#heads or tails legato?

[astrcthesiai-archived]

" Master Knives has sent me here to try my hand in defeating you." - @legatusblue

"Ah, you must be... Legato, right? It would still mean the rest of you need to coexist with the humans since he lost. Very well."

He gestured towards a seat in front of him at a table in the bar. For some reason, the old man had a deck of uno cards in one of his pockets. He shuffled and dealt them.

"He let me go first, but this time you can," Roberto offered.

[tititiri]

It's such a cringe (At the most, I'll cover myself with infamy in the fandom), but I noticed that the my blog cover looks like some kitsune-chick peek out from under his coat

I don't know why I associated it with this meme

[orcelito]

after this

the chapter then ending on this

has me big time feeling like. this.

[beanibon]

Mer!Legato x Reader Headcanons

!!These are NSFW Hcs, so minors and ageless blogs please DNI!!

Prompt: reader rescues a rather prickly mermaid, antisocial and gluttonous. Reader is an astrologist, and spends most of their time outside or swimming in their Saltwater pool. Runs a rehabilitation centre for marine life.

TW: smut, interspecies sex, female anatomy, rough sex, oral (f!receiving), tail riding (think thigh riding but with a tail), exhibitionism/voyeurism, masturbation, choking, belly bulging, breeding kink, breath play, overstimulation, impregnation.

You ran a rehabilitation centre for marine life, rescuing aquatic creatures of all varieties. Yet you had never expected the sight before you, shocked at the tangled mermaid screeching in its restraints.

From there on started a rather long, exhausting journey of recovery for the creature of myth, one you didn't have the facility for. You searched each of your works' tanks, none compatible for holding your delightful guest. So, guess what the head of board ultimately decided: take him home.

And that was how you got stuck with an overly stand-offish mermaid, now overprotective of the small lake pool he deemed his territory. Still tangled in the fishing net, as no one was capable of approaching without clawed nails swiping at them, not even anesthesia worked.

The greatest disappointment was not being able to relax in saltwater pool you had installed, watching from an outdoor bench as Legato glared at you from the water's surface. He was unable to swim properly, the sharp hooks of the fishing net causing too much pain if caught in something; opting to accept the fate of living with the rope rubbing against his scales.

One particular morning marked a great accomplishment for your relationship with the prickly mermaid, rushing out at the sound of panicked screeches. It seemed he had gotten caught on one of the thick forests of water lilies, the hooks of the net digging into his gills, skin and one dangerously against his throat. With lack of better judgement, you rushed to aid the creature, resulting in a nasty injury.

Legato had understandably lashed out, claws slashing your fragile skin as blood beaded against your flesh rapidly. He had expected you to retreat, abandon him in his current predicament; alas you had proven him wrong. You disregarded the bleeding limb, ignoring how he screeched at the hand on his throat. Sharp teeth sunk into your forearm, a scream erupting from yourself as you pulled away, hook in hand as you clutched your bleeding arm.

The vicious mermaid, fangs bared in defense finally felt the relief of the absent hook, chirps of confusion as his hand ran along the vulnerable section of skin. He flashed you a suspicious glare, noticing the hook between your fingers, and the tears from the aftershock of his aggression.

You avoided him for a while, mostly unhappy about the hospital bill you received from your care of the wounds. You kept your distance, space something you thought the mermaid needed. Yet Legato didn't seem all that pleased he wasn't receiving attention, tail slapping the water with quiet disgruntled irritation.

Over the week, the pouting mermaid grew more agitated towards your cold shoulder towards him. It got the point that Legato crawled out of the water, pulling himself towards your relaxed form on a pool lounge. The sight of the mermaid startled you, not at all expecting the creature to exit the water. He had you pinned, towered over your quivering form as he glared down at you.

You expected him to attack you, aware of his overly aggressive behaviour. Except he didn't. Legato pulled his body to the side, demanding chirps directed towards you. It took a while until you understood his agitated chirps, hands gripping the remaining fishing net, slowly untangling it.

The relief was evident in the way Legato sighed, head rested upon his arms as you tugged the net loose, freeing the mermaid entirely. He looked at you through his dried hair, eyes squinted as he let out a drawled noise. Evidently, you had no idea what he was saying, which didn't up end needing clarification as Legato disappeared back into the water.

After that day, Legato had been more willing towards your presence. You even learned he was quite the glutton, screaming as he lunged towards the feeding bucket, the first time he accepted food you'd brought. He'd snatch the food, quite literally inhaling the food, staring at you expectantly like he wanted more. When you denied him, he grew bitter, throwing a silent temper tantrum.

You'd studied astrology for years, and after weeks of housing the distant mermaid you decided to try and figure out his zodiac sign. You concluded he was Scorpio, excitedly explaining this to him. Legato didn't appreciate the tangent, mostly because he didn't understand a word you were saying, swimming off mid-conversation.

You lived pretty distant from anyone, spending most nights outside under the starry sky. And at times that lead to some pretty risky nights of self-indulgence. Sometimes you'd forget about the mermaid's existence, one-night in particular, laying on a cushioned pool lounge as your fingers graced along your clothed cunt. Your bikini bottom was easily moved to the side, fingers gathering your slick before pumping in and out of your pussy.

Eyes watched the scene, Legato letting out prolonged chatter. The sight had him wiggling his hips, the water disturbed at the movement, instantly gaining your attention. As expected, you slapped your legs closed, face bright red as the mermaid pouted at your actions.

He pulled himself out of the water, laid on his stomach and 'innocently' beckoned you over. You shyly approached, skeptical of the creature's intentions as he gripped your waist, webbed hands cold as he clawed off your bikini bottoms. Legato hoisted him up, freakishly long tongue dragging along your wet folds, the taste dancing along his tastebuds. A pleased chirp left him, diving hungrily forward, mouth attacking your pussy with hungry sucks, licks and nibbles. You struggled to stay standing, collapsing a few times onto Legato's unexpected face, he growled at those instances.

It grew more frustrating at your regular falters, his neck starting to ache as your legs buckled once more, hands clawing as his scalp. Legato pulled away, angry hisses sounded as he flopped onto his back, dragging you down on top of his tail. You were aided with grinding your hips along his rough tail, cunt dragging your juices along the slit that housed his inhuman cock, unknown by you.

Your grinding was relentless, chasing your high as your voice sang sweetly as that ball began twisting in your gut, growing at each pull towards him. As your release came crashing over yourself, voice crying out loudly as your orgasm crashed over you. Those slick juices pooled over the slit shielding his cock, a sly smirk tugged at his lips.

A shuddered cry echoed around the pool's edge, your legs quivered violently as his cock slipped snuggly inside those warm walls, filling you until it pressed painfully against your cervix. Legato flipped you over, once again pinning you down on the gravelly mud by the water's edge, only you didn't stay there. You were dragged into the salty water, still impaled on the foreign cock of the mermaid that pulled you deeper into the water.

From your position, you struggled to keep your head above water, spluttering and begging the usually defiant mermaid to hold you up. He didn't, in fact Legato did the exact opposite. Hand gripped your throat, shoving you below the surface, hips thrusting into your cunt at a ruthless pace.

As the suffocation began to cloud your mind, vision and sense, you couldn't help but let loose a few muffled moans, legs wrapped loosely around Legato's waist. Black dots formed within your vision, warm seed filling your orgasming pussy, finally you were pulled above the surface, gasping desperately for air.

Yet Legato wasn't done yet, flashing you a toothy grin as he hoisted you onto the decorative rock in the center of the pool, starting the second round of cruel sex. Round after round, each resulting in another shot of cum fucked into your loosened cunt, your stomach practically bulged at the overload of semen leaking out of you.

Your body shivered, the cold of night catching up to your exposed body, skin pruning at being half submerged. The sun had crept along the horizon, Legato became aware of your tear-stained face, dark circles under your eyes at being kept up all night. It was a rather amusing sight, one that had Legato chirp in pleasure, tongue dragged along your face as if tasting your tears brought him immeasurable joy. He'd certainly take pleasure in ruining you again, reminding you of your place in his narrative.

One faithful morning, a week after the incident with the unaffected mermaid, you were sipping your coffee, checking your daily horoscopes. Today's one confused you, brows furrowed as you huffed out in annoyance, it sounded like some cheap fortune cookie prediction. "Something unexpected is to happen, whether you take joy in the announcement or not."

Turns out, you were pregnant. And you were not at all thrilled by that discovery, you weren't overly fond of children and having your own was an option you weren't ready for. You told the news to the indifferent mermaid, who seemed to prefer blowing bubbles rather than listening. Seemed as if Legato didn't prefer children either, the news coming as more of hindrance than excitement, guess using you as his own personal toy was going to be more frustrating if this kept happening.

Despite that, Legato did have a form of reserved affection towards you, now choosing to lounge close by your side. At times he'd call for you, on those odd occasions he'd want affection, yet he never truly acknowledged the bump growing over the months. He wanted you, not some grubby child that may need to share his lake pool, it was his territory!

Either way, Legato refused any attempt at his release back into the ocean, even hospitalizing a worker at they tried drugging him. So now you were stuck with him, not that you truly minded, it was nice relaxing in silence with the brooding mermaid. A mermaid that despite your pregnant belly would still fuck you until you were a drooling, incoherent mess. His personal damsel in his cruel story of self-preservation.

