#by gods name I'll force a family onto this man

[raileurta]

I need to see fanart of Miguel with all the kids on his back; like a mama wolf spider. It would be so cute, why haven't I seen this yet?!

[i-literally-cant-with-this]

A/N ::: This is my first time writing a threesome. And I thought who better to do it with than KiriBaku and F!Reader. I hope it doesn't suck. Let me know! Thanks for checking this out, you guys.

C/W ::: Threesome (KiriBaku + F!Reader), F!Reader slightly spies on the two of them, nearly invisible coercion, Oral {M->F and a little later {F->M}, unprotected sex P->V, pulling out & cumming on F! back, F!'s first time with 2 men at the same time. I can't imagine a bad time would be had by anyone who's with these 2, aged up characters, Kiri is 25 and Kats is around there (I don't know how close they are in age canonically, so deal? Or tell me =). If I missed anything, grammatically or warning wise, let me know and I'll fix it. Thanks, hope you all enjoy this!

WC ::: 4,101

You stood there like a hypnotized idiot, staring at the 2 men as they talked over the picnic table at their campsite.

They noticed your attention. They noticed the first time, the third time. The twelfth time. And whatever number this time was.

You wondered if they were there together together. The way that they fed each other little bites of fruit at breakfast had you thinking. Had you hoping if you were being honest. Not that it'd make a difference. You were over here and they were over there.

The guys waved at you, smiling, laughing at your blank stare.

What they (probably) didn't know is that you were imagining what it would be like to be bent over the table they were eating at. Fucked by either one of them and sucking on the cock of the one who wasn't fucking you. You thought you were being discreet. Isn't that always what you think when you're lost in a daydream?

One of them had gotten up from the table and took a less direct route to where you were standing next to the tree. You were so focused on the blonde that you didn't notice the redhead coming up behind you.

The dazed look on your face was so cute, your finger stuck between your teeth and your thighs clenched together, adjusting your stance to create some friction from your jeans on your puffy clit. It was becoming unbearable. You turned to head back to your site and climb inside of your sleeping bag to ease the nagging of your cunt.

"Hi?" You nearly jumped out of your skin at the word. "OH ... oh my god. Hi. Sorry. There's just a little family of gray squirrels um, the other side of your camp. And I've been w-watchin' 'em." You tried. Your face was scrunched up as you forced yourself to lie to the redhead.

The man laughed. "Squirrels, huh. Yeah, gray squirrels are cute ... or whatever. Um, my friend and I thought maybe you were staring at us and we were going to invite you over to sit with us. If you wanted? Are you ... are you here by yourself? My name is Eijiro ... Kirishima. You can call me Kiri, though.

You smile and nod. "Yeah? I mean, yeah. I'd like that. I am here alone. 'S not much fun out here without some company." Kirishima turns to walk and leads the way to his camp where the blonde is sitting.

He doesn't look as friendly as Kirishima. But you've been known to have bad judgment before. So you give him a chance and you approach him with a sweet little smile and extend your hand. He doesn't do anything but take it and pull you down onto the bench of the picnic table between his spread legs.

"Pretty little mouth you got there." The blonde says. "Good call, Kiri." Kiri smiles and puffs his chest out playfully. "She does have a sweet lookin' little mouth, huh, Kats?" He asked.

Kirishima sits in front of you and reaches out to brush your hair away from your neck. He leans in and whispers in your ear, "So, what are you into?" You're taken aback by the question and unsure of how to answer it. "What ... what do you mean?" You stammer. "Camping? Mmm, I come out here sometimes when I have to get some clarity." You look at the blonde. "I didn't catch your name?"

Bakugo smirks. "Katsuki. Bakugo. And he wasn't asking whether or not you like camping ner--" He was interrupted by Kiri.

"Kats! Play nice with our new friend. Kirishima put his face back down against your skin and took a soft breath in. "Hohhh shit, man, she smells real pretty, too."

Katsuki brushes the hair aside from behind you and lines his nose up with the soft, warm spot on your neck just below your ear. "You're right. Pretty. Like ... like fucking vanilla and cinnamon. And like before sex." You swallow hard and Kirishima moves his head back to look at you. "See? He thinks so, too." The two men look back at each other and nod at some unspoken exchange that took place between them just seconds ago.

"You know," Katsuki said, "we were really hoping to run into someone out here this weekend. His hands were hot as they sat on your shoulders, occasionally giving you a little squeeze. Trying to reiterate their intentions.

"F-find some-someone? For what?" You asked. The sky was getting dark and the wind was picking up. "Why were you guys looking for someone?"

They both huffed a little breath through their noses and Kirishima said, "Fffor ..." he kissed the left side of your neck. Katsuki finished his sentence, "thisss." His lips found their way to the right side of your neck. They felt a little dry against your skin. But the heat coming off of them was undeniable. You try to close the space between one side of your neck but all that does is open up further for the other side to be touched.

"Smells s'good, fuck." Katsuki mutters to himself.

You let out a squeak as the situation settled into your brain. "O- oh. Oh! For that. I ... *aheh* I ... Ok."

No sooner had you finished figuring that out than a rumble of thunder spread through the atmosphere. It startled you so badly that you jumped back against Katsuki's chest and pulled Eijiro closer to you, his chest to yours. "Jesus fuck!" You yelled. "I h- thunder scares me sometimes. If I'm outside, anyway.

"Thunder scares you?" Kirishima asked.

You nodded, "Mhm, ever since I was a kid. I know it can't hurt me. But just the idea that the only tangible thing about is sound, I dunno. It fucks with my head."

Kirishima stood and pulled your hand, his eyes asking you to join him. You watched him as he tilted his head to their tent, urging Katsuki to guide you up and over there with him and you. Katsuki stood and took your other hand and they smiled at you as they gently brought you closer to where they had set everything up.

You weren't exactly resisting their guidance. But your feet were heavy as you plodded over with them. They were walking plenty fast enough to get all of you over there.

"This is us." Kirishima said. Katsuki began to unzip the door and he held it open for the two of you to walk in.

The tent was more like a tiny cabin; there was a little space just inside where shoes could be taken off and left there so no dirt would be tracked around in the sleeping area.

Once the three of you were in, the 2 guys took their shirts off and tossed them aside onto the bed. Kirishima motioned for you to come over to him and you walked there like you had no choice in the matter. Like he willed you there. And so it was.

He raised his arms out and put his hands on your shoulders. Tilting his chin down, he looked up at you through heavy lashes. "You ever been with 2 guys before, pretty girl?" Closing the space between you, he rubbed his nose against yours and flashed you a perfect smile. It brought up a heat in your stomach. You didn't know if you were nervous or excited. Nauseous or getting aroused.

"Don't be stupid, loser! She wouldn't be here if she didn't know what was going on!" Katsuki yelled.

"Excuse my friend ... he's always in a bad mood." Kirishima said as he glared over your shoulder at him. You nod and roll the edge of your hoodie between your finger and thumb.

Katsuki took the opportunity to pull you back against his bare chest and wrap his arms around you. "You're so cute. So much smaller than me." He laughed. "So soft." He whispered into your ear as he ran his hands over your waist, stomach and thighs. "Don't be afraid of us. We promise we're not gonna hurt'cha. Maybe stretch you out some ---"

"Bakugo! Don't scare her!" Kirishima tried to get his brazen friend back in line once again, but he had a smile on his face all the same.

You took the time while they had another quiet exchange to really look around. There was some kind of thick mattress under the 2 sleeping bags that had been zipped together to make one large one. You briefly counted 6 pillows. "You guys like pillows." You laughed for the first time since being brought here.

"Mhm, pillows = comfort. Speaking of comfort, you pretty little thing, why don't we get you more comfortable. May ... may I take your sweatshirt?" Kirishima asked as he rolled his thick fingers just under the hem of the piece of clothing you'd grown accustomed to fidgeting with. You put your arms up over your head so he could pull it off.

Kirishima stepped back for a moment and admired your body in your tank top and jeans. He had a smile on his face as he watched your breasts rise with each shallow breath you took. He pulled his eyes away and turned to Katsuki. "I think that's a good start." Bakugo said.

"I think so." Kirishima looked back at you with a little wink. "What d'you think, pretty? You good with us taking your hoodie off? You look real good ... real good to us. Isn't that right, Kats?" Kirishima asked him.

Katsuki nodded and walked up to you. He put his hands on your shoulders and tilted his head down to look you in the eyes. "We want you to feel good. To feel comfortable. You think you can do that for us? We just wanna have some fun." He shot a half smile at you and put his hand out for Kirishima to come over to him.

He walked to Katsuki and took his outstretched hand and stood close to him. Kirishima looked down at him and put his left hand on the back of his head, pulling him in for a slow, exaggerated kiss. You could see their tongues wrapping around each other.

"Mhmph ..." You exhaled a whine that was full of breath you didn't realize you'd been holding back. You hadn't noticed until you saw their tongues swirling around each other, but you were incredibly turned on. Your clit was throbbing and the wetness that had been slowly forming in your panties was becoming uncomfortable.

The two men pulled back from their kiss and smiled at you, their heads still touching. "We can make you feel so good." Katsuki whispered to you. "Do you want to? Do you want to have some fun and learn some new things?"

Kirishima got down on his knees and put his hands on the buttons of your jeans. "Is this ok, just gonna take your jeans off, yeah?" Kirishima asked you. You nodded. It was all you could do. You didn't want to talk and ruin the moment. You wanted to be quiet and watch as they slowly peeled off your clothing like you were a present they'd been waiting for.

Katsuki pulled the elastic waist of your tank top out and over your breasts, letting it fall back against you. He reached behind your back and unclasped your bra, letting it fall to the floor. Kirishima pulled down your jeans and panties and said, "Looks like she wants to." He kissed your thighs, letting his lips trail over your goosebump ridden skin.

"Are you cold, pretty? Let's go climb into the sleeping bag." Katsuki said.

It wasn't that you were cold, necessarily. But you had never felt so exposed in front of someone. Let alone 2 people. And yet, you had never felt so at ease. It was a strange combination.

Katsuki took your hand and led you to the sleeping bags. He lifted the flap and stepped back, nodding for you to go inside. You crawled in and situated yourself on the plush mattress, watching as the removed their pants, staying in just their boxers. The guys climbed in on either side of you.

You laid on your back, hands at your sides. You didn't know what to do with them having only been with 1 person at a time before this. They got settled on their sides, heads in their hands, watching you. Waiting for you.

Kirishima leaned over your tits and pulled Katsuki in for another kiss. Their eyes were locked on each other as they did so.

It was erotic. You had never seen two people kiss like this before. Katsuki had his hand on Kirishima's shoulder, his fingers squeezing the muscle there with each brush of their lips.

"Kiri, you wanna taste her?" Bakugo asked.

Kirishima nodded. "Yeah, yeah I do." He lowered himself down onto his stomach and scooted closer over to you. His face was between your legs, his eyes looking up at you as he brought his hand up and pushed your thighs apart. "Mmm, fuck, so wet for us already?" He asked. He dipped his finger into your folds and ran it up to your clit. "So wet, Kats. You wanna see?" Kirishima asked.

He pulled his finger out of you and held it out for Katsuki to suck on. "Yeah, so sweet. So fucking sweet, Kiri." You couldn't help but arch your back and push yourself down closer to Kirishima's fingers. They were just out of reach, though. "Kats, she's following my fingers. Watch ..." Kirishima said. He dipped a finger just inside your cunt and swirled it around the entrance.

The way you reacted to him caught Bakugo's attention almost immediately. You could hear how wet you'd gotten and the moan you let leave your lips was nothing short of filthy. And the sound your pussy made against his hand made you even wetter.

Katsuki crawled over you and propped himself up on his elbows above you, his face directly above yours. "Look at me." He said. "I want to see what you look like when you come. Kiri's gonna make sure you cum. But your eyes will stay on me. Got it, princess?" Katsuki asked you.

You nodded and whispered, "Yes." It occurred to you that you haven't really spoken since you got into the tent. Did you even tell them your name? You honestly couldn't remember and you honestly didn't care. You were responding to their little pet names for you marvelously.

Kirishima lowered himself back down and put his tongue flat against your clit, letting it move up and down. He flicked it against the sensitive bundle of nerves and then swirled it around it.

Bakugo lowered himself down and brought his lips to yours. He dipped his tongue inside of your mouth, finding yours, as Kirishima brought you closer to the edge of an orgasm. Katsuki brought his hand down and swiped a finger across your nipple, flicking it, sending shockwaves of pleasure to your cunt.

