#but that would make sense if it was 1 drawing. i have found seven.

[aereasrage]

The Favorite pt. 3

summary: Most curiously, princess reader’s children seem to bear a striking resemblance to a certain prince who is not her husband…

cw: codependent mother-daughter relationship yk the drill, pregnancy, childbirth, religion, gaslighting, incest, masturbation, blasphemy, unprotected sex (i feel like that might be redundant because is there any other way to fuck in medieval times?), jace and reader being westerosi romeo and juliet

notes: honestly, the ages in hotd are so confusing that most of the charts/breakdowns i’ve seen make very little sense so for the purpose of this fic, i’ve just decided to age everyone up a lil so jace is intended to be around 19-20 years old as is reader. also for jace x reader purposes, rhaenyra never left for dragonstone, though her and daemon still married and had their children.

part 1 | part 2

word count: 4.1k

Each time you were pregnant, Alicent found herself so filled with worry that she went to the sept daily to pray. She spent much of her time at your side, sharply commanding the servants to care for you in a way which would meet her meticulous qualifications. She wore her hair braided up simply, her clothing free of embellishment save for her golden seven pointed star; appealing to the Mother in humility, not to take her daughter away from her.

You were with child again, your third. Your marriage to Aegon had indeed been fruitful, for you were blessed with two sons, Aemon and Baelon. Both born healthy and squalling with...dark brown hair. But though Alicent had been briefly taken aback by how your sons looked, she quickly regained her composure. She would not dare suspect you of being anything but loyal to Aegon. She rationalized any unsavory possibilities away, for there was no reality she could fathom in which you would be unfaithful to Aegon, no reality in which you would stray from your mother's guidance so much. She had even watched you complete your duty with resignation and obedience, how could she ever see her sweet daughter as being a whore?

Alicent had been at your side throughout your labors, too anxious to be anywhere else. When she had seen you hold your firstborn son in your arms, teary eyed and thanking the Mother, she knew could never think so poorly of you. Your face, she was certain, was the very image of the Mother.

Rhaenyra, however, was not convinced. The way her eldest son looked at you, seemingly gripped in a trance when you were near, the way his hands twitched slightly whenever you were within grasp coupled with your children being born looking exactly as her three brown haired boys did...it was quite funny to her, honestly. So much grief over her sons and now with you having what were obviously her grandchildren, not a single word. She liked you well enough and obviously she had no intentions of putting her own grandsons in danger but she simply wasn't going to let the situation rest without pointing out the hypocrisy.

At the end of a small council meeting, the lords filed out of the room but Rhaenyra stayed behind, her gaze fixed on Alicent. As the room emptied, Alicent begrudgingly stayed behind as well, having a vague sense of what would come next.

"I wished to congratulate you on becoming a grandmother once more," Rhaenyra started. "Though I do wonder if this will be the time my sweet sister bears a child who resembles her husband."

Alicent drew a sharp breath, steeling herself. Immediate anger would only draw further insult. "What you insinuate is filth."

Rhaenyra could only laugh at how deeply Alicent's delusion went. "Come now, Alicent. Even a lackwit could answer the question of your grandsons' parentage. I seem to remember your mind being sharp enough to make suppositions on the father of my sons. Have you not opened yourself up to this?"

"My daughter is a good wife. She is not so slattern to find herself in bed with your...son while being married to mine." Alicent restrained herself from saying what she truly wished. She would not stoop so low and open herself and her daughter to attack.

"Really, Alicent, how long do you think you can keep this up? Who do you believe you're fooling?"

"Their grandsire's hair was dark brown in his youth, my daughter's hair is an auburn, a reddish brown just as mine is," Alicent stated indignantly and all Rhaenyra could do was stare blankly back at her. This couldn't possibly be the woman so fixated on the truth of her sons’ paternity, couldn't possibly be the great devout of the seven, the woman devoted to the virtues of duty and honor and sacrifice. She wasn't sure why it surprised her so much, it wasn't as if she didn't know those spiteful fanatics were all hypocrites. But somehow, given the way Alicent was with her children, she believed that she'd at least have shame enough to try and cover it up, have the children fostered away from King's Landing, stripped of their names, forgotten. Instead, Alicent was standing more firmly on her daughter's virtue and the parentage of her grandchildren than even Rhaenyra had for her boys. Even Rhaenyra did not fool herself as Alicent did.

She had originally planned to offer a marriage again, thinking that Alicent would be tempted to concede this time but seeing that look in her eyes made her second guess. Alicent was truly too madly in love with her youngest daughter to acknowledge what was right before her. She would never agree to annul the marriage between her and Aegon, she'd never sacrifice her daughter's virtue in the eyes of others even if it would spare all of them the grief of perpetually silencing the tongues that would wag at the sight of Aegon's brown haired sons. She believed in her daughter’s absolute perfection and she’d hear nothing that contradicted it, even if it was meant to help her. Rhaenyra left the room, there was clearly nothing more to say if this was how Alicent insisted on handling things.

Your mother believed you to be immaculate. Your siblings followed suit. If Aegon himself had any doubts as to your loyalty, he did not feel them worth speaking. You got the feeling all that mattered to him was keeping your affection. When he entered your chambers for the first time since you had gone into labor, as you held Aemon, rocking him gently to sleep; Aegon envied the child who, after taking over your body for so many moons, was taking his place in your arms until you commented on how like him the babe was. You had been thinking of him as you looked down at your son, it occurred to Aegon that you’d always think of him when you saw your son. Although the head of dark brown hair sent a wave of confusion through him, he believed in your love of him more than he believed his eyes. How could you be untrue to him? You spent most of your time outside of him in the sept or with your mother or sister, helping mind her children. Aemon and Baelon were his sons, two little creatures who served as symbols of your lasting love of him. How could they not be his with the affection you gave to them? With how lovingly you stroked their heads and dubbed them “as willful as their father”?

To everyone, you were the image of an exemplary wife, daughter and princess. You went to the sept at night before you went to bed, to pray to the mother, to thank her for the health of your children. You cared for your children until the late hours of the night. Unlike your parents and siblings, you slept in the same chambers as your sullen, drunkard husband most of the time and brought him cheer as well as incentive to behave himself at least somewhat. You obeyed your mother, brought comfort to your sister and served the realm with a stiff upper lip.

But while there was truth to your reputation, there was also truth to Rhaenyra’s interpretation of you. Your mother may have thought you to be “not so slattern as Rhaenyra,” but the truth was that you were exactly as slattern as her. When you visited the sept at night, with your ladies waiting outside the door, as you “wished to feel the presence of the Mother unfettered,” you were actually meeting Jace who compelled you there each night.

That night, Jace parted himself from the shadows of the sept as he watched you trail in. “How lovely you look, you almost seem pure in the light of the sept,” he grinned. “Don’t tease, my prince,” you huff. Jace watched you cross the room to meet him, his eyes fixed on you steadfastly. He’d said it in jest, but it was true, you looked the very image of innocence, it was not a wonder you were able to have his children without consequence. His hands went to your small bump as you closed the distance between the two of you. Another of his children.

A surge of jealousy went through him each time he remembered his children were being called sons of Aegon. It filled him with the urge to stake a claim to you. He would have you for his wife someday, he would have his children at hand, his heirs. But not tonight. Tonight, all that he could have was your body and in reparation, he fully intended to take his fill.

He brought you to your knees before the altar, lighting a candle before hiking up your dress behind you. “You must have told your mother you’ve come here to pray. We mustn’t disappoint her,” he murmured as his hand reached into your smallclothes. “I shall lead you in your prayers, aunt. We both have much to repent for.”

He was unsurprised to find you wet but it still brought about a low groan of satisfaction. Evidence between his fingers of his hold on you. You could feel him stiff against your back. “Start with the Mother, she’s blessed you most, hasn’t she?” His voice, slightly breathy with ill concealed arousal, sent a thrill straight down to your cunt which squeezed around nothing as Jace continued to gently stroke your clit. “Gentle mother…comfort of all our ills…” you began, taking a shuddering breath as you tried to concentrate on humoring Jace.

He tsked. “You’ve become so slack in your orisons, what would your mother say?” his touch becoming slightly firmer, only just barely quicker, more desperate. “Gentle mother, comfort of all our ills, thank you for our children. Protect them in your arms, despite our hubris and forgive us our lusts. Grant us your mercy.”

You swallowed a desperate cry and continued. “Father above, may you…” your thighs quivered, you were fighting the urge to simply lean back into Jace. “May you judge us justly, give our family the strength to find justice for those who would harm us.”

Jace kissed your temple, a soft gesture that felt almost befitting of such a place. “That is a lovely wish, it becomes you, aunt. Now what shall you beg of the Warrior?” His hips had started to brush against your back gently in rhythm, seeking to quell his already drooling cock straining against the confines of his breeches.

“Brave Warrior, should ever our realm come to war again, may our men be loyal and brave enough to protect us…” you slurred out quickly, the entirety of your focus narrowed down to Jace’s fingers which pulled back every time you pushed your hips forward seeking relief. The worst part was that he was so tightly pressed to you that any movement you made drew a pleasured sound from him, even as you struggled for more of his touch. “Bring our realm to victory…Jace, please.”

He laughed behind you, seeming to have genuine fun teasing you. “We’re not done.” He slid two fingers inside easily, taking a painfully long time to work up to a speed that made you squirm. An unintended moan broke free and Jace paused his ministrations, tugging your hair gently so that you'd turn to meet his gaze. "If you cannot even be quiet in a place of worship, I'll stop." There was a flicker of humor in his eyes but his face was a mask of seriousness.

You nodded obediently, silently cursing him for not being too horny to keep up this strict septon act. You leaned forward for a kiss but Jace evaded you, cupping your cheek in his free hand. "You have more prayers to recite, sweet aunt."

You groaned softly. "I pray for the protection of the maid, should my child be a princess...I pray that you would protect her innocence, keep her safe. I beg forgiveness for my own sins against your domain...for....for I have allowed myself to be seduced."

"And the Crone?" Jace intoned, softly amused at the state he was working you into.

"From the Crone...I beg for guidance, I plead her wisdom to help me overcome temptation." That one made Jace grin, you could hear it in his voice.

"You may beg for her wisdom but I believe you've already made up your mind." This time he let you roll your hips forward into his hand, matching the pace of his fingers as you sought attention for your neglected clit. He even brought your face back to his for a long kiss.

Suddenly, he pulled your small clothes off entirely, shredding them to rags. You braced yourself on the altar, your fingers sticking in the warm, dripping wax of the melting candles. Jace spread your legs with his knees. When he saw the way you were wet down to the inside of your thighs, he could only moan. "Gods," he murmured, it was a shame he didn't have the time to eat your cunt out properly and fuck you. His cock jolted slightly in his pants as he spread you out to admire you fully.

"Don't...." you whimpered, hurting for his cock inside you at last.

"Don't what? Don't admire what a mess you've made, aunt? Don't tell you that your cunt is begging me to use it again?" Jace laughed.

You screwed your eyes shut, bowing your head as you knelt, waiting for him, utterly defeated. In a place where the gods paid thrice as much attention, you were to bear witness to your own moral turpitude. Jace always loved that moment, when your frantic desire and guilt for the values your mother instilled converged; when your heart ached at the depravity of your own actions but you still knew that desire would win, as it always did and always would. You would almost try to hide from your own wanting, surely your mother had also taught you it was unseemly for a woman to have such hungers but that, obviously, did not draw them back from whence they came. In your heart of hearts, you knew you were born hungry and wanting, Jace was the only one who would allow you all that you could devour.

Such a beautiful sight. It was only then that he slid his cock inside, a surprised cry leaving your pretty mouth when he was only half inside. He paused just as you clapped a hand over your mouth, head still bowed in silent prayer that he should not decide to stop. Mercifully, he didn't. Couldn't, rather. He was sure it would have killed him to stop. He began to push deep into you, meeting slight resistance from the tight space despite how many times you'd taken it. A pleasant sting came about as he stretched you out slowly. As he entered you fully, it came to mind to rub your clit as it throbbed for attention but you simply couldn't. You were stalled, miring in the overwhelming sensitivity of that moment.

Every detail, every curve, vein and divot of his cock was gliding right over the tender spot inside that made you want to weep. You were too sensitive and pent up for so long, it happened every time, you got too close to the edge too quickly. Your breaths came quick and shallow, your brain going to madness. It took so few strokes for you to come undone that Jace himself was not even at the edge yet. You muffled your cries in your hand, your cunt all but fluttering around Jace's cock. A few stray tears ran down your face as Jace gently forced your head up again so that he could admire your expression. "Too fucking easy," he said but so softly it did not even sound mean.

You tentatively removed your trembling hand from your mouth, putting more faith in your voice than you ought have. "Please, more," you begged, your voice a cracked whisper. You were no longer pretending, here of all places with him of all people, there was no longer any need to be the vision of purity in flesh.

"Utterly consumed and still begging for me...that is how I like you, aunt." Jace's hands found your hips, his own snapping forward to thrust into you deeper, quicker. Thankfully, the silk of your gown prevented your skin from rubbing raw on the stone altar but you'd had to abandon your grip on the slick stone, instead relying on the floor to hold you up. Jace let out quiet, restrained moans at the feel of you. He would surely not be able to keep his pace and last much longer, but it did not seem to matter for your body was so alight with stimulation that you were a hair's breadth from cumming anyway. When you'd tried to touch your own clit again, even your own gentle touch, you'd flinched and trembled from overstimulation.

Jace kept a brutal pace, panting like a beast in heat. You came, a painful orgasm racking your body. The warm, wet squeeze of your pleasure, of your cunt trying to draw him deeper was eliciting the most deliciously ill concealed moans from him. He pumped in and out of your hole, his breaths stuttering. Your hand was still over your mouth to contain the whorish moans that would serenade the entire keep if allowed. Just as you thought you'd collaspe in a heap onto the ground, Jace finally came, pumping cum deeply into you in slow pulses. You could feel his body twitch where your bare skin met. Cum continued to flow for several more seconds, your dazed mind was both exhausted and impressed.

When he finally finished, he lingered for a moment inside you. He wished to have you for the whole night, to have you for every night. To steal you away from standing at the side of green cloth and sullen faces; to put you in the true colors of your house as his queen. He knew, like Rhaenyra knew that your mother would never agree to an annulment and it was her who ruled you. It was only when Aegon was sent to the seven hells that he could steal you away and wed you. It was only then he could speak the truth of his children without fear.

That wasn't tonight. Perhaps it would not even be after the birth of your third child but Jace was something your brothers and your mother were not. Patient. He would play the game, he would bide his time, he would plot and plot and plot. He could be as his mother and pretend.

When you parted from him, you returned to your chambers, finding a drunken and weepy Aegon. You had so wanted to have a bath and a nice sleep but it seemed you'd have to soothe your elder brother instead. You sat on the bed, not bothering to even ask what was wrong with him this time, it was always something or another and none of it really mattered by morning. You brought his head into your lap, though you smelled distinctly of sex, your brother must have believed it came from him for he accepted your comfort without question. You stroked his hair and let him drone about Aemond’s jabs as Jace’s cum seeped out of you, wetting the inner lining of your dress.

You and Aegon had only slept together a handful of times, not that he knew as much. After the first couple of times, you came to know how to prepare yourself for the gods only knew that he wouldn’t. Aegon’s desire for you was sporadic in your first years of marriage, you didn’t know when he’d appear in your chambers seeking your body. So, you’d lay back in your bed, touching yourself to the thought of your pretty nephew. Making yourself wet, relaxed and ready so that things would go along without irritation should he appear. Would that your mother had wed you to Jacaerys, you would have done your duty with gladness and ease but you knew how your mother was and what she expected. You couldn’t fault her so much for it, her intentions were only to keep you with her and within her protection. Thankfully, though as Aegon grew, he became more and more of a drunkard, only occasionally being able to even make it to your chambers at night and being satiated into sleep with only a bit of appeasement. He was never the wiser about whether he had or had not bedded you.

It hardly mattered. He only wished for reassurance that you still loved him and thought best of him and in your arms, he believed he’d found it. His limp, weepy affection was suffocating but you couldn’t bring yourself to leave your brother without comfort when he was upset, unfortunately. In the morning, you were glad to untangle yourself from his sweaty body to bathe and dress for the day. Your maids eyed the light bruises at your hips sympathetically, believing they came from your husband, still snoring in bed. You paid them no mind, though it made you feel a bit guilty, it was all the better for everyone to see you as a suffering and dutiful bride. Better for them to think Aegon bedded you, demanded much of you even as you were with child. A princess quietly suffering was as saint-like as a woman could be in the eyes of lords. Let it be told that you did your duty. Such was the only way you’d ever have anyone fight for you and your children.

Months later — months of secret meetings and muttered prayers later, you went to your birthing bed with your mother at your side. She was trying to soothe you but the sheer terror in her eyes didn’t match her calm words. Still, you were glad to have her. Even if you told Jace you belonged to him and even though the lords of the realm said you belonged to Aegon, you truly belonged to your mother who cared for you in all things. Whose love of you would drive her to madness should you perish in childbirth. It was a comfort that preceded your capacity for romantic love, it was something formed in the womb, when hers was the only voice in the world.

This birth was your longest yet, stretching from starless morning sky to the middle of the next day when the sun hung high in the sky. Alicent’s fervent prayers as she held your hand were only broken by the birth of your child, who was smaller than your others but dubbed a healthy girl by the maesters. It didn’t seem as though Alicent truly cared much about that, she was simply relieved you had survived the undertaking. The instant the maester took the babe to examine for any imperfections, she leaned down at your bedside and held you tightly. “Oh, my sweet girl. You’ve done so well.”

When the maester handed the softly fussing child back to you, you noticed a thick tuft of silver hair in her head of otherwise dark hairs. You noticed it captured Alicent’s eyes too. She smiled, silently pleased, believing that this would end all allusions to bastardy. If there had been any doubt in her heart that she was able to acknowledge, it was all soothed at the sight of her hair. The babe cooed softly, lying at your breast, stealing your heart away completely. You loved your boys but with a mother like yours, how could you be anything but enamored with a daughter of your own?

“What will you name her?” Alicent asked, watching you hold her granddaughter proudly, pushing your sweaty hair out of your face.

“I shall name her Viserra, I think.”

“That’s lovely.” Alicent smiled, coasting on the sheer relief of your survival. You could have told her you wish to name the child Lickspittle and she would only nod blissfully. “You’ve done so very well.” She seemed near tears.

“Oh, mother, don’t cry.”

She wiped at the tears steadily falling from her big brown eyes. “I cannot help it. I wish to protect you from all things and bearing your child is solely in the hands of the gods but my girl is so strong. I am truly proud, truly grateful.” She knew what it was to marry and to stand alone even in marriage. You wore it well, better than even she had. She never cursed Viserys for it only made him harder to live with if she did but in your birth and his neglect of you, she bore a resentment deep as the sea and long as the red waste. If he was to favor one of his daughters, should it not be you who was never once a thorn in his side? Who honored him even as he slowly forgot your name? If a daughter could be a worthy heir in her eyes, it was you who should have been chosen. That thought became another bitter seed of resentment piled onto the many she’d already buried. She could only hold you.

There was truth to the notion that she feared for all of her children but truly, it was mainly you she feared for. The only loss she could not recover from. She could never have tolerated your marriage to one of Rhaenyra’s bastard boys, the anxiety alone would send her to her death. Still, there were other dangers that awaited young girls in the keep, even princesses…even queens. She wished to shield you from all of them but to that end, she would need to continue building allegiance. Never again should she be delicate, never again supplicating to the wrong person. Her daughter would be queen with hundreds at her side, in service of her honor when the time came, even if it came to bloodshed.

[skylinx2o]

Admittedly, I've been feeling terrible lately. I didn't even finish my weekly drawing and broke my now months long streak. I thought I would be able to do it, but my emotions weighted me down too much. I might go back to drawing one art every two weeks.

Anyway, I feel like I should do more fun things. I mean, drawing is fun, and I love creating stories for my OCs, but I do have a lot of other interests. And tho I'm sticking to talking about LEGO today, I want to talk more and get out of my shell. And maybe give you more insight into me as a person.

So today I'm going to talk about my favourite LEGO themes and why I love the series, plus how I personally got i to all of them. It's not a normal review whatsoever, just an excuse to ramble about my interests freely. Just remember this is my experience and my feelings.

(And it's not at all like I'm making this post because I need all of this to prepare for a speaking class and the only way to motivate myself is by making a post about it o _o Come on, I'm killing two birds with one stone here!)

Okay, so, my all-time favourite themes are (in chronological order to when I found them):

1. Bionicle

Honourable mention: Hero Factory

2. Ninjago

3. Legends of Chima

4. Monkie Kid

5. Dreamzzz

1. So. Bionicle. I have a weird history with Bionicle. My dad's friends used to get movies for us, and one day it just happened that my dad's friends gave us a pen drive with Bionicle: Legend Reborn on it. I think I would be around... Seven or eight when I watched it I've seen fans say that it was a pretty weak film, but I didn't know Bionicle back then, and I really enjoyed it! That movie was a soft reboot of the series, and as someone who started their Bionicle obsession with that movie, in my opinion it worked really well as a standalone supposed to capture new audiences. I really loved the sense of mystery that was probably lost on new fans. It wasn't exactly explained what or who Mata Nui was, besides him being a warrior who lost his people. And the ending... I really thought there would be a sequel to it, and was really intrigued by whom the great beings were, and what happened to the world, why Mata Nui knew them, what the giant ahh robots were supposed to do.

Of course, when a few years later in middle school I looked for the sequel, I didn't find it. And to be honest, the ending was disappointing to me. However, there was a whole other storyline in Bionicle to catch up on! And so one faithful summer was spent reading all the comics I could find, reading wiki pages one after another, playing Mata Nui online game obsessively, refusing to use a walkthrough. Believe me when I say I was obsessed!

And then out of nowhere in 2015 g2 came out, and I was stoked since I missed out on practically the whole g1 as it was being made. (I mean, it's understandable, I was born the same year the first Bionicle movie came out.) I mean, can you blame me for being excited? A dead franchise that I just started becoming a devoted fan of is suddenly revived from the grave. I felt like the luckiest person on earth that day. Honestly, g2 was a lot simpler than g1, but I really like it, even if most people said it sucked. Sure, it wasn't exactly like g1, and even I cringed a few times when watching the g2 show, but for what it was, it was cool in my eyes, and loved finding all the g1 references. And there were quite a few of them! The story of g2 was simpler, but for little kids I think it would've been fine. But alas, LEGO did a crap job promoting it, and it died early, with an ending that was so bad even I can't defend it. It just didn't make sense, and it was rushed as hell. But I still wished it would've continued.

I love both generations for different things, and I'm sad I didn't get any g2 sets when they were out (Lewa was my favourite one). But years later I managed to get a promotional anniversary set of Tahu and Takua, and you wouldn't believe my happiness when I was building it. It's strange being a relatively new fan compared to others I see online, but I still remember seeing Bionicle commercials, and even have a very vague memory of seeing a Phantoka commercial on our ancient TV. I mean come on, I was so into it, I even learned the Matoran alphabet! My mom had to listen to my countless rambling, and if I ask her about Bionicle today, she still remembers some answers, that's how much into it I was. Hell, this blog started as a Bionicle blog before I moved fully to Monkie Kid content.

Okay, this Bionicle ramble is getting a tad long, so I'll wrap this up. Would I recommend Bionicle to anyone? Well... Not really, unless you like long lore researching adventures. The story is so convoluted, with many sides stories, and it went on for so many years, that despite my obsession I still probably missed like, 40% of the lore. G1 at least, wouldn't vibe with casual audience probably. G2 might be easier on the brain, despite it having some deeper lore too. Plus, there's the cultural appropriation issue, that I'm not qualified to talk about, but others already made pages long blogs and articles about. Plus the weird gender situation. But, it's still a good story in my eyes, despite its many faults. But that's just me, and if you didn't catch on yet, I'm already deep in this hole and there's no getting out of here now.