A/N: Hiya everyone! Hope you enjoyed this new iteration on my Mermaid Headcanons, and my newest simpage on emo boy Legato. Again, feel free to give me any constructive criticism on his character, this is the first published work on him and I'm open to any feedback!

Also I got the idea he was Scorpio from a personality analysis on Legato's character, it's really in-depth and I'll link it here for anyone interested in giving it a read.

Enjoy and have have a lovely day/night!

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Tarot Assignment: Elendira the Crimsonnail

I love her. But who doesn’t? Since we don’t find out much about Elendira, I did my best, but she wasn’t the easiest to find good cards for.

Three of Cups (reversed): This card, when reversed, indicates that we have lost touch with others and have not been connecting well. I’ve made an analysis post a little while back on how Elendira has achieved maximal strength, but also that she has severed all meaningful connections with others in the process. Yes, she chooses to work with Knives and clearly admires his vision, but there is no strong personal bond between them, or between her and anyone else for that matter. The card can also signify gossip and envy, to which I invite you to look at Elendira’s conversation with Wolfwood and her obvious dislike of Legato, hahaha.

Tower: There is, perhaps, no single character in Trigun who is as much a harbinger for destruction as Elendira, barring Legato. She only comes to play when the stakes are high - immediately on the tail end of Vash remembering July with an ominous warning, defending the Ark as the world nearly ends, readying a bomb to finish the job just in case Knives fails. She seems to regard humanity with a similar hopeless disdain to Knives - the Tower suggests that things cannot go on as they are and that something needs to change, and Elendira’s insistence that a world without humanity who “always ruin” things would be best is this sentiment taken to its extreme.

Queen of Swords (reversed): This queen is logical, rational and clear headed, but when reversed, may lean into making some decisions based off of pride or anger, and may also signify a person who has become bitter and resentful. As stated previously, Elendira definitely has bitterness towards humanity, which she masks slightly beneath composure and an air of superior indifference. She’s skilled and powerful, but as Livio and Razlo start to irritate her more and more during their fight, she becomes more outright aggressive and petty instead of haughty, as she was initially. A similar thing can be seen in her annoyance towards Legato.

[triplesilverstar]

Day 4

Rating: Explicit 18+ Minors DNI

Pairing: Snake Legato X F!Reader

CW: Dub con, serious dub-con, Rape, Smut, angst and smut, crying, Gore, Loss of limb, penis in vaginal sex, Choking, Fingering, Two penises, double penetration, double penetration one hole, 

Word count: 2212

A/N: Day 4, You were going caving and had an accident. Now is the strange Blue haired man your salvation or your death?

It wasn’t your first time going caving, but you think it might be your last. Laying there on your side hissing as you try to move your leg only to scream as the fire laces up your spine. At least you can feel the pain which is a good sign. 

Why did you have to go caving alone? 

After falling down that shaft there's no way you’re going to be able to get yourself out of the hole you’ve fallen into, let alone the cave with a busted leg. Using your arm to try force yourself into a seated position, crying out as you do so and feel the tears form at the corner of your eyes. 

Panting you look down, a cry of anguish breaking past your lips. You can see part of your bone sticking out, this really is going to be your last caving trip. A shuffling noise just at the edge of your hearing. 

Maybe you aren't alone down here. “Hello!” Calling out and waiting for the echo to end before speaking again. “I’m hurt!” It sounds like there is movement coming towards you, making you grin widely. You just might get out of this yet. “Can you help me?” 

A head and two arms appear from a gap in the cave wall and you feel a sense of relief wash over you, you’re going to make it out of this. Watching as this blue haired man starts to pull himself through the crevice. 

It’s then it dawns on you. 

Where’s his helmet, and he isn’t wearing gloves. As his chest starts to make its way through the space the relief you felt quickly erodes away. He isn’t wearing a shirt, and there seems to be a pattern, almost like scales along his body. 

“I can” his voice reminds you of a rock being dragged along another one, but it isn’t sharp enough to hurt your ears. Just enough to make you pause, there’s something more to him than just being a half naked man. 

Where you expect his hips to appear your heart stops beating. Where you expected to see two thighs is just a long scaled body. Maybe it’s the blood loss, but you don’t remember screaming before passing out. 

When you next come to, you’re somewhere damp and cold shivering but the pain in your leg is gone. Looking around you can barely see anything in the dim light cast from what looks like cave moss. A thin blanket draped over your form, and you feel yourself shiver again this time noticing something odd. 

You aren’t wearing any clothes under the blanket. Sitting up or trying to, you notice something else. You can feel everything but the leg you’d broken. Taking a deep breath almost afraid of what you’ll find you but you need to know. 

Ripping the sheet away you feel your heart burn and your spirits fall. Your leg, from mid thigh down, is gone. Nothing but a stump remains, and as you reach down you can feel the gnarled flesh sewn together with rough ridges. The bumps making you think it might have been burned once the leg had been sliced away. “You would not have survived had I not removed it.” Head snapping towards the sound of his voice and you can see him just at the edge of the dim light coiled around himself and watching you. A long slow blink as he watches you before opening his mouth once more and you can see the row of sharpened teeth. “Legato”. 

“Huh?” He tells you you wouldn’t have survived and then some random word. “Why am I still here?” While you aren’t going to bleed out anymore, you’re going to have one hell of a time getting out of here. 

A chuckle ending in a hiss as he seems to untangle himself from the length of his tail. “How rude, I introduce myself and you cannot do the same. Perhaps I should have taken your tongue when I took your leg.” That, that had been his name? 

You open your mouth giving your name before being cut off by Legato once more. “As to why you’re still here, well I would think it should be obvious. I am at the point in my life where I need to procreate, and you’re going to assist me in that endeavor.” What? He can’t be serious? 

“What you can’t mean that!” Almost sitting fully upright now, and in the blink of an eye Legato strikes darting forward and wrapping a single hand around your throat. 

Struggling as hard as you can, your fingers unable to loosen his grip feeling your heart beating an almost impossible tempo inside of your chest. This close you can also see the gleam in his eyes, the way the golden slit widens in the dim light, another sign he is something so different than a human if his body didn’t give it away. 

Gasping as you struggle to take in air, Legeto lunges forward and closes the distance shoving an impossibly long tongue down your throat. Sweeping inside of your mouth as if it’s something to plunder and take ownership of, it makes you struggle harder and he simply seems to enjoy it even more. Keeping his mouth over yours and with your airway restricted by his hand your lungs are starting to burn the need for oxygen becoming too much body feeling weaker and weaker as your hands fall away from his wrist slumping at your sides. 

It’s too much of a struggle to keep your eyes open, the inky blackness slowly overtaking your vision anyway allowing your lids to flutter close. His mouth finally removed but the pressure remains about your throat. “I prefer your docile for our first joining.” The talons of his other hand trailing down your chest, ignoring your breasts and if you weren’t so out of it you’d feel the thin lines of fire his taloned fingers are leaving along your tummy as they trail downwards. “I can’t have you injuring yourself trying to delay the inevitable.” 

Once those long fingers reach the apex of your thighs he lets out a tsk, unsatisfied with what he finds there. “I want to enjoy this, it shall be my first time.” Tapping his nails against your clit in an attempt to have moisture start to drip from between your legs, before another noise of displeasure grounds out of him. Twisting his fingers and tracing the outside of your folds before sinking one of his fingers into your core up to the first knuckle, making your body jerk in response. 

The muscles of your inner walls spasming trying to force the intrusive digit out, Legato ignoring that and starting to move that one digit in and out and he eventually letting out a noise of satisfaction as your cunt starts to lubricate itself. 

Adding a second finger, and you feel your lungs empty body torn between trying to force him out of your pussy and the pleasure starting to nip at the base of your skull as the slow sense of acceptance takes hold. Your body trying to accept the intrusion in a way that your insides won’t be damaged by the assault on your core. 

“There we are, finally starting to accept your fate my little incubator.” His fingers are starting to sink deeper and deeper into your core curling those pointed digits opposite one another, stretching you out and smearing your own wetness. A low hum, that makes your spine tingle from the inhumanness of it and your body clench in fear has him pausing. 

Pulling his fingers from your body with a wet noise that makes you shudder, Legato eyeing the clear strands of fluid between the V of his fingers with interest. Making a show of raising them so his long tongue can dart out and lick them clean, while your mind is haze, edging on delirious the vision does make your core twinge. Arousal starts to pool lower in your belly because it is a sight that makes the primal part of your brain purr. 

Hand clean of your juices he replaces it on your hip, a show of his strength as he man handles you over his body so your leg and the stump are draped over his muscled lower half. The grip of your hip tight as he slides your body so you’re grinding against him, spreading your wetness along what you could only assume would be the space that would be his thighs if he had two legs. 

The grip on your throat has loosened, most likely due to Legato focusing on moving your body against his, allowing more air to fill your lungs and the flecks of black at the edge of your vision receding. 

Moving your hands to rest against his chest, palms flat over his pecs feeling the muscles flex beneath. It doesn’t make sense to try and fight him, it would be too easy for him to tighten his grip on your throat to bring you back to the point of being powerless. A noise almost like a happy chirp at you choosing to respond positively in a way to him, moving his mouth to press against yours again. Far less violent this time in his movements, trying to engage your own tongue this time instead of just plunge it around as he pleases. You moan as you do respond, gliding the wet muscle against his own and letting your hands trail higher on his body before resting against his shoulder, thumbs ghosting along his collarbones. 

