smirk. “So that’s what’s keeping you busy? And not…” He quickly yanked the business card from the Cardinal’s other hand, “... this?”

“Give that back, Terzo!”

Terzo hopped up off the desk and stepped out of Copia’s reach, holding the card delicately in his fingers to read it aloud. “Miss Isabella Bennett, Shadow & Light Metaphysical Boutique. This is the woman that Sister Imperator has been blathering on about for the last week or so, isn’t it?” He gave the Cardinal a lecherous look. “I hear she is very pretty. Dark of hair and fair of skin, with eyes so deep and warm you could get lost in them for days… She also enjoys exploring old, abandoned cemeteries, and chatting with shy, Satanic clergymen, so I’m told.”

Copia averted his eyes, feeling heat flush his cheeks. “And who told you this?” he asked quietly.

“Well, the Ghouls do like their gossip. Alpha was there in the greenhouse with you and Primo yesterday. And you know how close he and Omega are. Word travels fast.” He handed the card back to Copia with a wink. “No need to be embarrassed about it, fratellino . I think it’s sweet.”

Copia took the card and placed it in the book to mark his place. “And this is why you are here today? To give me your blessing?”

“Actually, no,” Terzo said, his demeanor becoming a bit more serious. He sat in the chair across from Copia’s desk. “I’m here to ask for your help.”

“Oh?” Copia raised an eyebrow, suspicious. “Help with what exactly?”

“Well, Imperator has been on my ass about the monthly expense reports for September,” he revealed, “It seems there’s a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“I.. I didn’t do them,” Terzo admitted hesitantly.

Copia rolled his eyes, “For fuck’s sake, Terzo,” he muttered.

“And so,” Terzo continued, tenting his fingers in front of him, tapping them together nervously, “I was hoping that maybe you… could do them for me?” 

“Ummm… no,” Copia replied flatly.

“No?!” Terzo was indignant. “What do you mean ‘no?’ I am your Papa. You are my Cardinale . You are here to support and assist me!”

“When you were Secondo’s Cardinale , did you do his monthly expense reports for him?” Copia asked.

“Of course not!”

Copia shrugged. “Okay, so… that proves my point, si ?”

“That was different,” Terzo insisted. “Secondo was - is - a control freak. Very bad at delegating. Plus we were nowhere near as busy then. Our congregation has tripled in size since then. I am just pulled in so many directions,” he waved his hands back and forth, “as you surely know.”

“Then perhaps you should hire an assistant?” Copia suggested.

Terzo scowled like a sullen teenager. “Imperator won’t let me have one. She says I can’t be trusted not to keep my hands off them.”

“She’s not wrong,” Copia said with a pointed look.

“Copia, please. I am not too proud to beg. Please! I will make it worth your while.”

Copia leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “Will you, now? What are you offering in return?” It was obvious to him that Terzo had just expected him to say yes to his request. He didn’t want to give in, but was willing to see what he might get out of this if he did.

“I’ll… ummm,” Terzo stalled. “Oh! I can help you with your bella signora strega ! I will help you woo her, win her. She will be on her knees for you in no time.”

An image flitted into Copia’s mind, fleeting, ethereal. Isabella, on her knees before him, pleasuring him. Sinful and submissive. It was the dream he’d had…  But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. 

He cleared his throat, composed himself. “What makes you think I can’t handle that myself?” Copia scoffed, quite offended. “That’s your best offer? Insulting me?”

“No! No no no no, I do not mean to offend, Cardinale ! Truly. Of course you can win this lady, of course! I just meant that… well…” Terzo sighed deeply, his dignity gone. “Shit. Alright, look. You are smarter than me. Better than I am at administrative things. I freely admit this. I rely on you so much - we all do. You are indispensable here. And Imperator - she scares the fuck out of me. Do you know about these visions she has? I don’t want her on my bad side. She will curse me, I know it. Please, Cardinale, il mio fratellino . Help me.”

Copia actually felt a pang of guilt refusing him. He sat silent, regarding him for a moment. “All right,” he said, “I will help you. That does not mean I will do it for you. We will do it together. And I’ll help you set up a system so this doesn’t happen again. Capisci ?”