"Mmmph, mmmhmmmph" You moaned into Bakugo's mouth.

"Shhh, shh, pretty. I wanna hear you. Let me hear you come." Bakugo whispered as he pulled back from your mouth.

Kirishima wrapped his lips around your clit and sucked, flicking his tongue back and forth rapidly. Bakugo watched as you writhed around, grinding yourself against Kirishima's face. Covering him with your slick as Katsuki put your hands on the back of Kiri's head so you could push him further into your dribbling cunt.

He was doing so perfectly on his own that all you could bring your hands to do was grab ahold of his hair and tug on it a little. He needed no guidance whatsoever.

Your body tensed up. Katsuki knew what was happening. He pulled your chin towards him and looked deep into your eyes. "Keep 'em open, baby. I wanna watch you."

Kirishima sucked harder and flicked his tongue faster. He inserted two of his fingers and began to pump them in and out of you. Dragging them over and over your walls. The sensations filling your body and the noises filling the air, all were bringing you over the edge.

You looked at Katsuki as best you could. Your eyes screwed shut at the height of your orgasm. "That's right, princess. Good girl. Just like that." He smiled. "Awesome, Kiri." Katsuki said. He ran his hand through Kirishima's hair, roughing it up a bit.

You laid there against Katsuki, panting. Kirishima had scooted up next to you, his face still wet with your juices. He kissed your neck and whispered in your ear, "So fucking sweet. Thank you for letting us play with you. You're so pretty. We just had to, baby."

Katsuki sat up and adjusted himself to sit up against the pillows. He pulled you up onto his chest and Kirishima scooted up behind you. His chest against your back. You could feel his cock hard against your ass. It was so hard, so big.

Katsuki tilted his head down and kissed you, running his tongue across your lips. You opened your mouth and his tongue was pushing its way into your mouth.

"Look at me, pretty." Katsuki said as he pulled back. You looked up at him. "You still want us?" He asked. You nodded. "You want us to fuck you, pretty baby? Let you feel us 'n let us feel you?" Katsuki asked. You nodded again. "Say it. Say you want us to fuck you."

"I want you to fuck me." You whispered. "Please." You added, meekly.

"Say no more." Katsuki pulled his boxers off and revealed his cock. It was big. Thick. You couldn't help but reach out and wrap your hand around it, stroking it.

You leaned down and brought your lips to it, kissing the head before opening your mouth and taking it in. "Mmmmph!" You moaned as Katsuki put his hand on the back of your head and pushed himself further into your throat. "Already breathin' through her nose. What a good girl you - ah fuck - are."

You pulled back and stroked him, twisting your hand as you did. "She's got a nice little mouth, Kats. Don't you think?" Kirishima asked. "She looks so pretty with your cock in her mouth." He added.

"Hey," Kirishima scooted down and pulled off his boxers, revealing his hard, throbbing cock. You could see the precum leaking out of the tip. "Can I fuck you now, pretty girl?" Kirishima asked, looking down at you, smiling and stroking himself at a lazy pace. "You look so good down there with Kats' cock in your mouth. I want to make you feel good, too."

You looked over your shoulder at Kirishima, nodding. You spread your legs and Kirishima positioned himself behind you. He squeezed your ass and he pushed himself into your dripping cunt. You could feel him stretching you out, filling you up. Your pussy looked so pretty with Kirishima moving in and out of you. The slick glistening on him in the shadowy light of the afternoon.

He pushed himself all the way in, bottoming out inside of you, his hips pressed against your ass. "Fffuuuuck ... oh, oh shit." Kirishima began to laugh and you looked up at Katsuki to see if this was typical behavior of his when he's fucking someone. He tilted his head to the left and watched himself disappear in your body. "I - hooo shit - did we … did we even get your name?"

"Mmmm, yeah, pretty girl. You never told us your name." Katsuki said, reaching out and running his thumb across your lips. You opened your mouth and sucked on it, swirling your tongue around it. "Tell us your name, baby." He said.

You let Katsuki's thumb out of your mouth and said, "Y/n. It's y/n."

"Well, hello, y/n. It's nice to ... have met you? Meet you? It's nice to have you here with us today." Katsuki said, fumbling for the right words as you ran your hand up and down his cock.

"Mhm, mhm, s'nice to meet you both, t- ... fuck, too. Heh, sorry. Just feels so damn good what Kiri's doing back there."

Kiri smiled at Kats and gave him a smug look. "You hear that, Kats? I feel so damn good back here." Kats flipped him off and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, shitty hair. I could make her brain come pourin' out of her ears. So shut the hell up." He said laughing.

The three of you continued to fuck like that, the tent filling up with the sound of your moans and the smell of sex. You could feel yourself getting close to coming again. Katsuki knew, he could see it all over your face; the way your eyes stayed shut for longer and longer amounts of time. How your mouth would hang open. Down to the turn of your head when Kiri hit those magical little spots inside of you.

"You close, pretty?" Katsuki asked. You nodded. "Me, too, pretty girl. Me, too."

You came. Hard. Your walls tightened around Kirishima's cock, forcing him to pull out of you and cum on your back, your ass. "Hohhh fuckshitfuck! Almost didn't make it there!" He laughed as he patted your ass cheeks and watched them bounce back against his palms.

You worked Kats’ dick through your second orgasm, bringing him to his first. Your mouth, ever diligent around his wide cock, sucking and slurping on it, minding your hand placement. Katsuki's cock began to throb harder and twitch against your lips and fingers. "You ready, pretty girl? You ready for me to cum in your mouth? Huh, princess?" You nodded and opened your mouth, holding your tongue out for him to cum on.

"Awwwh, fuck ... yeah. Good girl. Good girl. There you go. Oh shit ... oh shit." Katsuki watched you, your mouth, your eyes, his cum dripping down your chin. "Oh my god. Fuck, that was good. That was good." He smiled and pulled you up to his chest.

The 3 of you laid there, breathing hard and enjoying the afterglow of a good fuck.

"We're gonna have to do this again." Katsuki said.

"For sure. You were amazing, pretty. So good." Kirishima said as he ran his hand up and down your curvy sides and back. "So soft."

"So fucking sweet." Bakugo added. "Thank you for playing with us." He kissed the top of your head.

You didn't know what to say. It was all so overwhelming. You didn't want to go, either. But it felt awkward to impose yourself on their time together out here. So you said your goodbyes, dressed yourself, and headed back to your campsite, where you climbed into your tent and slept until the sun cycled through once again.

You didn't see Katsuki or Kirishima the next day. But you heard them from their tent. Moaning and talking loudly. It made you smile. It made you miss them. You hoped that they were enjoying one another. Maybe you'd find them again before you all left.

And now, you had a newfound love for camping. And you had a newfound love for being used by two hot guys who wanted nothing but to make you feel good and feel good with you. So maybe you'd come back with a plan. A plan to find them and bring them back to your little campsite, where you could lay under the stars and learn a little more about each other. Learn a little more about how you can make each other feel.

That sounded nice. And you could only hope that they would think so, too. After all, there were a lot of days left in the season and you didn't have anything better to do.

The sun woke you up the next morning. The leftover raindrops on the top of your tent looked so pretty, casting almost prism like lights across the small space. You rolled your sleeping bag down and crawled over to unzip the door. Stepping out, you stretched. For the first time in a long time you felt like you were actually breathing.

You looked over at where the guys' site was, but it was empty. "Damn." Turning back to your little spot, you noticed a plastic bag with a piece of paper in it, stashed between two small rocks.

"Hey pretty,

Thanks for playing with us.

Give either one of us a call if you want to reconnect. 

Kats wants to fuck you this time so he’s really hoping you’ll call. 

xoxo

~ Kiri (XXX-XXX-XXXX)

--> BAKUGO (XXX-XXX-XXXX)

Later, princess 

Taglist ::: @callm3senpaii @millennialmagicalgirl @darkstarlight82

[zippidi-dooda]

Chapter: 1

2 - A Little Trip

"Who. The hell. Do you think you are?" An elegant, dark haired figure demanded, slamming open the door to your room.

He wore a stark white suit with long, shiny, leather boots and gloves. Many badges and jewels were pinned to his chest. They glistened under the moonlight. A flowing black cape dragged behind him as he took each thundering steps towards you.

His head was no longer held high and proud as it normally was. He was tense and clenched his fist, his jaw set tight.

His attitude was a large contrast compared to just moments ago when he was busy dancing in the ballroom. When he was blissfully unaware of your previous late night endeavors. Of your plans for tonight.

How he found out now, you didn't know. But it made your heart beat faster as panic began to settle in.

The only way he could have found out was through your doctor, though you had pleaded repeatedly that he didn't say anything about it to anyone.

And your doctor had never said a word about anything going on with you (despite who it was) before now.

He was trustworthy.

This man must have done something horrible to make him pour it out.

Or sent someone to spy on you.

You were regretting not leaving sooner.

"I'm . . . I am simply Y/N, you know that, Rias."

Rias let out a short laugh. "Ah, another of those wisecracks I love so dearly about you, Y/N. You're always so fucking smart about everything, aren't you?"

He stopped once he was in front of you and pulled you towards him. 

He held your waist up against him with one hand while he squished your cheeks with the other. His grip was tight, enough to keep you from pulling away. It hurt and just got worse the more you squirmed.

"I'll tell you who you really are, okay, honey." He pressed a kiss onto your lips that he forced into a pucker. "You."

Kiss 

"Are."

Kiss 

"My."

Kiss 

"Wife."

Kiss

"You do remember that, right? Cause I could never forget the day we were wed. How gorgeous you looked in that white dress, the happy smile on your face when we said 'I do.' I remember being so thrilled when I found out it was you I'd have to be marrying when I was a boy, and then finally getting to do it, finally being able to declare you as my own, I can't even put how great that felt into words. God, I love you so much Y/N. You're perfect for me, as I am for you . . . But you don't believe that, do you?"

You swallowed thickly. "Rias . . . I need to get ready for my leave tomorrow."

Wham!

Your cheek was met with the back of the man's gloved hand. It stung. 

"Tell me, honey. When were you planning to tell me you were with child."

You squeezed your eyes shut and opened your mouth a few times trying to feel if your jaw had been knocked out of place. It hadn't. Just hurt a damn lot.

"Seeing how this is your reaction, why would I tell you?"

Rias laughed again, but it was eerily quiet. "If the bastard was mine, I wouldn't have to react this way, would I?"

You spoke quietly. "Just kick me out right now, then. Before anything is obvious. Your family name would be ruined if word got out."

"Our family name, Y/N," he stroked your bruised cheek tenderly. "I'm not happy about this, but I think I can forgive you one day. It sucks that I love you so much. Let's just act like this is our child; no one but you, me, and your doctor has to know the truth."

You squinted your eyes at him. "You're willing to keep it as your own?"

Rias smiled sweetly. "Of course. They may not be mine but they are still a part of you. I'll treat that part nicely. But just to keep people from finding out, we'll need to do something about the donor. So tell me, sweetheart, who was it?"

"Mom," Your son's voice broke you from your thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I'm bored."

You watched him for a moment. He was laying on the floor in the hall, swinging his feet around randomly. A pout was set on his face.

"I am going to die of boredom. Really. You don't believe me but wait too long and I will. And you will be so sad about it and say 'why didn't I make him not bored when I had the chance?'"

You chuckled. "Oh really now. I didn't know you could do that. Let me watch you then and see how it happens."

"Mooom! No! You're supposed to make me not bored, not watch."

"Hmm. Why not go dig up some weeds then."

Lucas rolled onto his stomach and glared at you. "I don't want to do that. That's boringer. Can we go back home already?"

"I told you, sweetie, we can't go back there."

"But I don't wanna be here anymore. There's nothing to do. There's no people here. And Dad hasn't come back yet and it's been forever already."

You frowned. It had been four days since Malleus had showed up and Lucas hadn't stopped calling him 'Dad' since.

"Lucas, that man you saw was not your dad. And if you see him again stay away from him, you hear me?"

He blew a raspberry at you.

"Lucas. I am not joking with you."

". . . Ugh. Sor~ry."

You sighed. He had an attitude about it, but at least he apologized. You hoped he understood and actually listened.

You picked up the bag whose contents were now emptied in the cupboards. By now, you were almost completely out of food and needed to get more. You weren't too skilled at hunting and there wasn't much you could pick off the shrubs nearby, so you needed to take a trip to the Valley of Thorns.