Neck arching as you pull away from his mouth, tears running down your face as something far thicker suddenly plunges into you while he groans in pleasure and you can feel the pounding of his heart under your palms, the veins of his neck standing out under the soft skin of your hands. “You took both of my cocks so well, you grip me so tight, such a wonderful feeling. I want to stay in this heat of yours as long as possible.” Both? BOTH?! Does that mean he has two dicks, it would at least explain why you feel like your pussy is stuffed beyond anything you should be able to handle. 

He isn’t moving you anymore, instead his tongue is lapping at the wet trails along your face, the tip of the muscle a mock tenderness after having plunged his apparent double dicks into your body. 

“Please.” The tears are just pouring faster down your face, making Legato appear blurry not even inches from your face. “It’s too much.” 

“There there, I won’t have any of my seed wasted. I understand humans give birth to live young that are far larger than both of my members. You can certainly handle this.” His platitudes do nothing to make you feel better, going back to licking your tears away. Finally removing his hand from your throat, both of you aware it’s no longer required, settling it on your other hip. 

The length of his body undulating until you’re better positioned over him and what you can only assume is a position he finds more comfortable before he starts to slowly move you along both of his lengths. It’s swallow movements, but enough that you can feel two tips, maybe because you’re now aware of them hitting your cervix as he works you. “Please.” You keep pleading, hoping against hope he might listen to your whimpers. 

“Hush.” One hand moving to slap your ass quickly and hard enough to make you gasp, your cunt clenching around his dicks in a hard massage that Legato enjoys moaning long and low. “Excellent, just like that. I’ll enjoy filling you with my offspring.” 

Squeezing your eyes shut as he starts to move your hips faster, slamming his cocks in and out of you making sure he never slips from the tight confines of your slick walls. Moaning as he takes pleasure from your body while you feel your own arousal starting to build as his lengths plunge into your pussy, ridges and veins twitching adding to the mounting pleasure. His scales hitting your clit making you pant, clenching around him adding to the pressure placed on his members. 

His steady control of your hips slipping as he moves you harder and faster, slamming you down a final time and rolling you while the swollen tips seem to pierce your womb and your clit swollen from the attention and abuse. A roar echoing around the cavern, as Legato cums inside your body both members trembling in your tight cunt as you find your release as well, inner walls working as if to milk both dicks. 

Head slumping forward and back bowing, feeling a coolness against your forehead from his slim shoulder. More tears falling from your eyes and dampening his skin and the blue tinge of his hair, this close you can see the same blue faint in his skin. 

“Well done. In a short while I’ll fill you with more, I expect you to provide me with a full brood.” You don’t bother with words, mentally accepting this is in fact your last caving trip. You’ll never escape him, not now. 

Dividers

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[deadlydevotion]

He runs most of the way home, or tries to at least. As soon as he'd bolted away from Double Fang like a dog with it's tail between it's legs, he'd stumbled and staggered against a nearby wall. His head is killing him, the adrenaline only doing so much for a likely concussion but he can't stop, can't pause long or his escape will be denied him and he'll be caught again and a concussion will be the least of his worries.

So he staggers upright and, despite the pounding, despite the blur and tilt of his vision, he keeps running.

By the time he gets the door open and staggers into the condo, he's wheezing for breath, completely disheveled, blood staining his jacket where it's dripped from his face and the back of his head, mussed and bloodied as well. Legato is a complete mess and on top of that he's still shaking. The door closes harder then he means to but he hardly notices, staggering across the family room and into the kitchen.

He needs a knife, needs something large and sharp enough that he can plunge it straight into his throat and let his unworthy blood spill out. He's not deserving of even a death at Master Knives' hands, he shouldn't sully his Master with even his proximity.

Useless, pathetic, waste of space. Worthless, defenseless, a broken tool that can't even serve its one purpose anymore.

These thoughts have been the only ones in his head the whole way back, stuck on repeat with a ringing drowning out everything else around him. There's nothing else in his mind as he staggers into the kitchen, gets a bloodied hand around the handle of one of the knives in the block, pulls it out. His hands are shaking and he knows somewhere in the back of his mind that this will be messy and Master Knives shouldn't have to clean up after him so he turns to make his way toward the bathroom, catching himself on the wall as he goes.

@plantfell

[fcxrcin]

@deadlydevotion

"How are you holding up, Legato?" With NokNok Cafe having slowed down and ready to close for the night, Hansol decided to peek into the kitchen to check up on her new hire. Tails sways behind her curiously and she tilts her head,

"Would you like to eat something before you went home for the evening?"

[humanoidtyphoons]

trimax vol 14! last one!

-it’s so so good that the volume cover is vash smiling like the goof he is, and the back cover is the peace sign. i love him soooo. truly the embodiment of love and peace!! character of all time!!!

-ack, wolfwood. he’s so prominent this volume. he’s the reason why vash shoots and kills legato. he’s seen when vash views the dead. he talks to livio as a ghost. and he haunts and he haunts the narrative post vol 10. and jfc. character of all time.

-truly the way vash loves wolfwood that he’s been so fundamentally changed by it. that he wants to protect what wolfwood loves. legato is absolutely going to kill livio if vash does nothing and vash… he has to protect wolfwood’s wishes. what wolfwood has fought for all this time. so vash makes the choice. realizes that he was kind of an asshole, maybe??? calling wolfwood a coward???

-it’s such an interesting parallel to have legato pull vash’s gun to his head and asking him to shoot, and wolfwood doing the same thing first. only, legato isn’t forcing himself to play the devil like wolfwood was. whatever choice vash makes would delight him, bc it would torment vash. maybe not the same way as it happened in tri98, but i love that he forces vash’s hand all the same. that this decision vash makes is a consequence of wolfwood’s death, made textually explicit with the double spread of wolfwood and the punisher, the words he said that day, when he asked vash to shoot.

-milly and meryl going to space!!! love it!!!

-vash shutting down after killing legato… yeah. you do need a breather, buddy.

-ngl i love vash and knives fighting, and failing and vash choosing to save knives, taking the brunt. i love how different their feathers look.

-knives looking like he’s set on fire, his energy consuming him and burning him out looks so cool ngl. what a badass look.

-vash surrounded by feathers is super pretty

-meryl/vash, where vash knows she’s afraid and tells her she’s brave anyway. she is. he promises to return to her, and then doesn’t, cause he’s a liar. cute!!

-i love seeing the plant sisters being saved!!! they don’t deserve to be consumed by knives’ egomania.

-there’s something sweet about knives asking humans he doesn’t know to save his brother, and then using the last of his powers to grow an apple tree. he’s been so isolated and rage filled for a century and a half, but… being around vash, he… tries. that he cares.

-i can’t decide whether i prefer knives living or dying at the end. i find the anime sweet bc i do like that vash decides to be more active and force knives to engage with humanity more, under his eye, so no one dies. but on the other hand… using the last of his power as a good deed… that’s really good too… like it’s bittersweet but it shows that even knives is capable of change. maybe he was irredeemable and had done too much wrong, but. vash loves him, even so. and, in his final hour, he did good.

-i got so used to vash having black hair that it’s almost a shock to see vash blonde in a flashback, ngl.

-there’s something stupid wonderful about the end feeling like it’s the beginning again. milly and meryl might be journalists, now, but vash is trying to run from them and so they’re back again on his tail, like a more benevolent roadrunner and coyote! he’s goofy and silly and i just adore him, and milly & meryl hot on his heels.

also the colour double spread of vash in his red coat and black hair and the endless desert is a delight!!! completely forgot this detail!!!

i feel healed, idk. it’s such a charming story, still. how much i love the characters, and how they struggle with what they believe is right, but they try all the same. it’s going to be okay.

but most of all, remember, love and peace!!!

[wonderlanddrifter]

Overture: The Golden Age, Only Three Seconds Away.

Whale-fall, Heaven-fall, two leviathans sacrificed for the same purpose, a garden of the deep and a perpetual kingdom.

I fell in love with the noose. I simply can't stop thinking “What a perfect little knot.” It is your wondrous embrace that takes me to the sky. I waste the minutes, tying necklaces in honor of our bond. So I whisper to myself as I create our artificial spawn. Ah! Here comes the idiotic Ouroboros! Head caved in since birth, it searches for its tail to form infinity, only to choke its throat, as you’ll do the same to me. And so it loops and loops, trying to grasp a possum nonexistent, only to find me! I flail unwillingly to resist, and like the true lover you are, refuse to take me away from your hold. And in our coitus of struggle, you give the mercy of sleep. Only, I can’t sleep. That harsh, taboo intimacy I have with you is my purpose, a muse. So why can’t I feel your love? Am I not the common petty thief, hand snatched by the aristocrat, ego eyeing gold too bright? Am I, not the desperado, loathed by the crown but loved by the dung-covered commoners? Am I not the sad man, fueling the bonfire of misery with his living ashes, hoping to be consumed?

Is it because you only have eyes for mistresses? Has our love become a distant dream? And when did that river split its course? What is it about those witches dancing naked in the woods, covered in goat’s blood and their urine that is better than me? I can do many rituals without following such sodomite desires! I’ve made many pieces in your honor, yet now you deny me so!