Honourable mention: This brings us to Hero Factory. I watched the first few episodes at around the same time as the first Bionicle movie. Came from the same source as before. I think it deserves a mention, because I still loved it, and did some lore digging, but I wasn't as obsessed with it as the other positions on the list. I didn't like the later stuff as much, tho some concepts were really cool too. But the story of the first episodes was really well done, and worked great as a movie. The fights were tense, and when watching it for the first time, I couldn't really know if the characters would be okay. Honestly, it got me really excited and invested. A factory of heroes is a unique concept, and I always found it intriguing how they made the robot society work. But, I don't think it needed more time than it needed, unlike Bionicle, where I didn't like the ending of either generation. I think it wrapped things up quite well with the first episodes, and the later ones just feel like cool side stories, and it works in my opinion.

This one I would definitely recommend, because I feel like it's underrated, and it's not long. Like I said, the version I got was just a one movie like compilation. I checked and there's just 11 episodes. It would probably take 1–2 hours to watch it, not counting the later movies and all.

2. Next one is Ninjago! I started watching it almost from the start. I must have been around ten or so... The episodes aired on TV, so I had easy access to it! I almost never missed an episode, and watched even the reruns. And believe me, I was hypnotised when watching it. Tho, starting from rebooted I watched the episodes online, first in my native language, then in English since I started getting too impatient to wait. This was my first obsession. For the longest time, when people asked me what I wanted to do, I said I wanted to be a ninja. One of my oldest OCs is Mika, and she grew up with me. Whenever a new season was to come, I would design a new suit for her. I have a whole dedicated blog to her, I wonder if you all can find it lol. Anyway, for a kid's show, the first seasons were really well written, and the show could be dark when it wanted, but it didn't lack jokes, and most were very funny. And honestly, Ninjago had a really big impact on my life. It taught me not to give up, and it made me want to make the world a better place. Grade school was a horrible time for me, and Ninjago was like my escape. Tho, I might have daydreamed about it too much at one point...

I started distancing myself from Ninjago around hands of time. I didn't watch the show as regularly, catching up on seasons long after they aired. I think that's also where the writing quality started dropping… I just didn't like it as much any more. But it should've been expected with a series that went on for so long. I'm not one of the people who think old Ninjago was better than anything. It wasn't perfect at all. But I didn't like the short format of newer seasons. But then secrets of forbidden spinjitzu dropped, and i as a person started getting better too, so I went back to Ninjago, and while it wasn't still the best and people had a lot of issues I loved those few next seasons. I mean, they somehow hit right into my interests with those seasons. First the adventure movies like atmosphere with the Egyptian like tomb, then they get sucked into a video game, then the very DnD like feeling Shintaro. It was right up my alley. My love for Ninjago was back in full force by then. So you can imagine how sad I was when the word that Ninjago was ending started going around. The series has been with me for half my life. My friends even knew how much I liked it, my best IRL friend even bought me a Ninjago set for Christmas one time. But you know, I thought it was probably Ninjago's time. Nothing can last forever after all, and it had a very good run. Why not end it when the story was still quite alright? And then… Crystallized happened. I didn't watch Crystallized. I heard the spoilers, and I wasn't… thrilled. Especially with Harumi. And people hated that season. It left a bitter taste in my mouth. It didn't feel like a send-off Ninjago deserved.

So you can imagine how damn happy I was about Dragon Rising! And surprise, it's the best Ninjago has been in a while! I absolutely loved the first season. The new characters are wonderful, and that change was certainly what Ninjago needed. And the fact that it's merged with one of other of my beloved LEGO series only makes it better. And that's probably my cue to move to it hehe

So, would I recommend Ninjago? Yeah. Its story is easy to follow, you just need to watch the show. If you're ready to watch sixteen+ seasons that it! Even the worse seasons have some value to them I'd argue. But I may be biased with how close to my heart that series is.

3. Yeah boy, Legends of Chima! I started watching Chima around the same time I started watching Ninjago, and I was equally hooked. And yes, my mom remembers this one as well, I watched it every time it was on too. Actually, I think the first fanfiction I've ever written was about Chima. With a pencil on paper. I think that, while the other series captivated me because of magic or the setting or the action, in Chima it was the characters and their dynamics mostly, despite there being plenty of magic powers and action too, plus a unique setting. The main characters all have distinct personalities, and it's fun to see how their personalities clash or work together. I think it's cool because the conflict between lions and crocodiles takes the main stage in the first season. Later seasons are great too, and they shake things up to make things interesting quite well. The lore isn't as broad as in other series, but it's pretty cool and interesting either way. There were some unique concepts there. I can't explain my love for this theme as well as with other series, because I don't think there was anything big that made me like it. It's just a cool show. I think what there was has been satisfying, tho young me was really sad and angry it ended anyway. But it's great for what it was. But I can't say I'm not happy that Chima is now merged with Ninjago, and it works so well together, and I absolutely love Lord Ras.

I would absolutely recommend it. It's a fun show, and only three seasons long. It can be both fun and serious, and I definitely had a blast watching it.

4. Now one of my newer obsessions! Monkie Kid! I watched the pilot in Chinese when it came out, then I promptly forgot about the series and binge-watched it all when season 3 came out. I was reading about Journey to the West long before the series was announced, since I have a liking for old stories and legends and myths and stuff. And Asian cultures fascinate me. I blame Ninjago with its Japanese influence and all the martial arts movies that were on the TV all the time. Plus Mulan and Kung Fu Panda. Anyway, I can't say much about how accurate it is or anything since I'm not Chinese, but I think the show is great. I noticed a lot of references to Journey To The West. No shocker here, it's inspired by it. But being in this fandom made me learn a lot of new things about China, tho I still have a bunch of things to learn. I'm no expert yet. Tho, I try my best to be respectful.

Umm... Like I said, not much to say about how accurate the story is. But I really liked Journey to the West, so naturally I like Monkie Kid too. Plus, MK i really relatable to me. I feel like my personality is really similar to his, tho I'm more introverted. For some reason, I relate to this portrayal of Macaque and Wukong as well.

I dare to say that from all the series so far, I find this one to be the most well written. I just find the writing to be the most impactful. Plus, the artstyle is very different from other LEGO shows. Action scenes are really fun. The artstyle definitely works in its favour. And yeah, I would recommend this show 100%.

5. And finally, the newest addition to the LEGO series, Dreamzzz! The show is really new and just starting, but I love the concept and the writing! Plus again, I really relate to Mateo. The characters feel like real people you would meet, and how they interact feels realistic. And I found myself liking even the characters that annoyed me, because their personalities were the realistic type of annoying, one that you might find out in the wild. And the concept of a dream world just really speaks to me. And it gives the creators a lot of creative freedom. All wacky things can happen in a dream after all. One thing I didn't expect in the show was the secret agency, and I think it's a clever addition to the story.

I would recommend this series. I hope it'll have a bright future, and that the writing will stay this good.

Well, time to wrap all of this up. Whoever suffered through this whole ramble deserves a juice and a cookie 🍪🧃 For a few finishing thoughts... I noticed a lot of the series I like blend magic powers and technology together. I just thought it's interesting. And I wanted to mention that the songs for Bionicle, Ninjago and Chima absolutely slap. I used to listen to them on repeat all the time lol Even my mom really enjoyed those songs

Yeah, I don't know what this post was for, I just felt like writing all that :v

[milliesmusings314]

Headcanons on Gold and Red Rings, Chaos Emeralds, and Sonic's Iconic Forms

I've been wondering for a while about how the rings and Chaos Energy in the world of Sonic the Hedgehog might work, and I've come up with a few ideas that I'd love to explore.

Of course, my musings don't take into account all of the established canon, as some elements have been changed or discarded over the years, and said musings started before the two latest games in the franchise. But this is mostly just self-indulgent creativity anyways, isn't it? No need to think too hard about the absolutely pin-prick fine details of a franchise that's been ongoing for 31 years and counting, I'd be giving myself a massive headache if I tried.

So, without further ado, let me share how I like to imagine the way that rings and Chaos Energy work in the Sonic universe.

I like to imagine that the golden rings found throughout the zones are a physical manifestation of positive energy. Depending on the amount of positive energy present in a location, the rings can range from being abundant to scarce. For example, when nature is being oppressed and drained of life by the mad doctor Eggman's machines, the rings can become increasingly difficult to come by, as he saps the resources from the land and tramples on its life. In contrast, the buildup of negative energy in an area could lead to the manifestation of red rings, similar to those found in Sonic.EXE fan creations, especially their portrayal in "An Ordinary Sonic ROM Hack", but, y’know... without the crappypasta entity really being at all involved. These rings have the power to cancel out the collected golden rings, thereby weakening the player who is not protected by positive rings.

It would honestly be pretty cool to see SEGA add something akin to this, and develop this whole concept of positive and negative energies further, after involving positive and negative energy in the plot of Sonic Adventure 1 and not touching it again past that.

The Chaos Emeralds, on the other hand, possess limitless energy, but said energy is inherently chaotic and discordant. The Master Emerald, capable of unifying the chaotic energy, serves as a controller, enabling its user to create or destroy. If one uses the energy from the Chaos Emeralds without unification, the result is purely chaos and discordance, a mishmash of positive or negative energy.

Super Sonic is a result of harmonizing the energies of the Chaos Emeralds towards the positive end. You know the deal with that - fifty rings, seven emeralds, and you're golden. Literally.

Hyper Sonic involves harmonizing the energy through the Master Emerald instead, before this energy somehow being purified and refined by the user. Hence the white quills that flash the colors of each of the emeralds - purity of energy combined with a resemblance to the energy’s source. This is the part I've thought the least about, but I still feel like this makes some amount of sense, or at least I hope it will.

Fleetway's version of Super Sonic, meanwhile, came about from the raw unharmonized combination of positive and negative energy within the Emeralds, resulting in disharmony, dissonance, discord… chaos, aptly enough, which is exactly what the transformation resulted in.

Drawing from the negative energies, finally, results in Dark Super Sonic. When Dark Sonic appeared, the only real source of negative energy anywhere near Sonic were the fake Chaos Emeralds. Sonic had previously been able to utilize Chaos Energy by using a fake Emerald that was created by Tails in Sonic Adventure 2, which allowed him to Chaos Control himself back onto the Space Colony ARK, but I personally doubt that Sonic would be able to sustain a real Super transformation with fake Emeralds, even if he had as many as he would normally need, especially since there were very obviously more than seven fake Emeralds visible during the scene in which Dark Super Sonic made its singular appearance. I’d probably say that Sonic has some innate positive energy enabled him, one, to utilize the fake Emerald to perform Chaos Control, and two, probably just to be as powerful (and don’t forget fast!) as he is by default.

This explains Sonic's ability to effortlessly use the Chaos Emeralds. With others, it appears to require either extensive training, such as with Tails in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, who was only able to transform once the energies were already harmonized through the Master Emerald, but became able to use only the Chaos Emeralds alone to transform once Mania came around, suggesting Tails’ adventures in the interim allowed him to somehow gradually unlock the understanding of how to harmonize the energy of these gems, or a deep knowledge and understanding of these gems, such as Knuckles after serving as the guardian of the Master Emerald for fifteen years by the time Sonic and his friends arrive.

Not only that, but it also explains positive energy of Sonic explains why the Dark transformation was easy to undo with just some words from Eggman. Unlike the Super transformation, which adds positive energy on top of positive, Sonic's innate positive energy actually hinders his Dark transformation. This is because his positive energy cancels out some of the negative energy, and since, once again, the supply of negative energy from the fake Emeralds is limited, the transformation wasn’t going to last very long if it were left to continue anyways, with how much of it Sonic was using up at once.

TL;DR: Gold rings represent positive energy, red rings represent negative energy, Chaos Emeralds contain chaotic energy that needs harmonization, Super Sonic is a positive harmony transformation, Fleetway's Super Sonic is unharmonized chaos, and Dark Sonic is a negative harmony transformation, hindered by Sonic's innate positive energy when the negative energy is limited.

[theotherackerman]

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: Any recognizable elements belong to Attack on Titan, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, A Song of Ice and Fire

NOTES: CHECK THOSE TRIGGER WARNINGS! Reminder: Mikasa is grieving. Grief makes you do things you might not do otherwise. I hope this answers a good amount of your questions. Also a reminder that this is not a 1 to 1 on Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon. There will be major things and it does not follow the exact plot. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy all 33 google doc pages!

TRIGGER WARNING: Attempted suicide, war, vague references to trafficking, death on the page

CHAPTER TEN: THE END OF A DECADE BUT THE START OF AN AGE

Not many people thought of dragons as a comfort. Most found them to be terrifying. 

The dragons were where Mikasa had received her most comfort. 

Meadow had taken to following Mikasa and Kayda on their walks through the garden. The larger dragon flew overhead, keeping his watch. 

When Mikasa finally felt strong enough to fly on Kayda again, Meadow had followed them into the sky. 

“I have a feeling I know what Keiran’s last command was,” Levi replied one night over dinner. 

Mikasa raised an eyebrow. 

“Mīsagon tala,” Levi replied.”I would have given Vulcan the same command had I been in his position.” 

Protect daughter or defend daughter was the likely translation. 

“He should have done it himself,” Mikasa muttered under her breath. 

Sasha rested a hand on Mikasa’s shoulder.

The guilt and anger had not left Mikasa. 

The information her mother had given her had been useless to her.

Why did she need to know that her mother was a kinslayer? 

Yui had readily sacrificed her son, her sister, and her husband.

 For what? 

To push the Tyburs back? 

For how long? 

What was to stop them from coming back? 

What was she to do with the information her mother gave her?

Information that made little sense. 

Her mother hadn’t spent much time with her when she was alive so why should Mikasa care about this woman? Why was she grieving someone who didn’t give enough of a fuck about her to even write her a damn letter after her mother left her here? After years of pushing Mikasa away, this was what her mother left with her. Something about songs and sacrifices. Fire and ice lashing from Mikasa’s body never to be seen again. No matter how many times Mikasa called upon it. 

Useless.

Mikasa wished her mother would have left her nothing rather than riddles. 

There was this sinking feeling that Yui had unleashed something inside of Mikasa. The blood, the kinslaying, that had been done in Mikasa’s name. 

After pushing her food around her plate, Mikasa excused herself from the table. 

Food wasn’t sitting right. 

She wondered if it ever would again. 

It was a few days later when Mikasa found herself alone in the library. 

Something had drawn her there. 

A book was open on one of the tables. 

The Doom of Valyria was the title of the chapter.

A drawing of a volcano erupting took up most of the page.

Mikasa frowned as she began to read. 

The Doom of Valyria was an event like no other. 

First Valyria broke away from the continent, becoming its own island. Some say the blood magic harassed to allow the dragon riders to tame dragons caused this. In magic, there is give and take. 

Few Houses fled from Valyrian due to most writing off a prophetic dream being nothing more than madness. 

The Houses that fled from Valyrian ended up in the North of the Seven Kingdoms. 

Mikasa turned the page to find out the next page of the book had been ripped out. 

There were other Dragon Lord families in the North? 

Who were they? 

Who had ripped out the page? 

Mikasa frowned as she began to flip through the book. 

Blood Betrayal

Kinslaying is the worst sin a person can commit. 

It derails the very law of nature and leads to grave consequences. 

The Amethyst Empress was slew by her own brother, the Bloodstone Emperor. He was jealous of his sister’s crown and decided to take it instead for himself. 

This ushered in the Long Night.

While this is not confirmed, one thing is known for sure. 

Killing one’s own kin will lead to great and powerful magic that cannot be contained. It will mar one’s soul and should not be done for no other reason that it simply goes against nature. It is held as sacred as Guest Rights. One does not allow someone into their house only to slay them. One does not slay one’s kin. 

The magic unleashed will be dark. 

And magic will claim what it is owed. 

Mikasa slammed the book shut, only to see the cover. 

Notes IV: 

Yui Azumibito 

It took all of Mikasa’s power not to throw the book at the wall. 

Why was she even here? 

Then again, there wasn’t much she could do. 

Sasha was in the forge. 

Levi was in meetings with the minor houses.

Annie was helping load supplies to go to the Capitol. 

When Mikasa had tried to help, she had been pushed away. 

People citing her “illness” as the reason why. 

Illness. 

Right. 

That’s what people had thought had happened to her. 

“Mother, what did you do?” Mikasa asked herself as she picked the book up again. She opened the book up to a random page. 

Azumbito and Ackerman families both come from old magic. 

Though they are not the only ones. 

The Jaeger family has strong ties to being skinchangers, specifically Wargs.

Wargs: a skinchanger who can enter the mind of a wolf or a dog. 

The Jaeger family is also known to have Greenseers, experiencing prophetic dreams, also known as Greensight. 

Only one in one thousand is a Skinchanger.

Only one in one thousand Skinchangers is a Greenseer. 

Though it seems in recent years, the number has gone up. It is as if magic is preparing itself for a fight. 

I have noticed that most descriptions of Greenseers state that they have bright green eyes. 

The Ackerman family also has a history of prophetic dreams. They refer to these dreams as “dragon dreams.” 

The original families in the Seven Kingdoms seemed to all have connections to some sort of skinchanging and elemental connection. I do not know what this means as magic has not been present in the Seven Kingdoms since something to do with a Stone Deceiver. Any information on this “Stone Deceiver” cannot be found. 

Whatever it was has caused an unnatural balance in the Seven Kingdoms and I wonder how long this can go on until the magic fights back. 

“How about you explain to me what you did instead of rambling on? None of this is helpful,” Mikasa said to no one specific as she turned the page.

Bloodmagic

Requires blood

“Oh. I would have never guessed. Bloodmagic requires blood,” Mikasa snorted before reading on. 

and sacrifice. 

It is considered the darkest of magic, the most powerful. 

Azor Ashai plunged his sword into Nissa Nissa’s heart to create Lightbringer and end the Long Night. 

The Dragonlords of Valyria used bloodmagic to bind their magic to them. 

The Ackermans has a long history of using 

The bottom of the page was torn. 

Frustrated, Mikasa snatched the book up and stormed out of the library. 

She walked straight into Levi’s office, thankfully no one else was in there beside Levi. 

With all of her strength, she tossed the book at Levi’s head. 

Without even looking, Levi dodged to the side. 

“Why did you rip the pages out?” Mikasa demanded. 

Levi looked up from his writing. “I didn’t rip any pages out. I don’t even know what you just hurled at my head besides its book.”

“It’s a book of my mother’s notes!” 

Levi stood up and picked the book up from the ground. He looked at the cover before flipping through it. 

“Oh. This. The pages were ripped out when I found it. I didn’t rip them out. In fact, the pages that would be helpful are the ones missing. If I had to guess, either your mother or Kenny tore them out. Now are you done throwing things?” 

“No. I want to know what’s going on.” 

“As would I. But apparently anyone who hasn’t had forty names days does not get to know. All I know is an ice sword was found. Tyburs may control the Others. That’s it. I know nothing else.  Grisha is very tight-lipped about whatever it is and Kenny is even worse.” 

“So am I just to accept the fact that I erupted into ice and fire? Will it happen again?” 

“That’s what I went looking for answers for. There’s none.” 

Mikasa sat down in the chair in front of Levi’s desk. “I’m tired of not knowing and just being expected to go along with whatever happens. Do you know how exhausting that is? I didn’t have a say in anything in my life. I had to stay here. I had to marry Zeke or Eren. I have to do all of these things for a woman who I don’t even know. A woman who did not care enough about me to tell me what happened to me, why it happened to me. I just have to accept it. Well, I can’t. I can’t sit here and pretend to be a princess anymore. I can’t do nothing anymore. What was I being trained for, if not to fight, to help?” 

Levi sat back down in his chair. “I’m not stopping you from fighting. By all means, fly off to war. But know what choice you’re making. It isn’t easy to end someone’s life. It’s not like the tales. You’ll have to make that choice. You are entirely in charge of your life now. Kiyomi’s son has already ascended the throne. You’re not their princess anymore. So you can live with no regrets but make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. So fly off to war if glory is what you wish. You wouldn’t be the first Ackerman to do so. But do it for the right reasons. If you want to fight for something, maybe you should look at your betrothed.” 

Mikasa’s hands curled into fists. “Why? He won’t fight for me.”

Levi reached into his desk and pulled out several pieces of parchment with a wax seal of a wolf on it. “These came today. Kenny dropped these off early this morning during a supply run, they’re from Eren.”  He picked them up and held them out to Mikasa. “Looks like a letter for everyday since we sent word to the capitol that you were asleep, I’d say. I was going to give them to you once I was done with this letter.” 

Mikasa took the letters from Levi, holding them in her lap. Eren was the last thing she needed to think about. She was already conflicted with feelings about her family. Now she had this. She stood from her chair. “I’m going for a flight on Kayda,” she said as she walked out of the room. She needed to clear her head. There was no room for that on the ground. 

—--------------

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG! 

Sasha was the only one in the forge while others took an afternoon break.

“Is that the sword for Mikasa?” Annie asked as she walked up. 

Sasha looked up before nodding. “I’m finishing it now. I want her armed with Valyrian steel. Your daggers and sword are done if you want them.” 

“I’ll wait until we all have them,” Annie replied with a shrug. 

“Are you worried?” 

Annie shrugged again. “I’ve killed before, I know you have as well. War doesn’t scare me.” 

“Do you feel like we’re being kept in the dark?” 

Annie nodded, “Not by Mikasa. Not on purpose. Everyone else…..I think they still see us as children.” 

Sasha nodded in agreement. 

Kayda roared as she flew overhead, Mikasa on her back. Meadow flew behind them but did not echo the roar. 

“I don’t know if she should be flying so soon,” Sasha remarked.

“You can be the one to tell her that then,” Annie snorted. 

“You’re right. I just worry,” Sasha said as she looked to the sky. 

“I do too.” 

—----------

How much sleep had Hange lately?

When was the last time they slept? 

Kenny poked Hange in the shoulder with the end of his pipe as they nodded off during a war update. Hange sat up straighter.

Exhaustion would end up claiming them sooner or later. 

—------------------------------------------

“Stop flinching,” Connie told Armin as he stitched up his shoulder. 

“Sorry,” Armin muttered. 

“You should be wearing armor if no one else is,” Connie said as he began the next stitch. 

“I’m not wearing plate while the rest of you are in leather.”

“We’re replaceable.” 

“Not to me.” 

 “Keep saying shit like that, Armin, and we will start to think you’re fond of us,” Reiner snorted from the chair next to him as Bertolt was stitching up Reiner’s back. 

“How bad is it?” Armin asked Bertolt.

“It’s not bad. It doesn’t even hurt that bad,” Reiner answered as he chewed on willow bark. 

“He’ll live. He shouldn’t see the front lines for a bit,” Bertolt reported. “Neither should Colt.” 

“Where is Colt anyway?” Connie asked. 

“Passed out in Zeke’s room.”

“We’ll put Colt on night duty to guard Eren. Reiner can guard Zeke. I’m sure Hange will agree,” Armin ordered.

“You’re not taking me off the frontline, Armin,” Reiner hissed.

“You’re lower rank than me, Reiner. I make the calls. I need less dead. Marco, Marcel, Hannah, Ruth, and Thomas.”

“Fine, but I’m not going to be happy about it,” Reiner asked as he pulled his tunic back on.

Armin snorted, “wouldn’t expect anything less.”

—---------------

After dinner, Mikasa had retired to her room, the letters still in the pocket of her dress. 

She sat on her bed and pulled them out. 

Taking a deep breath, she popped the seal on the first letter. 

Mikasa, 

I have heard you have fallen ill. 

I hope you feel better soon. 

-E

Well, that was kind. 

She sat it to the side before opening the next letter.

Mikasa,

I hear that in addition to you being sick that you have lost your parents and brother. I offer my most sincere condolences. I cannot imagine what it is like to lose your entire family. Well, I suppose not your entire family. You still have Levi, Kenny, and Kuchel. I suppose soon you’ll have me. If you even want me. I’m sorry for how I’ve been. In my head, pushing you away was easier. Now the capitol is being attacked because of me. Not exactly because of me, I suppose. But things got worse with the Fritz Loyalists once I was crowned. My father will never admit it but I know it’s true. They didn’t care that he had a bastard, they cared that the bastard could be on the throne. Zeke has no interest in having children so I’m most likely to be heir. I don’t want that crown. 

That’s the first time I’ve said…well written that. 

This is me apologizing for the way I’ve acted towards you. I’m not very good with words. But I did it to protect you from my world. 