You should have gone sooner, but you were honestly terrified of what would happen to you there. If you waited any longer though, you and Lucas wouldn't last long. 

So you steeled yourself for the journey and stood up.

"Put on your shoes, let's go for a walk."

***

The mood was dour in the Valley. 

The sky was dense with dark, thundering clouds, the people walking around on the cobbled streets shuffled along slowly and chattered quietly to each other, jumbled bushes of jagged thorns grew carelessly along the walls of the gothic style buildings, and tall, stone faced soldiers stood at every other corner.

No one seemed especially happy to be here.

Other than Lucas.

He was bouncing with excitement, pointing and smiling at each person who had a unique feature to them, like shimmering wings sprouting from their backs or large fangs that protruded from their mouths to name a few.

He kept trying to run up to all the interesting new people, all of which you figured were different types of fae, and you had to do your best to keep a firm grip on his hand.

If he wandered off and got lost here, you doubted the soldiers who found him would be kind. You couldn't let him get out of your sight.

"Lucas, shhh. You don't know these people, you have to be careful around them." You whispered leaning towards his ear.

"But Mom they all look so nice, they won't hurt me. Look, that one is smiling at me. Hi!"

Lucas waved happily towards the person he implied.

It was a tall, slender woman with scaly, pale skin, slitted, amber eyes, and long, light brown hair. She was indeed smiling at him. With a long forked tongue hanging from her mouth between two, pearly white fangs.

You tensed, not liking the look she was giving Lucas.

You nudged him in front of you. "Look I think that's a market up ahead. I'll get what we need and you can get one candy from there, okay? Just stay close to me."

"Okay!"

Not wanting to be here much longer than necessary, you moved quickly. Anything that looked unfamiliar you made sure not to grab but you actually found lots of food that you did know the names to.

The trip was going smoothly. Now you needed to to go to the front counter and hope you could pay with your money. If you couldn't, you could then try to barter the jewelry you wore hidden under your coat.

The . . . being . . . checking you out was short and stout and had large tusks protruding from their lips. They had black hair neatly tied back in a bun. Their bushy brows were curled down, over a pair of blue, feminine looking eyes, making them look angry.

You hoped you didn't make them snap at you.

"Excuse me uh . . . ." You couldn't tell if the person in front of you was a girl or a man so you didn't know how to address them. "Excuse me. Do you happen to accept this as payment?"

They snorted and snatched up the money you slid across the counter. They held it up to the light, squinting as they examined it.

After a second, they looked back and forth between you and the money. 

"This is from Rourinville." They announced in a deep, guttural voice. 

"Yes it is. Is there a problem with it?"

They took care of the change and began packing everything in your bag.

Thank goodness.

"You're a long way from home, girl. What are you doing all the way over here in Briar Valley?"

"'Briar Valley?' Isn't this the Valley of Thorns?"

They let out a squealing type of laugh. "That's just what everyone outside of here calls it. It's actual name is Briar Valley. It's not as horrible as everyone makes it out to be, so get those ideas out of your head. But one small slip up and you may find yourself in a dire situation."

"Yeah . . . Thanks."

"Will that be all?"

"Yes. Thank yo-"

"GET OUT OF THE STREET, SMALL CHILD!"

You whipped your head in the direction of the shout and your face paled when you saw what was going on.

Lucas had run off while you weren't paying attention and was now in the path of a large buggy bounding towards him. He was in a daze, just staring at it unmoving.

"LUCAS!"

Forgetting about your things, you sprinted as fast as you could towards him, hoping and praying with all your might that you'd get to him on time.

Before you could, a man jumped and tackled Lucas out of the way just in time as the buggy barreled past the spot your son once stood.

You slid onto your knees next to them and pulled Lucas into your arms. Your heart was pounding in your chest and your voice shook as you spoke.

"Lucas, oh God, are you okay? Are you hurt? Oh, my baby! Lucas you have to stop running off like that! If this man hadn't saved you, do you know what could have happened to you right now?"

"I-I'm okay, mom."

"Oh, Lucas you-"

"Are you this child's mother, Miss?" The man who saved Lucas shouted.

You looked up at him. 

He wore the same black and green outfit with purple accents that you saw the soldiers on the streets wearing. He had hair that was short, slicked back, and pastel green, green/yellow eyes that looked down on you in what seemed like disapproval, and light skin.

You nodded. "Yes. I cannot thank you enough, sir. Please te-"

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself! If you had been by his side watching him, this wouldn't have happened! Do you know how often something like this happens? Never, because other people actually take care of their kin! If you can't even do the simple task of keeping your son safe then you shouldn't even be a-"

"Sebek, that's enough." A slow, calm voice interrupted. "She saw her kid in danger just now, she's must be shaken up."

This new person wore the same outfit as the 'Sebek' guy. He had medium length silver hair, unique light blue/purple eyes that were half lidded making him appear tired, and fair skin. 

"Are you both okay?"

"Mhmm. Lucas?" You asked.

Your son was looking up at Sebek in stunned amazement, his mouth agape. "Uh huh. Thank you, sir . . . ."

Sebek 'humphed' and folded his arms across his chest. "You better stick to your mother from now on, kid! It does you no good to go giving her a heart attack! Both of you need to learn to pay attention to your surroundings, got it?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry. It won't happen again. Thank you, so much. Is there anything I can do for you as thanks for saving him?"

Both men held out their hands to you, helping each of you up.

"Just go home already, we're doing something for Waka-sama and you've put us behind schedule. Get out of here." Sebek turned on his heel and strode off.

The silver haired man sighed before walking after him. "Forgive him, he means well. Do be more careful next time."

You and Lucas stared at the duo as the walked away, until they were out of sight.

"The green one's so cool . . . ." Lucas began to smile and took hold of your hand.

". . . Yeah. C'mon, let's grab our stuff and head home."

"In Ruins" Masterlist

[soupbabe]

Old Friend (Bo Sinclair x Male! Reader)

Bo has a bittersweet run in with an old childhood sweetheart.

This idea has been plaguing my mind and notes app for forever, but I'm happy with how it came out <3 fic is inspired by the song Old Friend by Mitski!

Warnings: Mild angst, One sided love, Reader is a father

Tagging: @rottent33th, @slaasherslut

Ever since Bo got the call from Lester, he had to dry his sweaty palms on the rag in his back pocket. The name slipping from the other end of the cellphone hit Bo like a ton of bricks. Memories of sneaking out the house, stolen kisses, and your hands gracefully tracing over his hands brought a smile to his face.

"Y/n L/n, huh?" Bo chuckled at the old, but familiar way your name rolled off his tongue. " Well I'll be damned.. Send him over."

It didn't take too long before he saw the beat up truck, and you through the windshield. You've definitely aged since you were 17. Obviously, but it was a welcomed change to the mechanic's eyes. The tired eyes and scruff was a good look for you. As he made his way over, he saw you get out of the car and reach for something in the middle seat. Getting closer, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of a black, bulky car seat with a child chewing on a silicone ring.

Time really changes people in more than one way, huh.

Despite everything, Bo swallowed his shock and called out to you, "Need any help?" He tipped his hat to you as you nestled the little girl on your hip. You gave a wave and encouraged the baby to say her thanks to Lester before turning to Bo. Laughter rung in Bo's ears, along with your much matured voice. "Nice seeing you too, Bo."

God your smile brought him back 20 years.

He hid his bashful gaze under his hat and gestured to the gas station behind him. "Lester told me about your problem. D'ya mind if we get out of this sun while we talk? I'm sure the lil miss would appreciate it." You simply nodded and followed your friend down the gravel road. You spoke up from behind, "So uh..how's life been treating you?" Bo tucked his hands in his pockets, "Nothin' much, been staying back in Ambrose for a while now. How about you?" He forced out a small smirk as he gestured to the 6 month old in your arms. "Find yourself a wife?" "Husband, actually." You corrected with a light laugh. "We found a surrogate to help with our family."

Bo’s smirk faltered, knowing he might’ve been a phase in your life hurt a lot less than knowing you had a life with a man that could’ve been him. "That's great..." he held the door open as watched and you walked in. "So, what kind of car troubles have you been having?" You were taken back by the abrupt topic change, but you brushed it off. Getting back home before dark was best. "Blown tire. My husband told me to keep a spare in the back, but I didn't think I'd actually need it." Your cheeks burned in embarrassment. Bo chuckled, remembering how you'd constantly watch him work on cars for other Ambrose residents. You'd tell your parents that you were just "studying with a friend," but in reality you kept Bo company and would reward him on his hard work.

After telling him about your car, he went down to the basement of the gas station and found the exact spare tire you needed. Though reaching out to grab it, Bo saw his chair in the corner of his eye. You found yourself back to him, back to Ambrose. The man who he shared all of his firsts with, who gave him more love than mama ever could, came back to him like the Lord answered his prayers.

But you didn't come back you, you came back with a different life. The promise ring he once welded for you is now replaced with a wedding band that some stranger bought for you. Unlike then, you're proud to belong to another man. Even though he was barely mentioned, you spoke of your spouse with a level of love he couldn't give you. Hell, you even have a child to take care of.

And while he entertained the thought of keeping you here, he knew you wouldn't be the same man he held onto for years.

Your life was too good for him to keep to himself, to ruin with his own impulses.

Snapping out of his thoughts were you yelling from the doorway, "Everything alright?" You asked. Bo quickly grabbed the tire and hurriedly yelled back. "Yeah. Mind just blanked. Stay up there, I'm coming! " The two men walked out of the station and into Bo's car. Silence filled the ride to your car, except for the occasional directions given to Bo.

As soon as you three made it to the car, Bo got to work changing your tire. The idea of you leaving him again made him feel sick, but having you stay against your will, never loving him back, hurt more. Changing the tire was quick and he avoided eye contact as soon as you came up to inspect the job. "I can't thank you enough, how much do I owe you?" Bo waved it off, "On the house. Just make it home before dark, got it?" His voice was tender and soft. You nodded and surprised him with a hug. "Thank you... y'know I've missed you, Bo. It was nice seeing you again." Bo takes in a deep breath before giving you a pay on the back.

"You got no idea..stay safe, Y/n."

[goodnightmemes]

THE TUDORS SEASON TWO SENTENCE STARTER (PART TWO)

s02e06 - s02e10

❛ Will you come to my bed tonight? ❜

❛ You are marrying into a great family. You will do it, whether you like it or not. Do you understand? ❜

❛ Something's going to happen to me. ❜

❛ Don't talk like this. Nothing is going to happen to you. ❜

❛ I'm unable to give a King a son; a son to be the living image of his father. ❜

❛ It's all right. Everything is going to be all right. Please don't cry. I love you. I'll look after you, I swear. ❜

❛ I like you and enjoy your company. But you have a reputation: you gamble and you whore. You sail close to the wind. God forbid it should ever blow you onto the rocks. ❜

❛ I have no doubt what so ever that Your Majesty's reign will always be remembered. ❜

❛ Are you amusing yourself at my expense? ❜

❛ I swear to you it will never happen again. I love you too much. I have no right to ask you to believe me. But it's true. ❜

❛ Is she one of your mistresses? How many do you have? What are their names? ❜

❛ Here's the truth: you must shut your eyes and endure like your betters have done before you. ❜

❛ How can you say that to me? Don't you know that I love you a thousand times more than [name] ever did! ❜

❛ Don't you know that I can drag you down as quickly as I raised you? ❜

❛ This is lucky you have your bed already, madam, because if you did not, I wouldn't give it to you again. ❜

❛ Listen to me. You're the Queen! For the love of God, act like it! ❜

❛ At least seem happy. Not a heap of misery! ❜

❛ It's been tasted. It's not poisonous. ❜

❛ I am not "your dear". I am nobody's "dear!" I am a woman and I demand equal respect for my ideas! ❜

❛ Why are you here? To see the degradation that we have been forced to? ❜

❛ You may kiss me. Then you will leave me alone. Forever. ❜

❛ Anyone can see that the King is not so much in love with her as he used to be. ❜

❛ All this time and you're still in love with her! ❜

❛ Let me look at you. There you are. I have not seen you for so long. An eternity. And here you are! ❜

❛If I had a son, it would bring about a golden world. ❜

❛You ought to be careful, or I will have you cropped at the neck. ❜

❛ I did not bring you up to have opinions or to express them or to quarrel with those closest to the Crown. ❜

❛ I am carrying the King's son. We are on the edge of a golden world! ❜

❛ I'm certainly aware there are some at court who would like to see the queen replaced. ❜