Terzo furrowed his brow, groaning: “Uggggh…”

“That’s the deal,” Copia said, “Take it or leave it.”

“ Inferno del cazzo . Fine,” Terzo grumbled.

“Good,” Copia nodded, “We’d best get started.”

They were about to stand when there was an urgent knock on the office door.

“Yes?” Copia called out. “What now?”

The door opened and Aether entered. “Hey boss… oh! Hello, Papa,” he greeted. “Umm, Cardinal, something happened in town today that I think you’ll wanna know about. Cirrus and Dew were at the coffee shop, and…”

“What?!” There was panic in Terzo’s voice.

“Why was he at the coffee shop?” Copia asked. “He knows he’s not supposed to have caffeine. Don’t tell me he…”

The sharp sound of glass shattering echoed through the long corridor. Terzo and Copia both flew to their feet, Aether rushing back out into the hallway. A Ghoul zipped full-speed past Copia’s door in the opposite direction of the commotion, with Secondo’s voice booming after him: “DEWDROP GHOUL! What did you do? Get the FUCK back here!”

“Dewdrop! No… oh no!” Sister Imperator was distraught. “The stained glass!!” 

“Oh shit…” Aether muttered, hurrying off down the hall after Dew.

Terzo and Copia made their way to the end of the hallway, where a crowd of concerned Siblings gathered around Sister Imperator, inspecting the damage to the window and the shards of brightly colored glass strewn across the floor. Siblings were whispering amongst themselves: “How did he get up there?” “He was literally climbing the walls!” “It was crazy…” 

Secondo leaned against the doorframe to his office, his arms crossed over his chest, glowering at Imperator. “‘Summon more Ghouls’, she said,” he sneered under his breath, “‘They’ll be so helpful,’ she said.”

⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧⛧

“Food’s here!” Ari announced as he entered the shop. He carried a large paper bag in one hand containing take-out from their favorite Italian restaurant in town, Brigantino’s - a late afternoon meal of fresh minestrone soup, salad, and just-out-of-the-oven bread. He brought the food into the back office where Izzy had already cleared off a section of the desk so they could eat, and began unpacking the neat take-out containers.

“Oooh, yum!” Izzy was excited to dig in. She was starving. “Thank you so much, Ari. You didn’t have to do this, you know.”

“I know, but I feel bad about what happened to you this morning, and I wanted to make it up to you. Plus, we’re officially in soup season now.”

“I’ll take soup over pumpkin spice any day,” she giggled.

Ari took out his phone and propped it against a stack of books on Izzy’s desk. “Wanna watch something while we eat?”

“Sure! But hang on… I’ve got my iPad in my bag. That’ll be better.” She got up and went to the nearby coat hook where her satchel was hanging, pulling out the tablet and handing it to Ari to set up.

He flipped open the tablet’s cover and the screen automatically lit up. It was still open on the drawing program Izzy had been using that morning, on the sketch of her skull-faced dream man.

Ari’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh-ho, what’s this? Who is Papa?” he asked.

The day had been such a messy blur of activity that it took her a moment to register what he was asking. “Huh?” He turned the screen around to show her and she gasped loudly, the heated flush of embarrassment burning across her cheeks. “Oh! Uh… nothing. It’s nothing… nobody, I mean…” She tried to grab the tablet out of Ari’s hands but he pulled it away and out of her reach.

“Nobody, hmm?” He gave her a skeptical, sideways glance before turning his attention back to the sketch, looking at it with an expert’s eye. “You haven’t drawn anything for a long time. I didn’t know you were getting back into that. Don’t be embarrassed - it’s good!” 

She realized he had no idea that it wasn’t the quality of the drawing upsetting her. Using that to her advantage, she played it off: “Yeah, I’m out of practice. It’s just a doodle, a face I saw in my dream last night. I felt like sketching it this morning.” She managed to tug the iPad out of his hand while he was still examining it. 

“Any reason why his eyes look like Copia’s?” he asked cheekily before slurping up a spoonful of soup.

Shit… do I tell him?

The jingle of the front door bell intervened before she could stammer out a response. A young man dressed all in black had entered the shop carrying a large box in his arms. Izzy took the opportunity to escape from Ari’s question, getting up from her desk and hurrying out to the shop floor to greet him.

