#i like raves and things like this for such a reason like i will rarely ever get harassed or approached by anyone in a weird way

[peachmoonn]

No one should ever let autism stop them from hitting the club. i like to hit the club in the most neurodivergent way possible. all i have to do is

- put all my important belongings (phone, keys, wallet) in my front pockets or in a fanny pack

- keep my hands in above pockets or on fanny pack AT ALL TIMES!!!!!! to make sure i’m not getting ROBBED!!!!!!! this helps alleviate some of the anxiety of being around so many strangers

- wear earplugs (the silicone kind that fit my ear holes and dont drive me fucking insane)

- stay completely sober the entire time (if i drink i get sleepy and then i want to go home)

- dance hard as fuck (it is dark so no one can judge how i behave inside my own skin) (you HAVE to go somewhere where the dj is halfway decent im begging you to support local djs who do cool music that makes you want to dance) (for me that is the only point of club)

and that is my play by play for enjoying the clurb as a sensory-seeking experience rather than a terrifying overstimulating nightmare !

[tyrantisterror]

A Dozen Or So Great Vampire Ladies

Ok, so, on a mostly unrelated post the topic of good vampire ladies came up, and @bisexualdaikaiju suggested/challenged me to do a top 10 vampire women list. As a self-professed lover of vampire women, it felt like a challenge I couldn't back down from. But it is kind of challenging, for two kind of contradictory reasons.

First, while there are MANY female vampires in fiction, most of them feel like afterthoughts, getting far less characterization than their male counterparts, who more often than not are the star villains of the show. When these supporting lady vampires do get something to do, it's generally the same role: make their human lovers sad when they rise from the dead as a monster that has to be killed, an emotional beat that is often undercut by a lot of these vampire women not getting much characterization to endear them to us before they died. Everyone wants to have the Lucy Westerna plot beat from Dracula but they don't want to do the work that Bram did to make Lucy lovable. The lady vamps who get to step out of Lucy's shadow are rare - but that just makes them all the more wonderful.

The second problem is that, since this is an obsession of mine that few seem to share (there are lots of vampire fans, but man do the boy vamps get to hog the spotlight among them), I've done a lot of scattered thinking about it and I just know I'm bound to forget at least one excellent lady vampire character that should be here. And whittling it down to ten, and trying to rank them? That's too hard! My thoughts are too mercurial to do that reliably in a way I don't forget!

So instead here's a list of, like, a dozen or so lady vampires that I think are just fucking stellar, many of which I think break the mold of what pop culture makes us expect lady vampires to be. It is not ranked - I love all these characters more or less equally, and think it's a lot more interesting to see how they take their archetype in different directions than to figure out which one is "best" of the lot.

Carmilla Karnstein

I'm going to start with the most famous literary female vampire, Mircalla Karnstein from Carmilla. I think she might be the first vampire to have an unhealthy obsession with using anagrams of her real name as aliases, though I'm sure now that I've typed that someone will find an earlier example to school me. She's also the one who popularized the idea of lady vampires being extremely sapphic, with an arguably genuine romantic affection for her female victims. She's got well-deserved clout, basically, and like Dracula has been adapted countless times and reinterpreted in some excellent ways. My favorite screen Carmilla is Ingrid Pitt's take, which captures her fierceness, passion, and tragic nature so well.

2. Amy from Fright Night

Ok, we're having one Lucy Westerna knockoff on this list, but as Lucy knockoffs go, Amy is one of the best. It actually helps that she spends 90% of her movie as a human, because we get to know and love her so much before she turns monstrous. And once she does...

It is pants-shittingly terrifying. I will never stop raving about the vampire designs in this movie - they made their "game faces" so fucking monstrous and I feel like in a better world this would be the standard ever since, especially since they still gave the vampires pathos while making them so ghastly when they've got their feeding faces on.

3. Drusilla

Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a bunch of vampire characters, and to its credit they did a decent job of making the ladies just as distinct as the gents. Harmony and Darla could both have made this list, but my favorite was always Drusilla, who was so traumatized before she became a vampire that it kind of overwhelms the demon spirit inside her. Like, bare minimum thing to make a lady vampire more interesting than 90% of other female vampires in fiction: give her at least one personality trait, preferably an interesting one, outside of being a vampire. Drusilla's fun, and she survives the entire series after dumping her boyfriend to be a single female vampire. Good for her.

4. Ruby from Scary Godmother

Ok look I am a fake Scary Godmother fan but kudos to the artist of the books for making a lady vampire who's very clearly of the nosferatu mold and is also explicitly benign and sweet. A+ vampire lady character design. I hope it doesn't awaken anything in me.

5. Nadja

What We Do in the Shadows is excellent at finding new takes on vampires in general - it even made me actually like Psychic Vampires as a concept, a feat I thought was impossible - but goddamn do I love Nadja specifically. She's got a distinct personality as vampire ladies go, being very confident and self-assured while also being a complete fucking goober (it is a comedy, after all). She's perfectly capable of being terrifying AND hilarious, often at the same time. A vampire girl failure, in the parlance of our site. I love her.

6. Lady Dimitrescu

I know that she's apparently only in a fourth of the game, but it's still pretty great that Resident Evil 8 decided its mascot villain - its equivalent of the Tyrant, G, Nemesis, etc. - would be the hottest woman I've ever seen a milf an 8 foot tall lady vampire. She's not dainty and willowy like most lady vamps in fiction - not an ambush hunter - but rather HUGE and capable of tossing a human around like a rag doll. She's a physical powerhouse and she looks fine feminine while doing it. Despite being an unabashed blood-sucking monster, she still has enough depth and complexity to have important relationships (like a genuine love for her "giant mass of hive mind flies" daughters), and also she gets to have an awesome transformation into a fungal vampire dragon, which is rad as hell. Also goddamn, her fashion sense is immaculate.

7. Hecate from Hellboy

"Hey, she's not a vampire! She's a goddess! That doesn't count!" Fuck you, my list, my rules. Hecate posits herself as the progenitor and mother of vampires, she drinks blood, and her main form in the comic is as a sicknasty lamia version of the iron maiden used by Elizabeth fucking Bathory, if she doesn't count as a vampire, nothing should. She is the concept of a vampire amped up to maximum capacity, a major mythological figure and an awesome villain.

...also I lowkey shipped her and Hellboy when I was a teenager. They could have made it work!

8 - 12. Carmilla and her girl squad from Castlevania

I suppose I could have counted Castlevania's Carmilla as an adaptation of Miss Karnstein - they're both basted out of Styria, both sapphic, and it's clear she's meant to be an adaptation of the former, just as the Dracula of this show is meant to be a take on Bram's famous vampire. But ultimately they're VERY different characters in the grand scheme of things - Castlevania's Carmilla has none of the tenderness and vulnerability of her literary counterpart, instead being full of barely restrained fury. She is an excellent villain, complex enough to be interesting but thoroughly despicable enough to make it VERY satisfying when she bites it.

I also love her girl posse... in concept, at least. They've all got great designs and the groundwork of interesting characters, but of the the three, only Lenore, the waifish redhead, gets to do much of note. The two on the edges kind of just show up for a few scenes and then bail before the plot catches up to them, doing very little of note - though at least the big hunky one gets one of the coolest fight scenes in the whole show.

Back to Lenore though - she gets a really nice character arc, and manages to become one of the few sympathetic vampires in the series (while still doing a lot of monstrous shit - she is not a defanged vampire by any stretch). I think her death scene is one of the most moving moments in the series finale.

13. Seras Victoria

A good female vampire has at least one non-vampire part of her personality, right? Ok, so, Seras is:

the muscle in almost every scene she is, which is to say, the one absolutely beating the shit out of people while her allies run for cover

the perky henchman/morality pet of one of history's greatest monsters

the sole ray of sunshine in cast of edgy, cigar-chomping grizzled mercnaries and antiheroes she's been pressganged into fighting alongside

the victim of some HIDEOUS trauma even before her vampirization

the protege of a wise master who gets a full hero's journey arc, taking up his mantle at the end of the series

Like, I love her. She's the secret protagonist of Hellsing. She's got layers like an onion. The scene where she killed Zora Blitz reminded me why I love anime.

(yeah it's the TFS version fuck you)

14. Youko Shiragami

My Monster Secret is not a horror manga. It is a romantic comedy about a bunch of idiots trying to keep painfully obvious secrets hidden and succeeding only because almost everyone around them is as dumb as they are, just in very different ways. It is a manga where an entire chapter can be summarized as "all the characters race to get the last McRib, using their various supernatural abilities to try and cheat their way to the front of the pack." It is one of the funniest and most heart-warming stories I have ever read, one of my favorite romances of all time, and an excellent piece of long form story-telling.

One of the two main characters is Youko Shiragami, a vampire girl who can't let anyone know she's a vampire or else her dad will pull her out of school. She desperately wants to have a normal life with friends and, like, school shenanigans, but her fear of people uncovering her secret and hating her is so immense that she's been isolating herself from everyone, accidentally torturing herself by being close to what she wants but unable to actually have it.

At least, until Kuromine, the other main character of the story, discovers her secret while trying to ask her out on a date. He ends up promising to keep her secret, and the two of them form a real friendship that blossoms into a very sweet romance, where Youko gets to display all her incongruous personality traits that go against what you'd expect of vampires - namely, that she's kind of a ditz, with an unrefined style of speech and a complete inability to be suave and seductive. She's a sweet, flaky goofball with a big heart, who just happens to drink blood and tan really quickly in the sunlight. There is no other vampire like her, and the world is richer for her being in it.

15. Marceline, the Vampire Queen

This list isn't ranked, but if it was, I'd put Marceline at the top. I think she is not only the most unique and deeply characterized lady vampire in fiction, but ranks right up there with Dracula in how she redefines the idea of what a vampire can be. Like, look at the forms she takes!

There are DOZENS of different monstrous shapes Marceline takes during Adventure Time's 9+ seasons of television, and any one of them would be a superb and memorable vampire on its own. And she's ALL of them. Just on a design standpoint, she is a standout. I think only Dracula himself could compete.

But she also explores what the concept of what a vampire is in ways no other vampire in fiction can, in part because of the unique nature of Adventure Time's setting. In a world where humans are an extreme minority and most people are weird monsters, a vampire isn't that odd, so we get to explore what being a vampire means divorced from the comparison to "normal" human beings. There's the expected tragedy to Marceline, of course - she's a 16 year old who has been stuck in that adolescent state for hundreds of years, and much of her character arc over the show (including the magnificent vampire-centric storyline, "Stakes") focuses on the horror of being stuck in that transitional state, not quite a child but not quite an adult. Marceline struggles to mature, to understand herself and others, and her vampirism both keeps her distant from reaching those goals but also gives her a lot of time to figure out how to approach them when the opportunity arirves. Marceline goes from one of the most immature and selfish characters in the show to perhaps the most emotionally intelligent, blossoming into a sensitive and thoughtful person she could never have been without first becoming a creature that seems so inherently opposed to ever having those traits.

And she did it all in a children's show where she was rarely if ever allowed to actually drink blood - a problem the writers got around by having her suck the red color out of things, which is right up there with the Joker Venom from BTAS in terms of genius ideas spawned by children's show censorship.

Marceline is the GOAT.

[tantei-chan01]

So I'm not sure if you add in lore from The Beat Goes On or Trollstopia, or if your only focusing on the movies, but some very interesting things that come about from both animated series is that it really adds to Branch's adorable character and canonized the fact that pretty much everyone adores him, awkward dorkiness and all. He's very, very goofy, and I love him.

Some of my favorite funfacts from the series is that Branch goes to 4AM Raves after being introduced to the concept (originally due to a compromise because the TechnoTrolls were using his favorite hot spring for it turned to a genuine love), likes all types of music after being introduced to it, loves puzzles to an obsessive degree along with his other more natural OCD tendencies, and actually did take part in all the different Holidays and traditions of the Pop Trolls even while be was gray but did so form the safety of his bunker. Its also during these series we get the first hints the bunker meant more to Branch than what we had originally thought.

My favorite favt is the one about the rave, though. Just imagine they all get back from the events of Band Together, after JD got his rights punched out by Barb and they all take some time to rest and relax, and then the brothers are woken up by Branch trying to sneak out at like 4 in the morning (he's not used to people in the bunker and has gotten used to not having to sneak around anymore after everything) and find out it's because their adorable, mute baby brother is going to a RAVE with some technotroll who keeps calling him Dubstep.

There's a reason why I put up a poll, the result changes the storyline of trollstopia

About 2 months after Floyd's rescue and the integration of the Putt-Putt trolls, Poppy comes up with the idea of Trollstopia. After everything that's happened, she realizes that the Pop trolls are behind in many things, like medicine, education, and engineering. They've mastered agriculture, effective natural remedies (with the exception of Branch due to him being rare case), and the art of desserts but not much else. If Trollstopia works, every troll will benefit from it.

Poppy pitches this idea to Branch and his brothers (Bruce is back at Vacay Island and visits often thanks to the Flier Bugs.). They think it's a good idea, but it will take the cooperation of every tribe to make it work. Aside from Branch and JD, none of the other trolls have been in one place together for an extended period of time. Floyd rarely went to the other genres territories, Bruce has only interacted with the occasional Techno troll that washed up on the shore, and Clay's never left the Putt-Putt course. Poppy urges that this would be a great step to achieve Harmony, even if it'll be hard. Branch agrees to help with the condition that he can invite the sub-genre tribes. Poppy readily agrees, and so begins the first step of Trollstopia

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

Surprise

Summary; Eddie didn't expect to fall for Henderson's sister but when she joined the gang in The Upside Down a bond was forged between them, they spent more time together after Vecna was defeated, and they begin to fall for each other.

But How does he tell Dustin that the girl he's in love with is yn? Especially as the gang begin to find out. One by one.

Warnings; Fluff 💞 teeny bit angst, Murray makes an appearance and an observation ;) slight shenanigans. 18+

I don't give anyone permission to copy my work.

Likes/reblogs are always appreciated ❤️

Ever since the defeat of Vecna and The upside down was destroyed peace had returned to Hawkins.

After living in fear for their lives since Will first disappeared and the reveal of the Upside down it was time for everyone to rest and find a little joy.

Eddie hadn't expected to find both joy and love at the same time but since helping Dustin and his friends defeat Vecna, he wasn't just introduced to monsters and the supernatural.

When he first went on the run and Dustin and his friends found him he had also met Dustin's sister for the first time.

It was crazy that he had known the little shrimp for months but his sister was elusive to him, spending her senior year working with Nancy on the school paper.

Their paths rarely crossed and when they did he didn't realise she was the sister Dustin raved or ranted about depending on how well they got on that day.

So you can imagine when she came along when the gang found him at Reefer Ricks...

Yn had been suspicious of her brother's activity for years. Unlike some people in Hawkins, she didn't have her head in the sand about what had been going on for years now.

