#do you start hyperventilating at that second image

[wasyago]

Please more Trail's gone cold au I'm begging you I need it just pour out every thought in your brain I want to hear it

hgdhhfbd i mean, sure why not

everything plot related is in the main post, there's nothing else really to tell. but i could share random details that didn't really fit into the lore drop. again tho, it's a small au and mostly an exploration of the concept, so there's not a lot.

❄️ gem and etho are siblings, i don't think it was mentioned anywhere? blood related and all that, they both have black hair, gem just dyes hers.

❄️ behind the scenes reasons for the order of deaths. generally i picked these three to be the main cast because i suddenly realized pet crew were just dungeon master and his two winners, and that was too crazy of a concept to not do anything with? so, tango as the main guy and actual master of the dungeon had to die first, seeing how he's the cave's favorite. pearl as the main explorer and as the one to unlock all the secrets had to die second, because she had to return to the dungeon / the cave to find out the truth, and she conquered it but never actually got out. and etho had to survive, because he's the "proper" winner and the one who actually escaped the dungeon with treasures.

❄️ lore reasons for the order of infection. tango you already know, but pearl and etho went in at the same time so in theory they had to start experiencing the effects together. but because etho was wearing a mask it did lessen the amount of sculk he inhaled, slowing down the process. wear masks kids!

and, well, you did say you wanted to hear every thought so. i really like the plot point of them leaving tango to die, so im gonna ramble a little about it. even just, the difference in their views on the situation is so satisfying to me. because tango had no idea something scary was happening to him! and for pearl and etho it was a life or death situation. and just-- they were talking about leaving tango and tango obviously, obviously, protested, because what the actual hell??? yes okay he's ill and a burden, but don't leave an ill guy to freeze to death in a cave, what is wrong with them????? or, okay, what is wrong with etho, pearl was against the idea. but, straight up tango did not plan for it to end this way, he had his whole life ahead of him and so many things ha still wanted to do! of course he cried when they left, what else was he supposed to do? thank etho for his awesome decision? be all cool and stoic and sacrifice himself? hell no, he didn't want to die, he never asked for this.

he did die tho, so. whomp whomp 🎺... i imagine he passed before pearl and etho even reached the stairs, so at least he didn't suffer for long. if he had a breakdown about being left alone he probably hyperventilated and inhaled like a ton more sculk, so that killed him even faster. must've sucked tho...

and then pearl, god, pearl.... she didn't encounter any dangers on the way back, since she wasn't trying to escape and the cave had no reason to be hostile towards her. but seeing how she was at the last stage before turning... she probably didn't get to tango before collapsing... not dying just yet, but too feverish and too weak to walk. but if tango was already back, he could very much go and find her. can you imagine the pure horror of drowning in your regrets as you slowly die and then having your supposedly already dead friend appear in front of you all cheery and oh so wrong. i dont know how much of tango is left in that thing, but the image of him sitting by pearl and holding her until she dies is so-- its haunting but it's sweet. and then there's still enough time to catch up with etho.

actually, gahhhh, all three pet povs are their own unique horror story and it's so good.

the horror of having to go through this terrifying experience, and then being the only survivor, knowing full well that the only reason you lived is because you left your friends to die, and there's no way of fixing it now.

the horror of everything falling apart around you because of miscommunication, and then the one time you decide to do it right you end up regretting every single decision and witnessing the direct result of your mistakes come for you.

the horror of being stupid... the horror of losing all control over your life and being betrayed in the moment of your most vulnerability, dying fully and utterly helpless.

this au is so sad but i love it so much...

okay wow that's enough for one post, ask more if you want tho!

[lavender-butterfly-cookie]

can you please do Burning Spice x Shy reader? You've probably done this before, if you have, can you do this version of him?

I don't know if you actually do requests or not, if you do it, it'll be greatly appreciated! :3

It's a good thing bro wasn't in the husband of the year thing, cuz he would've won with how many people love him but ok Butterfly. Same image cuz yes. I'm doing both versions by the way for the sake of I'm bored

Burning spice cookie X Shy reader V1

Why? Why- just why!? You just wanted to help Golden Cheese cookie transport the soulcheezes to the stupid vault. WHY THE HECK ARE YOU NOW IN BEAST-YEAST OF ALL PLACES?! You swear, if it wasn't for your shyness you'd have drop kicked that purple buffalo thing sooner! And if matters weren't already bad enough, guess what?~

YOU FLIPPING LOST GOLDEN CHEESE COOKE AND SMOKED CHEESE COOKIE ALONG THE WAY! You looked away for one second- JUST ONE SECOND!- And they were gone! Now you're stuck navigating your way around these blazing hot lands all on your own. FANTASTIC!

However, your annoyed mood crumbles almost immediately, being replaced by fear when you heard something in the sky. You turn around and look up, placing a hand over your eyebrows to cover your eyes from the sun. And you see... a meteorite?... during day? And why is it red and yellow and coming towards yo- oh wait a minute CRAP!

You quickly jump out of the way and it crashes down right where you were standing. You were hyperventilating as the realization hit you that you could've been crushed just 5 seconds ago. But it comes to a halt when you see someone emerge from the smoke. A rather large figure. When they revealed themselves you were frozen.

A red cookie with black messy hair and burning hot eyes stood before you, a giant axe held tightly in his grip. You prefer not to mention his golden teeth, ew. He let out a maniacal laugh that caused you to flinch back.

"Who dares enter my territory?!" The Cookie yelled, earning another flinch from you. You were frozen on the spot, and the size difference between you two was quite big. He looks down at you and chuckles at your small shaking form before walking closer. It registers in your mind too late that you should run and before you can move he picks you up by the back of your collar.

"You dare to enter my lands, little cookie?" he asks. By now you're too shy and scared to say anything. After being met with silence he brings you closer to get a better look at you, which managed to earn another squeak out of you. He seemed amused by this.

"You are one weak cookie aren't you?" He stated, obviously he wasn't actually asking. He shrugs his shoulders before hoisting you onto one, which caught you of guard.

"Do not worry, little cookie. When I'm done with you, you won't be so pitiful" he said as he started walking away. You should be protesting and trying to escape but... Part of you doesn't really want to. I mean, Golden cheese cookie and smoked cheese cookie were probably too occupied with that beast cookie, so you don't want to get in the way, right? it'll be fine!

Herald of Change X shy reader V2

You resided in a great kingdom filled with spice and zestiness, Despite how shy you were. You were the lover of the herald of change and his personality didn't match yours in the slightest. But hey, you still loved each other.

Not wishing to be a bother to anyone you stayed in your room a lot. I you're not there, you're with him. And if you're not with him and not in your room, well fuck. Now the spice tribe leaders have to go on a wild goose chase looking for you as if you didn't need the bathroom. You never got used to it all.

Now, the herald of change was a loving cookie, he really was. But as time went by you noticed how he himself was being consumed by a darker form of change. You were by his side more frequently despite your shyness so that you could at least try steering him in the right way but this was a change not even you could stop. The priests begged you to get him back to his senses but he wouldn't budge.

Because to him what's the point of living if you're bound to face the inevitable ending of death? Only destruction seemed to please him now. You found yourself growing to fear him, a lot more than you'd ever be brave enough to admit. And then all hell broke loose.

You woke up to the sounds of crashing and screaming and exited into the hall to see what was happening...

Only to find that there was no hall at all.

Everything was in ruins. Spice swarm members crumbling, buildings burning to ashes, the laughter of your own lover echoing above it all. You caught a glimpse of him.

That was not the cookie you loved.

That was not the herald of change yo once knew.

but it was.

You were at a loss. You couldn't go trying to negotiate now, he was too far gone! You can't fight him or you'll crumble on the spot!! You can't save anyone because YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO!!!

Tears welled up in your eyes and you took a step back. Then another, and another, and soon you just took off. You didn't look back, not even once. You were scared of the cookie you were supposed to share your life with. You chose to fled like a coward instead of trying harder to change the kingdoms fate, but now it was too late.

Your home was gone, your companions were gone... He was gone. And nothing's gonna change that

[joels-princess]

“… Give Sarah my love.”

Possibly the most depressing thing I’ve ever thought up, from the perspective of Tommy. Sorry.

Spoilers for The Last Of Us season 2, episode 2 and 3

Warnings: vomiting mention, dead body mention, cuts and blood mentions.

Jackson was a disaster. Several hundred dead infected piled up everywhere, and several townsfolk with them. The snow storm didn’t help, and the fact that Tommy didn’t know where four people were at was weighing on him. One of them being his older brother.

He was helping sort and move bodies with Maria when a gate watchman ran up, out of breath and visibly anxious.

“Tommy!”

He heard and stopped what he was doing to look at the man.

“Tommy!… They’re back.”

Tommy immediately started heading to the gate, but the watchman stopped him.

“Wait… They’re back… but-“ He shook his head.

Tommy’s heart dropped. Someone’s been hurt, or…

He ran. No other thoughts went through his head except seeing his brother. When he reached the gate, Jesse was helping Dina off of her horse, and Ellie was on her hands and knees, hyperventilating and vomiting. No sight of Joel. He felt his blood run cold. He tried to help her up but she screamed hoarsely, holding her chest painfully and pushed him away.

“Ellie… Where’s my brother?” Tommy tried to force her to look at him but she was sobbing and crying out. “Hey! Please look at me.” He begged. The thought of Joel getting torn apart by infected was too loud in his mind.

“Tommy.” Jesse got his attention and pulled him to his feet. “He didn’t make it… I’m sorry.”

Numb and paralyzed, his body was now running on autopilot. He just… stared at Jesse in shock and disbelief.

“We brought his body back… but… Tommy-“ Jesse ran a hand over his own face, trying to find the least heartbreaking way to tell him. Tommy stood staring at him.

“He was… he was beat to a pulp. I saw him. Had to wrap him up.”

Wrap him up? Tommy looked at the horses. A rope trailing behind Jesse’s, leading to a body wrapped in bloodstained sheets. Tommy pushed past Jesse and walked over, standing above the body. He stared at it for a few seconds before looking sadly back at Jesse. At Ellie who was now being comforted by Dina and Maria. It was really him…

His knees hit the muddy snow, the freezing wetness soaking through his jeans but… it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. No tears because how could this be real? He slowly reached shaking hands out to untie the rope, then to unwrap the sheet. The second he saw Joel’s bloody face, Jesse pushed the sheet back down.