❛ I was married before and I must confess, I rather like the liberty of not being married again. ❜

❛ You have just come from another's bed. No. Do not deny it. ❜

❛ Sometimes, my love, I think that with you I'm already condemned to live in purgatory. ❜

❛ His heart is very weak. I don't know if he will come back to us. ❜

❛ In such a crisis, all could disintegrate. So the centre has to hold, and we must hold it. ❜

❛ You know, I cannot think whether it would be a bad thing or a good thing if he died. ❜

❛ As Lord Protector, you would ipso facto...be King, ❜

❛ Though you are still a young man...you're not as young as you used to be. ❜

❛ I'm so happy you're well. I was so alarmed, so afraid. ❜

❛ It was a mistake to think I could behave like I used to. In any case, those carefree days are gone. ❜

❛ In the future, I won't see you unless your other family members are present. I just had to see you now. ❜

❛ What is this? Just when my belly is doing its business...I find you wenching with Mistress [name]! ❜

❛ You've lost my boy. I cannot speak of it. The loss is too great. ❜

❛ I see now that God will not grant me any male children. ❜

❛ You have no one to blame but yourself for this. ❜

❛ Because the love I bear you is so great...it broke my heart to see you loved others. ❜

❛ It's true what they have whispered. I shut my ears to them, but now I know it to be true. ❜

❛ I will treasure this all my life. And if they ever open my grave, they will find it again, right next to my heart. ❜

❛ You have overreached yourself. Believe me, you have placed yourself in very great danger. ❜

❛ Do you assume I no longer possess the power to crush you? It would be an easy mistake to make. ❜

❛ The king cannot satisfy a woman. He has neither the skill, nor the virility. ❜

❛ We have come so far. No one is going to be allowed to destroy us. No one. Do you understand? ❜

❛ I think we should drink a toast to new beginnings and to new friendships and to a mutually beneficial future. ❜

❛ If your master wants to deal with me, he must first apologize for all his ill treatment of me in the past. ❜

❛ Princes are different from us and are not to be easily understood. ❜

❛ It's come to my notice that some acts of treason and other offenses have been committed by those we loved and trusted. By members of our own court. ❜

❛ I want to tell you in this slippery world, you represent for me all that is innocent, everything that is good, unsullied, uncorrupted. ❜

❛ If anything should happen to me...will you promise to care for my daughter? ❜

❛ Please. For the love you bear our child, have mercy. ❜

❛ After everything we've been to each other. After everything we were. Please. One more chance. ❜

❛ My enemies have poisoned the air with their horrid lies. ❜

❛ I pray God will help me, for there is no truth in these allegations. ❜

❛ Sometimes, in order to defeat evil, one must learn to consort with the devil. ❜

❛ When am I to die? ❜

❛ My lady, I am obliged to tell you that your marriage to the king has been declared null and void. ❜

❛ Tell them to ready the horses. But tell no one of our destination. ❜

❛ I hear you say I will not die before noon. I am sorry for it, for I thought to be dead by that time and past my pain. ❜

❛ Yes, I heard the executioner was very good. And in any case, I have only a little neck. ❜

❛ Have you ever killed someone? What did it feel like? ❜

❛ I would really like to see someone die. Can I go to the execution with you? ❜

❛ I want her dead. I want it over with. Finished. Go and do it or, by God's blood, you will join her. ❜

❛ I swear to you, from tomorrow, everything will be different. We will be young and merry as we used to be. ❜

❛ If you would take my advice for what it's worth find a rich man to marry who is too stupid to know anything about politics. Then perhaps - unless you die in childbirth, which is likely...or the plague, which is almost inevitable - then you will be happy. ❜

❛ Forgive me. It's just that I so much want a new beginning. A renaissance. Sometimes it is hard to be reminded of things. ❜

❛ Tell me, was it all worth it? ❜

[leonanette]

The Family Tree of the Valyrian Gods from 'The Man in the Pearl Mask'

Since I have put way too much effort into the lore around my fic's version of the Valyrian gods (borrowing heavily from ancient mythology in the process), it makes sense that I should share the family tree. Since tumblr's messed up the image quality, I've added close-ups.

Hopefully, this should make the vague hints on the family relationship in my fic clearer. I decided to put the gods' animal aspects as placeholders for now. I'll come back and add their profile pictures when I have the time/means to commission them.

Credit for pictures (so far):

Syrax - @hrgves (animal aspect is a horse)

And, yes, because this is Valyria we're talking about, there's going to be plenty of incest. Hey, all the cool ancient pantheons do it.

Creation Myth (in a nutshell - more details will be provided in the individual profiles)

So, in the beginning, there was primordial chaos. Out of that primordial chaos came six eggs. They dropped from the sky onto a land with fourteen volcanos. When they landed, the eggs cracked and the seven original gods emerged from them. In order of hatching, they were:

Aegarax

Meleys

Gaelithox

Tyraxes and Vhagar (they emerged from the same egg)

Arrax

Shyrkos

The broken eggshells became the land and the fluid that came during the hatching became the oceans.

Time passed, the land bloomed and the Valyrian freehold was born. Soon, there rose a debate as to who should rule over the land and over the other gods. This grew into a war and it came down to three: Arrax, Tyraxes and Vhagar. Both Tyraxes and Vhagar knew they couldn't win on their own so they both tried to persuade Arrax to marry them and join their forces against the other.

Arrax chose Tyraxes and they ruled as King and Queen of the Gods. Tyraxes bore Arrax three children: the twins, Meraxes and Caraxes, and Balerion. Arrax still had some feelings for Vhagar, however, and those feelings soon became apparent when Vhagar gave birth to Vermithor. Tyraxes grew angry at this betrayal, both from her husband and sister. She couldn't banish Vhagar as their nature meant they physically couldn't be far apart but she could banish Vermithor away from the gods' domain among the fourteen volcanos.

In his lonely abode near a lake, Vermithor saw humans creating tools and then how fire could shape metal. He tried for himself and soon surpassed mortals in what he could create. Gaelithox became curious when he saw Vermithor using fire (Gaelithox's own creation) in such a way. That curiousity grew to admiration and then to love. That marriage infuritated Tyraxes. She wanted it broken up and Vermithor banished anew but, Arrax, weary of her spite, overruled her and Vermithor was allowed to return home.

Meanwhile, Aegarax and Meleys had a brief love affair ang a son together, who they named Vermax. Over time, however, it became clear Aegarax preferred his animals to his wife and son and Meleys left him, taking Vermax with her. She didn't think he even noticed for years.

Vermax grew up and, as so often happens with children from broken homes, he became a troublemaker. He liked the company of mortals more than gods and would constantly get in trouble for his trickery. One day, however, one mortal caught his eye. The sorceress, Tessarion, was already married but her husband had betrayed her to marry a rich widow. Enraged, she schemed to kill the widow, her father and even the children Tessarion had with her husband, leaving that faithless husband alone and in infamy. Meleys was impressed with this revenge scheme and Vermax was enchanted. When her husband died, Vermax courted and won Tessarion's affection. By doing a big favour to Arrax and by Meleys' petitions, he had Tessarion ascended to godhood and, soon, they were expecting a child.

At that time, Tessarion would visit her temples and offer prophecies to those who paid homage to her. One day, she gave a prophecy to a man who didn't like what he heard. In a fury, he threw oil of vitriol in her face. This brought on a premature labour and that's how Syrax, the youngest of the gods, was born. Tessarion recovered from her wounds with time and magic but she kept her face covered with a veil after that.

Colour Key

Line colours:

Horizontal white: Siblings

Vertical white: Children

Purple: Married (you can pry the headcanon that Valyrians had same-sex marriages out of my cold dead hands)

Blue: Twins

Red: Extra-marital affair

Picture Frame Colours:

White: Original seven

Blue: Legitimate children

Purple: Illegitimate children

Pink: Ascended mortal

[toastling]

I just love disability pay.

For those who don't know, I recently underwent surgery, and have been out of work since January in the lead-up to said surgery dealing with multiple infections and abscesses and healing in preparation. When I got put on temporary disability, I was told I'm good through June 31st and can call if I ever needed an extension. But on Friday near the end of the business, day I get an e-mail saying actually I'm only good until the 16th, and also, if I need an extension, I have until the 11th to call them and let them know to get the paperwork e-mailed. I figure "Okay, that's fine, they've been operational 7 days a week for any questions or corrections these last 6 months", except, for extensions specifically, they only operate on week days. Now mind you they only told me any of this in a single e-mail at the last possible second at the end of a Friday, so, there was no chance I could call them and get the paperwork sent over to have my doctor fill out over the weekend. The 11th is Tuesday. Since they won't handle this particular thing on weekends, I have Monday and Monday alone to call up, get the paperwork, send that paperwork to my doctor, and then send it back to them for approval. There is almost No chance that the last two steps are going to be completed in the span of Monday alone, especially since the surgeon in charge of my case is only in the office near me on Tuesdays, and only before noon, which means I'm going to have to try and get said paperwork to him to be filled out on a day he isn't even in town and insist it's rushed as fast as possible or I'll miss the deadline I didn't know I had until yesterday. It's like, incredibly obvious it's set up this way intentionally because America really doesn't want you to stay alive if you're disabled, even only temporarily, but Jesus Christ dude.

What's more, I've been making an entire third less what I should have been this entire 6 month period, forced to get by on $100 a week, because the way they calculate disability in my state is based on my prior 4 weeks of work before going on medical leave.

But as it happens, since I was chronically ill and was getting sicker than ever more often than before, I'd just missed an entire month of work just before the infection and abscess that took me out pre-surgery these past 6 months.

I'd only been back to work for 3 weeks by the time I was forced to go on leave again, and because I'd been out for so long before that and my schedule is created 3 weeks in advance, my manager had to finagle things a lot to squeeze me onto the schedule at all for those 3 weeks, so I was working WAY fewer hours than I normally did, meaning I was making less money than I normally would. And because I didn't reach that 4 week benchmark, that is what my disability pay was calculated off of, not what I actually, normally make in a week.

I've kind of just Let That Go this entire time because I live with my family still, so thankfully I've been able to get by on 100 a week by focusing solely on the most essential stuff, namely my personal groceries, and my family has been carrying me with any other expenses along the way, including medical ones (my surgery and bowel infections have been covered by my insurance 100%, but my dental emergencies which have also been going on continuously since January have not), but man, the combination of all this is just. Incredibly frustrating.

It should not be this difficult to have surgery and not, under ordinary circumstances, end up on the street during recovery because I can't work for X amount of months, but, you know, greatest country on Earth and all that. God bless the American healthcare and social safety net systems.

As an aside though, for anybody with more experience being on temporary disability pay than me - do you think it would be possible for me to appeal and get the money I *should* have been making this entire time this late into my claim? Because with the dental bills in particular, it would be nice if I could get the last 24 weeks of that missing third of my rightful pay to get back in the black with my dentist.

I was told it's NY state regulations, the whole prior 4 weeks of work calculation thing, but I do have extenuating circumstances there that impacted my paycheck. But like, would that even matter to these people?