Strange shit was afoot. Especially last July with all those deaths at the mall... Will Byer's disappearance in 1983, her brother has nightmares where he screamed out about The Upside down.

Whatever that was she was sure it was connected to what was going on in Hawkins for a while now.

So when she noticed Dustin heading to Family Video with Max she discreetly tagged along.

She was worried as well as wanting to find out what was going on. There had been news of a death at the trailer park, Chrissy Cunningham, Hawkin Highs golden girl and head cheerleader, Max was saying something to Dustin about his friend Eddie.

Dustin would be pissed when he found out she was following him but she had to know that he wasn't walking into danger.

Okay... so it wasn't so discreet to bring a baseball bat with her but she wanted something to protect herself, Dustin and Max with if there was danger.

After Family Video she followed Steve's car to a house in the woods, Reefer Ricks place.

What the hell did he want with Reefer Rick? and why was Steve taking her brother there?

Curious and trying not to get angry she heads around the back of the house and sees the gang heading into the shed.

After about ten minutes of waiting, she grows worried when they don't come out and heads inside.

"Shh, someone's coming!" Robin hisses and it's all quiet. She hesitates knowing Dustin will be super pissed but she has come this far now.

Pushing the door open she storms inside and glares at her brother.

"Dustin Henderson! What in the hell are you doing here?" Dustin gapes.

"What the hell? You followed me?" She ignores his rants.

"With good reason? Do you think I don't notice all the shit going on around Hawkins and not worry about you? Especially since I think you've been involved in most of it. Of course, I was worried"

She looks around the room and zeroes in on Eddie Munson and marches up to him.

"Is this some DnD thing you've created?" he shakes his head.

"Jesus h Christ, I wish it was but no" she frowns.

"You're not just saying that and using those pretty brown eyes of yours as a distraction?" His cheeks turn pink.

"Pretty?" he chokes out and she softens when she notices the slight shake in his hand and how his eyes look haunted, pained.

"What's going on?" Dustin groans.

"Shit again? we just explained this all to Eddie?" she levels him with a glare that makes him swear and he sighs, sits down and begins to talk.

💞💞

Eddie was lost in a daydream by the time she woke up, their first meeting still fresh in her mind.

After she found out about the Upside Down and all that it entailed she was thrown into the world that her brother had known about for years.

Being in the Upside down, seeing Steve dragged underwater by the vines in Watergate, hearing about Vecna, fighting off Demobats and seeing Eddie almost killed by the bats, gave her nightmares at times.

With The Upside Down closed and Vecna defeated peace had descended over Hawkins but the memories still remained.

She knew Eddie struggled at times and she was there for him and him for her whenever needed, she was the one along with Dustin who helped treat Eddie's bites, every day for weeks until they healed.

She held him through every panic attack, every nightmare.

Spent nights wrapped up beside him and they would talk about anything and everything, their hopes, dreams, likes, and dislikes.

They formed a deep, emotional connection as well as an intense attraction that was growing stronger and stronger by the day.

The only thing was telling her brother that she was in love with his idol. Dustin hero worshipped Eddie, especially after the events of the events with the demobats.

Eddies lips press to her shoulder and he wraps his arms around her waist, spooning her.

"Hello little spoon" he jokes and she giggles as her plays with her hair.

"Hi"

"What are you thinking about princess?" she sighs.

"Christmas, also how to tell Dustin we are dating when everyone else knows" he smoothes her hair.

"Yeah, think Robin and Steve had a shock huh?" he looks amused and she grows flustered at what happened the other day.

...💞💞

"Eddie" she giggles and he grins as he lays her on the back seat of her car which str brought in for service to the Munson's auto shop per Eddie's request.

The minute she saw him in that mechanic uniform, his hair in a bun and grease on his cheek she couldn't resist him.

The outfit never failed to make her aroused and she wanted him there and then.

Unfortunately, they didn't realize that Wayne had booked in for Steve to get his car fixed, and in her and Eddie's passionate haze they didn't hear Robin and Steve come in.

"Shit" Eddie's tools clattered to the floor and she shrieks as she caught Steve staring and Robin babbling looking anywhere but at her or Eddie.

"Steve what the fuck dude!" Eddie huffs and Steve looks flustered. Eddie notices her mortification and has her mostly hidden as she was laying down.

Flustered she grabs her dress as Eddie tells Steve and Robin to turn around so she could get dressed.

"Oh my God, you and Eddie! I knew it, I and Nance had a bet going but Steve didn't think you two were seeing each other Nance and I knew the entire time so obviously, we notice more than Steve does" Robin exclaims very fast, so much so that Steve tells her to breathe.

"Does Dustin know? Eddie, dude. The little butthead is gonna freak" Steve whistles.

"No, but we will tell him you just gotta give us a little time," she asks Steve pleadingly and he looks a bit uncomfortable at the idea.

"Okay, soon though, I don't like lying to the little butthead" she and Eddie agreed and now they just had to figure out how to say something.

💞💞

El, Nancy and Max guessed straight away, Lucas catching on quickly after that. Mike was the only one who didn't know along with Dustin and Will so movie night was very awkward.

What she didn't realise at this particular movie night hosted for them by Joyce and Hopper was that Murray who was Joyce and Jim's friend would be there and he had an...apt for weedling out couples so you would say.

His attention had turned to them when Eddie kept making excuses to be next to her, see her for a few minutes to discuss some bullshit reason he made up.

That's when Murray starts laughing gleefully.

"Gosh, you two are adorable aren't you?" she exchanges an alarmed look with Eddie who frowns.

"No idea what you mean dude" Murray bursts out laughing.

"I thought Jonathan and Nancy were obvious and don't let me get started with Jim and Joyce but you two? You couldn't be more obvious"

Dustin looks confused as turns to her and Eddie wearing an expression that plainly says what the hell is he talking about?

Shit! This is not how she wanted to come clean and she glares at Murray who looks like he's thoroughly enjoying himself.

"May I suggest that you two go away and find an empty room and get it over with because you're distracting me from the film"

Steve snorts. "Dude, you have no idea but that's already happened" Eddie's eyes narrow and Steve makes an uh oh face.

"Thanks, man" Dustin jumps up and looks between them stunned and she bites her lip trying to work out what to say.

"Dustin, I'm so sorry I never said anything or Eddie but the truth is I love him" Eddie gently grasps his shoulder.

"I love her too Dude, I hope you're okay with this because you mean a lot to me man, even if you are an annoying little shrimp"

They wait with bated breath but Dustin instead of being mad laughs.

"Dude, I know you're in love with my sister and I know she's in love with you. The two of you were so mind-numbingly obvious" she gapes.

"You little shit! You knew all this time and didn't say anything" he shrugs and settles back down beside Lucas.

"Suzie and I had a bet on how long it would take you two to crack. Just saying" so that was that.

Eddie glares at Dustin then shrugs and kisses her forehead.

"Ahh well, cats out of the bag now princess. At least we can be open about how we feel. I can kiss you whenever I want" a mischievous look crosses his face and she smirks.

Dustin looks afraid. Very afraid.

"Ugh, gross dude. I knew about you two but it doesn't mean I need a visual" Eddie pulls her close to him and grins.

"Oh, we'll see Dustybun" Dustin turns to you and looks offended.

"You told!" he whines and she grins.

"Mmm, he hasn't heard your favourite song has he Dustykins?" Dustin's eyes widen.

Robin snorts. "Oh, dont do the whole Never Ending Story thing again "

Eddie laughs and turns to him.

"Dude really?" Dustin huffs.

"It's Suzie and mines thing okay dude? are you going to gang up on me with my sister. Really??" Eddie throws his arm around Dustin.

"Henderson, I'm going to be around for a long long time"

❤️

*Not me wanting to write a fic set a few years later and Eddie is now Dustin's brother-in-law and the hijinks that would ensue. 🙃😂

[rqgnarok]

Jamie and violet flower 💜 him and the reader talking about the future

violet: a daydream about the future / imma try second person for this one

Beard's wedding is a chaotic affair.

It's not that they don't like Jane, really, they just don't know her. Plus, the extravagant decorations, the odd locations, and the unknown guests dressed like they were meant to be at a rave left Jamie a little unsteady.

He's not gone to a lot of weddings, really. His mum rarely talks about her own to his father, and years after that Jamie had given her away in the little ceremony she and Simon had in their apartment, quiet and easy like her previous marriage had never been. Other than that, weddings aren't his strong suit.

He'd been an asshole almost as long as he's been a professional football player and whenever a teammate of his got married Jamie was either not invited or too smashed to retain any concrete memories of the evening.

You're in the car on your way back home, Jamie's hand on your leg as he drives through the country, the sun setting behind them and the city half an hour away still. "I think I'd like a spring wedding."

You've been running your nails up and down his arm thoughtlessly for the better part of the drive, and turn to look at him with curious eyes when he breaks the comfortable silence, some pop song playing quietly from the radio. "Yeah? In Richmond?"

"Maybe," he shrugs, concentrating on both the conversation and the drive, trying not to fall asleep under her gentle touch. "Manchester ain't really home anymore, I think. Mum has to be there, though."

"Of course," you say. Getting married without Jamie's mom present feels like a crime, an idea that's never popped into your mind when thinking about the future. "A friend of mine got married in Hawaii a couple of years ago, but it was such a hassle to get everyone there that I'd rather never do it again."

"No to a beach wedding, then," Jamie agrees, thinking of sticky heat and sand in places it shouldn't be. "If we do it in Richmond then we can get everyone to come. And spring is warm enough that no one's dyin' of heatstroke."

We, he says, and your heart sings happily in your chest. It's all hypothetical until it isn't, and this is the first mention of this imaginary wedding being as much yours as it is his.

"Who'd be your best man?"

"Keeley," he says immediately. "Is that weird? Maybe Roy. Sam's pretty up there, too."

"You can have as many as you want," you say soothingly. It's been a while since you've been able to deny him anything. "We might as well have the whole team up there with us, huh?"

"Don't think that'd be such a bad thing," he shrugs, just a slight twang of hesitation coloring his voice. You raise his hand to your mouth to kiss his knuckles, soothing it away. "Never thought I'd have a team that'd wanna go to me wedding. It's really nice, actually."

"Oh, the invite list is gonna be huge," you reason. "Both our families, your team, our friends, plus ones... All the people we love in one single room."

Jamie doesn't take his eyes off the road, but you can see his grin; soft and unguarded, the one he reserves just for you. "As long as you're there, you can invite whoever you want, angel."

[microwave-core]

Scarvio Headcanons

Guess who’s back on her bullshit

It’s me :)

Nemona, my favorite skrungly dumbass. Sweet thing is trying her best, unable to discern her romantic feelings from her platonic ones for so long. Listen, growing up she only had pokemon on the mind, and once she reached the top she really didn’t have any friends, so she’s still figuring things out. But enough about her being lost in her feelings, because I’ve talked about that enough.

Once she manages to spill her guts and get into an actual relationship, she’s completely lovesick, over the moon. Her entire worldview has changed for the better, as she somehow becomes even peppier than usual. The happiness beaming from her is as radiant as the sun. Her mood is impossible to bring down. She’s just so happy that you’ve given her a chance, that you feel the same way about her that she feels about you.

In general? She’s a mix of eager and nervous. Nemona only recently made real friends, so obviously she’s still learning the ins and outs and weird quirks of relationships, both for platonic and romantic ones. Don’t get me wrong, she’s absolutely ecstatic at the idea of having a girlfriend, and she absolutely loves you with her whole heart and soul, but this is still new, unexplored territory for her. Taking big steps in your relationship makes her heart pound, both from excitement and fear, but she fights against her nervousness with relative ease, viewing it as a mere challenge she must overcome to become the girlfriend of your dreams.

Speaking of friends, Nemona likes to go to them for advice, despite both of them being in the same relationship boat as her, to varying effect. Arven actually gives some pretty sound advice, but that’s mainly because said advice boils down to making and giving you food, and who doesn’t love free food? Penny, on the other hand, essentially just rehashed vagueling romantic things from her favorite manga and anime. Thankfully for you, Arven usually manages to shut her down before any ideas can be planted into Nemona’s head.

Her favorite kind of dates are the ones where you spend time in nature together. Whether you’re going on a picnic or camping or just plain ol’ adventuring, she’s gonna have a great time. Just know that she is going to try and battle every unique looking pokemon you come across. On the bright side, she’ll always give you first dibs when it comes to catching them. It might take a long while for her to catch anything, given her less than stellar throwing arm, but she’ll succeed eventually through raw, sheer determination. 

This mentality can be applied whenever you express interest in catching a pokemon. If you want something, Nemona will get it for you, no questions asked. If you are looking for something super rare? Nemona’s got it. You’re trying to get a shiny? She’s already on it. You want something insane like the rare three-segmented Dudunsparce and you want it to be shiny? Don’t worry, babe, she’s got this. She will disappear for weeks on end and reemerge with the spoils of war in hand.

Please let her geek out, if only for a little bit. Let her rant and rave about the insane battle she had with her rival a few days ago, or about the uber rare pokemon she found earlier in the week. On one hand, she just wants to talk about these things in general, but on the other hand she just wants to know that someone in her life is genuinely interested in what she has to say. It makes her heart flutter in a way that she’s never felt before. The second you give her that kind of attention, she knows that you are the one for her.

Anyways, I always love posts that are like “slander your favs for no reason” so Imma try to do that for each of these ladies, except it isn’t really gonna be slander but I’m gonna call it that anyways because I don’t know what else to call it. For Nemona, I’d say that she’d fall hook, line, and sinker for those old playground rumors, like Mew being under a truck by the S.S. Ann or the Jirachi rock bullshit. If you tell her that they aren’t real, that people just made them up to pull people’s legs, she would be completely crushed.

Penny’s a weird one. Like, just in general, and we love her for that. She is the epitome of what facebook boomers think of the younger generation. She is terminally online and refuses to leave her room unless absolutely necessary. She has committed bank fraud. She is blue hair and pronouns. She is holy fucking bingle. 

Unlike Nemona, who is super eager about taking steps in your relationship, Penny is terrified of them. She’s never been this close to another person in her entire life, so obviously she’s hesitant. Not to say that she doesn’t like being close with you, she loves it and craves to be even closer, but she can’t help but feel a bit afraid of the unknown. That’s all to say, you are going to have to be the one to initiate those steps. Just be careful, even a kiss to the cheek is enough to make her brain do a full system-reboot.

But she wants to take those steps, and wants to show you that she cares about and loves you (although it takes a very long time for her to bust out the L-word). For starters, Penny will actually open up to you about all of her interests. She’s not ashamed of who she is, but she doesn’t tell most people about her interests due to being bullied for them in the past. On top of that, she’ll also introduce you to her Team Star buddies, and they definitely pull the overprotective card on you. Hell, she’d even hack the league again for you if you so much as asked (just don’t tell Clavell she said that).