Tommy stood quickly, running a few yards away and dropping to his knees again. The tears ran down his face quickly as his breath picked up and his ears began to ring. Every breath he sucked in, his throat closed a little more and he caught himself sobbing loudly. Maria was instantaneously by his side trying to help him breathe but it was no use. He let out such a loud and long scream that he ran out of breath. Maria tried to get him to stand but his vision tunneled immediately and he passed out, falling to the snow.

When he woke up, it was slow and calm. He sat up quietly, remembering everything immediately, but remaining emotionless. The image of Joel’s beaten face was essentially stamped into his mind.

“Hey…” Maria’s voice broke the thoughts for a minute. “Eat this.” She said, handing him a sugar cookie and sitting next to him. “… you’ve been out for about little over an hour.”

Tommy took a bite of the cookie and had to force himself to chew it and swallow it. Maria’s hand on his thigh was soothing and it helped him focus on eating the rest.

“Jesse and I carried him to the council lobby… if you want to go see him. He’s being cleaned right now.” She explained calmly. Tommy just nodded and held her hand.

On his way to the council lobby, his legs carried him like they had their own mind. He reached the door and hesitated, seeing all the other people under sheets through the window. He opened the door finally and the nurse cleaning Joel’s body gave Tommy the rag to continue.

When she left, Tommy calmly walked over to Joel and lifted the sheet covering his face. He just wanted to make sure. The cuts and wounds were deep and ugly, ruining the features of his face. His jaw, his nose, his forehead, his ear- Tommy put the sheet back down. He sat down, wet the rag, and began cleaning the blood from Joel’s exposed arm.

The watch… he’s never really paid attention to it. It’s the same watch Joel has had since before the outbreak. It’s cracked face a gruesome reminder of Sarah’s death, bringing tears back to his eyes. He looked up at Joel’s covered face, thinking about them finally being back together.

“… Give Sarah my love.”

[amazingmsme]

Okay, image this, Ares being a smart mouth shit to Athena and Hephaestus, his older siblings, since he's the God of War and is very much egotistical.

Athena and Hephaestus wreck him at times to humble him a bit, sometimes just because he's having a sour attitude over something.

Athena is shown to be stronger than Ares, and if he overpower her, she'd probably be five steps ahead and have a way to turn the tables.

Hephaestus, being a blacksmith, is just already strong as hell, and he has the chain he used on Ares and Aphrodite. He can set up a tickle trap too

Also, I like the idea of Athena purposely going soft on tickle because she knows Ares can handle pain and a lot more rougher things, so her slowly tracing and wiggling her fingers on him would drive him literally insane (also because he probably hasn't got gentle touch in thousands of years he's been alive. Tocuhe-starved War God >:3)

KSGFRKBALCBSKS I’M HYPERVENTILATING FINALLY SOME ARES LOVE!!!!! Seriously, I love him so much & he is so severely misunderstood in media & really enjoy what we’ve seen of him in epic!

But he loves to piss off his older siblings & instigate petty quarrels between them, but it doesn’t always work out how he planned. He does have a bit of a superiority complex & acts like he’s invincible, & it’s exactly that kind of cocky behavior that gets him caught

You’d never expect it, but Ares is actually quite the talker when he wants to be. (He likes listening to himself) & it just so happens to annoy both of them, so why would he shut up? Athena & Hephaestus are constantly having to put him in his place & remind him who the baby brother is & it flusters pisses him off so bad!

If they notice he seems particularly upset, then they take a gentler approach, or at least try to. They’re all awkward af. Hephaestus gets uncharacteristically goofy when he tries to cheer up his siblings. Sure he starts out pretty sincere & asks why they’re upset, & if it’s not super heavy he’ll proceed with the plan. He asks if they can smile, & if they don’t or say they can’t he starts to act a lil sillier & asks if they’ll ever smile again. Ares knows this game by heart, but he always holds out til the last second, claiming that no, he really will never smile again, fuck off (he doesn’t mean it) & Hephaestus knows that he’s playing along, but doesn’t call him out on it. Instead he just tickles him until Ares assures him that yes he feels better & that is a real smile on his face, no he’s not faking it, you asshole!

If Athena notices that he’s upset, she just goes up to him & asks if he wants to spar. He always says yes, & it’s fairly common for them to still train together. But while fighting she’ll try to bring up fond memories from battles or training sessions. She waits until he’s in a bit of a better mood before completely switching tactics. She’ll wait until she has ahold of him or pinned him down & then yell “tickle fight!” & digs in before he even realizes what’s happening. She doesn’t care if she’s collateral damage, she just wants to have some fun like old times & take his mind off things. & she loves to bully him about it the whole time, so it’s a perfect excuse

Ares is a pretty even match with both of them, so he really does have to put up a fight if he wants a chance at escape. But if they’re working together? Yeah dude’s a goner

& you are SO right about light tickles being his weakness! Especially because when he thinks of tickling, he automatically thinks of the more rough, hysterical laughter kind rather than the light grazing, giggle your head off kind. & that lowkey makes him short circuit & go completely mad. He’s not used to any kind of soft touch, so he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He gets soooo squirmy & giggly, it’s definitely the easiest way to get him flustered

& ever since he’s been with Athena, he’s a lot less touch starved. So don’t worry about him, she made sure to make up for lost time & show him what he was missing

[thedelicatearcher]

do you have any headcannons for dad!haymitch???

also i love ur writing smmmmm<<<<<<3333

yess!!! also thank you so much, really appreciate it <33

dad!haymitch abernathy headcanons

• being a dad was incredibly hard for haymitch at first. he had spent his entire life afraid of forming real connections, terrified that the capitol would kill them off as they had done before. the first time he held his baby in his arms, he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing, suppressing his sobs as his newborn daughter wrapped her tiny hand around the tip of his finger.

• haymitch spent many nights in the nursery, staring protectively at the baby while she slept. his anxiety constantly warned him that if he looked away, even for a second, something terrible would happen to her. you often woke up to find haymitch asleep in the rocking chair you use to help the baby fall asleep, in such an awkward position that you knew he would be grumbling all day about a sore neck.

• the warm sensation in his chest at the sight of his baby looking at him with adoring eyes was unforgettable. that is the mental image he tries to focus on whenever he has a nightmare and tries to ground himself back to reality. closing his eyes tightly, inhaling and exhaling consciously, he tries to stop himself from hyperventilating. finally feeling calm, though still weary, he quietly enters the nursery and, with great gentleness, caresses his daughter’s cheek with his finger, careful not to wake her.

• haymitch absolutely despised changing the baby’s diaper. ever since his daughter peed on his face, he had been reluctant to do it again. he used his persuasion skills to negotiate his way out of diaper duty. ‘look, sweetheart,’ he started to bargain, trying to hide the desperation in his eyes, ‘if i never have to change the baby again, i promise the house will be spotless. no more of my dirty clothes lying around, and no more toys on the floor.’ when you lovingly laughed at his face, his businessman facade immediately dropped, realizing he had to overcome his distaste.

• eventually, he did it again. haymitch mastered the art of temporarily blocking his sense of smell. he focused on his daughter’s infectious laughter and the pleasant scent of baby powder, rather than the lingering odor of diapers that haunted his nightmares.

• with no experience in carpentry whatsoever and never having built anything in his life, haymitch so innocently decided to make some toys. ‘it shouldn’t be that hard,’ he thought, envisioning a wooden rocking horse in his mind. his calloused hands were clumsy, and he ended up with cuts from the small knife he attempted to was a mini, weird-looking horse that resembled more of a whale. he huffed dramatically before standing up and heading to the market, where a perfectly crafted  wooden horse seemed to call his name to be bought.

• HE IS A GIRL DAD!!! he has three girls, and he learned how to braid hair so he could brush and delicately braid theirs. most of the time, however, he found himself being the one getting his hair braided rather than doing the braiding. his daughters absolutely adore playing with his locks. one day, one of them suggested they start a braid train, and he spent the entire hour trying not to let out any sounds of discomfort as his 7-year-old daughter pulled on his hair, clumsily trying to make a ponytail.

• he frequently invites katniss and peeta over. his girls adore baking sweet treats with peeta and enjoy playing with the small wooden bow and arrow toys gifted by katniss. she mentions that when they are old enough, she can teach them how to hunt. his heart almost leaps out of his chest at the thought of his children venturing into the woods, vulnerable to the dangerous flora and fauna. 

• his little family is what he holds dearest to his heart. they are what keeps him going after a tumultuous life. some days, he questions whether he deserves them, asking the gods the reason for blessing him with a beautiful family. yet, the grounded part of his mind silences those thoughts, reminding him to do his best to be a fully present father, and ensuring his kids don’t miss out on anything.

[theresidenteccentric-writes]

May Writing Challenge, Day 14

Have I mentioned I rather enjoy torturing my characters? It's not sadism... it's just a writer having some fun...

This picks up where Begin The Nightmare leaves off.

⚙️

14 May 2025 - Trapped In The Nightmare.

Goal: 200 words Result: 871 words

This work contains: surreal/dream horror, detailed injury and pain, body horror, blood (copious amounts of blood), eye horror, facial wounds, visible broken bones, mention of vomiting, dissociation, paranoia, fear and panic, severe psychological distress, mention of potential death

Please read at your own discretion!

⚙️

“Cora!”

The sound of my voice had barely any effect on her. A terrifyingly long moment passed before I saw her head twitch and her eyes slowly open. 

“Spence…?”

I knelt beside her. “What—how did—”

She coughed. Blood dripped from her lips and from her eyelids. “I… I’unno…” She shook her head feebly. Her voice was soft, more ruined tham mine was. Unsurprising, I thought, considering the state she’s in and what must have happened. 

“Did something—” I was cut off by a wave of nausea. The viscera made my stomach churn hard, and combined with an even stronger smell of blood than before, it was nearly enough to make me vomit. I regained composure after a second. “Did something attack you?”

She nodded.

“Did you see what it was?”

She shook her head. “Couldn’t. My eyes.”