[inannasdream]

my name isn't mine is a song that, ostensibly, was made for boris and the dark survival from the perspective of boris, but it is my firm belief that this song is actually from the perspective of henry and in this essay i wi

so this reading of mnim stems from the lyrics working from both a literal and figurative perspective. literally -- very obvs it's boris. but figuratively? soooo many of the sentiments expressed in mnim fit a frustrated, depressed cycle henry to a perfect tee. (unintentionally, since we only learned the cycle henry is a different entity from the real world henry in batdr, but hey, art takes on a life of its own once it's unleashed onto the world ;) )

now, let's look at the things that are SOOOO immaculately fitting when read from the perspective of cycle henry (giddily kicking my feet).

i said come one, come all, enjoy the show

call me matpat because i am So excited to dissect this frame by frame obvious callback to blood and ink is obvious! but from henry's perspective, he's mockingly repeating joey's exaggerated mannerisms.

now you've got the heart, but do ya got the soul?

idk, henry, do YOU? but yea, introduction to the ink realm a la "welcome to my fucked up life," you don't even need a soul to end up here!

you gonna let me down? will you fit right in?

or will you drown in the pitch black ink of your sin?

a continuation of henry mocking joey — when you read this in (a caricature of) joey's voice, it actually lines up really well with him! henry brings up the three possible paths here of either letting joey down (leaving), "fitting right in" presumably with the rest of joey's victims (staying with the studio and its employees), or "drowning in the pitch black ink" of his "sin" (suffering in the cycle). note as well how henry equates his leaving joey and the studio to a sin, which was always a word associated with joey rather than henry.

they got ways to keep you quiet

they got ways to keep you tame

this would be him being forced to follow joey's script no matter what. "ways" is a suitably vague word to describe the "up from above" kind of power joey has that keeps henry from being able to break the script in any kind of way. the word tame is also a very demeaning word to use for a human, but it's definitely one i can see joey using -- or, at the very least, one that henry would use to imitate joey's attitude towards his employees. sammy may have been the one to call everyone sheep, but joey was definitely the one who meant it 🤪

now, what the hell did you expect from me?

i'm bound to break if you keep me bending

god u tell him u funky old man. harkens back to the days where joey was casually expecting henry to completely give up his personal life for the studio, and more importantly for joey. dumb bitch that's the quickest path to burnout, so it's no wonder, both in general and particularly to henry himself, that he left back to his family. joey's "all take and no give" attitude was unsustainable from the start.

i'm tired of playing pawn in sick little games

you dream the impossible

a shepherd herding your mindless cattle

calling himself a pawn because he's comparing himself to an insignificant piece, which joey always treated him as until he finally left. pawn in sick little games... identity-less prop for joey's vent cartoon torture story. dreaming the impossible is quite literally joey's motto in life lol. and again the comparison of joey: human owner, his victims: mindless animals that need to be tamed.,,, ough

don't you act so surprised

once you've seen what they've done to us this time

this line refers to after joey's change of heart. i don't think it applies to anywhere else in henry's life (and def not with other people, ie an "us"), so it feels like a point in time where henry is exasperated by the meager bits of help that joey is able to offer him in the cycle after, you know, trapping him there for years.

i said come one, come all, i'll tell the tale

of a stoic lone wolf bound to bail

bail actually works REALLY well here, since it specifically is about abandonment — to an activity, relationship, obligation, but in this specific case, a job. hm, i wonder who is constantly facing the consequences of, in a certain someone's eyes, bailing? it also works presently in tandem with henry's attitude towards being trapped in the cycle, as someone who'd be all too happy to break the script and abandon his role as a tragic hero. his time in the cycle spent as someone who basically everybody wants dead (and is tired of everyone's shit in turn) also paints a pretty good picture of a "stoic lone wolf."

they had ways to keep me quiet

convinced me that i'm insane

pronoun shift here! (i know i'm also surprised to see not Every Single Line here is about joey) "they" seems to generally refer to the ink entities that antagonize henry during his journeys through the studio. the past tense here is so interesting though...

the dancing devil betrayed me

a friend that erased his name

henry was the original creator of bendy, the dancing devil, who went on to become the ink demon (not bendy, the ink demon, hence erasing his name) stalking him in the halls of the cycle's studio.

you never had the heart or soul to let it go

the jealousy, it takes control of everything you do

he repeats the "heart/soul" motif from earlier in the song, drawing specific attention to it in regards to joey. "YOU have a heart and soul, how come you've still been so cruel to everyone around you despite that?" and of course, all that because he can't let go of his cartoon empire, of henry.

and even if you sign the line, pretend it's fine

my name, it isn't mine, i'm an object in your mind

i'm just your property, right?

MY FAVORITE LINES EVER. UGH. it's no wonder my friend group and i love nwtb's music so much. these lines work on so many levels for cycle henry it is unbelievable, like his name isn't his? YEAH because it REALLY ISN'T. IT'S REAL WORLD HENRY'S. while working for joey, he was figuratively stripped too of the personhood encapsulated in a name, merely serving the role of lead animator in joey's fantasy. and now, no amount of scraps of help joey gives him is going to give him back his name (identity. personhood). he feels like he is and always has been an object to joey, from being used for his labor without any consideration whatsoever for his own feelings and personal life, to being used as the protagonist in joey's horrifying rpf fic who serves no other purpose than to suffer for joey's own peace of mind. his characters are property of joey drew studios, and even the damn ink machine, which constitutes cycle henry's existence, belongs to joey. there's just such a level of personal anger in the way these lines are sung (thank u nate for my life), expressed with an exasperation of "yeah, better fucking believe it, but to be honest, i can't either." i'm normal, btw. just gotta mention that somewhere, so we're clear...

maybe i'm not bright

but i'm not what i seem

and maybe it's not right for me (for me)

this is where the song breaks down and starts fading out; on henry looking inward, his anger and frustration towards joey quieting down to a monologue of melancholy for the hand he's been dealt in his life. i think the "it" mentioned in the last lyric here could refer to "the best, first" (elaborated on more in the next passage). so my interpretation of it is, "maybe i wasn't meant to be the genius animation head you wanted me to be."

(edit: furthermore, in the illusion of living, joey makes it a point to emphasize how henry has a lot more to him than he would seem to on the outside. srsly he calls him "forgettable" CONSTANTLY, it's kind of amazing he has the gall to say that abt the man he lets live in his mind 24/7 rent free...)

designed for second best

i feel i'm at my worst

your expectations are my curse

henry is acutely aware of how he plays second best both for joey, who took credit for everything henry ever contributed to the studio and who, even after everything, still gets to live in the real world and keep his possession of the ink machine, and for the real world henry, who is living the life that is just out of reach for cycle henry. of course joey's expectations are his curse — his entire existence was born from joey's unreachable expectations for the real world henry.

maybe i'm not alright

when were u ever.

so yeah. um. im the normalest girl ever. extremely normal about b:tc coming this year. have i m. mentioned im normal.

[bowelfly]

while i usually keep this blog focused on art and bugs, movies are my third big passion, and since i don't believe in streaming services i don't have a spotify wrapped for 2022 to show off but i do have a letterboxd account so i felt like going through my 2022 movie watching stats. this post is basically for me alone and will be obnoxiously long so i'll put in a read more thing here out of courtesy:

ooh so close to almost 1000 hours of movies! still 718 films is pretty good, though that does also include around 80 or so shorts, mostly animations, that i also logged.

i was averaging around 2 movies per day for the year. being 500 miles away from all your friends, family, and partner does give you a lot of free time it turns out. the most movies i watched in a single week, december 10-16, was 28. the weeks i only watched a couple things were either when i was visiting my partner or too depressed to even watch movies

one of the things i've done this year to keep myself sane in isolation was to stream movies for friends. however since i have multiple non-overlapping friend groups, there were a number of movies i watched multiple times because i have a deep psychological and emotional need to share weird shit with the people i care about. NOVA SEED, FANTASY MISSION FORCE, and BUDDHA'S PALM were the triple crown winners this year.

i only watched 7 movies that came out in 2022. my sweet spot is genre movies made from the late 70s through the mid-90s which you can see clearly if you look at my lifetime stats. predictably, i have very strong opinions about practical effects and stunts and film stock

my ratings spread for 2022 is about what it normally is for other years with a lot of things ending up in the 3.5-4 star range. maybe i'm just generous with my stars or maybe i just like what i like and try to not watch things i won't like unless they're bad in a fun way but i really feel like i've been moving away from the whole so-bad-its-good thing over the years and focusing on things that i unironically like--though these are often films that other people do categorize as bad or so-bad-its-good.

my most watched actors is a bunch of golden age hong kong dudes because i went super hard on the kung fu and wuxia films this year. like about half of these are big name stars and the other half are less well-known character actors that still are in like 200 movies playing assorted emperors and evil administrators. really glad to see my main man lo lieh running away with first place. he's most well known for playing evil white-haired kung fu masters usually named pai mei or variations of that, but he's also played the protagonist or antihero of a number of great films like FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH or THE FUGITIVE (1972, not the harrison ford one). my favorite role of his is without question Bi Gu of East Island the rascally kung fu wizard who hollers his name from offscreen before every time he enters a scene in BUDDHA'S PALM (1982).

also very pleased to see one of my favorite american character actors, brion james squeaking his way onto the list, though sad that he got separated from his best friend and frequent collaborator tim thomerson, who i think is just below the cut here.

most watched directors. i've been a huge fan of the very recently deceased albert pyun for years now, largely on the strength of his absolute god-tier masterpiece NEMESIS (1992) though he has a number of other very entertaining movies (RADIOACTIVE DREAMS, CYBORG) and also a cavalcade of very bad movies that are nonetheless all fascinating in their own ways. i could go on about him at length but this post is long enough. maybe another time.

other than that, chor yuen (THE MAGIC BLADE, DESCENDANT OF THE SUN) and chang cheh (CRIPPLED AVENGERS, FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS) are gods of early wuxia cinema and fucking rule, and keita amemiya's 90s work (ZEIRAM, MECHANICAL VIOLATOR HAKAIDER, CYBER NINJA) are pinnacles of kickass japanese practical effects work.

i also watched a lot of russ meyer and john waters films because i'm a pevert.

this is mostly just a reminder to check out my WUXIA WIZARD WARS tumblr post and letterboxd list if you like movies about wizards shooting lasers at each other and summoning fucked up monsters and shit like that

finally, because i have a brain disease, i made a list of the 100 best films i watched this year, mostly first-time watches but probably like 15-20 rewatches that i especially enjoyed or think more people should know about or give another shot. if i didn't already have way too many projects i'd consider setting up another sideblog just going through all these one by one with reviews and screenshots but that's a lot of work and i am a tired old man. i might give an occasional highlight post like i did for THE BARON AGAINST THE DEMONS

and i guess that's about it? this has been an especially heavy year for golden age hong kong kung fu and wuxia films but i explored a lot of other interesting places and times and genres and microgenres and have a lot more i plan on checking out next year. i've got stacks and stacks of unwatched japanese V-cinema and pinku violence and kaiju and tokusatsu films; tons of giallo and hammer horror and eurotrash lesbian vampire flicks; classic westerns, revisionist westerns, spaghetti westerns; SOV horror, eastern european stop motion, hong kong CAT III sleaze, russian postapocalyptic dirges, poliziotteschi, krimi, and noir films; AIP and PM Entertainment action schlock; italian mad max ripoffs, italian alien ripoffs, italian conan ripoffs; approximately 300 movies with NINJA, BLOOD, or SHAOLIN in their titles; and probably some other shit too.

finally, if you've made it this far and you're a nasty little film freak like me i'll let you in on a secret: i have copies of every single one of these movies on my hard drive. literally thousands of movies dug out of dozens of digital dumpsters with my own two greasy grabby raccoon paws. if any of them particularly catch your interest but you can't find a copy, well you can maybe slip old professor bfly a little private request and get yourself a copy of whatever you need. it may take some time since i only have so many google drive accounts unless someone wants to subsidize a deluxe mega.nz subscription for me to mass-upload things to. i also have a soulseek account sharing the entire hoard but it's very slow and not always online but you can DM me for that as well. again though you may have to be patient because i am old and tired and slow and have a full time job and a hundred dumb hobbies and social anxiety and generalized brain damage

happy new year everyone now go watch a movie about some dudes kicking the shit out of each other for me

[rose-red-ink]

Intro Post

Hi there, I'm rose-red-ink, but you can call me Inky! I'm a writer, and a lover of all things nerdy. I'm also an elementary teacher, so I reblog education stuff occasionally. Feel free to drop into my dms or asks if you want to chat about fandom, fic, or anything else!

This is a writing blog where I write lots of things including anime and Star Wars fic, as well as original projects. I'll be dropping links to them and dropping a short summary below. Enjoy your stay, and again, I always enjoy asks and engagement! Come talk to me (I don't bite I promise)

Original Works

My Original WIP is tagged with #theartemiscovenant or #theartemisproject or just #TAC. I don't have a lot of it posted, but I'm happy to chat about it whenever.

It's an urban fantasy thriller about faith, trauma, familial love, and working through your mental illness to become a better person. The protagonist is the holder of the Artemis Covenant, Riley, and there are other "god" characters such as Hades, Persephone, Apollo, Hermes and Demeter, as well as other supernatural creatures like werewolves.

Fanfiction

Everything under here can be found on my A03

If you send in an ask for anything I write, I'd happily drop you a drabble. Just ask!

Star Wars

Force Mandated Bottle Episode (Sequels Rewrite, including Reylo) Ongoing, updated every Saturday

Related Web Weaving

When Finn and Poe escape from the First Order ship, Kylo Ren takes off after them. When both ships are damaged, they crash on Jakku, right into the Star Destroyer that Rey is scavenging from.