As I float like heaven’s unfinished work in your false choking care, I contemplate, for I see your affair with the other man on the gallows. He lays limp, piss-stained leggings and crows pecking bits of eye and finger. So I conclude with the truth.

You’ve never loved me to begin with.

It is the coward’s tool of death, and I deal with better and greater inspirations. It is the tool of weak willpower, one even a fool could use. Rather, I recall the warriors of old: when suffering defeat after battle as a survivor, rather than weeping at gone memories, they instead take their own blade, their honor, and become a marriage with their tool of blood. HARAKIRI. In the finale when Glory sleeps in his cradle of slaughter, the practitioner of the begone craft, unable to withstand the new white canvas of lull, finds his implement in the bosom, as a dear comrade gives a final kiss: that being his dear friend, the blade. There are other companions, yes, but the spear is too cumbersome in this beautiful parting, and the firearm is too industrial, too simple. Every part of the blade is meticulously crafted by a master, and it dances with its partner. And what of the noose now? A knot that can be tied by a child to make life pennies cheap, to lynch on a mass scale and at a moment's whim. Compared to the personal, painful ritual that takes dedication to one’s life. With that knowledge, I think I know what I’d rather take.

Of course, dedicated to the child of mankind, art, of which the greatest muse is death. The artist subconsciously prays to death, every stroke and word from the pen a life we give, and in completion, taxidermy of dreams obsessed. It is the single feeling that tugs at the all-heart and conducts the lacrimosa, it is the celebration of our biology, the grand finale. But now it is no longer a perfect muse, leaving behind a corpse of the corpse-maker. Leaving insipid carcasses to shamble, a body willing where the spirit is weak, leaving an imprint of sweet and bloody memories clinging to the song of life. But it is not for them anymore.

There is no purpose to Death anymore, Legato, a constant humming in the orchestra of pulsating viscera and biological song, refusing to stop listening, refusing to stop breaking the rhythm with their subpar soprano.

So like the other abstractions in this world of delusions, they lie to the universe and pretend the stage-play of Death is still sorrowful indeed. That the slaughterhouse of war still carries honor and gore in a field of sacrifices, that pestilence still carries heavy, reminding all the limitations of flesh, that I should still cling to life, when an un-life is already confirmed on the other side.

Because The Moth still sings, a chorus of damnation that tells us things still flow naturally, effervescently, and in order. A lie, The Moth which is guided by the sunlight to ferry souls into their cells—the lukewarm labyrinths of judgment— in the precipice of extinction, in the infernal dream and the aether, nothing but an over-glorified bank of memories. All for the illusion that the universe still moves like clockwork after His death.

The only ending that truly matters, one that made even the world wept in melancholy, The Death of God, a divine suicide. In a tapestry of rot and rebirth, it alone was the perfect color of dust. In my twice-born life, I strolled monotonously through the first— a distant daydream—, and only when my cell called for me did I attempt to run, but found the hours to be too short. So I prayed.

And The Moth, parasite, thief of my identity, and dear friend answered. The lovely little fairy of annihilation gifted me all of eternity, freeing me from the cell with a silk string. Legato, my shrieking lullaby discordant in the song of life, a performance repeating upon repetitions. If I so desire, I could join the blind idiotic beings of the deep sea, looking at the dark; an inhumane existence not too dissimilar to the cell. But I was called back from the monotony of eternity by the muse, to showcase to the world the glory and beauty of the holy wounds of reality.

I’ll put it all in a masterpiece, a requiem, the lacerations and gashes from the radiance flowing a heavenly river, the sorrow which He bears alone still seeks to suffocate others in a miserable whisper, the flutterings of the neurotransmitters dreaming of better days in wonderland. So let it be then! The white canvas that will be covered in a thousand intricate fields of flowers supping on His blood, to show the world the beauty in oblivion, a gallery of everything holy from the coalescence of one divine soul. The harrowed and maimed form reveals the prismatic decay of everything, including what is to be forever. I will join the purulent magnum opus, for the artist is only as great as the sum of his work.

My second life, biology that is abandoned for enlightenment through the painting of violence. I am one of the many flies chasing the dead-light of dreams, I am one of the cells in the matrix of The Moth-Song. Legato, I am an unending note.

A vagitus declaration. I return to the broken kingdom as a prophet. My gray matter is a blank canvas waiting to be filled, it contains only the muse, The Moth, and a name: Apostles, a relapse of the mind, fingernail inching towards destruction in an attempt to recollect an artifact of a bygone nerve.

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

even though this bitch has had several design & story changes over the years, i like how his two signature character traits remain:

slut

cannibal

[nelson-riddle-me-this]

Film soundtrack: Camelot

I have not seen this film or listened to the album before, so here are my live thoughts as I listen for the 1st time.

NEVER HEARD BEFORE | want to listen to | the worst | BAD | whatever | not my thing | GOOD | great | favorite | masterpiece

01. "Prelude and Overture"

Something about how this begins - it feels like they cut an intro, it just starts and I feel out of the loop. Also, as is usual with Broadway-film adaptations of this era, the orchestrations are larger and a little bite'ier. Pretty strings. Got that 20th Century Fox string sound - but wait, this is a Warners movie -OOOHO WAIT IT'S Alfred Newman conducting [longtime head of the Fox music dept.] heheh so I *am* right. Pretty ballads - "If Ever I Would Leave You". OOH these strings on "If Ever I Would Leave You" are GORGEOUS. And tail out. Beautiful!

02. "I Wonder What The King Is Doing Tonight?"

Richard Harris is a lot friendlier than Richard Burton was in the role of King Arthur on Broadway - and I'm into it. Also, I dig the brighter tempo here - makes it feel like we are indeed on the eve of a momentous occasion (wedding). Okay I wish they'd play with dyamics more - especially on lines like "he's wishing he were in Scottland fishing tonight" or "he's searching high and low for someplace to hide". Missed opportunities for text-painting.

03. "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood"

I can't help compare Vanessa Redgrave to Julie Andrews. Redgrave doesn't have an unpleasant sound, but she's lacking personality. I dig the 'Bolero'y millitaristic snare drum. Much of the joy in Julie's performance is how she mixes surface-level sweetness, and conniving seduction (think Betty White as 'Sue Ann Nivens' on THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW). But Redgrave's performance doesn't seem to be all that thoughtful. Also, not a fan of that ending, it doesn't feel like an ending, "Oh, it's over! That was it?", but perhaps it makes more sense with picture.

04. "Camelot and the Wedding Ceremony"

Nice bassoon. ?harpsichord?? So far this arrangement is the closest to the Broadway. I wish the strings were legato/slurred on "by order Summer lingers through September". Maybe I am too mickey-mouse'y with the text painting I want, but I prefer specificity. I like the pulling back the tempo a bit there. Love these woodwind lines! Oooh love it again, we're pulling the tempo down, dynamics, and slurring. Love it. Build. Build back up! YES! Lovely! OOoh this little Medievel winds passage! And the chorus! Oh those woodwinds are gorgeous. I need to learn more about them - recorders??? At first the singers didn't sound especially English, more American. As I listen more, their pronunciation is pretty English. But perhaps the harmonies are very American - like what you'd hear in a Disney movie or Mancini score of the era - so even sung with appropriate pronunciation they sound American?

05. "C'est Moi"

Frano Nero. Never heard of him. He's fine, but feels like a step-down from Robert Goulet. He lacks that clear strong edge that Goulet has. He's not as commanding. When Goulet praises himself, I buy it. Like he has the confidence and strength to really sell what he's singing. This man isn't selling me. Maybe that's a choice - maybe they want us to see him as a phony who's over-selling himself. But I feel like I still have that with Goulet and it's better because you feel like you're reading beetween the lines a little more - like resisting an extremely good/slick car salesman.

06. "The Lusty Month of May"

Nice opening. Pretty. I love the slower tempo for this - enhances the seductivness. Gorgeous strings. And we accel! Nice! Good ?harpsichord? Now I still don't like her as much as Julie, but Redgrave works better here than in "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood", staightforward lustiness is a little easier. This 3' section is nice, though I wish it were faster - a merry-go-round, but slightly unhinged.

07. "Follow Me and Children's Chorus"

Gorgeous, tinkly. Gorgeous chorus. They're stereo ping-ponging the choirs!!!! It's really effective. Oh and the childrens chorus is so sweet. This is a completely different approach than the OBC, but it works so well. Helps that this is an utterly divine song. Favorite track on the album so far, probably to remain so. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TRACK.

08. "How To Handle A Woman"

Oooh he's upset and we're fast! This works! Even if he's generally warmer than Burton, Harris can still do angry! And pull it back, sweet and intimate. Oooh this whisper'y smolder bit O.o and now we're past the intro. I kind of like Harris better than Burton - his warmth is really an asset for this character. Oh yikes that Merlin line is very sexist :/.