I tried to swallow down the feeling of my stomach and looked at her face, more closely this time. There were four cuts there—two resting just above her cheekbones, and two underneath her eyebrows, causing blood to flow into her eyes. The white edges looked stained and dark now. I swallowed hard and tried to keep myself from hyperventilating.

��You didn’t see a thing?” I asked. 

Once again, she shook her head. 

“Spence—” her words were interrupted with a gasp of pain. “Help me.”

“Right,” I breathed out. I looked around for anything I could use. I’d done basic first-aid before, of course, but as the name would suggest, that covers the basics. The situation I was in had never been touched upon once during first-aid training—although if I had to guess, I would say the odds of someone casually sustaining the exact injuries Cora had would be slim. At the very least, it wouldn’t happen often enough for it to be considered basic.

I panicked, hands trembling. How was I supposed to treat someone whose body was as mangled as this? Where was I even going to start? What if I hurt her more?

I took a deep breath. Perhaps I can at least set her leg right?

I ripped off part of the sheets from my bed. I could splint the leg. 

Nice and easy, I’m sure, said a voice in my head. The bone tore right through. How in hell will you be remotely able to fix that with your abilities? You are a student, not a doctor. What if you end up doing more harm than good? 

Well, the alternative would be worse. I didn’t want Cora to die. Or be in pain. She was important to me. If she died….

No. God, no. I decided not to think about that outcome. I couldn’t afford to panic, and the last thing I wanted in my mind right now was the image of a dying Cora.

It would be better than nothing, I thought at last. The voice in my head shut up just long enough for me to try and move her leg into a less painful position. I reached for the makeshift bandages I tore from the sheets, tied them around the leg, and secured them with a few knots, then lifted Cora up and onto the bed. She winced harder this time, a yelp escaping her lips as I lowered her down. Startled from the noise, I nearly dropped her.

“Hurts,” she croaked out.

“I can imagine,” I responded shakily. “Try not to move, okay?”

“But—”

“Whatever attacked you is gone now.” I needed to reassure her. If she was scared it would make things worse. Harder than reassuring her, though, was reassuring myself. Truth be told, I was more terrified then than I had ever been before. Cold fear had been spreading steadily behind my ribs ever since this ordeal started. 

She didn’t look convinced at my statement in the slightest.

Did Cora even know what was going on?

How could she? Look at her eyes. Eyes so wide with fear would never have seen something like this coming. She knows about as much as I do, and that’s assuming I know anything at all.

“It’s gone. It can’t hurt you.” I tried again.

I was met with a look of disbelief. Sorrowful eyes spilled tears that washed away the dried blood that had crusted around her lashes. I felt my heart crack. Sitting on the bed beside her, I gently placed an arm around her shoulder.

“It can’t hurt us. We’re safe.”

My words weren’t enough to convince myself. Cora sobbed into my scarlet-stained shirt, clinging to me as if I were her only lifeline.

The quiet was interrupted, then, by a shriek. Both of us flinched. I could feel Cora begin to shake.

“You said—!” 

“I know what I said.” I looked at her in the eyes, forcing myself to be brave, or at least as brave as I could possibly manage. “I said, whatever it is, it can’t hurt us. And it won’t.” I stood up and gently laid her down on the bed, resting her head on top of my pillow. “I’ll be right back.”

“Where… where are you going…?”

I took a deep breath and let it out. Stood up a bit straighter. 

“I’m going to go find out what’s after us.”

⚙️

I don't remember the last time I kept a story going for so long. I'm proud of myself and I mean that genuinely.

Also damn, I thought writing dark stuff would be a lot more difficult. Either it was never difficult to begin with, or my mind is so twisted that I'm able to write it... I don't even know at this point... hahah...

[amaretigris]

Could you do a one-shot where the reader gets kidnapped by pirates and Eric goes and recuses her to bring her to safety. It’s your choice if you want to add smut after that situation happens but if you don’t and just want to keep one-shot that just has fluff i’m fine with that as well.

Hello! Thanks for this ask. I am happy to do these for you guys, I only ask that you respect the basic etiquette of making requests. I do these in my free time, which I will soon be short on, so please keep in mind that they are requests and basic manners still apply. Not directing this at you specifically, I just want to avoid any future crass asks. :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! 1.3k words

Everything

⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅

Sailing back to the kingdom to see your Prince, the salty sea air whistled through your hair. You couldn’t help but get excited at the thought of holding him close again. You had taken a short voyage to your homeland to visit relatives that you hadn’t seen in far too long. You weren’t originally from Eric’s kingdom, but your parents made the move there when you were small. You had held only images in your brain of your home island all these years, no solid memories. It was nice to revisit the place and see what it was like as an adult. Having just had your 18th birthday, Eric surprised you with the idea of the voyage. He ordered his fastest ship and his best crew to escort you there and back safely. He wished that he could accompany you, but there were too many things that required his immediate attention at home.

Sighing out of contentment, you let your thoughts wander. How did you get so lucky to have a handsome prince like Eric fall in love with you? You still weren’t used to the idea after about a year of being with him. He didn’t care that you weren’t royalty, seeing as how he couldn’t stand royalty himself. Eric could escape with you and feel normal for once in his life. That’s all he ever wanted. A crashing sound startled you from your thoughts as you involuntarily jumped. Turning from the bow of the ship to investigate, a bottle smashed across your head. Blacking out, only patches of light came in and out of your vision. You thought you were being carried somewhere, from the little sense that you could make of the situation before you slipped into complete unconsciousness.

Your head was pounding. That’s the first thing you felt as you stirred awake. Creasing your brow and lifting your hand to your head, your arm stopped short of it. Something was rubbing against your skin. Blinking your eyes open, you looked down to see a rope tied around your waist and encompassing your arms. You sucked in a sharp breath as the reality of your situation hit you like a freight train. Frantically looking around the room, you saw that you were being held on the lower deck of a ship. Not Eric’s ship though. You didn’t recognize this one. You turned your head from side to side to try to look behind you. It looked like you were tied to a wooden deck beam. You started hyperventilating. This was bad. Really bad. Trying to take calming breaths, you heard a door wrench open behind you. You didn’t move a muscle as you waited for the approaching person to walk into your line of sight.

The man carried an odor with him; the pungent smell of body odor and alcohol mixed assaulted your nostrils. Not your favorite scent if you had to pick one. You examined the man’s back as he stopped a few feet in front of you. He had scraggly black hair and wore a captain’s hat. Shit. Pirates.

Your anxiety was multiplying by the second. You refused to speak first, fixing him with a stony glare as he turned around. As one dark brown eye met yours, you swallowed the lump in your throat. The sudden, chaotic sound of laughter made you jump again. Showing his few remaining yellow teeth, the pirate laughed hysterically at the sight of the frightened young woman in front of him. What a prick.

Settling his laughter down into a cheeky grin, the man finally spoke.

“Sorry for the inconvenience, Miss. It seems that there’s a prince waiting for you to arrive back at his castle. Seems to be a good trading chip to me. This has nothing to do with you, really. You’re just collateral damage. But you’ll feel better knowin’ that your life is worth your weight in gold. Or, ‘f nothin’ else, we’ll see if the prince really fancies you, aye?”

Winking at you with his one uncovered eye and turning to leave, you started to speak before snapping your lips shut. Trying to quell your anger, you reasoned with yourself - there was no point in trying to bargain with pirates. The ache in your head was still quite pronounced. You winced at the pain and tried to find anything to distract yourself. Looking down at the rope again, you struggled to see if you could sit. The tight knot didn’t budge. Instead, you swore that with your wiggling, it got tighter and cut into your arms more. Letting your head bounce back in defeat, you started to sob. You weren’t sure how you could possibly get out of this situation alive.

⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅

Back at the castle, news had reached the Prince that his vessel was boarded by pirates on the outskirts of the port. He heard nothing but his rapid pulse in his ears after that sentence. Eric sprang into action. Running past the staff that broke the news and flying down the stairs, Eric raced to his study. He pulled his sword off the mantle, the one he hoped to never have to use, and rushed out to the dock. He yelled at the staff to get all hands on deck before sprinting up the ramp onto the ship. The Siren. It was normally used as a trading vessel but was well equipped for speed and efficiency on the water. He only hoped it could move fast enough. If anything happened to you, he didn’t see how he could go on. Shaking his head of that thought, he set to work to get the ship moving.

⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅

After crying for at least an hour, your head was infinitely worse. You relaxed your body as best you could between the beam and the rope. You figured that you could at least try to sleep. The stress of the situation and adrenaline coursing through your body had taken its toll on you. Nodding off, you weren’t sure how much time had passed before you heard metal crash and scrape against more metal. You shook your head and tensed your arms. You weren’t sure what was coming; you just knew that you couldn’t go down without a fight. Even though you couldn’t do much in your current state, you were damn sure going to try. You braced yourself and tightened your jaw. The door crashed open behind you as you let out a squeal. You had to compose yourself. Come on, (Y/n), it’s now or never. Time to be brave.

You were preparing to kick at your attacker when the set of bright blue eyes that you’d been longing to see all morning suddenly flashed before you. Pain and anger were the first things you saw on his face as Eric rushed to you. He pressed a quick kiss to your lips.

“(Y/n), sweetheart, I was so worried. I thought I’d lost you.”

Tears clouded your vision, prickling at the corners of your eyes when Eric cupped your cheeks in his hands.

“Please, please don’t cry, (Y/n). I’ll never let this happen to you again, I swear. Here," he said as he reached for his sword, “let me cut you free.”

With one quick lash of his sword, Eric cut you free from your bonds. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you fell into him.

“Eric. Thank you. I can never repay you," you sobbed into his neck.

Wrapping his arms tightly around you, Eric shushed you.

“(Y/n), having you by my side is payment enough. I thought I’d lost you. I’ve never felt a pain that deep," he choked out as his own eyes welled up with tears.

He kissed your forehead and closed his eyes, sending tears running down his face.

“You mean everything to me.”

[jacksdinonuggets]

The Demons of the Brain (You are my Sunshine AU)

Tw: abuse

Night was coming up soon. Amity just spent 15 minutes staring at the very comfy looking guest bed that she was given instead of getting ready for bed. She didn’t exactly want to sleep that night. It was hard because of all the nightmares she was getting. Waking up in tears and hyperventilating never was a good way to wake up.