Finn is longing for freedom while unable to escape the thoughts of those he left behind. Poe is determined to be the most annoying hostage possible to his old surrogate brother. Kylo is trying to survive Poe while being plagued with curiosity; who is the woman he keeps hearing at the edges of his mind? And new powers are awakening in Rey, powers that seem to be the source of the visions of a strange man in black, exploring the same wreckage, just out of her reach.

Choices will be made, loyalties tested, and bonds forged. Where will they go when they emerge from the wreckage?

One Piece

Featherflower (Dracule Mihawk X OC) Completed

A Kuja named Teria is forced to leave Amazon Lily, and finds herself a home aboard the Red Force, working under the Red Haired Shanks. This puts her face to face with a mysterious swordsman several times. The two form a connection, and eventually, love blooms.

This one is done, but I still write mini fics for them as the inspo strikes.

The Punk and the Surgeon: Lawka (Trafalgar D. Water Law x OC) Ongoing

Law's ship needs repairs, and the only place to do so is said to be haunted. Instead of a ghost or spirit, he meets Aika; a stubborn, kind young woman who's doing her best to keep her family safe. Through a series of tragic circumstances, she finds her way onto his crew, and into his heart.

Cards and Pieces: Freyce (Portgas D. Ace x OC) Ongoing

In his time as captain of the Spade Pirates, Ace drunkenly stumbles across a young woman with a strong spirit, a need for connection, and a loyalty that burns brighter than the sun. She becomes his first mate, and stands by his side through everything.

Jujitsu Kaisen

Candy and Catastrophes (Bluebird) (Satoru Gojo x OC) Ongoing

Natori is wildly thrown into the world of jujitsu sorcery when her cursed technique manifests, leaving her confused and scared. Satoru Gojo steps in, promising to hide her identity from her clan and to give her a job at Jujitsu High, masquerading as a window. He gets more than he bargained for when attraction begins to stir between the two.

(This fic is focused on character development, fluff, and hurt/comfort. It will go off the course of canon for these reasons)

[nyashykyunnie]

Solo Leveling x Return of The Blossoming Blade shitpost

So you saw the latest teaser of Arise right? The game? The sword is called "Demonic Sword Plum Flower" AND DID YOU KNOW THERE'S A MANHWA WHERE THE MAIN CHARACTER HAS THE TITLE OF " Plum Blossom Sword Saint"? THAT MAN IS CHEONG MYEONG SO BUCKLE UP EVERYONE LISTEN TO MY DAILY BULLSHIT WHERE AS LING AS I CAN DO IT, I WILL FIT JINWOO EVERYWHERE

Jinwoo was just 13 years old when suddenly he isekaid to another world and he was about to try and make a way to come back to his world(even tho in his world he has no family to go home to, je also alr regressrd in this and has his own shadow monarch powers idk how it happened just shut up and listen mWaH) and as he was fcking around he caught the eye of one of Sect Members of Mount Hua. The stranger was just watching him before randomly blurting out, "Hey, Kid. Wanna get into mount hua?"

Jinwoo: ????

???: Quit staring, kid, this old man doesn't have that much patience.

Jinwoo: **is even more comfused because that kid doesnt even look past 14**

???: Hey. **skerryyyyy face** mtf I'm tryna adopt u get ur ass to say yes or I'm forcibly gonna fcking kidnap u and force u into mount hua

Jinwoo: a name at least?

???: Cheong Myeong^^

Jinwoo: alright, I'll come with you?

little did he know Cheong Myeong is the greatest mtfing brat who does not hesitate to slam dunk your head onto the pavement and is a BIG ALCOHOLIC. And as Jinwoo was about to dismiss this lil brat. He realized everyone is batshit scared (and so done) with Cheong Myeong so he cant help but be intrigued. And so the part where the training come sup. Yknow Jinwoo is alr a monarch so he cant help but feel bad that everyone else is suffering intense training and here is cheong myeong going "IF ANY OF DUMB LIL SHITS FALL BEHIND OR GO TOO GODDAMN SLOW YOU'RE REPEATING THE WHOLE DAMN SET BUT TEN TIMES MORE."

Though Jinwoo could see how much the kids are suffering, it wasn't unjust tyranny because he could see how determined everyone else was in training.

Jinwoo was just melting in the bg until one night he was goofing around in the forest and he found Cheong Myeong drinking alcohol.

Jinwoo: Aren:t you too young for that?

Cheong Myeong: As long as the sect leaders dont see I'm fine~

Jinwoo: ....

Cheong Myeong: Hey, I know you're not having a hard time on training

Jinwoo: ..... **shit.**

Cheong Myeong: Its obvious you are stronger, but are you really gonna stay like that? Huh? You're part of Mount Hua, and since I made it my.decision to drag you in here— I'll make sure you're gonna be a top swordsman.

Jinwoo wanted to refute, god he did but the fire in Cheong Myeong's eyes. That cold and calculating gaze. Cheong Myeong knew there was more to Jinwoo than what he looks but doesnt press on to milk more info. All that matters in Mount Hua and for mount Hua to prosper.

Cheong Myeong: Starting tomorrow I'll double— No triple? I'll add so much to your training, I wanna see you panting and bleeding from your palms tomorrow^^

Jinwoo: Sure.

Jinwoo was intrigued, intrigued at this so-called "Kid." He knows this brat is also more than what he appears. This kid has an air of wisdom around him, something benevolent and old—

Then he sees Cheong Myeong being the absolute menace one time and all that acknowledgement goes to the bin. Atleast Cheong Myeong was serious in making Jinwoo train extra harder. Jinwoo alr has incredible stamina so he secretly doubles his own workout for the fun of it.

But ofc training aside, Jinwoo is having a hard time to adjust because modern world and old world traditions are so vast. He cant even differentiate "Sajae" and "Sahyung" withour fucking up one way or another. Not to mention the stress Cheong Myeong is causing like man that brat is an absolute menace, when he's pissed. HE IS PISSED.

i would go more into detail but my brain juices out. just know that Jinwoo had to watch sm of Cheong Myeong's bullshit

[sadwizardjessi]

hey hey! introduce me to your ocs!

Awww Yiisss

I'll just go through a couple bc i have way too many!! And bare with me, they're all technically dnd characters as that was the easiest way for me to create new characters

First my oldest, Aspen Creed! He's a 30 yr old human with draconic heritage. His backstory is really lengthy but to sum it up, he ran away from a cultist group around 18 bc his girlfriend of 3 years broke up with him (its a whole thing, another friend's oc. She broke up to protect him but he won't find that out until years later). Which then he met a group of pirates lead by an undead captain (which he wasn't aware of being undead at the time). The captain raises him as a son for about 7 or 8 years before there's an attack and he's seperate from them. He runs back into his ex girl friend and they try to make it work, but she leaves him again (again to protect him). It's not until he's 29 that he sees her again. But this time with a son. She'd been slowly being possessed on each new moon and was afraid of hurting him, but now she has a son and she can't exactly hide him from Aspen. So now he's hunting down the creature trying to overtake her body so he and her can live a happy life with their kid. He's dramatic and selfish and a little greedy but he really wants to do right by his family since he never really got to have one. He has a ridiculous amount of abandonment issues and an ego the size of a god damn country. He typically stays back in a fight using very strong damaging spells. Also he's vain af. I love him endlessly, he's just a terrible person lol

Next is my little man Kai Ziddis!! He's a 24 year old triton (fish person) and he's a bard! He's the middle child from a very very large family. 13 siblings actually do its hard to get a lot of attention. Especially when you occasionally freeze over and ask to be released in your sleep. He's soft spoken and sweet and tries to meditate as much as he can. He left home at 23 to both figure out his ice thing but also avoid the pressure of getting married and moving out his family is pushing onto him. He loves his friends more than he'll ever have words for and has a deep fear of one day waking up as a different person and not being able to either control his actions or remember anything if the life he's striving to build for himself. He just really wants to find a place in the world where he and his friends are safe. His main deal in battle is to supportand heal at mid range, he's terrible at 1v1 combat. Also he really really likes juice.

Next is a simple character. Just a gay elf wizard named Jassin Phelorna. He goes by Jase. He's 127 (so roughly in his early 20s) and he really likes figuring out the results to things. His past times is convincing people to try potions he's made usually consisting of spells he's tried to force into drink form. This only rarely works out. His parents put a lot of pressure to be at the top of his education, so to compromise he makes sure to learn something from every experience. He lives his life by very careful loopholes. He really likes plants. He usually tries to avoid fights, not wanting to be bothered with that stuff. Also dumb buff men who are slight pricks are his kryptonite. He'll never admit it though.

And finally I'll talk about Nexus Virel! Edgy trans teenager galore. He's a 15 yr old air Genasi and has an assassin name he made when he was 12 that he absolutely detests- The Cerulean Blade. Unfortunately it caught on before he realized you become embarrassed of yourself as you grow older. He was 7 when he lost his family, he himself being killed when a voice beyond raises him to preform a task when he's older. He now is missing his heart and is constantly flickering between the line of life and death. He travels with a bird woman he met when he was 8 named Paprika, whom he thinks of as an older sister despite her being well near middle age (another players character) she unfortunately perishes to a curse placed upon her where Nexus is then unofficially adopted by a woman named Ridian and her son Don (also another two players characters). He's sassy and pissy and honestly just a shitty kid but he has strong morals and as much as he talks a big game, he'd never hurt someone that doesn't deserve it. He fights at a distance, wanting to stealth as much as possible. Also he likes to sleep in very small places. Like a closet or a vent.

[angel-inked]

The one who lived: part 1 of chapter four

Happy WIP Wednesday

I originally called this chapter "run away" but I want to change the name, so if you have a suggestion please leave them in the comments

Bryn and the guild are getting into some deep shit

Taglist: @vvkingofgaybisciutsvv @thequeenofthewinter (if you want to be added send an ask)

Brynjolf's pov)

I grumbled and muttered to myself as I kicked a pebble down the path, I'm not sure how long I'll be out here for but does it matter? Does anything matter anymore? I sighed. Of course, my family matters a great deal to me... ugh! "What are you supposed to be hmm? Another thief?" A Nord traveler griped, walking the opposite direction to me. "Leave it be for once Lornjolf Cloud-Fire" his elven companion scolded, as she continued past him. "Whatever Elenonwy, I still say there's too many gods damn thieves in the riff" Lornjolf replied, starting to move again, glaring as he passed me. Well, now there's something you don't see everyday.. an altmer Stormcloak soldier. I wonder into the woods a little ways, found a tree and made myself comfortable at it's base. Pulling my journal out of my bag and started to jot down the unusual encounter.

I'm not a religious journal keeper, so this is more just me blubbering to myself. in this day and age, most people use journals to document their life and when they're gone, that journal is still going to be there for another traveler to find. Me, however, I'll be taking my secrets with me. I've been told I'm a man of mystery and I'd like to keep it that way. Once finished with my book and quill, I placed the items back in my bag and leaned back against the tree, closing my eyes for a moment. That was when a rustling sound accompanied by two voices got my attention, "oh, where in the hell could he have run off to?" A familiar dunmer's voice asked. "This one is not sure" an equally familiar Elsweyr dialect responded. Raven and Aisha, wonder who sent them after me, no matter they would have probably come looking sooner or later. "Brynjolf" Raven exclaimed. I remained still as the sound of boots hitting the ground grow closer "gods be damned, Bryn you better answer me" Raven demanded, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'm alright lass" I smirked, allowing my emerald eyes to flutter open "just resting for a moment". "You bloody redheaded bastard" Raven mumbled relieved. "What happened before you stormed off?" Aisha asked, setting down in front of me. I placed my hands ether side of my body and pushed myself up, my back now flat against the tree trunk.

"Well..." I said, clearing my throat "have 'ither of you seen a ghost before?" I asked, my voice unintentionally soft. Aisha was silent, just stared with an expression of thought and thinking etched onto her face as she pawed at her amulet. Raven nodded slowly "I'd rather not explain, it was someone very dear to me" Aisha placed a paw on the Dunmer's shoulder. "You don't have to love" I explained softly, closing the distance between our lips. A forced smile found it's way on to my partner's face "thank you, thank you both" Raven sighed, voice uncharacteristically quiet. "Who's ghost have you seen?" Aisha questioned, scooting closer to me and Laxy. I turned my gaze to the ground, biting my lip, how do you even begin to explain something like this?