She also takes your interests into consideration in order to recommend some of her favorite things in return-from manga, to video games, to music. And if you ever tell her about something that you really, really love, she will binge it ASAP. You could mention a game that takes at least a hundred hours to complete and she will somehow finish it within a matter of days, ready to talk about it as soon as the credits roll. She was bullied for the things she loves, so she knows how much it sucks having no one to talk to about them. Not that she’d ever say that out loud, though, because mushy feelings and words don’t come naturally to her.

Kind of an aside, but do you think something like pokemon showdown (online battles) would exist in the pokemon universe? I only mention this because I think Penny would be super into competitive memes. She would totally mention something like homophobic ferrothorn in casual conversation and expect you to understand what she’s talking about. 

Of course, how could I mention Penny in general headcanons without bringing up the theory that she’s Peony’s daughter? How could I pass up an opportunity to, once again, talk about supreme supportive embarrassing dad-of-the-year Peony who’s extremely supportive of his gay daughters? Giving Peonia this treatment wasn’t enough, I seek more carnage.

Now, Penny would definitely have it better than Peonia, considering she lives in a different region and all, but that doesn’t stop Peony. He sends her small gifts all the time, many of which are handmade. In particular, he loves to send little pride flag patches, which she often shares with her friends. He also tries to send her supportive messages to tell her that he loves and accepts all of her no matter what, but they’re always made in MS Paint with a mouse and he has to ask Peonia to help him save the image and send it to her, and it's always either far too small or far too big, nowhere in between.

Slander time, Penny would absolutely own a titty mouse pad of one of her favorite anime characters. She is incredibly embarrassed about owning it, and dreads the day someone finds it, but she still uses it, and goes to great lengths to hide the thing whenever anyone comes over.

Katy is kinda hard for me to write for because it’s in an instance of oh I know someone with that name and it’s hard for me to think of her without thinking about that person with whom I am related to, but you didn’t ask about that.

This woman? She’s the sweetest thing to ever grace Paldea. This lady is so sickeningly sweet at all times, only wanting the best for those around her. She couldn’t even hurt a Cutiefly because she’s simply too kind. Make no mistake, she could absolutely clock the shit out of someone, but she simply chooses not to. Thankfully, she only believes in uplifting others.

Obviously, baking is her passion. She’s spent years perfecting her craft down to a science, enough to make complex techniques look simple. More than anything, she wants to share the joys of baking with you. It’s like giving you a piece of her to hold onto forever. Don’t be surprised if she ends up making you her go-to taste tester, always asking your opinion on whatever new concoction she’s whipped up. All she asks is that you’re honest, not wanting you to lie just to protect her feelings.

Speaking of her craft, she understands how difficult it can be to get into or master a craft or hobby, about how easy it is to put yourself down the second you make a mistake. She’s been there, she gets it, hence why she doesn’t hold back with her praise and criticism. She believes it’s important to acknowledge how much you’ve improved while also keeping in mind how you can strive to be better. 

Despite how sweet and kind she is, Katy does have a mischievous streak. Pulling light-hearted pranks is one of her favorite pastimes. It's small things like signing your email up to some random newsletter or asking “what’s that” while pointing over your shoulder, only to be met by one of her creepy-crawly or bear-shaped pokemon. You could argue that these things don’t really classify as pranks, but she loves doing them nonetheless. Even though they are completely harmless, she always has sweets to give the prankee after the fact, just in case her actions somehow came off poorly.

But let’s skip to the bottom line, you can’t date Katy if you hate bug pokemon. And it’s not because she won’t tolerate your opinion, no, it’s because her little-and big-bugs are around constantly. If your fear was bad enough, you’d likely end up having a heart attack just by being around her for an extended period of time. If you are afraid of them but are determined to be with her, then she’ll do everything in her power to help overcome your fears. Exposure therapy can work wonders if you’re willing to put the effort in, and she’ll reward you with her love and baked goods for being so brave, especially because you’d be doing it for her.

She’s one of the most uplifting, cheerful yet calm partners you could have. She’ll always be in your corner, helping you along the way of whatever journey you are on, but she won’t be overbearing. She’s a very passive person by nature and struggles with confrontation, but she has your back no matter what happens, prepared to catch you and help you back onto your feet whenever you may fall down.

Slander posting time, Katy really got into the “everything is cake” thing. Like, it kind of became a problem, to the point that she spent hours making a single realistic-looking pastry. Normally, she’s not too hard on herself when it comes to baking, as small mistakes are unavoidable and are nothing worth losing sleep over. That is, until she was working on a hyper-realistic Tarountula, where she acted like her life was on the line should a single one be made.

Iono can be super energetic, upbeat, and slightly unhinged at times, and lowkey, chill, and… still kinda unhinged at others. She’s an online personality, so, of course, there’s a persona she has to put up, but with someone like you, she can be her regular self.

For starters, this girl is fuckin’ tired. Putting up her hyper-active streaming persona whenever she’s around others while also having to deal with internet weirdos wears her out. Of course, she’s grateful for her job and the opportunities that come along with it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not stressful at times. She can handle it, though, even if she does end up whining and borderline begging you to cuddle her when you get home at the end of the day, if only for a bit.

When it comes to your relationship, she desperately wants to show you off. You’re her darling, loving girlfriend, who is both incredibly hot and talented. It’s only natural that she would want to show off how great your relationship is. But, at the same time, she’s very secretive with it. For one, she knows how certain people can get when the people they follow get into relationships, and two, she wants to keep her personal life out of the public eye.

Her hair is a nightmare to care for. Not just because there’s a ton of it, but because she has to constantly make sure it’s dyed properly. Personally, I believe her hair is naturally pink, meaning every few weeks she has to get the turquoise parts touched up. Of course, that doesn’t even mention how long it takes to style. All she asks of you (a lie) is to brush her hair, careful to work out the tangles with delicate strokes. She’s always willing to return the favor, tending to your hair based on your instructions.

Whenever you go out, she has no choice but to put on a disguise. On a date, she doesn’t want to be noticed by the general public. Not only would it bring attention to you both, it would also force her to put up her streaming face, which would kinda destroy the purpose of you guys going out in the first place. What’s the point of spending quality time with each other, one-on-one, if she has to be fake to appease those around you?

On the actual dates, she’s super lowkey, even more than usual. It’s not often that she gets to be herself out in public, so she cherishes all the time dearly, even if she has to hide her face in doing so. You get to hold hands, go out to eat, and walk around the streets of Levincia while window shopping, chatting and laughing the whole time. She forgets how much she loves it, living a mundane life, even if just for a few hours. It makes her think about what life will be like in the future. She doesn’t want to live in the public eye, streaming forever, so these small moments are like a glimpse into the future for her.

But Iono can absolutely be a menace, as well, both on and off stream. Like, you could just be on your quiet little date in the city and she’ll randomly ask if you want to go harass Larry. She does it all the time for her streams because the people love him, but she also just does it for fun on her own time. Besides, who doesn’t want to end their date by badgering epic divorce man as he eats 50 rice balls in one sitting?

As for slander, well, there’s many things I could mention here, if I’m being honest, but let’s just stick with the simplest one. She’s done a youtuber apology before in response to some dumb controversy she got involved in, complete with the sigh at the beginning followed by “I never wanted to make this video” and all.

Tulip’s elegant and a bit head strong, and is also incredibly charismatic and business savvy. Beauty is her forte, and she finds it in all things, regardless of what other people think, which she thinks is a mindset everyone could benefit from having.

She’s a bit more difficult than others, in a sense, mainly because of how busy her life is. Typically, she’s talking to business personnel about her next line of cosmetics, either in person or over the phone. As a result, making time for you can be difficult. Sometimes, the most you’ll see of her in a day is her, on the phone, whispering a quick “love you” and planting a kiss on the top of your head before turning her attention back to whoever’s on the other end of the line.

But every now and then, she’ll clear her entire schedule and spend the entire day with you, and she’s pampering to a fault. No matter what you end up doing all day, at some point she’ll sit you down and do your makeup and style your hair all pretty while chatting away. Her work is flawless, obviously, although it does take quite some time to finish. She’ll let you do hers in return, finding whatever choices you make to be beautiful. After all, you picked out the colors and styles specifically for her, so of course she’ll love it.

If you end up going out, she’d love to go to a nice restaurant. It’s a great way to show off how lovely you both look, dolled up, ready for a wild night on the town. Eventually, though, she'll get recognized, leading to you both being tailed by the paparazzi. She puts on her best smile, asking you to play along, but soon enough you’ll both bail. The night ends with you running through back alley streets, laughing and giggling with one another until you eventually find your way back home.

Quiet dates are what she prefers, though, as it’s nice to just relax and unwind with someone you love. She adores meditation and yoga, and would love to guide you through some sessions. She’s learned a lot from Dendra, after all, and needs to put that knowledge to good use. That being said, she’s a very flexible person, mainly because she’s been doing yoga for so long, so don’t feel bad if you have trouble keeping up with her.

While Tulip’s whole business is about cosmetics, she puts a ton of value on self-love. To her, makeup is purely an art form which uses the human body as its canvas. Every face, every body, has beauty to it. If you can’t realize how wonderful you are in your most natural state, then slathering makeup on, what you perceive to be, flaws won’t change your overall self-image. Makeup is a hobby, and it looks best when you use it to accentuate what beauty you already possess. It’s the reason she absolutely loathes self-deprecation. If she ever catches you saying something bad about yourself, whether it’s meant to be comedic or not, she’ll take your face in her hands, squishing your cheeks a bit, while stating otherwise. Like, if you said you weren’t really that pretty or attractive, she’ll go off on a rant about how beautiful you are, both in and out. If she thinks something seriously up with you, that something is really weighing on your mind, she’ll clear her schedule as soon as possible and spend hours spoiling you, making sure you know how much she truly loves you and you alone.

Tulip is also super into self-care. If she’s not posting about makeup or fashion, she’s promoting all kinds of things to her followers. She posts about her morning routine and makes instructional videos for yoga poses and stretches. Sometimes, she’ll drag you out of bed in the morning to join in on her regular routine, mainly her skin care routine as well as meditation. It’s important to take care of your mind and body, and she won’t let you forget that.

Let’s see, slander for Tulip. Normally, she’s a very calm and composed individual, but she’s not perfect. That is to say, there exists a video of her just completely blowing up at someone Christian Bale style. She prefers to ignore its existence.

Rika’s honestly not my type, but I get the appeal, even if she does look like gijinka Perry the Platypus. She’s got that cool edge about her, even when she is wearing her grandma glasses.

She loves to flirt with you. The flustered expression she can force onto your face never fails to make her heart pound in her chest. The way your eyes widen, the way you try to hide your face from her, the way you stammer through your words… all moments she cherishes. She’s not above kabedoning (or whatever the word is) you just to see you squirm. She wants to steal your heart, and will go to any lengths she has to to make you hers.

That being said, I sincerely see Rika as a failwife. She may look sleek and suave on the surface, but behind closed doors? She’s a disaster. She lays in bed at night. tormented by your cute face, as she’s forced to overthink every little interaction she’s ever had with you. It’s like, she’ll think about some interaction you’ve had, thinking she completely embarrassed herself in front of you, that she completely screwed up her chances with you, when in reality you don’t even remember it. Not even the gentle embrace of Clodsire can save her.

Whenever she’s working as the league’s receptionist, she’s thinking about you. It’s not her fault that browsing through your social medias is far more interesting than forwarding emails. Of course, she makes sure to keep them in a separate tab to switch off of them second anyone walks into the room. Just because all of her co-workers, as well as her boss, know that she slacks off doesn’t mean they need to catch her in the act. Battling is a different story, though, as her focus has no room to wander off there.

She’s kinda like a second mom to Poppy. The tot’s far too young to work an actual job, obviously, but she spends a good deal of her day at the league in the off chance that a challenger comes by. Most of the time, she’s sat around, doodling her team and parents and co-workers with crayons on printer paper. Rika spends quite a bit of time watching over her, making sure she’s not getting into too much trouble while praising her artistic talents. Rika makes sure she gets lunch and always sets her down for her afternoon nap and brings her home at the end of the day and whatnot.

That’s all to say, Rika inadvertently built up an attachment to the kid. She never thought she would want to be a mom, and she isn’t even sure if she really wants children of her own, considering being a babysitter isn’t nearly the same thing as being an actual parent, but taking care of Poppy always gets her thinking. For now, at least, she’s content being an aunt. If she ever saw you caring for Poppy, her heart might just explode. You’d simply be too cute, and it would also make her realize that she might have a thing for milfs.

She has a secret love for shitty romcoms. Once you’ve been together for awhile, she’ll invite you over for the night and put one on under the guise that you can make fun of how stupid and predictable it will be, but if you pay attention to her while watching, you’ll notice that the enjoyment she’s getting out of it is far from ironic. No matter how much you may poke or prod or tease, she will never admit it. She just wants you to think she’s cool, is that so much to ask for?

As for her slander, she doesn’t really understand memes. Like, you know the joke about parents always pulling the same face when you show them a meme? That’s Rika, she makes that face almost every time you try to show her something funny. It’s not like she isn’t online, or anything, she just doesn’t understand them.

Geeta, my favorite chairwoman with a voluminous shell of hair. No one knows how she cares for that behemoth, just like how no one knows how a good chunk of the wider pokemon community fail to understand her purpose in the games, but I digress.

As I believe I’ve said before, Geeta is a workaholic. Most of the time she’s tending to her league related duties, which results in little time spent together. When she eventually arrives home, tired but generally satisfied after a long day of work, she kisses you softly as a way to say “hello”, squeezing a bit of quality time in, before shutting herself away in her at-home office to continue working. Unfortunately, it falls to you to tear her away from her work when she’s clearly run herself ragged.

Thankfully, vacations happen pretty often, as she frequently travels to represent the Paldean league. It’s still work, but it gives her a great opportunity to spend time with you. Exploring new regions makes her feel like a kid, like she’s experiencing her journey across Paldea with her Glimmet in tow all over again. It reminds of her simpler days, causing a small, nostalgic smile to find its way onto her face. She encourages you to continue poking around on your own when she has to return to doing work.

Mentioned this in the past as well, but Geeta spoils you endlessly. Gift giving is one of her love languages. She can’t help but think of you when seeing adorable clothes and objects in shop windows and online stores, knowing the delightfully surprised expression you’d make when presented with the sudden gift, even though you should expect these things from her after being with each other for so long. It’s not like she’s struggling financially or anything, so why shouldn’t she?