“Amity? It’s time to go to bed,” Lilith said, standing in the doorway. Even though she wanted to give her some independence, she didn’t want her to end up sleep deprived.

“I- I was just getting ready for bed,” she nervously lied. The intimidation of Lilith got her to get motivation to start getting ready. She really didn’t want to let those horrible nightmares get stuck in her brain again.

Lilith left to let her get changed into her pajamas. Once she was finished, she snuggled up into bed with her stuffed Otabin sleeping next to her. Hopefully her stuffy will help protect her from any nightmares while she slept. Even though she knew it wasn’t going to help, pretending it would helped take away some of the anxiety.

The lack of rest from the previous nights out of fear and insomnia, had her falling asleep rather quickly.

Amity walked downstairs to find her mother sitting at the kitchen table. She wanted to turn and go back upstairs and skip breakfast. Anything to skip talking with her money.

“Mittens~ Come here, I need to talk to you,” Odalia sing-songed in her sickenly sweet voice. It was manipulating and really confused Amity.

She walked slowly back downstairs, holding her skirt tightly in her fist. She sat down at the kitchen table, across from her mother.

“Y-yes, Mother?”

“Do not stutter, Amity, you are a Blight,” Odalia scolded. She hated it when Amity wasn’t 100% perfect. She had paid for her to get private speech therapy when she was younger, even though she didn’t need it. Odalia only cared about how others would see her if she accidentally said a w instead of an R.

“Sorry, Mother,” She quickly apologized.

There was a silence for a few moments as Odalia slurped her tea, keeping eye contact with Amity, making her extremely uncomfortable.

“You’re grades have been going down, Mittens,” She stated. Amity sucked in a breath, trying to calm her nerves down. “I’ll give you thirty seconds to give me an explanation and if I find it valid, you won’t be punished as bad,”

Amity froze up for the first 5 seconds before talking, “w-well, School has been really stressful lately a-and it’s really l-loud and hard to p-pay attention. I try my best b-bu-”

Hot tea was splashed onto Amity’s face. It was scolding hot and burned her cheeks and chin. She winced but tried not to show weakness.

“Trying your best isn’t enough. You need to work harder. Do you realize how embarrassing it is for me when you act like a disappointment?” She asked.

“Y-yes, mother,” Amity mumbled.

“Your bed will be taken away for a week and you won’t have access to your scroll. You will study until I say you get a break, got it?” 

Amity nodded.

“Until we get your bed out, you will be training with our newest abomaton,” Odalia demanded, getting up to pour herself a new cup of tea.

“Of course,” Amity excused herself and made her way down to the basement. She stepped into the big training room, dried up blood still covering the floor and walls from her last punishment. Time to start hell.

(skipping over the abomaton bit but it did happen in her dream)

Amity awoke with a start, hyperventilating and tears running down her face. The image of the abomaton charging at her was still fresh in her mind. She hugged her Otabin stuffy and cried into it. Why didn’t Odalia love her? Why couldn’t she just leave her alone? She’s at Liliths house but was still incredibly upset with Odalia. Why was she plaguing her mind?

Without thinking, her legs carried her out of her room and into Liliths. A part of her was a bit proud that she didn’t have an accident but she was still really distressed that pride barely was felt.

Amity knocked on Lilith’s door, clutching Otabin tightly to her chest. She shifted nervously while she waited.

“Amity? Did something happen?” Lilith asked when she opened up the door and saw her. Amity whined and nodded.

“Ni’mare,” She mumbles, voice quivering.

“Oh, Baby…” Lilith bends down and wraps her in a hug. A new wave of tears starts as she soaks Lilith’s night shirt. 

Amity melted in her hold. The comforting scent and compression of the hug made her feel so loved and cared for. It was a feeling she barely experienced due to Odalia. Sure, she had felt it a bit during her stay in the human realm, but it felt different.She stayed like that for multiple minutes.

Lilith picked her up and carried her back to her bedroom. Amity clung to her as she was carried. She was laid back down on the bed. She tucked her back in and laid down with her. 

Amity was still a bit scared to fall asleep. What if Odalia came back and took her away? She didn’t want to leave Lilith again. She whimpered quietly.

“You know, when Edalyn had nightmares, I used to sing to her to help her fall back to sleep. Would you like to hear a song?” Lilith asked. Amity nodded, snuggling up more. The historian stroked her hair as she thought of a song to sing. Then, she remembered the song that her mother sang to her before she got neglectful.

“You are my sunshine~”

“My only sunshine~”

“You make me happy when skies are gray,”

“You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you,”

“So please don’t take, my sunshine away,” 

After a few more verses, Amity was fast asleep. Lilith stayed with her the whole night, making sure no nightmares plagued her mind again.

[thewhumpcaretaker]

♥︎ Whump Dating Sim: Longing for Flight - Part 3 ♥︎

Current Heart Level: ♡♡♡♡♡ (0/5)

Last Poll | Masterlist | Image Source

Last week, the winning answer was "You seemed scared yesterday. How did you get involved in all of this?" You get two more relationship points, for a total of four! The other two responses would have given only one point.

Let's see if we get the first heart this week! Only one more point is needed.

CW: hospital setting, past kidnapping, crying, panic attack

You decide to be forward. "You seemed scared yesterday. How did you get involved in all of this?"

He blinks at you, processing the question and perhaps looking at you a little differently.  “You’re…perceptive.” He takes his time, no doubt deciding whether to answer truthfully. “Why do you think no one knows who The Operator is?”

You shrug. “We haven’t gotten our hands on anyone who knows him personally. They must be very loyal.”

They scoff. “Not loyal. Owned. Everyone who has seen his face belongs to him. And he shows himself to those he wants to take.”

“So you’ve seen his face. What does he look like?”

He just shakes his head.

You sigh and try to go back to more comfortable questions. They seem chatty about their past, at least. Maybe it’s good to get it off their chest. “He showed himself to you. He took you. Why?”

“I was stupid. I was still in high school, but I wanted a gun. I liked darts, I liked shooting my uncle’s guns…always had good aim. I wasn’t even a hunter.” He laughs bitterly. “I just…I just genuinely wanted to have fun playing target practice, proving I could do something ‘adult.’ You know how it is at that age. I had a friend who said he knew of under-the-table shooting competitions that his buddies set up, with cash prizes. No one knew where the money came from, but that didn’t even occur to me at the time. And I was, I guess, rebellious…”

He trails off and at first you think maybe he passed out again. But he keeps talking, just…slower. Sadder. “So we showed up in this warehouse near the abandoned railroad tracks. They gave me a Barret M95, and we went up on the roof and shot targets all over the railroad. I won everything. Cleared out the whole competition. They said they’d never seen anybody shoot like that before, and I should go to regionals in the next city. That there was somebody important I just had to meet.” Again, that bitter, dark laugh. “I was so proud.”

There’s a sinking feeling, just listening to him talk it. This sick bastard... “So The Operator's holding...competitions? To find out who can shoot? Don’t tell me you went with those guys.”

“I was just a kid, you know? I was – I was fifteen…” They’re starting to lose control of their breathing. "It's been so many years of just..."

“Hey. It’s okay. Take it slow.” His only response is to hide his face in his hands. For a few seconds, he’s overwhelmed, just sobbing with your hand on his shoulder until finally the room is quiet again. He exhales heavily and wipes his eyes.

“I’m sorry. Look, I want to tell you everything you need to know. But there are certain things I can't tell you. And even if I did, it wouldn't matter. He controls everything.” They glance at the clock and something seems to occur to them. “How long was I out?”

“Around 36 hours.”

What little color was left in their face drains out of it.

It’s a blur after that. If you thought he got upset trying to talk about his past, that was nothing. It’s sheer panic mode now. He keeps saying that you have to let him go, that it’s probably already too late. He has to get to some scheduled rendezvous point, “or the Handlers will come for me! You can’t stop them, there’s nothing you can do! You don’t understand what they’ll do to me!” He’s hyperventilating and fighting against his restraints with all his strength. He’s going to hurt himself if you don’t do something, and nothing you say seems to calm him down.

Letting them go might not be the worst idea. You could track them back to The Operator using the embedded chip. But you’re getting the sense that they’re going back to something really dreadful.

(Author's note: actions from prior polls can add or remove points later on if they have future consequences!)

Tagging: @bluelolblue

Please comment, ask, etc. to be added to a tag list for updates!

[thatblackravenclaw]

That Night On The Ferris Wheel

(Images above are from Pinterest)

Blog Details | Let’s take a trip

Dean Thomas x black!fem!reader (no y/n)

warning(s): reader hinted to have a fear of heights, cursing, reader hinted to have anxiety, smut, fingering in a public setting

word count: 1.2k

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“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Dean grips my hand as he pulls me to the Ferris Wheel.

“What if it gets stuck?”

“It’s not gonna get stuck.” He says with an eye roll.

His stride gets us to the line in half the time it would’ve taken me. My heart beat is in my ears and the world turns into a kaleidoscope. I’ve never been on a Ferris Wheel. I never wanted to. They’re high and barely safe. You’re putting all your safety in the hands of a teenager who barely knows how to work the mechanical box and are just here to earn minimum wage, if even that.

The line goes faster than I would like.

“It’s going to come off of the hinges.”

“The box will malfunction and the wheel will speed up.”

“You’re gonna be stuck at the very top for hours.”

Why are my thoughts so loud? I’m going to throw up.

“Hey.” Dean’s voice pushes through my thoughts. The world silences, but his voice.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m right here. I’ll always be right here.”

The line moves. Halfway there. His words slow my heart beat back to its normal rate. I give him an acknowledging nod while praying that the line slows down.

It doesn’t.

Soon we’re second in line and my nightmare is coming true. I could tell Dean that I’m uncomfortable with this and don’t want to go on. He would say okay and we’d go on another ride. That simple. I don’t want to though. I want to do this. I want to overcome this fear. Prove that I can do it. Not for Dean, but for myself. That’s why I don’t say anything.

The Ferris Wheel comes to a stop and the previous couple walk out of the car, bright smiles across their faces. The sight doesn’t ease me any. The only thing that eases me is the smile on Dean’s face when I look up at him. He looks down at me and I can’t help but return the smile. He squeezes my hand and we walk up the stairs to the car.

