#i can't wait to draw them more!! (proceeds to draw other characters)

[polvoronii]

[ocs] draped in your warmth

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Dirty Work 30

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as bullying, familial discord/abuse, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You start a new gig and find one of your clients to be hard to please.

Characters: Loki

Note: can't wait for Friday.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

Mr. Laufeyson reappears as the tea steeps. You pour him a cup and bring it to him, quiet and bashful. Despite washing away the mess, your hand still feels strange.

He takes it and eyes the amber liquid. He blows over it and sips tentatively. He checks his watch.

"Alas, as much as I'd love to say and... watch," he drawls, "I do have somewhere to be."

This surprises you but you try not to let it show. You should be happy for the respite, some time to get yourself together, to try to understand all the emotions and sensations unfurling inside you. You nod and clasp your hands together.

"Yes, Mr. Laufeyson, I'll continue cleaning," you avow.

"Hm, yes, please do make sure to put away the clothing in the bedroom. My sister left them in the front room. You make make space in the closet," he explains. "As well, I've let the carpenter in, if you haven't heard--" he pauses for effect as the dull, distant hammering carries through the wall, "as it were, you've proven yourself capable. I cannot speak to my return but I trust all will be in order."

"Yes, Mr. Laufeyson," you answer.

His eyes flit up to you and his lips slant. His cheek ticks but he doesn't speak. He merely arches a brow and spins on his foot and waltzes away with his tea. You watch him, almost reverently. You never noticed how nice his shoulders look in those shirts...

✨

With the house empty, you find your work is simple. You can focus, not so distracted or paranoid by Mr. Laufeyson's looming presence. You finish your usual sweep of the first floor and carry the piles of clothing upstairs in several trips. 

You're out of breath as you slide open the closet and do your best to fit in the dresses, skirts, blouses, and a few pairs of pants. The stockings and undergarments you fit in one of the drawers below the hanging jackets. You can't help but take your time as you admire all the lovely colours and fabrics.

You're struck by a thought. When he's done with you, do you get to keep these or do these only come with the work? With your peculiar arrangement. You falter and shut the closet. 

You tidy up the spare hangers and try not to think. You look down at the black velvet under the white apron. You look ridiculous. You're dressed like a whore. That's what this is, isn't it?

Your skin scalds as you shove away the hangers in the hallway closet and return to the bedroom. You can't keep this on. It's like a brand marking you. You pull out a plain pair of black pants and a rosy blouse. It'll do.

You've been so caught up in everything, it's as if you've completely detached from reality. There's more than this house and Mr. Laufeyson and his orders. What about your father? Your real home. You grab your phone and stare at the screen, wanting to dial his number, but thinking better of it. You swipe away the several missed calls from the electric company.

You shake off the malaise but it trails after you. You go to the library and settle in behind the laptop. You sit and stare at the clustered excel and rub your eyes. You can't seem to focus. The dull thumping draws your attention from the glare of the screen and you go to the window, tearing open the curtains.

You peer out but can't quite see past the hedges. It's a beautiful day. You could go around, just to make sure nothing needs tending. It's a weak excuse but one you'll gladly take.

You leave the library and descend the stairs, a pair of flats in hand. Oh, you didn't even put out any water. You go to the kitchen to fetch a jug and glass. You carry it to the back door and stop to slip on the shoes.

You go out into the sunshine as your eyes slit against the bright yellow sheen. You balance the jug and glass as best you can as you follow the path down to the gazebo. The hammering is quieted but you can hear Ronan's footsteps on the wooden stairs. You blink through the sunny haze as you enter the shade and catch sight of him.

"Morning," you greet him as you stop just at the bottom. He turns to you and offers a small curve of his lips. He wears a sweat-stained tank which shows off the top his chest and his muscular arms.

"Morning, miss," he returns, "how are you?"

"Alright, you?" You ask, "I brought some water."

"Thank you," his voice rumbles from his chest as he wipes his forehead, "haven't seen you in a while."

"Uh, well, I've been busy," you chew your lip.

He comes down the steps and takes the jug and glass from you. He places them at the edge of the second step and turns back to you.

"Oh yes, I'm sure that boss of yours keeps you all tied up," he muses, "your little chipmunk friend has been looking for you, I think."

"Really?" You look around, "I... I guess I should try to get out more."

You reach back to scratch your neck. You're suddenly regretting your choice. Facing him makes you burn from more than the beaming sunlight. You're sure he can see right through you.

"I should... uh," you point weakly behind you.

"Yes, suppose you should," he sighs, "shouldn't take much longer."

"Um," you look past him, "yeah, er, looks really good."

"Mm," he hums curtly, "see ya around, then."

He turns back and hops back up the steps. You frown and dip your chin down. You walk away glumly, kicking your feet around heavily. 

It's your own fault. You forget your place, you forget who and what you are. No one cares about you, they only have a use for you, and you're better off out of his way.

✨

As Ronan pulls through the gate, a toot comes from the other side. You keep the switch held down as Mr. Laufeyson’s car glides through. His return darkens the black cloud that's formed in his absence.

He gets out, light on his feet as he swiftly heads up the walk. You close the gate, put off by his brusque disregard. He's reverted to cool sternness. 

You follow a few minutes after him but find no sign of him inside. You wet your lips and go upstairs. You enter the library silently and sit in front of the laptop.

There's a block in his schedule but no label. You've been staring at it for some time, trying to figure it out. You lean forward as you click through notes.

“Hard at work, I see,” he enters with the droll remark, “I see this place is spotless, and yet here you are…”

You look at him and blink. 

“Mr. Laufeyson, did I miss–”

He quiets you as he reaches to touch the collar of your blouse, “I did not bid you to change.”

“I… sorry, Mr. Laufeyson, I finished cleaning–”

“But I did not finish with you,” he retorts.

You blanch and stand up, shifting awkwardly between the chair and him. He catches you by the shoulders and his eyes glint. He tilts his head and you hit the armrest.

“I also told you I dealt with the carpenter, didn't I?” He snarls.

His tone slices through you and you wince, “sorry, I only–”

“I don’t want to hear excuses. I only want you to do your duty. Obey, that is it.”

You snap your mouth shut and pout. You look down and bring your hand together, wringing them as you sway. A thought flickers and lights an epiphany.

“How…” you peek up, “how do you know I went out there?”

He tilts his head dangerously, “since when do you question me?”

You shrug and look away. He grabs your chin and puts your head straight, crowding you against the chair. He leans in as his green eyes bore into yours.

“As fun as you are, pet, I am not fond of disobedience. You grow careless and it is not becoming,” he sneers.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Laufeyson,” you gulp, “I…” you wiggle your nose, “I will listen. I promise.” Your lower lip trembles, “what do you want me to do?”

He considers you, his jaw tensing. He lets you go gruffly and flutters his fingers as he sighs. He struts to the door as you stare dumbly. Did you say the wrong thing? How? Why is he so upset? You didn’t do anything. You’re confused.

He said he wanted you, didn’t he? So why is he walking away?

He stops in the doorway of his study. He reaches to grip the frame and lingers there.  He lowers his head and turns. You look at his profile as he thinks beneath the shroud of his eyelashes. They flick up and scan over to you.

“Yes, let’s work on your obedience, pet,” he lets go of the door frame and turns as he wags his finger at you, “pull up that chair.” He goes to the other side of the desk, “here.”

You take his command eagerly. If you’re good, he won’t be mad. If you’re good, he’ll say nice things again. If you’re good, he won’t throw you away.

You struggle to lift the heavy chair but do. You scrape it just before you put it where he points. You step back, expecting him to claim the seat himself. He tuts as he steps back on his heel.

“Sit, pet.”

Again, you accept his order without a thought. You lower yourself onto the edge of the chair and await his next demand. He looks down on you, his eyes narrowing on either side of his long nose. He brings his hand up to tug on the knot of his tie just before letting it trail down to the end. His throat bobs and he exhales slowly, his chest deflating.

“Do you recall the game we played earlier?” He asks.

You nod. Of course, you remember. It’s stuck in your head.

“Well then, you may go ahead,” he gestures to his trousers.

You let your eyes descend from his face. Your gaze crawls down his long torso and to his belt. The burgundy leather looped through the brown fabric. You twitch then steady yourself. There’s something in you that’s excited, and that other part that’s terrified.

You unbuckle his belt shakily. Clumsy as you catch the little stick on several holes before you get it loose. You let the leather fall lax and fumble with the metal button, your head pounding at the air trapped in your chest. You pinch the tab of his zipper and tug it down, little by little.

He wears no briefs, as if he planned this. Maybe he did. You don’t care. None of that matters. You know what he wants. You need to think of that before you ever think about what you want. Maybe you want the same thing. That tickle between your legs seems to say so.

He shifts as he pokes out of the top of his pants. You spread his fly open as he bulges through. You push his trousers down a little further and let out a gasp. Up close, he looks even bigger than before. It’s still so new to you, so strange, a bit silly looking even.

You raise your hand and touch him. You brush your fingertips against his taut skin and he groans. You wrap your fingers around him lightly as he braces his hips, tilting his pelvis slightly.

“Tighter,” he growls.

You obey. You squeeze and pump up, then down. He shudders and lets out another groan. His fingertips curl into his hips. You keep going, the same motion, the same noise. You do it several times as you feel the tension coiling in him.

As you play with him, heat speckles in your thighs and your core sparks. You wince as Mr. Laufeyson’s hand surprises you, reaching forward to pet your cheek, then trails up over your hair. He hums and spreads his fingers behind your head.

“Pet,” he rasps, “with your mouth.”

He pulls you forward just a bit and you squeak. You look up at him, shocked. He can’t mean… that.

“Mmm, pet, please, yes, keep looking at me,” his other hand loosens your other from his dick. 

He grips his base and steps closer, angling his tip against your lower lip. You try to pull back but he keeps you in place. He grasps your head tighter and crushes his swollen head to your lips. You have no choice but to open up to him.

He slips into your mouth as you close your eyes. He tisks and fists your hair, tugging.

“I said look at me.”

You snap your eyes open, peering up helplessly as he urges into you. An inch, then another, then another, until he pokes at your throat. You murmur as he eases back then in again. The wet noise of you around him curdles in your stomach yet the glow in your pelvis radiates hotter.

“Mmm, pet,” he drags you along his length slowly, rocking his hips slightly, “don’t you like to obey me?”

You hum around him and he grunts. He prods at your throat with each thrust, each time blunter than the last. Your eyes glisten as tears bobble along the brims. For more than the discomfort, but the shame. The realisation of what he’s doing to you, of what you’re letting him do.

You latch onto the arms of the chair as you slide closer to the edge of the chair. He brings his other hand to your head, gripping it firmly as he uses your mouth. Your eyes roll back behind the lids and he snarls.

“Open,” he sneers, “look at me, pet.”

You sniffle, barely able to breath as he speeds up. Your tears flow free as you look up at him and his green irises darken as his pupils dilate. He bites his lips and growls as he stills you, instead tilting his hips into you. He hits your throat again, this time breaking past the resistance. 

You gag and spasm but he doesn’t relent. He holds himself there, wiggling his pelvis as his thumb stretches to touch a droplet along your cheek. He purrs and rolls back before gliding back into your slick mouth.

“When you look at that carpenter, I want you to remember this. I want you to remember who you belong to,” he hisses around pleasured grunts.

You bat your wet lashes as you sit mercilessly in his thrall. Your vision blurs as your mortification swells over and your body wracks as his intensity builds. Through it all, your mind wanders to the den and the camera hidden on the mantle. It can’t be the only one. It’s the only way he would know.

But it isn’t him who’s wrong. It’s his house, his rules, and you disobeyed him. He told you he dealt with Ronan, he told you who you belong to. You didn’t listen and this is the lesson you learn.

[mudkirby]

Pebbles In order of appearance.

@druidshollow lore lore lore Dune lore lore

@flickering-nightfall whole reason I draw Pebbles the way I do since first exposure

@toxictoxicities b u f f

@dennis7231 still waiting on them dropwigs >:)

@weepinglilvessel ant snooooot

@mudkirby me :> 🔫

@shkika love your Suns

@northflowerowo Sorry I shoved him so far down lol

Honourable mentions/ shout outs: @trashiiplant Howwow Knight and Wainwowld :D

@kelnexia is lurking.

@daszombes Thank you for explaining lore, giving us peak story telling and characters to simp for in the form of the Iterator Logs. What? No Pebbles? Don't care. You're on here now.

Druid's Hollow, the first time I ever saw your YouTube channel was with the Distant Frontier video after just having gotten into Iterator Logs. One of the most pivotal pieces of media you've made in my life was God- Jake Daniels. That single video alone gave me the push I needed to make my first Rainworld oc Parting Clouds. The stories surrounding your characters (and Dune) are creative beyond my ability to write stories. Keep up your top tier memery.

Flickering Nightfall, I'ma put this in a nutshell. Duckdance. After that I found your blog via Google before I made a Tumblr and became enthralled by your content. From something as obscure to me as Infinity Train to Pebbles ragdolling, you were essentially my gateway into liking Iterators. I love the purple. I need moar.

Vic, b u f f I haven't known your blog long and was introduced to you through the My Goodbye animation. Since I was sort of entirely new to Rainworld at that point, I had no idea what was happening. I just saw a well drawn thing and went "oooooo". I'm all for Suns' antenna twitches and NSH box head. Also, body pillow 💀

Dennis, one of the first blogs I found when I first started Tumblr. I found you through the @iterator-ask-blog and found bullying Pebbles hilarious. I love the way you draw the yellow things on his head and I just appreciate that you do digital in general. I do not, will not and proceeds to die if I must. I've seen quick progress with your art style as well. Keep going.

Vessel, I barely know you. Who da heck are ye? I saw your art style once and knew I needed to follow. The way you draw Pebbles and Moon are so satisfying to stare at for minutes and I had way too much fun replicating that s n o o t. I don't know what you're up to with them aside from chaos. Murky Seas' story and design are fantastic. RIP

Shkika, I only found you through the @ask-looks-to-the-moon blog and love the way you draw the Iterators. It's very stylistic without straying too far. The three fingered hands to the goofy faces Moon expresses makes me smile. B a l l s. My Suns design was more so inspired by the way you make him as you were somehow the first Suns exposure. You're the only reason I can't see him without fluff. How did you make Pebbles cute kavvkatkcfadal

Northflowo, way back in 2022 in my first exposure to Hollow Knight, I found your channel through the Baby Mantis skin video with Nosk along with the lore in a nutshell video. Any other content I saw I forgor. In any case, your channel was there in my search for knowledge on that game. Fast-forward to the near conclusion of 2023 when I was first introduced to Rainworld. In my hunt for memes and more knowledge, I found the other lore in a nutshell video and realized you were the perfect channel for me as you had plenty of other content on that subject. Your art still manages to astound me, especially with the shot you did in the map Pliocene and the Warrior Cats redraws like with the waterfall. I'm trash at drawing backgrounds and might learn something from you.