Also, she loves spa dates. It lets her spend time with, spoil you, and relieve her incredible stress all at once. It’s the perfect date in her mind. Of course, she loves fancy dates, at high end restaurants and stuffy galas held by the league. She enjoys luxurious goods, the expensive, fine wine and food, and she also loves to see you dressed to the nines. But they don’t hold a flame to the love she has for relaxing with you at the end of a long day.

She’s very particular with her things. Like, everything within her office, both at the league and at home, is perfectly organized. The top of the expensive-looking wood is essentially pristine, all her fountain pens and other small knick knacks are kept in holders, and the drawers are full, although not overly so, of neatly filed papers organized alphabetically. She knows where everything is at all times, and can get irritated if someone moves them around. And yes, she has framed photos of you on her desk in both offices.

That being said, certain parts of her home, mostly closets, are messy and borderline overflowing. The closet that her clothes are in is neatly kept to prevent the finely pressed, sleeveless work shirts and blazers from getting wrinkled, but no other closet is safe. They are just full of random objects she doesn’t know what to do with. Normally, she prefers not to acknowledge their existence, simply smiling if you ever brought them up, but if you were to go through and organize them for her, she would marry you on the spot.

She just… she thinks about you a lot. Whenever there’s a slow moment in the day, she’s thinking of you. When she’s moving from point A to point B or transitioning between tasks, she’s thinking of you. When the work place spirals into hectic chaos, she’s thinking of you, because, Arceus help her, if she didn’t think of anything else, she would completely snap and maybe kill someone. Even when still hard at work, thinking about you and what you might be doing at work or home makes her feel at  ease, helping her grapple with her ever-mounting stress.

Geeta slander, okay. Do you know how Mark Zuckerberg owns, like, 30 pairs of the same shirt that, despite looking incredibly simple, are all uber expensive? That’s Geeta, except it’s for her blazers. She has several pairs of them to ensure she always has a clean, ironed one available, which at least makes sense since they have to be dry-cleaned and all, but goddamn she’s put down a small fortune on the things.

Mela, as you would expect, is stubborn and hot-headed. Her reputation as a foul-mouthed delinquent sends most people packing, but if you manage to wiggle your way past her defenses, you’ll end up with an endlessly loyal friend (or girlfriend, in this case) who would move mountains for you.

This girl is incredibly possessive. If you ask her why, she’ll tell you that it’s to ensure that no one tried to mess with you, stopping others from making fun of or coming onto you before they even got the chance. Which is true and all, but she also just doesn’t like the idea of people getting too cozy with you. Simply put, she gets jealous easily. Not that she would ever admit it, as she’d sooner burn through every excuse under the sun before doing so.

She tends to come off rather, uh, strong, to say the least. No matter what she’s doing, she will look intimidating, even with her doofy walk. The day she asked you out, she marched up to you, face as menacing as ever, and just spouted out “go on a date with me!”, leaving no room for opposition (not that you would have said no, of course). It’s not her fault, really, she just has a bad case of resting bitch face. Speaking of your first date, it was kinda awkward, but in an endearing way. More likely than not, you didn’t really know who Mela was outside of her being a member of the team causing chaos for the school, as well as the fact that she was very, very intimidating. Naturally, you were pretty nervous during the date, afraid that saying the wrong thing would result in you being yelled at. Little did you know, Mela was also incredibly nervous, because you were just so pretty and kind and she really didn’t want to blow her chances with you.

Honestly, she doesn’t really have a ton of strong interests. There are things she likes to do, sure, but not enough to call them hobbies. And even then, a lot of them are activities that her friends really love, meaning she only bothers with them when hanging out. She likes these things enough, but most of her enjoyment comes from being with her friends and not the actual thing in question. Whatever you are passionate about, she’ll jump into. As long as you’re having fun, she’s happy.

It isn’t until after Team Star’s downfall that she begins to express her interest in art. She’s always liked drawing and painting and what not, but she never had the opportunity to get into it, mainly because her skills are rudimentary at best. Her only real experience with drawing in recent memory includes poorly doodling in the margins of spiral notebooks and worksheets, which prevented her skills from improving all that much. 

It takes her awhile to break out of her shell and show people her work, as she’s afraid that they would point and laugh at her. Even though she could easily rip someone a new one if they so much as looked at her funny, she’s still afraid of falling into the cycle of bullying she was subjected to before. But she pushes past that fear, knowing that feedback from those that care will only help her improve. She shares more art with you than anyone else, so please be gentle with her. She works so hard on each piece, and is desperate to eat your praise up.

She’s a cuddle bug, one hundred percent. Do not mention that fact, though, because doing so would cause her to explode. She is supposed to be rough and tough, the deep cutting wit of her team that can force even the most self-confident individuals to run away crying. If people knew that she was a little spoon, that she liked to be snuggled as close as possible against her girlfriend behind closed doors, her reputation would be tarnished forever. She doesn’t even want her friends to find out, because she knows they would hold it over her head and tease her forever. And by friends, I mean all of them except for Eri, who would try to stop the others from teasing, an effort that would fail miserably.

Regarding slander, I’d say that Mela owns a ton of those “how to draw anime” books. She was super into them when she was younger, resulting in a lot of embarrassing old drawings. She hates them, but looks back at them sometimes to see how far her artistic abilities have come.

Eri, my beloved. She is peak gentle giant, strong and powerful and an absolute sweetheart by nature. She is your ride or die, willing to do anything she has to in order to keep you safe and happy.

This girl absolutely adores you. She gets drawn in by your natural strength and beauty, leading to her sheepishly introducing herself. Just like Mela, you’d find yourself intimidated by her presence at first, but when you actually get to know her you come to realize how sweet and kind she is. As soon as you’re friends, she would be willing to drop everything for you, and that sentiment only grows stronger when you get together. If you ever need anything, all you need do is ask, and she’ll take care of it, no questions asked.

I kinda implied it with the above, but Eri is actually kinda shy. She really doesn’t like being looked at, finding the stares of others to be intimidating. It was Atticus that came up with the idea of wearing a mask, which helped her feel way more comfortable being around others, despite it drawing in more attention. To be fair though, even if she didn’t wear it, people would still stare due to how tall and muscular she is. Over the years, she’s gotten better, more sociable, but talking to you early into your friendship as well as officially asking you out brought that side of her out again.

She’s a big ol’ teddy bear. She has the physique of a Greek god, and she uses all of those defined muscles to give the most mind-blowing hugs imaginable. With her arms around you, holding you closer than humanly possible, it’s impossible to feel cold or unsafe. She prefers to hold you closely, but has no issue with you sprawling out on top of her or trying to be the big spoon. She just wants to devolve into a tangle of limbs with you, regardless of what position you find yourselves in.

Of course, Eri is super into working out and staying fit. She lifts, she runs, she pumps iron, she does it all, and she loves it. Is she a gym rat? Not quite, but she’s been mistaken for one before. She wouldn’t ask you to join her outright, but she clearly wants you to join in. She’s a bit afraid to ask you directly in the fear that you’ll feel pressured to say yes. If you tag along, to her excitement, she will tone her regular routine down for your sake, not wanting you to feel too sore in the morning.

Also, she’s the type of person to wake up at the crack of dawn. She likes to start the morning off with a brisk jog. It’s her way of waking up instead of caffeine. You can’t stop her from untangling you from her arms upon waking up, no matter how much you may beg and plead for her to stay in bed with for just a little bit longer. She simply cannot be swayed.

She loves horror in concept, but absolutely hates it in practice. She can get pretty excited when sitting down to watch something like a horror movie, but as soon as anything scary happens, she’s out. Not literally, she will sit through the entire thing, but she has to grab a nearby pillow to hide behind when anything remotely scary happens to do so. If you are with her, she will cower behind  you instead, essentially setting you down on her lap  to more easily hide behind your shoulder..

Eri absolutely loves cute things. As evidenced by her princess-esque outfit and use of heal balls. That being said, Eri also thinks everything is cute. There’s the obvious, typical cute things she loves, like stuffed animals and frills and anything draped in pink or purple, but she also believes that her team of pokemon are cute, which, need I remind you, contains a beast that evolves by getting so furious that it fucking dies. Everything is cute in her world, and she will use everything in her power to keep that cuteness safe. The strong must protect the sweet and whatnot.

Slander? Well, I’d say that Eri accidentally breaks things regularly due to how strong she is, but everytime it happens she cries about it. She just feels so bad about it, even if everyone around her tells her that it’s fine because it was an accident.

Miriam is such a mess, but she’s trying her best. She’s kinda like Rika, in the sense that she has a failwife-esque energy about her. She melts under your attention, but that doesn’t stop her from blabbing about you to anyone who will listen.

Poor Miriam is tired and disappointed with her place in life, and it shows sometimes. All she wanted to be was a teacher, but she got shafted into the position of school nurse. Given, it was more or less her fault, considering that she was the one that failed the test. Truth be told, she didn’t study as much as she probably should have for the exam, but that doesn’t dull the sting of failure. She puts on the face of a school nurse during work hours regardless of her dissatisfaction, although doing so can get a bit awkward when faced with the academy’s older students.

That being said, when she finds her spark and decides to attempt the test again, she’s all into studying. If you were to help her out during this time, bringing her food and tea and encouraging her to take breaks to clear her mind, it would be much appreciated. Sure, she always tells others to take care of themselves, but that doesn’t mean that she’s good at it herself. Plus, your encouragement helps her keep going when she wants to throw in the towel. When she eventually passes the test, she’s gonna take you out on the best damn date the world has ever seen as thanks.

Regardless of where she’s at in life, she will come home and collapse on the couch, waiting for you to join her so she can blab about her day. When she’s working as a nurse, she’s bored and dissatisfied, wishing for more out of her work day. When she’s studying to become a teacher, she’s tired and mentally done with things, knowing that she will eventually have to go back to studying till her brain is fried even though she just got home from work. Comfort her please, she’s desperate.

Let it be known that she can fall fast, and she can absolutely fall hard. It doesn’t take much for her to take interest in someone, for her to flirt with you on a casual basis, but when she begins to form a crush, it’s the end for her. She’s tripping over herself whenever you’re around, and blushing up a storm whenever you’re on her mind. Everyone around her knows she has a crush the instant it forms, you included. She can see that her feelings are obvious, so she makes no real attempt to hide them from you. However, she won’t act on them, because she wants you to make the first move.

Once you do start dating, she talks about you constantly. Should anything come up that reminds her of you, even if just by the slightest bit, she’ll bring it up. Some of her coworkers find it endearing, and others can’t stand it (cough Raifort cough). Not that she notices, though, because she’s too busy talking about you to take their reactions into consideration. She’s also the type of person to refer to you as her wife even when you’re just dating.

She’s another cheerleader, but is more out there than the likes of Katy. She doesn’t just want you to know that she’s supporting you, she wants everyone around to know she’s got your back, because have you seen her wife? She’s absolutely killing it, look at how cool she is. Miriam is just incredibly supportive and wants to repay you for all the support you’ve given her, ready to hype you up as much as possible at a moment's notice. Of course, she’ll also force you to sit back and take care of yourself if she thinks you're in desperate need of a break.

Slander? Well, when she’s drunk, she turns into a basic bitch. She’ll move until she’s sitting right next to you, almost tripping several times in the process, so she can lean in close. She’ll run her fingers up and down your arm, her touch incredibly clumsy and sluggish, saying things like “you are SO funny” while laughing and kicking her feet after you say literally anything.

Dendra is also kind of a mess, but for a different reason. Because she’s a huge fitness nut and, essentially, a PE teacher, she often gets injured, making her more of a physical mess than a mental one.

She’s super energetic, always pumped up and ready for action. She could be coming back from a workout, exhausted as hell, but will instantly perk up and go in for round two if someone asked her to join them. It’s like she has an infinite fount of energy, because how else could she always be so active? She doesn’t sleep more than the average person or anything, neither does she bother with caffeine. 

Unlike Eri, I would absolutely call Dendra a gym rat. She’s all about the grind. Working out is her favorite hobby, her happy place. On top of that, she’s extremely welcoming to anyone trying to get into fitness, wanting to help them find what works best for them. Also unlike Eri, she’s much more open about wanting you to join her workout sessions, to the point that she’s willing to beg.

You can always tell when she’s gotten injured by the way she greets you after work. Normally, she’ll rush through your home to find wherever you are, nearly tackling you into a hug. It’s been a long day and she missed you. But when she’s been injured, she sheepishly walks through the door, careful to avoid walking into the room you are in fully to try and hide the bandages from your line of sight. 

In general, she’s just a really bad liar, and she lowers her head, like a child waiting to be scolded, when found out. She doesn’t like hiding things, especially from you, but she doesn’t want you to worry, either. Injury happens all the time in her line of work, making it something she’s grown accustomed to as well as expect. As such, she doesn’t want you worrying about each and every one of her scabs and bruises, even if she does like the way you dote on her.

She really likes to show her love for you. It’s not that she thinks you don’t know how much she cares for you, she just likes asserting it. Obviously, she does this through spending time with you, and being affectionate with you, and saying “I love you”, but she also likes to give you little gifts here and there. This obviously isn’t a problem, much less weird for a girlfriend to do. Rather, the issue is that food is included in that, and she’s an awful chef. She knows this, and tries to improve, but it’s still not great. Eat with caution.

Loves to talk about you to her friends. She doesn’t talk about you constantly, but it’s not uncommon for you to be brought up in conversation with the likes of Tulip and Miriam. Usually, it’s just in passing, but sometimes it’s about how she wants to do more for you, show her love in different ways. Tulip suggests getting dressed up and going out somewhere nice, but that isn’t really her style, and Miriam tries to help her improve her cooking skills, but the lessons never really go anywhere. Still, she values their support and advice, regardless of their effectiveness.

Like both of her friends, Dendra is big on taking care of yourself. It takes a lot of time and effort to keep your body happy and healthy, but it’s all worth it, because it will only result in you feeling better, and when you’re feeling better, it’s easier to uplift others. She greatly encourages you to start some kind of daily routine if you don’t already have one, and she will hold you to it.

In terms of slander, I’d say that she’s the type of person to easily forget dates. She’s got your birthday on lock, but that’s it. Expect her to show up to anniversaries and Valentines dates late with a bouquet of flowers she purchased on her way over.

Raifort, last but not least, is cryptic. I wouldn’t call her gothic, but she really reminds me of that one post about a goth being like “my love I crochet an anatomically correct heart for you” and her girlfriend responding with “aw thanks do u wanna go to target with me?” and I will not elaborate.

She’s got this veil of mystery about her, but that’s not intentional. She isn’t trying to make herself seem mysterious and cool, she just doesn’t like it when  people are all up in her business. Yes, she’s looking for the Treasures of Ruin. Yes, she knows that they’re dangerous and could cause incredible amounts of chaos to fall upon the region at large. No, she won’t tell you why she wants them. If she wanted you to know, she would’ve told you already.