There’s not much space. Our thighs squish together as we both sit in the car. There’s a slight rocking as we get settled and my heart rate picks up again. This cannot be safe. I quickly grab his hand and squeeze it along with my eyes.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m right here. I’ll always be right here.”

I take an inhale as his words echo through my head. As I exhale, the Ferris Wheel starts to move. I don’t open my eyes, not trusting my calm demeanor to last long. I allow myself to loosen my grip on his hand and stretch mine out on my thighs.

The Ferris Wheel creaks as it rises. Children and teenagers scream and laugh as they ride the other carnivals attractions. Dean is going on about something going on with his flatmates. All I can hear is Seamus… Kitchen…, and boy toy. I love him, but his roommate is the last thing on my mind right now.

“Sweetheart,” He asks.

“Mhm?” My tone is squeaky.

The wheel comes to a sudden stop. No. No, this can’t be happening.

“Why are we stopped?” My eyes stay closed as I ask the question. It’s stuck. I bet a million pounds that it’s stuck.

I feel his upper body shift away from me. The car creaks with his movement. I accidentally open my eyes and realize just how high we are.

“Holy shit.” My voice barely above a whisper.

“Damn, I think the mechanical box stopped working.” I open my mouth to give him an ‘I told you so.” when he quickly tells me to shush.

Tears prick in the corner of my eyes. I feel myself start to hyperventilate. I avert my eyes to the sky and work on the breathing exercises that my therapist gave me.

The sky has transitioned into an astronomical twilight. The stars are dimly lit due to the city lights, but I can vaguely point out Spica shining bright next to the first quarter moon. You can just make out the Mare of Serenitatis clearly. The more I stare at it, the closer it seems to get. The change of focus only works for so long. Then, he starts speaking again and I’m reminded of the predicament we’re in. My eyes widened with realization as I looked at Dean.

“Hey, what did I say,” he asks softly.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m right here. I’ll always be right here.”

“Here, I wanna try something.” I raise a quizzical brow as he puts his hand on my thigh. His nimble fingers grazes my jean zipper before moving up to the button.  

“Right now?” A wave of nervous shakes roll through my body as I look around. You aren’t able to see the lower parts of our body due to the design of the Ferris Wheel car, but that doesn’t ease my nerves any.

“Do you trust me?” He unbuttoned my jeans and pulled down the zipper.

“Yes,” I responded without hesitation.

He grabs my leg closest to him and pulls it over his thigh. His fingers slip through my pants and trace from my clit, down across my folds, and back up again. He does the teasing motion until my clit is throbbing with need. I tried my best not to moan, but a whimper slips through every now and then. He proceeds to lay his palm on my lower abdomen while the tips of his fingers play with the band of my underwear. I shiver as his fingers touch my bare skin every so often.

“You gotta be nice and quiet for me, okay? Can you do that for me?” His voice now deepened. Arousal dripping from his tone. I lose the ability to speak any words and just nod my head. I can hear my heart in my ears, but at this moment it is only him and I.

He reaches inside of my underwear and completely bi-passes my clit. My look of confusion morphed into a calmed look with a satisfied sigh. His middle finger slips through my folds and gathers the slick on the pad of his middle finger. You can hear the squelching but not loud enough to cover the noise from the carnival. His finger then moves up my folds until it gets to my clit causing my thighs to twitch. The begging died in my throat as he circled my clit. I lean my head back but don’t let a sound slip out my lips so as not to alert other carnival-goers.

He puts a little pressure on it, just how I like it. I grab on to his arm to ground myself. He’s worked me up to a point that I feel like I’m floating. The pleasure was so far away. Now, my arousal grows and seeps through my underwear while he brings me closer to my impending orgasm.

“Dean,” I gasp out.

“Sshh. It’s okay. I know. I got you. Let go whenever you need to.”

His finger speeds up and slightly more pressure is added. My grip tightens on him. The world blurs as my eyes roll to the back of my head. I cum with a hushed curse and melt into the seat beneath me. Dean removes his fingers and lightly pats my clothed over-sensitive clit.

“Still scared?” He chuckles at my now weak figure.

“Fuck you.” I match his playful tone while attempting to zip up my jeans.

“Oh, I plan to.”

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Dean Masterlist | United Kingdom

[eternalhealingau]

Eternal Healing…

an oc x canon (w/ sfw mpreg) ship au (Introductory Chapter)

This is gonna be what sets up the rest of the AU. Please read it if you wanna get the idea of what's to come in the future...... highly highly recommend and I could not say it enough. (THIS IS MY OWN ART BTW: DO NOT STEAL//ASK FOR PERMISSION//DO NOT USE FOR AI PURPOSES FTLOG)

Begins below the cut....

It wasn't truly known to the multiverse but there was one bubble that seemingly came from nowhere. It had a chaotic signature. But no golb energy. Free from the chaos that came before it and yet totally filled with it. A sign that this universe didn't seem to go by the standards of that which the others had maintained by some weird "out-of-mortal-reach" standpoint.

Prismo turned to it from surfing around. His eye sparkling as he notices it's uniqueness from every other universe he's tapped into...... Yet it has peaked some interest. He looks deeper into it. Mythological kinds resembling the greeks...modernized? There were literal gods roaming the earth? How can that be? He searches deeper into this universe. Seeing a captivating story unfold. He knows the stories of the old from the creation myth to the herculean and odyssey. But one had stuck out from the rest. The Moiraios Pateras. The fated father. From skimming through the universe's timeline a silhouette appears on the screen. Tall, muscular, pierced, tatted and rather low-key in their demeanor. A pink aura surrounded them. Suggesting feminine qualities. But by their wrists, pure golden rings. They seemingly smoked a cigarette as one of their signature pieces of who they are. What made them, themself in their image of godhood. Without notice, he gets a call from Fiona. His attention being interrupted as he hears a frantic and albeit a little anxiety ridden tone. "Prismo! You gotta help us! Simon's been silent for the past few months. I've tried calling him, texting him, everything! But when I went over to his place, he barged the house and how he's gone fucking coo coo!! HE'S BEEN TRYING TO SUMMON BETTY AGAIN!" More frantic noises came from the other line. Old man whining, a gruff sounding Cake trying to keep him still and Fiona seemingly grunting from exertion in an effort to pin him down, keeping him from going completely haywire. Fuck it's a relapse. Therapy didn't do the trick for his ability to move on, did it? His expression drops without a second thought and quite worried for them, Prismo summons them.

All of them looked like they'd belong in a bowl of ramen they were so intertwined. Simon's head only appearing out from beyond two legs as he was squeezed tight from Cake's body. Squirming to be let go so he could 'finish what he started'. And if his wet cat appearance didn't already shock you enough, he looked even more rugged. His eye bags far more definite, white eyes still crazed out of their mind, spit almost running from the mouth, hair matted and frizzled, even his outfit was either halfway worn or was nearly completely off. Leaving him nearly naked. Jeez Simon you sure relapsed into your own self-made insanity there. Finally when he was able to be let loose, he scattered to the screen and slammed his back against it. Hyperventilating. Not even thinking about where he was. The duo meanwhile, felt almost sick to their stomach seeing him nearly more close in line to the refrigerator version of himself. Just more alive and....writhing with an overactive conscious. Cake looked back up to her blonde companion and bit her lip. Asking a question that seemed a little too harsh but had a point to be driven across. "Do you think he might have a mild case of rabies, girl?" Fiona shook her head as she looked at him. Her own emotions and conscious fighting for supremacy as much as Cake's was. The hairs and fur on both of their bodies standing up finally taking his insane form in for a look once again.

The old grunt seemingly calmed down a little bit before realizing where he was and nearly crying. Sulking in his depression once more. He was so close, nearly there....but it was just no use. He tried so hard for his love. But fate still has its ways of teaching him. Even if he wanted to checkmate fate any way he could. Even by trying to summon her one final time. But looking around, trying to make his thoughts clear even if his emotions didn't want him too, he notices a deeply concerned Prismo with a pensive look to him. "You just couldn't handle the wait.... could you?" He spoke. The old man simply looked to his side. Not wanting any confrontation at the moment. But, time pushed on. And with time, came more conservations and desperate hopes to get him to talk. "Simon, you know that what you did wasn't gonna work out, right?" Still with the silence. His heart ached with each little word spoken before him. He couldn't bear to keep a front, but if he wanted to return to what he was doing earlier, then he had to stick it out. But doing that he made himself look like a toddler in denial. Still......, with one more question. "Betty won't return again, man. You remember?"

"...I clearly do. And I have no regrets to everything I've done thus far." He bit his lip as he growled at him with tears. "Can't you just let an old man live to see his wife in some other way--" Simon gets cut short by Prismo interrupting him. "Ah ah ah.. Nope. Not having this conversation. She's gone dude. Her next life is a comet now that she's been..... given a chance by some other entity."

Simon put his head in his knees, not wanting to face Prismo or his neighboring companions for all he cared. Again, the conversation needed momentum and the multiverse watcher wasn't gonna let up. Nor was he gonna shy away from the truth as Fiona and Cake watched in heartbroken blunder. "Can't you see the reality to this situation that you've made...?" A long silence befell everyone in the room. The big screen fizzled out to the universe still being watched. Now just focusing on the present moment that was going on there. No one batted their gaze. Just focusing on Simon. Prismo sighed. "You relapsed dude....."

From that point on, Simon finally bursted into tears and flopped onto the ground. Prompting Cake to shapeshift into a big bean bag for him to rest upon lazily. Fiona was right over to lend him a hand to hold and a person to be comforted by. "Let it out dude....it's okay." His cries turned ugly as he continued forth trying his damnest to recount his memories of Betty while being faced with his crippling reality check. He finally was able to let the mental and emotional wound be opened once more. Cleaned by tears that were dying to come out. It was freeing but the effects were soul crushing.

....

....

....

....

they nearly stayed like that for fifteen minutes.... just comforting an old man who was close to them by their friendship. Prismo in the meantime was configuring how to fix this situation. Coming up dry every time he thought of something? Erasing golb statues? Simon would be the only one to know of such an object. Displacing memories? He'd be back to his insane half. Destroying the crown? Nigh. Wouldn't work as something was gonna be out there to trap it or harness it for other purposes anyways.