And of great importance to me, @bornt-urnge/@zigmatism

@kitterjitters /@offended-dragon

Thank you for every moment of drawing from Pokemon to Kirby to Mire (oc) and anything else. You have made some of the largest impacts on my life, drawing, game choices and I've enjoyed every moment. I want to have more ridiculous sessions like that in the future and look forward to it.

Some of you have been around in my life for some time and others I've just found. All the same, every single art piece you've made has inspired me no matter how polished, memed or "trash". All of you have made an impact on me, no matter how miniscule. I look forward to the future with anticipation for all of your art. Have a terrific year, and with my deepest gratitude, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading this.

[furryprovocateur]

ladies and gentlemen, we got him.

did you know tumblr has a text limit on posts? well, it does for specifically when you do the bullet indented format. the way i see it, if i can't have it that way. i'll just do it paragraph style. i WAS going to fucking use pastebin dot com, but for whatever reason, their filter wouldn't let me post it due to potentially having "offensive" material in it. is a man not allowed to use the word gay anymore without the sanitized internet trying to censor me? 1984, etc. etc.

anyways, look at that turn recipe. LOOK AT IT. astute and observant and smart and swag people might notice one thing: there's no RNG advancing. well, there's ONE part where i advance with heath, but that was ex post facto because i had accidentally advanced and wanted to preserve it in case i died. but notice my verbage. . . the second i started writing down my moves, i got it on the first try. i did not even have to reference these directions once, thankfully. i stopped taking notes by turn 11 because the bad part was basically over and any and all movement could be improvised + that was when i started accessing the arena.

but let this good news not mislead you: this chapter was a challenge. a very big one. linus himself is not the boss of this chapter, as many people will tell you. he does have threatening stats, but he doesn't move and is on the entire other side of the map (the same could not be said of lloyd if you did his FFO). no, the unit who qualifies as the boss of this chapter is that god damn sage that's right by linus. he has a bolting and is doing 32 damage (before resistance). he is capable of wrecking ASS and he will move if a unit manages to land in his attack range that spans legitimately 2/3s of the map. the biggest issue with that is you basically have to draw him out in some capacity. i forget if you could theoretically reach him if you used a promoted mounted unit (in my case, sain, but more preferably florina/fiora) and used a 2-range weapon to rush him, but doing so early on is a huge risk, and waiting until all the WKs are gone is impractical because you're looking at reinforcements until turn 18 (read: 4 turns before you're losing rank in tactics). so, the safest and most logical way to proceed is to bait him out. 32 might is very scary, but by this point, i have a decent amount of units who can at least take one of those boltings; even relatively resistance starved units like kent and heath can handle it if they're at full HP and not in immediate danger of being rushed by other units.

still, you do need to be exceptionally careful because this map is flooded with units, most of which are WKs that will break through holes in your defense and annihilate anyone who can't dodge tank or (in someone like heath's case) tank. so, in actuality, units like ninian and priscilla are relatively safe, especially if planted on a forest square, meanwhile it's units like fiora and bartre that you need to be careful with. even worse still is that you need dart to recruit geitz, and, sure, you don't HAVE to recruit geitz, but you absolutely want to. he comes with a killer axe, which by itself justifies trying to recruit him. combine that with the fact that he's an already good unit that gets made better because of HHM bonuses and recruiting him suddenly becomes non-negotiable. i mean, my goal with this playthrough was to recruit every character i could, but you get my point.

so, with all that in mind, the units i took were priscilla + serra (it's absolutely mandatory to bring them; healing is vital in this chapter, especially for the fliers, who are doing the lion's share of combat.), dart (he's there to recruit geitz, plus this was a golden opportunity to capitalize on feeding him some kills and bolstering the experience rank. am i using him beyond this chapter? absolutely not, but WKs and pirates aren't too scary for him if he plants his ass on a forest tile and the pirates in this chapter generally have terrible hit rates regardless.), bartre (similar to dart, i wanted to get him some experience. it's more important with bartre because i am using him long-term and i wanted to use this chapter to catch him up. both him and dart aren't dodge tanks by any means, but WTA against WKs while being on a forest tile puts the WKs' hit rates at a generous 30ish% at most. i slapped two 3 use vulneraries between the two of them and was able to keep them alive without chaining one of the healers to them.), florina (she's arguably my best unit for this chapter if not just also generally being one of my best units period. using her is non-negotiable.), fiora (well, she's not florina, but she's sure trying, isn't she?), heath (he's another unit that's vital to my success in this chapter. he's one of the few units capable of tanking the hits from WKs while also being able to occasionally dodge, and i needed him to run interference against the tidal wave of WKs that spawn. it also helps that he gains experience fast due to being considered "low level", even though his stats tell a different story. most importantly: my heath is doing great, so i have even more reason to want to use him.), rath (it might sound like crazytalk to field rath in a chapter where WKs will tapdance on him, but he's not that difficult to shield with better units that WKs piss themselves over like hector, and, much like dart, he's got a great opportunity to pick off some weakened units to gain experience quickly. the only real risk for him is the bolting one-shotting him, but that's relatively easy to manage. again, not planning on using him long-term, but i could see myself using him in potentially another chapter with weak enemies. besides, the emblem bow being free is a nice incentive to do gold-free attacks with him, combat rank be damned.), kent (all around good unit, if a little lacking on stats by this point of the game. i fielded him so i could get some experience on him. the thing about cavs is that you usually need very little reason to field them, but it also helps that he was very helpful for making optimal use of the arena.), raven (going in at level 18 and change, i definitely wanted raven to promote sometime during this chapter, and with a plethora of enemies and an arena in this chapter, i have ample opportunity to do so.), and ninian (as mentioned in previous updates, she is essentially a must-use unit whenever possible.)

the basic strategy was this: divvy my team up into 3 different squads: the landlubbers (kent, raven, hector, raven, rath), the crow's nest (heath, florina, fiora), and the seadogs (bartre, dart, geitz). priscilla and ninian oscillated between the latter two groups to help when necessary. the villages in this chapter look scarier to save than they are. in fact, you're given plenty of time to reach them. the one on the right isn't in real danger until around turn 6, where you need to have someone either already at it or within range of the pirate that can reach it (any time a brigand/pirate has the choice between a village or attacking a unit, they always will go for the unit, thankfully.). the two villages in the upper left area are very far away from the pirates, and the pirate closest to land is stationary, so you have plenty of time to deal with the hordes of mercenaries that will be rushing you before having to deal with the pirates.

i ended up fortifying a chokehold with the landlubbers to keep the mercenaries one at a time. this is where rath spent most of his time after killing an errant WK or two when possible. in spite of me saying that using the emblem bow would be ideal, i used the short bow a fair amount to roll for crit kills. i don't think i ended up getting any, but such is life. the seadogs had an initial challenge of recruiting geitz, because geitz needs to be baited out and, as mentioned, he has pretty respectable stats. i ended up going with the strat of using nini's grace on bartre and just having him tank two steel bow hits from geitz. even if he hits with both, bartre'll live, and that section of the map isn't too scary if you do it before it starts getting swarmed with WKs. to wit, that meant that the crow's nest was in the scariest and most vulnerable position of having to deal with all the WKs that spawned. priscilla was a literal lifesaver for this part, because if i didn't have her using a physic to heal (usually twice a turn with ninian's assistance), even heath would've eventually fallen.

going through this chapter, i came to the unfortunate conclusion that fiora is just not pulling her weight in the way i need her to be doing. sure, a bad flier is still usually a good unit overall due to the multitude of things they can do for you, but with florina and heath both outclassing her in basically both polar directions, she's kind of just average. i'm not necessarily benching her, but i'm considering it. that said, i did manage to get her and florina a C rank support, so i'm hoping that'll give me incentive to keep using her. C rank gives +1 attack and +5 crit, which isn't stellar, but it's something. B rank will give double that + 1 defense, so it's something to try to do if possible.

anyway, florina and heath absolutely FUCK right. they've both gotten great level ups, and the only real distinguishing feature in their utility is that where florina can dodgetank more, heath can just outright tank more due to his great defense. heath ended up being more useful due to having the great defense to fall back on in tandem with his occasional dodges, whereas florina could only realistically take 1 hit from a WK before being in kill range. i also generally didn't want to use her too much because she came into the chapter at level 18 compared to heath's 12, so getting heath the experience was much more efficient, not to mention economical. it's not wholly possible to keep your units' levels pancaked, but whenever you can balance it out, it pays off.

so, once the seadogs recruited geitz, the plan was to get geitz to the village and have bartre + dart plant their asses on those forest tiles and collect autowin i mean collect experience. again, it sounds dangerous in theory to roll all those 30%s, especially because i am notoriously an accident magnet in these games (in one attmept of this chapter, i had a 93% miss and then an 18% chance for priscilla to get hit happened (both before true hit)). but, considering that both of them have over 30 HP + were steadily leveling up and increasing their speed and luck stats, thereby increasing their avoid, it was a much less dangerous endeavor for them than i was worried it would be. no, the one who got put into danger was fucking geitz of all people. i expected him to be better at dodging than he was with a bow, which, in retrospect, was very silly to think. he got as low as 7 HP at one point, but fortunately slapping his killer axe back on and sitting him on the third forest square made him unkillable. even still, i did use the vulneraries on him to cover my ass, and it worked out. i'm most impressed that bartre did as well as he did. he didn't get stellar level ups iirc, but i think he leveled up speed just enough to consistently double the WKs, so that's all i can ask for. my standards for bartre are rock bottom, but the emblem seal helps shore up his hit rates, and having 11 or so speed (i forget how much he has currently) is honestly good enough. again, extremely low expectations, but considering i only ever throw him intentionally at lance users or (weak) axe users, he does his job relatively well. or, at least, better than i could've asked for.

once the mercenaries were out of the way, the landlubbers and crow's nest needed to team up to take out that bolting sage. my plan was thusly: use raven as bait to draw the sage as close as possible to heath or florina (i had both waiting in ambush just outside of his attack range.), and then strike. it worked out very well! he missed raven, heath was able to kill and milk that promoted unit udder of experience, and we got the deadliest part of the chapter dealt with. i cannot overstate how large that fucker's range is. i lost track of how often i'd accidentally set heath or florina in his range and suddenly have an aggro'd long distance 32 might to worry about. anyways, with him dead, the chapter was essentially over, so i took that opportunity to do a shitload of arena grinding. i needed the gold and more experience could only be a good thing. i won't go into extreme details, but all you need to know is that using kent, florina, and fiora, i was able to get a minimum of two units per turn in that arena. i got very good luck in that i only had to back out of around 2 or 3 fights, though it's absolutely worth mentioning that i made it to this point in the chapter and lost heath due to a miscalculation on my part. nothing kills your soul quite like something like that.

anyways, all this is to say: i got raven to 20 and promoted him, i got heath to 20 and promoted him (he was honestly the safest unit to use in the arena due to his combination of high defense, access to lances, and relatively high speed.), and i even used rath a little! i can't say rath was exceptionally great but. . . he did things! this was the chapter that i learned ninian's ring buffs will persist in the arena, so i tried to take full advantage of that (along with the rescue-buff glitch that makes buffs persist more than one turn) to get rath in the arena. the results were. . . a little underwhelming, but he did get some wins and experience, so i can't be unhappy with that. everyone else was either too far away to put in the arena (the seadogs), a healer, or a mounted unit that i needed to utilize to rescue chain multiple units hitting the arena. all of this was instrumental because not only did i need gold for grocery shopping (as you can see in the bottom of turn directions, i needed lances badly.), but i also needed 20k so i could get farina by next chapter. this is why i ultimately sat on FFO for 25 turns instead of finishing early. yeah, farina is optional and basically nothing but a detriment. but i like her and want to recruit her. plus, in a weird way, i feel like i have to recruit her, because it would balance out the funds advantage i got from early access to a silver card. i've already tried to counterbalance against that by using the boosters on eliwood, but i think this would almost certainly put to bed the advantage i gained from that. or, at least, it will make annoying nerds less inclined to speak up. besides, looking at it in a positive light, farina is another unit i could get some experience on and potentially she could help my experience rank. cog of destiny has only magic units (besides lloyd and vaida's group), so if i give her a javelin, maybe i can get her some action. i'm already planning on using nino that chapter as well, so it's something to consider.

anyways, end of chapter time. raven went to linus and his two hero friends with the silver sword equipped. they aren't necessarily trivial, but considering raven had 20/20/20 stats and pretty good defense before promotion, they got decimated by hero raven. you almost have to feel kind of bad for the dude, because he's so much more imposing when he's sitting on a throne but trivial otherwise. meanwhile, lloyd is always scary to fight despite swordmasters being generally less useful than heroes. i guess that can be attributed to him being both aggressive and having good crit. ah well. bye linus. it's weird that your name is linus, you strike me as more of a zeke or a derek. something with a k.

next chapter is crazed beast. having a good turn buffer for this one is great, because it means that i don't have to feel super duper pressured about finishing it asap (though i still plan to). and with all the bad units in it, i'm thinking i could potentially get some more growth units in the fray. if nothing else, that southern fort with all the axe users has guy's face painted on it. maybe i'll even field lyn or eliwood for shits and giggles. you never know.

if you read all of this you are gay btw.

[tonberry-yoda]

Hi! I saw that you were doing match ups, so I couldn't help myself! ^^

I wanted to ask you for a platonic match up for the Hazbin Hotel fandom :) (Maybe a character that would look up at me as a mother figure or smth like that) I'm a 23-year-old cis-girl that goes with she/her pronuns. I'm biromantic and asexual ^^ I'm a (I think xd) very cheerful person that lives for making other's laugh, I can be serious when needed though, I tend to give up my happiness to make others happy until I can't no more and vent to my reflection in the mirror with the objective of not making anyone aware of my problems, I don't like the feeling of relaying on someone that could stab my back if they wanted. I am a very patient person and I like to make sure that everyone is comfortable in the environment we are in. I can cook variated (and good) meals but I kinda preffer baking pastries or sweets to give to others.