She will blab to you constantly about history and legendaries. When she’s not teaching or planning lessons, she’s reading up about these kinds of things, trying to absorb as much information as possible. According to her, most people aren’t cultured enough to understand the incredible importance and allure of historical records, meaning you are one of the few people who will seriously listen to her sudden info dumps.

Along with that, she furiously rants about how much she hates present day events being, well, present. For instance, she’ll complain about the understanding and utilization of the terastallization phenomenon because it happened in recent history. To her, the present just isn’t all that interesting, especially when compared to the vast richness of the past, making her lose interest in otherwise exciting events.

As much as I hate this word, she has a ton of unintentional rizz. If we’re being honest, your relationship only came to be because you decided she was the one for you after she talked about history for an hour straight in your general direction. She put in no effort into catching your attention, but she managed to do that anyways. She agrees to give dating a shot because you seemed to value the past, as evidenced by you listening to her spiel, and that’s reason enough for her to give you the time of day. 

She isn’t a morning person, not in the slightest, which is obviously a conflict of interest due her being a school teacher. Her job requires her to get up and be at work in the early morning hours, resulting in her needing a lot of caffeine in order to stay awake, much less function properly. Because she’s so tired, she puts little effort into getting ready, hence why her hair is always messily tied up. She does, however, use care when putting on her favorite accessories.

Honestly? She’s a lowkey boomer at times. The internet is a wonderful invention that allows people to quickly gather information they otherwise might not have access to, and she recognizes that, but that doesn’t make her like it. She complains about kids these days relying on it too much to write their papers rather than going to the library and reading books, and about how they are always on their phones during class. She’s not anti-technology or anything, but that won’t stop her from saying shit like “it’s cause you’re always on that damn phone” when someone around, teacher or student, faces a problem.

It’s for that reason that she doesn’t text or call you all that often. She’d much rather come talk to you in person than use her phone if possible. If she can’t find you, she’ll text to ask where you are or when you’ll be available instead of just texting you what she wants to say. Her excitement for historical developments simply cannot be conveyed through modern technology.

Okay, slander (even though the above could already be considered slander whoopsie). Despite her hatred for the modern time period, she’s secretly a collector of Rae Dunn pottery. You know, the type of shit that’s, like, a coffee cup that says the word “coffee” on it in the most basic font imaginable? She loves that shit so much, and has spent an unreasonable amount of money to achieve her collection. No, she doesn’t have a problem, stop trying to insulate otherwise.

[thebadboyfanclub]

The Apple Of His Eye (Aemond x Reader)

Comments are severely appreciated please let me know what you think it keeps me motivated

(Y/n) was always known as the realms fairy, to be around her was to feel the undeniable warmth of her character, her gentle heart and sensitive spirit was the reason so many raves about her, it was a rare thing for a princess to hold such zest for life, how her eyes sparkled when she ran around the gardens looking for flowers and climbing trees, her melodic laughter reached everyone’s ears like the sound of a river flow, her mother Rhaenyra had worked hard to shield her daughter from any harm, she would rather put her head on a spike than allow anyone to taint her daughter.

“Princess Rhaenyra of house Targaryen and her prince consort Daemon of house Targaryen with her children, Jacaerys Velaryon, (y/n) Velaryon and Lucerys Velaryon”

(Y/n) clung on her brothers arm as they entered the room, everyone was staring and they were not very good with hiding their whispers, she had begged her mother let her stay back on Dragonstone, as much as she loved to wear fancy gowns Aegons nameday was an occasion she had hoped she could skip over.

Jacaerys placed his hand over hers as she gripped tighter than ever to his bicep, (y/n) gave a pleading look to her brother to which he responded with a reassuring smile, Jacaerys had always been (y/n)s safe haven, a person she could confide in and vice versa, Jacaerys adored his sister, she was everything the world was missing, gracious, generous, wise beyond her years, there was nothing he would not do in order to ensure her well being.

As they sat down to their respective seats (y/n) was seated next to her cousin Aemond, it wasn’t by choice and she could have easily avoid it still she thought it would be better if she sat next to the prince than her brother Jace.

“Prince Aemond, it has been too long since we saw each other last”

“Indeed princess”

Aemond agreed, how voice was monotone and quite formal. (Y/n) nodded to herself as she rubbed the palms of her hands on her gown to get rid of the sweat that was occurring from anxiety, she had not begrudged the prince, on the contrary she could not help but identify a sort of shame within her, she had been rudely awakened by yelling that night only to ran to the source of sound to find Aemond being stitched up and her younger brother with a bloody nose.

The words the prince had uttered were harsh, not harsh enough to take his eye and be scarred for the rest of his life. Her heart drummed loudly that (y/n) was certain it would burst through her rib cage, she hoped to mend the relationship within the prince and her brothers, maybe after all these years the fire of hatred could shimmer down.

“Do you enjoy dancing prince Aemond?”

“I know the steps although I prefer to be a spectator to such events”

“It’s your brothers nameday I am sure you could make an exception”

“I could”

Aemonds fury wasn’t towards (y/n), he had held a grudge over her brothers however he understood that it would not be fair to be vicious against the princess, the only reason he was cold was that if he even gave one smile to her Aegon would take it as an invitation to tease his little brother and her brothers would most likely take her away.

Aemond had fond memories of (y/n), he could recall the pig incident when she was the only one that scolded the others for the distasteful joke

“Stop tormenting him, how would you like it if he did it to you Jace?”

Her squeaky youthful voice trembled, she never took well with such jokes that were only funny on behalf of making fun of others, he could still bring the memory of her running behind him before he got up on Vhagar to depart, the princess apologised for her brothers behalf, she had even hugged him goodbye before she ran back to her mother.

“Princess (y/n), my name is Aden Baratheon, would the princess be so kind to share a dance with me?”

“Of course my lord”

The man was young, taller than the princess and dressed in a fine suit, Aemond scowled as the princess got up from her chair to walk towards the young man, when she placed her hand in his and gave him a wide smile Aemond instinctively gripped his goblet, he should have agreed to dance with her, his second thoughts over people that did not even matter to him held him back, Aemond was unfortunately a man that cared too much about his image.

“I must say you look ravishing princess”

“Well you honour me my lord, your house is based in storms end am I correct?”

“Precisely, have you ever visited our land?”

“No unfortunately, I do not take kindly to the cold”

“A princess like you would be offered the finest of furs, I would make sure of such”

(Y/n)s cheeks started to heat up, her gaze wavered for a moment as she focused on the ground to regain her composure, the lord was handsome, he held the usual Baratheon features of dark hair and blue eyes, they looked relatively similar expect (y/n)s hair was lighter leaning towards the honey coloured side, her mother loved to brush her hair and called (y/n) “my golden princess”.

As the dance continued Aemond wanted to cut the baratheons head clean off his shoulders, he could even picture his Valyrian sword swiping so easily through his flesh, an image that brought a smirk on his lips as he watched over (y/n) like a hawk.

“If I did not know any better I would say you have the hots for the strong princess”

“I must admit dear brother I am more surprised you can still see”

“Oh trust me I am severely drunk which speaks volumes for how painfully obvious it is that your little pecker is finally working”

“Disgusting as always I see”

“I am just saying what’s right in front of us brother no need to get hostile with me, go on then, dance with her”

“For her mother to see?”

“Rhaenyra won’t do anything, it’s a feast, if you keep thinking about our half sister the Baratheon will get to have a bite out of your little peach before you even show your teeth”

Even in his drunken state Aegon spoke some type of sense, Aemonds visual perception shifted from the woozy prince to the twirling princess, she appeared blissful on the dance floor, Aemond felt guilt spreading over his chest for denying her something that put her at ease, Aemond had observed how (y/n) put almost her entire weight on her brothers arm, even when she sat down he took notice of her wiping sweat in her dress, it reminded him of his sister Heleana.

“Pardon me, may I dance with the princess?”

“Of course my prince, we will speak later”

The Baratheon was so bold to wink to (y/n) in front of Aemond, if he had it his way Aemond would have cut his eye out, let him get a taste of what it is like, still for the sake of the feast and (y/n) he withheld from cruelty.

(Y/n) was puzzled over the harshness of the prince towards the Baratheon lord, when his jaw clenched (y/n)s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, (y/n) swayed on her feet as Aemond did not take the lead for the dance.

“My apologies princess, I should have escorted you when you hinted for a dance”

“It is alright, lord Aden was a good companion”

“Was he? Interesting”

Aemond muttered, what was he supposed to say? You shouldn’t dance with that bastard? He had no right to express himself in such a way nor feel anything about (y/n), yet he did. As the dance went on her eyes captured his soul, the grin that rested in her painted lips made him wonder how his fingers would sense if he graced them.

“I must admit I never pictured us being here, like this”

“Why is that?”

“You have been scarred for life because of my brother, it would displease me but I would understand why you would prefer to remain cordial with me”

“Displease you?”

“we were never at odds, quite the opposite you had been a tremendous help with my Valyrian lessons”

“You remember”

“Hen rhinka ñuha dārilaros” (of course my prince)

Aemond was so indulged with the conversation he had not realised they had talked through the entire dance, it was only when she broke eye contact and slightly bowed that Aemond looked around to see everyone change partners or walk away from the circle.

It was almost like a reflex that Aemond wrapped his hand around her wrist to prevent (y/n) from returning to her seat, she raised an eyebrow at the gesture while Aemond struggled to find an excuse to keep being in her presence.

“Would you like to take some air with me?”

“I would love-“

“Sister, a dance”

Jacaerys never left (y/n) out of his sight, his blood boiled at the scene of Aemond dancing with his sister, his mind racing with schemes that the prince had probably plotted to lure his sister in and hurt her, he would be damned if he let her go right in the wolfs mouth.

“I was actually going with prince Aemond outside”

“I am sure prince Aemond does not mind taking that walk alone, isn’t that right uncle?”

“Indeed my… dear nephew, enjoy your time together”

What he did not say was “while you can”. Aemond smiled at the princess and turned his back to retrieve from them his next target was none other than his mother, Alicent and Aemond always shared a close bond especially after the accident Alicent made it her mission to be the safe space Aemond could be honest to her.

“Mother, a word please”

Alicent did not verbally respond, she simply raise herself up from her chair to follow her son out of the room, (y/n) was too busy dancing however Jacaerys watched the mother and son depart, something in him told him it wasn’t just a coincidence that Aemond went to the queen, he shook himself to get rid of the presence of the greens from his mind and prioritise having a fun moment with his sister, it was a celebration after all.

-

“Princess, the queen is asking for your presence in her chamber”

(Y/n) had just gotten dressed when news of the queen summoning her, it was way too early for something like this which only meant it was important.

“Did her grace ask for my mother as well?”

“Yes princess”

“Alright then, let us get this over with”

(Y/n) had been frightened from the queen, Alicent had never done anything to the young princess, actually Alicent would always hug (y/n) and her daughter Heleana when they used to play together, (y/n) was the only person that could get Heleana out of her shell, the two princesses had been close for years until (y/n) and her family left for Dragonstone.

The walk to the queens chamber was rather short, howbeit (y/n) had started to sense cold sweat form on her armpits, the sensation was similar to dipping your legs in the cold ocean and the waves smacked you intensely.

“Your grace, prince Aemond”

(Y/n) curtsy respectfully as she entered, her mother was already seated directly at the head of the mother and son, it appeared like they had already discussed something that left Rhaenyra with a sour look, (y/n) sat close to her mother moreover Rhaenyra locked her one hand with her daughter, her hand was cold enough for (y/n) to be aware of how this might go.

“Has something happened?”

“No dear, we just have a proposition for you”

“For me?”

“I brought you here to discuss a match”

“You do not have to agree if you do not want to my sun”

Rhaenyra interrupted as she squeezed her daughters hand for encouragement. Rhaenyra internally prayed that her daughter did not agree to this, alas if the princess wanted to marry Rhaenyra would not go against it, she would not repeat the same mistake her father had done to her.

“A wedding match? With whom?”

“Me”

Aemond finally spoke up, (y/n) was stunted still something inside her fluttered, when the prince gave her a faint smile she could not help but reciprocate it, honestly (y/n) had never considered Aemond as a possible match until now, alas she was presented with such an opportunity, this could be the chance to mend all odds within the family.

“I- I am sorry it is a bit of a shock”

“You do not have to agree immediately my sweet”

“No I mean, yes I would be honoured”

“Are you sure? You do not have to rush”

“I am not rushing mother, this is a great match and would help us put any differences aside, Ivestragī īlva letagon īlva enoger” (let us bind our blood)

“ānogar, you always struggled with that world”

“ānogar, thank you Aemond”

Aemond only nodded as a sign of approval to (y/n), Rhaenyra and Alicent watched the interaction quietly. When Aemond asked his mother to betroth him to the princess she thought her child had gone mad, from what she knew they hadn’t spoken in years, even when they were children Aemond was too shy to speak to the princess, they played together sometimes but they had no type of bond that could cause Aemond to seek for a wedding.

Alas, Alicent trusted her son and called for the mother and daughter first thing in the morrow, once she saw the small talk between them it dawned on both mothers that this was no long year of a physical bond, it was a spiritual connection of familiarity, (y/n) was drawn to Aemond due to his noble ways and her soul searched past the facade Aemond had worked so hard to build.

Aemond was in much need of a person that he could lean on, her serene aura worked almost like a soothing balm against the wound that tormented him for ages, her voice resembled the sound of a wave that washed away any concerns or fears, (y/n) was the piece Aemond was missing, she was to be the apple of his eye.

Requests are open!

[apoemaday]

Ars Poetica?

by Czeslaw Milosz tr. Czeslaw Milosz and Lillian Vallee

I have always aspired to a more spacious form that would be free from the claims of poetry or prose and would let us understand each other without exposing the author or reader to sublime agonies.

In the very essence of poetry there is something indecent: a thing is brought forth which we didn’t know we had in us, so we blink our eyes, as if a tiger had sprung out and stood in the light, lashing his tail.

That’s why poetry is rightly said to be dictated by a daimonion, though its an exaggeration to maintain that he must be an angel. It’s hard to guess where that pride of poets comes from, when so often they’re put to shame by the disclosure of their frailty.

What reasonable man would like to be a city of demons, who behave as if they were at home, speak in many tongues, and who, not satisfied with stealing his lips or hand, work at changing his destiny for their convenience?

It’s true that what is morbid is highly valued today, and so you may think that I am only joking or that I’ve devised just one more means of praising Art with the help of irony.

There was a time when only wise books were read helping us to bear our pain and misery. This, after all, is not quite the same as leafing through a thousand works fresh from psychiatric clinics.

And yet the world is different from what it seems to be and we are other than how we see ourselves in our ravings. People therefore preserve silent integrity thus earning the respect of their relatives and neighbors.

The purpose of poetry is to remind us how difficult it is to remain just one person, for our house is open, there are no keys in the doors, and invisible guests come in and out at will.