Still, Simon would have a minuscule chance of finding it and Prismo was not willing to run that risk in the moment. But his eye keeps darting towards the screen. Seeing the universe that he skimmed to. Could there be a way to send him there so he could be pushed to move forward? Move forward and be done sulking entirely? Because if this forces a habit onto him then his mind would change finally. But he'd still be the only one to know about the Golb nonsense he put himself through.....tough choices man..... tough choices.

Alas, after minutes of hearing Simon trying to come back to a more calm state, Prismo just decides to roll with this risky idea. "I may or may not have a plan. That doesn't involve the golb or Betty. Simon." He batted an eye towards the cowering and sulking individual. Now wiping his snot with Fiona's shirt. Gross. The dark brunette to ravenette looked back up. Tears still in his eyes but a more ready and accepting energy seemed to come to mind. It's like this was the 'it' moment that Simon was wishing would come sooner. Like death or something similar. He nods.

"What if I send you into this world...?"

The team immediately looks back up at the screen and notices the scenery. It started out looking much to the chagrin of the Alamo. But instead of its walls being an aged stone, they looked freshly painted to an old former glory not seen since the 1700s during Spanish Colonialism. But instead of hispanic culture, it looked a little greek. You had your spanish influence from the riverwalks, but there was a bonus added on flair of grecian flavor. The river's banks had fairies of multiple pastel hues ranging from a what's seemingly common pink, to a rare case of a pure ashy grey. They hid into some of the trees to keep their distance from humans below. But when they were in the water, it seemingly looked like they bathed at night. Amidst the moonlight.

Simon feels something billow in his lower stomach as he watched. It was suuuupper faint. But it felt like nothing but a small nervous tickle. He pushed it aside as the scenery continued to be shown.

Another shift in the screen and it showcased a piece of more rural texas lit up by a pink colored festival. Dancing and parading in the area, with tailgating and campsites established. Very Woodstock reminiscent but also more closely in tune with a big get together of locals that came for the party. What was in mind, was again, more pink colored motifs. More moon imagery and what was more strange is that the men themselves in some cases.... looked as if they 'carried' children too. Was there some sort of magic enabling cross-biological pregnancies? It piqued his interest but racked his levels nervousness.

Once more, another shift. This time it was in the summertime months. It looked hot and it decided to feature a pool party happening at some mansion in the middle of the city on a ranch. The greek flags were held high, the texan one flew same height and no sight of an american one. Very prideful people it seemed. From the noise, it felt like a family get-together. The people there were more mature in their looks. Taller than an average mortal. By several feet at most. It brought Simon's emotions back down to a level of ease as he saw how comfortable they all were together.

One of the members wielded thunder as well as a very jovial and horny personality, one of them wielded water with a trident ordained with a cool demeanor, another one naturally liked to practice boxing on one of the trees in the backyard. A few of the women in this huge family get together seemed busty and pale in complexion. They all had either white to grey hair, soft features and a soft demeanor. Sensitive and doting. Delighting in the pool, they seemed to be resting on someone's shoulders. Their hands swirled around this one's shoulders. They looked tatted, couldn't give less of a shit, looked like they had hoes and yet had no sexual drive to carry on. Smoking a cigarette they let these women of sorts hug them. Not hindering in enjoying some sweet affection. But they all conversed like they were family. Questions like, 'so did you find him yet?' 'is there anyone in particular?' 'when will the new age begin? I-err... we! can't be waiting like this~!' Their eyes were grey, with dark brown hair. They even had pierced lips, a septum nosering, eyebrow and ear studs. This person sounded nothing like a man but leaned close to that margin. "I have no clue, just enjoy the time we got for right now y'all. It may feel like hell but we'll be outta here at some point." They cackled.

Simon's heart started to beat a tiny little bit more. Like he's taken interest already. But, he's barely met this woman...man....person.... Ohhh Prismo. What have you done to bless this man?

Before he could turn back to Prismo, he gave it some thought on whether to go there or not. But, even if he remembers Betty in this moment in time, with how risk taking she was, it's about time he took one such chance of his own. Besides he never truly knows what it's like until he leaves his home and explores. You never make history by sitting around. You never create nostalgia by moping. As he continues to ponder though, he considers another thought. Will Fiona and everyone he's ever known be there? It looked unlikely and with some wild thought, he even dived deeper into the 'what if's of combining universes. He gulped as his decisions were clearly starting to become more finite in their ways. There was only one way of things going if he really wanted to go there.

"Prismo....if there's any way you can make sure that Fiona, Cake, Marcy, Bonnie, Marshall and everyone else, as well as the residents in Ooo itself also end up there...." He finally stands tall, hands to his sides as he's positioned to look like an avatar off of a video game screen. "Then I'd be happy to go." Fiona and Cake stand flabbergasted at each other, now standing tall themselves. Giving themselves a chance to look back at the screen as one white star fills the TV screen on a black void. A silence befell them as life begins to alter in their minds. Wondering what they would be able to find there and what kinds of crazy scenarios they'd be able to handle given such extreme weather conditions and unique magic/power dispositions.

The scene slowed....

Prismo's fingers were about to snap.

The duo looks to each other, beginning to go about their mantra. "You know what time it is?"

Simon's eyes closed slowly as the moment drew near.

Fiona and Cake finished their mantra, responding to each other with a fist bump. The iconic energy was back baby! "Adventure time!!"

[SNAP]

......

Cicadas sung their sweet melody with the crickets in a nature based choir.... all in the last few minutes of twilight. The hunk seemingly rushing over to these bodies that laid asleep near the backyards trees. A deeply southern tone with both concern and worry, masqueraded with a tough resilience comes forth.

"Oh Saturn.....~"

[jacksonstarkiller]

THUNDERQUEERS ARE GO!!!

Everyone already shared their queer headcanons a week ago. So here I am, right on time to once again be behind on everyone else 😃

(This is TOS based btw)

Am I the only one who has a queer headcanon for Jeff? Anyway, he’s bi. Realised it late as fuck though. After he was already married to Lucy and they had Scott. Not that it mattered for the marriage, I just meant that Jeff was an idiot late-bloomer. I image the conversation went something like this:

Jeff: Honey, I think I’m bisexual.

Lucy: Omg, you didn’t know?!

Jeff: You did?! Why didn’t you say anything?!

Lucy: I thought you knew and were just really casual about it!

Jeff *starts hyperventilating* : I think I’m having an existential crisis.

Lucy: … uhm, does this mean that now is a bad time to tell you I’m pregnant again?

Scott confuses me tbh. He has massive straight vibes but I cannot see him actually in a relationship with a woman. I can kinda picture him in a relationship with a man. I mostly like to think that Scott is just as confused as I am 😂.

You may have already seen the video I posted for Virgil Day. But I headcanon Virgil as bi and a demiboy using he/they pronouns. He mostly uses he/him though out of habit and because he doesn’t particularly care that much. I can also see him on the ace spectrum.

I’ve always called John a laid-back pan and I shall continue to do so. My headcanon is pretty much the same as @willow-salix so you can read her post if you want a more detailed explanation. I’m too lazy atm 🏃🏼‍♂️🏃🏼‍♂️🏃🏼‍♂️

Unpopular opinion but Gordon is my token straight 🤷🏼‍♂️. Can’t explain it. Just the vibes I get.

And then this post’s main event: Alan is gaaaaay! The second I laid eyes on that fucker, my brain went: ✨gay✨. I mean, he’s a drama queen in flamboyant fits. Were they even trying to hide it?🤨 Also, may I refer you to the dream sequence in Thunderbirds Are Go (1966)? Because, hello!!!

Lad looks like he’s going to pride. He’s wearing a rainbow glitter suit, surrounded by pink clouds, waiting for his female friend to come pick him up in her pink car to drive them to the Swinging Star (if that doesn’t sound like a 60s gay club, idk what does). You better believe he was pissed during End Of The Road. Finally a nice lad his age that he is not related to is on the island, and then Tin-Tin swoops in!!!! Like, girl you already have plenty of options, please let me have this one…

Additionally, I feel Alan is a firm believer that gender is a social construct and he doesn’t vibe with the traditional (binary) concept of the male gender. He still labels himself as male (using he/him) because he’s comfortable but with that, but he doesn’t care much what other people perceive him as or call him (unless they’re being purposely offensive).

Early Thunderbirds-days me was still cis-het and complimenting myself for being so emancipated for identifying with the queer character of a show whilst not being queer myself. Oh how the mighty have fallen …

That awkward moment you realise you identify with the gay puppet because you are a gay muppet

Hello rainbow flag my old friend 🥲

And look at that, it’s another Alan essay :)

@thunder-pride

[flaylore]

MACHIROON APPRECIATION DAY

"If our world is fake and your world is real what actually is the truth? What is a lie? Are you able to answer that for me? You’re not. Then let me ask you this, do you choose reality or a falsehood, or rather a truth or a lie?"

Machiroon Appreciation Day and New Outfit stream, released on January 20th 2023, is Flayon's 2nd outfit debut. Flayon also dedicated this stream to show his appreciation to Machiroons. It is the 7th stream that shows a more in-depth look into the hidden dynamic between the two people fighting control over his body.