My main love language is gift giving. I usually give gifts like handmade sweets or cookies, drawings of the person/character in question, and even little things that I think the person/character in question would like.

I've been told that I'm a pretty comfortable person to vent and I'm the "terapist friend" of my group.

I'm a very physical person that likes hugging very much but I'm also very respectful so If a person doesn't like hugs, I'll respect that.

I would also be very grateful if you add a mini fic to the match up, you can use wichever idea you like, surprise me! ^^

hi there!!!! i have the perfect character for you!!! and i just cant wait, so here we go!

the character I chose for you is...

ANGEL DUST!!!

my personal favorite character in hazbin if im being honest

and now your best platonic buddy

i think that he would appreciate how cheery and kind you are because it's a real change of pace due to what he has to deal with everyday, so having you bring a smile makes him very thankful

he will ask you how you're feeling though and he wont stop bothering you until you tell him

you're dealing with a very emotional man who is very willing to talk to you since you're so close, so having you be a patient person is perfect for him, he literally just needs that

but do know that he is a very happy guy most of the time, so expect a lot of fun activities like painting your nails together or gossiping lol

if you make him sweets he will cry and then proceed to eat ALL of them

he will be very sure to give you a deserved break because being the therapist or mom friend can really be a burden sometimes, so he wants to be there for you as much as possible

partners in crime moment who are always there for each other

he will 100% get you to be friends with Cherri

and then all 3 of you are unstoppable

please give him hugs, especially when he needs them most

after spending some time with valentino though, he will definitely need that space, and having you respect that makes him love you so much more as a friend because that's all he really needs

but when he's ready, he will curl up in your arms

he just loves that you are there for him <33333

and per your request, lovely, here is your mini fic :)

MINI FIC

"Angel!!" You chimed, running up the stairs to his hotel room, trying not to drop the platters of pastries you had in your hands. "Angel Dust!" You knocked on the door with the tip of your shoe and instead of Angel, Nifty opened the door with a bright smile on her face.

"Hi, y/n!! What's up?"

"Is Angel in here?" You asked, but immediately got answered by Angel's smiling face from across the room.

"Hey pumpkin'!" He stood up and walked over to you, drying off his nails that were just recently painted a bright pink. "Whatcha got there?"

You handed him a pastry and he beamed at you. "y/n, you didn't have to!!!"

"Of course I did," you giggled and walked into the room, sitting on his bed. "You know how much I love baking for you."

"You're the best!" Angel pulled you into his arms, smelling like perfume and sweets. "I was having a bit of a rough day and asked for Nifty to give me some company, so to see you here too makes it a way better day."

He pulled away from the hug, giving you a soft smile and you sat down, lying the pastries next to you. "Rough day, you say?" You picked up some nail polish and began painting your own nails. "Tell me about it and we'll go ahead and have a sleepover tonight."