I’m sorry. 

-E

Mikasa sat the letter to the side before opening the next one. 

Mikasa,

What was that last letter? 

I’m glad I didn’t send it. 

I hear you’re sick, they say. 

You haven’t woken. 

I’m worried.

-E

Mikasa shook her head. He was worried? He could just apologize and think everything was right between them? 

He was just like her parents. 

Never thinking of her feelings. He was only apologizing because he felt guilty. Not because he realized he had done something wrong. He didn’t care about that apparently. He only cared about his feelings.

She didn’t bother to open the others. She took them and shoved them into her bedside table. 

There was so much anger in her right now.

Her parents, Eren, whoever had ripped the pages out of her mother’s book, they all made choices for her. They all wanted what they thought was best but never cared about Mikasa’s feelings. 

It was all about them.

She wanted to scream, break things. 

She was just so angry. 

Fuck them. 

Fuck them all. 

Her hands tingled. 

Looking down, Mikasa saw flames dancing across her knuckles.  She frowned and blinked. 

The flames were gone.

Had they even been there? 

No. 

She must just be tired. 

—————

The sound of Kayda chewing on a deer was not one Mikasa liked. She looked over at the dragon who was eating the burnt animal. 

Shaking her head, Mikasa returned to her mother’s journal. 

Sadly, it was things Mikasa already knew. 

More tales of the Long Night from other cultures. 

Tales of an Ice Dragon who befriended a girl, a story Mikasa had heard from Kuchel many times when Mikasa was younger. 

Turning the page, there were only three phrases.

The dragon must have three heads. 

The promised heir. 

A Song of Ice and Fire.

“Lovely more riddles,” Mikasa muttered as she leaned back against the bench. 

Kayda looked up from her deer. 

“Don’t suppose you know what the dragon must have three heads, the promised heir, and a song of ice and fire mean, do you?”

The dragon blinked and then went back to eating. 

A roar echoed overhead. 

The ground shook as Meadow joined them in the garden. He too had gone hunting. If Mikasa had to guess, that was a chard bull from a local farm that the dragon had in his talons. 

“Levi is going to have to pay for that,” Mikasa told the dragon as she turned the page. 

Meadow made eye contact with her, smoke coming out of his nose. 

Mikasa laughed before returning to reading.

Skagos Sygerrik

Stone Deceiver 

Rock Liar

Stone Liar

Rock Deceiver

None of this makes sense.

Location? 

Spell?

Curse?

Person? 

Mikasa looked up, sensing a pair of eyes on her. She looked around, trying to see if there was anyone.

She appeared completely alone besides the dragons. 

Kayda lifted her head, also examining the area. 

Meadow let out a low growl. 

Mikasa closed her book. 

Strange feelings were something not to be ignored so Mikasa made the choice to walked back to the castle. 

—--------

It had taken some getting used to having a warm body next to Jean all night. It had been going on for almost a fortnight now. 

He knew he needed to talk to her, figure out exactly what that meant. 

Bells were tolling. 

“Fuck,” he heard Pieck muttered. “Get up. We’re being called.” 

Jean rolled over to see Pieck pulling on her tunic and pants. 

“Get up!” She said as she pulled him to his feet. 

His pants were being shoved at him.

“So we’re not going to talk about this then?” he asked as he pulled on his pants. 

“War bells, Jean boy. War bells.” 

“Fuck,” Jean muttered as he dashed over to his room.

She was right. 

—-------------

It was the middle of the night. 

They were being attacked in the middle of the night. 

The bells pulled Eren from his bed. 

“Get back in there,” Colt had hissed at Eren when poked his head out into the hallway. 

“What’s going on?” 

“If I knew, I’d tell you.”

Eren narrowed his eyes. 

No, Colt wouldn’t. 

Eren went back into his room, sitting back down on his bed. 

Midnight didn’t make a sound. He just sat on his perch, watching, observing. 

Fenrir sat on the bed next to Eren on full alert. 

Eren would be safe. 

—-------------

Seaflames echoed a roar before releasing her flames. 

At this rate, Grisha was going to be King of Ashes. 

But what choice did he have? 

Dina and Carla were getting as many servants into the underground tunnels as possible while Kuchel and Kenny rode their dragons into battle. 

The rebels were not in the castle but Grisha wasn’t going to give them that chance. He pulled his sword from his belt and charged into battle with Valkyrja at his side.

He would not sit while others defended his kingdom a moment longer.

They would survive the night, even if he had to kill every person out there himself.

—---------

Smoke was drifting up from the ground and into Mikasa’s bedroom window.

“We’ve been attacked,” Levi announced as he came billowing into Mikasa’s bedroom, already dressed in his leather armor.. “They’ve set fire to several of the minor houses.” 

“What do you need from me?” Mikasa asked as she got out of bed. 

“Be on standby. Vulcan and I should be able to take care of this. If things get bad, I’ll need you and Kayda. You remember the command?” he asked as he double checked his sword.

Mikasa nodded. 

“Good. I’ll return. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone,” he warned her before he left the room. 

Mikasa dressed in her leathers quickly. Sasha and Annie came charging into her room, dressed in their armor. 

“What do you need from us?” Annie asked. 

“Guard the castle. Keep the servants safe. Sasha, take to the tower. You’ll have a better vantage point from there,” Mikasa commanded as she shoved her daggers into the sheaths on her legs. She fastened her sword inside its scabbard to run along her spine.

“I’ll finish your sword soon,”Sasha noted.

“It’s fine. I’ll be on Kayda. I doubt I’ll need it much anyway. Stay safe,” Mikasa ordered as she left her bedroom. 

All three women went their separate ways. 

Vulcan could be heard letting out a roar as he fled towards the fire. 

The courtyard was chaotic, everyone running which way. 

The knights barking out orders.

No one paid any attention as Mikasa ran  towards Kayda. 

She wondered if Meadow would follow her into battle. She had not tried to command the male dragon, though the thought crossed her mind. 

Stopping to figure out where exactly Kayda was, a cold metal blade was against her throat.

“There you are. If you scream, I will kill you. But before I kill you, I will do horrible things to you,” a voice whispered into her ear. 

Not thinking, Mikasa ran an elbow into her assailant’s stomach.

The man caught off guard, stumbled.

“I told you the bitch knew how to fight!” another man called out.

She saw there were at least ten men surrounding her.

Pulling her sword from her back, Mikasa stood up straight.

“We can always send her back to the prince in pieces,” the man chuckled.

They were all dressed in royal armor and helmets.

She had heard armor had been stolen from the capitol. This was that armor.

Charging at the one in front of her, Mikasa swiped her sword, knocking that man to the ground. She threw her elbow into the one who rushed at her from the right side. But the one on her left, she missed.

Tumbling to the ground, Mikasa lost hold on her sword. One of the men tried to climb on top of her but Mikasa was faster with the dagger. She ran along where the metal armor spilt above his breeches, cutting his stomach open. 

She pushed the body off of her as two men grabbed both of her arms. 

She trashed to try and get rid of their hold.

 “Skoriot?” the raspy voice echoed in her head just as it had the night she erupted. Where? It asked. 

She couldn’t answer as two hands jerked her shoulders. She let out a scream. She kicked but two men grabbed her legs. 

“We’ve got her,” the man who had put the knife to her throat replied. He leaned down, running a finger down her face. “Scarred but still pretty. We’ll ransom you to that bastard prince and then we’ll sell you to someone else. You know how much a girl like you goes for? Or maybe I’ll just send you back in pieces.” 

The men laughed as Mikasa thrashed again.

“No one’s going to save you,” the man laughed. “Bind her hands and feet. Then we’ll get her out of here. Don’t touch her. No one is to touch here.

The ground shook. 

Kayda came charging into the area. Immediately, the dragon grabbed one of the men who held Mikasa’s leg down by his head. Shaking the body, Kayda removed the man’s head from his body.

Mikasa used her other leg to kick the other man who held her other leg. The men holding her shoulders, let go of her and tried to get away. 

A dark shadow flew in front of the moon, blocking it. 

The green dragon landed, stopping the men from running. 

Meadow let out a roar as Kadya circled around to the back of the men. 

Mikasa sat on the ground, watching as the two dragons trapped the men. 

Meadow looked over Kadya’s shoulder to Mikasa.

Knowing what had to be done, Mikasa said the one word she had hoped she would never have to use in this way. 

“Dracarys,” she ordered. 

Kayda and Meadow let out a stream of fire while the men screamed in pain.

Mikasa didn’t cower or cover her ears. 

She just sat there until it was over. 

Once the men were deceased, the two dragons prowled over to her. 

Kayda nudged Mikasa with her head, getting under Mikasa’s shoulder, trying to get Mikasa to her feets. 

Meadow watched, snorted smoke. Then he blocked her view of the bodies before he also started nudging her. 

“Alright. I’ll get to my feet,” Mikasa replied as she stood up. 

This was not a conversation she wanted to have with Levi.

—--------

Somehow Eren had drifted off to sleep again and drifted into a dream.

Flying through the sky to reach Mikasa.

The command of dragonfire. 

Then Eren was being shaken awake. 

Sunlight filtered in from the outside. It was early morning.

“Mikasa was attacked in the North,” Colt reported. 

“What?” Eren asked as he threw the covers off. “Is she well? Is she hurt? Should I go there?”  In a flurry, Eren began pulling his tunic and breeches on. 

“She’s fine. Well, as fine as one can be. I don’t know much. I don’t think I’m supposed to know anything to be fair. Lord Ackerman spoke of it as he was going down the hall. He flew from The North to speak with the King,” Colt informed him. “But she is alive.” 

“What’s happening here?” 

“The King is speaking to Kuchel. They are discussing what’s to be done. The rebels are in the courtyard. I got moved in here with you to keep you safe. I’m to move you when I receive the command from Armin.” 

Eren nodded. Midnight flew down and landed on his shoulder while Fenrir stayed asleep on the bed. 

—-------------------------

“I will not be king of ashes, Kuchel!” Grisha roared as he stood from his chair. 

Zeke sat in his chair, drinking whatever awful wine that his father kept was. Levi leaned up against the wall while Kenny sat in the chair in front of Grisha’s desk. 

“They attacked my House, Grisha! I demand justice. I demand justice in blood,” Kuchel growled as she prowled forward and knocked the chair she had been sitting in over.

“And I demand my people be safe!” Grisha screamed.

“Do it,” Carla said from her seat on one side of Grisha.

Everyone in the room looked towards her. 

“What?” Dina asked.

“Do it. Kuchel, go out there and burn every rebel you find. That’s an order from the Queen,” Carla said as she stood. 

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” Grisha asked her.

“Being a Queen. I am tired of watching our son’s friends die. Now Mikasa has been attacked? Because of what? We weren’t married before Eren was born? I’m tired, Grisha.”

“So we just kill anyone who doesn’t agree with us!” Grisha threw his hands up. 

“You did it first,” Dina challenged. 

“No, I did it because they took you,” Grish said as he turned towards his other wife sitting in a chair. 

“And after you won, you got rid of those who didn’t support you. What is the point, Grisha? What do we win? I think he is right. We take our people, we go North. We go home. Let them have the damn capitol. The North can stand on its own.” 

Grisha shook his head.

“Is that throne worth it? Is it? Because there are more important things going on. We would be safe in the North. Or we were. Until this happened.” 

“They were in your armor. That’s how they got through. No one questioned them,” Levi reported.

“I won’t run. That’s final,” Grisha stated. 

“Then you are a fool,” Dina said as she stood.

“They tried to kill Mikasa!” Levi pushed off of the wall and watched towards Grisha. “My heir. Your son’s betrothed. The only reason the Ten Kingdoms will not break their trade and support is because of her. The dragons burnt the attackers. They died screaming. I don’t feel a bit sorry for them.”

“It’s gone too far, Grisha,” Kenny reported. 

“I think you’re forgetting your place,” Grisha stood straighter. 

Zeke ripped the crown off of his father’s head and tossed it across the room. 

Everyone fell still. 

Grisha started at Zeke. 

“Eren doesn’t want the throne. I do not want the throne. I do not care about some fucking chair made from dragon fire and swords. They’ve attacked the North. The North. No one has been stupid enough to do that. They’re getting bold. And now we will all suffer because you let your pride take control,” Zeke stared at his father down. 

“There is more going on than you could ever understand,” Grisha replied.

“You could try explaining it to me instead of keeping me in the dark! I’m your heir and half the time, you act like I do not exist. I never wanted this! I never wanted to be a prince, to be paraded around to different women for a political alliance. I told you Eren should have married Mikasa once we were in the North. I told you neither of us had any desire to take the throne. But you did not listen. You never listen! You know I envy Levi because a dead father is better than one who is a king. I don’t have a father, I have that fucking crown.” Zeke stormed out of the room, slamming the down behind him. 

The wall shook. 

No one moved. 

No one said anything. 

Time passed slowly as everyone was frozen in time.

“Kuchel, do what you need to,” Dina spoke. 

Kuchel nodded before she left the room. 

“I’ll go check on our son,” Dina dismissed herself from the room. 

Carla looked at Grisha before following Dina out. 

“I’ll go out to the front lines. I’ll help Hange. See if there’s anyone with information that they want me to extract,” Levi left the room without another word.

Kenny looked at Grisha. 

Grisha looked at Kenny. 

“Why did you put me on this fucking throne?” Grisha asked as he collapsed into the chair, rubbing his temples.

“I wasn’t going to take the fucking thing. You can’t continue to be soft of these people,” Kenny said as he pulled his pipe out of his pocket. 

“So I am to be a king of ashes.” 

“I’m not saying go burn the whole capitol to a crisp. I’m not talking about the elderly, the children, or the innocent. I’m talking about those who continue to try and kill us. I know you want to give them mercy but you’ve given enough. Now it’s affecting my house, my family. I can’t allow that, Grisha. You know that. They could have done a lot worse to Mikasa. They almost did.” 

Grisha sat forward, ran his hands through his hair. “I know.”

“No one said the crown was a light thing to wear.” 

Grisha nodded. “Do what you need to.”

Kenny nodded before leaving. 

—-----------------------------

Eren ended up falling back asleep again. 

He was somewhere in black abyss. 

“Dohaerās,” a raspy voice called.

“Dohaerās,” the same voice repeated.

“Dohaerās.” It echoed again.

“Dohaerās.” And Again.

“Dohaerās.” And again

“Dohaerās.” and again. 

“Zaldrīzes rȳbus, lo mērī udrirzi Valyrio eglio ȳdrassua,” the voice  said. 

“Dohaerās.”

“Dohaerās.”

Then Eren was shaken awake again. 

“You speak Valyrian?” Zeke asked him as he stood over him. 

“What?” Eren asked as he sat up. 

“Valyrian. You were speaking it. What were you dreaming about?” Zeke asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. 

“I….I don’t remember. What was I saying?” Eren ran a hand through his hair. 

“Something with a D. The only Valyrian word I know is dracarys because that’s what the Ackermans shout before the dragon’s release their fire. It wasn’t that.”  

“What are you doing in my room anyway? I thought father was keeping us separate.”

“Nice to see you too, little brother. We’re safe for now. Kuchel, Kenny, and Levi are out there.” 

“Is Mikasa here?” 

Zeke shook his head. “She’s very….she was attacked.”

“I know. Colt overheard Levi and came to tell me. I have fallen asleep twice since then. I haven’t been sleeping well. Even when I do sleep, it doesn’t feel like I’ve rested.”

“They’re dead. Her attackers. Kayda and her father’s dragon took care of them.” 

“That’s good. Because I would have killed them myself.” 

“I don’t doubt that. I’m thinking…I’m thinking of asking father to send us North. We take our friends. I just…I don’t want to be here anymore. I can do more in the North. Hell, I’ll guard Mikasa myself.” 

“I don’t know if she’ll want to see me.” Eren looked down. 

It was his own doing. He knew that. Even if she did get his letters, there was no guaranteeing that she would forgive him. 

“She will. Maybe you should do something for her.” 

“I wrote her letters.”

“But did you really do that for her or for yourself?”

“Fine, what should I do then?” 

“I don’t know,” Zeke shrugged. 

“A lot of help you are.” 

“Though I do know of someone we could ask,” Zeke grinned. 

—-----------------

The dragons were taking care of the capitol. 

Pieck was exhausted. 

She had a new wound on her shoulder that Jean was stitching up when Zeke bursted into her room. 

Zeke gave her a knowing look. 

“You might knock,” Pieck scoffed. “I’ve got my tits out and your brother is redder than a rooster.” 

Eren was looking at the floor avoiding eye contact. 

“I’m almost done,” Jean said as he stabbed the needle through her flesh. 

“And how much have you had to drink?” Zeke asked. 

“Not that much,” Pieck muttered as she looked down. 

“She’s good at getting stitches,” Jean replied. 

“Should I be here? I feel like I shouldn’t be here. Being betrothed and all,” Eren said as he turned his back facing Pieck. 

“Pieck doesn’t count. She’s practically family,” Zeke said. “I have a question for you.” 

“Yes, I’ve been sleeping with Jean. Well, sometimes sleeping,” Pieck answered with a shrug.

“Stop moving,” Jean commented. 

“What?” Eren asked as he still faced the door. 

“Not the first question I was going to ask but….” Zeke trailed off. 

“Fine. What is it?” Pieck asked. 

“What can Eren do to make up for what he’s done to Mikasa?” 

“Oh I am the wrong person to ask for that.”

“Why? You're a woman. You know things.” 

“Glad you noticed!”

“You know what I mean.” 

“And what I mean is every girl is different. What would be meaningful to me, might not be meaningful to Mikasa. If you truly want to make things up to her, do something for her. Something from your heart.” 

“I’m done,” Jean said as he cut the thread from the needle. 

Pieck pulled her tunic on. “It’s safe to look, Eren. I’m all covered now.” 

Eren turned around. “I don’t know what to do. Zeke gave me the same advice. I…” 

“Learn Valyrian,” Jean said as he put the needle on Pieck’s bedside table. 

“What?”

“Valyrian. Mikasa speaks Valyrian. Her whole family does. Surprise her. Learn a few phrases. It’s what I would do.” 

Eren narrowed his eyes at Jean. “Do you speak Valyrian?” 

Jean scoffed before answering, “kessa.” 

“I don’t know what it means.”

“It means yes but not a lot. I only know what little basics I picked up from Hange. I know yes, no, hello, and goodbye. I was hoping to impress the Princess with them. I don’t need to anymore.”

“So I’m taking your shitty idea?”

“I’m just trying to help you. If you don’t want it, fine. But that’s what I would do.”

“I don’t know what to do!” 

“Well figure it out!” 

“What my brother means is that is a wonderful idea and he’ll keep that in mind,” Zeke said as he steered Eren towards the door. “You and I will talk later,” he smirked at Pieck as the princes exited the room. 

“He’s going to be insufferable now,” Pieck groaned as she sat down on her bed. 

“Why?” Jean asked as he sat down next to her. 

“Because he’s been saying I have feelings for you.”

“Do you care that he knows?” 

Pieck shrugged, “not anymore. I…I….we could die tomorrow. I don’t want to live with regrets.” 

Jean nodded. “So you want me to go then?” 

“I thought you were supposed to be smart. No, I’m telling you, I don’t regret this. I don’t know what we’re doing. If it’s courting or something else, but I like being around you. Have you have my back. When Marcel died….” Pieck closed her eyes. 

Jean pulled her to him. “I know.”

“And you lost Marco…”

Jean closed his eyes. 

“And I don’t know who will be next. I don’t want to lose anyone else.” 

Jean nodded as he just held her. 

——————

The dragon egg mocked Mikasa. 

The damn thing had never hatched. 

It had been inside of Meadow’s saddle that he finally allowed Mikasa to take off. 

So now the egg sat on her bedside table. 

She had been told her brother had carried it with him everywhere. 

Yet on that night, she had not seen him with it. 

“Why didn’t you hatch?” She asked the egg like it would answer. 

The egg remained still and unmoving. 

Useless.

Like everything else her parents had sent her. 

—————

“Send the boys to the North. We’ll compromise,” Kenny said as he released a puff of smoke. 

“My wives talked you into asking me that,” Grisha noted.

“They didn’t say anything to me. I’m saying what makes sense. We send your boys to the North. Levi can watch them from above when they make the trip. They get to the North where they’ll be safe. That way if things go to shit here and you do decide to run, I only have three wolves and three people to worry about instead of five people and five wolves.”

“And what will my people think?” 

“They’ll think you’re helping to support your son’s future marriage. He’s getting to know his future wife, his brother is his chaperon. You were sent to stay with us for a time.”

“I remember. If I do, I want all their friends sent with them. A full guard detail.”

Kenny nodded, “most of them are Northerns anyway. Do you think your wives will agree?” 

Grisha considered it for a moment. “I think they’ll see it for what it truly is. No matter what we tell anyone else.”

“Kuchel and I will remain here for as long as we need to, you know.” 

Grisha nodded. 

—----------------------

Screams came from the dungeon. 

“Who sent you?” Hange asked the man chained to the board in the dungeon. 

“I’ll never tell you,” the man replied before he spat blood onto the floor. 

“I see your interrogation is going well,” Levi said as he leaned in the doorway.

“His name is Duran. That’s all I’ve got from him. Thank you for procuring him for me,” Hange said as they picked up the knife. 

“You should thank Vulcan. He grabbed him. How did those talons feel?” Levi asked as he entered the room. 

“Fuck you,” Duran spat blood in Hange’s face.

Levi stormed in and grabbed Duran by the throat. “I say we just give him to Vulcan to eat.” 

Hange grabbed a rag and wiped the blood from their face. “Hear that Duran? We’ll feed you to the dragons.” 

“I don’t care. No matter what you do to me, the real ruler of the Seven Kingdoms will come and sit on the throne. House Fritz will be restored to its former glory.” 

“Dragon?” Levi asked again as his grip tightened on Duran’s neck. 

Hange nodded. 

—---------------------

Seeing Vulcan up close, Hange controlled themself. 

The dragon was massive, not quite as massive as Seaflames. Only slightly smaller than Blaze but he was a beast. 

The dragon nipped at passers by who paid him too much attention. Hange had heard the dragon liked to bite. 

The dragon’s eyes locked on Hange who was unabashedly staring at him. 

“You're a beautiful dragon, aren’t you?” Hange spoke. 

Vulcan’s chest puffed up. 

“You keep talking to him like that it’ll go to his head,” Levi muttered as he waved the dragon closer. 

“He can’t understand me. Zaldrīzes rȳbus, lo mērī udrirzi Valyrio eglio ȳdrassua.” 

Levi scoffed, “yes. A dragon only listens when you speak in Valyrian meaning he only listens to commands in Valyrian. It doesn’t mean he only understands Valyrian. Trust me, that dragon understands Common just fine.”

“Where does his name come from?” Hange asked as the dragon stood in front of them. 

“An old, old language that no longer exists. We only have some remnants in our books from Valyria. Vulcan was a god of fire.”

“And Kayda?”

“A less common language in the Ten Kingdoms. It means little dragon. Erwin mentioned you were interested in dragons,” Levi adjusted Vulcan’s saddle. 

“I’m interested in anything to do with magic. I find it fanasting. The whole kingdom was built on magic. Then suddenly it was gone. No one who lives now understands how and why. Yet the Ackerman family still has their ties to their dragons, the Jaegers to their wolves. The rest of us are left without any magic at all.” 

“If I told you something in confidence, would you have to tell the King?” Levi asked as he began to walk towards the dragon pit. 

Hange cocked their head to the side before following him. “Would it put the King in harm’s way?”

“Not at all.”

“Would this be something you’d normally ask Erwin about?” 

Levi nodded. 

“Then you could ask me.” 

Levi nodded as he continued to walk towards the Dragon Pit. 

Hange tried to rack their mind for what Levi could possibly want to ask them about. Clearly, it was related to magic. Did Levi know more about magic than he let on? Possibly. Then again, if he needed to ask Erwin or Hange about it, then maybe he didn’t. 

Perhaps Levi was just as clueless about certain things as Hange was. No amount of research had brought Hange any closer to knowing why magic was suddenly gone. 

Once inside the dragonpit, Levi turned and faced Hange. 