What I’m saying here is not, I agree, poetry, as poems should be written rarely and reluctantly, under unbearable duress and only with the hope that good spirits, not evil ones, choose us for their instrument.

[notroosterbradshaw]

Number 3 - Instinctively pressing your hands against your lover's cheek as they passionately rave, only for them to stop talking and gape, completely distracted by the lack of distance.

I have no doubts you're going to kill it!

- XOXO Star

I haven't intentionally been sitting on this, I've just had a year and I'm sorry it's taken so long to get back to this, Star. I'm sure you've forgotten about it but thank you for submitting it:

Number 3 - Instinctively pressing your hands against your lover's cheek as they passionately rave, only for them to stop talking and gape, completely distracted by the lack of distance.

From Meaningful Gestures Prompts.

You sat perfectly still from your spot on the kitchen bench, wine in hand as Bradley ranted about a training run maneuverer from earlier in the day that easily could have gotten someone injured... or worse. He rarely brought his work home with him, but the last few weeks with Maverick returning to his life... it'd been a very different story.

"And then, he has the gall, the fuckin' gall, to ask Phoenix where Mav is hiding," he laughed in spite of it all. The anger that seeped through his rasp made you quake to try and calm him, but you knew it was fruitless until he got it all out.

"What did she say?" you asked, taking a dubious sip, watching his hard body in motion, tense in his agitation. You took all the steps you knew he needed to get through before he'd see any reason and tried to ignore how sexy he was when gruff, flight suit wrapped around his waist, the stench of the day's sweat still drifting from him, muscles taut from the punishment he'd put it through that day. Lactic acid building up as he had missed the gym to rush to his friends' sides.

He paused and licked back a grin, trying to deny his humour. "That she was dead and called him a dickhead."

"Well, Phoenix can't be accused of not having a quick whip of the tongue," you reckoned and you were so proud of her for giving as good as she got. And it was true - Hangman Seresin was a dickhead. She couldn't be accused of misinformation.

"But then it all went haywire, baby. I can't believe I get to say that she and Bob survived this," he pressed his palms into the edge of the bench top, knuckles white with anger and leaned over the bench, head dipped in sorrow. You gently took his cheeks in your warm hands and brought his gaze to yours. He sighed, his body edging towards you and resting between your thighs, his strong torso pressing against yours and you tangled your legs around him, not letting him get free for anything, waiting anxiously for him to melt against you.

"She and Bob are okay, baby. They've got the scare of a lifetime and angels on their shoulders, but they're okay. They will be released in the morning and probably have more to prove than ever before."

"How do you always know the right thing to say?" he looked up at you as he eased his big hands around your ribs, searching your face as perspective started to come him.

"Fluke," you told him as he couldn't resist the way his lip quirked, a slow smile coming to his face. "So tomorrow, you get up in the air and blow Hangman outta the sky. Make him the example, okay?"

Bradley nodded. "I don't think I'll have to, Phoenix 'n Bob will have him deep in their sights," he said, breathing deep.

"She loves a good grudge."

"She really does."

"Like someone else I know."

He made a face. "Don't start on Mav again, okay?"

"I'm not, I'm not," you told him softly, kissing between his brows, smoothing the lines with your lips as they calmed under your touch. "You don't need me to remind you he's your commanding officer and if you want to be picked for this mission - which I really wish you would renege on - you have to find a common ground for him or else you're no better than Hangman, okay?"

He nodded, staring intently into your eyes. "You're right, I know."

"I'm always right," you told him as he rolled his eyes and kissed you momentarily. He was interrupted by his phone pinging and he checked the message, relief evident on his handsome features. He showed you the words from Phoenix, telling him he'd better bring his A-game tomorrow because she and Bob were not going to let a blip like letting a bird strike ruin their intent to fly the mission. "Looks like you don't need to fight her battles, huh?"

"Nope," he grinned, a little proudly. "She'd blow me away even if I tried."

"Then you had better get your head right and worry about you because if I know Nat, she's not concerned about your grudges and only concerned about how she gets her and Bob on this team."

He nodded and kissed you. "You're right. You're always so fuckin' right."

"You knew this long before you married me, flyboy."

He giggled quietly. "S'pose so."

"And you're welcome."

"Wish you were up there with us..." he confided, so sweetly. And for a millisecond, you agreed with him and with the cry through the baby monitor beside you, you grinned. "Got something else to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground these days, thanks, Lieutenant Bradshaw."

He gave you that smug look of satisfaction when you teased his rank. "I'll go," Bradley whispered, wanting to see his baby girl for the first time today and he let you let go of him to head down the hallway to the nursery.

"You're a good man, Bradley Bradshaw," you said after him as he looked back with a wink over his shoulder before disappearing from your view and you'd never tell him how scared you were for him, because he didn't need the to compound the stress he was already under. You would only pray he came home safely, he had more to live for than ever before.

[tsams-confessions]

We're coming off anon with this one boys. It's long and I apologize but it's been weighing on my mind for quite some time.

There are three things people tend to know me for in this fandom. My art, my fanfics, or my thread on TSBS server. Said thread is a place where I talk about the psychological aspects of the show, as well as do character analyses and sometimes even analyze entire lore uploads for the kicks and giggles. I'm a psychology major, I also have ASPD. I made the thread so I could talk about Eclipse, who at the time I suspected had the same disorder I do and which was later confirmed less than a week after I made the thread. Since then Ruin has also been confirmed as an ASPD haver, which I personally deeply enjoy. It's fun for me to talk about my disorder and relate it to the show since ASPD is really hard to understand. 99% of people are inherently capable of empathy, and about 2% of that 98% lose that ability during childhood. So it's understandably not a very well-understood disorder. It's also a very scary and dark disorder, and I can say that honestly because I live with it. Due to this fact, it tends to be villainized in media, and I am very refreshed by the fact that TSAMS does a good job of not making their ASPD havers raving lunatics with a thirst for blood. 

Anyways, that's just background information. So far I haven't met very many weirdos about ASPD in this fandom. Almost everyone is very chill with the fact that I am a sociopath and I haven't received a ton of weird comments about it. It's a relief since I deal with a lot of open stigma and harassment irl because I refuse to pretend to be something I'm not. However, there was an instance in my thread when I was actively talking about ASPD, and a new member decided to. . . I don't even know. It was creepy and weird, and really uncomfortable. They basically told me that I'm 'too nice of a person to be a sociopath' and that they could tell that I wasn't a sociopath because they see the good in people. They also said that they were surprised that there are sociopathic people and inferred that sociopaths are pretending, whatever that means. They kept going to keep making weird and stigmatized comments about the disorder, as well as continuing to compliment me in a very unnerving way. I think about it a lot because it was very uncomfortable to be interrupted like that in the middle of talking about ASPD. There was the new mod online and participating in the conversation, but they didn't say anything to the person who was actively making me uncomfortable, even though I expressed such in the chat. 

I deal with a lot of stigma and ableism in my day-to-day life, where people tell me that I can't be a sociopath because of really stupid shit. Like the fact, I get along with people or want to help people in the medical field. Or the time-tried 'but you're a woman' comments. I don't understand why the mod kinda just left me to fend for myself and ignored the person causing issues, and while I don't hold it against them, I do have anxiety about this situation repeating itself in the future. It's not easy to talk about a disorder that the average person could not even dream of understanding, and it's even harder when people who don't know you are trying to tell you that your disorder is fake based on flimsy reasoning. It's really invalidating of the actual hellscape I had to survive to be able to even turn 18, and it rakes up my anxiety to a 10 just at the thought of it. There's not a lot of safe spaces for someone to talk about having a dark disorder, and even less for something as rare and misunderstood as ASPD. It's hard enough as it is being a high-functioning sociopath, and I just needed to rant, I suppose. Haha, could make it a "tl;dr even I get offended sometimes."

Anyway, not dropping names, but it wasn't a private matter. Nor am I upset with the mods, it's just a thing that happened that I think about a lot because it's a very rare thing for me to be offended. Glad that the majority of this fandom that I've interacted with has been willing to hear me out ASPD, but I just worry about having a repeat situation like this. It's a very sad thing to witness in this fandom that talks about inclusivity. We can't pick and choose our disorders, and where there are canon sociopaths in the show one would think the fans would try to be a little more educated on the disorder (not directed towards anyone and I appreciate the people who are willing to ask me things about it instead of making assumptions).

.

[hexpea]

Ch. 2 - Expected

"It was arranged," Seiko's jaw nearly fell to the floor as you finished explaining the circumstances of your first marriage. 

You nodded in confirmation. "Unfortunately," you sighed. "I certainly didn't ask for it. But at this point, it seems like I'm going to need to head back to Tokyo to get Gojo to sign the damn thing...again."

Your partner sat back in their seat in thought, waves of understanding flooding their mind. They felt bad for causing such a fuss about it earlier though it was entirely warranted.

"Y/N?" Their voice was soft, their hand reaching forward to touch yours that you had resting on your knee. "What if we made it a thing? We're due for a vacation. I'll come with and we'll enjoy the sights of Tokyo. The whole divorce thing can be just a small part of the trip, no need to over-worry ourselves. We'll get it taken care of." 

You thought about it for a moment, searching your mind for any downsides. A few began to populate in your mind, but Seiko was quick to interrupt. "We're getting married this time. Let's take some time to celebrate ourselves, eh?"

"You just want to go to Tokyo, don't you?" You looked at him slyly, a crooked smile on your face. Seiko had be raving about it for the past few months; you had originally (and hesitantly) been planning to have your honeymoon there.

"I do," they admitted, their smile matching yours but their gaze looking away as if they had been 'caught.' They had rarely left the small town you lived in. Seeing Tokyo in real life sounded like a dream to them.

You took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Alright," you agreed, "let's make it a thing."

The next thing you knew, you found yourself boarding a bullet train. It was a four and half hour ride to Tokyo from Hokkaido. Unfortunately for you, this meant you had plenty of time to ruminate on your past -- the whole reason for this visit. 

The train itself had faded, patterned seats, well worn from years of use. The car was quiet as passengers filed on in order and silently began putting away their luggage. The air itself smelled stale, like any other form of public transport. It was the last place you thought you'd be at that moment.

"Here are our seats," Seiko smiled at you eagerly, tugging along a suitcase. 

They stuffed their suitcase in the overhead bin and helped you in getting yours up there as well. With a wordless smile, they offered you the window seat to which you obliged. 

"Besides settling into our hotel, what's the first thing you want to do when we get there?" Seiko asked as the two of you now sat in the faded, plush seats of the shinkansen. 

You gave them a funny look. Seiko was never one to be overly eager about going anywhere let alone planning activities. "I don't know," you answered as if each word was its own sentence, a funny yet suspicious tone in your voice. "Do you have anything in mind?"

"Nothing in particular," they shrugged, causing you to furrow your brow even further. Why bring it up then?! 

You shook your head and ignored your surroundings, opting to put some headphones in and stare out the window as Seiko began scrolling through their phone. Just as expected, with divorce on the brain, your mind went to that place and your heart already...ached. 

The divorce was amicable. It was honestly something that had been a long time coming, almost expected, as Gojo found himself alone in his clan. He didn't seem remarkably upset about being the last of his name, his parents now both passed on -- mother preceding father. The lack of emotion had concerned you but you let it go. 

Saying that your marriage didn't have love...that would be a lie and you knew it. The two of you had been childhood friends, closer than anyone could get without being family or, well, being in love. Admitting it was a different story.

Things between you two had begun to distance when Geto entered the picture as soon as you reached high school age. That, and Gojo had started taking on missions with Geto as well -- tough missions that you couldn't be a part of. You found yourself linking up with Shoko Ieiri who also mostly stayed behind, being helpful with her reversed cursed technique. 

At the time, you were honestly happy about his absence. With adolescence, his personality had developed beyond repair of arrogant confidence to which he didn't hesitate to irritate you with to no end. He honestly irritated everybody one way or another, and took pleasure in it.

But there was unspoken love that grew during your time as husband and wife. The conflict had once pulled on the strings of your heart, telling you everything you needed to know of your feelings toward the Limitless sorcerer even as he asked for the divorce. But those feelings were a distant memory.

It was August, a warm, summer evening five years into your facade of a marriage. You found yourself enjoying the nightly air, the distant sound of fireworks from the summer festival humming through your ears. 

You were dressed comfortably, getting ready for bed and having a cup of tea to relax. The stars were remarkably bright that night, twinkling in nearly every direction. It was in that moment you were thankful that the Gojo estate was just outside of Tokyo, no bright buildings to prevent such a beautiful sight. 

Satoru had just returned from a mission, still dressed in his jujutsu uniform and dark blindfold covering his eyes. You heard him approach from the opening of the shoji screen behind you. You could hear his footsteps approach behind you as you looked up into the cosmos. 

"Hey there," he purred, his voice dripping with a teasing tone as it always had as he joined you on the porch. He couldn't resist making light of the situation, even when his emotions were in a flood of conflict. You knew him well enough to expect his cocky demeanor.

You sat cross-legged while he let his legs dangle off the side, using his hands to prop himself up. He looked up with you as he greeted.

"Hi," you answered, your voice quiet after taking a sip from your tea. "How was the mission?" You asked while trying to maintain your composure in the face of his playful attitude. 

"Mission? Oh, piece of cake," he said with a smug grin, leaning in closer to you. "But, you know, I'd much rather be dealing with you, Y/N. You're the real challenge." He winked, emphasizing the double meaning of his words. 

There was a moment of awkward silence as he lingered longer than he usually would. He took a deep breath in preparation for his next words. 

"Y/N..." you looked over at him, your wide, interested gaze causing him to rethink his decision for a split second. He tried to hide the smile that was growing from seeing your doe-eyed face. He decided he needed to hold firm; he had promised himself he'd stop postponing and tell you. "I think that we should...file for divorce."

There it was, the words you were, honestly, waiting to hear. The conflict brewing in your head made your chest hurt. The marriage was a sham. It was to produce an heir, something the two of you never did, for the Gojo clan who was now a team of one. You had to and did accept the fact that this marriage was holding both of you back.

Your silence was irking Satoru as you continued to sip from your tea. He fidgeted eagerly for your response. It was then that you realized he was waiting for something out of you.

"Okay," you responded calmly, holding back the emotions that were threatening to bust forth. "It's not like we love each other." 

Satoru, though cocky and confident on the surface, felt a pang of turmoil deep within. He knew what he felt for you, even if he was hesitant to admit it to himself.  The two of you were completely ignorant to one another and beyond saving. This time it was his silence that got you going. You could clearly see he was trying to read your plain expression.

"What? It doesn't have to be that sad," you added, trying to maintain some levity despite the heavy situation.

"What will you do?" Satoru asked you, his future path already decided and very clear.