:)

~~~~~

matchup rules --- pinned post

@tonberry-yoda

[ayusr]

Bade Aache Lagte Hai 3 | Episode 2 | Ram meets Priya

This one was a breath of fresh air.

They met in Priya's dental clinic for the first time. It was an emergency.

Ram left his office to see his mother on new year's eve. Super sweet. Jaan, akele aise (you alone, like this) says Ram on seeing his mother in the drawing room situated just at the entrance of his mansion. His mother was yawning playing video game on a tab when Ram reached. The one with a stack of cubes and she was gently moving the wrong cubes out of her way. I don't play video games so I will have to go by this :D Tech savvy mum. We like. Her eyes lit up. A huge smile came to her beautiful sleepy face seeing his only family, Ram. It was midnight. She must be expecting Ram and Ram didn't disappoint.

Jaan is on the heavier side which makes me wonder if subconsciously he is attracted to women on the heavier side (in a non creepy way of course :D). Men find women who resemble their mother attractive especially when it's a positive influence. Disha Parmar who portrays Priya's character is pregnant in real life. Selecting a woman on the heavier side to portray Ram's mother could be related to that.

Jaan is adorable mostly. It warms my heart thinking Priya will get to experience more of her love when she becomes part of their family (the three musketeers) especially because I don't like Indu, Priya's mum, way of loving her. Same with Ram he will experience Priya's dad's love. He is a sweetheart as well.

Ram asks her why she is sitting alone and calls for Mami, Mamu and Chachu. Jaan answers are you calling those relatives who are called here by you in the pretext of the mansion. They are celebrating with their family exactly how I am waiting to celebrate with mine. They should be here, you can't sit here alone says Ram. He then breaks to her about cracking the deal. Both hugs and wishes new year to each other. Jaan wants to make a deal of her own with her son. She wants more time from her son. Ram, on his knees now, reminds her in the sweetest way possible of the time where they had all the time but not a secured future and now they have everything but time. Life, huh. He promises her everything but his time. She knows material things don't interest her enough which is why she presses hard and reminds him of the loneliness that surrounds them. She proceeds to say we have everything but... Ram cuts her off mid way. No but, you are the most important and above everything to me. Ram avoids such confrontation. Maybe it is difficult for him to hear what was coming. Or maybe he is in denial. Maybe it's both.

I like how Ram didn't lie to her Jaan. Make promises that he can't keep up with later. But loneliness is going to be the recurring theme, I guess. Phew. People should learn to deal with loneliness I believe. They will quit calling it loneliness then. It's quite addictive once you learn to enjoy your company.

Ram made her twirl. Both hugs again and Ram kisses her on the side of her head. Jaan now being super aware of toothache complains about it and Ram's world halts. The only thing that matters now is to cure the pain. He is over protective when it comes to her. Ram calls his secretary for arranging the doctor no matter the cost. No one is available at this hour of new year's eve.

Priya is having dinner with her parents at home. She gets a message which was posted by Ram's secretary on the medical helpline app and decides to help. Her plans are ruined anyway by her phony boyfriend Yuvraj. She baked him a cake and inscribed it with 'To the one I love' and he is busy considering accepting the proposal from his boss, Alika who is also Ram's business partner.

Priya's parents protested but duty calls. She takes the cake with her in case she gets hungry.

Ram is at Priya's clinic. It's dark there. He is figuring out the switchboard. Where is the light? He is speaking to himself. Priya lights up the room and answers, lights came. Their eyes meet for the first time. They share a brief moment. Ram nods, Priya smiles and leaves nonchalant. Little did he know she is the light of her life and he hers quite literally and figuratively as depicted. Loved this moment. Let there be love and light!!!

There is a possibility that it was love at first sight for Mr. Kapoor :D Well, not love love more like a deeper connection with someone's energy. Nothing physical about it. Like finding peace to your chaos, answer to your internal monologues, home for your heart. Like two souls have signed off a contract to help each other in their journey which has led to this. Jaan was the catalyst for this. It was such an aasman se barsi dua (showers of blessing from sky) moment. I would have loved if these beautiful lines from Shukran Allah would have played in the background. But it was their song. And it was perfect.

Jaan is now in as well. Ram is not sure if her jaan will receive the best treatment now that he can see the room. It is small he says. He insists on letting him look for a better facility than this but drops it on Jaan's request. Priya joins them. Lovely says jaan seeing Priya for the first time. Now there is a much higher possibility of love at first sight. Jaan finds it difficult to believe someone as lovely as Priya is working on the new year's eve. Priya explains her plans were cancelled, courtesy phony Yuvraj.

Ram helps his jaan position in the patient chair gently. When helping her with putting her legs up in the chair his hands touched her feet making him ask for her blessings. He then adjusts her hair upon positioning her head and compliments her on her hair. Your hair looks good says the doting son. Priya tries to control her smile seeing the two of them and moves to take the other chair opposite to jaan. She doesn't have to conceal her smile anymore she is wearing a mask now. Jaan explains the wisdom tooth ache and Priya decides to extract it after having a close look. She is about to give anesthesia when Jaan stopped seeing the needle. She fears needle but Ram was looking like the more scared one. In his panicked state, he was trying his best to calm jaan. Priya tells Ram she can handle her patient and asks her to wait at the other end of the room pointing the injection in her hand in that direction. Ram obliged titling his head down slowly. His hair falling on his beautiful face accentuating his features. His expression more like you could have said it with some love lady. I am scared here.

The guy who does Ram hair should get a raise. I can see Nakuul's face has aged since the first meeting of Ram and Priya in bade aache lagte hai 2. Ageing looks good on him.

Ram now monitoring the procedure from far takes a deep breath and utters it's done when Priya successfully extracts the tooth. The other desire presents itself now that he can finally breathe properly. Hunger, which is making him pace around the room with one hand on his tiny waist and other on his flat stomach. The side of his shoulder brushed against Priya's back when she gets up to get some medicine. She looks at him expecting an apology or explanation, their eyes met and he puts both his hands one after another on his stomach slowly. The touch didn't bother Ram. Looks like Mr. Kapoor can't think straight due to hunger. Priya decides to let it be.

Priya got her answer though when questioned by Jaan. Why are you doing march-past here Ram? She had to say march-past a couple of times for Ram to understand. Her diction is not yet clear due to the tooth extraction. Ram says he could not eat in the office, he was busy and is hungry now.

Priya offered him the cake. This is a special cake. It was round, brown in color and had no cream. Special effort was placed in writing the message: 'To The One I Love'. Wherever possible the alphabets of the message were slightly modified to make it heart shaped. It was baked with love for the love of her life. She spent 8 hours in preparation perfecting every small detail. The recipe was from the net. It was super sweet of her to offer it to Ram.

In one of the conversations with phony Yuvraj Priya mentions it is in her horoscope today that the taste of the cake made by her is going to change someone's life today. She is goofing around obviously but has no idea it's going to be reality and how.

Ram grabbed the cake after confirming and getting a go ahead from Priya. He pauses to read the message which prompts him to ask again. Their song bade aache plays in the background. Lovely. Priya confirms by telling the person to whom the cake belongs to is not going to come so he can have it. The person to whom this cake and all the future cake Priya will bake actually belongs to asks again, are you sure? This time he reads the answer in her eyes. Priya gave him no choice. She didn't confirm vocally this time. Afraid if he will read the sadness in her voice now. No words were required. The silent conversation over. He nods and looks down. He looks a little sad with what he was able to read there. Whatever it was it made him quit confirming. He proceeds to wash his hand and cut the cake. He grabbed a handful of it and stuffed his face with it. He almost choked hearing Jaan asking Priya about her relationship status. So Mr. Kapoor has not yet introduced the other woman in his life to Jaan. Well, Kriti has a say in it too. I wonder if it was a mutual decision. Ram now at the side of Jaan tried hushing her in vain. When Priya denied Jaan seems to be super excited for a person who had just undergone excruciating tooth removal procedure. Her excitement was short lived as Priya tells her there is someone in her life and asks for her blessings. She did not lead Jaan on. Bless her heart. She is a walking green flag. Phony Yuvraj does not deserve this angel. But we all make our share of mistakes, I guess. I hope she investigates what her sister, Ritika warned her about and comes to her senses soon. Ritika's friend works with Ram. Ritika was invited by her to the new year's celebration which is where he saw Yuvraj dancing with Alekha in close proximity.

The procedure is now completed and Ram helps her Jaan get up on her feet. He tells his jaan, I will finish the cake and come. Almost three fourth of the cake was left by now.

Jaan thanked Priya for her services and blessed her to get the man she wants. Ram appears behind Priya. Perfect timing. He is licking his fingers. He must have really loved the cake. Sweet sweet.

Priya thanked Jaan for her blessing. Ram and Jaan asked Priya to charge more considering the emergency to which Priya politely denied. Ram calls the driver afraid of the next line of questioning from Jaan. She leaves with the driver but not before taking a good look of Priya's beautiful face. Ram stays to settle the bill.

He tried paying by scanning the QR code but the payment failed. He then suggested paying by credit card but he asks for something to clean his hands before that. Priya then noticed the empty cake box. The cake was not huge but how can that tiny stomach fit it in a single go I wonder. Did he really not want the love of her life to have it should he decide to come. Or was the cake that good. Or he was really hungry. Or all of the above. I don't know just yet.

You ate it all? You offered he reminded. I was pleasantly surprised when he addressed Priya as 'tu'. It was just once though in this conversation. In the previous conversation which was over the phone, he addressed her as aap. The call was for Yuvraj. Ram had the phone with him and he answered.

I wonder if it was just a one off or will he continue to address her the same in future conversations as well. Priya addresses him as 'aap' throughout.

You don't get fat? Just the smell of cake is enough to make me fat. I have a fast metabolism, one with the waist line that would give any supermodel run for their money replied. Life doesn't promise to be fair. All was fine till now. I don't know if it was the sugar rush or the nervousness or the fact that there is no one to watch he dropped all formalities after that which is not a bad thing in itself had he then not suggested Priya various ways to get in shape and explained how exercise releases endorphins. Mr. Kapoor I believe you when you say you are all for body positivity but seriously what were you thinking. You have just met her. I know it doesn't feel like that still :D

I also believe it was coming from a good place when he suggested his own personal trainer and was cut off in mid by Priya. Someone stop Mr. Kapoor. It's not like he is not experienced in the department of girls. He has a girlfriend, female best friend, female employees (he considers his employees his office family) and besides he shares a great bond with Jaan. Point being, he is surrounded by girls all the time. While I don't think the fairer sex is complicated to understand as the certain sections of society credits them for I do however believe you can't just draw an hour glass figure and say exercise will help you stay fit to the person you just met. She has been nothing but nice besides he saw her spirits were not high that day. Did he really think this would cheer her up.

I think it was the connection he felt with Priya. Even though he just met her it didn't feel like that in his experience. He was being himself around her trying to provide a solution like he always do. He helped Alika with proposing to Yuvraj, he called his battalion family to live with them so that his Jaan would have company, he pulled his family out of the financial struggles. Mr. Kapoor is all about solutions, he is a business man after all. And this is what I strongly believe he was doing here. He read the sadness in her eyes. Phony Yuvraj not meeting her today of all day was another red flag she was choosing to ignore. Mr. Kapoor wants to do his bit replacing it with happiness and suggesting exercise to release happy hormones was his way. It was not out of place considering the direction the conversation went. He took the bait. It just didn't work in his favor as he didn't articulate it well:D Cute Mr. Kapoor.

On the other hand, Priya doesn't like when people are able to read her emotions correctly especially when she wants to keep them hidden. She is a private person. She didn't like that a stranger was able to read her and was all defensive about it.

Why do people who finish the cake in one sitting provide gyan on keeping fit. Oopsie, Mr. Kapoor. Good night says Priya pointing towards the way out. Ram declared he was about to leave slightly disappointed now. It's on you this Mr. Kapoor. It's not what you say but how you say it. I still find the whole conversation cute though. Haha. You meant well. The face Ram makes after realizing it is not playing out well is super cute. Ram left but not before wishing her a Happy New Year.

Priya has left quite a good first impression on Ms. Kapoor who is now happily seated in the passenger seat enjoying the much needed ice cream her super sweet son got for her. I wonder if Ram got one for himself. Did he want to override the after taste of cake this soon?

Jaan is all in raves about Priya and Mr. Kapoor is not taking it all that well. It was hilarious seeing his eyes roll, side eye, raised eyebrows and shaking his head in disbelief every time Jaan would find a way to bring Priya into the conversation. He is a great listener though. Nakuul does a great job expressing by his eyebrows.

There was a connection with Priya and Ram felt it. Mr. Kapoor was in denial though. Covering it by calling her unkempt, making fun of her hairstyle by calling it a 'guccha' :D , complaining about no makeup on New Year's Eve on their way back home. So Mr. Kapoor noticed all this amidst being super distressed huh?

She was there to serve me not to perform a ramp walk, Team Priya retorted. Ram side eyed her. Haha. It made me wonder if Jaan knows about Kriti. I think she does.

I had a smile on my face the whole time when Priya and Ram shared screen. Loved this one.

[recurring-polynya]

Once again, I am thinking about the dubious claim that people make from time to time that Renji would have gotten better character development in the TYBW arc if Byakuya had died. The thing is, though, that Renji did get excellent character development in this arc, particularly with respect to his relationship to Byakuya, it was just very subtle and I want to talk about it.

So, the first thing I want to point out is that the captain-lieutenant relationships is one of the major themes of the TYBW. A lot of this is sort of weird and awkward, but this is perfect, actually, because captain-lieutenant relationships are, for the most part, weird and clunky and awkward. Take for example, the part that I always make fun of, where the captains are told not to go to bankai, and Hitsugaya, Komamura, Byakuya and Soi Fon immediately go to bankai-- but they all do this on the assumption that they are luring their opponent into a trap to see how this works, and that their lieutenant will somehow ??defeat them anyway?? (well, except Soi Fon who seems to think she can one-shot her Quincy). There’s Sasakibe’s funeral, where we find out that Yamamoto cared far more for him than we ever imagined. Kyouraku returns Nanao’s zanpakutou to her and stands behind her as she defeats an opponent he can't. Iba carries Komamura’s body off of the battlefield as he loses the last of his humanity. Isane struggles to keep her head above her grief because that’s the burden Unohana left her with. Rose avenging Kira. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto fighting and (sort of) dying together. The Zaraki-Yachiru thing. The Mayuri-Nemu thing. Momo and Shinji actually got to have a relatively normal one, which they each deserved, but at least they got to have normal one together. Anyway, that could be an entire essay, but as usual, I only want to talk about Renji and Byakuya.

Renji’s introduction as a character happens in stages. Initially, he sort of appears to be Byakuya’s sidekick-- he's here to do the dirty work during Rukia’s arrest, while Byakuya stands by and calls the shots, but even early on, it’s clear that Renji’s a little hung up on Byakuya. He’s trying to impress him, and gets more embarrassed and self-conscious as things go progressively pear-shaped. When Byakuya finally enters the action, Renji’s thought bubbles reveal that he’s watched Byakuya for a long time, that he knows all his moves. When we get the Renji backstory reveal a few issues later, we learn that Renji’s goal is to defeat Byakuya, which he seems to feel is necessary to seeing Rukia again, even though there has never been any sort of causal link revealed between these two things. Don’t get me wrong, if Young Academy Renji had tried to continue to be friends with Rukia, I think Byakuya would have kicked him out on his ass, but it’s clear that a lot of Renji’s hang-ups are internal-- he doesn’t want to face Rukia again until he can stand against Byakuya. I think the origin of this is that he simply wants what’s best for Rukia, and he can’t stomach the idea of asking her to leave her rich, noble family for him, unless, of course, he’s somehow better than Byakuya in some dimension, and the only thing Renji’s ever considered himself good at is fighting.

Even more interesting is that he’s chosen to go about this by... studying the man’s every move and becoming his lieutenant. But for as much energy as Renji has put into learning Byakuya’s favorite combat moves, he doesn’t actually know anything about him as a person. He’s shocked when Rukia predicts that Byakuya won’t lift a finger to help her, and then horrified when this actually comes to pass. A few chapters later, as he’s running Hinamori through, Aizen comments that “Adoration is the state furthest from understanding.” I would probably classify Renji’s feelings towards Byakuya more as admiration or idolization, rather than adoration, but I think this statement is also very true of Renji and Byakuya’s relationship. Unlike poor Momo, Renji gets a little more time and opportunity to do something with this information. With a little Ichigo-forced soul searching, he realizes that he’s not going to come out the hero of this story no matter what, but if he doesn’t do something, Rukia’s not going to come out of this story at all, and even if he’s not really ready, he’s spent 40 years trying to figure out how to beat Kuchiki Byakuya, let’s hope all that was good for something.