09. "Take Me To The Fair"

The tempo is - not sure if it's even slower, but it's looser, and I don't like that. The precisely on-the-beat phrasing of the OBC (both vocally and instrumentally) communicates that Guenevere has this all planned out, it's an act, it's a trap, she's manipulating these silly men. Oh, the transition from "well, Sir Sagramore" to "you may sit BY me at the ball" is awful - either she just keeps going through it (but in a weird way) or they did a pickup and spliced her in there so she's slightly overlapping. Sorry Alfred Newman, but this is not IT. Who cast Redgrave? Who thought casting a non-singing actress in a role originally played by a remarkably strong actress-singer? I like the little harpsichord section. Worst Redgrave number so far. An insult to the OBC. I promise this is a good song, got listen to the cast album

10. "If Ever I Would Leave You"

Oh, so we're right into it! Nero's lack of boldness as compared to Goulet kind of works here - sweeter and softer for this intimate love song. Lots of this arrangement is just imitative of the vocal - which is nice but can get a little tiresome when it's not really in-the-pocket. Still this man doesn't have the presence that Goulet does. He just doesn't command your attention. Like this string interlude. Different. Flute :) adding ?oboe? under it. Violins. Now violas? I like it. Oh and I think the violins are doing finger tremolos. Great! The new interludes on this album are gorgeous, when the film people really get to go off and do their own thing, it's great. And are we back to the vocal? Yes, this works. Oh these strings are GORGEOUS. I miss the ?timpani? hits of the original, but actually given that Nero is not as powerful a vocalist, letting the strings lead those hits is a good choice.

11. "What Do the Simple Folk Do?"

Oigg Redgrave. Like the harpsichord and very 'royal' woodwinds. And tambourine. Very medieval. Yay, we DO get a whistling section! This is adorable :) I like this. BOOO Vanessa!!! Oh, I like the "their own folk - throne folk" rhyme, don't remember that from the OBC. Oh and Harris can get big and bold too!!! I really love Richard Harris in this. HE HAS THE RANGE. Oh, is that Marni Nixon? Sounds like her. Did you know the film composer Bronislau Kaper gave her her first break? He needed someone to dub ?Virginia O'Brien?'s singing voice for some picture, and looked in vain until some paige at the studio recommended her fellow-paige, Nixon, and the rest is history! I like this ending! Harris really carries this song on his back.

12. "I Loved You Once In Silence"

The guitar is neat, very different from the OBC - though I confess I don't remember this song as much as the others. See this is something Redgrave can do. Her soft kind of weak voice works for something intimate and straightforward like this. Still, I don't like her voice and every once in a while something in her tone feels so amaeturish that it bugs me. Oh dear, only Redgrave and Nero together. :( they just both seem like space-cases. They're not compelling. Perhaps they have screen presence, but they don't have audio presence.

13. "Guenevere"

Oooh love these ?string harmonics?! Eerie. Like this! The studio chorus is great. Some of the strings are too loud - I suspect that's just a mix issue. Oh I love the tambourine on 2 and 4! I love how large this sounds! That ?horn line? kinda steps on the male vocalists there. Oh I really love every spot the tambourine is here, huh! OH YES! BUILD! GLORIOUS!!!! Oh and the bell.... let the bell toll....... yesesssssssssssss........ fade..... Second-favorite track!

14. "Finale Ultimo" [Camelot (Reprise)]

Aww, Dicky Harris is sad :'( but I love the harp here playing the brass/w.w. figures we heard in "Camelot". Nice clarinets. And the guitar. Nice snare rolls. And here's the big finale! Big chorus! Oooh these harmonies have such body. Love hearing them linger. Get soft. BIG AGAIN! BIG DISNEY MOVIE ENDING!!!!!!!!

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

Ultimately it's not as tight or well-cast as the original Broadway cast album. Vanessa Redgrave is not a good Guenevere - she lacks the spark, sacharine underhandedness, deliberateness, and vocal chops that Julie Andrews brought to the role; and she doesn't supply anything meaningful in their place. Franco Nero is a watered-down Lancelot and lacks the commanding presence and powerful voice that made Robert Goulet so effective [I did some research and it seems Lancelot's singing voice was dubbed by Gene Merlino]. -2 for them, but +1 for Richard Harris, who brings a warmth to King Arthur that Richard Burton lacks, and yet he is powerful, commanding, even angry when he needs to be. The studio chorus is GORGEOUS and truly one of this album's great strenths. The arrangements/orchestrations are very pretty, though don't always feel as thought-out as the OBC. It's likely a larger orchestra, so I understand that things might not be as tight and you might want to take tempos down for that reason, but it really waters down a few numbers. Ultimately this is an uneven album, the OBC is far better. But at the very least I recommend this version of "Follow Me".

[shefightslikeagirl]

CORSETS AND STRIPED STOCKINGS: OUTFITTING THE ASYLUM FOR WAYWARD VICTORIAN GIRLS by She Fights Like A Girl

These articles are best viewed on desktop, but are mobile friendly. Please excuse any strange formatting on your phone browser or the Tumblr app.

PART IV: WAYWARD VICTORIAN GIRLS

“Why can I never go back to bed? Who's is the voice ringing in my head? Where is the sense in these desperate dreams? Why should I wake when I'm half past dead?” - 4 o’Clock (2007)

The Gate Tour, which featured a short set of European-exclusive dates in late 2008, was the first notable tone shift in the Opheliac tours. With Vecona’s departure from all things Asylum after The Plague Tour, new costumes were debuted and the Crumpet line-up changed. The Naughty Veronica, Captain Maggot, the Blessed Contessa, and Aprella became the main line-up through 2009 (with some appearances by Little Miss Sugarless).

Most notably, we see the introduction of the third white heart corset, as Vecona’s costumes had been auctioned to fans on eBay. 

EA Heart Corset / Third White Heart Corset, various sets, 2008-2011

More detail on this look later. 

Then there’s a one-tour-only appearance of The Gate “corset” (a possibly-pleather torso wrap that went over a corset).

And how could I forget? There’s also the Rat Queen herself!

While this particular costume has a deeper history than what I’ll talk about (which you can read about here), it’s most indicative of the tone shift in shows. “4 o’Clock” had been performed in almost every tour previously, but this was the first instance of a song being assigned a character. Not just Emilie singing it and the Crumpets playing along in their on-stage world, but the image of a rat crawling out of the Asylum; Emilie embodying a pivotal character from her book and letting the rats out to play. There’s structure here, matched with a more solid sort of storytelling.

The style of the Rat Queen changes from tour to tour. The mask-slash-headpiece gained more decorations, sparkles, and stones as tours went on, and the original corset with white stripes and a white heart (seen above) was later toned down to a grey-only design (seen below). Ear headbands from previous tours were used, as well as the rat tail; decorative sleeve parts were changed and remade between tours.

Emilie Autumn by Scott Legato (2011, right) and detail shots from 2012 eBay listing (left).

The Rat Queen and accessories through various tours (2008-2012)

The following tour was called “The Gate II,” as it almost immediately followed the former and didn’t need much distinction. Some pictures from that tour are featured above. There isn’t much notable change in costume design during this tour, but it is the beginning of what I’ll call SparkleGate, because everything that could go through a Bedazzler did.

Then, in late 2009, the Asylum as we knew it was turned upside down by a rather sudden shift in management. Emilie split with Trisol Records and thus ended a very large and lengthy chapter of her career, going on to re-release Opheliac under a new label, The End Records. This double disk re-release came complete with a new photo shoot by Don Scott, usually known as “The End Photoshoot,” or “Opheliac Industrial.”

The same outfit was featured in book readings preceding her next tour, Opheliac’s first North and South American tour, “The Key.”

The overall design concept becomes considerably more glam (see: SparkleGate) than steampunk-goth, while the set remained relatively the same as tours past. The Bloody Crumpets continued wearing costumes similar or the same as tours past. It’s not until Opheliac’s final tour, The Door, that we see the full sparkle of the Asylum’s glam phase.

The SparkleGlam Corset. Or, as it was more commonly referred to, the KinKats Ensemble. 

Again, the individual parts that make up this ensemble aren’t new. In typical EA style, this corset is a piece from former tours that was re-purposed and accosted with Swarovski crystals. 

This full ensemble made its debut in two parts: the KinKats photoshoot and the Medical Burlesque Performance. (See the whole burlesque performance here.) Fans who’ve been here for a while might remember this as the pasties and/or “GlitterTits” phase (roughly 2010 to 2011), when the fandom was in a constant turmoil over Twitter Rants and Playboy blurbs. 

By the time this ensemble it made its way off magazine covers and to stage, it had changed slightly in the bra, accessory, and wig department, and would continue to do so between tour legs (European, South and North American). But it was always the same general idea: pink, sparkly glam-rock. With really tall hats.

The rest of the stage costumes remained largely the same, featuring the Rat Queen (for the final time) and the white heart corset (#3). The Door Tour was advertised as the final tour for Opheliac and became something of a worldwide event, performed in separate legs across the world. By the official end of it, there was only one place left to go.

Australia.

Emilie was invited to perform in The Harvest Festival “Down Under” after The Door Tour had come to a close. The set ended up being a majority of Opheliac songs despite the record’s retirement from tour, but there was one new song that did debut:

Fight Like A Girl.

“It gives me strength to have somebody to fight for; I can never fight for myself, but, for others, I can kill.” -The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls (2009)

Up next... PART V: AN ASYLUM MUSICAL

Fly back... PART I: Enchant and the Faerie Queene PART II: Drowning Ophelia PART III: Vecona, Seamstress of the Asylum

Remember to visit Part III and enter our giveaway! Ends 12/1/19.