You thought to yourself for a moment, ignoring the knot that had begun to form in your throat. "Hmm..." you hummed, tilting your head up and away from him to hide your dampened eyes. It was just now settling in that the arrangement was coming to a close. "I wonder what the beach looks like in the snow."

Satoru smiled at you, a mixture of relief and turmoil in his eyes, knowing that he had to let you go. "Ah, Hokkaido," he nodded. "Yeah, it's beautiful."

The two of you sat in continued silence for a few more moments. The booming of the fireworks had long stopped since his arrival. The complete silence a bit jarring from your conversation.

After a while, Satoru leaned over and pressed a lingering kiss to your cheek -- the only 'affection' the two of you allowed yourselves besides in public when necessary. The only time you had ever been intimate with him outside of the occasional kiss was your wedding night, never once doing it again.

Talk about mixed signals, you thought to yourself. 

He came to a stand and you looked up at him with a gentle smile before he departed. "I'll be there, any time you need me. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," you nodded once, voice breaking slightly, causing your cheeks to turn red in the dark. 

As Satoru left you alone on the porch, your emotions swirled like a turbulent sea. The tears that had begun as a mixture of sorrow and relief now took on a new dimension. There was a sense of betrayal that began to seep into your heart, though you couldn't quite pinpoint its source. You stared out into the night sky, the stars still shining brightly above. The sound of cicadas filled the air, and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves of nearby trees. The beauty of the night was a stark contrast to the turmoil inside you.

The divorce had been inevitable, and you had known that a long time. Yet, hearing those words from Satoru still stung. It was a reminder of just how far the two of you had drifted apart over the years. As you continued to sit there, sipping your tea and gazing at the stars, you couldn't help but wonder what the future held for you. The prospect of being alone was both daunting and liberating. You had spent so long in a marriage of convenience and now you had the opportunity to rediscover yourself. 

Your train pulled into Tokyo station in what felt like the blink of an eye. You were so lost in your thoughts that Seiko had to squeeze your hand to snap you out of your trance. 

The bustling station presented a crowd of noise, announcements over the intercom for arrivals and departures, and the feeling of people rushing around you served as a reminder that you were back in the heart of the city where you had grown up. 

"Wow," Seiko admired the large station as the two of you guided yourselves off of the train. "Are you ready for this?"

You nodded, your resolve firming up as the two of you began your walk out of the station. The memories of your past with Gojo had left a bitter taste in your mouth, but you were determined to close that chapter of your life for good. The strange sense of betrayal you had felt after that fateful conversation with Gojo had lingered, but it was time to move forward.

As you navigated your way through the station, you couldn't shake the anticipation of seeing your parents again. It had been far too long since you had been home and you knew that your reunion would be emotional. But duty called, and you had brought the divorce papers with you, determined to get Gojo's signature. 

The Tokyo streets outside the station were familiar yet different, a testament to the passage of time. Seiko walked beside you, 'oooing' and 'ahhing' at all of the sights. Their presence provided you a bit of stability that grounded you in the present moment. As you hailed a taxi to take you to your hotel, you couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions -- fear, anticipation, and a newfound determination to finally put an end to the chapter of your life that had been marked by a love that had never fully bloomed.

[7-wonders]

In Waking Hours

Roommate!Calliope & GN!Reader (platonic)

Summary: Calliope's planning to enjoy a nice, quiet evening sitting outside under the moon and enjoying her relative freedom when she sees you still haunted by a particularly brutal nightmare. Plans change, because she's not about to let you face the worst parts of her former husband's realm alone, obviously.

Word count: 3.6k

A note from the author: (You don't have to, but you'll have a lot more backstory if you read To the world we dream about first)

Shitty summary but you have a nightmare and Calliope's like "well this is my emotional support human so I can't not help!" WOW this is the first time I've felt truly inspired when writing in months. S/o Calliope girl hope I'm doing you proud by giving you the stories and love you deserve.

So, I know that this isn't going to get a lot of love since there's no actual Morpheus in this, just mentions which means my normal tags can’t be used, but I love this little fic-verse I've created so much that I have to write it. (All this is to say please show this fic some love if you enjoyed!!!) This isn't romantic, but there are definitely romantic fics in the pipeline. The nice thing about a loose fic-verse is that there are plenty of fics for you to read if you don't want an eventual throuple :)

(But hopefully there will be plenty of fics for you to read if you do want an eventual throuple)

I would be remiss to not shout out the reason this fic-verse exists in the first place and the person that I can talk about any and every random fic idea with, the lovely @ivandra-winters! Thank you, thank you, thank you for everything.

Calliope doesn’t really sleep well anymore.

Not that she needs sleep in general. She’s a goddess, after all, and divine beings such as herself only sleep because they want to, because they feel like indulging in all the wonders available to them upon closing their eyes. Few things truly and regularly excite beings of myth, but the Dreaming is one of those few things. Only very rarely, such as in cases of extreme injury, do they need to sleep. Mostly, sleeping is a comfort, a way to pass the time.

In the early days of her imprisonment, after Erasmus Fry first captured her, Calliope thought that she would use sleep for both. Though her relationship with her husband had ended about as terribly as a relationship can end, the Dreamlord had never reneged on his promise to always give Calliope the sweetest of dreams. She would rest, then, and find a distraction and comfort in the Dreaming until someone, be it her sisters or her mothers or somebody seeking her favor, would save her.

Then, she found out all the terrible things one person can do to another while they’re unconscious.

Even though she’s now safe, the once-familiar action no longer comes easy to her. Almost every time she’s tried—and those have been few and far between—she wakes up in a panic before she can fall asleep enough to even make it to the Dreaming. When she closes her eyes, she sees them once more. Both of them, Fry and Madoc, taking what was never theirs in the first place. She feels their cruel, rough hands on her body, hears their voices demanding that she give them inspiration for their works. 

(Works that she wishes would be little more than drivel. But no, nothing inspired—forcefully or not—by her could ever be drivel. They’re wild successes every time, and so the men just continue to take take take until Calliope thinks that she has nothing left to give. But she does, because she is the Muse of Epic Poetry, and for as long as people still believe in her, she shall be a source of inspiration. And so she continues to be drained like a tree of its sap, an essence so integral to her being that she knows not who she is without it. Until one day, when Madoc returns to his home ranting and raving—and there is a knock at the door.)

Calliope’s been doing some reading on the device that you gave her, the one that’s like a digital library, and she believes she might have what today’s humans call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The inability to sleep, the flashbacks, the ever-present hum of vigilance that still thrums under her skin and warns her that the threat might be just around the corner—it’s all there, and it’s all her. It’s humiliating to think about it as a possibility, and more humiliating still to see herself in the words written. 

Goddesses shouldn’t have trauma! They shouldn’t even be in a position where trauma could be inflicted on them! She misses the age when she was at her strongest, the age when people worshipped the very ground she walked on, dropping to their knees in reverence and begging for her gifts.

But that world is long gone, and Calliope has landed in a new one that is entirely foreign to her. Slowly, though, she likes to think that she’s adjusting. Since the night is long and sleeping is not an option for her at present, she finds other ways to pass the hours when the rest of the world rests. The 21st century is new and exciting, and there is much to catch up on. 

Not only is she learning more about this new world, but she’s also learning herself all over. There are hobbies that she gets to discover once more, enjoyments that she forgot were hers. She listens to music (music now is…very different from even a hundred years ago, but there have been some works that she enjoys) and reads—not just the books that tell her things about herself that she does not wish to hear, but she reads epics! And poetry! How she missed poetry; that special language so near and dear to her, the words of her most favorite patrons. She reads all that she can get her hands on, good and bad, for the simple pleasure of being able to read once more.

Oftentimes, she simply enjoys the quiet at night. She basks in the knowledge that she can do what she wants, when she wants, with nobody lording over her or imposing their will. Yes, she is still technically bound to a human, but that is a non-issue. Calliope knows with absolute certainty that you have no idea of who she is or what Richard Madoc had done when he declared that she was your problem now.

She likes living with you, though it has been an adjustment being what you call a ‘roommate’ instead of a captive. Whereas the two men (if such brutes can be referred to as men) had been the worst of humanity, she finds humanity endearing when she sees it through your lens. How can she not develop a fondness for you, with how earnestly you try to include her in your life and make her feel like she belongs? 

There is also some level of comfort to be gained from the blissful ignorance you live in, the way that you believe your world to be black-and-white with no potential of the things you were taught to be nothing more than myths and stories. To you, such tales don’t exist—Calliope, the Muse, doesn’t exist—and Calliope, the woman, feels that she is able to let her guard down for the first time in a long, long time.

At times, she can feel your desperation for some sort of inspiration, lost as you attempt to complete your studies. It is comforting to know that you have no idea the being that you now share a home with. It is even more comforting to know that she has the choice of whether to grant you some inspiration or not. 

Tonight, Calliope decides for herself once more, and thinks that she would rather like to sit outside on the patio and enjoy the late night. With her mind made up, she sneaks out of her bedroom with a blanket in one hand and a book in the other.

“Oh!” Calliope gasps in surprise, startled upon seeing a figure sitting on the couch. 

Moonlight shines through the curtains that were most definitely closed a few short hours ago and illuminates your face staring out at the dark. She relaxes, but her fear immediately shifts to concern upon seeing what look to be tear tracks drying on your face.

“Hey. I’m sorry.” Just as she suspected, your voice is thick with tears. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Do not apologize,” she lightly chastises you. “Are you alright?”

You nod and use your sleeve to wipe under your eyes. “Yeah.”

It’s obvious that you’re planning on leaving it at that, which simply won’t do. Calliope levels you with a stare (a ‘mom stare,’ you teasingly referred to it as the first time she used it, without knowing how true your words were. One day, she thinks, she’ll tell you about Orpheus. Once the pain of losing him stops hurting so much) that you try your hardest to act unaffected by. You sigh after a moment, knowing that the fight is lost.

“I had a nightmare,” you admit. “And like, I’m not a little kid anymore. So why did this nightmare scare me so badly that I literally woke up and jumped out of bed in fear?”

Well, that explains why she heard a noise of surprise from your room, followed by a loud thump. She assumed that you hadn’t yet gone to bed, that you were up late finishing a project or just plain procrastinating your sleep. Why your late night required what sounded like the moving of furniture was beyond her. But no, instead, you’ve found yourself at the whims of a nightmare. 

Nightmares are not something that Calliope has a lot of experience with. She’s met nightmares, of course. With how much time she spent in the Dreaming, it was a foregone conclusion that she met a nightmare or two. And when they weren’t performing their duties, a lot of them were really quite nice!

(The only nightmare she truly could not stand was her former husband’s most beloved creation—The Corinthian. He…creeped her out, for lack of a better term. It wasn’t just the ocular mouths, though those were also chill-inducing. Rather, it was his entire demeanor. Like he was simply playing nice, biding his time before he could go in for the kill. She was glad to have never seen him again after the end of her marriage.)

But has Calliope ever actually dealt with a nightmare? The lives of immortals are long (obviously), and while she may have once had nightmares when she was very young, it was so long ago now that she can’t remember any particulars. Even when her own son was young, nightmares were not truly a concern. Though she and Morpheus had mutually agreed that he needed to sleep like a normal child at least sometimes in order to aid in his development, the very first time his little brow creased and frightened whimpers began to well in his throat, that decision was quickly forgotten in favor of comforting the boy and assuring him that nightmares would harm him no longer.

So, while it’s true that she does not have much experience with nightmares, what little experience she has had helps her to know just how frightening they can be—and how frightened it’s made you. 

“Would talking about it make you feel better?” Calliope asks.

You shake your head resolutely, determined to keep your fears to your chest. “I don’t remember it anymore.”

For many mortals, dreams and nightmares do not follow them out of the Dreaming. They may remember snippets of it, or certain emotions, but often, they fade away in the few hazy moments after waking. It’s pretty obvious that this isn’t the case for you, however. You continue to hold yourself tense, as though whatever had troubled you while you slept would reappear at any moment. Calliope has also seen you deep in thought a couple of times now, and the way you were looking outside when she first stepped out of her room was the same way she had seen you look when trying to complete schoolwork or focus on making something complicated. 

Up until now, you’ve tried so hard to always be positive and to make your home and yourself as comforting as possible so that Calliope may have the best possible environment to heal. She appreciates it—this new life she’s found herself in has truly been conducive to recovery—but now, she struggles to watch you try to keep up this facade so as not to lay your upsets upon her. She wishes that you would, though; that you would feel like you can confide in her the same way that you have made her feel towards you. After all that you’ve done for her, you deserve to feel like you have gained a friendship. 

Calliope will let you keep your secrets, then, even though this means that particular avenue of help is closed—she will not force you to do anything that you do not want to do. She moves on to Plan B, into the kitchen where she fumbles around until finding the kettle. Filling it with water, she places it on a burner and turns the stove on. Though she’s still not very confident around newer inventions like kitchen appliances, she’s proud of the fact that she’s slowly learning.

At the sounds, you peek up from the couch. “What are you doing?”

“What you’ve done for me when I find myself particularly upset,” she says, fetching two mugs from the cupboard.

“You’re making me tea?” Your voice sounds strangled, as though you can’t imagine why she would be providing you this small comfort.

You first started making tea for Calliope on the night that she technically became ‘yours.’ After locking herself in the bathroom and scrubbing her skin raw under the stream of hot water until she was sure that every inch of her body was clean from the DNA of another, she spent an interminable amount of time just enjoying the knowledge that she was now safe. While it was true that you were still practically a stranger, she had lived for long enough now and had honed her gifts well enough to be able to get a good read of a person’s intentions.

From the moment that she met you, you held none of the same ill will as the others. No, your immediate concern had been making sure that she was warm. When was the last time somebody cared for how she felt? She watched intently as you grabbed a coat from your vehicle, sure that, at any moment, your intentions toward her would change. Though she didn’t believe that she had the power (both strength and will) to fight you off, she would not be caught off-guard if it came to that.

But it never did. You simply wanted to make sure that she was out of harm’s way. You concluded on your own that whatever had happened to her in that house, at the hands of the man you called your professor, was horrific. To you, Calliope was a woman, battered and scared, with nothing to her name and nowhere to go. It was the obvious option to offer her food and shelter, to ensure her safety, simply because it was the right thing to do.

Still, even after your show of immense kindness, she did not want to face you, for some part of her was waiting for the inevitable. When you would demand the use of her gifts, wanting inspiration and fame and power and riches. She was dreading the potential that you were simply another human wanting to take take take. So she waited until the water ran cold and she was shivering. Even then, it took until she physically could stand the water no longer for her to finally make slow moves to get ready to leave the bathroom. Toweling herself off and putting on the borrowed clothes (clothes that actually covered her skin, so much more than the satin slips that she had been granted by her former captors) could only take so long, so with a heavy sigh, she steeled herself and opened the door.