“I tell you this in confidence because you were Erwin’s…..I feel as if there is no one else I can ask this too. My cousin, Mikasa, erupted with such power, magic power I’ve never seen. There were flames, ice. They just shot out of her body. She didn’t burn. Then she was….asleep for weeks. I didn’t know if she was ever going to wake again.”

Magic. 

Mikasa had magic. 

It wasn’t dead.

There was some way Mikasa had been able to generate magic. 

“Well, say something,” Levi commanded. 

“I’m sorry. I’m a bit….the fire isn’t surprising. But ice? I’ve never heard of an Ackerman with ice magic,” Hange said as they put their hand on their chin. 

“Why is fire not surprising?” Levi asked as he crossed his arms across his chest.

“Well, the Ackermans in the past were known for their blood and fire magic. I assumed you knew that. The only time I’ve heard of fire and ice together is the song of ice and fire. Or in other words, The Long Night. The heir to save us all will defeat the Others. Perhaps, the heir who saves us not only has power of fire but also ice. There’s an interesting thought….” 

Levi looked over to Vulcan while Hange continued to ramble about the Others. 

—---------------------------------

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

Was it drums or Mikasa’s own heartbeat? 

She couldn’t sleep. 

She saw those who had attacked her. 

She saw her mother killing her aunt, her brother.

Over and over. 

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

Nightmares.

Over and over. 

When would it end?

Did her mother not realize how much her actions would hurt Mikasa? How much guilt Mikasa would carry around? 

And those men? 

Why had they attacked her? 

Simply because she had been engaged to Eren. 

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

She was to blame for her soon to be husband’s birth now it seemed. 

Now she slept in a tunic and breeches because she feared the men would come back.

Annie and Sasha had wanted to spend time with her today. 

Wanted to sleep in this bed, keep her company. 

She had pushed them all away.

Ordered them to stay away. 

They could not deny an order from her.

Instead, Mikasa spent time with the dragons and reading. 

She spent time allowing the anger inside her to grow and grow and grow. 

Until she was nothing but anger. 

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

The egg was mocking her.

A reminder that her brother could never be a dragon.

He had been given such a small, easy task.

Be there and let your egg hatch.

But the egg did not hatch because her brother was not a dragon.

Her brother was a peacock, preening for their aunt’s approval, their mother and father’s attention. 

He was the perfect heir.

Seen.

Not heard. 

He was a child and somehow, he still was a better heir than Mikasa. 

Of course he was! He was raised there! He was wanted.

Their parents had just left her here. 

There was no part of Mikasa beside her mother’s blood that made her a member of the Ten Kingdoms. 

She was too wild, too strong. 

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

Snatching the dragon egg from the bedside table, Mikasa went out into the night. 

Kayda was waiting for her by the backdoor. 

Mikasa didn’t think about how the dragon knew exactly where she was, where she was coming. 

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

Rage was building in Mikasa’s veins. 

Fire. 

She could feel it burning. 

Meadow had found them.

Flanking either side of her, Mikasa and the two dragons made their way to where Mikasa had first erupted with power. 

The dragon egg glowed. 

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

Placing the dragon egg on the scorch marks, Mikasa looked at Kayda and Meadow.

She would destroy the last link to her parents, her aunt, her brother. 

Mikasa sat down next to the egg. 

The egg glowed brighter as Mikasa felt the flames licking at her hands. 

Fire danced around her knuckles. 

She was the problem. 

She was the reason that the fire had been set, displacing so many. 

Some part of her knew that she was the cause of her parents death. 

“Dracarys,”Mikasa told the dragons. 

Neither did anything. 

“DRACARYS!” She screamed but the dragons did not respond. 

“DRACARYS!” She yelled again. 

But the dragons did not obey her. 

The flames on her body grew. In addition to dancing on the knuckles of her hands, flames danced around her bare feet, slowly making their way up to her ankles. 

“DRACARYS!” 

Her throat was getting sore. 

Sobs escaped her body. 

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

Falling to her side, Mikasa continued to sob. 

Why? 

Why was she the way she was? 

How?

How was she supposed to continue on this way?

The dragon egg continued to glow. 

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

Reaching out, Mikasa grabbed the egg. She curled her body around it. 

Flames still danced on her hands. 

It wouldn’t harm the egg. 

She knew that much. 

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

So she lay then and sobbed.

Flames danced along her hands and feet.

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

BA-DUM

CRACK!

SNAP!

CREEK!

The flames on her hands and feet died. 

Mikasa felt drained but her eyes snapped to the egg in her arms.

The egg.

It was hatching. 

Mikasa watched as the egg continued to break as she sat it down. 

Emerging from the egg, the baby dragon let out a screech.

“Se zaldrīzes ēdruta emagon hāre bartos,” the raspy voice said.

The dragon must have three heads. 

[hotcocoaandstripedsweaters]

OC-tober Day 22: Kisser having a difficult conversation

Recently, I’ve been working on a Star Wars fic with a higher than usual number of OCs. The fic isn’t posted yet, but I thought I might put a few of these out there.

Once again under a cut, what can I say

The original post is here by @icannotreadcursive.

Day 1

~+~

“Oh vod’iiiiikaaaa,” Kisser sing-songed in the manner of annoying older brothers everywhere.

“What.” Melt snapped. Her voice was muffled by the pillow she was attempting to smother herself with.

“Is that any way to talk to your favorite batchmate?” Kisser clicked his tongue in faux disappointment.

“Go. Away.”

Kisser would have continued to pester her, but instead his gaze caught a PADD on the floor, clearly flung in a fit of pique. He picked it up to find it unlocked and opened to a dense bit of legalese. He sat on the bunk, dangerously within kicking range.

“Do you want to tell me about it and keep your place on the page or let me figure it out on my own and lose it?” he asked.

Melt grumbled, “It’s not even about that. You won’t get it.”

“Fair enough,” Kisser settled in, locking the PADD and setting it aside. “I still want to help.”

Melt threw the pillow at him, but sat up. She scowled, but her eyes were tellingly red-rimmed.

“How is it,” she bit out, “that there are seven sisters in the 501st, but somehow I’m the only one in the fucking 212th?” 

Kisser winced. “Bad luck?”

Melt scowled at him, but accepted it. “Intellectually, I know that.”

“But it doesn’t feel fair.”

“Nope.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Before Kisser could figure out what to say, Melt spoke again.

“It’s like…I hear stories about other sisters who came out and because they were visible, other sisters realized what was up with themselves or finally felt like there was a word for it and they found each other. That happened for like…four of the 501st’s? But here, I’m the only one as far as I know, and it gets lonely, cause none of the rest of you can really relate and I don’t have anyone I can talk to who just gets it without me needing to explain.”

Kisser frowned. “Sounds like it blows.”

Melt snorted, nudging his back with her knee. “Yeah, it blows.”

“You can’t even punch the problem,” he said.

That got a bark of laughter. “I dunno,” she mused, “punching a Kaminoan might make me feel better.”

“I can draw one on the punching bag at the gym?” Kisser offered.

Melt properly giggled at that. “I’d love to see you explain that to the Commander.”

“If it lasts long enough for the Commander to see it, you aren’t punching hard enough.”

They didn’t go to the gym, though. Instead, Melt picked the PADD back up off the desk. “Did you know the legal requirements for a species’ eligibility for citizenship–besides, you know, approval by two thirds of the Senate–are sentience and sapience?”

Kisser desperately reoriented himself to the new conversational track. “Nope.”

“Do you even know the difference?” Melt teased, slightly too sharp but not hurtful–to Kisser, at least.

“Nope.”

“Sentience is about having sensations and emotions, sentience is about thinking and learning, basically. That’s the short version, anyway.” Melt highlighted a portion of the legalese as she spoke, like that was going to help Kisser any. Maybe it was just to have something to do with her hands.

“Makes sense,” Kisser said, mostly just to confirm he was listening.

“But that means they have to test for these things without being obviously specist,” Melt handed over the PADD, which Kisser politely pretended to skim. “So one of the tests is about extant socio-cultural structures and the capacity to interrogate them–not whether it’s punished to the point where no one does, that actually helps to prove it’s possible but gets into Sophont Rights issues.”

Kisser blinked, “Is that why the Kaminoans are so convinced we’re not sentient? They think we can’t philosophize?”

Melt laughed, “Kind of seems that way, doesn’t it? Anyway, an example given of this type of interrogation is ‘individuals assigned socio-cultural roles questioning, rejecting, and/or otherwise changing their assigned designations.’”

Something clicked into place. “Like gender?”

“Like gender.”

“So, by their own rules, we’re sophonts. And you’re literally proof.”

“Yup,” she popped the ‘p,’ “Like, we both already knew, it’s not a surprise to literally any Vode ever, but–proof positive. I could be Exhibit A. Me!”

“Damn,” Kisser breathed. “I see why you got mad.”

“Yeah.”

~+~

Day 23

[moonlightheretic]

Venom of the Gods- Chapter 1-Snippet (Rough draft)

“Venetori? What in the void are they doing in these parts?”

“Maybe they fancy sight-seeing…” Elle remarked sarcastically before she tempered her tone when realization took center stage. “…or they were after the artefact too.” Their stone bodies draped over each other as they swarmed the ground beneath the harmonious artefact. Curled over like deceased spiders, their legs and arms rigid but still conveying a frantic motion halted in time. “They didn’t succeed.” Elle cocked her head and dribbled her foot, “Sorta odd how they are assembled, looks like they died all at once…they were trying to flee from something. Caught from behind like that.” She glanced back at the slain professor and his entourage. “Looks like Venetori got to them first though. “We aren’t the first to travel here, that is for sure.”

“You don’t think whatever came for them…isn’t still here?” Athan inquired with curiosity, a little too chipper for her liking. He was such a peculiar fellow.

“I think we would have confronted it by now. However, that doesn’t mean this place isn’t trapped.” Elle thrusted her fists into her hips and sighed, “I am going to investigate a way to free it without getting us skewered or something worse.”

“I’ll be over by the mural.” Athan jabbed his thumb in the direction of the previous room, already with his dagger in his hand.

Elle followed him out and wandered over to the remains of the archaeologists, there could be a clue here…these people wouldn’t let one stone go un-turned, surely, they would have documented any devices for hiding traps, right?

She rummaged through their equipment, their packs and their pockets but found nothing of use. Her eyes fell on a well-dressed human male, his chest slumped into his knees, his arm folded in between. She crouched down and with her hands on his shoulders, she pried him apart. Looped inside the crook of his arm was a heavily bloodstained journal. ‘He protected his work until the end.’ She observed with a grimace. “I am sorry.” Elle couldn’t help feeling guilty, using his work to profit her own, but there was no other option.

 Inscribed on the leather journal:

‘The Art History of the Elvhen Empire Volume Six’

‘Notes of Prof. Perrick Montague’

‘The University of Orlais’

She whistled low in genuine amazement, “Fancy, fancy.”

“Find something?” Messere Athan hollered from the other end of the room, chipping away at the mural.

“Perhaps!”  

 She flipped through the pages of the blood-stained journal with sincere interest, the professor’s notes were fluid and well scripted, a word or rather a name was repeated, Ghilan’nain. She squinted at the name, attempting to make sense of it. She turned another page, this time to a detailed rendition, a sketched figure with an upside-down crescent crowned her head. Above her head was written, Ghilan’nain. She rose to stand when her legs started to tingle, pulling the page close to her face. It looked familiar. She swiveled on her heel slowly,the rest was smeared with dried blood from her shoulders’ down, but bloody fingerprints accentuated the adjacent page, and with caution she willed her fingers to peel it back. Sloppy and broad, this bloody message was written in evident haste covering more sketches of this Ghilan’nain, now facing the mural Athan plucked jewels out of.

‘SEVEN EYES.’

Elle gulped nervously and felt her heart plummet to her stomach. Not sure why those words overwhelmed her with dread, and she wasn’t so sure she wanted to figure that out.

‘A strange thing to write as your last words.’ But who was she to judge? She reasoned with herself, achieving very little success.

Her eyes left the page to compare the drawings to the sight before her. She wasn’t here to frighten herself. Business, Elle. Don’t get distracted. She allowed the memory of her father’s admonishment playout.  But her vision swelled with the figure who had his back turned to her and something felt wrong.

Messere Athan swirled a blue vile as he gazed up at the mural, his back straight and shoulders relaxed, he rested all his weight on his backfoot. His body language continued to befuddle her; he acted like he was enjoying the artwork at some haughty soiree.

She pinned the Lyrium vile with her eyes, lowering the journal in her hands, as the man drew it to his lips and downed it in one large gulp.

“It is rather unlucky for you that I am a Templar of the Southern Chantry. Unlike those neutered dogs in Tevinter.” Messere Athan allowed the vile to shatter on the floor as he twisted on that backfoot, hand on his sword. “Magister Alexina sends her regards.”

[differentflowergladiator]

Animation skills

Week 1

This week we where introduced to maya. We learnt how to manipulate shapes which was hard to wrap my head around at first, but with practice over the weekend I got the hang of it. I learnt that if you smooth out a a shape it creates more faces and corners theirfore you are able to make more intakate shapes. I found this out when experimenting too try and make my church, however I smothed it out to much at first but I was able to g o back.

Week 2

The beginnings of our design where due this week, so I just practiced using a reference whilst building my church model, which helped with building the different forms and shapes of the church. However one thing I did struggle with was creating holes in shapes, this is something I should improve on in the coming weeks.

We where meant to have our final shape however mine got deleted, I was struggling to create a church anyway so this was my opportunity to try something els. I felt a space ship would be a good way to create different shapes.

Week 3

I we where using uv mapping on our objects since mine was a space ship I chose an electrical surface image which I then uv mapped on to the s[ace ship the problem was that because their where so many faces on the space ship with varying shapes and sizes, the lengths and surface areas of the faces varied a lot, so sometimes the texture showed up slightly pixelated, so when I went onto uv mapping I managed to make the texture look proportionate to each face.

Week 4

This week we provided lighting and rendered our objects, we learnt the different types of lights we could use, and that we could make them different colours.

I had to be particular in where I positioned my light as to not drought half of my space ship, but to evenly light it whilst highlighting the many crevasse and shapes in the surfaces. I opted for I blue and a pink as I felt they worked best with the silver texture of my space ship.

When rendering the ship it turned out darker than expected, so I had to go back ad use stronger lights.

Week 5

This week we began out walk cycles. We began by first observing other people walking whilst observing the way the legs moved then the arms, and how they moved together. The teacher got us to some life drawing studies of people walking, although we where drawing frames.

We started off with a basic stick walk and where shown some examples.

We where then set a task of creating a character that walked in a Sertain emotion.i wanted my character to walk in a gruff of moody way. When drawing him he slowly became a skin head. I didn’t want to work with thin limbs so I designed him with baggy clothes, I wanted to try and animate creases in the clothes as he walked.

Week 6

This week we started to animate simple stick men. I didn’t realise that I would also have to think about zoom in and zoom out and also the height of the person when walking. First I focused on the legs having the back leg black and the front leg white so that I could differentiate them. Then I worked on the arms which moved along accordingly with the legs I took into account that my characters arms may move different as he is holding a different emotion after I had finished both the arms and the legs in the lesson I went onto plan what my character would look like, I decided that he would have his hands in his pocket and have his head low and peering forward to make him appear gruff and moody. I would have his legs stride forward to also bring in a sense of obnoxiousness.

Week seven

This week I began to start my main character walk. I wanted him to look like my character turn around so I traced an image of my character turnaround and imported it into Adobe animate as the starting frame. This made my character look more illustrative when animating I kept his face the same focused on his, arms and shoulders as I wanted that to be a big swing in them I mainly focused on this week.

Week 8

This week I’m falling behind as I need to complete this animation however I am not finished. I think this is due to my lack of time control this week I’m focusing and reviewing his whole body as he moves and once swift walk. i’ve made a bigger dip in his stride. He moves further down in his walk and up again quickly to give off that sense of stride and Gruffness. i’m yet to add colour or finish the animation completely so that it is walking in the same place. This is something I’ll have to catch up on in later weeks.

Week 9

This week we learnt how to use after effects which I have used before but needed more of a reminder of how to use it give them templates to use and learn how to move them different directions. I got the hang of this fairly quickly and began to sketch up, my background.

Week 10

I have been ill a lot this week, so I haven’t managed to get that much done on my background so this lesson I have mainly been sketching my background. I like the idea of an alien setting. I’ve looked back in my sketchbook. Some of my old world building references took a number of elements from each and was able to divide something on my iPad at first I put in the big shells, however because of how detailed they are it would’ve taken a long time to draw them and I wanted there to be a gift in the after effects animation so I wanted to keep this simple simple so I drew a black stick cat walking like a human without a tail and began animating that.

Week 11

This week I started my final Adobe effects animation. The teacher had to help me a lot with the software in the end as I didn’t know as much as I thought I did however I wanted to keep the animation simple in it so I didn’t need to do anything to complex as the setting of my background Didn’t need it. I had trouble at first with the speed of all the components moving together. I wanted my cat to move at a normal and natural pace so I needed to make sure that the ground wasn’t moving too fast because at first I’m move the ground too quickly and the cat was walking at a slow pace so it made it look like the cat was gliding across the floor, which I didn’t want move slower and slightly quicker at 13 frames per second as were as before it was working at 11 frames per second.

The cacti were moving at the same place as the ground as they were connected to the ground. I’m not only use them to create depth but also create any patches in the background as the background had to be doubled and flipped. It created a deep line in the middle but looked very off and unnatural so I use the cacti to cover this line as to make it look more natural. The clouds were something I wanted to emphasise in this animation so I made them move very quickly in the opposite direction of the way the cat was walking. I use this to my advantage by adding wind sound effects which created an experience of a storm which is something I wanted to achieve.

Week 12

I am on a tight schedule and last time I checked I couldn’t find my finalised video of my cat walking on the ground. This may be because it was on the original computer. It’s just something I’ll have to check tomorrow otherwise I’ll have to do the same animation again tomorrow.

[thewingedmuse]

if you pay attention, there's magic everywhere 🌌

what makes you feel alive?

very often, it's the little things that you hold special.

stars. the gentle wind brushing across your face. a nostalgic melody you knew since childhood. a hobby.

could be anything.

you can learn a lot about a person just by knowing what makes them feel alive.

well then, are you ready to know your future spouse one step further?

Pick-a-Pile — “What makes you and your future spouse feel alive?”

Pile 1 ✨ Pile 2

Pile 3 ✨ Pile 4

Pile 1

𝓨𝓸𝓾

Cards: Seven of Cups (r), Nine of Swords (r)

You feel to be a romantic person. The scent of flowers invigorate you. You love to take a stroll in gardens. You also appreciate elegant floral arrangements. A beachside wedding might be a dream of yours since a long time ago. The ocean has the power to calm you and excite you at the same time. I also see crystalline headdresses. They look bridal.

You are someone who enjoys pampering themself. You delight in good perfumes. You like to indulge in self care and skin care to give your skin that extra love. The Eiffel tower could be significant for some of you, because it is a symbol of love and a milestone that you wish to achieve.

You're also a dreamy person. You often get lost watching the clouds, trying to figure out the shapes gives you a sense of childlike joy. You like to live in the present and have no problem immersing yourself in each moment. This quality of yours among others intrigue your future spouse. Your joy and peace are contagious. Some here love the rainy weather. You like wearing raincoats or taking your favourite umbrella and to go walk on water puddles.

For some of you, you shower your pet with so much love! You also enjoy a nice sleep with aromatic air purifier cleansing your space. You like sleeping in and to have no obligation to wake up early. You enjoy sleeping with music on, some here like asmr before bed. Massages are another indulgence of yours.

𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓮

Cards: The Tower, The Sun

Your future spouse is someone hardworking and not afraid of toil. Working from the grounds up and getting hard-earned rewards make them feel alive and accomplished. They are usually grounded and serious. They don't let little things control or alter their mood. They do enjoy a good sprint and working out at the gym. They like a blend of movement and stability in their lives. They are devoted to their work. Some of them might be accomplished in their line of work. Could own a business or a job that involves working with or managing people.

They're also very giving emotionally. They shower their loved ones with care. They always try to stand in someone's shoes to try to understand how they feel even if they are not always able to. They are good with children.

This would only apply to some: they like to occasionally draw or read children's stories to kids he might take care of. Could be relatives' kids, neighbours', etc. I don't really get the vibe that they have kids or they work with kids, so just babysitting occasionally.

Pile 2

𝓨𝓸𝓾

Cards: Page of Cups, The Hermit

That accomplishment that always makes you feel proud of yourself and motivates you to do even better. Even if it might be trivial to others it is a big thing for you because it is a reminder to yourself that you are capable of accomplishing what you set your mind to. You have a very strong heart. Not many things can swerve you.

I keep seeing a jewellery box. It is connected to many beautiful memories with friends and people from your past, possibly when you were in high school. You reminisce those days so much. They were some of your happiest moments.

For some of you its a tattoo that means to you a wake-up call. The tattoo is a reminder to yourself to always try your best and to not return to your old self anymore.

You are not lost anymore. The old days are gone. You now have a direction to work towards, a purpose to keep fighting for. Sometimes you might wonder if you truly found a direction. Yes, yes you have. If it gives you a sense of purpose then keep walking towards it. The light might be dim right now, but try taking a few more steps. You'll get there eventually. And you'll be glad that you never gave up.

𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓮

Cards: Ace of Pentacles, The Devil (r)

Very optimistic energy here. They are a happy go lucky person. They believe - or better said they're willing to believe - that all paths/any paths will lead them to a beautiful place. 'Willing' is the keyword here, because despite the fact that life is not all sunshine and rainbows, they are willing to believe that there are better days ahead. This mindset is a conscious choice, not a default by nature, but they have kept this positive mindset for so long now it has become a default.

They are a child at heart. They see and believe in the best of people. They always try to offer what they could to help others. Some of them draw for a living and sell their artworks online. Some have a monthly subscription programme going on. They like to draw a person's face and portray the different, vibrant emotions going on. Being able to bring out life in their drawings makes them feel alive. Some of them have gardening as a hobby.

I hear firecrackers, very loud music or concerts, being in the front rows, getting front row view of all that excitement. They have frequent access to front row or VIP seats because they have good friends that work in the music or show industry. They also like card games. Some of them really like dragonfruit because of that wild shape. They do like to travel but haven't been to faraway places because of budget issues. They like the vacay vibes of staying in nice hotels. They might wear nice clothes or designer clothing that make them look stylish. They always look very well-dressed and prepared. Like to smile. Eloquent but still casual. They can be everyone's best friend.

Pile 3

𝓨𝓸𝓾

Cards: Seven of Swords (r), Queen of Wands, Ace of Cups

You shine in every obstacle. Your mind works quick and you always see the situation in a clear way, not confused by irrelevant details. You are full of fiery energy and are a natural leader. Your energy is rugged but peaceful, like the eye of a storm. You are an independent survivalist; resourceful with an intuitive charm. You are street smart. To call you a pathfinder would be apt, for you always find your way out of tough situations. You do not fear hardship, you mold hardship to your own path. You are able to work from scratch and create a grounded foundation for yourself. You do not need companions but you appreciate loyalty in those who earned your friendship. You treasure solitude because you are a lone wolf who fears no loneliness. You certainly know that you have a lot to offer but you are also a lot to take on. You know your worth. Whoever you will be with will be able to handle you at your worst to see your best, and still decide to stick with you for the tempest you are. You have a "take it or leave it" attitude when it comes to romantic or platonic relationships. You will not shave your edges just to fit inside a box. You are unapologetically you.

You are not selfish when it comes to giving love, however you are not selfless either. You look for quality and reciprocation in a relationship, no matter romantic, familial or platonic. You go all in when you offer your cup, but you will be picky and need to be throughoutly sure of that person. This also means that you treasure yourself to the fullest degree. You preserve such love for yourself that no one can ever tear you down because you are self-assured and self-reliant. You nurture yourself back to health every time you get knocked down. Many see your splendour and admire this strength in you.

Now to the more light-hearted stuff. You enjoy intricate details in clothing, designs and architecture. The knots, the artistry, the binds, the texture. You like accessories and clothing that show personality and intricate textures. You let your vibes speak for you whenever you enter a room.

𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓮

Cards: Ten of Swords, Ten of Cups

This person carries a soft feminine energy. This is not a comment on their gender or sex, because one can be any gender and still carry a feminine or masculine essence, or a blend of both and this essence can shift depending on their energy. Your future spouse has gone through a lot. They are in a vortex of cleansing energy now, washing away the old and scarred, welcoming new changes. They are wrapping themself in a lot of love. They appear to me wrapped in rose petals, a symbol of them wrapping themself in self love. The petals smell sweet and dewy. They are very in touch with their emotions and feminine energy. They might have just hit rock bottom but all is not lost yet. They are an adept at constantly renewing themself. Their smile is defiant in the face of hardship. Even when they have hit rock bottom, they smirk knowing that the next sunrise is nigh.

They are a dreamer at heart, a bit of an idealist. They see the world through rose-tinted lens. They wish to be a homemaker. They dream of a peaceful life with their family and days that promise rich happiness; nights of loving embrace. However, they can lack in self love sometimes. On days where anger, resentment and hopelessness creep into their heart they have a tendency to react with self pity and self loathing. Their waters run deep. They feel emotions acutely. But after every storm there is a period of cleansing. One day they might have drenched in self loathing, the next day they will come back with full force. They are a bit chaotic like that. They need someone who will understand their cycles and offer them the kind listening shoulder and a helping hand. They are someone very stubborn and self-reliant though. They have pulled themself out of every mess, so trust that they will not be reliant on you or anybody else. They've got everything figured out, they say.

They have a lot of empathy and love to share. They will not always let it show. It might be blocked when they are experiencing emotional shutdown. This love and empathy flows like a river always underneath their currents. They wish for nothing back with the love they readily give to others. You'll see them when you meet them.

Pile 4

𝓨𝓸𝓾

Cards: The Emperor, Four of Cups

I sense laid-back energy. You enjoy the company of yourself and a few close friends. You enjoy familiarity and being in your own bubble. Some here like rap music. Your energy is a mix of carefreeness and stability. Carefree as in you welcome new changes and new people with open arms. You are usually chill and nonchalant. This makes people feel at ease when they speak to you. They feel they are able to relax and just be themselves. You might be who people go to when they need a listening ear or someone to give them advice. You view things in an objective point of view but still empathetic and wise with your expression, for it is easy for you to empathise with people's feelings. You are also at a place of stability mindset-wise. You are not an overthinker. Instead, because you don't waste time thinking and obsessing over things, you feel truly happy and content at heart.

You love it when someone clicks with you on a mental or spiritual level. You love it when they stimulate your mind and make you feel something. You are not expressive physically, you always present yourself in a fluid, calm, neutral manner but when you truly connect with someone you'd feel this instantaneous joy vibrating from every cell in your body and you'd unknowingly smile so much. It's a dreamy, content kind of smile that melts hearts! You might not realise it, but your smile and nonchalant body language is very charming.

𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓮

Cards: The High Priestess, Two of Swords

They are of an introverted nature. They do not like to reveal much of themself if they do not feel inclined to. They are aware that this gives them a shroud of mystery. They unknowingly collect admirers because of this quiet charm they have. Whatever happens in their life, they find comfort in solitude with their hobbies. They might be into astrology and divination. They love observing the cycles of the moon and write informative resources on astrology and possibly witchcraft. They don't absorb information blindly. They rely on their higher self and intuition to guide their path. They like the mainstream and also the obscure. They are eclectic as they take from different beliefs what resonates with them and incorporate their own touch in their practices. They pride themself in their individuality and creativity. They have no problem expressing their eccentric self. They expect their future spouse to be someone comfortable with expressing their own individuality as well. They are accepting of others and adventurous. They are the “aunt/mum friend” in their friend group!

There are some things within their heart that they are not ready to let go of. I'm not going to dwell deep into this pain as it is private to them. But know that as carefree or nonchalant as they might appear to you, every person has a history that can be both dark and painful. I trust that this relationship will be both healing and loving. When you meet them, look into their eyes. They carry mysteries too dark to see in the light, they have a story to tell if they deem you worthy.

[elysiadjarin]

Day 1: Somnophilia

Day 1 of Kinktober! The first prompt is of course, somnophilia. Here’s my masterlist for my Kinktober challenge.

Warnings: Minors DNI, this is 18+ only content. Consensual somnophilia, cumplay, unprotected sex, nonhuman character, exophilia

Tags: Hat Man x reader, exophilia, kinktober

He Comes at Night

At first, you hadn’t been sure whether it was just another case of sleep paralysis, or actually something… else.

He always came at night, standing in your doorway as you lay on your back, unable to move. Though you were used to sleep paralysis and the oftentimes terrifying figures that came along with it, this one had been different every time it showed up. It just stood in your doorway, never really moving, just watching. You never felt the usual fear that came along with most sleep paralysis demons, just a sense of… calm.

It had gotten to the point where you’d simply learned to ride it out, accepting the calm of its presence until you fell back asleep. If anything, you’d started feeling a sense of comfort from its presence. Even living alone, you felt as though it were there as another presence, just to keep you some company. You’d even thought with a flash of amusement that maybe it was there to protect you.

But that was until a few nights ago. You’d found yourself abruptly awake again, immobile in bed. But it had been different. Your eyes wouldn’t open, and you distinctly felt something heavy on your blankets, pinning you to the bed. It felt far more tangible than anything else you’d ever experienced in a moment of sleep paralysis, and it unnerved you.

Of course, that’s when you heard… that. A whisper, slithering around you, crawling against your sheets as tangibly as the weights.

Sssso delicioussss. A poke at you. He’ssss finally not here. Hey, are you… awake?

Despite the situation, it wasn’t so much fear as annoyance that gripped you in the moment. If this sleep paralysis demon was enacting paralysis on you, why would you be able to respond?

A low cackle raked down your spine. That’sssss right, you can’t move, can you. Well, you won’t need to, sssssoon. Don’t worry, the chilling voice sneered, I’ll make ssssure you can feel it.

You’d just started to feel the panic set in when the weight was ripped off of you. A loud, fearful shriek pierced through the room, followed by a distinct crunching and gurgling.

I didn’t mean to, Hat Man, have merccccccy— The voice choked off in the thick air, just as your eyes snapped open.

Thick, black slime dripped from the mangled, gangly body that hung limply in the air. The figure that had been standing in your doorway every night now stood by your beside, a giant arm outstretched as dark talons clenched around the smaller creature. The black ichor dripped from its claws, and it threw the broken body down on the floor like a rag doll. It turned its head toward you again, but relief had crashed through you at its appearance.

The tall figure, now that it had appeared so close to your bedside, clearly towered at least seven feet tall. But even when it bent its whole body over, face nearing yours, you still didn’t fear it. It had leaned over, close enough that you could imagine that you felt its nonexistent breath on your face. Then it brushed against your forehead, as though it had kissed you gently back to sleep. You’d fallen back asleep as though knocked out.

And now, as you stood at your kitchen counter, holding a mug of tea, your mind had started to wander. Specifically, you’d started to wonder about your mysterious guardian. What had started out as a private sort of joke had turned into a reality, and you weren’t entirely sure what to make of it. The sensations and feelings had been far too concrete to be just a hallucination or just part of another sleep paralysis experience. Even now, you could still feel the sensation of the soft, gentle wisp of shadow brushing across your forehead.

Sighing, you dumped the mug into the sink and headed for bed, pulling at the hem of your large T-shirt. In the room, you slid off your shorts and put them on a chair, only in your underwear and shirt to sleep. Sitting on the edge of the bed, you took a moment to glance around the room. Your mind wandered to the weird, creepy spirit from the night before.

Tentatively, you decided to speak into the darkness. “Hey… I don’t know if you’re here right now, or—or listening, but… Hat Man. If you’re there, thank you. For saving me,” you said, tugging at your shirt. “I know I usually can’t move or talk, but… if you want company, you can come sit or lay down.” A little embarrassed at your own offer, you flopped back on the bed and rolled under the covers, burying your face in your pillow.

Even if it — he? — were there listening and you weren’t just talking to thin air, what would he think of your invitation? Was that too forward? Or weird?

You weren’t sure when exactly you fell asleep, but you certainly jerked awake sometime later when the bed next to you dipped. Your eyes opened, this time, and you saw the hulking figure almost meekly slide into bed beside you. His weight made your body slightly tip towards him, and he shifted to face you just in time to catch you against his chest. You noticed, now fully pressed against him, that he did have a slight, dusky sort of warmth, like the faint touch of a sunbeam filtering though curtains.

His giant talon paused, and he seemed to vacillate, as though unsure what to do with himself now that he was there. Tentatively, his fingers brushed against your arm. Your body seemed to gain a little bit more movement, just enough for you to sigh and lean further into his chest. He made you feel safe, and his presence was comforting. He didn’t seem to mind your advances, so you decided not to feel guilty as his giant arm wrapped around your back.

A soft, wispy hum escaped you, and you let yourself relax with the minimal movements the paralysis seemed to be allowing. You half-wished you could talk, just to speak with him. But at the same time, you could feel the drowsiness descend again. He felt too comfortable, and the solid weight of his body against yours made you melt like putty into the bed.

As you fell asleep, you swore you could feel the Hat Man brush another soft kiss to your forehead.

~

“Whoa, wait, you got yourself a Hat Man?” Your Tiefling coworker gave you a surprised look. “They usually only come into your life because they’re drawn in some way to protect you. Have you been doing okay? Staying safe?”

You nodded. “Well, I mean, now I am thanks to him,” you clarified, eyebrows furrowing. “What with my sleep paralysis and that weird… other thing.” You shuddered a little in disgust at the memory. “He’s been protecting me from whatever that thing was, I’m assuming.”

Harlow gave you a long look. “I didn’t want to really bring this up before, but do you know of anything in your heritage that might be… well, attractive to spirits? I’ve noticed before that you seem to draw the attention of non humans.”

You sighed, shoulders slumping. “Well, you’re not wrong,” you admitted, rubbing your arm. “When I was born, my grandmother told my parents that I had ‘the blood of a beacon,’” you said. “I had a talisman she gave me, but… it’s been years, so maybe the potency has worn off.”

He nodded. “Probably. Especially if you have beacon blood; I’m not surprised you drew a Hat Man to protect you. You might as well be the Ultimate Desire for them,” he remarked.

Your eyes widened at his comment. “Ultimate Desire?” you asked, startled. “I mean, I know that my blood is attractive to spirits for its potency in spirit energy. But what does Ultimate Desire mean? And why would Hat Man want that?” You noted that he called it a Hat Man. So it apparently was a type of spirit or entity.

“Hmm.” Harlow pursed his lips. “Well, an easy way to put it would be… the Hat Men are guardians of sources of energy like you. They’re fueled by the energy you have, so… it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that he’s a personal bodyguard manifested by your beacon blood. The more your proximity or attention ‘fuels’ him and the more energy you give him, the stronger he’ll be and the better defense.”

You nodded thoughtfully. “Huh. So I’m basically… the ultimate source, I guess. I mean, for Hat Man.”

“Yep!” Then he gave you a sly grin. “So, you gonna get up close and personal with him?” His eyebrows wriggled at you teasingly.

Flushing, you reached over and shoved his shoulder. “Harlow, seriously!” you groaned.

He laughed, rubbing his arm exaggeratedly. “Aww c’mon, I’m just saying. He’s basically the one least likely to betray you. In other words, the safest way to get laid—“

You flounced off, leaving him to laugh and try to wheedle his way back into your good graces. Still, your mind wouldn’t stop wandering to the Hat Man. Wondered how much safer you’d feel if he decided to be just a little more handsy…

Whacking your face with your binder, you shook your head and scolded yourself. Really, Harlow must be influencing you more than you expected.

~

You slumped against the counter, groaning.

Maybe Harlow really had gotten to you, more than you’d really anticipated at first. His words kept ringing through your mind, leading to thought trains that you hadn’t really anticipated.

He’s a personal bodyguard… The more your proximity or attention ‘fuels him’ and the more energy you give him… He’s basically the one least likely to betray you.

With a defeated sigh, you picked yourself up and dragged yourself to your room. You’d wanted to go to bed early, for more reasons than you’d care to admit to yourself. Still, even as you turned the lights off and went to go change, you wondered if he would return tonight. If he’d still join you. If he’d stay.

Tugging at the T-shirt you’d slid on, you hesitated for only a moment before sliding your underwear off. Tossing it aside, you slid into bed, rolling onto your side and staring at the empty space across from you. Reaching out, you smoothed your hand against the sheets.

“I wish you were here, Hat Man,” you whispered into the quiet darkness.

To your surprise, your body almost instantly froze. A dark shape walked into view by the side of the bed, and the now-familiar talons lifted the sheets to slide into bed beside you. You vaguely wondered if the sleep paralysis the whole time had just been the spirits and now your Hat Man having an effect on you thanks to the lure of your blood.

Before you could think too much about it, though, the burly figure slid closer. Still, he didn’t hold you like he had before, and a pang of disappointment rushed through you. His arm lifted, then he seemed to hesitate.

Your body loosened a little, giving you that smidgen of movement you’d been granted last time. Without even a moment of thought, you rolled forward and snuggled into his chest again, the dusky warmth of his body soaking into you again. You sighed, gazing at the lines of his chest and the slashed scars that crossed the dark planes. Almost thoughtlessly, you traced your fingers against the edges of the scars.

You wondered how he’d gotten them. Were you the reason? Because he protected you? A pang of guilt ran through you for a moment.

He shifted, finally putting his arm around you again, as though he’d been waiting for the permission. His head bent a little, and he carefully seemed to nuzzle your hair, as though checking on you.

A little sleepy, you glanced up at him, noting the curve of his jaw. “Hi,” you breathed, your murmur quiet and wispy. Still, he pulled back and seemed to observe you curiously. His eyes, you finally noticed, had a faint sort of pale blue glow, dim in the darkness and only obvious from how close you were.

“Thank you,” you whispered, every word an effort. “For— this—“ Your fingers slipped across the lurid scars on his chest, your eyes starting to slide closed. But you fought it for a moment, determined to just… thank him. Properly. Mustering as much energy as you could, you sluggishly forced yourself up a little, just enough to brush your lips against his chin, the closest part of his face you could reach.

The talons tightened briefly against your waist, as though they’d convulsed in surprise. He seemed to freeze in front of you, processing what you’d just done.

You let out a sleepy hum, the drowsiness descending on you far faster than you would have liked. You wanted to talk with him. You wondered if he had a voice.

~

Harlow took one look at you. “Ohhh, someone’s sexually frustrated.”

You groaned, burying your face in your hands. “I can’t— Harlow,” you whined, feeling your entire face heat up.

He leaned against your desk with a sympathetic grin. “Look, if I call you out it’s only because I’m in the same boat or I’m about to help you. In this case both applies. Anyway, so, spill the tea.” He tilted his head, his polished horns gleaming under the office lights.

You sighed, then confessed everything to him. From the way you’d started feeling about your Hat Man to the way you’d started to… fantasize. Frustrated, you ran your fingers through your hair.

“I just… I don’t know if it’s because I’m lonely and he’s there, or if I— I don’t even know,” you sighed, closing your eyes in defeat. “I just don’t know.”

He chuckled, reaching over to pat your arm. “Look, like I said, Hat Men are there for protection. And by the sounds of it, yours is actually attracted to you. Spirits and entities like him don’t actively search for contact like that if they’re not interested in it.” He pursed his lips. “Not to mention, if you do actually get some— how big is he?”

You gave him a half-hearted glare. “Harlow—“

He snickered. “How tall is he. Seriously, you’re the one with the dirty mind here.” He flashed you that infuriating smirk as he teased you.

You rolled your eyes, giving up. “I don’t know, probably around seven feet? It felt like it, anyway, when he was standing beside the bed.”

“Oh so he’s stacked.” Harlow cackled. “But really, as I was saying, if you do bag that one, it’s quite the mutual benefit. It’ll be a direct method of energy transfer, not to mention that he’s absolutely probably going to be loyal to you if he gets those kinds of privileges.” He shrugged flippantly. “But that’s besides the point. Here’s what I’m going to suggest, so take this as you will.”

You left work that evening with your face burning but a solid plan from Harlow. You’d figure out later if you wanted to smack him or thank him.

~

That night, as you crawled into bed, you let out a breath and sat there, clutching the blankets. Biting your lip, you glanced toward the door.

“I hope you’ll join me again, tonight,” you ventured, calling out into the darkness of your room. Swallowing, you twisted the sheets in your fingers. “And… of course, you don’t have to, but… I’d love to be able to… to talk to you. Or— or hear more about you. If you can or want to communicate. I just…” You sighed.

“I don’t know if I have to not move when you’re around. I’m not sure how that works, but either way, I— I like having you around,” you admitted. “So… thank you. For protecting me. I hope you stay. You’re welcome to make yourself at home, here.” Taking one last glance at the door, you turned over and lay down. You self-consciously rubbed your legs together, almost embarrassed by your lack of clothing besides the T-shirt.

Would it be too obvious? Was it too much? Or maybe would that be enough-?

The bed behind you dipped just as you felt yourself seized by the paralysis again. But this time, it already felt minimal, as though the tight hold had been laxed even more than before. You rolled back, feeling your back hit the warmth of his chest. Every night, it seemed that he gained a little more solidity and form, and even more of a distinct body heat. The large arm wrapped around you again, sliding across your side and down your belly, talons slipping under your waist.

You hummed, the calm and contentment washing over you again with his presence. “Hi,” you murmured, your fingers managing to curl around one of his talons.

This time, to your mingled surprise and delight, you felt the soft huff of air against your neck like breath. It wasn’t really a sound, but it was something a little more. His face nudged against your neck and shoulder, while his lower body curled up as though to surround you as much as possible. Your heart pounded, almost giddy with the happiness that rushed through you.

“Missed you,” you breathed, your words less slurred than before. You weren’t fighting the sleepiness as hard tonight, and you wondered if it really was an effect that your Hat Man had on you or if it was something else. Still, you relished it.

His movements behind you paused, and you panicked for a split second, wondering if you’d scared him away. But then he nuzzled against you again, another huff washing over your neck. In the next moment, you heard a soft, rumbling growl, so deep that you almost wondered if you’d imagined it. The moment you heard it, your breath hitched. Your stomach clenched at the sound, heat pooling between your legs.

Your teeth sank into your lower lip helplessly, your entire body both aching and on fire where he touched you, held you. Chest heaving with a burning breath, you tried to control your reaction, suppressing your shiver. You didn’t want him to leave. Wanted him to stay.

Like a whisper, words bloomed in your mind, so softly that it took you a moment to realize you didn’t hear them aloud. So pretty. So soft, so kind. The deep voice, laced with a soft Brooklyn accent, took you off guard as it slithered through your mind.

Your back arched slightly, heat splashing across your cheeks. Before you could quite stop yourself, the way you arched made your ass press back against him. A soft gasp wrenched from your lips as you felt something distinctly hard and thick press back against you. It twitched slightly, and you could feel something damp soak into your T-shirt, smearing against your skin.

A low grunt sounded behind you, just as his hips jerked away. Abruptly, his body started to slide away from you, as though he were going to leave.

The desperation flashed through you, and you found yourself suddenly free to move. You rolled over, hand reaching out.

The both of you completely froze. Your eyes, wide open, riveted on his, your fingers splayed across the scars on his chest. His blue eyes, dim but clearly focused on your face as his chest heaved under your hand.

“Please,” it spilled from your lips, quiet and desperate in the silence. “Don’t leave.”

After a moment, he gingerly lifted his hand and reached for your face, talons barely brushing across your cheek. The whisper floated through your mind again. Sorry… The embarrassment was clear in his voice, and a pale blue flush spread over the area of his cheeks. For some reason, it made him even more endearing.

“You don’t have to be,” you whispered back, sure that your own cheeks were flushed with arousal and embarrassment.

He drew closer again, as though he couldn’t help himself. His face neared yours. So pretty. So warm. Sweet. The murmur was followed by the revealing of his mouth. A maw that split open the dark silhouette, black tongue sliding over sharp fangs. Wouldn’t want ta take advantage, sweetheart. Your acceptance of his advances seemed to embolden him. Don’t wanna be too greedy.

You swallowed. “I… I want you to.” Your breath quickened a little, glancing down at his maw. “You can… I— I want you to have my energy,” you offered shyly.

The eyes flared, trailing down your body. Want you. Soft. Sweet. Pretty. He seemed fixated on the description, repeating them again. Still, you couldn’t help but find yourself liking his attention.

“You can have me. Whenever.” You bit your lip briefly. “Even if I’m asleep, if you need energy… if you— if you want.”

His breath washed over your cheek as he bent closer than ever before. Kind. His telepathic voice washed over you, saturated with adoration. Kind to Varen. His tongue gently swiped over your cheek.

You half-whimpered. “Kiss?” you pleaded, desperate for more contact.

His mouth slid across yours, gentle and without a hint of teeth. His tongue flickered over your lips, and you welcomed it. His tongue slid across yours, lithe and gentle. His talons wrapped around your waist again, pulling you into his chest. His name slipped from your lips, soft and needy, and he responded instantly in the way his body shifted closer, half-pinning you under him. His lips slid across yours, trailing down your cheek, your jaw, your throat.

To your frustration, you could feel yourself getting almost unbearably sleepy, the drowsiness tugging at you again. You suddenly wondered if it had to do with him drawing on your energy, feeding off of it, but in the next moment you were completely distracted by the way he gently rutted against your thigh.

Despite your best efforts, you fell asleep.

You dreamed.

Dreamed of Varen, mostly, your mind fantasizing about his claws wrapping around you, pushing you further into the bed, hands wandering further. Of him sliding your T-shirt up, tangling his talons around it, using it as leverage to keep your body still as he slid his cock between your thighs. You swore you could feel it, could feel his talons pricking faintly against your skin as he rutted between your thighs, his tongue dragging over your shoulder and up the arch of your neck.

You could even feel the way his precum started dribbling down your skin, smearing across your thighs, mingling with your own wetness, coating his cock as he slid it against you. And then his cock angling up, just as his talons tightened around your hips and pulled you down against him. His tip slid into you, just as his breath washed over your shoulder.

You woke up as Varen’s maw closed over your shoulder and he pulled you all the way down onto him. Still groggy and half-disoriented from waking up, you could only let out a strangled whine and arch your back, unwittingly pressing yourself further against him. The insistent throb of him inside you and the way your body clenchedaround him was proof that it wasn’t just a dream.

You were still groggy, whimpers spilling from your lips as you lay there pliantly, not resisting anything he was doing. You stayed half-asleep, already blissed out just by the sensation of him filling you.

So good. His soft accent curled through your frazzled mind, satisfied and soothing. So pretty. Doing so good, sweetheart. It’s okay, you don’t have to do anything. Gonna take care of you, pretty.

The knot in your core kept tightening, coiling with every gentle thrust he made, his hips fairly rolling against you. He shifted behind you, his claws gentle but decisive as he rolled you onto your stomach. His body followed, pinning you under him as his legs tangled with yours and his talons around your hips held you in place. He mouthed your shoulder, just barely pricking you with his fangs as his tongue soothed over the soft bites.

Your eyelashes barely fluttered, your body bathed in the dusky heat of pleasure. Despite being half-asleep, the way he steadily pumped in and out of you was so careful, so gentle. You already felt entirely wrecked, tears slipping down your cheeks as you whined. The angle and the way he curled up inside you kept hitting that one spot that sent stars flashing behind your eyelids every time he thrust. Your fingers clenched in the pillow, body trembling. You were so close.

Pretty little thing. Varen cooed, infatuation saturating every word, every thrust into you. Being so good. So… close… The soft, deep growl rumbled through his chest and down into you as well.

The tight coil inside you burst, like a coiled spring. The dusky heat washed through your body in a wave of pleasure, your orgasm roiling through you with a steady but undeniable strength. Varen fucked you through it, extending your orgasm as you trembled and sobbed out his name. He never let go of you, whispering your name as he kissed your throat and praised you softly.

It wasn’t until you’d come down that he came, jerking against you and letting out a low moan. His hips pressed flush against yours, his seed spilling into you with a rush of warmth that settled in you, soaking into the rest of your body. You basked in it, utterly spent and satisfied in a way you couldn’t remember ever being before.