[SEE ALL CREDITS AND SOURCES HERE.] 

[beanibon]

~ Christmas and New Years Special ~

Summary: Knives doesn't quite understand the concept of Christmas, but still wanted to reward his best employee with a truly tempting present.

TW: Smut, dubcon, suffocation, face riding, spanking, bondage, dominant reader, reader with female anatomy, sex toys, boob job, lactation kink, overstimulation, breeding kink, stomach bulge, creampie, marking

After all these years, Knives still hadn't grasped the concept of what Christmas truly was about. Rem had made an annoying habit of celebrating the holiday on board Ship 5, still it had confused the Plant even then, unable to understand why humans celebrated such a useless holiday.

The keys to his piano halted their melody, Knives brows furrowed in agitation, lips jutted out in a pout. Why was he so stuck on a holiday that he never participated in for years?

Simple answer: his number one employee, you.

You had showed your utter devotion to his cause, caring for his sisters beyond even his care. That prickly Independent trusted you with keeping his sisters safe in his absence.

There had to be something he could present to you, a 'thank you' if you will.

"Lord Knives, Pardon my interruption but you're required- . . . My Lord? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Christmas had been a rather special holiday for you and your family, participating in many traditions you've created over the years with each other. Of course, that had changed since they passed, leaving you to remain alone for the once special holiday. Busying yourself with work, or a constant flow of alcohol.

So anyone could imagine your shock of what greeted you upon entering your quarters, mouth agape at the sight of Knives proudly standing before a poorly decorated tree.

"Master Knives? Why are you- better question, what are you doing?" You seemed sceptical, unsure of what exactly was happening.

Knives turned to you, a devilish grin stretched across his lips. "Just applying the finishing touches to your present, I do hope you enjoy it."

"Please sir, never smile like that again." You deadpanned, shuddering at such an evil smile. Smiles just didn't seem to suit that usual grouchy face, it was practically taboo to witness such an expression.

He paid no mind to such a rude comment, instead stalking towards you, still shielding you from the present he seemed so smitten of. Circling around you, like a predator to prey.

"You've devoted yourself so wonderfully to my cause, since humans like to celebrate around this time of year, I thought what a perfect opportunity to gift you with someone unforgettable," Knives slowly pulled you closer, hands childishly concealing your eyes. You could've sworn you heard something, movement or even . . . a whimper? "So please, enjoy to your hearts content, my number one employee."

Only then did he reveal the contents under the tree, your mouth dropping instantly at the sight, face burning red. Legato was displayed in a neatly wrapped ribbon, joints tied together so he wouldn't move, a ball gag shoved in his mouth. Completely naked. The ribbon ended in a neatly tied bow at the tip of his dribbling cock, said bow holding a vibrator against his tip.

Two hands eased their way over your shoulders, snapping you from the temptation before you. Knives look well achieved with his gift, head cocked to the side as if waiting for your words of appreciation. Except you had none, too shocked to even form a proper sentence, mouth opening and closing as you tried to make heads and tails of what was going on.

"Don't break him too much, I still need him unfortunately." Knived sighed, deciding he'd now take his leave.

You were now alone, the only sound was the steady vibrations of the toy stimulating Legato's cock, and the occasional pleading whimper. It was kind of satisfying seeing a man once poised with pride, constantly hassling you for doing your assigned job, in a stupefied position. Perhaps you could enjoy this.

Legato could hardly breathe, face pressed firmly against your wet cunt, noises muffled around the gag shoved between his teeth. Every movement resulted in his cock twitching, longing for some kind of sweet release. It was never granted. You much preferred to watch Legato suffer, squirm beneath you as you grinded needily against his face, pinning him on the floor beneath the Christmas tree.

The noises you made went straight to his core, legs kicking as you shoved your clit against his nose. Your fingers found themselves embedded in that unique blue hair, tugging Legato against your cunt more your climax neared.

Toes curling, your juices drenched Legato, leaving him to gasp for much needed air once you moved to rest against his stomach. Vision clouded, he looked drearily at you, those golden eyes studying your hunched form.

"Not... done..." You panted, offering a blissed out grin to Knives right hand lacky. "Lord Knives said I can have all the fun I want, and don't think I've forgotten about all those times you screwed me over. Yeah, thought I'd forget? Tough shit."

The sounds coming from your quarters were beyond lewd, a steady chant of painful cries and the rhythmic slaps of a whip against bare skin. Red litter Legato's pale skin, ass in the air while you teased his balls with leather whip. Each dangerous touch had him shiver, cock pleading to be touched, anything to stop his painful erection.

An inward groan, pain and pleasure swirling around the pit of his gut. Legato wanted more than your persistent teasing's, yet he knew you wouldn't give in so easily. Not when he mistakenly made your life much harder than it needed to be.

"Bluesummers? Is something the matter?" Your teasing voice asked, the whip pressed forcefully against the tip of his cock.

No words were able to be formed, Legato, now free from his restraints, muffled any noise with your decorative pillows. His master had already made a fool of him, he couldn't allow for his own noises to continuously betray him.

"Pity, you had been making such pretty noises. Must I continue to whip you?"

Legato jolted, eyes wide as he frantically shook his head. A cry of pain erupted from his drool coated lips, you having denied his silent request. The whip made harsh contact with his balls, legs now pressed firmly together as they throbbed in agony.

"Pl-please, just quit torturing me." He whimpered, hips wiggling as he struggled to sit up.

"Does my precious present want to feel my pussy around his cute little cock?" You cooed, leaning against his back. Sweetly you wrapped your arms around his waist, pulling him further against you.

Weakly he nodded, vision hazy as his sack continued to throb. Hearing your voice hum in thought, Legato began to think you'd be merciful.

"Quit squirming, or I won't even bother trying to help anymore!"

Oh how wrong he was.

Legato was already a mess, legs quivering, toes curling as you squashed your tits around his aching cock. He'd already showered those perfect mounds in cum from the mere sensation of them engulfing him, you couldn't think of a more pathetic man than what was before you.

You seriously wanted to just let him suffer, but with his constant mewling you had to give in eventually. A small reward for his efforts was somewhat necessary, even if he was a bastard.

Moving your breasts up and down along his shaft, Legato leant forward, messily thrusting into your advances in desperation of some relief. It was rather amusing, watching such a reserved man turn into a needy manchild.

"Good boy, almost there~" Your praises egged him, kisses along his cock sending chills along his spine.

Those beautiful lips pressed against his dribbling cock, mixing your saliva with his semen. If Legato believed in heaven, this was surely what he'd imagine walking though it's gates would be like.

A few more quick thrusts and your face was coated in his hot cum, tongue dragged along him to clean anymore mess. If he could the muster the strength, find it in him to disobey his master, Legato would smash your face downwards, have you choke on his cock. But he didn't dare play with his life, not when there was still his bidding to uphold.

Suddenly his face was pressed against your warm bosom, cunt hovering teasingly over his cock.

Understandably he got excited, finally able to properly relief himself inside your snug, warm pussy. Get his own present from an unfortunately embarrassing circumstance.

"You ready?"

Legato nodded against you chest, arms wrapped loosely around your waist, ready to guide you if need be. Slowly you lowered yourself, easily adjusting to his measly size as you wiggled your hips teasingly.

The pace picked up well before Legato could enjoy the feeling of being inside you, moaning as his hands travelling along the ridges of your spine, familiarising himself with every perfection and imperfection of your body. His mouth enveloped a warm nipple, suckling on it as the other pinched your neglected teat. Suddenly you let out a strangled gasp, body flinching as an unusual sensation overcame you, squirming as Legato drooled around your nipple.

A hand hovered over your breasts, the crushing feeling of Legato's abilities prying milk from your tits unnaturally. Now that glutton was contently drinking, breaking away for only a second to catch his breathe before diving right back in.

It was an uncomfortable sensation, one that had you squirm away, only to be brought right back. Legato wasn't going to let you go, not when he was so contently feasting upon your breast milk.

Your insides were painted with hot cum, hips still dragging along his pelvis as Legato continued to thrust more steadily into you. The two of you seemed to have found your rhythm, allowing the other to follow in the dance.

As Legato moved from one teat to the other, those golden eyes stared up into yours, attempting to read your expression.

"Feels weird, stop it." You grunted, hating how you were denied one simple request. This was supposed to be your special Christmas present, yet it seemed like Legato was slowly getting more confident.

"Apologies, but when did you start giving me commands?" He chuckled, free hand flexed as your body grew rigid, flushed against him as you lost control of your movements. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to be slightly disobedient to Knives request, you'd still get to enjoy him.

You wanted to curse, fight against those invisible threads holding you in place, but all was denied as you felt your orgasm suddenly crash over you. It was intense, causing you to cry out and cling to Legato desperately. The last time you checked, you weren't even near the peak of orgasm, so how the hell did you come so damn quickly?

"You seem to forget, that by a simple jerk of my fingers," Once more your body convulsed, juices gushing over Legato's cock as you cried out at another harsh orgasm. "I can do whatever I please with your pathetic mortal body."

Your body was weak, quivering with exhaustion as you tiredly stared at the bland ceiling. Each tit leaked continuously, more than even Legato cared to lap up, pussy bruised and stuffed full of seed.