The Byakuya-Renji fight has no direct impact on the events of the Soul Society Arc. It makes Byakuya show up to Rukia’s execution 5 minutes late and without his scarf. Renji gets healed, so it really doesn’t matter all that much to him, either. You could argue that they both wasted a bunch of energy (that they could have used to fight Aizen later) but it’s primarily a character-driven moment of them both drawing lines in the sand about where they stand, vis a vis Rukia. Byakuya wins this fight, and he wins it handily, but he’s wrong, as he comes to realize a few issues later, when Ichigo kicks his ass and tells him he’s a bad brother, a lesson that Byakuya will take to heart for the rest of the manga. Byakuya claims that the difference between Renji and himself is class, but the real difference between is the heart, and in the long run, Renji is the real victor of this fight.

The hospital scene is an interesting footnote to this. Byakuya defeated Renji, but Byakuya was the asshole and everyone knows it. There’s an expectation that perhaps Renji will quit or perhaps Renji will give him an earful and perhaps even Rukia will choose to leave the family, either to go to the Living World or to be with Renji (and Byakuya would deserve this), but instead, both Renji and Rukia give Byakuya another chance, which is not, I think, a place Renji ever expected to be.

Rukia and Byakuya building up a sibling relationship after this is fairly straightforward (although I’m sure it had its weird moments), but Byakuya and Renji now have this profoundly awkward relationship where Byakuya is obviously in charge, but he sort of depends on Renji as a personal compass because he’s shit at dealing with people and he doesn’t want to screw stuff up with Rukia again. Take for example, the part of the Hueco Mundo arc where Orihime is kidnapped and Rukia and Renji desert their posts to come help rescue her. Kubo takes to the panel-space to tell us that Byakuya has tacitly approved this. As a clan head and a captain, a person who is entrenched in the hierarchy of Soul Society, Byakuya couldn’t possibly go to Hueco Mundo-- but he can turn a blind eye while his sister and lieutenant scurry out through the Kuchiki family senkaimon. Renji, for his part, tried to go to Hueco Mundo through official channels and got shot down. We don’t know what Renji would have done if Byakuya had explicitly forbidden him from going, but it doesn’t matter-- Byakuya enabled Renji to follow his heart here, because Byakuya can’t. Rukia would have gone to Hueco Mundo regardless. She cares about Byakuya, but she doesn’t depend on him for validation the way Renji does.

I said this was going to be about the TYBW, so let’s get to that. Early in the arc, we’re shown several scenes where it’s clear that Byakuya respects and values Renji as a lieutenant, but he’s also pretty damn patronizing to him. Renji is the first one to engage As Nodt, and when Byakuya shows up, he acts surprised that Renji hasn’t taken him out yet, but then proceeds to take over the fight (real, “stand back, fives, an eleven has arrived” energy). After Byakuya then loses his bankai like a doofus, Renji wants to take point so that Byakuya can figure out As Nodt’s attack and Byakuya won’t let him... and then proceeds to get thrashed.

This has to be one of the most emotionally charged fights in Bleach. Byakuya is losing, and Renji jumps in, absolutely incensed that As Nodt would use Senbonzakura against Byakuya. Renji isn’t doing great, but he’s not doing terrible when Byakuya gets up and tries to help Renji, even though he’s a big bloody mess. As Nodt reacts by shredding Byakuya into chunks, and Renji just loses it, and if Mask de Masculine hadn’t shown up and kicked him halfway across the Seireitei, I daresay Renji would have killed himself trying to take down As Nodt.

This is where I usually make the point that if Byakuya had died to here, it would have broken Renji into little pieces, but that’s not today’s essay. Instead, everyone goes to the Royal Realm, and by virtue of the fact that Byakuya is injured worse than everyone else, Renji has to go forward without him or his approval.

In typical Renji fashion, the thing that motivates Renji here is not glory or heroism, but the desire to accompany Ichigo, the need to be with his friends in their times of trial. In fact his companionship here is absolutely essential-- at Hikifune’s, Ichigo expresses deep doubts that he’s doing the right thing, and Renji reminds himself that if he wants to protect others, he has to take care of himself first.

At Nimaiya’s however, Renji and Ichigo are split up because they must follow their own paths. The other extremely interesting thing that happens here is that Renji’s sword is reforged. Byakuya shattered one of Hihio Zabimaru’s joints the very first time Renji used them in combat. Renji brushed it off at the time, saying that he could get by without it. Even though Byakuya has long been his motivating force and his mentor, he’s also been held back by his connection to him. And at this point, it’s gone.

I really wish we got to see where Renji and Rukia meet up again, but we don’t. Unlike with Ichigo, though, Rukia doesn’t seem to need anything from Renji. They travel together, fight together as equals, wear matching outfits, like you do. Oh. Wait. After all this time, in the 493 chapters between Needless Emotions and Blue Stripes, Renji can finally see himself as an equal to Rukia. They get. bankai. Together.

I want to emphasize that it’s not really anything about Rukia herself that allowed Renji to make bankai, it’s the fact that he’s finally managed to move past the feeling that he’s not enough. Defeating Byakuya would not actually have solved this problem, and having Byakuya dying in front of him wouldn’t have either. Renji gets criticized for losing a lot of his fights, but that’s such a key to his character. He’s not always the strongest, he doesn’t always win, but he keeps fighting for what he cares about. He struggles with his need for approval, for external validation, but Renji is at his best when he doesn’t have time to think about that, when he’s just fighting by his friends’ sides against impossible odds, doing what he knows in his heart is right.

I think people tend to make a little more than is strictly necessary of the line where he tells Mask that he’s “a villain”, I think he’s most just making fun of Mask’s own self-aggrandizement. On another level, though, this is just Renji being at ease with himself. Byakuya typically enters a fight bloviating about the honor of Soul Society and “how dare you raise your sword against me, the 28th Head of the Kuchiki” and even Ikkaku had the whole deal about telling people your name before you kill them, but Renji is more like “you beat up my friends, so I’m gonna break your face,” like there’s no ego in it, just you’re there, and he’s there, and then you’re lying on the ground and he’s taking a nap somewhere. This is so different than the insecure, posturing young man he was at the start of this series and I love this growth for him.

Even after he eventually meets up with Byakuya again, something has changed about their dynamic. The group gets split up and rejoined two or three times, and Renji and Rukia always stay together while Byakuya ends up fighting alongside others, Hisagi and later Hitsugaya and Zaraki. This is cemented in their last scene together, where Rukia and Renji try to stay with Byakuya and he sends them off to fight with Ichigo by saying “your help is not needed here.” In some ways, it’s an echo of Byakuya sending them off to Hueco Mundo, but in other ways, it’s acknowledging that they are their own people, not just an extension of him.

Hitsugaya follows it up with this:

There’s more here than meets the eye, though-- Byakuya and Renji have maintained a pretty strict superior-subordinate relationship, because that’s the easiest way for them to make sense of the world, but the fact is, they do care about each other and are important to one another.

I know there would be a certain narrative satisfaction in seeing Renji make captain at the end-- he’s one of the hardest working people in Bleach, and it frankly seems weird to see Iba get the haori when he doesn’t. But Renji has never wanted to be a captain. Renji becoming captain would, in some ways, be a failure. He spends years pre-canon chasing rank and prestige because that’s what he thinks will make him worthy, and it didn’t. Instead, he found worth in being himself, in loving his friends and being there for them, in learning things from Byakuya and teaching him things in return. Renji doesn’t need to be Byakuya’s lieutenant anymore, he just does it because he likes it. It makes him happy. What better character development is there than that?

[worldbuildguild]

Hey Redliners!

You might have noticed that we just published a whole load of posts at once. This is because it has been decided that this blog will proceed with its little identity change.

This means that this blog soon will become RedLineStation's BuildGuild expansion. RedLineStations basics and anatomy help can still be found in our budding community on discord: https://discord.gg/tVtcUC5QZd

Where you can find help and guidance for your art fundamentals through the discord channels. Here you can receive help both from mods and community members alike, as well as join in the regular events that the mod-team host.

It has been a privilege to work with RedLineStation as part of its art fundamentals blog interacting with our members and other mods on the discord server is like talking to one big extended family. But for now, I hope you guys will help us welcome the new face of this particular blog:

When we put out a post talking about this new direction for RedLineStation we received a bunch of positive feedback, which means that we now have the courage to roll out the new venue.

RedLine Build-Guild will, much like RedLineStation be part of the RedLineStation family. Here, we will discuss anything that has to do with worldbuilding and design for visual storytelling. That means anything from character design, storyboarding to the conceptualization of lore and inspiration/motivation. Just like the previous format of this blog, a lot of the content will be user-prompted through our askbox. Which will be open for any general questions about the design of a visual narrative and everything surrounding it. On top of that, we will, again, just like the original RedLineStation; offer personalized feedback. Where followers can send in their material and have it reviewed. RedLine Build-Guild will also feature a regularly scheduled Worldbuilding Guide, which will be published in short chapters here on the blog. This guide will help you with some of the more meta-contextual aspects of worldbuilding. While its accompanying writing/design prompts should help you explore your world and story from angles you might not have previously.

As part of the Build-Guilds curriculum, we will also be showcasing other worldbuilders and authors who have mastered the art, so that you won't just have to hear us drone on about our own individual biases exclusively but hear about the methods of creators around the world too. A more thorough walkthrough of Build-Guilds content and format will come out later. For now, just know that the revamp is in the works and that we are currently writing, drawing, and planning a heap of content to start the blog off in the new year. If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask them as a 'reply' to this post beneath. Mod Wackart will be around to answer as many questions as possible as quickly as possible.

Cheers! Can't wait to see you all again

- Mod Wackart

[is-nini]

Genshin impact x reader

Episode: 1

Title: Being sucked in

A/n: I'm not sure how long this.. story will take but i will try my best to keep it entertaining.. this story is about you, being sucked into genshin world, this is part 1.. please enjoy. Leave a comment or suggestion.. possible love interest for now will be : Diluc, Kaeya, Albedo, Zhongli, Childe, Xiao, Beidou, Ningguang.

Today is another normal day, nothing is really out of the ordinary, the sky is a little bit cloudy but you don't mind, you think that the wind blowing against your hair is very nice as you walk towards your school. You walked inside, stopping Infront of the locker to the entrance to fix your stuff and take your schedule until you felt a presence beside you.

"oh, hello sidia".

You greets one of your sleepy friend, she just let's out a 'hmm' and a nod while looking through her locker, not even giving you an eye contact. sidia has always been like this, she never really made an eye contact towards you but she still shows that she has some of her attention towards you.

"good morning".

Your other friend, Chelz Lee, let's out a mutter to the both of you, Chelz is more talkative then Sidia, you met them maybe a couple of years ago. they're a very talented artist and are a very interesting friends to be around with.

"what's up guys".

You too greet them without looking at their eye, you take your books out and proceed to take a peak at Sidia's schedule.

"oh? Mathematics on the first hour? Goodluck".

You snicker and slap her shoulder a little bit, she stares at you uninterestedly with her sleepy eye and started to walk away, letting you stare at her black low ponytail hair.

You giggle and take a peak at Chelz's schedule. Art. her first lesson for today seems fun you thought sighing at the sight of your first schedule that reads 'science'.

Chelz already went half way to catching up to Sidia before she looks back at you as if asking you to join them and you did. You jog towards her, taking her hand and started to jog towards Sidia either.

"how are you both?".

You ask them both while fixing the books on your hand and looking at your shoes to check the lace.

"depressed".

Sidia answered, you make a 'uhuh' sound feeling used to her answers. Chelz stroke her short wavy black bangs out of her eyes and use her black glasses and start to read her novel. Her black short hair blows a little because of the wind.

"fine".

She answered you, yawning and stretching her arms out beside her. You and the rest of your friend said goodbye to eachother and proceed to go to your different ways.

You went inside your class. As usual people are in teams, some are in teams for fun, some are in teams for checking today's lesson.

You take a one seat beside the window and wait for the teacher to come inside the classroom.

The lesson went on as usual, smoothly even, you did your homework andd the score that you got on yesterday's test is not bad, B is not a bad grade. You take out your binder and put the paper's that you got in to the binder.

Going home is the best thing about the day. You and Chelz are chatting away about until you guys cane across a gaming store.

"ou? A gaming store".

Sidia said, catching yours and Chelz attention. Chelz look at that place very seriously, squinting her eye.

"...since when is there a gaming store here- y/n!".

She was very suspicious of this place, she doesn't remember any gaming store around here... And if there is one opening soon it should be the talk of the school. in short Chelz was suspicious but you, being a gaming enthusiast decided to check it out, thinking maybe they have a good and cheap open world game.

"... She's crazy".

Sidia chuckled. She took Chelz arm, snapping her out of her suspicious state and drag her towards the gaming store.

"yo- sidia i don't wanna die".

"well i do. So let's go".

And with that the both of them followed you in.

The store looks very cool.. it's like you're in a different world. The ceiling's wallpaper is made out of galaxy like drawing and the light bulb was covered with another ball that is drawn to match with the different planets on the solar system.

"welcome to the store how may i help you".

A girl that looks like in her mid 20 greets the both of you, she have short black hair and a green uniform and a little pin on the breast part of her uniform spell out 'katheryne'. Which you assume was her name.

"hello! I was wondering do you have any open world game?".

You instantly ask her, not caring about the suspicious store, you don't even care about the insides of the place. You just wanted to play a open world game that's full of interesting stuff. The girl name katheryne hums in understanding and goes behind the table to look for a game you requested. Chelz grabs your hand and shout whisper to you.

"this place is creepy y/n. Let's get out of here".

Chelz scold you, you sigh and looks at her calmly shaking your head no.

"it's fine, were fine, what's the worst thing that could happen?".

You whisper back with a lighter tone. Really you don't care if this place comes out of nowhere you just want your game, you're smiling stupidly while waiting for the girl.

"anywayyy if anything happened, Sidia is here, she'll be able to protect us using her fighting style knowledge thingy".

Sidia scoffed and fold her arms, looking at you as if you're crazy.

"i will leave you alone and save myself".

You laugh and was about to slap her back when she holds your hand and rolls her eyes at you.

"such a tsun tsun".

You laugh out, she slowly and gently let your hand away. From the corner of your eye you can see katheryne walking towards the counter. You immediately jump and went towards her.

"this is the only open world game that i found".

She said, you look at the weird japanese like word, assuming it was the title you try to read what is said.. you don't understand it but the design was cool though.

"this is a open world game called genshin impact. I will not spoil the story but i think this game might be the game you're looking for".

Her confidence is seeping in on your game needy state so you decided to purchase it, not thinking twice. Sidia face palm while Chelz just sigh, feeling tired of your hot headed act.

"it will be 2$".

You felt giddy, you can't help it. It's cheap and is a open world game, that is a steal. After taking your stuff, the both of your friend immediately pull you away from the store.

"okay y/n. You got what you need, that place is sus i tell ya".

Sidia said, Chelz nods her head and fix her black glasses, she stare at you while furrowing her eyebrows.

"you gotta stop doing reckless thing. Who knows what that place is".

You sigh and nod, rolling your eye. You giggle anyway and put the game in front of you.

"i know.. but were safe! I wanna try and play it when i get home".

Sidia and Chelz just sigh, what can they do anyway. On the way home you and your friends goes on your own separate way as usual, you jog towards your home, feeling giddy to play the new game.

You take a bath, and goes straight to your computer, opening the plastic wrapper on the game. You insert the disc and started to wait for the loading screen.

And oh gosh.. isn't it pretty, the cutscene the art. Everything. So the game basically tells you about the story of two traveller, who was travelling from world to world until suddenly a mysterious god appears, took one of the twins and take away the other twins power, and now you're playing as the twin who was looking for their missing sister.

You look at the wishing button, tempted to wish for a character, you decided to pull. Expecting a cool banner of the current character instead, you're greets by a white screen.

"hm.. should i restart it?".

You mumble to yourself, nodding in agreement at your words, you close the disc and pulls out the game from your computer. You take a nearby wipe and wipe the back disc gently and then put it back in on the computer.

The game is launching when suddenly you felt a huge and sudden headache comes over you.

"ugh-!".

You groan, gosh.. maybe it's because you have been staring at the screen for too long.. you thinks as a bumping headache keeps going at you.

While waiting for the game you decided to lay back a bit, rest your eyes and head.. this headache is not going away anytime soon if you keep waiting and staring at the screen.

Before you reach the bed, your body stumble forward and fall on to the floor, cannot control any part of your body you close your eyes and your mind went blank.