Summary:

Before the intro screen cuts away, there’s a short glitch that happens before cutting to the guild hall

Flayon appears on a  blue projection explaining what’ll happen during the stream

The reason for the new outfit is because the Elysium government says Flayon needs to go on a sort of vacation due to his energy output for the R-TRUS getting “out of control” (5:14)

More importantly, Flayon doesn't know why

The Elysium government told him to find ways to express himself, so he dug up an old outfit

Had some gifts delivered from his family to his guild room (6:03)

Another short glitch happens before cutting to Flayon’s guild room (supposedly, see 6:39), a photo portrait lying on the ground near his bed

Soft grunting can be heard, followed by more short glitches once Flayon’s projection appears on at the top right corner (7:14)

Following this is a sudden change in music, followed by more glitching

Upon picking up the portrait shows a younger version of Flayon from his childhood, looking notably different

His eyes are a blank, tinted shade of pink. His expression looks blank and emotionless

Flayon begins to hyperventilate, grunting and shouting in pain as the glitching worsens. He begins to repeat frantically:

“Stop..! I’m Flayon.. I’m Flayon—! I’M FLAYON!!” (8:35)

The background changes (looks like a forest, maybe somewhere abandoned..?), a glitchy figure of Flayon appearing in front asking where he is and that it’s cold

He asks who he is, soon disregarding the previous statement saying “it doesn’t matter”. After all, it/he can’t be explained (10:09)

The screen glitches again, a very faint image appearing once it disappears. Looks like a younger version Flayon again, this time with bright, blank, red eyes and a small smile (10:25)

The figure begins shouting “I hate you!” repeatedly in a fit of rage before the screen flickers again

Another image of younger Flayon appears, his eyes and smile more lifelike than the previous two

The figure starts laughing, soon asking “why me?” and that this “isn’t what he wanted”. He begins to apologize, asking someone to “forgive him already” (11:08)

Frantic apologies continue, now asking to stop hitting him as he was “doing it for you”

A question pops up on the screen: “Who Am I?”, followed by two choices: “Machina” or “Flayon”; the poll eventually ends with “Flayon” winning

While the chat answers the figure continues to talk frantically, asking to help him and saying it isn’t fair how “you get to enjoy it”

A second question appears: “Did I do something wrong?” the choices are “Yes” or “No” respectively; “No” wins

💬: “He didn’t do anything wrong” [laughter] “Liar. You’re a liar. You don’t know what he did. He took away everything from me.”

The figure gets upset and accuses us of lying, the screen glitches longer than usual. When it ends, the background switches to the inside of a subway train as Flayon’s outfit slowly reveals itself (16:19)

“The corruption. It’s… It’s… right. That’s who I am, no one else. There’s no one. There’s no other man.” (16:55)

Third question: “Is it wrong to hurt yourself?” the choices are as followed: “Yes” and “Yes?”; the poll ends with “Yes” winning, though suddenly changed to “NO”

The figure begins to laugh maniacally, repeating it’s not wrong

“Why did it have to be you? You piss me off. …help me.” (19:15) “It doesn’t matter. And then no one would miss you. No one missed me, anyways. Nobody can even tell the difference. If people can’t tell you’re different, do they even care? All people care about are themselves, right?” (20:17)

Fourth question: “Do you love me?” the choices are: “. . .” and “No”; the poll ending with “No” winning

“Of course you don’t. You don’t even know me. You’re so quick to replace me… that’s all you care about.”

Figure recalls that he was getting ready for the guild, saying “he” doesn’t appreciate his friends

A final question: “Who am I?” the choices are: “X” or “Neither”; the poll ends with “X” winning

The glitching ends, revealing Flayon (?)

“That’s it… I’m Flayon, no one else.” (28:40)

The lighting darkens, revealing his swirly eyes

“I think… you’ve been here long enough. You can clear the corruption as much as you want. This is my body, okay? So go. Away. Stick to your little league friends in the guild, and they’ll care of you.” (29:15)

Laughter ensues, followed by more glitching until we’ve returned to the inside of the R-TRUS, Flayon in his new outfit appearing in front of us

Explains his outfit is from when he attended “a school for geniuses”, claiming he always had it (33:12)

SOMETHING OF NOTE. Flayon says “I guess I wasn’t the best…” before the screen glitches slightly, with him correcting himself and saying “No, I was! I was a very good student; a genius.” 

“Well, nobody really paid attention to me, so… But that’s what happens when you don’t make good grades, right?” (33:34)

His outfit came from the Elite Elysium Academy

SOMETHING OF NOTE: the screen glitches but for a small moment you can see Flayon’s eyes switch to swirly eyes at 43:03. You can properly see them if you pause correctly at 43:04, but i’ll link the image HERE.

“After all, they’re my clothes.”

The screen glitches when he says this, swirly eyes clearer to see and present for a moment before Flayon switches back to normal (44:06)

Talking about his haircut…

“It reminds me of when I was young, I think. But, I can’t exactly remember what—” (46:24)

Nothing else of note besides the new ending screen… you can see Flayon and a Machiroon walking through a snowy forest of some kind with X somewhat transparent in the background

However, some distorted audio in the background can be heard at 1:06:1

[mumms-the-word]

Drowning

Day 24 of the BG3 Fic February Challenge

The Iron Throne is one of my favorite encounters in the entire game. And it also happens to be one of my personal biggest nightmares.

I'm sure this place stresses out all of my Tavs/Durges (except for Freyr, who never goes there) but it is particularly stressful for Ardynn, who has a very real fear of the sea in general, let alone being fathoms below the surface in an exploding steel prison. So, er...enjoy?

Check out my masterlist of BG3 fics!

---

24. Tav/Durge faces their worst fear

---

Ardynn’s eyes widened with horror as she saw the first of the explosions around the Iron Throne detonate in a flurry of magical flame and bubbles. A wave of force slammed into the submersible, rocking it beneath her. She had to scramble to stay on her feet.

“No!” she screamed. “Gortash, stop!”

But Gortash’s image on the blue screen was already gone, his last words taunting her.

When the corpses start to wash up on the shore, remember—you could have prevented all this.

“Gods damn him,” Karlach growled. “We have to save them. Whoever we can. We’re gonna save them right?” She looked to Ardynn, but Ardynn was frozen. “Right?”

“Of course we are,” Wyll said. “And my father. We can’t just leave him down there!”

But Ardynn couldn’t move. She could only stare in horror as more explosions went off.

Most of the roof for the structure below was thick glass, allowing her to see inside as pipes began to burst, releasing thick jets of steam into the corridors. Whole sections of the metal floor cracked under the pressure. Water gushed up from below, rapidly spilling over the hallway floors and slowly starting to fill them. The glass in one section began to crack, stress lines fracturing outward like a spiderweb. It held, but only barely. Any second now it would break and water would rush in as an unstoppable torrent, drowning everyone inside.

It was her worst nightmare. Being trapped below the sea with no way to escape. Trapped in some horrible metal construct, far from sunlight, with little air to breathe. Drowning. Sucking in water instead of air and choking on it, banging her fists against a metal door that would never, ever give, forced to wait for the inevitable, for her death, her lungs screaming for relief, for air, and finding only water and more water, and banging, clawing, pounding desperately on the doors trying to be free—

She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and jolted at the touch. It was only then that she realized she was breathing in short, shallow breaths, nearly hyperventilating, her head swimming. She turned to find Halsin at her side, his face full of concern and urgency.

“Ardynn,” he said. “Breathe deeply. Remember.”

She gave a shaky nod, remembering how he had taught her to breathe through her anger and pain just a few nights prior. But there was no time. There were hostages down there—Duke Ravengard might even be down there—and they would all die in the minutes it would take for her to catch her breath again.

“Just tell us what to do,” Karlach said. “You don’t have to go down with us.”

“No,” Ardynn said. “No, we all need to go. We need every—every chance we can get.”

She put her hand over Halsin’s on her shoulder, desperately trying to soak in some of his steadiness. He tightened his grip, not even flinching when she in turn dug her nails into the skin that was exposed by his bracers. She didn’t need to look at his face to see that he remained full of concern for her, but there wasn’t time. There wasn’t time. The seconds were ticking by quickly.

“The plan,” she said, even as she trembled, her body resisting every breath inside that blasted submersible. “We go down the ladder. We split up. Save as many people as you can. But give yourself time to make it back.”

It would be difficult for all of them to force themselves to leave anyone behind. Karlach and Wyll, the heroes. Ardynn and Halsin, the caretakers. All of them wanted to save everyone down there. She knew that. 

But gods, she couldn’t—she couldn’t be the last one down there, trapped forever under a pile of steel and rubble a thousand meters below the sea. It didn’t matter that Withers could bring her back. She would never heal from the experience of dying that way. So if she had to leave someone behind...

She hated the idea, but she tried to resolve herself to it. The plan was set. Ardynn sucked in a deep breath and shrugged Halsin’s hand off, heading down the ladder ahead of everyone else.

Silvanus, if you’re listening, she desperately prayed, let me see the sun again. I can die any other way but this, so please, please let me make it back to the surface alive.

———

Every second felt simultaneously like an eternity and a flash as they charged through the metal hallways. Ardynn didn’t know half of what was happening in other parts of the prison, but she heard the sounds of spells, of Karlach’s war cries, of Halsin’s deep voice shouting and directing ex-hostages. She couldn’t focus on them. She was too busy trying to survive.

Not against the sahuagins. Not really. They were viscous and dangerous, but they fell to her arrows just like anything else. No, she was fighting to survive in her own body.

As her boots filled with water and her skin stung from blasts of burning steam, she fought to wrest open levers to prison cells, her strength halved by her fear. She barely heard the words of the Gondians as they stammered their thanks, running past her toward the ladder that lad up into the submersible. The only sounds she could make sense of were the droning alarms of the Iron Throne security system, the rush of water, and the roar of blood in her head. 

Every breath felt precious and dangerous. Her lungs fought against her, seeking more air even as her brain tricked her into thinking shorter breaths were wiser. She felt woozy, but she forced her mind to focus, the sharpen the world around her. Her fingers and toes seemed to tingle and grow numb, but perhaps she was imagining it. She had no time, no time to stop and think about anything her body was doing. She simply forced herself to dash forward, reaching for the next lever, the next arrow, fighting and running on instinct alone.

Ardynn! All hostages free on this side! Heading back now!

She heard Karlach’s voice in her head, connected by the tadpoles. Wyll’s voice soon interjected too.

I’ve freed my father—gods damn Mizora—Omeluum has taken him back to the submersible. Let’s go! 

What about Halsin? Ardynn asked them both, but there was only silence. 

Neither of them knew.

Without a tadpole, Halsin was unable to connect to them telepathically. A newfound fear gripped Ardynn’s chest as she shot another arrow through a sahuagin’s scaly throat. Had he fallen? Was he trapped? Oh gods, oh gods—

She turned and ran back up the metal hallway. There were no more cells to open where she was and half of the Gondians were already ahead of her. She reached the middle room where the ladder stood and cupped her hands around her mouth.

“Halsin!” she shouted, her voice rasping with the force of her shout. “Can you hear me?”

The only response was the droning alarm and the rushing sound of water pouring endlessly into the hallways. She stumbled out of the way of the ladder, turning this way and that, unsure of which corridor to look down. 