“Hello! Welcome, how can I help you?” she asked.

“Uh, hi,” he said shyly, “I have something here for Isabelle?”

“That’s me!”

“Oh okay cool, here you go!” He handed the box over to her and left as quickly as he came.

She placed the box down on the counter, suspicious. A nondescript person delivering an awkwardly shaped box to her shop the same day she had publicly gotten into it with one of the town’s most well known - and vindictive and petty - residents. The anxiety-controlled part of her brain was terrified to open it. 

Ari appeared in the doorway, munching on a piece of bread. “What is it?” he asked.

Izzy shrugged. “I dunno.”

“Are you going to open it?”

She shook her head. “I’m scared. What if it’s from Diane Francis? What if she sent me a dead animal or something?”

“Only one way to find out,” Ari said, approaching the box and slowly lifting the top off of it. He peered inside, his features tense for a moment before relief washed over his face and he smiled. “Definitely not a dead animal,” he assured her, motioning for her to come look.

Izzy peeked inside and gasped. In the box was a bouquet of flowers. Beautiful flowers, not at all your typical grocery store arrangement. Delicate pink carnations, black dahlias, and crimson amaranthus surrounded by emerald green foliage. There was a small envelope tucked in between the stems. 

“Who’s it from? Who’s it from?” Ari asked excitedly.

She opened the envelope and within found a small card that simply read: ‘Hope this brightens your day!’ No name or signature. Behind it was a $50 gift card for the coffee shop. She handed both over to him. “It doesn’t say.”

“Obviously somebody who knows what happened today, though,” he observed, “Coffee shop employee? Maybe the owner? Or just someone who was there and felt sorry for you…” He turned the cards over and inspected the envelope, just to make sure they weren’t missing something.

“There were dozens of people there this morning. Could have been any of them… but why wouldn’t they sign it?” 

“They don’t want you to know, I guess. A secret admirer?” Ari wiggled his eyebrows. “Maybe Jim the insurance guy? I saw you walking back with him.”

“I highly doubt he would do this,” Izzy mumbled.

“Why? Didn’t you guys used to date?”

“Yeah, for about three months back in high school. Does that even count as ‘dating?’”

Ari laughed as he walked back into the office. “If it does, then by that criteria you dated half of the boys in school.”

“And that would mean you dated the other half,” she shot back, grinning. She stood there for a moment, admiring the gorgeous flowers, savoring their rich, heady fragrance. She brushed her fingers along the petals of one of the carnations. There was a familiar energy there that made her tingle in all the right ways. At that moment, she knew exactly who sent these. The silver-masked couple must have gone back to the Abbey and told them what happened. 

The flowers were from Copia.

(bonus moodboard for this chapter)

[nerd-artist]

tag game (Horizon)

Thanks @singingkestrel for tagging me! This was fun!

1. ride or die ship (your otp):

Ereloy. When I first played HZD and Erend made his first appearance I didn't like him a bit because I prejudge him as the alpha male stereotype, but then the writers began to unwrap his layers, revealing the cinnamon bun inside him and I ended the game by being in love with that big Oseram and his mohawk. I shipped them then, when they had the two minutes conversation, but my obsession started with The Daunt reunion in HFW when he couldn’t avoid being upset because she left without saying goodbye, and then Aloy closing his wounds by defeating Asera in First Forge by his side, and Singularity with all those flirty lines and the side hug. I’ve always thought they were going to be end game (and I still hope we can choose that in H3). They care for each other so much, I can see them living happily together and I need to witness it.

2. most annoying ship: Ship and let ship. We’re all here to enjoy so if your ship makes you happy, there’s nothing wrong with that (unless they are sisters, that's it, that’s the annoying one for me).

3. second favourite ship: the second ship involving Aloy that makes more sense to me is Hawk and Thrush, and also involving the Sunhawk there is Kotalanah that has a special place in my heart (what can I say, they have chemistry).