A darkness is all that you see.. a darkness is all that you're in.. you remember that the last time you are in your bedroom, playing genshin until a huge headache wave over you. Now that you're sense's is back something felt wrong.. you can tell you are laying on something.. it's not comfy but it's still felt quite nice.

You opened your eye slowly and look around the place, groaning as you stare at the half blue and half white wall. You look at your bed and this bed looks like one of the hospital bed..... Wait hospital bed?! You instantly look around frantically where the heck are you?!

"oh you're awake!".

A gentle calm voice echoed throughout the room. That voice sounds familiar.. you turn around and saw a girl with a nurse hat and a white dress, her cream coloured hair is put in a ponytail... Barbara?!.

You stare at her unbelievably. Act cool.. act like.. like a human.. yeah!. You think to yourself. You know this girl.. this girl is the free 4 star character that you'll get once you reach a certain level. Okay y/n.. play it cool.. just act like you don't know this place.

"why.. am i here?".

You look at the girl, she seems nervous to be around you ... Which is normal maybe. She walked beside you and take a cup of empty glass beside you and pour a pitcher full of water inside the glass half full and then take them, offering the glass to you.

"you're in Mondstat.. the land of freedom.."

A/n; GOD I'm so sorry it took a long time, i hope the 'cliffhanger' makes sense...? But! Thankyou for reading! I am working on part 2 so more will be incoming!!!

[worfs-fabulous-hair]

It has begun !

Star Trek series I'm currently at : TOS

Episodes watched : 01x00- 01x03

Episode names :

The Cage ( pilot episode )

The Man Trap

Charlie "X"

Where No Man Has Gone Before

Thoughts:

The Cage

I like the original uniforms.

Normal clothes ! People are wearing normal clothes on their down time.

Ah yes, I too call my friend into my room and then deliberately lay on my bed like Rose waiting for Jack to draw her like a French girl and then proceed to spill my guts to them .

Seriously those uniforms look really fuzzy I love them .

Also didn't they make a scale model to shoot close up for the outside of the ship scenes because quality between the scene of the outside of the ship looks so clean compared to the scenes inside the ship. I also doubt that graphic capabilities were good enough to make the ship look that good .I'm pretty sure I heard about the scale model thing years ago when I was a kid but I'm not sure.

Ah yes , misogyny .

Why is Spock walking like that, was Lenard Nemoy injured or were they trying to make that a special thing for vulcans ?

Big brain bois

I know this is supposed to be dramatic but it's pretty fun like oh no he's been kidnapped but the way they hit him and drag him in is so funny

" I'm not going to do the things they want me to do " proceeds to do exactly what they want him to do.

I was lead to believe that pike was a lot older in the pilot then he is.

Fuck, it's like that pokemon episode that causes seizures

Hell is filled with a boiling hot grits bath

Country roads ~♪

It's like that scene from guardians of the Galaxy where mantis goes " you feel sexual love for her "

Your telling me they Frankensteined this poor lady and held her captive for 18 years and fucked her up real bad cause they had no clue how humans look.

" just hypothetically , which one of us would you have chosen? " " Get back to work " lmao the way she ran out of there.

Other episodes under the cut

The Man Trap

Ah , finally characters that I know

More mind fuck stuff gotcha

Pleasure planet ?

This boy ain't ever seen a horror movie huh ? You'd think that star fleet would have a class on not following strangers around a strange planet because your horny.

Kirk : Finds a dead body and reaches into his mouth

Uhura (idk how to write her name) : have a conversation with me about anything, anything at all. Spock : yeesh , naw

Bones just eat something that he wasn't quite sure if they were what they thought it was , I always found that a weird trope. Like he just shoved a strange white cube in his mouth and goes " yup that's salt " like you think there would be other ways to test that.

This lady is just eating food off of this plate that is meant for someone else. Update : it was meant for sulu , we finally get to meet my boy.

Kirk and Spock are really bad at hiding from the professor

I love how everyone immediately knows that McCoy isn't McCoy but their like whatever and just keep working.

The creature as McCoy : what if we just put salt in our hand and go pspspsspss, with no hostility , it will just come to us, it just wants salt and companionship. Kirk : lol nah let's kill it

Kirk actually put salt in his hand and went pspspssppsss , and it worked

That face reveal lmao , I love these weird creature costumes from the 60s

Charlie "X"

Wtf is up with these faces

What is this medical test

Everyone's been told that this kid hasn't had much interaction with other people for years and then act extremely surprised when he acts weird

"charlie you can't just slap someone's ass !"

Uhura just breaks out in song like this is a musical because Spock is playing the harp or whatever this is , she's good at making up songs on the spot

Charlie and his Jedi shit again

This 17 year old is trying to get with a 30 year old and she's obviously uncomfortable but everyone is like come on it's all fun and games he's just a kid who doesn't understand don't be so harsh. She's still uncomfortable though cause he's a kid.

Charlie slaps someone else's ass , this time it's kirk's and he gave him a "that's pretty gay fam " speech.

It thanksgiving ? That's just a side thing that's only brought up so that this kid could make turkeys appear in the oven.

He's a sore loser fucked up a good chess set

30 y/o introduces 17y/o to another 17 y/o so he has a companion his own age, he becomes more creepy

Captain Kirk give "the talk"

The ship has a dojo ? And Kirk is the only one who is shirtless .

Charlie made a guy disappear and Kirk was overly calm about it .

Dramatic 60s eye spot light thing they do in action movies.

Everyone's shit stops working but uhura gets electrocuted by her console like he just hate uhura for some reason, like he always does the worst shit to her.

Charlie assaults multiple women and then gets mad that people think that he shouldn't do that.

Yo ! A female officer wearing pants . (A lot of people have told me that female officers don't wear pants in TOS)

Trying a coop on this kid for the 15th time this episode, will it work this time ?

No it didn't but this kids mom showed up to scold him.

"yeah , this kids like mega dangerous why do you think we left him stranded on that planet. We could have told you he was there and we didn't for a reason. Come on now child ."

Where No Man Has Gone Before

The uniforms keep changing every episode it's so weird

Scotty !

They accidentally brought a bomb on board

More characters that we probably won't see with any sort of frequency again

Kirk saw some brightly colored storm clouds in the middle of space and went " hey let's drive through it "

It killed several people and the ship isn't working properly

The bomb thing has been forgotten and might not be brought up again

We learn about Kirk's school days from the guy who gained Galaxy eyes from the accident in the cloud

This guy ( his name is Garry took 20 times of people saying his name for me to figure that out) has developed telepathy and telekinesis and now everyone is going all Salem witch trial on this guy , Spock said they have to kill him like my guy that seems kinda extreme, but what ever I guess

This guy has lightning powers now

Yes , inject medicine into him through his shirt that's effective

Garry is trying to kill everyone so never mind Spock is right

He's also called himself a god several times

Spock has a big ass gun (phaser rifle )

Casually strangles his best friend

Oh shit now the doctor has anime eyes

Such and such apple , bitch that's a papaya

Kirk being dramatic , again

Jim kills 2 people with the help of one of the people he killed.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Hi I saw your post about how the councillors would react to sophie dying and was wondering what you think Sophie's family/friends would react as well.

Oh that's an interesting question! I'm going to answer this as if it's the same premise of that post about the councilors, as if Sophie had been kidnapped again while everyone else was convinced she was dead. There's a bit more to go off of given that we've seen some of their original reactions, and also we know these characters better!

Biana: Quiet confusion while trying to convince herself otherwise. She wouldn't accept Sophie's death immediately, instead suspicious of whatever the explanation was. She's used to secrets and things not being as they seem, so she would take it upon herself to lead whatever was made to investigate further, putting her ability to use

Linh: Very distraught and cannot stop crying. Becomes withdrawn, but doesn't know how to proceed. It's not until someone else suggest that Sophie might be alive that she calms down, now trying to think through how she can help, determined. She wants to be useful.

Keefe: Denial. Very very heavy denial for this boy, because if he lets himself believe she's dead for just one moment then he stops functioning. He can't breath, he can't think, all he can do is sink to the floor, spiraling, waiting for this waking nightmare to end. He's right beside Biana in trying to investigate further, but much less put together than she is--might fall back on sedative again to cope

Dex: He's also quiet most of the time, but he's walking a thin line between controlled and chaos. The slightest trigger and he's furious beyond belief, breaking all his gadgets and blaming himself for not being able to protect her, whatever it is that got her. Stops sleeping, his clothes are always rumpled, doesn't know what to do with himself and all he can see is red. he can't help remembering his own kidnapping, fearing that something worse will happen to her

Marella: She draws out of the friend group or gets really really involved with everyone, no in between. Either she's cautious about how everyone will react and goes to grieve on her own, or she tries to be really close to everyone to monitor them and pay close attention to how they're doing, kind of like she does with her mother.

Fitz: He joined Keefe and Biana and wants to try and find Sophie, because last time she reached out to him and he ignored her until it was almost too late and he's not gonna make the same mistake again. This boy is not doing good. He's never really there, you know? he's always in his mind, trying to reach Sophie so she doesn't have to reach him, because she just can't be dead, right?

Tam: Doesn't trust the adults, but also doesn't understand why everyone is so convinced that Sophie is actually alive. He doesn't understand how suspicious everyone is after the first time she was thought dead and thinks they're reaching. Feels bad for everyone mourning, but trying to comfort Linh and ignore his own feelings. He'd go along with trying to find Sophie because Linh wants to, but he wouldn't get his hopes up

I think all of them would try to look for Sophie as they deal with their grief, not entirely convinced that she's dead. She was dead once before and came back and she's survived near-death so many times, how could she actually be dead now?

This is just a glimpse into how I think they might react, but there's tons of other possibilities! This also probably isn't everyone I could've included, but they had the most obvious reactions to me. It's interesting to look at, so thanks for the prompt!!

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Same as it ever was 1

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as neglect, bullying, manipulation, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: Between your home life and work, you just can't catch a break. Especially after you draw the ire of your boss.

Characters: Lloyd Hansen ft. Pete Brenner

Note: Hope yall like this one!

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

Everyone knows to keep their head down when Mr. Hansen walks through the department. As often as he already has a gripe in his belly, he is just as likely to be looking for a victim to accost. You keep your head down as you sense him trawling the bullpen, his figure a speck at the corner of your eye.

You keep an ear pricked, call it paranoia, but you've witnessed the sort of suffering he can rain down on the unexpecting. You browse the spreadsheet, carefully inputting numbers cell by cell. You withhold a sigh, not wanting to give away any clue of your existence.

"Kendra," he leans on the blonde's desk, his other hand on his hip, "pretty name…"

She thanks him. The new girl is always his favourite novelty. It's these moments that make you even more thankful for the obscurity that comes with age. And more disgusted by the unchanging behaviour of creepy men.

"There's this conference next month, good experience for a temp," he offers, "what about it, sweetheart?"

If it was any other man, you might clear your throat to let him know you can hear him. To remind him of professionalism. Too dangerous. You feel a twinge of pain at letting the twentysomething flounder against his undeniable proposal.

"Far away so… we'd have to fly out," he continues and you shift in your chair unthinkingly. You can't help it, you've been there, you've had to smile and fawn, to pretend your skin isn't crawling. "...pack something pretty."

Your elbow hits your pen and it rolls off the edge of your desk. You wheel back to grab and dare a peek over at Mr. Hansen in his predatory posturing. His eyes are drawn to you and he squints as he rolls his tongue behind his lower lip. Shit.

You sit up quickly, repressing a groan at the pang in your lower back, and roll up to your desk. You cradle your face, hiding behind your hand as you scroll and pretend to be enraptured by your screen. You doubt you're enough to distract him from the beautiful blonde.

"They got room service up in Gaines," he continues, "think about it."

He taps two fingers on her desk as he pushes off. You expect him to strut back to his office but continues his walk of the floor. You shrink down and curl your shoulders, looking at your cold coffee in desperation. A good excuse to get away from your desk but you can already hear him rebuking you for getting up just for another cup.

You click to the next sheet in the file as he nears. You stiffen as he comes behind you, holding your breath as you wait for him to pass. You feel him pause and hear the subtle scuff of his sole. You nearly jump as he puts his hands on your shoulders.

He leans in, his overpriced cologne tickling at the migraine in the back of your brain. You select a cell and pull up a report for comparison. He watches you work without a word, hands firmly on your cardigan.

He shoves away suddenly and claps his hand as he twists on his heel.

"Alright team, back to work," he demands as if the whole floor must be rapt by his presence, "no fucking around."

You let out a breath of relief. You glance over at Kendra as she gives a cringe at his back. You want to commiserate but you'd hate to make her feel more awkward.

You wait until you're certain Hansen is in his office and take your half-finished coffee to the kitchen. You rinse it out and dry it before placing it on the tray of the machine. You put a pod in and select the size, standing back with crossed arms to watch it brew.

You hear someone behind you but don't look over. The shadow approaches the fridge and pulls it open, taking out a container seemingly at random. You turn your head and blanch at Mr. Hansen as he cracks the communal carton of milk meant for coffee and drinks directly from it. You try not to show your disgust.

"Morning," he swipes the back of his hand across his mustache, "want some?"

He offers the carton as you grab your mug and shake your head, "no, thank you, sir."

"On a diet? Keeping the dairy low?" He wonders before taking another gulp then looks at the label. "Ugh, who the fuck ordered skim?" 

You muster an awkward smile. You've never been good at office politics, you don't pander, you just mind your business and so your work. A good day is when no one bothers you.

He puts the carton back without closing it. You retreat slowly, realising he's between you and the door. You try to sidle past as he reaches into the fridge again. He steps back, nearly into your path and examines the tupperware. You stop short as you recognise the worn teal lid; it's your leftovers from the night before, your name clearly labelled on the top.

"Huh," he peels back the lid and smells the chili, "smells delish…" he dips his fingers to your shock and sucks it off shamelessly, "hell of a cook." He says, a tinge of red in his mustache.

"Uh, thanks, I should–"

"You should?" He arches a brow, "you should… keep your nose out of my conversations and focus on your own work, right?"

"I don't know what you mean–"

"I saw you. Squirming like a caterpillar," he snaps the lid back into place and tosses the whole container on the bin beside the fridge, "look, I know at your age, there’s not much excitement but it doesn't mean you needa eavesdrop on matters that don't concern you."

"I didn't–"

"I get it, you're jealous, your ass blew up after the kids and your husband hasn't looked at you in years–"

"Sir," you say affronted but more stung by the accuracy, "please, I wasn't–"

"Oh, yes, you weren't listening because you have a deadline," he steps closer and wraps his hand around your mug. He wiggles it free of your grasp and you let him, "I moved the budget review to tomorrow morning so…" he pauses and swigs the coffee while snapping his fingers with his other hand, "snap, snap on those expense reports."

You stand, stunned and shamed. He spins nonchalantly and strides out, still sipping your fresh coffee. You let your head fall back and groan. Not only are you out the extra caffeine boost but you have to call the babysitter.

🗄️

You don't mourn your lunch as you likely wouldn't have the time to eat. You spend it outside, below the awning of the building as rain pours over the edge. You have your phone in hand and a needling in your skull. This sort of weather always gives you a headache.

On the fifth try, Pete picks up and you swallow a sigh, "hey," you say abruptly, checking your watch.

"Hey, what's up? I had to leave a meeting," he hisses low, out of breath.

"I'm sorry, I just need to know what time you're expecting to be home. The sitter can only stay until seven but I have to stay late–"

"Late? Honey, you know I can't guarantee I'll be there. I'm working my ass off tryna get this thing off the ground. Grinding–"

"I know, I know, but we could use the overtime and… I don't really have a choice."

"Can't you do tomorrow?"

"Pete, it's one night–"

"One night? It's a call I'm not making–"

"Please," you beg, "we need the money, you know we do."

He puffs and blows a raspberry, "shoulda told that sitter to stick around…" he grumbles.

"We can't even afford to pay her for the extra," you mutter.

"I fucking know–"

"Don't swear at me," you warn, "if you hadn't bought that damn corvette–"

"Not doing this again. I'll be home at seven. Happy?"

You roll your eyes, "yeah," you lie. Happy, no, that's not something you feel anymore.

"Pete," a female voice purrs and he hushes them.

"Got it, Anita," he clears his throat, "tell them I'm on my way back."

"Sorry to keep you," you chew your lip, "I'll let you go."

"Sure," he scoffs.

"See ya tonight," you soften your tone, "love ya."

Click. The call ends and you're left dangling. You pull your phone away and look at the screen. No point in using up the last of your break, you might as well just go back to your desk.

🗄️

Your vision glosses as you stare at the messily painted portrait of a house and tree. The sitter sent a picture of Simone's latest artwork and tugs on your impatience to get out of there. You wish you could be there to pick up your kids and hear all about their day. 