"Brynjolf" Raven started, taking my hand in her's "just a name, it's all I need to track someone down" she explained. "I know.. but we don't need to track down anyone, hell you already killed him" I replied, glancing back at Raven. The two girls looked at each other and then back at me, "what do you mean?" Raven questioned. "He almost killed me. fuck, he claimed to have killed you Laxy" I murmured,  wringing my hands together, covering my lips. "Brynjolf, who is it?" Raven stated, her tone and dark colored eyes told more than her lips did.

"Mercer Frey"

[letstalkaboutshtufff]

Twisted Love

(Loki x Reader)

-Part 1-

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Warnings: Language, forced marriage, mentions of anxiety/panic attacks. if I forgot anything please let me know!

Prologue Part 2

************************************

"Are you adusting alright my dear"?

You smiled at the queen mother's genuine kindness. So far she had been the most welcoming of them all and you felt great comfort in her presence.

"Yes I am thank you.." you hoped you were being convincing enough, there were only so many times you could attempt to hide your sadness behind sips of tea.

It had been a week since the wedding, two weeks since your arrival in Asgard. So much had happened in such a short time that you felt a literal weight placed on your being.

The journey to Asgard was awful. Alone in the carriage you had no choice but to let your thoughts run wild, rendering you an anxious mess. Some moments you cried, others you felt as if you couldn't breathe and panicked. It was a condition youd always had that people labeled as dramatic and attention grabbing but you couldn't help it.

Before your actual arrival the Queen slipped into your carriage and began to lecture you about various things. Mostly threats about how if you didn't please the prince she would find ways to punish you.

You were a fool to think that serving the royal family dutifully all these years would result in anything good.

The moment you stepped onto Asgardian soil you felt the panic rise in your chest once more.

You were thankful that the queen had foreseen this and made you wear a fashionable crown veil thingy that hid your face and in turn your distraughtness.

A long bridge filled with brilliant colors stretched out before you. Had you not been so panicked you would've taken more time to admire it.

The party began to move on foot, the King and Queen at the helm while you fell behind, legs feeling as If you were moving through molasses.

What the hell were you doing? How could you ever be a princess? What if they caught you?!Would they have you executed?!? How were you ever going to convi-

"Are you alright your highness" It took you a moment to realize that it was you being addressed, obviously not used to the title.

You turned your head slowly to the right, a man clad in gold armor. His honey colored eyes regarded you with concern. You vaguely remembering him from when you first arrived, he opened the gate you think. Gods everything was getting so blurry and confusing.

"Y-yes I am, t-thank you sir" you winced at how shakey your voice came out. Gods you only just arrived and you were already drawing unnecessary attention.

He stared at you for a moment before continuing to walk by your side, an escort of sorts you assumed. He had said so earlier you think...something about the royal family awaits them eagerly and such. And he would lead them there, along with some other Asguardian guards.

You peeked at the whole crowd, you in the center, the monarchs in the front and guards surrounding you all marching you towards a world of unknown.

You felt an uncomfortable heat begin to creep up your body and suddenly your head felt like a balloon. Oh gods please don't faint, by all that is good and pure please don't let me faint... deep breaths, it's alright, it's going to be alright...it's-

You didn't even realize you had swayed until the man clad in gold firmly held your arm.

"You're unwell your highness, allow me to call-" immediately you jumped and cut him off, "N-no that's not necessary, I'm just a little weary from travel...I'll be alright.." The last thing you wanted was to cause a scene.

The man seemed unconvinced but nodded anyway. You were slightly surprised when he discreetly threaded your arm through his, giving you enough support lest you begin to sway again.

You met his eyes and found them to be understanding, "Thank you.." you whispered so only he could hear.

"May I know your name?" After a bit of supported walking you felt your nerves calm slightly and decided to distract yourself a bit.

He smiled and bowed his head slightly, "I am Heimdall, gatekeeper of Asgard, your highness"

"Heimdall..." you repeated the name. Maybe one day you could repay his kindness. No one in all your years as a lowly servant had shown you anything akin to kindness and now you were a princess and suddenly someone actually cared about your wellbeing. What a strange feeling...

The clanking of a kettle brought you back. The queen mother, Frigga smiled as she poured you another steaming cup of tea.

Never in your life did you think someone would be pouring your tea. Especially with a golden tea pot.

"Forgive me for prying but as a mother I am curious..." you nodded letting her know it was ok to continue.

"How are things going between you and Loki?"

"As soon as he says more than 5 words to me I'll let you know" was what you wanted to say but you opted for, "Things are well, he has been nothing but kind to me" you smiled brightly in an attempt to quell the wetness forming at the corner of your eyes.

There was no need to mention how things truly were, in fact if you told her she would probably find him and give him a beating with a broom. She often made jokes that if he did anything to make you feel sad she would throw him over her knee.

You were glad that amidst the sadness you had a comforting presence.

A week had felt like years... You barely said two words when you first arrived in the palace. The royal family was there and very welcoming. You caught sight of your future husband beside Odin. Had you not been riddled with worry you would've taken time to appreciate him.

When prompted he introduced himself and respectfully bent down to lay a soft kiss on your hand. His bright eyes met yours for a brief moment before retreating to his spot by his Father.

That was all the time you got with him before the wedding unfortunately. Your Queen told Odin and Frigga that Royal Valheim custom dictates the bride cannot see the groom for a set amount of days before the nuptials. Of course this was bullshit but the monarchs wanted to ensure there were no incidents before the actual wedding took place.

They also used this time to have impromptu lessons in etiquette and other things. It was terribly dull and you seriously considered taking the pencil and stabbing her with it.

Although you always accompanied the princess during her lessons, you didn't really learn with her. Why they thought you made a good fit was beyond you. Although you were beginning to understand the princess's bitchyness, these lessons were torture. And the overlooking threats didn't exactly help...

***************************

The day of the wedding you felt like a puppet. A team of valheiman women had taken hours to prepare you while you were lost in a fog.

Frigga entered the chambers when it was almost time for the ceremony and asked everybody to leave. You were nervous at first, thinking she had somehow found out the ruse but you calmed when she smiled brightly and gathered you in a tight hug.

"You look absolutely radiant my dear"

Radiant? Me?

"Thank you my queen" you forced a smile.

"Please call me Frigga" she smoothed a hand gently over your dress. "Or better yet, when your comfortable, mother" she giggled "I've always wanted a daughter after all!" You couldn't help but mirror her smile. What a wonderful woman. If only you didn't have to lie to her...

"That reminds me, I have something for you" she gently nudged you to face the floor length mirror. The reflection someone you didn't know.

"For generations the women in my family have passed this down to their daughters.." she reached a hand around your neck.

A shimmering silver pendant hung delicately down your neck. "And today I give it to you, welcome to the family my dear" she kissed your cheek and you couldn't speak. A single tear rolled down your cheek and you thanked her earnestly. You wondered if your mother would have been this loving. The guilt for lying suffocated you. You hoped she would never find out. The betrayal she'd feel would break you.

The actual wedding was probably the grandest event youd ever witnessed. The Valheim king, walked you down a glimmering red and gold aisle. At the end, the prince dressed in elegant wedding attire waited for you. He was polite but you could tell by his stiffness he didn't want this marriage, he was probably forced just like you had been. Albeit under very different circumstances...

Rings and quick vows were exchanged and after drinking from the same wine goblet you were officially married to Loki the prince of Asgard..

You didn't exchange any words during the wedding feast but that was alright with you. Your thoughts wandered to what he would expect of you tonight but luckily his brother, Prince Thor distracted you with his tales of his time on Midgard. He was truly sweet and expressed how happy he was to have a sister.

Many people approached you and welcomed you, many of the guards swearing their loyalty to you. Each declaration like a knife in your gut.

Guilt guilt guilt

After a long evening of partying and feasting, the dreaded moment had come when you were left alone with the Prince in your new chambers.

You didn't know what to say so you simply stayed quiet. You walked over and sat by the vanity and began to remove the many pins in your hair. You'd miss the days when you could just tie up your hair in a messy bun and no one would bat an eye.

After a few uncomfortable moments of quiet the Prince broke the silence. His first words setting the tone of the rest of your marriage.

"I did not ask for this marriage..."

You sucked in a breathe and stared at him through the mirror.

"However for the sake of my people I have chosen to go through with it. You are my wife in name and name only. As long as you do your duties as princess by my side in the court and in public, I see no reason we can't be...civil..."

Civil...how romantic...

"But as for anything more..." he trailed off, voice laced with tension.

"I understand.." you finally spoke, proud at how you didnt falter for once.

"Then I'll take my leave..."

Leave? Was he not going to stay the night, even if for appearances sake?

There was so much you wanted to say, so much you didnt know how to say, but in the end all you could manage was a weak nod. He exited the chambers and never in your life had you been so alone..

"Give it time y/n.." your head shot up at the queens sudden change in tone. You found her expression knowing and realized the queen was more perceptive than you initially realized.

You nodded sadly, thanked her for lunch and left.

Your days so far had been rather uneventful, which gave you some time to gather your wits. You'd spent your days pouring over asgardian books trying to learn everything you could. It was true that you often attended the princesses lessons, but it's not like you were sitting at the desk practicing and asking questions.

If you were going to continue this charade you were going to have to educate yourself.

Other than that and occasional tea with Frigga, you didn't really speak to anyone. This was technically supposed to be the honeymoon period, however you guessed asgard didn't partake in that particular custom. Not that you minded, time alone with Loki was the last thing you needed. Since your wedding night, you hardly saw him. To your surprise he did sleep in your shared chambers, he'd always come late into the night and leave early before you woke. Sharing a bed was a strange feeling, luckily the bed was adequate to lay an elephant on so it's not like you had to really be near each other.

You thought that finally getting to sleep on a soft bed was going to be a dream, that you'd never want to leave. In fact it was pure torture, years of sleeping on hard wooden beds with thin mattresses made it impossible to sleep on anything else. Often you would lay awake for hours, thinking about your new life. The tears had stopped coming some time ago. Or more like you forced yourself to hold it lest Loki see you and get angry.

You knew nothing about the prince and his temperament. And the queen made it quite clear that if you displeased him, she would know. You're not sure how since they departed soon after the wedding but you could tell she wasnt one for empty threats...

By the gods this was all so exhausting. Who knew being a princess was going to be worse than being a servant?

An abrupt knock shook you out of your thoughts.

"Yes?"

"My Lady, there is a letter for you"

A letter?

"You may enter" the maid bowed swiftly before handing you a cream scroll wrapped in a navy ribbon.

Must be from Valheim...

You dismissed the maid with a thank you and braced yourself in a chair.

Shaky hands pulled the silky material until it unfurled. With a deep breathe you began to scan the words.

Dearest daughter,

It has not been a week but we miss you dreadfully. We hope that things between you and the prince are going well, however we cannot help but be concerned. We are told you have not spent much time together, hopefully this changes, we only want you both to be happy. I'm sure by the next time we speak, your relationship will have grown even more. Oh we almost forgot! We have a little surprise for you. We hope you like it. You'll know it when you see it. Take care dear, until next we speak.

King Sivn ○ Queen Aderi

By the end your breathing was uneven and you felt the anger as well as fear begin to course through you.

Loving words laced with threats... wasn't it enough you went through with this charade? What were you supposed to do? Loki had wanted nothing to do with you outside of court obligations. They're the ones who forced you to do this, it was their stupid child who ran away why were you the one punished?!?!

"Aghhhhhhh!"

You couldn't help the surge of frustration and balled up the letter before throwing it into the fire.

Why was this happening to you?! All your life you kept to yourself and did what you were supposed to. You worked hard without respite for the royals years and this is what you get in return?! If you ever saw the princess again youd-

"My lady is everything alright??"

Shit. "Y-Yes everythings fine" you shouted through the door.

"I have some news my lady, may I enter?"

Oh gods what now?

"Yes come in.." a different maid, one you've actually never seen before entered.

She had a round face, bright smile and a head full of bouncy curls. Your curiosity was peaked when you realized she was dressed differently than the other maids that usually entered your chambers.

She gave a quick bow and practically ran up to you catching you slightly off guard.

"My name is Adessa! It's a pleasure to meet you your highness!" You smiled unsurely but she didnt seem to notice.

"As of today, I'm your personal attendant! Sorry if I'm being too excited" she laughed rubbing a hand behind her head, "but I can't help it, the queen picked me especially for this role and well um I-I! Sorry I'm rambling aren't I?! Haha well anyway" she took a step back and gathered her hands onto her lap before bowing once more. "I promise to serve you the best to my abilities"

Shes.....like a bunny....