Having endured your torture long enough, Legato was ready to have the tables turned in his favour. One finger at a time.

What was supposed to be a fun adventurous night, filled with exploration of Knives' right hand lacky, turned into mind numbing breeding session where Legato did whatever he pleased. Right now, your body was squashed into a mating press, legs above your head as you were being rammed into, cunt swollen and leaking previous loads of mixed cum.

You weren't one to complain, in fact you found Legato's sudden dominance kind of hot. But you felt like any second you'd burst with the amount of cum shoved into your guts, stomach swollen as once again you were pumped full.

Slender fingers replaced the cock inside your cunt, making sure none of the seed fucked deep inside you would spill out. Lips capturing yours in a heated, hungry kiss.

As Legato pulled away, a triumphant smirk plastered over his face, those fingers remaining deep inside you. He bent down once more, centimetres from your face. "Lord Knives was quite generous with your present, don't forget to thank him properly for the kindness he displayed to you."

Teeth sunk deep into your neck, a strangled moan escaping your wet lips. The sensation hurt, leaving behind a stinging mark as Legato licked the blood beading from the mark.

"Now, you shall have to enjoy my company for as long as you have worth in my eyes. But I don't think I'll ever tire of you, my dear."

[rogue-rook]

many highlights from The Stolen Century from a first-time TAZ listener (here there be spoilers)

oh hot damn a flashbacks episode!!!!!

“everything begins, and i mean that quite literally, with the light of creation”

the IPRE has some real nostalgic space exploration nasa vibes to it

travis: “i would like to state that, canonically, magnus calls him “cap’nport” because magnus, like I, loves portmanteau”

suggested names for the ship boat thing: boaty mcboatface, spinnaker (which just means boat), stinky spinnaker, laser spinnaker, hyper spinnaker, flying boat, tail spinnaker, fighting spinnaker, lightbringer, sky spinnaker, sky boat, sky weaver, star dancer, starblaster! the winner! starblaster!

the way they arrived at “starblaster” was such peak mcelroy Creative Nonsense

the reporters at this IPRE press conference have had increasingly silly names

justin: “taako and lup go to a bar and do what they always do at a bar, which is hustle people at pool” i love them so much! i didn’t love taako all that much for the majority of this story but now i think he’s cool as shit

I’m so SO SO SO SO SO EXCITED for lup to be a part of this and be a real character and not just a fucking GHOST haunting taako’s umbrella

magnus wants to go train with the bear of power and that’s the most on-brand thing for him to possibly want to do

travis: “magnus doesn’t kill animals if he can help it” not animals, but of course he has no problem killing dwarves, elves, liches, wizards, ya know, all those PEOPLE he’s killed

justin: “taako and lup are gonzo, they're out of here" magnus: “i’m like checking on bear cubs and making sure everyone's okay" merle: “im like increasing everybody’s speed with spells’ very on brand of everybody here

travis: “okay griffin i have a very important question that i should have asked before-” griffin: “is about your fucking hard candy supply?”

the entire set up of this arc is so fun and good 

justin: “yeah i've got a fucking genius plan and I'm gonna fix everything! come close, griffin, because I'm about to blow your game wide open. I’m going to make a fake light of creation. I’m gonna spend this year like a survivor contestant on their last legs, crafting a false hidden immunity idol. I’m going to craft, to the best of my ability, a fake light of creation. a decoy, if you will!” THIS IS GENIUS

taako: “okay, that’s all well and good but lup and i are going scrapping. this is the most civilized- this is the most technologically advanced place that we’ve been to yet, and I wanna load the ship up with all the valuable mechanical components I can find, so I’m going fucking looting, I’m gonna destroy as many robots as it takes, I’m gonna take these motherfuckers apart piecemeal, so I can take whatever cool magic is powering them. I’m going to loot this motherfucker to brass tacks, I’m gonna just loot and pillage” merle: “burnt earth” taako: “yes exactly”

lup: “i believe one of these times we’re going to get this right. and we’re going to find a way to defeat the hunger and save everybody inside of it. I have to believe that to keep doing what we do, becasue I have to believe that I’m going to get those 15 dollars back from greg fucking grimmaldis” lup is as cool and funny and DOPE as I was hoping she would be

one of these eps, they just kicked it on a beach for 35 minutes and were shitheads about merle’s attempt at gifts. the literal goddamn definition of a bottle episode. im only like 75% sure davenport was even in this fucking episode

travis has named magnus’s fish, magnus’s father-in-law, a rando reporter at the IPRE press conference, and a kid at one of the stolen century planets “steven”. all of those people/fish are called steven, because apparently travis has a thing for that name

clint just called lucretia “lucinda”

well now i understand why merle’s died 50 million times

taako: “i got bad news for everybody. our arch-nemesis is MORRISSEY”

magnus gets excited to learn to carve wood bc its something he could do with knives and weapons and shit and im like oh THATS the most magnus thing he could possibly do!!!

hey cool so barry and lup’s adorable love OWNS MY ASS

that was the sweetest falling-in-love story ive ever heard and it was like 5 fucking minutes. @ fanfiction writers throw all your barry/lup friends-to-lovers fics directly at my head PLEASE

davenport: “lup can you blow it up?" lup: "can i...blow up a mountain?....well, YEAH! but lets save that for a last resort" the legato conservatory person: “i'm going to firmly request that you don’t blow up our sacred mountain”

taako: “hey I’m taako, from TV” griffin: “uh okay-” justin: “what?” griffin: “you haven’t been on tv yet” clint: “it’s aspirational” justin: “yeah, its aspirational. hey I’m taako from TV. you’re all pretty wanged. you’re pretty fucked. there’s good news and bad news, and the bad news I’ve already covered, with the fucked-ness that you are”

jesus, shit got DARK

oh my god the voidfish that magnus saved in the stolen century is the same one on the bureau of balance base. that’s some heart-tingly shit. that’s that GOOD STORY SHIT

griffin: “your adventures in the back half of these cycles are more fraught than the first half” OH IM SORRY? MORE FRAUGHT??? REALLY, GRIFFY?

griffin’s judge character dude: "magnus, you have fought with others your entire life, throughout your adolescence you celebrated strife. i didn't mean to make that rhyme"

one of the future crimes accused of the IPRE crew is “cruelty to a child who loves them” and im like oh. maybe i shouldnt have wanted somebody to call them out on being mean to sweet ango

oh man i wanna hug lucretia so bad and take care of her and make sure she’s okay

griffin: “she wouldn’t go on to found the bureau of balance for decades, but this horrible lonely year, that’s when she became Madame Director” okay, yep, i love her, and i just remembered i was worried for SO LONG that she was hoarding the relics for her own gain and jesus christ IM SO SORRY I THOUGHT THAT, EVERYBODY, I REGRET IT SO BAD

magnus reading fisher the voidfish a story more like GREAT JOY AND HAPPINESS

justin: “taako like walks by [the voidfish] and you just hear him shout ‘give him the complete works of nathaniel hawthorne next!” griffin: “YOU FUCKING HATE THAT GUY!” justin: “fuck that guy” clint: “what do you have against nathaniel hawthorne???” justin: “he is the worst writer and everybody has to read him and it makes kids HATE reading” clint: “last of the mohicans???” justin: “thats- not him, thats james fenimore cooper” griffin: “BOO-YAH!!! [singing] take him toooo schoool” justin: “yall i know the name of TWO authors from that time period, and he did the ONE pull, that’s gonna sound so fucking smart” oh man maybe I really need to reevaluate my ranking of Favorite Mcelroys, justin just reached for the Deepest Cut To Make Me Love Him

magnus: “i don’t find anything useful in this library, so let that be a lesson, kids, you’ll never find anything useful reading books” yeah take that, you punk ass book jockeys

griffin: “I base it on just how much i like the scene, right? so take plus two bond” whoa what GRIFFY DOESN’T EVEN HAVE A SYSTEM FOR THIS SHIT?? HE’S JUST HANDING OUT BONDS AND ASSETS WILLY NILLY????

magnus: “oh, could i have been learning magic instead of feeding books to my buddy?” griffin: “your scene was really good though” magnus: “oh man i could have become a wizard” yeah and break the continuity of THE ENTIRE GODDAMN SHOW

this Lup and Taako’s Greatest Day chaotic destruction is the most fun shit that’s happened in this show

taako: “I pull off her blindfold to reveal this planet’s ONLY DMV. there’s one DMV on the entire planet” this planet has no people and no animals and no living anything besides the 7 ipre crew and yet there’s a DMV leftover from whatever civilization used to be here. UH UH UH SURE JUSTIN

jesus christ i can’t believe lup’s lich form dabbed in the goddamn middle of this ritual

travis: “griffin, i know this wasn't in the instructions you sent us, but I want to make a lightsaber, can I do that?" griffin: "absolutely not!"

the KrebStar is a dope name

griffin: "so like a lotta bear stuff, then, huh?" travis: "look im leaning into it"

travis: “I’m going to name the helmet BearFace- ya know, naming stuff isn’t magnus’s strong suit- and I’m going to call the pendant 2th Necklace”

griffin: “and she’s holding an umbrella” justin: “fuck you” THIS MOMENT IS SOOO GOOD

justin: "I think i speak for the rest of us, and like the entire audience, when i say I cannot wait to see what these fucking 7 items are"

“that was the last conversation you had with your sister” hey griffin. fuck you

“not all exits are equal” HEY GRIFFIN. REALLY REALLY FUCK YOU

oh man lucretia. i can’t believe you did that to everybody. man that’s. that’s rough

this is heartbreaking holy shit. barry begging his bestfriend TO KILL HIM so he won’t forget the love of his life is SOME GUTWRENCHING SHIT HOLY SHIT

this is a really amazing story and I’m so impressed with the way it evolved from a goofy mcelroy joke podcast into such an amazing compelling story

[imakemywings]

Leo Vargas/The Vatican belongs to @darkestages

Circa modern era, in which Francis and Leo are roommates in college and spent two torturous years dancing around a relationship before getting together

27. Defy

Francis hesitated outside the door to their room, considering the value in walking away and just never coming back. But if that thought was on his mind, it must have been even more on Leo’s, and he had to support him.