Vaguely, you felt Varen roll back onto his side, pulling you along with him. Though he didn’t pull out of you, he still nuzzled against your neck and curled around you, pulling you flush against him.

You fell back asleep to the sensation of warmth and comfort.

When you woke up the next morning, Varen was gone. The only proof you had of last night was a small smear of faint blue on your inner thigh and the feeling of warmth still pooling in your belly, like a kernel of heat. With a smile, you looked up at the doorway again.

“Thank you, Varen,” you said softly. “I’ll see you tonight.”

The only answer you received was a small flash of blue that flickered in the doorway.

~ Bonus! ~

Harlow took one look at you as you walked into work before letting out a whoop. “Heck yeah, bestie got laid!” He laughed, hugging you.

You couldn’t even bring yourself to be annoyed at him, though you shook your head with a sigh. “Thanks for your advice, Harl,” you said, smiling.

He grinned, throwing his arm around your shoulders. “Course, what are best friends for? Best wingman award who?” he cackled. “Anyway, tell me the dirty details. Oh, should we go celebrate?”

You shook your head. “Never change, Harl. Never change.”

[rockingrobin69]

Learning Curve

Four out of five dentists would recommend against reading this piece (1.7k). Think of your teeth! 

“Uncle Harry, did you know Uncle Draco is a weredragon?”

“A what now?” he frowned, tucking the duvet under Teddy’s chin.

“A weredragon. Like how dad was a werewolf, but with a dragon.”

Harry huffed a small chuckle. “I’m pretty sure he isn’t, Ted.” To be fair, considering all the things he’d learned about him since Malfoy adopted Teddy, Harry wouldn’t be too surprised if he actually turned out to be a weredragon. It won’t even be the most shocking discovery.  

“No, he is. All the best people are were-something, he said. So he’s a weredragon.”

Harry resisted the temptation to ask if he was a were-something, too. “All right then, menace, go to sleep. You can tell me on Sunday if you’d seen him turn.” He shook his head through all the begging, bargaining and trickery, until Teddy finally relented and closed his eyes. Harry chewed on his grin, pressed a kiss to Teddy’s forehead, murmured in his ear and left, silently closing the door behind him.

And then heading out with his usual gracefulness – accidentally knocking into the dresser with a big yelp, stepping over every creaking floorboard, smacking against the door because he wasn’t really looking ahead, he was looking for – ah. Malfoy heard him, it would seem. Standing at the kitchen doorway, leaning against it like some sort of model in a Muggle magazine, rolling his eyes. Harry noticed he was holding his breath.

“Care to join me for a drink, Potter?”

He didn’t know why he was nervous. This happened every night.

The thing is, Harry loved Teddy so much. So, so much, he even considered adopting him himself after Andromeda and all. But Harry’s stupid job was too stupid to allow it, and Malfoy was technically ‘family’. And so Harry came by every day – well, night, stupid job and all – to see how Teddy was doing. And then, every night, he’d run into Malfoy, who had no choice but to invite him for a drink. It would be wine, sometimes, or flavored butterbeer, or – and only once – straight up Ogden’s whisky. But mostly it’d be hot chocolate, which apparently was something Malfoy enjoyed, and something Harry seemed to find quite irresistible.  

Of all the new things he’d learned about Malfoy, this was perhaps one of the most surprising. He made the best hot chocolate. It was the perfect temperature, the perfect sweetness, the perfect texture. Perfection in a cup. Harry followed him into the kitchen, sat in his favorite chair (somewhat dangerously with the way Malfoy’s books were stacked so high behind his back), and turned his gaze to the fridge. Teddy’s newest masterpiece was magicked to the door, and even squinting Harry couldn’t tell what it was meant to be.

“A wolf,” Malfoy muttered as he laid a cup of hot cocoa before Harry. “Your godson is very talented, you know.”

Harry hummed into his cup, probably smearing his nose full of whipped cream. “Bet you I could draw a better one.”

He waited. Some nights Malfoy wasn’t in the mood. He’d be tired, or closed off, and they’d just sit there in silence and stare. Some nights he was restless, far too giddy to stay still, and they’d go for a walk in the forest. But tonight –

Tonight Malfoy was game. He scoffed and summoned two quills and some parchment. “Let’s see – five minutes, best drawing wins?”

Harry grinned privately to himself. There must have been something in that hot chocolate, because he couldn’t stop thinking about how he just loved spending nights at Wiltshire.  

*

“Uncle Harry,” Teddy asked one Sunday, sliding into his wellies. “Did you know that Uncle Draco had a pet a stag?”

“What?” Harry was busy arranging a beanie on his orange hair with his tongue between his teeth. “A pet stag?”

“Yeah, when he was a kid. I asked him why he likes them so much, and he told me. His name was Arold and he was very stupid, Uncle Draco said.”

“Arold?” Harry laughed, tilting his head. “Ted, you know Uncle Draco is messing with you, yeah? He never had a pet stag. You can’t have stags as pets.” Malfoy had peacocks, which he hated, and the eagle owl, which he loved, and that was that. No stags. Harry knew that. He picked up every single piece of information about Malfoy slowly, carefully, and catalogued it all in his head. Malfoy was afraid of hippogriffs (still) and very enthusiastic about nifflers. He wanted a kneazle really badly as a kid, but his mother was allergic to the fur. Harry knew these things, now. He even had this insane idea to get a kneazle for him and Teddy, a fantasy he liked to entertain from time to time. Teddy’s words brought him back to reality with his cheeks oddly flushed and his ears ringing.

“That’s what he said.”

Harry wondered why Teddy thought Malfoy liked stags to begin with, but he’d already ran outside and jumped into the nearest puddle, so the question had to wait.

Malfoy was in the kitchen when they returned, and Harry plopped down next to a steaming mug of hot cocoa. The clutter all around practically screamed we actually live here, and Harry felt the warmth of it in his bones. His eyes kept zooming from Malfoy, to Teddy, happily blabbering about the squirrel they’d seen on their walk, and something in him thrummed. We actually live here. The flavor of want was sweet and sadly familiar.

*

“Uncle Harry,” Teddy asked one night in November, a tired little bundle of curiosity that ached in Harry’s chest with affection, “What’s emveeos?”

“Huh?” Harry stopped at the doorway, eyebrows drawn.

“Emveeos. Like if I was emveeos of someone.” Teddy gave him an exasperated little look, a come on you should know this one when Harry simply shook his head. “Uncle Draco said he’s emveeos of me.”

“What? When?” Harry’s heart did a funny little leap. He still didn’t really understand the question, but apparently the mere mention of ‘Uncle Draco’ was enough to ignite this heat inside him.

“Because you always kiss me good night.”

Harry could only shrug, but the heat intensified into something near intolerable. “I dunno, Ted. Best to ask him tomorrow, yeah? You know Uncle Draco is better at these things.” Better at most things, really. Cooking, drawing, writing, teaching. He was just good at everything. Even dancing – Harry had seen photographs of a very sulky boy beautifully performing the tango, no joke. And he could make the best hot chocolate. And –

“Okay. Good night, Uncle Harry.”

“Good night, Menace. I love you.” Harry made sure to tell him that every night, even if Teddy was already asleep. It was good for him too, he thought, to get the practice.

That night there were mini marshmallows in the mug. Harry couldn’t help it anymore; he was so enamored with the – drink – it felt a little like an explosive device in his chest. He found a way to distract Malfoy for a couple of seconds while he covertly drew a vial of the cocoa, stashing it in his pocket. There had to be something wrong with it, a potion or something. There had to, or Harry was losing his mind. He’d lost enough things for a lifetime, he thought.

*

“No, Uncle Harry! Cookies first.”

It was the week before Christmas, and Malfoy was out on a last minute gift shopping trip. Harry and Teddy were in the kitchen together, in charge of lunch, though Teddy was more interested in sampling the Christmas cookies Malfoy had made. To distract him Harry suggested they try to prepare Malfoy’s cocoa – well, also so he’d have something hot to drink when he comes back, because Malfoy always suffered from the cold.

“Oh, Uncle Draco doesn’t like hot chocolate,” Teddy shook his head.

“But,” Harry didn’t know what to do with this information, which stood in stark contrast with everything he knew in this life. “He drinks it all the time with me.”

“No, no, he says it’s too sweet. He never drinks it.”

Harry felt utterly lost. The knowledge he’d collected of Malfoy was the foundation with which he was trying to build this – it was what he stupidly thought he could use to make a home. Hell, he’s been practicing – getting ready for – and all this time, Malfoy was lying?

When Malfoy returned Harry pretty much threw himself at him, boxing Malfoy at the door with all his shopping bags.

“You don’t like hot chocolate,” he said accusingly, and Malfoy’s eyes went big.

“What?”

“You don’t. And you told Ted you had a pet stag and that you’ve embossed him or something like that. But you don’t like hot chocolate.”

“I – “ Harry’s never seen Malfoy so flushed in his life, and was furious with how adorable that was. “All right. I don’t.”

“But you make it almost every night,” Harry contested. He felt a little woozy.

“Yes.” When Harry gave an odd grunt, he closed his eyes. “You like it.”

“So?”

“So…” Malfoy’s shrug was so painfully sad. “I thought you’d… come here if you…”

Harry didn’t wait for the sentence to finally come to a stop, it was taking forever. “So you just lied?” 

“No!” two grey eyes opened, sort of panicked. “I just – I’ve been trying, all right? all this time, to learn to… to get to know you. All these things about you, and then I saw how much you liked it when I made hot cocoa for Teddy and – I just. Want you to. Have. Things that you like.”

Harry couldn’t feel his tongue. His head was spinning. He didn’t know what to do about this, didn’t know what to think, didn’t know – he just didn’t know. Sadness was familiar, and losing, and being lied to, but – but this –

“Kiss him, Uncle Harry!” a little voice carried from behind him, and startled he caught a glimpse of blue hair. Hell. A quarter of his age, and Teddy was at least twice as clever. Harry leaned forward and did the only thing that made sense, and the kiss was solid enough to build on. Malfoy’s lips were the sweetest thing he’s ever tasted. Hot chocolate, no matter how good, could never compare.

Wow, I really ran away with this one... Today was day 6 of my Seven Sins of Drarry one-shot collection, and was all about - Teddy almost had it: envy! Hope you’re ready to be good, because there’s only one sin left!

Day 1: wrath   | Day 2: lust  | Day 3: sloth  | Day 4: greed  | Day 5: gluttony | Day 7: pride

[prettyboybuckley]

After a whole week of fics, here are the summaries and links to all seven of them in one post! Find them under the break!

Day 1: if i took you home, it'd be a home run for the prompt "did I make you blush" + rivals

2.7k | General Audiences | No Archive Warnings Apply | Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz | Fluff | Alternate Meeting | Nurse!Eddie

Summary:

He doesn't miss the way Buck smirks before he asks: "did I just make you blush?"

Eddie huffs out a laugh, shrugging a little, and everyone else has already found their spot, so they can't draw this out any longer.

"Loser takes the winner out to dinner?" he asks, a little hesitant but definitely hopeful.

Buck smiles brightly, nodding with clear satisfaction. "Sounds like a deal."

OR: Nurse Eddie meets firefighter Buck during the charity softball game

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Day 2: welcome to the end of being alone inside your mind for the prompt "who were you expecting" + bath time

3.6k | General Audiences | No Archive Warnings Apply | Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz | Fluff | Angst | Girl Dad Buck | Co-Parenting | Pre-Relationship

Summary:

Buck is spiraling.

Absolutely, completely spiraling. Which is something he's gotten very good at over the years, though he's thankfully also very good at doing it internally.

Ivy's been fussy all day, and she needs a bath, but the moment the water touches her skin she starts bawling her eyes out, squirming in Buck's hands, and he can feel the panic start to rise.

It's been three months since he officially adopted her, the first safe haven baby since he started at the 118.

OR: Buck silently falls apart as he doubts his choice to become a parent. Eddie is there to pick up the pieces.

Read on ao3

Day 3: it's under covers where it all begins for the prompt "stop waking me up in the middle of the night!"

2.7k | General Audiences | No Archive Warnings Apply | Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz | Bed Sharing | First Kiss | Getting together

Summary:

When quarantine came and there were fewer beds and bed-adjacent furniture in Buck's apartment than people, it made sense that Eddie would share with Buck. They're comfortable enough with each other, and Eddie is pretty sure Hen and Chimney didn't even blink when they suggested it. It was just the logical thing to do.

OR: Buck kicks in his sleep. Eddie kicks back.

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Day 4: i'm just tryna play it cool now for the prompt: "“so, have you flirted with everyone in this bar yet?” + crush

2.7k | General Audiences | No Archive Warnings Apply | Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz | Alternate Meeting | First Date

Summary:

"What do you want, Diaz?" Lena asks when they finally reach the bar. "A beer?" He nods, looking around to try and find their colleagues, but it seems there is no one else from the 136 right now.

The one person he does spot, makes him whirl back around to face the bar again. Their beers arrive and he takes his when Lena hands it to him, clinking his glass against hers in cheers.

Making his way to the bar is the tall, dark-blonde firefighter from the 118, the one Eddie saw months ago during a five-alarm fire and hasn't stopped noticing since.

The guy is so pretty, is the thing. Not just handsome or hot, but beautiful. Eddie remembers the first time he looked into those blue, blue eyes, just for a second, and he hasn't stopped thinking about it since.

OR: Eddie has a crush on a firefighter from another station and runs into him the one time he lets Lena drag him to the bar

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Day 5: i'll walk through fire for you for the prompt “skipping out on work again?” + saved from fire

3.0k | General Audiences | No Archive Warnings Apply | Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz | Alternate Universe | Getting Together

Summary:

Eddie just shrugs, and they leave him alone, chattering about something he tunes out as he stares out the window. At least, until Bobby starts briefing them on what they're walking into.

He hears the address, and his stomach turns. That's where Buck lives.

"There was an explosion somewhere in the building," Bobby tells them over the comms. "Third floor is fully engulfed, the building is unstable, and there are people trapped up there, still. There's one other firehouse on the scene already."

OR: In a universe where Buck is not a firefighter but they're still best friends, Eddie gets called to a fire at Buck's apartment building

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Day 6: is it enough to know you're mine? for the prompt: “we can create a diversion…” + high school

1.7k | General Audiences | No Archive Warnings Apply | Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz | Future Fic | Jealousy | Light Angst

Summary:

If there's one thing Buck would agree to in a heartbeat, it's that at forty years old, Eddie Buckley-Diaz looks maybe the best he ever has. The graying at his temples gives him a certain sparkle that gets Buck a little hot under the collar every time he stares too long, and the laughter lines at the corners of his eyes are enough to make his heart skip a beat.

After four years of marriage, he certainly hasn't lost his attraction to his husband yet.

The problem is that other people seem to agree about Eddie's hotness. Specifically, people who are either raising teenagers or teaching teenagers.

OR: Eddie gets flirted with during the science fair at Christopher's school. Buck gets jealous.

Read on ao3

Day 7: all the reasons i'm not good enough for the prompt: Free Choice: Maddie & Eddie bonding

4.3k | General Audiences | No Archive Warnings Apply | Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz | Light Angst | Getting Together | Maddie&Eddie Friendship

Summary:

The last person he expected to be at his house this late at night is Maddie Buckley, but there she is. She's got Jee-Yun in a car seat, the little girl sleeping peacefully, and in her other hand is a bottle of red wine.

"I, uhm, I-," she starts, cutting herself off, and Eddie waits patiently as she searches for the right words. "The second most important people in our lives, well, my second and third, are out there risking their lives and I figured we could be terrified together."

Read on ao3

[amor-immortalem]

Replaced part 2

Part 1

Genre: angst. Angst with a happy ending, fluff

A/N: The 2nd part in the replaced!mc au that I wrote a couple days ago. Enjoy! Its super long: 9 1/2 pages long with a 4.6k word count.

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Blinding lights cloud Arella’s vision as she wakes. Her head turns to the side as she blinks, seeing nothing but a white vastness. Where was she? The human pushes herself up as someone calls out to her, a woman- no she’s an angel, Arella is sure of it from the way an ethereal glow seems to emanate from her form. She takes a moment to look over the angel in front of her.

Tan, freckled skin, black hair weaved with golden strands that ended at the middle of her back in soft curls, vibrant sea-green eyes- Arella thinks she’s the most beautiful thing to have ever existed. Her dress and wings are a pristine white save for the singe marks along the outer layers of her wings’ feathers and the bottom of her dress and the arrow that pierces through the center of her chest. It doesn’t take the human long to figure out who the angel standing in front of her is.

“Lilith...”

The angel only smiles sadly at her descendant. She crouches down next to Arella, brushing her curly black hair away from her face and the tears come forth almost instantly.

“They left me...” Arella’s voice is small. “They didn’t love me anymore.”

“But they do... And they always will.” The angel pulls her into an embrace as she speaks softly. “My brothers have always taken things for granted. It’s only once they’ve lost something important to them that they realize it’s worth.”

“What do I do next? What happens now?”

“Go back to them. Not as a human, but a demon.”

“How- !?” A terrible burning engulfs Arella’s body and suddenly she’s falling. Falling down, down, down, until the bright white light and Lilith disappear from view. Her skin- it feels like its burning away as she plunges deeper.

The next thing she knows, Arella is gasping for breath as air rushes into her lungs and the smell of Mammon’s cologne invades her sense of smell, his hold nearly crushing as he cradles her closer to his chest. She can hear Diavolo speaking but his words are garbled- a jumbled mess of word salad drowned out by the fire scorching her skin from the inside out. The way her entire body hurts is all she can think about as she succumbs to the comforting darkness of sleep.

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

When she wakes, its two days later. Everything feels sharper. Her sight is better than it’s ever been. She can hear the crows cawing from the aviary on the other side of the house. She can even smell the individual scents of the brothers who were still up in their rooms and...

“You’re awake?” Melissa’s soft voice makes Arella recoil. Even as a whisper, it sounds like she’s screaming at Arella. “Oh no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your ears.”

“It’s... Please... Just let me have a few moments...”

Melissa nods and just sits quietly beside the newly awakened demon. It takes a few moments to get a hold of herself and get her newly sharpened senses in check but Arella manages to push herself into a sitting position.

“Would you like to talk?” The blonde asks softly, “I feel like we should clear up a misunderstanding...”

“What’s there to misunderstand?” Arella asks. “It seems pretty cut and dry to me... they chose you and cast me aside like a broken toy that had lost its novelty.”

“I’m sure it felt like that. And it's my fault, that much I’ll agree to. I should have never asked them to help me land a date with Satan... this wouldn’t have happened, right? I can understand if you despise me.”

Arella laughs at that. She doesn’t know why but despite being mad at six out of the seven brothers for not communicating this to her, it was entertaining to her. Was that all it was? Was all of this caused by something so simple as that? Arella knew her boys often had a one-track mind but this was so ridiculous, both on her part and theirs. She rolled off the bed as she laughed, tears streaming down her cheeks as her demon form manifested itself for the first time. Melissa only peered over the side of the bed at Arella, a worried look in her brown eyes as the laughter died down and the former human climbed back up on the bed.

“Are you... angry? With me?”

“Not with you but-” They were interrupted by the sound of three sets footsteps thumping down the hall above her head and before she knew it, Arella found herself back on the floor but this time pinned under Mammon who’s holding on to her with all of his strength as two of his brothers stood in the doorway having gotten there too late to stop him.

“Hey, Dumbass,” It’s Levi’s voice that she hears as he draws closer, “You’re going to crush her crashing into her full force like that!” The purple-haired demon tried to pull his brother away receiving a feral growl in response.

“Mammon, stop! Right now.” Arella tries to use their pact to enforce the order but.... It’s not there anymore. The Avatar of Greed only holds her tighter to him. There was nothing that would separate him from his mate- not after the way he was this close to losing her.

At some point by working together, Beel and Levi were able to pry the white-haired demon off of Arella and she sat up. That’s right... she had died so she no longer held pacts with the seven brothers. But if she had died, why was she here? Ignoring the chaos happening around her between the three brothers, she looked into the floor length mirror and softly gasped at her appearance.

A set of fluffy, feathered, black wings adorned her back while a set of horns jutted out from her head in a way that was not too dissimilar from Belphegor’s. She had black markings that framed the side of her face and reached out to just under her eyes and a crescent shaped one on her forehead. The newly turned demon only squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. She’s supposed to be dead! Why still breathing and why does she have a demonic form all of a sudden?!

As Mammon and his brothers continued to squabble over Arella, she curled in on herself, holding her hands over her ears. “All of you, just SHUT UP!” Sobs shook her body as the other demons turned their attention to her. Their voices were too loud and her ears were still too sensitive to loud sounds to the point if felt like the sensory overload was going to make her head explode.

“’Rella... I...” The Avatar of Greed, now free of Beel and Levi’s hold, reaches out to place his hand on her shoulder but is stopped when one of her wings slaps his hand away.

“Get out! All three of you... you... you should have just let me die like I wanted...”

And it's with that that the three Avatars look between each other before slowly leaving. Once the boys had gone, Melissa slowly moved over to Arella’s place on the floor, wrapping her arms around the other female as she comforted her.

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

It’s nearly midnight now as the Avatars sit in silence in the common room. They had met to discuss a way to reforge the bond they had shared with the human-now-turned-demon, but no words had been said. They all knew who should be the first of them to do this but it was the how. How did they even begin to approach her at this point? Mammon was for having no plan at all, just playing the situation by ear. It’s not like she could overpower him in anyway. What’s the worst she could do? Kick him in the shins? Not something he hadn’t survived already.

“Well, since none of ya still have a plan yet- and it doesn’t look like any of ya are gonna come up with one soon- I'm going ta see her.” The white-haired demon stands and starts to make his way toward her room with no objections from his brothers as there was no other alternative they could offer him. He knows what she’s feeling- like she was abandoned, unloved. As her mate he wanted to fix all that- that was his responsibility. His brothers could make up with her later but he needed to do this right now. He was her first after all, he needed to be the first to talk to her.

As he opened her bedroom door, Melissa was leaving at the same time.

“So, you’re back... good I was just coming to find you. I tried to explain everything but I don’t think it worked and she still seems convinced you don’t love her anymore... Obviously this is something only you can fix so I’ll just leave you two to it. Also... I think she needs help changing back out of her demon form... she keeps knocking things over with her wings and getting agitated.”

The blonde gives her friend a pat on the arm as she headed off to find the others.

Slowly, Mammon entered her room. At the sound, the feathers on Arella’s wings puffed up, the wings herself raising to make herself more intimidating to him and he has to bite his cheek to keep from laughing at how ridiculous she looks like that. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it.

“Put yer wings down, baby. Ya don’t scare me. I wanna talk to you.”

“Well, that’s funny. I don’t want to talk to you,” Arella growled. “You made your choice and it didn’t include me.” She crossed her arms as she turned her back to him. It was cute in a way.

“Then how ‘bout I jus’ do the talkin’ then? Will ya just’ listen?” He offered her a deal, watching as her wings drooped slightly and he knew he had her. Even as a demon, Arella was incapable of not lending a listening ear when asked for it.

“Fine,” She huffed. “You won’t leave until you say whatever you want too anyway but I don’t care about whatever lies you have for me. I already know the truth.”

“Sure, whatever ya say, doll.” He moved to sit on her bed, goading her into talking to him.

“What’s that supposed to mean, huh?!” She stomped over to him a pout on her face. “I’ll have you know, I’m very angry with you. You-!”

Mammon cut her off with a kiss as he pulled her down on the bed with him. The surprise was enough to shock her out of demon form as she wrapped her arms around his neck. When he pulled away, he held her gaze with his.

“I’m sorry for not bein’ there for ya... I messed up- alla us did and we’re so sorry but don’t think for a second that I don’t love ya. Ya mean the world ta me.”

“You sure have a funny way of showing it, you infuriating demon. I heard the two of you flirting in the dining room that one night... You didn’t even ask her to stop.”

“Yeah, it sure probably sounded like that, didn’t it? We weren’t flirting with each other. Melissa asked me to help her practice her pick-up lines for Satan. She ain’t interested in me and I made it clear I wasn’t lookin’ for it if she was ‘cuz I had you.” he poked a finger at the center of her chest.

“But... but... You didn’t say anything. Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped too.”