4. favourite platonic relationship: I love the friendship between Erend and Varl there was so much complicity between them, makes me so sad that we only could enjoy it for a short time and now I hope we can see Erend having a similar relationship with Kotallo. Also Aloy and Zo, I need to see that friendship evolve even more in the next game, Aloy is going to need her wise advice.

5. underrated ship: This one is underrated mostly because it only exists in my head: GAIA/Gildun. Just imagine them having daily long-distance calls and then Gildun going to the base to meet her. The calculations GAIA is making at that moment let her know she is experiencing love and we can see her smile for the first time…

6. overrated ship: I don't know, I don't think there is one.

7. one thing i would change in canon: A lot of us agree, Varl’s death was unnecessary, Aloy had already lost Rost, she didn't need to lose a friend too to know how important people can be for her. Also, the way they wrote some characters in HFW and some plots in BS. But what I think is the big mistake is to have wasted the opportunity to make Aloy and Beta bond in Burning Shores, she could have been helping Aloy a lot more from the distance, giving us some cute sisterly moments. I hope they fix this in the next game.

8. something canon did right: A lot of things! That’s why I love these games! HZD is almost perfect, that game made me go through a roller coaster of feelings and I’ll never forget that.

Aloy’s personality evolution. You can clearly see the difference between HZD Aloy and herself at the end of HFW but it’s not forced, she learned through the way to get there.

The lack of prejudices. Obviously there are conflicts between tribes, mostly because of the different religions, but the Horizon world is showing us how humanity would be without racism and without homophobia, Guerrilla is doing a great job there.

9. a thing i'm proud of creating for the fandom PLEASE BRAG ABOUT YOURSELF I WANT TO SEE/READ YOUR ART: I am very proud to be part of the Focus On The Heart team, a visual novel fan game. It is a huge project that I believe a lot of Horizon fans are going to enjoy when it’s done.

Also I’m proud of my Horizon’s characters as Greek Gods series of fanarts. I got distracted by other illustrations I needed to draw, but I plan to keep on doing them at some point.

10. a character who is perfect to me (wouldn't change a thing): Gildun! He is a light in the darkness, but I want to talk about Zo because she is also perfect and she is very underrated. She is fierce but she is also lovely. She joined Aloy although that meant to deny all her beliefs. She confronted the Utaru chorus in the past and she doesn't hesitate to do the same when it’s needed. We meet a very interesting character and I hope that the fact she is pregnant doesn't mean she is not going to have an important role in the next game because that would send a very wrong message.

11. the character I relate to the most and why: I never thought about this until now, but I guess I can relate to Beta, all the traumas of her past aside and I’m way more social than she is but... I work remotely and my hobbies are almost the same as my job so I’m always indoors in front of a screen, like she is (using her focus constantly). She is also afraid of a lot of things, which is essentially my everyday mood. I can relate to Erend sometimes because I tend to make fun of myself to hide my insecurities.

12. character(-s) i hate the most and why: AMADIS, but also, The Quen as a tribe (not talking about individual characters here), they have the best outfits and they are sailors, and that is great… it is their society which is very disgusting, nothing good could come if it’s inspired by a start-up structure. I also don't like Carja. Anything imperialist makes me wanna puke.

13. something i've learned from the fandom: I’ve learned what to be in a fandom means, this is the first time in my (long) life that I join one, I’ve been screaming about other games and series before but mostly to myself and to friends that didn't fully understand me, to be able to talk freely about blorbos (a word I didn't knew existed until last year) with the lovely people I’ve met it’s truly a relieve. Also I think (and I hope🙏) being in this fandom and this obsession is helping me improve my English.

14. three tags i seek out on ao3: friends to lovers, angst with a happy ending, it’s not unrequited they’re just dumbasses (and some others I don't want everyone to know 😉).

15. a song i strongly associate with my otp/favourite character: I come with knives by IAMX, I can see Aloy singing it to herself to stop her from having meaningful relationships.

tagging: You don't need to answer if you don't want to (sorry if you have already been tagged) and everyone is welcome to do it although you haven't been tagged @sorbetowl @meg-noel-art @chloefraazers @kittleskittle @hartlesshart @emtazer @xxxhellfireravenxxx @bookmancer-legendarium @boobaloof (edit because I wanted to tag @artekai too and I forgot 🥲)