               Telling your extremely religious parents you had quit seminary was hardly an easy task.

               So he turned the handle, and took a breath, and stepped into the room. Leo was at his desk on the opposite side, bent over his clunky laptop with feigned focus. Francis wouldn’t put it past him to have heard his footsteps stop outside the door and have been waiting for his entrance. Another reason he couldn’t have turned tail.

               “It’s good to have you back,” he said with forced nonchalance, throwing his messenger bag down on his bed. It was the first he’d seen of Leo since he departed to spend the three-day weekend with his family. Leo didn’t even dignify this attempt at a casual conversation with a response. His clear eyes flicked up to Francis, and then back to his computer. A thick book was spread open on the desk beside it, and crammed between the two were sheets of his notes from class. With a quiet sigh, Francis decided it was best to just get it over with and confront the bomb in the room. He moved to lean over Leo from behind and wind his arms lightly around his boyfriend’s shoulders. “How did it go?” he asked softly.

               Leo’s pen tapped a deliberate legato pattern on his stack of notes. “…I didn’t tell them.” Francis bit his lips. He could feel Leo’s broad shoulders tense the longer his silence went on. “You know what they would say,” he went on in a more aggressive tone, unable to stomach the silence any longer. “It’s easy for you, your family isn’t—you don’t have to—”

               “Leo, it’s okay,” Francis murmured, tightening his hold slightly on him. He nuzzled the corner of Leo’s jaw. “I’m…I’m not upset. It’s hard, but it’s much harder for you, I know.” Leo’s pen tapped faster, then stopped. “You have to tell them when you feel it’s the right time.” With a sigh, the excess tension seeped out of Leo’s shoulders.

               “I don’t understand how you can be so at ease with these things,” he said.

               “Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to,” Francis assured him, smiling and leaning in to peck his cheek.

               “That’s foolish advice to live by,” Leo told him.

               “Well there’s no point in worrying anyway, it’s bad for your skin,” Francis said. “And remember, if you want me to come with, I’m glad to.”

               “I’d rather they not guess the other thing I’m keeping from them while I’m trying to confess to the first,” Leo replied dryly. Francis stole a kiss from him and Leo tried to make himself relax.

               “Now finish your essay,” Francis said, tapping Leo’s textbook and strolling over to free his laptop from his bag. “I have newly released films from the Cannes Film Festival to watch.”

               “Don’t you have homework to do?” Leo asked, eyebrow twitching.

               “Not when there are movies to watch I don’t,” he said, kicking his shoes off, throwing his coat and scarf onto his desk chair and flopping down on his bed. Leo’s disapproving stare could have melted a glacier. “This is my new homework assignment, given to me by me.”

               “How have you not been kicked out of school yet?”

               “I have good luck,” he said, turning to grin at Leo over his shoulder. “If you finish your essay, I’ll give myself another assignment to reward you for it.”

               “You know, saying things like that really does the opposite of helping me focus,” Leo informed him, the glacier-destroying gaze still penetrating the back of Francis’ head, though the target seemed wholly unconcerned and not in the least penitent. Eventually, Leo gave up on trying to silently guilt Francis into doing his homework, and went back to brooding over the wording of his essay. That was the problem with doing well in a class—then the professor expected things, and you had a reputation to maintain. Not that any of that, or any other logical laws of the world applied to Francis Jean-Pierre Bonnefoy.

***

               Francis was nearing the end of his second film of the day when he heard Leo’s chair legs scrape sharply against the carpet. A moment later, Leo’s fingers ran lightly through his hair, the soothing feel of his nails over Francis’ scalp making his eyelids droop. He finished the scene he was watching and then removed his headphones and set the computer aside to look up. When he saw Leo’s face, he scooted over to give him room to sit on the bed. Wordlessly, Leo joined him, and his resistance broke down bit by bit as he leaned further and further over until his head rested against Francis’ chest.

               Frowning, Francis brushed Leo’s hair away from his neck and tucked it behind his ear. “It’s not fair,” he said in a low voice. “That you should have to feel this way over making a decision about your own life.” Leo’s arm crept over Francis’ midsection. Francis knew Leo’s struggle had more to do with the reason for his leaving than the fact that he had left, and he knew the harder confession was still to come. “If I could fight this fight for you, you know I would,” he said quietly, putting an arm around Leo and holding still. “But all I can do is cheer you on from the sidelines.”

               Francis had always been glad for his accepting family, but he felt he had watched far too many partners fight with the decision to come out to their family, feared their rejection, their loathing, and spent nights awake in agony over the consequences of simply telling the truth. It never got any easier.

               And he had to face another truth—the chance that Leo might still be struggling himself with the decision. At once needing a bit of truth himself—and feeling it was about time he and Leo started being clearer—he took a quick breath and asked:

               “Do you regret it?”

               “No.” Leo’s answer came at once, swift and firm, and he lifted his head to look into Francis’ eyes. “Not at all.”  The only light in the room came from Leo’s desk light, and Leo let the silence after his words firm them up. “I regret that my family has made it so hard to be honest with them,” he said when he felt he had let his answer hang long enough. “I should not have to fear their judgement for a choice I’ve made about the future that will make me happy.”

               Leo had never put much value in Francis’ romantic notions, like the idea that eyes were the window to the soul, or any other such nonsense, but something passed between them as they looked at each other through the dark, he could feel it. Francis leaned up and kissed Leo’s forehead.

               “I’m so proud of you,” he murmured. “And you’re right. You shouldn’t.” After another few heartbeats, Leo lay back down, and they clung to each other on the bed that was too narrow to fit them both comfortably, and silently contemplated the murkiness of the future.

***

               Leo didn’t come back to the room on Wednesday night, and answered Francis’ texts only with a curt I’ll be back tomorrow. And in the early afternoon, he was, throwing the door open with such force that Francis—at his desk, shading a pencil sketch—jumped in his seat. Leo strode across the room and leaned in to press a kiss against Francis’ warm, supple lips, a sensation he knew he would never tire of. When he drew back, Francis was looking at him with the kind of glassy-eyed awe he usually did when Leo came at him with such vigor, unprompted.

               “I told them,” he said without preamble. “And I came out to them as well.” Francis’ eyes were round as the full moon. He opened his mouth, but could find no appropriate words to respond to that.

               “Well.” He blinked. Leo took his hands and pulled him up to his feet. “Did…something happen?” Surely something must have driven Leo’s sudden explosion of honesty with his parents.

               “I was tired of their love being conditional,” Leo said simply. “I shouldn’t have to hide the truth about who I am to remain in their good graces. If that’s all it takes for them to disown me, than I would rather be done with it.” He wrapped his arms around Francis’ waist, pulling him in close. “Besides, once I told them about leaving seminary, I wondered how long it would take them to guess the truth.”

               “I would have given them a good while,” Francis speculated. “They aren’t really the sort to immediately consider that option. Well, aside from Benny.”

               “I still have no idea how he figured it out so quickly,” Leo grumbled, momentarily distracted. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled not being the disgrace of the family for a few months.”

               “Leo. You introduced me as your ‘good friend from college’,” Francis said, using air quotes. “That’s as textbook as it could be. And he probably noticed you look at me far too often during that dinner for us to be ‘just friends’.”

               “He only noticed because he was ogling you the whole time,” Leo snapped. He shook his head. “In any case, it’s done with now. If they’re going to cut me off, I’ll find out in the next few days.” He leaned in and kissed Francis again, his grip tightening once more around his boyfriend’s narrow waist.

               “What are you going to do now?” Francis asked, when they separated.

               “I’m going to take advantage of my freedom of choice,” he said, grabbing Francis’ hand to pull him over to the bed, and then down onto the mattress with him. Francis nestled between Leo’s legs, where they kissed and rolled together until their faces were flushed and their clothes too warm.

               “Three cheers for Leo’s freedom of choice,” he said breathlessly, leaning in to kiss Leo again as Leo’s fingers slid up beneath Francis’ shirt.

               In the aftermath, when they were in a tangle on the bed too narrow to fit them both comfortably, Leo’s phone buzzed, and with a groan he reached out, groping over the headboard until his fingers connected with the cell on his desk. Francis was pressing kisses against him wherever he could reach, but found time to ask what the message said.

               “It seems,” Leo said, appraising the short message again, “that Benedict has opted to come out as well.”