“’Cuz I’m a idiot and it never occurred to me what kinda impression you’d get from it. C’mon, Treasure, this ain’t news.” He tries to flash her a smile. “’N before I knew it, almost a year had passed... I felt really guilty and tried ta call ya... but you’d already made up yer mind... Ya got me good, kid. I learned my lesson the hard way...”

Arella frowned as she watched his eyes for any sign of a lie. “How am I still alive? How did I suddenly become a demon...? I carved that long gash up my arm deep for a reason.”

“We gave ya my blood... jus’ a small amount but it did the trick. We turned ya and ya healed up immediately.” He pressed their foreheads together. “None of us know what we’d do without ya. And the fact that we almost lost ya two days ago scares us... We’ll make it up to you somehow. Even if it takes thousands of years.”

“You, specifically, can start tonight. Do you know how many date nights or movie nights you’ve missed? How much I’ve missed just having you in bed with me? I’m not letting you go for the rest of the night!” Arella hugs him closer to her. “That’s what you can do start making it up to me.”

“Yeah, sure thing, Babydoll, but we’re gonna sleep in my room. Ya don’t need this room anymore.” he hums as he shifts his arms under her and lifts her up, carrying her up to his room for the night.

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

The pair sleeps so late into the next morning that they end up missing breakfast. By time they come remotely close to even wanting to roll out of bed, Levi is already banging on Mammon’s door.

“It's noon already, guys! Get your butts out of bed! You’ve had Arella too long! Stop being greedy with her.” It's not the Avatar of Envy’s typical wakeup call but desperate times call for desperate measures. He had a whole stock pile of games he was dying to play but was saving the initial play through to be with Arella and he couldn’t take it anymore. Unlike Melissa, she was actually in to all the niche horror games that were supposed to come out over the past year.

“What’s he ramblin’ about now?” The Avatar of Greed looks up at his door before letting his head fall back on the pillow as he groaned. “I don’t wanna get up yet.”

“Then you can stay in bed.” Arella presses a kiss to his cheek before rolling away from his grasp. “I think your brother is only interested in me anyway considering he’s not saying anything about the money you owe him.

“But I don’t want you ta go,” The demon gives his mate the biggest puppy dog eyes in an attempt to get her to come back to bed with him. “Levi’ll keep ya all day.”

“And you’ll have me all night. I promise. Besides, I missed hanging out with him.” She turns to the door. “I’ll be there shortly, Levi!”

“Fiiiiiiiinnnnnneeeeee,” Mammon groans, sulking just a little bit and Arella laughs at his reaction.

“Oh? Is that a hint of sulking I detect coming from you?” Her tone is teasing, “You- the demon who’s been ghosting me for the past eleven months to the point where I thought you weren’t interested in our relationship anymore- is sulking because I’m going to end up spending the rest of one day with your little brother? I’m starting to detect double standards here, my dear.”

“Oh, shaddup,” He chucked a pillow at her head as they both laughed. “Just go and get dressed.”

“I will,” She made a ‘hmph’ like sound before running off to change out of her pajamas. “I’m stealing one of your flannels by the way.” She informs him as she walks out of the walk-in closet fully dressed.

“The hell you are!” He scrambles out of bed and chases her down as she leaps up the stairs and makes a break for it down the hall toward Levi’s room. As she runs, Arella thinks maybe being a demon has its perks after all.

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

“So what games are we playing first?” Arella makes herself comfortable on the floor next to the third born.

“It's another time loop horror game where if you don’t solve the mystery before times up your character has a permadeath and you have to go through everything again with the suspect being a new person each time. I promise this time it won’t affect us... Maybe.”

Arella laughs at that, remembering back to that time where they had to ferret out someone’s wish before the time loop reset. “Let’s just hope for your sake it doesn’t. I dread to see what Lucifer might do to you.”

“Yeah,” the purple-haired demon smiles as they begin the game.

After a couple hours of the two demons playing niche horror games, they took a bit of a break.

“I missed days like this... The days where we’d binge anime or play games.... I wish I hadn’t gotten forced into helping the others... Initially, I wasn’t going to since we already have one couple doing gross normie things. We didn’t need another.”

Arella laughs at that. “So, who was it that twisted your arm into helping?”

“Asmo bullied me into it. They were so relentless about it that I just got fed up and caved.”

“You know what, that tracks.”

“I really am sorry... You don’t hate me, do you?”

Her eyes widen at that. “No, Levi. I don’t hate you and I don’t think I can. You know I’ve never been one to hold grudges- especially with the seven of you. I always seem to forgive you guys eventually... And it seems like you all feel remorse for what happened so there’s no need to stay mad at any of you...”

“You know... Lucifer cried for you... when he and Mammon brought your body back to us two days ago... he was crying- they both were... And that’s when we really realized what we had done to you... that you were gone.”

“But I’m back now,” the demon says softly. “And this time, you guys won’t be getting rid of me. I’ll be around for the rest of your lives and I can’t think of a better way to spend it. Now, let’s get back to the game. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to see what happens next.”

Levi only nods in return as he turns back to the tv.

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

“Arella!” Asmo links their arm with hers as they drag Arella off to their room. “How’re you feeling now? Better?”

“Uh... Yeah, thanks for asking. Where are we going?”

“My room, of course! We’re going to have a little bit of a spa day. No offense, but your skin looks absolutely trashed. Plus, now that you have a demon form, I can show you all the best oils and polishes that I use on my horns and I heard from Beel that you have the prettiest black wings that are just like Lucifer’s- okay, the pretty part I added on but still! I know some inexpensive, but quality oils to use when you preen them that’ll keep them looking pristine at all times.”

“Thank you, Asmo, I appreciate it.”

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

As the pair sat on the floor in the Avatar of Lust’s room, face masks in place, Asmo pulled out their endless collection of nail polish. They took one of Arella’s hands in theirs as they thought about what colors would work best for her that wasn’t already used for their brothers.

“How would you feel about a magenta? Or maybe- no, Lord Diavolo’s nails are black so it would be a repeat... Oh, oh what about that glittery gold that you like when we pair it with a black base? I bet you’d look good with rose gold nails too.”

“What about black with a gold design? It would be a bit different wouldn’t it plus I can’t remember anyone having designs on their nails. Aside from when you do nail art on yourself.”

“That’s genius! Why didn’t I think of that? Anyway, let’s get started.” The demon sets to work on her nails, letting out a satisfied hum once the first layer is done. While they waited for it to dry, Asmo pulled out some issues of DevilStyle for them to read. Some of their outfits had been featured in the latest issue and since some of them had been ones Arella had helped them refine months ago, they wanted her to see how their hard work paid off.

“They look amazing, Asmo.” She smiles as her eyes shine. “Is that the one we worked on together?”

They nodded. “Mhm. Mammon even modeled one of them. That one specifically, I tailored to him myself so it would look its best.”

“Can I see it? How long ago did he do this shoot?”

“Three months ago.” They turned to the centerfold. “He looked fantastic in it.”

“That he does- but then again when doesn’t he?”

“Oh, you’re just saying that because you’re biased.”

“Mmm, you’re not wrong.” and they both laughed softly at that. “So... I heard you were the mastermind behind trying to get Melissa and Satan together?”

“Yeah... It took forever too. I only thought it would take a few weeks since he’s my brother and I should know his tastes better than anyone but almost eleven months? It feels like a failure to my matchmaking skills.”

“So that’s why you were always busy with Melissa, huh? At least it worked right?”

“Thank the stars it did. But I was starting to think that it would never happen. Sorry we didn’t include you in the planning- we really should have... I really caused you a lot of pain, didn’t I?”

Arella nodded. “It hurt a lot thinking you guys had grown bored of me. Especially with Melissa being so much more than I ever could be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, look at me...” Arella makes an up and down motion with her hands. “She’s gorgeous. Long legs, blonde hair with pretty brown eyes that bring you in, skinny but not sickly looking. Right off the bat, she looked like she belonged here with you guys. And then you have me who regularly looks like a hot mess. I’m scrawny, far too skinny and I look like a midget standing next to any one of you. I guess for as much as I seem to fit in with you all, there’s always been a part of me that hasn’t. And I guess, once Melissa got here, it felt more prominent. Your little plan which took up everyone’s free time didn’t help.”

“I’m sowwy.... You’ll forgive me, right?” Asmo gave her the puppy dog eyes.

“What do you think, hmm?”

The Avatar of Lust threw their arms around her- careful of their face masks. “I knew you would. C’mon it’s time to get these face masks off.” They offered their hand to Arella as they went to go wash their faces off.

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Arella admired her freshly painted nails as she walked down the hall. Unbeknownst to her, she was being stalked by a certain white-haired demon. He was quiet, sneaking up on her before he grabbed her.

“Gotcha!” He laughed as she let out a small squeak. “You’re mine now. C’mon, we’re goin’ out.”

“Out? Out where?” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

“A date, obviously. Told ya I was gonna make it up to ya for missin’ all them date nights...” he smiled as he set her down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’m not takin’ no for an answer.”

“Alright, Alright.” she hummed. “I wouldn’t tell The Great Mammon ‘no’ anyway.” She laced their fingers together. “So, where’re are you taking me, love.”

“It's a surprise, so I can’t tell ya.” And with that the pair made their way out on the first date they’d had in months.

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

As the days went on, Arella found herself being tugged in all different directions by the brothers. There were days where as soon as they got out of class, Beel was dragging her off to a new café that had opened up that week or Belphie was taking up the rest of her free time with multi-hour-long naps- something Mammon had some choice words about.

Satan and Arella would exchange books for light reading as they sat in the library together and discussed their favorites. Sometimes Melissa would join them too, just as ecstatic about the books she’d gotten from the both of them. Lucifer would leave her teas order specifically from the human world that she often enjoyed. They had even returned to their occasional late-night chats over the same teas.

At school, Luke would often cling to Arella- not caring that she was now a demon as to him she would always just be Arella, human or otherwise- while Simeon only observed them with slight amusement, only to pull the small angel away once they had to split up for classes. The older angel had taken to calling or texting almost nightly to check on her.

Solomon-bless his heart- had started hanging around more, making various dishes for her to try at lunch and asking for her opinions on them. Having never learned from her prior experiences with the sorcerer's cooking, Arella still ate them out of both curiosity and politeness. Now that she was a demon, for some reason Arella had actually come to appreciate and enjoy the meals Solomon would make for her. The pair even joked about Arella making a pact with him but it was just that: a joke.

Now that it was months later, Arella felt even more ridiculous about ever feeling unloved by the people in her life- something they had proven untrue with their actions. Even with Melissa staying with them for an extended period of time after what should have been the end of her exchange year, Arella never felt cast aside for the blonde again. The pair had even begun hanging out together on their own without the influence of their housemates- something that Arella had wanted since Melissa first gotten there.

“So, what would you like to do today, Melissa?” Arella asked as the two women walked down the street. “I know you’re getting close to your return to the human world... its only a few weeks off.”

“Yeah... I don’t even know where to begin.” The blonde sighed. “What did you do during the last few weeks before you left after the initial year here was up for you?”

“I spent most of my time hanging out with the boys. They were all really upset to see me go... Are you planning to come back at some point? And what about you and Satan? Are you two going to keep in touch? You’re very good for each other- like two peas in a pod.”

“We’re going to, yes.” She confirmed. “I’ll still have my D.D.D. when I go back so we’ll talk and video chat through there. I’m going to miss you all though. I’ve had so much fun over the past year and half and it's all thanks to you guys.”

“I’m happy to hear you say that.” The demon smiles. “No one here is going to forget you. Make sure you try to come back at some point. They guys and I would be very happy to have you back.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Melissa hums as they enter the arcade.

After that it seemed like life had gone back to a somewhat normal house hold just with one more added on. Everything was at peace now even with some of the days where Arella feels less than good about herself. But she always had one of her seven demons there to remind her just how precious she was to them. During those times, she couldn’t think of a more suiting way to enjoy the rest of her long life.

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

Part 3 (the bad ending)

find more on my masterlist

[carryonthroughtheages]

Hello everyone!

Another year of Carry On Through The Ages is over and done! We have emotions and exhaustion, but we're so happy that this year had the hype and excitement that it did.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to all of the AMAZING creators who spent the last several months working away at their historical content!

Thank you also to the hard-working mods: @bazzybelle, @giishu, @palimpsessed, and @xivz . This fest would not have been as successful as it has been without you!

We encourage everyone to look under the page break for all the fics and art. They're all fantastic!

Here is the link to the AO3 Collection: Carry On Through The Ages 2021!

Thank you all, and until next year! 🧡🧡🧡

MONDAY:

1) sun on the sea (T) - @trenchcoat-moth : AO3 // Tumblr

Tensions run high in England, and Malcolm decides it's for the best he sends Baz to live with Fiona, where he'll be safer.

That is, until Baz's ship is attacked.

2) The Words I Long To Say (M) - @bazzybelle : AO3 // Tumblr

Simon Snow was dead.

Baz Pitch was sure of it. Simon had gone away seven years ago to fight a war in the jungle and he hadn't come home.

So, when Simon shows up in Baz's club, investigating a string of brutal murders, all Baz wants to do is hold him close and never let him go.

But these aren't the same boys from 1960 and Baz has a lot of processing to do before he's ready to believe in Simon again.

3) we are slaves to gods, whatever gods are (M) - @wellbelesbian : AO3 // Tumblr

I don’t fully understand what plagues him, but I know it’s bad, and I know it goes deeper than guilt. He didn’t want to kill his father, not really, but we were instructed to do so by Apollo. Cleanse the house of its sins, dispose of a murderer to set things right. It was only right that I join him; he was avenging my mother as much as his. Clearly, Apollo didn’t seem to consider that such an act would make Simon a murderer in his father’s place. It seems I got off fine, but as far as Simon is concerned, the vengeful spirits that once spun and danced on the roof of the palace now hunt him down, determined not to stop until he rids the world of himself.

4) World War II Era Art - @stardustasincocaine : Tumblr

TUESDAY:

1) the art of loving you (E) - @one-more-offbeat-anthem : AO3 // Tumblr

1955. London. Young love.

Forbidden love.

A year ago, starving artist Simon Snow met Baz Pitch, son of a wealthy art patron, at a party, and their days (and nights) together have been a wonderful secret.

But Simon is tired of being a secret and knows it's time for things to end.

(Baz has other ideas.)

2) Reliquary of an Arsonist (T) - @tea-brigade : AO3 // Tumblr

Simon Snow grew up a ward of Watford Abbey, but when his magic manifested in an explosive accident as a child, he became the Abbey’s anchorite—never to leave Watford’s walls, for his own protection. That is, until Abbot David sends him on an important errand…

Basilton Pitch paints portraits for his patron, Lord Grimm. But he’s never forgotten the magic he learned from his mother—nor the men who condemned her to death as a heretic. When Simon arrives and offers Baz a commission from Watford Abbey, he sees his chance to avenge his mother once and for all...and he’s willing to burn down everything in his path to that end.

But it was no coincidence that pulled these two unlikely souls together. Something more sinister is underway at Watford Abbey, and only Simon and Baz can uncover the truth before everything goes up in flames.

3) Westward Son (E) - @aristocratic-otter : AO3 // Tumblr

Simon and Baz have found each other again, but there's nowhere in Brooklyn or Virginia where they can safely be together. So now, they venture the hazards and struggles of the Oregon trail, to perhaps find a little homestead in Oregon of their own.

4) A Way Out (T) - @lying-on-the-sofa : AO3

I frown at him..“You don’t know me.”

He offers his hand. “Simon.”

Simon. I feel the name around in my mind and assign it to his face. Simon. I don’t shake his hand. They’ve still got my arms pinned. “Basilton.”

Simon nods at me. “Now we know each other. Let him go.” Very casually, he takes his other hand from behind his back. A sword, flashing. He leans on it and smiles invitingly. “Let him go.”

This time, they listen.

--

Simon Snow has been trained for years to become a tribute—one of the fighters Athens sends every ninth year into the Minotaur’s labyrinth. He wants to know the way out, if only for Penny’s sake. Luckily for him, Prince Basilton of Crete also wants a way out—off the island, where no one will know he’s the half-brother of the Minotaur.

Unluckily for both of them, they don’t exactly form the most agreeable pair.

WEDNESDAY

1) long is the road the leads me home (G) - @wellbelesbian : AO3 (Version 1) (Version 2) // Tumblr

Baz has a rather unremarkable life, and he's fine with that. Running his late mother's beloved inn with his temperamental aunt, estranged from his father and step-siblings, he's successfully convinced himself that he's better off without attachments.

Then Simon barrels into his life, guns blazing and rapier drawn, and Baz is swept up in dramatic plot he never bargained for.

Worse still, he finds he quite likes the thrill.

2) New Romantics (T) - @ninemagicks : AO3 // Tumblr

Basilton Pitch, twenty-two years old and a famed poet of the Romantic era, has fled to the countryside. In Mummers House, the fabled haunt of literary greats, he sulks himself into oblivion and awaits a sad, disappointing end to his brief years of brilliance. The cause of his downfall? None other than Simon Snow, the so-called “bad boy of English poetry”, breaker of rules and eternal thorn in his side. Baz hopes that Mummers House might mean an escape from London, from Snow and his increasingly virulent popularity... but the rain that comes has other ideas.

3) thnétos (T) - @snowybank : AO3 // Tumblr

thnétos: subject to death, mortal

a retelling of Apollo and Hyacinthus

4) A Medieval AU art piece - @thewriterxj : Tumblr

THURSDAY

1) From Eden (E) - @orange-peony : AO3 // Tumblr

I wonder if his skin is warm or cold to the touch. I tell myself it’s simple curiosity, that I’m an artist and capturing things on paper or canvas is my way to make sense of the world. That drawing him feels so natural, so I should just follow my instincts. Ebb used to say it all the time. Follow your heart. It knows where you’re supposed to go.

I wish I could. I wish I had enough money and freedom to just draw what I want. To paint him in his unattainable beauty. To draw him the way I want to. Naked and vulnerable, raw. Without frills and expensive suits.

Just Baz on paper, my fingers tracing his delicate and beautiful lines with simple charcoal.

2) Slings and Eros (M) - @palimpsessed : AO3 // Tumblr

Young god of love Simonides is tasked by his father, the god of war, to bring about the ruin of a mortal prince to punish his blasphemy. However, once Simonides sees his intended victim, he begins to have misgivings. Prince Tyrannus might have offended the gods with his very existence, but all Simonides can see is how beautiful and lonely he is.

Or, a very loose interpretation of the Eros and Psyche myth.

3) I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire (M) - @knitbelove : AO3 // Tumblr

September 1940: Going back to Watford feels different this year, and not just because England is at the brink of war with Germany and Italy. Penelope seems unsettled by everything, and Agatha is distant, and Baz is … simply not here.

What if Carry On but during the Blitz?? Yeah.

4) A Fool's Oath (M) - @thewriterxj : AO3 // Tumblr

A simple soldier is invited to join the ranks of the royal guard. He and his appointed mage arrive at the royal city to find themselves at the mercy of an unmerciful court. As he struggles to find his place in this foreign environment, he also finds himself entranced by music that only he seems to hear that floats out about the city. He makes an oath to wed whoever makes such beautiful music.

Too bad that person is the crown prince.

FRIDAY

1) Stranger Tides (T) - @tea-brigade & @xivz : AO3 // Tumblr

“If some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep, even so I will endure…” Captain Simon Snow of the Chosen One is many things—cunning, handsome, ruthless. Greedy. It’s no surprise that Snow finds a way to piss off the God of the Sea, he always manages to get himself into some type of trouble. This time, however, he’s not the only one who will suffer the consequences. Poseidon promises to not stop his pursuit until Snow and all of his men are dead.

Enter Basilton Pitch—rich, beautiful, mysterious. Suspicious. He offers the crew of the Chosen One a hefty sum to take him back to Europe from the Caribbean. And who is Captain Snow to refuse so much coin? After all, Greek gods aren’t real.

Right?

2) The wayward heir [comic] (M) - @letraspal : AO3 // Tumblr

Like a folk song, our love will be passed on. Simon Snow wants to be an artist. He used to live in Fiesole where he worked in the wool shop of his good friend Ebeneza Petty. He has now chosen to return to his native Florence in order to participate in an art contest hosted by the Pitch family, the most important bankers in all the three continents and Simon’s last chance for an art patronage. No matter how much he hates them.

But being back in Florence also brings back the memories Simon wanted to leave behind : his days as an orphan, the mystery about his mother, and once more being under the inquisitive eyes of his godfather, the new archbishop Davy. The archbishop is very same man who would never forgive him for dropping out the priesthood and ruining his secret plans against the Pitches.

The last thing Simon needed was an unbearably handsome jerk getting him into trouble on his very first day in Florence. How can focus when this man is the most annoying person he has ever met and yet his major source of inspiration.

3) Prohibition Blues (T) - @heyyyandrea : AO3

Simon Snow is a baker and aspiring playwright in Prohibition Era New York City. When he meets a handsome man at Shepherd's speakeasy who is interested in his work, he can't help but think it feels too good to be true.

4) Earth Below & Sky Above (M) - @phoxphyre : AO3 // Tumblr

In the depth of the palace of King Minos of Crete lurks a creature known as the Minotaur.

Baz, prince of Athens and chosen of the god Poseidon, has heard the stories. And now he’s volunteered to come to Crete as one of the annual tributes—to dance with the king’s bulls and fulfill his destiny. He just wants to survive the bulls, protect his people, and go home.

But what if the Minotaur isn’t a monster—but just a boy? And what if instead of slaying him, Baz fell in love with him?

A Carry On retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, set in Bronze Age Crete.

5) A 1980s AU Art piece by @stardustasincocaine : Tumblr // Instagram (Slightly NSFW)

[thatbangtanbloom]

unspoken | bts [1]

unspoken

teaser | [1]

characters: kim namjoon, kim seokjin, min yoongi, jung hoseok, park jimin, kim taehyung, jeon jungkook, reader

pairings: ot7 x fem! reader

categories: angst, fluff, smut

genre: idol!bts, idol!reader (maybe obsessive!bts??? yandere!bts???)

warnings: reader has her life TOGETHER (???appears to anyway), jungkook being sad about reader giving others (mostly tae) attention, make out on the couch, sex on the couch, all the boys kinda obsessive behavior mentioned at the end?, bts members are possessive (mostly jk!!), (uhhh may be slight yandere themes? no violence to)

a/n: this follows immediately after the teaser, so it mostly focuses on jungkook!!! other members will be introduced in the next chapters

It wasn’t like you weren’t used to holding things together. You had been trained for years to be a top idol. Five: those were the years you spent bringing your lyricism to perfection, years dedicated to personality training for variety shows and publicity conferences, years conjured up in between vocal training sessions and dance practices to make you every bit of a fourth generation idol that you could manage. As the leader of one of the the top girl groups in Korea, you had grown used to taking constructive criticism and turning it into perfect moves. You leveraged commercial film deals with ease as you opted for optimal screen time for each of your members easily. You easily quelled squabbles between the four other members in your group over bouts of jealousy and short term argument. For years, you trained as a lone gem to bring both men and women to your knees alike with the mere turn of your wrist or seductive smile. You were trained for everything.

What you were not trained for were your seven boyfriends. The seven of them did not hold a single provision in your years of training nor was there any booklet for explaining how to juggle their varying needs and degrees of affection they desired from you. None of them has been forecasted as an event in your already packed schedule between V-Lives, fan meetings, press conferences, or music shows when collecting win after win. You still managed your best.

When you were not preparing for a new album, learning a new dance routine, or writing new lyrics, your time was divided up amongst the seven of them. You often accompanied Seokjin as he played Maple Story with you settled into his lap with a giggle whenever he complained about the new skins. Or, you could be found sitting in the studio with Yoongi drinking iced americanos (a drink you detested more than the monthly evaluations you had as a trainee) working on lyrics together with your fingers entwined together. With Hoseok, you spent the bulk of your time dancing to your hearts content or pressed against one another in ways that would appear amoral if not for the spoken seductions he would whisper to you. Namjoon’s own commitment to giving you an endless list of recommendations as you laid in his arms, conversing about the black ink on white pages with full hearts. Jimin often meant being cuddled under heaps of blankets as you watched animal videos together and played with his hair when you were not reassuring him of how well he had done the day before. Taehyung meant practicing the scripts together for the dramas you would audition for and splashing each other to your hearts content as you washed the dishes of the dorm after Seokjin cooked. And lastly, being with Jungkook meant impromptu video shoots all the time; the boy wanting to remember every moment he spent with you as though it would be his last.