She tried desperately to connect to Omeluum, seeking out his mind blindly. Omeluum! Is Halsin with you?

The druid? He is not with us in the submersible. I am with Duke Ulder Ravengard and his son.

The floor beneath her began to rumble with the force of explosions down other hallways, in other locations of the prison. Above her, the glass cracked and shuddered, droplets of water seeping through and raining down around her. Any second now this place would implode in on itself, crushing everyone inside.

“Halsin!” she screamed again, despair clawing at her throat.

“Soldier!” Karlach ran up one of the hallways, a couple of Gondians at her heels. “Come on, come on, let’s go!”

Ardynn let her brush past, stepping around the Gondians to peer down the corridor Karlach had just left. No sign of Halsin. At the far end, a sahuagin clawed through a hole in the floor, its scales glistening in the flashing red lights. Ardynn notched a lightning arrow and aimed for a bit of exposed wiring near the doors. 

Please, Silvanus, please don’t let him be down that corridor!

She let the arrow fly. Lightning skittered across the metal and the doors swung shut, the wheel turning, the bolts sliding home. Locked for good.

“Halsin, where are you?” she shouted again, backing up until her back was against the ladder. There was no one else down any of the open corridors. No Gondians, no companions, only torrents of water, jets of steam, and burning oil.

“I’m here!”

She whirled. There! A shadow in the steam that filled one of the corridors. Halsin emerged carrying an unconscious man over his shoulders, a gnome woman just a few steps behind. Ardynn’s knees nearly buckled with relief to see him.

“Up the ladder, quickly!” She moved out of the way, gesturing for them to hurry up.

“You first,” Halsin said, his voice strained but firm. She opened her mouth to argue, only for a guttural roar behind Halsin to draw her attention. She notched another arrow, gesturing to the ladder with her head.

“I’ll handle the sahuagin. Get up there, now!” She let the arrow fly, shooting past Halsin toward the creature beyond, but the sahuagin dodged with a lithe spin, disappearing briefly into the steam.

Halsin grit his teeth, looking ready to argue, but the gnome woman ignored them both, already halfway up the ladder. Halsin flicked his eyes between Ardynn, the steam filled corridor, and the ladder. After only a second’s hesitation, he adjusted his hold on the unconscious man and began his ascent. Ardynn readied another arrow, her eyes focused on the steam. Just another second, just enough time for Halsin to be a few steps up—

An explosion rocked the floor beneath her, buckling the metal. She cried out as she stumbled, only barely catching herself on the ladder.

“Ardynn!”

Halsin’s voice was far above her now. She cursed and swung onto the ladder steps, taking them two rungs at a time. By the time she had reached the upper room, Halsin was already in the submersible.

“Come on, soldier!”

“Ardynn, quickly! You’re nearly there!”

The voices of her companions spurred her on as she clambered onto the metal grate floor of the upper floor, scrambling on hands and feet to reach the final ladder as the entire world around her shook. The Iron Throne was buckling, cracking, shattering around her, and she was so close—

The glass overhead fractured. Sprays of water showered down over her, pipes rattling, metal screeching, distant rumbles of the building crumpling and exploding growing closer and closer. The metal was slick under her hands and feet as she struggled to stand, to make it to the last ladder leading up into the submersible. She would die here. She would die here. She could scarcely breathe as her hands finally found purchase on the ladder rungs and she hauled herself upward, the crackling of the glass growing louder as she climbed closer toward it. She flinched as a pane cracked, a piece of glass flying toward her, but she kept climbing. 

Halsin was there, kneeling at the opening of the submersible, stretching down an arm toward her. She choked down a sob as she finally made it within reach of his hand, reaching up to grab it. His grip on her water-soaked gloved hand was fierce, almost painful, as he hauled her upward. She heard the glass finally shatter, water rushing in with a roar, as Halsin pulled her through the hatch with all his strength.

They fell back together, her half-crawling and Halsin half-dragging her away from the hatch as Karlach kicked it closed. She held herself up, barely, on hands and knees, coughing and gasping, choking on water and relief and sobs until she thought she would be sick. Halsin knelt at her side, his body shielding her from the others in the submersible as she fought not to collapse. Her vision darkened and brightened in turns and her arms shook beneath her. Every breath was like ice in her lungs, cold relief and piercing pain.

She felt Halsin press his forehead to her temple, his hand on her back, as he whispered to her, “You are safe, now, my heart. Do you hear me? Focus on me. Breathe deeply.”

She clutched blindly at his arm, leaning into him as he curved his body around her, shielding her as she sucked in desperate gulps of air. Her mind could make sense of the fact that she was alive and safe but her body reacted with all the pent up panic and fear and terror that had fueled her every step and action down in the Iron Throne. She was a trembling, gasping mess in Halsin’s arms, but gods—she was alive. She was alive. They were all alive.

“You were amazing, my heart.” 

She had enough energy to laugh weakly at that. She wanted to cry. She wanted to sob in long, loud, wailing sobs that wracked her whole body, but she didn’t have the energy for it. Amazing? She was stupid. She shouldn’t have lingered so long. She could have died. He could have died.

But on this side of the danger, even with the submersible rocking and tilting under the force of the explosions below as the dwarf fought to navigate them free of the blasts, she could feel nothing but blessed relief as her panic slowly subsided. She’d never be so happy to be in a metal construct like the submersible again.

She knew she needed to pull herself together. The submersible wasn’t exactly a private space. All of the Gondians they’d saved were there. Omeluum was there. More importantly, Duke Ravengard was there. And she was shivering in Halsin’s arms like a terrified child, rather than standing as a leader. 

Just a few more seconds, she promised herself, turning her face to press her forehead into Halsin’s chest. She forced herself to breathe deeply on counts of five, as Halsin had taught her, ignoring her surroundings and focusing her world until it consisted only of him and her. She felt his hands rubbing gently but firmly against her back and arms as she leaned into his solid body. Just a few more deep breaths…a few more...a few more...

There. 

She wasn’t back to normal, and she suspected when she had time again to think and process she might just collapse in a flood of tears all over again. But for now, she could breathe and her heart had slowed a little. She tilted her head up to look at Halsin.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

He cradled her face in his hand, studying her quickly with a healer’s gaze before his expression softened. “You did well, Ardynn. My heart.” 

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he pressed his lips together and instead offered her his hand. Together they stood, Halsin having to help her more than she wished, her legs still weak beneath her. But finally, she was able to stand and face the others, just as the submersible steadied into a smooth journey back toward the surface.

Thank you, Oak Father, she prayed silently. But, please, by all the powers of nature, please let this be the last time I ever have to endure that again.

[raewritesf1]

ooh i’m intrigued by wip 26 and 31 👀

Accidentally adding no a fic to one list and not the other so I don’t know if you mean college au or double booked for 31 💀 (I have since fixed it)

Anyways here the rough blurb idea of double booked and college au

Double book: Due to a system error Max and George accidentally get double booked for a hotel room (I think I originally planned this for vegas). Since it’s a race weekend every hotel in the areas is completely booked including the one they’re current staying at. So they’re stuck sharing a room for the entire weekend. It ofc only has one bed :)

Colleg au: a ridiculously old au where the driver navigate relationships in college. Essentially an amalgamation of I believe 4-5 fics each covering their own driver relationship that bleed into each other. (I think my previously planned order was Carlando -> Pierresteban -> Loscar/sebcharl -> Galex ) dont care all much for it an might change a lot up (tho I do like the Galex outline I did for it 🤔)

Anyways here the Caught snippet

George was hyperventilating

The image started back at him, mocking him. They had failed, he had failed. It had been just for a second , a slight slip in judgment. He’d regret it immediately after, but Lewis had assured him that it was okay, it was just for a moment, no one would notice.

But someone had noticed, he should have seen this coming, he should have known better.

[BREAKING: MERCEDES DRIVER LEWIS HAMILTON AND GEORGE RUSSELL SPOTTED DOING SOME “TEAM BONDING” OUTSIDE A MONACO RESTAURANT.]

A massively blown up photo of them takes up most of the screen. It wasn’t the best photo, obviously taken from far away and in a rush, but it was clear enough. Clear enough to show that small moment, Lewis’s arm around his waist, George lips pressed to his in a chaste kiss. Them both for a second too lost in each other to remember the world around them.

Below it the overly smug caption read: Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell proving to be the closest team pairing both on and off track. Seems the brackly based team has a rather…interesting approach to team bonding, but I guess the on track result shows that it must be working.

[quinngefail]

I don't have any colored photos of Mr. Charles Pace yet so THIS'LL HAVE TO DO but basically he's inexplicably in a similar situation as Jamie, having constant encounters with The Horrors. However, where Jamie has been dealing with this for nearly a decade and is absolutely over it, these things have just recently started happening to Charles- and it's like NEW DAY NEW HYPERVENTILATION !!

So the top image is the first drawings I did of him, second is a bunch of facial expressions that were for an assignment, and the last two are from another assignment. I planned on making a comic with these two but then it ended up being too ambitious (what with also having to make and finish my animated short, Errands) and I instead did that comic with Dread that I posted the other day :)

Then some misc things about . I don't have too much yet since y’know, school took over my life and I haven't really gotten back into developing this series yet but!!

-He's obviously a very skittery, suffering man as of late, but I imagine he always had that sorta nervous air about him. And now he has even more of a reason to be a nervous wreck 😩

-The marks on his cheek and nose are pretty fresh :')

-He will willingly throw himself in the face of danger to save people since y’know THESE MONSTERS ARE AFTER ME, SAVE YOURSELF!! And that's where this little drawing came from LMAO

Jamie is just like. Bruh

This is unnecessary

-He genuinely doesn't understand how Jamie can be so nonchalant about this all. For a while he assumed this man must have some power or something I don't and Jamie was just ????? What are you on

-Another interaction I've imagined between him and Jamie is Charles being like When does all this ever end.....??? :^( And Jamie is just hA-

-All in all their relationship is generally sympathetic and no one's holding any animosity or anything. But there are definitely times where Jamie is just like Jesus Christ calm down it's gonna be okay

I'm eager to do more with him and get more development in >:P and maybe a fully colored drawing too THAT'D BE NICE-