You somehow felt a little lighter and relaxed, "Thank you...I um, I look forward to...uh...spending time together..." ugh why the hell did you say it like that?! So awkward.

Luckily she didnt seem fazed, only more excited, "You're so nice! And really pretty too! I cant wait to make you even more beautiful for tonight!"

That caught your attention, "Tonight?"

A look of realization crossed her face, "Oh right! I was supposed to tell you some warriors are returning to Asgard tonight so Odin is throwing a feast" she clapped her hands together, "And I am going to make sure you look absolutely stunning"

You felt your palms begin to tingle,  "H-how many people will be there...."

"Oh um well the usual, the royal family of course, the knights will all be there as well, some nobles who are guests right now, all the guests who still havent left from the wedding, theres the ...."

Her words began to sound far away and quieter and you couldn't help but stumble back.

"My lady!" She rushed forward and steadied you, before urging you to sit down. "I'll go call for the healer!"

You shook your head, not quite able to form the words.

Adessa looked distressed but listened, a few minutes later you're senses came back and Adessa handed you a glass filled with water.

The cool liquid calming you slightly.

"My lady..."

Gods how embarrassing...she probably thought you were such a spoiled dramatic princess.

"I'm alright..s-sorry"

Adessa seemed even more distressed at this.

"I should be the one apologizing my lady! I should've spoken with more care... all of this must be alot, you're still adjusting after all.."

She surprised you by joining you on the bed, she looked to be in deep thought but the a look of determination crossed her face. "There is nothing to fear my lady. The attention will be on the returning warriors and Odin will do most of the entertaining..also if you start feeling uncomfortable just give me a signal and I'll cause a big distraction! I'll throw a chicken leg at a drunk warrior and point to some other drunk, they'll be brawling in no time and that's when you can sneak away!"

"Pfft" you couldn't hold back the laugh at her ridiculousness.

"Thank you Adessa, if I need you I'll bark twice" she giggled and nodded in satisfaction, "That's better, now then let's get you ready, I'm going to make sure you're the prettiest one!" She stood up with fiery determination. "No way am I gonna let some other attendant out do me hehe"

Ok now I'm actually afraid....

"Alright!" She clapped her hands, "First you need a dress!"

***********************

That's chapter 1! This is my first ever planned long series so I know there will be plenty of mistakes but please be patient with me💕 also just a note about the reader, obviously she is full of anxiety and self deprecation but I want her to be like that for awhile before she learns how to fend for herself. She has many strong emotions on the inside but has no confidence...yet.

Please let me know what you think! Comments are my fuel🥰 till next time! Taglist here!

@oceanmermaidwitch

@sophiaedits

@anda-the-valkyrie

@daddylokisqueen

@anemois-hiraeth

@movielover2002

@ibuki-as-president

@someonesleftshoe

@sin-bin-kin

@sara--ravenclaw

@fuzzyphantomsandwich-blog

@the-professor-of-gallifrey

@xmischief-ladyx

[monodipita]

i love you, but i can’t tell you without wanting to hurt someone

pairing: mikey (manjiro sano) x gender neutral reader

word count: 1,128

warning(s): yandere content, general dark themes

       "You know, [Y/N].  I think this is the longest Mikey's ever dated anyone," Draken casually remarked, folding his elbows as he leaned back, resting them atop the park bench. The spring sun beat down on your skin, but the sea breeze felt nice. "You should be lucky."  He glanced up toward you, which, in turn, you merely laughed.  "Lucky?"  You shrugged your shoulders and looked away in the direction that Mikey walked away in.  You stared at his back dreamily while your hands went under your chin. "I'd hardly call it that. Maybe just... stupid."  You chuckled.

        Willingly getting into a relationship with someone who stalked you... yeah, it was so stupid.  You hardly understood what that meant for you.

        That day was a figment of your past.  Times were better, and people were happier.  Mikey wasn't the monster everyone would slowly know him to become.  Maybe you could've avoided these atrocities if you'd broken up with him earlier, but why, you didn't know how that would happen. You were too scared to openly talk to Mikey about anything now, even if he adoringly stared at you with those empty eyes, even if his lips spilled out words that said, "you can tell me anything," with such confidence that if you didn't know any better, you almost would've believed him.  You couldn't believe him.  Blood was on his hands because of you... no, you couldn't believe him.

        "You're harmful to [Y/N], Mikey,"  Draken glanced over to him.  It was fall, and yesterday marked your third month of being together.  The same park bench, the same people...except for Mikey.  Why no one could realize just how possessive his hold on you was would be a mystery to this very day.  It changed him into a desperate man who would do anything to maintain his hold on you - and everyone, even you, was powerless to stop it. "Stop treating them like an object.  And don't even get me started on what I caught you doing the other day,"

        "Don't tell me what I am and what I'm not.  You don't speak for [Y/N]."  Mikey calmly replied while his dead eyes wandered over to his best friend.  Oh, God, it was that look.  The same look he'd given that person who bumped into you by accident while the two of you were walking on the sidewalk just a few weeks ago... what was he going to do?  You opened your mouth to say something, but nothing could come out. All you could think...please, please, don't hurt Draken.

        Mikey's silence struck a nerve with both of you.

        You were afraid of what was going to happen if you spoke against either of them.  Mikey was... unpredictable, and Draken was a respectable man who would speak up for his beliefs, no matter what.  Draken noticed, and scoffed. "Tch!  Look at you.  They're too afraid to even say anything, Mikey."  He turned to face him. 

        Mikey stared at Draken for just a moment, before he turned his head to look at you. You could do nothing more but turn your head away from him and rub your arm. 

        The mistake you made was now the burden you'd bear for the rest of your life. 

        "I love you, but I don't know how to express it without wanting to hurt someone."  Mikey admitted.  It was spring again, reminiscent of the first ever date you'd gone on with him. You stared at him in silence, unsure of what to even say in response to that.  Were you supposed to be happy?  Happy?!  This past year, you'd been living in fear of your life and the lives of others!  It didn't even matter that he was gang-affiliated, he was dangerous!

        "Y-you hurt them anyway,"  you uttered after a moment, before you looked away from him. "You're hardly a boyfriend.  You're more like a monster who uses me to hurt others..."

        ...oh fuck... it slipped!

        "..."

        Mikey's feet shuffled, and in your peripheral vision, he'd completely disappeared.  It was only a moment later when you felt cold steel press to your temple, causing your heart to flutter with fear.  You wheezed out, feeling tears spring from your eyes and fall in tiny rivulets down your cheeks. "Mikey," you weakly called his name. "What are you doing?"

        "Are you trying to break up with me?"  He asked.

        "W-what does that have to do with this?!"  You snapped, "you're—you're holding a gun to my head!"

        "I'll kill you if you ever talk like that again."  He was so calm with his words that it shredded your nerves more than the gun pressed to your temple did.  "I'll kill you if you try to leave.  I'll kill the person you're talking to, and then I'll kill you.  Do you understand, [Y/N]?  You're mine."

        Two years after the disbanding of Toman, and two years into your relationship now in the present, you were now nothing more than his lapdog.  You couldn't speak to anyone without fear that they'd get hurt because of you.  If you had to liken your situation to something else, you'd compare yourself to a doll in a glass case. A prisoner who donned lavish clothing, and never moved from their spot. Everyone could look, but no one could touch, no one but Mikey. 

        And in this time of being forced to stay by his side, you came to realize that it wasn't all that bad.  He willingly took you from a terrible place, a terrible family, and gave you the attention you didn't want, or need.  You had all you could ever want, and all you had to do was just ask him.  He was your best friend, and you were his...even if you were blind to everything around you, and what he was doing to find the money to give you these expensive things.

        You could feel his hands sprawl over your sides to reach your back before he pulled you onto his lap.  The rain outside started to pick up, making you realize you'd been daydreaming this entire time.  His hold on you felt... nice.  His hands stroked down your back while you instinctively curled up to him.  His touch... it was so nice. 

        "It's nice, finally having someone who can watch your every move, isn't it?  Under my eye all the time, having nowhere to go because I'm the only place you can go,"  He asked, his tone cheerful, his words still anything but.  You simply nodded your head and curled closer to him with your arms wrapping around his smaller frame.  "But I shouldn't have to worry about you," he chuckled, "you'll never leave my side."

        "No, Mikey, I won't," you purred weakly. "I'll never leave your side."

[iheardarumorthings]

1 from the fluff and 17 from the hurt/comfort please? this is indeed for the 100 followers thing

hiii!! sorry this is so late! i hope you love it!!!

warnings: upset reader, upset five, bitter reader, five not being very blunt, soft five, mentions of torture, death, upset diego, drunk five, mentions of the attack on the hargreeves household

prompt(s): "I'll always choose you.", "They're better off without me, I know they are."

CHOOSING ME

You didn’t know the last time you had the breath stolen from your lungs with such force. Knocked onto the ground at the hands of the man you thought was on your side- not the Handler’s, yours.

“(Y/N),” he whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry- this is for your own good. It’s for all of us. I’ll come back, I promise, I’ll pluck you out of this shithole, but for now? Don’t try and find me.”

~*~

“Five, now is not the time for games- they attacked our house. Who the hell are these guys?”

“Hazel and Cha Cha,” he slurred.

“You know I hate code names,” Luther snapped, fighting the urge to drop his brother and leave him on the gravel.

“Oh, well only the best of the best,” Five said, surly. “Besides them. No one could beat them.”

“Who are they?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. They’re better off without me,” he said, a lone tear falling down his pale cheek. “I know they are.”

~*~

“Hazel,” you hissed, gritting your teeth. “Come on, man. Get me out of this.”

“He’s not taking the bait squirt,” he said, mouth full of donut. You rolled your eyes at the reference to your younger body. The jump screwed you up. “I’m sorry.”

You didn’t scream. You knew better. Not only did the woman in the bathroom have a gun on her and a strong hatred for everything you, but in this motel no one would come for you. It was that kind of motel; the dirty, shady one that anything can happen in.

And now anything could happen to you because of one Hargreeves. You turned to his brother, looking him up and down.

“I’m (Y/N). Five’s told me a lot about you.”

~*~

“I’m going to get you out of here,” the pretty woman whispered to Klaus and you. She wasn’t. You knew it. But you couldn’t say anything, the tape was fresh, tight against your lips, holding them shut.

The man that came in next after Klaus had abandoned you had kneeled next to her body. He looked at you, wide-eyed and angry. He ripped off the duct tape.

“What the hell happened here?”

“And you must be Diego,” you drawled. “I can tell you that I didn’t do it.”

He looked at you incredulously, eyes flickering between you and his love behind you. “I don’t want to anymore, but I’m gonna get you out of here.”

~*~

“(Y/N),” he whispered, standing up. “Oh my god, what happened to you?”

“You did, asswipe,” you snapped, plopping down on the twin bed in the corner. He looked down at you, not daring to blink.

You were there. You were with him.

“God, (Y/N),” he said, fingers reaching for the cut on your cheek. That wasn’t the worst you got, but you weren’t going to mention it.

Your hand smacked his fingers away.

The hurt in his eyes was worth it.

~*~

For some odd reason you chose to help save the world alongside Five and his siblings.

Maybe it was because he harbored such hope. Maybe it was because you couldn’t bear to crush that under your heel. So as you drove at least 40 miles above the speed limit, you looked into his eyes.

Being alone in a car with him was nostalgic. You had so many nights where you would have stake outs in cars, watching, waiting. You listened to music, told stories of happy memories, brighter days.

“I’ll always choose you, (Y/N/N),” he whispered. “Always.”

He didn’t keep his promise, but at that moment it didn’t matter. It really didn’t, what mattered was that you were going to save the world and the Hargreeves family in the process. After that, you were on your own; you’d get your own car and see everything you never had the time to see.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I didn’t get to say it earlier, but… thank you.”

You nodded, your eyes on the road.

“No, I mean it- thank you.”

“I get it, Five. You’re happy I’m here and saving the world with you. It’s really nothing, just a few days of my time, nothing much.”

“I didn’t- I mean- thank you, for choosing me.”

You balked. “I’m sorry?”

“You heard me,” he said, eyes not leaving your face. “I’ll always choose you, trust me. But I didn’t know if-”

And then you understood. He left to stop the apocalypse. He was going to come back for you, but he didn’t know if you’d ever come back for him.

You nodded curtly, eyes staying on the road. But one of your hands left the wheel and lay open on the top of the glove compartment.

He slid his fingers in between yours.