You may not had been the most organized, but you did know how to cherish each of your boys just as you did the other valuable people and aspirations within your life. While not meticulous, things almost always went to plan for you when you worked hard enough… but even that meant that surprises (especially the pleasant surprises) could make all the difference.

So it was given when you woke up at five in the morning the next day to find Jungkook sitting rigidly on the sofa, you had an inkling of how your day would go with this very uncommon occurence. The youngest of your boyfriends often opted for staying up only when playing video games or producing new tracks for his highly anticipated mixtape, but you saw nothing in hand but his phone.

“You’re awake.” You comment as you lean over the couch to press your lips gently against his temple. All the tension in his body seems to leave when his arms snake around your waist to send you plummeting into his lap.

Jungkook had always been rather fond of using his strength against you.

“You were with hyung again, last night.” He stares more so as a statement rather than a question. It had been one of those days when things felt a bit too overwhelming and Taehyung had sensed it before you. It was not intentional you found yourself being coddled by the raven haired man, but it seemed to be happening more and more as contract recertification was coming and the girls growing increasingly antsy about future concepts.

You can hear the displeasure in Jungkook’s voice. “Is something wrong?” You ask as you sit up in his lap to touch his cheek.

“You’re always with him.” Jungkook whispers with a frown settling on his lips. “You know he’s not your only boyfriend, right? There’s me... and the others..”

You bite the inside of your lip as you think about the delicate balance of your relationship with the seven of them. Their feelings weren’t as easy as dodging invasive questions in a press conference or could be corrected after a quick meeting with producers. Perhaps you were not as prepared as you thought. You just wanted to hold it together again.

“I know you’re my boyfriend too, Kook.” You say as you snake your arms around his shoulders. “You know that I love you all equally, right?”

Scoffing, Jungkook pouts. “You say that,”

“Jungkook.” You frown deeper as you press your forehead against his. “I mean it. I love you all the same! Each of you have your own charms that make me realize why I wanted to be with you in the first place. I love you just as much as I love Taehyung and I love Taehyung just as much as I love Seokjin. And I love Seokjin as much as I love Nam-“

“야.. 야... I gathered that much. You could have stopped with loving me.” Jungkook jokes, making the familiar flutter of your stomach return. You were happy he understood. “I’m not letting you off the hook that easily.”

“You’re not?” You muse with a raise of your brow.

“Mmm.” Jungkook replies as his hands grip both of your hips to pull you closer before pressing you flushed against his chest. “I can think of ways for you to make it up to me, baby girl.” He is no less subtle as his hands run up along your sides and settle over your breast. He opts for teasing the right one first, circling the sensitive bud between his index finger and thumb. “I can think of a very good way for you to make it up to me.”

He lifts up your white shirt and tugs down the cup of your bra to place an open-mouthed kiss onto your right breast and then your left with a long sigh. “So. so..so fucking pretty and all for me,” His words send vibrations along your skin. He reluctantly pulls back, watching your shirt fall back over your frame and rubs the small of your back gingerly. “I always want you, you know that, right?”

“If you want me, you know you already have me.” You quip prior to kissing along his jawline. He was a sucker for kisses there- he always had been. The thought of your kisses alone could have him cupping the base of his cock and edging himself for release when he thinks about your soft lips on his jaw, his neck, his lips, his cock.

Nevertheless, you scoff at his words. He always amused you when he pulled out that nickname in particular, but you couldn’t deny that it combined with the taunting look in his eyes did provoke some part of you. “I have to get back to the dorms before the girls wake up, Jungkook.”

“I’ll drive you.” He offers with a smile as devilish as Lucifer himself. Jeon Jungkook was equal parts crafty as he was intelligent.

“As enticing as it is to do that and we both know how badly I do want you,” you preface as you toy with the golden chain that dangles around Jungkook’s neck. He had known you were far too fond of it. “That will draw attention.. they’ll recognize your car.” You frown in attempts to reasoning with him. He doesn’t back down though; he never does when it comes to you.

“We can figure things out,” He whispers as he begins to kiss along you neck slowly. The sensation of his lips are gentle in comparison to the way his hips rut against your own. “Just wanna be inside you.. it’s been so long.”

The youngest of your boyfriends always had a bit of an appetite. During award shows, he often was the first to come find you in some miraculous show of stealth. Even during concerts when BigHit would hold its annual New Years Eve Live, he would linger backstage to catch a glimpse of you. You have dated him long enough to know the subtlety was not his forte. Now was no different.

You tug lightly at the ends of his hair to make him look at you. It is instinctual; the moan falling from his lips as his grip on your hip tightens. It does not stop either as he expertly rolls his hips against your spread ones.

“Wanna feel your tight pussy around my thick cock,” He rasps into your ear as his right hand slights down your hip to your ass and cups it. His hands are a stark contrast to how his lips kiss your skin like a brush on the canvas. He wants all of you. He wants to feel a part of you in the deepest way. “Please? I need you so badly, baby.” He whispers as his member presses more in between your thighs, just over your clothed sex.

You let out a curse from his wandering hands. “You really know how to provoke me, huh?” You shake your head in amusement as you pin Jungkook down onto the couch. He follows easily - he’s always been a good boy whenever you’re around you.

“You shouldn’t hold back. You know I like it rough, YN-ah.” He presses his tongue against the side of his cheek. It’s always been a tell of his when he can barely hold it together - can barely hold back from wanting to feel all of you. “No teasing either.” He’s always been eager to test you, eager to see how much you would let him get away with.

You straddle his hips with practiced ease while untying his gray sweatpants, “You’ve always talked too much.” You halfheartedly remark as you tug down the taut fabric down his tanned thick thighs.

“You love it when I talk,” He quips back. He’s smug as his hand reaches out to stroke your cheek gingerly. He watches you with nothing but admiration and lust in his eyes. He’s always enjoyed how you take control, but that does not mean that he is not one to challenge you. What was the fun in fully submitting when you could make him? “But you like it so much more when my head is between your pretty thighs, don’t you? You like the way my tongue thrusts into your tight pussy until you’re on the brink of cumming?”

You give a noncommittal hum as every so often, his thumb presses down over the denim of your jeans to your clit to intensify the flex of his thigh. He’s always loved this view of you hovering over him, moaning from the slightest action he gives you and wanting more until it drives you over the edge. He knows you could quite possibly cum just from this alone, but Jeon Jungkook has always been a generous man.

With this in mind, he takes advantage of your hips lingering over his right thigh after shifting to toss his sweatpants to the side to press his flexed thigh against you and sends you flush against his chest with a smirk. He likes seeing the contorted look of frustration on your look from the sudden change of pace and he only raises a brow. “What’s wrong, baby? Did you think I would give in easily?”

“Oh, Jungkook,” You give a breathy sigh as your eyes meet his own full blown ones. He’s always had gorgeous chocolate brown eyes; the usual galaxy colored in them eclipsed by something far darker. Before you can reprimand him, he presses down harder onto your hips until you straddle his thigh and flexes his thigh once more. The sensation makes you sensitive, especially when he manages to brush your clit with the slightest action.

What a brat, he was.

You don’t hold back the moan that escapes from the back of your throat. He is more keen to feel all of you when your hands fall to his chest to try to regain your posture, but Jungkook finds it more endearing the way you still grind against his flexed thigh like a fucked out kitten.

He knows that he could cum simply from hearing your moans alone, but you’ve taught him well at holding out. He watches the way your hips press harder against his own thigh, wanting to feel all of him despite the two layers of clothing that separate him from you.

He takes initiative to unbutton the top of your jeans before rolling them down your thighs. He is speedy as his arm grips your waist to press you against his chest and they soon join the puddle of his own jeans on the floor. He has always been insatiable when it comes to you, often eager to drop to his knees and eat you out until the sunrise, and a burning sensation in your stomach tells you that this time won’t be any different.

“What was that about needing to get back to your dorms?” He asks with smirk on his face as he turns your chin to look at him. His words are accusatory, acting as though you were not riding his thigh to fruition. “I can think of a better way to do this, though.”

“So can I,” You reply after finally getting over the initial high of him teasing you.

“Mmm,” Jungkook whispers without another word. Normally shy around others, he never could quite control himself around you. He had no intention on doing so either, especially not when you were half clothed in front of him and he had gotten the taste of you he had wanted, but still, Jeon Jungkook remained insatiable. “I have a request.”

“A request?” You repeat back to him with a tilt of your head. You can tell that he is the temptation incarnate as his hands begin to cup your sex and slowly his middle and index finger begin to tease your wet folds through your panties.

Nodding, he indents his sense with a tug at your panties to send them down your thighs. “Mmm. A request-“ He says before once more rolling on top of you and pinning you down into the couch. He never did get tired of manhandling you-the way your body fell limp under his just with the swiftness of his moves was more than enough to have his cock grow harder to be inside of you, but he would wait. He would be good until you told him not to be.

“And that is…” You find it hard to keep up the conversation, especially when Jungkook drops to his elbows to carefully cup both of your hips and draw you nearer to him. Your pussy grows wetter just from the way his index finger continues to brush over your clit before swiping down your slit to get a bit of your essence and he licks his fingers.

He does not answer you, only opting to connect his lips against your aching cunt without warning. Soft like petals, his lips kiss your clit ever so slightly prior to him moving closer to you like a man starved to begin to send stripes of love against your cunt with his tongue. The first of them has you bucking your hips to entrance his face between your thighs, but the rest nearly have you twitching for more. Perhaps you were a bit more worked up then you anticipated.

Your hands immediately find chase in his hair, wanting to remember each thrust into your tight pussy from Jungkook’s thick tongue. He is careful to savor each drop of your essence that begins to paint his jaw with love. He honestly thinks he can grow drunk from the amazing taste that dribbles from you.

“Fuck, you taste so good.” He rasps against your cunt, only adding to the vibrations of your tight pussy. “I just wanna stay between your thighs forever.” His licks are ultimately calculated, but every now and then he grows lost in your essence as his nose begins to bump against your clit every so often. The added sensation has you nearly stuttering out his name. “Fuck, I really want to be inside this tight pussy. You like the way I eat your pussy, don’t you?”

You are keenly aware of Jungkook’s love of praise and you ultimately have no problem giving it to him as you choke out on your moans, “That feels so good, Kook-fuck- baby boy, knows how to eat pussy well, doesn’t he?“

“Fuck, I almost just from hearing that,” He rasps out, making you realize how he grinds against the cushion of the couch at the same cadence of you bucking your hips. He’s so fucked out at this point, barely able to hold it together when he can feel how tightly your walls clench around his wet tongue. It turns him on to no end and he can only think of how tightly you would fit around him. “You know,” He pulls back slowly, but his fingers still return to scissor inside your wet cunt as he leans forward on his knees to hover over you. “You know you could have all of us to yourselves, right? For a whole week… no distractions,” He curls his fingers inside of you, making you moan louder in pleasure from how good it feels. “It’s been a long time since you’ve felt Yoongi-hyung’s tongue inside of your pretty pussy, huh?”

The thought of Yoongi alone make you tighten your hips a bit more and you nod. Yet, you still question, where is he going with this?

“I’ve been thinking.. well,” He stops rubbing your clit for a moment to make sure you have his full attention before adding another finger. Before he can continue, he finds himself growing more lustful for the essence that pools at your hips and returns his mouth onto your wet cunt with a sigh of relief. He’s in euphoria with each moan that escapes your mouth. “You taste so fucking sweet “-and we want to go on a trip. The eight of us. You’ve got break and so do we coming up. I’m sure we could fit things together, right?”

Fitting things together - all you can think about is how perfect Jungkook would fit inside of you if he weren’t eating you out right now, but you are not one to complain. You are more than happy to spend time with the boys, “Of course… I would love tha-“ You suck in a deep breath to mask the moan when Jungkook finds your g-spot without much need to look. He memorized you like the back of his hand.

“Mmm, I can tell you’re close.” He smirks as he slaps your ass. The added pain as you wiggling your hips for more friction against his tongue, but he likes seeing you like this. Completely at his mercy and every whim to treat you as he pleases. You who seemingly always held things together, crumbling right in front of him as a slobbering mess as he eats you out. It was so hot.

“Shit-“ You rasp out as you feel the familiar twinge in your stomach. Your walls only tighten more around Jungkook’s fingers as he speeds up the pace to watch the way your face contours into pleasure. Your back arches when he curls his fingers inside of you for a third time and unknowingly to you, Jungkook finds his own release chasing after yours when his cock throbs more in pleasure. “I’m so close Jungkook-“

“Me too, baby, fuck,.” He whispers as he increases the thrust of his fingers inside of you to match the thrust of his own hips to bring you both to your eyes. His thighs flex as the familiar tension in his stomach bubbles up and he wants to cum all over you. God, he wants to lick every drop of your cum from your body as it mixes with his own.

Without another word, your high comes crashing down as your eyes shut closed and your hips buckle one last time around Jungkook’s fingers. You call out out his name before realizing it and tightly encapsulate his fingers between your thighs as you lazily ride out your high.

Jungkook does not fair any better as he uses his free hand to cup the base of his cock and pump the aching desire that begins to consume him. Seeing you cum is more than enough to have his stomach tense one last time before white ribbons paint your stomach, making him grunt in pleasure from how sexy you are and the intensity of the orgasm that he had just experienced.

He collapses on top of you, sighing into the crook of your neck as he nuzzles his face affectionately into your own. Despite the ache in your core somewhat subsiding, Jungkook still grinds his softening cock against your thigh for the last of his high, “Fuck.. that was so good.”

“You did well,” you reassure him as you pant up and down. You turn your face to press a kiss against his lips and smile. “I’m also excited for this trip you guys are planning.”

Jungkook blinks as he thinks about the trip and nods shyly. He leans more into your touch, wanting to feel all of you as he snakes his arms around his waist to hold you close. “I am too… I just really want to be with you, but the others also want it too…”

“I want to be with them too. I love you and them, you know?” You whisper quietly into his ear while gingerly stroking his cheek.

“I love you too,” Jungkook whispers against your skin while leaving butterfly kisses along your shoulder. “But.. can I ask you something else?”

You nod, “Mmm?”

“Please don’t spend so much time with Taehyung,” Jungkook whispers as he finds himself growing more demure. HE doesn’t want to see your reaction; the way your features furrow into confusion at the request in fear of you rejecting him. “I’m not saying to avoid him.. but .. but please try to be with me a lot, too.. I. I worry you’ll stop loving me… or won’t think of me.. and forget me.” He felt incredibly vulnerable in front of you, especially now when he has done his best to give it all to you, but it still makes him nervous.

“Jungkook,” Your features soften at his words and you gingerly stroke his cheek. “I think of you so much. You know that right? I love you a lot and will do better since it worries you. You mean just as much to me as everyone else does.” You smile warmly, “So don’t worry about it… okay?”

Your words provide him some solace, so Jungkook shyly agrees, “Okay..” He whispers, but his grip on your hand doesn’t let go. Nevermind that he was your boyfriend, along with his six haunts who you loved equally just as you loved him. He could sense the growing tension between the seven of them as they all tried to vy for your attention.

He knew of Jimin’s own interest of whisking you away from everyone with his pretty eye smile and wanting to teach you contemporary dances so you could see the way that Jimin would lead you away. Hell, even Jimin had suggested that he would be eager to take you away from everyone if he had the chance. Namjoon was no better, only thinking of the sparkle I your eyes as he suggested a new book to you, a new concept that ultimately left you in awe of him to where you would ideally follow him and never move away.

Seokjin had made it clear of his own intents to have you and you alone when he suggested taking you back home to meet his family and see the traditional way of doing things in Korea; the smile his parents would give from finding someone so prim and proper like you. Though appearing aloof, Yoongi had his own stake in luring you into his own embrace through words of eloquence, rhymes to make your heart dizzy, and a tongue to course you into things unimaginable. Hoseok’s own methodology of spoiling you to no end with attention and suggested dancing was the first part of many to guide you into his charms; the others focusing on learning every bit of you until the end for him to ruin.

Taehyung had been the most bold of it - eagerly molding himself to be whatever you wanted under the guise of practicing monologues and scenes from his favorite movies. Too keenly aware, Jungkook could recognize how very much their own behaviors were no different from his own as he laid in wake to catch you alone and make you his at every opportunity he could with a voice like a siren and bright galaxy eyes that made you want to give him anything he asked for. He had to be keenly aware of this when it would be so easy to let go with six others wanting your attention alone.

To make you let go. And he would be damned if would let you go, either. If he couldn’t have you, no one else would be able to either.

- - - -

Don't be a silent reader! how do you think the relationship is going to go now that you know a bit more about the relationship dynamic?

[sleepy-belphie]

Hello! I don’t know if you’re doing headcannon requests but if you don’t mind could you do something along the lines of “the brothers find out mc likes to draw and drew the brothers”

Hi! I am doing hc requests so thank you for sending this in! It was actually really fun to write, I really hope you enjoy it <3 Got a little carried away with this one too lol

Tags: @kawaiiblack

~~~~~

Lucifer:

He’s doing room checks as usual

And you left your sketchpad/drawing tablet out on your desk

You catch sight of it a bit too late and can only watch as Lucifer moves from your dresser to your desk

He pauses as his eyes spot the sketchpad/tablet

He picks it up and looks at it before glancing at you

“May I?”

You nod and nervously watch him go through your work

His face is unreadable as he goes through drawing after drawing of him and his brothers

It feels like an eternity before he finishes

“Do you do commissions?”

It takes a moment for you to register what he’s said

“...what?”

“I’d like to commission you.”

If you do traditional art he asks for a 30x40 of him and his brothers

If you do digital art he asks for a colored, full-body piece of him and his brothers

He lets you decide how much you want to be paid

But he thinks it’s not enough so he pays you 55,000 Grimm

The 30x40 piece hangs in his study

The colored, full-body piece is printed, framed, and sitting on his desk

Mammon:

He bursts into your room one night when you’re finishing up a drawing of Satan and Asmo

You’re not fast enough to hide it from him

“Is that Satan and Asmo? Oi! Where’s my drawing!?”

Before you can show him anything else he’s speaking again

“N-not that I care! It’s hard to capture this perfection! I can see why you haven’t drawn me!”

He tries to act unbothered, but you can see past his tsundere ways

Once he’s done declaring how unbothered he is, you show him some pieces with him in it

He grabs the pad/tablet excitedly and snatches it from you to marvel over your work

“This is actually really good, ya know? I bet we could make some good Grimm off your little talent.”

You can practically see the dollar signs in his eyes

But you tell him that is not happening and take your pad/tablet back

He’s a bit mopey about it for a little but eventually lets it go when he sees you aren’t budging

When he does have a little bit of Grimm he does commission you for a small piece

The brothers’ eyes almost bulge out of their head when they hear that Mammon actually paid you for work

“What!? The Great Mammon can be nice sometimes! It doesn’t mean anything!”

It means a lot actually

But you’re a pro at reading between the lines with Mammon

Leviathan:

He’s on social media when he sees a drawing on his explore page that he’s absolutely in love with

The art style? Immaculate. He wanted to see so many of his favorite game and anime characters in this style

He imagines Ruri-chan in your art style and his brain just *internet dial-up noises* for about five minutes

He goes to the artist’s profile and starts scrolling through all their posted work

He pauses when he comes across a drawing that looked suspiciously like him in his demon form

The face was blacked out but the serpentine tail, the horns, the diamonds on the neck, the side zipped hoodie

It had to be him

In shock, he scrolls back to the top of the profile and checks out the bio and name of the artist

He is greeted by a very familiar face and name

He is in your room less than 2 minutes later

“You! Y-You did this!?”

You almost drop your pad/tablet thanks to his outburst and abrupt entrance

You look at the DDD that was shoved in your face and slowly nod

You thought he was gonna blow up at you for posting a drawing of him, even though his face wasn’t in it

You are very wrong

Levi becomes your #1 source of income

The moment you finish a piece, he is commissioning you again

You worry that he’s draining his bank account because he tips you very well

But he isn’t bothered at all by it

All of your pieces are on display in his room

He also posts all of your art on his social media and tags you

Your page explodes in popularity and the commissions are rolling in from his online friends

You had no idea otakus pay so well

Mammon is very jealous of the amount of Grimm you have piling up

Satan:

One day he asks you about your hobbies and you tell him you draw

“What do you draw?”

Cue internal conflict on if it’s weird to tell someone you’ve been drawing them and their brothers since you’re always around each other

He senses your hesitation and like the smart ass he is, he’s able to guess exactly why 

“Would your hesitance be because of the subject of your art?”

He knows too much for his own good

You decide it’s best for him to see it instead of telling him

Being a fan of literary art, you were worried he may be overly critical of your fine art

He was not the type to sugarcoat anything

However, he simply smiles and hands your pad/tablet back

“You’re incredibly talented, MC.”

A few days later he asks you to tag along with him while he handles something

That ‘something’ is going to feed some stray cats he’s come across

“MC, I’d like to commission you. I’ve found homes for these cats but I want something to remember them by. Will you help me?”

How can you say no to a man holding four cats in his arms?

You take some photos for reference and make four different pieces for him

When you give them to Satan, you swear you’ve never seen a bigger smile on his face

He framed them all and keeps them on top of his bookshelves

Asmodeus:

He found out through Levi’s social media

He commissioned you for a piece of him and the protagonist of a game he recently started playing

This piques Asmo’s interest and he wonders if you’ve ever drawn him before

He approaches you when you’re in the kitchen grabbing a drink

“Hi, darling. I saw the piece you did for Levi and naturally if you’ve done one of him you’ve probably drawn my beauty as well, right?”

You decide to show him since he brought it up

He’s gushing over all of your art

No, seriously, he is praising you so much even the tip of your ears start burning from your blush

He commissions you to draw him in many different ways 

Him in his bedroom, him in the bath, him as a mermaid, him as an exotic dancer

He comes to you with so many different ideas

He tests your limits but you actually like that

Beelzebub:

Beel is rather stoic, but he doesn’t mean to be

It was his resting face and smiling was usually reserved for eating yummy food

But you wanted to practice drawing him with different expressions

Beel’s welcoming manner gave you the courage to approach him and ask if you can take some pictures of him to use for a reference

He’s shocked you wanna draw him but agrees with the condition that he gets to see some of your other work

You show him different pieces of him and his brothers and he’s smiling the entire time

“These are all so good. I didn’t know you could draw.”

He commissions a piece of him and Belphegor and one of all seven brothers

But he also asks if he can watch you draw them

You both spend quite a few nights together

You drawing and him munching on snacks and feeding you some every once in a while

His presence is actually pretty calming so you ask him if he minds staying around while you work even after you finish his commission

Beel being Beel, agrees to keep you company

The night usually ends with him carrying you to bed

Sometimes, he takes you to his bed to cuddle

Belphegor:

Belphie was actually the first brother you drew

You came across him asleep in the attic once and he looked so perfect

Your fingers were itching to draw him, so you did

It became a routine for you to head to the attic and draw him while he slept

You always crept out before he woke up

You thought he had no idea of your little practice sessions

But one day you looked down to fix a mistake you made on his nose

When you looked back up you saw Belphie staring right at you

“You know, if you’re gonna draw me the least you can do is show me.”

You try to stammer out an apology as he sits up

“Oh, I don’t care. You don’t make noise or anything, I’m just very hyperaware of my surroundings. So I know when someone is in the same room as me when I sleep.”

He moves over to you and looks at your pad/tablet

“Hm, not bad MC. Show me your other work some time.”

Then he goes back to his sleeping spot, curls up, and falls back asleep

You sit there with your pencil/stylus in your hand, trying to wrap your head around what just happened

But he didn’t seem disturbed so you continue drawing

When he wakes up you show him more of your work featuring his brothers

He asks if he can have a quick sketch you did of him and Beel 

You jokingly say he has to pay for it

He actually pays you for it

He puts it up in his room

It’s nice to see when you visit him and Beel