Most times you spend the hours after work cooking, cleaning, and trying to rein them in. You're not fun like Emma, their sitter, you're always the voice of reason, the strict ruler of discipline. You send back a heart and black the screen.

Another person packs up for the day, once more tightening the chain that attaches you to your desk. You lean forward, your head pulsing as the brim of your vision blurs. The advil did nothing against your migraine.

You hold your forehead as you squint at the numbers. This is going to take forever. Pushing a budget meeting up one week surely is a personal attack. You need to work on your poker face, you can't do this again. You're too old and tired.

You yawn and fight to keep your eyes open. Maybe Pete can do bath time. You almost snort at that. Right, and hippos are bright pink and friendly.

You shake your head and lean back, trying to stretch out the kinks. You hear the elevator. Eventually you'll get there. 

You look around, realising the desolation of your predicament. Not too many people left, at least not those without offices. You roll each ankle, arches achy just from your low heels.

Your phone buzzes and you ignore it. It's six-thirty. You let it go to voicemail and save your file for good measure.

You think of having another coffee but that will only make your head throb and your night sleepless. Well, more than usual. 

Your cell starts to jitter again. You're agitated as you snatch it up. It's 7:03. Emma's number greets you in blaring white digits. Dammit, you already know what's going on.

You answer, saving again as you wheel the chair back and reach into the drawer to fish out your purse. You keep the phone to your ear as you say 'hi' and struggle to get your jacket on. Pete!

"Hi, um, I'm still waiting for someone to show up–"

"I'm so sorry, Em," you shut off the monitor without bothering to boot down, "Pete said he'd be there. I'm on my way now."

You step around your chair, nearly tripping over it and push it in behind you. You rush across the office in a clomping gait, half-running as you weigh coming in at 4am and convincing security to let you up early. You continue to apologise to Emma as you promise to be home as soon as you can.

You hang up and dial Pete. As you near the elevator, his voicemail plays and you sneer, hitting end and dialing out again. You poke the down button several times and wait for an answer.

"Pick up!" You growl to no one.

"All done for the night?" A lilting taunt brings you around to face Mr. Hansen as he runs a small comb through his mustache, "you work fast."

"Mr. Hansen, I… I have an emergency–"

"Ah, so you're not done," he tuts, "I figured you'd be used to working fast. I'm sure the old man only last about five seconds, huh?"

"Sir," you bite back your offence, "my kids–"

"Aw, mommy's running late for supper. Let me guess, the dead beat can't even boil water."

You want to shriek. Can this man not shut up? This day just won't end and it's really all his fault. You're welling up and about to explode.

"Please," you utter.

"Oh, come on, you got exactly what you wanted, didn't you? Kids, a husband, the whole nine yards," he tucks the comb into his front pocket, "didn't anyone ever tell you they stop fucking you once you pop at a couple watermelons?"

You gulp. What is happening? Your throat tightens up and your eyes glaze. It shouldn't bother you, he's a gross old pervert but what are you? A bitter and sad old woman.

"You're not going to cry, are you? A strong working lady like yourself? Nah, you can hold it in, for the kids. You got a daughter don't ya, you wouldn't want her to see you break–"

You take a step towards him and stop yourself, palm itching to smack him. You raise your chin and bat your lashes. 

"I'll finish the reports at home. I need to go take care of me kids," you fight to keep your voice steady.

"That's the thing about you moms, always the martyr, always looking for special treatment cause you let a guy drop a load indoors," he sneers, "and you're just gonna raise a couple of brats to go off and live the same boring lives."

"Stop," you croak.

"If you're gonna cry, just do it," he goads, "huh, maybe it's menopause kicking in early? All that stress–"

"Good night, Mr. Hansen," you say curtly and face the elevator just as the doors slide apart, "I'll have the numbers done. I promise."

"Oh, I know you will," he snickers, "but you still owe me. For being such an understanding boss, you know?"

You turn around and grimace in confusion. Owe him? He winks and smirks back, "say hi to the kiddos for me."

The doors shut and you close your eyes, hanging your head in defeat. You're going to be up all night, less than ready for the review and certainly unprepared for Mr. Hansen. You can only hope by then he finds a new target.

[itmighthavebeenintentional]

We've Got Tonight - Ch 4

Summary: “It’s not your job to do this, Andy. You make people happy. I was in the diner all of ten minutes, and you knew exactly how to get me to smile. You do normal, real things like garden and sing karaoke. Saving the world is my job, Sam’s job. Sometimes it’s even Cas’s job, but it’s not yours.”

Inspired by Bob Seger’s “We’ve Got Tonight”

Warnings: Major Character Death, More Major Character Deaths (sort of?), higher than show level violence, blood, light smutting, language, demons, apocalypse, inferred suicide, cult activity.

18+ ONLY, MINORS DO NOT PROCEED

Author’s Note: This story is set hazily around season 8. Just squint a little, and it’ll settle in somewhere. I wrote this story after certain big revelations in the show, but before other big ones; you’ll most likely be able to tell which. I play with time a bit in the story itself, so if things seem out of order, they are. Hopefully, by the end, all the pieces will fit together.

What the hell, let’s give it a shot.

EXTRA WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS THE SOURCE OF MOST OF THE WARNINGS FOR THE STORY. Please don't kill me. THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER, I PROMISE. It's not over yet. I can't promise you won't hate me when it's over, but I will not leave you here. There's more.

Image and major edits by the incomparable @there-must-be-a-lock . Heavy editing and cheering by @thoughtslikeaminefield . Thank you both so much.

In case you missed it: Chapter 3 ItMightHaveBeenintentional’s Masterlist

...

We’ve Got Tonight

Ch 4

Pre-dawn is too damn cold, she decides. She has to visually check that her fingers are actually doing up the buttons to her ragged denim jacket. She lost sensation in her hands a while back, and it’s the only way to make sure they’re actually doing their job. Her jacket is utterly unsuitable for the current temperature, but she doesn’t expect to need it for much longer.

Just before sunrise, Crowley told her.

The sky is already lightening on the horizon, the medium gray more obvious than she would have thought against the stark black, but, then, she’s never had much occasion to be out quite this late before. She’s usually done at the diner by six, singing at the club by ten, and in bed by two at the latest. She hopes Crowley is punctual. She can’t decide if the waiting or the cold is worse.

Except that, yes, she really can. The waiting is definitely worse.

The sound of shifting gravel pulls her out of her thoughts, and she turns to find the King of Hell himself smiling beatifically at her. She shivers, not bothering to search out the source of her discomfort, as she is rather spoiled for choice at the moment. She’s out in the freezing dark, about to hand over her life and soul to a demon because deranged cultists got it into their heads that they should use her blood to start an apocalypse (and who knew there was more than one of those outside of Sunnydale, seriously).

Shivering is probably the most rational reaction she’s had in a while.

“Hello, darling. Pleasant evening with the boys?”

He’s got more sass in one off-the cuff remark than she has in her entire history, and for a moment she can only marvel at the affected innocence in his expression. It's almost convincing. She opts to remain silent rather than take his bait. He smirks, the expression natural and only a touch derisive.

“No surprises, then? No sidekicks to save you at the last minute from the bad, bad demon?”

“I thought the torture didn’t start until after you kill me,” she sighs, hugging her arms tighter around herself, a futile attempt to ward off the chill. Maybe she’s got a little spark in her, after all. He laughs, a friendly, personable chuckle that would set anyone else at ease, reassure them of his honorable, benign intentions.

“Come on, Crowley, what's the hold up? I was here on time. Can we just get this over with already? I could have gotten one more round in with Dean if we were just going to stand around, shootin’ the breeze.”

Even watching for it, she can only just see the tick in Crowley's jaw, the slightest tension that betrays...something. She doesn't know what or why, but Crowley has more than a little unhealthy obsession with the elder Winchester brother, and she is pleased she managed to crack his veneer even for the briefest moment.

At least I don't have to worry about Dean, Andy thinks, relief creeping into the sea of dread that is her stomach. Her deal with Crowley was not only about stopping the apocalypse but also keeping Sam and Dean and even Castiel safe.

“Once you're gone, I won’t harm a hair on their precious heads, nor any other part of them,” he swore to her a mere eighteen hours earlier.

“I’m hurt you don't find my company more pleasant, love,” he murmurs, taking a couple of steps closer. He slides his hands in his coat pockets, the very picture of nonchalance. “I do try my best to be cordial, even congenial, after all. But since you’re so very uncomfortable, I suppose you won't object, then, that I took the liberty of inviting a few friends whose company you seem to prefer. What a lovely party we’ll have when they get here.”

As if he’s summoned them, a pair of lights appear in the distance, growing larger with every passing moment. Headlights, she realizes; a second later, she hears the distinctive roaring of a very particular car engine, and before she can turn back to Crowley, the Impala leaps out of the darkness, skidding across the hard-packed dirt road, coming to a halt bare inches from the demon’s impeccably shined shoes.

Andy stumbles back, choking in the cloud of dust the car kicks up, only to hit something solid. Impossibly strong fingers dig into her chin, lifting her face out and away as cold, thin metal is pressed to the side of her neck, and only now does she freeze.

“Let her go, Crowley,” Dean growls, his gun drawn and aimed even before he exits the car. “This isn't her fight, and you know it!” On the other side, Sam and Castiel climb out, Sam drawing his gun and moving to flank the demon.

“I do heartily protest, sir,” Crowley says, his tone mild and conversational. The blade digs in ever so slightly under her ear, and a thin trickle of warmth slides down her skin to soak into her collar. Dean doesn't flinch, but his eyes narrow, and he readjusts his aim.

“Not only is the lady at the epicenter of this fight, she's gone and made herself the brightest star in the show. Ask her yourself, if you don’t believe me.”

“How-” she manages through fear-numbed vocal cords. Dean should be unconscious, snoring blissfully away in his bed where she left him. She made sure to leave no sort of trail they could follow, and she checked that they were all asleep or otherwise occupied before she took off.

“I wasn’t asleep, Andy,” Dean replies, leveling his gun at Crowley. “And I’ve been tracking since I was seven. Gimme some credit.”

“I wouldn't do that, if I were you, Moose.” Crowley’s words freeze Sam in his tracks, and the blade on Andy’s neck digs in a little deeper. The flow of warmth down her neck widens just a touch. The sheer smugness in Crowley’s tone sets her teeth on edge, breaking through her stupor, and she grabs the hand with the knife, pulling at it with all her might. She, of course, doesn’t make a dent in the demonic strength, but she’s got to try something.

If you asked her later, Andy would swear to you that the searing pain that drags along her neck parallel to her jaw line right then is pure Hellfire. Deep down in the darkest recesses of her mind where all the worst truths lurk, she knows she’s feeling the bite from Crowley’s knife, but in that instant all she is aware of is the agony of the wound, of Dean’s enraged roar, and the juxtaposition of Crowley’s gentle touch pressing her own fingers to something hot and slippery under her jaw.

“Hold pressure there, sweetheart, or you’ll bleed out too soon. Wouldn’t want you to miss the finale.”

Her knees buckle, and she drops, but somehow she stays upright long enough to see Crowley’s demons approach out of the darkness. She tries to warn the boys, but time moves with a dreamlike lethargy that betrays every one of her good intentions, and, anyway, her voice doesn’t seem to be working at the moment. The roar of gunfire all around her sounds faint in comparison to the rushing in her ears, and she is powerless to stop Crowley’s plans from reaching fruition.

“You...said...you wouldn’t...”

“Well, pet, you aren’t dead yet, are you? I’ve got, what, at least another three minutes before you snuff it, by my count. Plenty of time to conclude my business with the Winchesters and their featherbrained friend before you expire.”

Though he was right behind her only a moment ago, Crowley appears abruptly next to Castiel, who at the moment is distracted by two lesser demons both wielding machetes. She realizes as she watches Cas easily fend them off that they, just like Andy, are only a distraction, only bait to tempt the bigger players to overextend themselves.

Too late, she sees the perfection of Crowley’s plan. In all the confusion, she loses track of Sam, and she wrenches her eyes away from Dean’s staggering form only to watch as the angel blade in Crowley’s hand bursts through Castiel’s chest. Then her gentle, confused friend is gone in a flash. The demons vanish, and she can’t find Sam or Dean, can’t reach them, can’t make her voice work to call out.

The quiet is wrong, so out of place after the violent cacophony. The roaring is gone, the gunfire silenced, and all that’s left is a terrible wheezing, gurgling sound that takes her too long to recognize as her own labored breathing.

“Crow...ley…”

“I’m here, darling. What do you need?”

“Lying...bastard…”

“Now, now, sweetheart, are those really what you want your last words to be?” He lifts her easily from the ground, carrying her the few yards to where Dean lies sprawled in the dusty gravel. His shirt is stained black in the retreating darkness, and Andy can only be thankful that she won’t make it to sunrise to see what exact shade of red is spreading over him. Dean’s far hand scrabbles on the ground, stopping its frantic search only when it finds his brother’s.

Sam’s still form doesn’t return his brother’s grip.

“After all, I’ve done you a favor; I didn’t have to give you the opportunity to say good-bye. I can’t promise you adjoining cells, but I’m sure your torture will coincide with his occasionally,” Crowley continues conversationally, “so, really, the two of you should be thanking me that you’ll at least get occasional visiting privileges. It pays to be on good terms with the king, after all. And, who knows? After a couple hundred years of good behavior, I might even be persuaded to-”

“Why?” It’s all she can manage as he lays her on the ground. Dean reaches for her with his free hand, and she is just able to find his fingers. Their eyes meet, but her vision is blurring as breathing gets tougher, and she can’t see what he’s mouthing to her. Even his eyes, such a luminescent green only hours ago, are fading into the remaining dark of the night.

“The Winchesters, dear, it’s always been about the Winchesters. Oh, the fanatics and their doomsday ritual were real enough, as was your blood. I just simply took advantage of the situation, as any intelligent monarch would do. Settled things with the apocalypse groupies, rid myself of some major pains in my rear, and now I get you, to boot! I do love when a plan comes together.”

Dean’s fingers tighten in hers, and she tries to grip his back, but the harder she holds on, the less she can feel him.

She’s not really feeling much of anything but cold now.

“Shut...up...already.”

“Always ungrateful in the end, even after everything I do for them,” Crowley grumbles from above her. But then he does shut up, and she finally feels something besides the cold.

Relief. ...

Chapter 5

[twhstuckylover]

AS DARKNESS FALLS

CHAPTER 2

SUMMARY: Henry is trying to live with the curse he was given. He believes he is doomed to live eternity in the shadows. But when someone comes into his life, he starts seeing the light.

Previous Chapter: 1

WARNINGS: There are dark themes in the first couple chapters. Death and other serious topics will happen, so if you are uncomfortable with these things, no not read! If you are under the age of 18, please do not read. It is not appropriate for teens and children!

A/N: This is the first time I’ve really written any sort of smut, so it most likely isn’t that well written. This is unbeta’d, so all mistakes are mine! I hope you all enjoy this! Let me know what you think of it! Thanks for reading

WORD COUNT: 2241

PAIRING: Vampire!Henry x Secondary female character

RATING: 18+ (smutty goodness and death)

TAG LIST: @viking-raider @angryschnauzer @dancingwendigo @henrythickcavill @raspberrydreamclouds @mary-ann84 @demivampirew @littlefreya @feelmyroarrrr @angreav @la-rousse-folle @inlovewithhisblueeyes

If you would like to be added to or taken off the tag list, let me know!

I do not give permission to post my story to any other social media site. I don’t give permission to use my story in any way other than to read it and enjoy it.

WARNING #2 Again, there are dark themes in here. If you are not comfortable with death or smut, please don’t read this! If you are under 18, please do not read!

Henry goes to the edge of the forest that surrounds the town and waits. It’s a sick game he likes to play with himself. He sits and waits for someone to find the body.

Maybe deep down he wants someone to catch him and put him out of his misery, so he no longer has to live this sort of life.

But he knows in reality that if someone were to catch him, he would fight for his life. No one can find out about his secret. Even if he does loathe being a creature of the night. He needs to keep this part of him away from everyone. It’s safer for them not to know.

As much as he hates being a vampire, he hates how little disregard humans have for their lives even more. How much they take for granted on a day to day basis. He would kill to be a human again and not take his life for granted. There are so many things he would change if he could go back.

Maybe that’s why he plays this little game. To show the humans just how fragile their lives are and how quickly and violently they can be taken from them.

For several hours, he sits in the tree and waits for the dawn to break. He's so caught up in his thoughts that he doesn't notice the woman coming towards him.

His body stiffens when he hears, ”What are you doing up in the tree, sir?”

Henry glances down and spots a “rough around the edges“ woman staring up at him. ”Nothing that concerns you, miss.”

A smirk plays on her lips, ”I can help you pass the time while you do whatever you're doing, sir.”

He rolls his eyes, ”It would not be wise for you to be around me, miss. I would move along if I were you.”

She chuckles, ”Well, no one has ever called me wise.”

She slides her hand up his thigh and he sighs. ”Not to be rude, miss, but I want to be alone. Please leave me be!”

She moves her hand up higher, ”No one wants to be alone.”

”I do! Now, please leave!”

She shakes her head and her hand reaches her goal. She firmly grabs his manhood through his trousers and Henry lets out a deep sigh.

He runs his fingers through his curly mop of hair, ”I am begging you to leave me alone, miss.”

”I’ll leave once I take care of your need, sir.”

Henry flies down from the tree and startles the woman with his speed. A wicked smirk begins to play on his lips as he checks out his next victim.

He declares, ”You can’t take care of my need and never will be able to. No one can. Now please go before you regret coming near me.”

She pays no mind to his words and begins to undo the buttons of his pants, ”I like a challenge, sir.”

The soiled dove leans up and licks at his plump bottom lip. He leads her backward until her back is against the tree and his eyes turn almost black.

He gets a sinister gleam in his eyes then a wide smile spreads across his face. ”So be it! I will play your little game, but we're going to play by my rules. Do I make myself clear, little fawn?”

She chews on her bottom lip and slowly nods. ”Let me tell you about my fares before we proceed.”

He shakes his head, ”There’s no need for that. I'll pay you whatever your price once we are through.”

She raises her eyebrow at him, ”Well then, sir, shall we start?”

”This is the last chance for you to back out of this and leave me be. Because you will hate yourself for even glancing at me tonight.”

As she nips at his jawline, she says, ”I’ll take my chances, sir, because you're in for a real treat.”

His eyes grow a bit darker, ”I will be the judge of that, little fawn.”

Henry pushes her down on her knees and slides his trousers down his thighs. He grabs the base of his hardening member and moves it around in front of her face. He smirks when he sees her eyes go round when she takes in his size.

”Now be a good girl and wrap those pretty lips around my cock.”

She shakes her head and pleads, ”It’s too big!”

He tsks, ”Now, now! I don't want to hear that negativity. We will take it slow at first, but you will get my dick inside you in more than one of your holes.”

The harlot shakes her head again, ”I can't do it, sir!”

”I am paying for your services, so do as I say. Now take my penis in your mouth. I will not tell you again!”

She grabs the base of his growing erection and brings the tip to her lips. She licks the bead of precum from the slit and gets the first taste of him.

He groans, ”Oh, fuck! Just like that, my little fawn.”

She hums at his praise and laps at the slit again. More precum comes forth and she devours it. He tangles his fingers into her hair and holds her head in place.

Henry thrusts his hips forward and she finally takes him into his mouth. He pushes her head forward and makes her choke on his entire length.

She tries to move away from him, but she is no match for his strength. He keeps her in place and begins to fuck her throat. He gives her no opportunity to catch her breath with his brutal pace, but he doesn't care.

He feels the way her body is moving towards unconsciousness from the lack of air getting to her lungs. He finally pulls away from her when he sees that she's going to pass out.

She lets out a loud gasp when the oxygen comes rushing in, but she gets no rest. Henry picks her weak body up off her knees and swiftly turns her around to face the tree.

The air leaves her lungs again when he roughly thrusts his dick into her soaking core.

”Look at that, little fawn, your cunt is dripping for me! Your body craves to have me in you.”

She cries out, ”Please stop! You're hurting me!”

Henry stops his movements and lets out an annoyed sigh. ”Fine. I'll give you about a minute to get comfortable with my size but after that, you'll have to just take it. Do you understand?”

She nods in agreement and he takes out his pocket watch to see the sixty seconds go on by.

The vampire thrusts shallowly into her as the seconds go by. He smiles to himself when he hears the way her breathing changes from the pleasure she feels.

She jumps when Henry whispers into her ear, ”Ten...nine...eight...seven”

Her body tenses up again in anticipation of what he's going to do and he tsks again. “Relax or it's going to hurt still. You only have four...three...two...and one!”

Henry gives her a hard thrust and the head of his cock slams into her cervix. She lets out a loud moan and moves back into him.

He grips her hips with a bruising pressure and lets his need for release take over. He stops holding back his strength and works his dick in and out of her wet hole.

It's music to his ears as her pleasurable screams fill the night air, ”Yes! Yes! Fuck! Right there, sir!”

She throws her head back onto his shoulder and he growls when he gets a whiff of her scent. His mouth begins to water at the thought of having her blood on his tongue.

He grabs the base of her skull and shoves her face into the bark of the tree. He keeps his hand there while his other hand moves to find her clit.

The soiled dove melts into him as his nimble fingers play with her sensitive nub. ”Does that feel good, little fawn? Do you like the way my fingers rub over your clit? Are you going to cum all over my big dick?”

She yells out, ”Fuck! Yes! Oh, yes! Please don't stop, sir!”

”Oh, I wouldn't dare stop now, darling!”

The smirk comes back onto his face as he feels the way she throbs around him as her orgasm draws near. He thrusts into her hard until his entire manhood is nicely inside her then freezes.

She lets out a long whine and tries to circle her hips to get him to move, but it's to no avail. She's about to protest when he begins the assault on her clit.

She grabs at his wrist to stop him, but he moves his hand faster. It's getting to be too much for her.

He growls deeply into her ear, ”Cum for me, little fawn.”

She doesn't think twice and let's go. Her orgasm travels up and down her nerves and leaves her shaking in their wake. Her knees start to give out on her and Henry holds up her dead weight.

The high of the intense orgasm is beginning to wear off and he picks up a much more punishable pace of his hips.

The pace feels good for a brief moment until reality sets in. She moves her hand back between them and pushes against his hipbone to get him to slow down. He tosses her hand to the side and proceeds to ravish her swollen lips.

”Please slow down, sir! It's beginning to hurt again. I can't take it!”

He lets out a dark laugh, ”Too bad! I let you cum, little fawn. Now it's my turn to have some fun. Shut your mouth and take it!”

The lady of the night begins to cry and Henry slams into her harder. He grips her hair tightly and pulls her head back. The new angle of her head exposes her neck more to him and he licks his lips.

He slides his tongue up the vein in her neck and feels her strong pulse. He whispers into her ear, ”I hope you're ready for this. This is going to be the last thing you'll ever do in your pathetic life.”

The frightened girl looks back at Henry and notices how black his eyes are. Her own eyes grow large when she spots his fangs.

”Wh...wh...what are you?”

He chuckles, ”Your worst nightmare, little fawn.”

Her scream cuts through the hush of the night when she feels him plunge his fangs into her throat.

Henry begins to drink her blood and gets the immediate rush he craves when the liquid touches his tongue.

He feels his climax approaching and his hips begin to falter. He growls against her neck as his orgasm spills into her womb.

He gives her one final rough thrust then moves away from the prostitute. She crumbles to the ground and holds onto her neck. She makes herself into a ball and stares at Henry in horror.

As he tucks himself back into his pants, he sneers, ”I gave you the chance to leave, but you wouldn't listen to me. Now I have to kill you!”

The tears begin to fall down her cheeks again as she begs, ”Please, sir! I won't tell anyone about you! Please don't kill me!”

He stalks towards her with eyes full of evil and blood staining his lips. ”It's time to say goodbye.”

In a quick motion, he snaps her neck and her body goes still. He turns his head up towards the sky and lets out a large outcry of frustration.

He falls to his knees and buries his face in his hands. He hates this part of his curse. He hates taking another life to make sure he stays alive.

It takes him a few minutes to compose himself, but he knows what he has to do. Henry picks up the corpse and discreetly makes his way back to the alley to dispose of it with his other victim.

He makes sure that the coast is clear before he bounds off into the forest again. This time he doesn't stick around for someone to find them.

He's so angry with himself. How could he be so stupid and let that happen? He had a feeling that he shouldn't stay and wait, but he couldn't help himself. He just hopes no one saw him slip up in the forest.

But little does Henry know, someone was watching...

[fwoosh-prompts]

Writing advice: Romance

I am not a big fan of romance, but if it's well written I can actually like it. It's just very, very seldom, because my tolerance for it is very low. So what is it that marks the difference between good and bad romance (for me)? (And just to be clear this is not about fics exploring/dealing with the consequences of toxic/bad/"problematic" relationships, as I do not consider those to be of the romance genre in that way)

Good:

It's a healthy relationship.

If it's not a pre-existing relationship, that it's a slow burn. Let us see how it grows from a little seed they don't even know is there to a mighty tree that can brave any storms.

Complimentary personalities. E.g. Big and calm has a lithe and strict partner. They might be cold and dangerous when facing foes, and warm cinnamon buns with each others.

Relations that are wholesome all around

Smooth-flowing, consistent jargon. "I did it when I was their age." "Please don't compare yourself to normal people, honey."

Couples talking through their problems and not just drawing conclusions (see "Bad #16"). Communication is key in any relationship.

When they're supporting each other (in both ways! See Bad #21)

Bad:

Abusive relationships passed off as "romantic". It's not. I will only accept this if surrounding characters see it's abusive and tries to help them.

Stalking as a romantic trait.

A "Plain Jane" (normally with a description which puts them near/on the pretty scale) who don't know how fantastic they are until a boy tells them. In real life, they would either already know they look good, or their confidence is bad enough that Mr. Handsome's words/actions alone won't convince them otherwise.

Instalove. Can we please let this trope die?!

Soulmates. See the soulmate post for why.

The idea that sex=romance. That's a lie.

That all love=romance. There are many kinds of love, such as those between friends or with a pet.

Rape that turns into romance. Just don't. Please.

Claiming a rape-scene is BDSM. It's not. I might not be into it myself, but I have friends who are and I've heard enough of their rants about Fifty Shades to know the difference. (And it's supposedly not a very hard subject to research either.)

The "boy and girl are friends, therefore it must be romance" trope. It's possible for people of different genders to be friends without being romantically involved.

The "bully and victim falls in love" trope. Sure, they often say "Oh, he only did it because he likes you", but have it ever worked for anyone? I think not! It sure as hell didn't work on me: I have no positive feelings for my ex-bullies (at best they are neutral). Nor do I know anyone, or have heard of any irl case where it worked. Can we please stop pretending that's the case?

Love-triangles. In real life, if A can't choose between B and C, they aren't going to try and "prove their worth". They might not even wait for A to make up their mind. The closest thing to an irl-triangle I've seen was when an old lady introduced another old lady to my mom, and then got jealous because they got along better with each other. That drama lasted one day and was only worthy one laugh for how silly it was.

"I'm not like other girls!" *Proceeds to be a stereotypical, flat-dimensioned version of a tomboy girl.* Can we please just accept that women aren't all the same and let this specific scenario die? Don't tell me they're unique and then write a classic stereotype, just show me instead. Give her quirks! A rare hobby/profession! Give her real emotions and feelings! Use your stereotypes wisely so you don't fall into a different stereotype when trying to avoid the first one.

When two characters are your average friendly with each other for several chapters with no hints what so ever there might be more going on and BAM, suddenly there's heavy kissing and a heartfelt (and mutual) confession. All I can think when I see that is "Excuse me but where the hell did that come from?". If you're going to turn a friendship into a romance (which is fine! Encouraged even), you need to put in hints and clues bit by bit so we can see the change happening. This is necessary even if it's two background characters and your protagonist is about as observant as a brick-wall. Let your reader enjoy spotting something way ahead of the MC if that's the case.

The "Fixing the lack of attraction" trope. Now I don't come across this trope so often, but when I do the character who lacks attraction is either asexual, aromantic and/or traumatized in some way. In the latters case, the only "fixing" I can accept is therapy because it might not be the attraction itself that's the issue but the PTSD. But sadly most of the time that's not how it's written. And aces/aros don't need fixing and to claim that is quite frankly insulting. If you really need to use this trope in some way, please please do proper research and understand the difference between various attractions, libdo/desires, traumas etc. etc.

Basing the plot on misunderstandings because they don't talk to each other. Or lie to each other when the truth really wouldn't have that bad consequences (and the times they do, they always end up together again instead of going different ways). If you're gonna use this trope, could you at least consider having them break up and the not get back together in the end? Don't get me wrong miscommunication can be really effective but you need to build up a good foundation for why it would be reasonable for that misunderstanding to even happen and that's not something I see very often.

Romance for the sake of romance. I don't know about you but I can in general spot right away when the author have squeezed in a romance just to have a romance in the story. One good example is Tauriel from the Hobbit movies. While she is a pretty decent character, I feel the only reason she was created (for those of you who've only seen the movies, she's not canon) was to create romantic tension between her and Kili, with Legolas silently pining after her (he doesn't even appear in the book). Like, I would have been fine with her if they had created her to have a bit more diversity, or to break the Bechdel test which they still failed at, but no. It was all for some smoochy romance that wasn't even well written.

The Alpha-Omega trope. Particulary when it's about werewolves (or other mythological creatures). This trope is based on the "scientific wolf-pack concept" wich says the leaders of the pack is the alpha and the rest beta or omega. The problem is, that observation was soon debunked by the man who "discovered" it in the first place. He realized after further observations that alphas just was their parents. But by then people wouldn't listen so they still believe this shit. That's it. So for me, not only is the entire A-O-trope unrealistic, annoying and poorly used, I only get the feeling of incest and manipulations and abuse and so on even if none of it appears, just because I know the "Alphas" just really are the parents.

Having characters become stupid because they're in love. Especially common in books for 10-15 year old girls. Maybe it's just my unromantic, ace ass that can't understand it, but have anyone ever gotten that stupid just because someone (usually a boy) is cute and/or gives them attention? 'Cause I've never seen that irl, and it's just annoying.

The "naive=stupid" idea. Might not be a romance trope in itself, but it's most often used on a virgin female character who has a "romantic" plot. Now, naive doesn't mean stupid. Naive is defined as "showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement" and "natural and unaffected; innocent". The definition of stupid is "having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense". So if the character is in a pickle because they lack the experience to anticipate the consequences, that's being naive. Unless they have been warned about it before hand or heard tales of it and still does it, cause then it's stupidity. And if you're uncertain if it's something your character should've learned about, try asking someone about it who has the experience. A good example of when this is poorly used is the "naive virgin trope", when pretty little ladies gets "introduced" to the world of intercourse by Mr. Handsome who has to explain everything to her cause she's a virgin and knows nothing. The problem with this trope is that unless she has lived a very, very isolated life and still not being told about stranger danger and all that jazz, she's going to have heard/seen some stuff. Probably even experienced some of it. (No really, it doesn't matter how "ugly" or whatever a woman is, I can almost garuantee she have been harassed in some way. I've been harassed, and all women I know and have talked with have also been it at least once, often more. Some even before they hit puberty. There's a reason why #metoo got so big.) So sure, while it's fine they don't know all the terms and details etc., they will most likely be able to understand the gist of a lot of stuff.

When character A supports character B but B does nothing to support A. Support can take shape in a lot of different ways and people have different needs and different abilities to aid with, but even if it is in different ways I do think support should go both ways.

[untilsfe]

Now, this is the thing i was waiting to find! I'm not throwing away my shot!

Ok ok, i stop. Well, if some one understands the reference you can asume i'm a mega fan of "Hamilton the musical", and if you don't know what i'm talking about let me tell you that is the best performance in the world, but keepping that aside... when i saw the similarities with Nigel and his story with the G:KND and Hamilton i said to myself: I NEED TO DO THIS!

So... here se are!

"The Skuyler sisters!"

"Angélica, Peggy, Eliza... and Laffayette" xd

Now i'm going to proceed with the explanation. First of all, my beatiful girls.

If you know the musical you know that the relation of Eliza and Angelica is strong but a little bit complicated with their love for the same guy; that made me put Lizzie as Eliza obviously, not just for the name, it's a cuestion that implicates the relation that she had with Nigel in the series.

And as many people is probably guessing, Rachel is Angelica, this 'couse everyone ship her with Nigel but they are not canon (sadly) so it's a sweet pain for the fandom... and for the last but not less important, Kuki as Peggy! Just 'couse she doesn' t fit with the rest of the principal gang ;-;

I will explain why in a moment.

That's all for the Schylers, so we start with the Hamsquad. Laffayette is a French character, a badass, a legendary warrior (for me at least), so it can't be another than Abby the one that takes his place. She fills all the requierments, she is brave, she is incredible, she has french genes in her heritage and also, the uniform suits her. uwu

In the case of the boys it went more simple. Nigel is Alexander Hamilton 'cause everything is about him Lol.

Aaron Burr has to be Chad, i don't care what comes next, i need the blonde there. Especially when the fact that Chad did not enter G: KND because of Nigel fits like a glove to the story.

I came with the idea for Hoagie as Hercules Mulligan based in his googles and how he transform in teenager in one chapter, in this case, being abble to be the spy the group need to defeat the enemy.

And Wally, he came out as Laurens, i mean he is a great guy and could fit very well... and no, i'm not crying right now 'cause i know what happens to the poor little boy... i'm not!!

To finish, I thank you for get this far and I hope you like the Au, I have other drawings of the rest of the characters but I'll upload them later. Bye bye.