There was no sign of you, however, and a quick glance at the light from under the closed door of one bedroom indicated that you were inside. The only sign of life that proved that you were once in this space was a plate and a mug sitting on the counter. When Calliope cautiously got closer, she saw a note next to them. 

“Made you some dinner and tea. I’ve always been told that tea (or your preferred hot beverage of choice) can do wonders for making you feel better, and I’ve found that to be true a few times now. Sweet dreams!”

Your name was signed at the end, along with what looked like a drawing of a smile.

Aware of the very real possibility that this could be a trap—Fry, after all, had first tried to woo her before taking what he believed to be his by force—she hastily grabbed the ceramicware and made off to the room that you had called hers. She had no real need for food, of course, nor for bathing. But they were those same creature comforts that not even the gods were above, and beyond sporadic, cold baths, they were creature comforts she had been denied for over sixty years. Calliope would take any that she could get, especially when they were (seemingly) freely given. Unfortunately, she was not in a position to spurn such gifts right now.

These gifts kept coming, without an expectation of anything in return from her. She was free to take whatever she wanted, go anywhere she liked, do anything she wished. And you were always there to cheer her on and encourage her, with a smile on your face and (when she wanted it) tea in hand.

“‘Make’ should perhaps be used loosely.” She smiles sheepishly, back in the present as the kettle begins to warm. “Depending on how much of your help I shall need after the water boils.”

You wrap a blanket around yourself and make your way to Calliope. “Then we’ll make it together.”

After the tea has been successfully prepared and you’re both settled back on the couch with a large blanket shared between you, Calliope asks, “Do you have nightmares often?”

“Not like when I was little. I was one of those kids that had night terrors, y’know?” She doesn’t know, because she has never heard of them more beyond being mentioned in passing when she was still wife to Dream of the Endless, but she nods regardless. “Apparently, I would just scream and shake until I ran out of breath and woke myself up.”

“I am so sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. Like most kids with night terrors, I never remembered them.” You take another sip from your mug. “This is good tea, by the way.”

“You are the one that determined when the tea was done steeping.”

“Yeah, but you boiled the water, which is an integral part of tea-making.” You smile at her, the first smile she’s seen from you tonight, and it makes her feel a little better, like she’s doing something right. “So well done.”

You fall quiet, having said what you wanted to say regarding your nightmare and choosing instead to enjoy your tea. Though you’re content with companionable silence, Calliope is not. She feels like she should be doing more to help you, to comfort you. Caring for another, helping someone to feel better, does not come easily to her like it once did. She has been burned for too long now, that caring nature snuffed out early on in her imprisonment. But slowly, like the first blades of grass pushing back through the soil of a blackened landscape after a wildfire, new life has started to grow in the middle of this scorched area of her heart. She wants to help you, to care for you. 

She wants to make you feel better.

“My younger sister, Thalia, is far better at this than I,” Calliope admits with a sigh.

“Better at what?”

“At cheering people up.” 

Indeed, Thalia did not preside over comedy for no reason. Many times over the years that she’s been unwillingly away from her family, Calliope found herself wishing that Thalia would be right next to her. She loves all of her sisters equally, but Thalia would have effortlessly known what to say or told an anecdote that would have made her imprisonment easier. Perhaps it would have even given her the extra strength needed to truly fight and find a way out.

You bump Calliope’s shoulder with your own. “You’ve done a really good job of that yourself, Cal.” 

She feels her chest warm, both at the compliment and the term of endearment. Somewhere along the way, you (and your friends, who are just as kind and welcoming to her as you have been) adopted a nickname for her. This is new for her—prior to her imprisonment, she was Calliope, eldest of the Muses Nine, Beautiful-Voiced, Chief of All Muses. She has always been Calliope. But now, sometimes she is Callie, or Cal. Those who call her this do not know that they are in the presence of a goddess, that she should be commanding the respect that she deserves from mortals who believe her one of them.

Instead, she finds that she loves having a nickname.

“You have…eight sisters, right?” you ask.

“Yes. Thalia is the second youngest.” Calliope has only spoken about her sisters in the most vague of ways, hesitant to reveal too much. Telling you the names of a sister or two certainly won’t hurt.

“It must be so much fun when you’re all together.”

Calliope smiles wistfully, feeling that familiar pang of homesickness. “It is. There are lots of laughs shared, and we all leave with enough stories to last until we see one another again.”

It hits her almost as soon as the words leave her mouth: There is something that she can do to help. She can do what she does best, that which is her chief function. She can tell you a story. Already the words come to her, the tale writing itself within her, nestled right at the hollow of her throat, and just waiting for her to speak it aloud. Her inspiration, her gift, is used on herself for the first time in a long time, and as her mind goes to work, she remembers why it is that she is so coveted. It feels intoxicating to think up a story once more, to be inspired to create. It’s an old feeling, one that was once so familiar to her, that it feels quite like a homecoming for her to be experiencing it once more.

“Have I ever told you of the wager that Thalia and our sister Mel once had?” she asks, baiting you.

You look at her curiously and take said bait. “No.”

Calliope smiles, feeling her power hum within her as, for the first time in a long, long time, she prepares an epic of her own. “Well, it started one summer…”

•••

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[alpaca-clouds]

Telling Stories to better the World

*looks on the calender* You know what time it is? Yeah, it is time for the alpaca to rave on about the power of stories once again. Because I kinda feel that we cannot talk about that enough.

Say it loud and say it clear: Stories have power over us.

The baddies kinda understand that. Which is why they use stories as propaganda tools. I mean, there is a reason why the US Military funds the Marvel movies and stuff like Top Gun. Because it is propaganda that exists to serve their goal.

And humans also have always kinda understood it. Because guess what: Fairytales existed as teaching tools. Be it to teach kids to not run into the forest at night... Or do a Beauty and the Beast and exist to teach young girls that: "Hey, your political husband might be abusive, but you can try and tame him, girl!"

A lot of oral stories have once existed for such reasons. To both teach people about the world and reaffirm a society's values. And this is still true to this day.

I have been harping on anarchist ideas vs capitalist ideas for the last few days and the entire story thing plays into this a lot.

And yeah, I gotta crap on the MCU here once more, because it kinda is the most influencial offender here. Because those people know the power of stories. Which is why in most of the MCU movies the bad guys wanna change the system - while the good guys heroically defend the status quo without ever questioning whether or not the bad guys might actually have a point in some cases. (Worst offender is obviously Falcon and the Winter Soldier.)

Given that mass media right now very much is held obviously by the capitalist class, for the most part media only rarely gets to sneak in messages that are too anti-capitalist. (Which is also, why modern Cyberpunk, especially western Cyberpunk, does not have a ton of bite going on.) And in many cases it has to be sneaky and rely on the lack of media literacy in the folks financing the movies. Like the Matrix, for example. But in that case they obviously run the risk of the viewer also not quite getting that message, if they are not primed for it.

But we do need those stories.

We need stories in which people rebel against a system and win. In which those rebels are allowed to be heroic, instead of the narrative going: "Well, sure, their goal was admirable, but we just cannot condone violence!"

We also need stories in which people live in a less hierarchical society. In which people are aiding one another. In which it is not rugged individuals saving the world, but close-knit friend groups and communities working together.

And we need stories, in which climate change is stopped in time. In which people live actually on renewables and micro grids. In which people then also live without capitalism. Because we need to learn to view that world as possible,

So, if you are a creator... You know what to do!

[o0o0thorn0o0o]

I be back.

Images by themselves below the cut because I spent way too much time on them + text because I’ve been gone for a while—‘course I got a lotta say.

It’s certainly been a while, eh? I did this last cour, too, and I swear to God if I do this for the next cour… Worst part is, I haven’t even watched it yet this time, rip :,) Will definitely do sometime later today, for sure, for sure.

So, I meant to get this done for IchiHime week (and look at how that turned out, haha), but not only was July a month full of pleasure, but it was also full of pain work. I was bordering a D for Orgo, so I spent a good portion prioritizing that—and it wasn’t for naught! Not only did I pass, but I went from a C- to a B! A freaking B, not even a B-!!! I’m still so shocked… I also ended up with over a 100 for lab, but I honestly kinda expected that. I’m just so glad I graduated without failing Orgo 2. Was infinitely better than Orgo 1, but goodbye, will never see you again. If I ever do, it’ll be too soon… Had hella good professors, though. That, I will say.

I go from ranting about Orgo to raving, even though it’s almost been a month… Oops ^^” The grade just still makes me so giddy, haha. Anyway, been mainly prioritizing drawing this (plus a part two to this, which I do have done as well, but I will be posting that sometime later today), though I did spend a good portion of the first half of this month rebooting my personal writing club. Enough about where I’ve been—let’s talk about the piece, shall we?

So, this was originally just an art idea I knew I wanted to do later, and when I saw what the first prompt was, it automatically came to the forefront of my mind. That, plus with the idea I eventually got for the second prompt, I really just had to. I actually probably could’ve gotten this done in a more reasonable time, but, see, when things are just an idea, I don’t put too, too much thought into them—only enough to consider them neat or substantial or something.

When it actually came to it, I found myself at a dilemma of just how faithful I wanted to stick with Orihime’s confession. Originally, I thought about incorporating the five specific things she mentioned into different past lives, but then I realized the timelines wouldn’t really make sense with what I was going for, especially considering Soul Society and stuff, which I had not thought about. So I kinda had to choose between previous lives or parallel lives. I initially went with the latter, but… idk, last minute, like the week of, I decided after checking the prompt list one more time that, nah, I definitely wanted previous lives. So, uh… yeah… I might still end up making a parallel lives version of this in the future, ‘cause I did like those ideas, too. We’ll see.

Anyway, I did try to make them at least somewhat reminiscent of the five things: Orihime and Hikoboshi are related to the astronaut thing ‘cause of space and stars and stuff. Heian Period IchiHime, well, it’s a bit of stretch, but I couldn’t really fit donuts in here since the timeline between them and the introduction of ice cream and the current timeline would’ve made one/two of these lives tragically short without even factoring in Soul Society—nothing wrong with tragedy, but not for this post, haha. So I went with small Chinese cakes ‘cause they’re a sweet? And they’d definitely be a very rare and special treat, so… idk.

Shinigami IchiHime’s also a bit of a stretch? You’d think I’d have the easiest time with being a teacher sometime in history, but I ended up sticking it here, and I was adamant I wanted to draw them in their academy days. So, you’ve got Orihime teaching Ichigo some kido techniques or something, idk. Maybe there’s also a kido equivalent to the dummy Hollow thing? And Orihime has a similar/equivalent position to Shuuhei for that? Idk, am just spitballing here to justify myself even though I know I don’t have to.

Then finally, we got Edo Period IchiHime, with Ichigo introducing ice cream to Orihime for the first time ever. And then of course, I shouldn’t have to explain the last one, haha.

Oh, God, I have so much to catch up on… which I will do later. And hey, since my scheduled posts are all up, I guess I’ll just use my queue to reblog posts I’ve missed since Ik I definitely will be reblogging a lot—don’t wanna bombard you with a ton of posts, aha. I will be making them daily instead of weekly, though, so that I’m not stashing them for too long. Starting tomorrow.

[lillian-gallows]

Kinktober Day 3: Hatefucking with Steve Harrington.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader. Word count: 1477 Warnings: Hatefucking (Or my shitty attempt at it), P in V, Lil bit of dirty talk, OOC!Steve Harrington (That bean would never act like this). Kinktober Master(sub)list.

Minors DNI

Normally when someone carries the titles of King and Queen in high school, it means they’re together. Or at least like each other. Friends at the bare minimum.

You and Steve Harrington are anything but.

Tommy and Carol like to joke about the “Kingdome being in strife because the King and Queen hate each other” which usually results in one of you telling the pair to shut up.

It really was hate at first sight for the pair of you. Starting at the beginning of middle school and following you into high school. Looking back, you don’t even remember what was done or said that put you two at odds to begin with, probably something stupid and juvenile, but it didn’t matter seeing as you both took turns doubling down on antagonizing each other ever since.

It was a rare day that you deigned to sit at the same table with Harrington, usually it was because he was dating, or fucking, one of the other cheerleaders and was sitting with her at the same table as you.

He’d tried to bury the hatchet once, in freshman year, asked you out on a date and talk everything out, at the time you’d thought he was being serious, genuine, his eyes had shone with what at the time looked like honesty, but then you saw Tommy and Carol giggling and whispering behind him and saw through the façade.

Your adamant no, sprinkled with a few choice words explaining why, and a couple more aimed at the giggling pair of assholes you associated with for no more reason than they usually supplied alcohol for your parties, was all it took for everything to pick up right where it left off.

You’d ranted and raved for hours to your friends about everything wrong with Steve Harrington, he was a womanizer, an bully at worst and complicit to bullying at worst, and that wasn’t to mention some of the things he’s said and done to you over the years, granted some of it was in retaliation to stuff you did, but he usually delt the first blows when you would square off.

Now, you would be lying if you said you didn’t find him attractive in the physical sense, anyone with eyes could see he was pretty, between his hair, eyes, and physique, it was an undeniable truth that any girl in the school would want to fuck him.

If he had any other personality, you’d be one of them, but you prided yourself on resisting his charms, it helped that they were never aimed solely at you, but that was beside the point!

So how, in the literal fuck, did you come to find yourself bent over a desk in the home office of one of the other cheerleaders houses during one of the first parties of the year, with the very same asshole railing you from behind better than any other guy you’ve ever fucked?

Might have something to do with the two drinks you’d had, liquid courage and all that. It didn’t matter now, not with his big hands gripping your hips to pull you back into his thrusts, driving his thick cock deeper and hitting your g-spot head on.

“Fuck…You like that? Like how that feels?” You’d never pictured Steve Harrington to be the talkative type, but he made it work, voice heavy with hot breaths, smirk almost audible when you let out a pleased sound at a particularly good thrust. “Yeah, you do…Best cock this slutty little hole’s ever had.” He practically growled with a thrust harder than the rest, so much it almost reached painful in the unpleasant way.

White hot anger met your lust halfway as you bucked your hips back against him just right to both knock him back a step, and dislodge him from inside you, giving you just enough space to turn in his hold and shove him back into the desk chair.

“If I wanted to hear you talk. I’ve gone on a date with you.” You said through your teeth as you straddled his lap, mentally hoping the chair could handle your combined weight, finger weaving into the hair on the back of his head and giving it a sharp pull to tilt his head back. “So, shut the fuck up, and fuck me.”

His grin was feral as he looked up at you through those damned dark lashes, chestnut eyes burning hot. “Yes, Ma’am.” He said so quietly it was almost a hiss.

He held his cock in place for you to settle on, but offered no assistance other that that, not that he comfortably could with the way you were still gripping his hair, though with the pretty flush that was spreading down his neck, he didn’t hate how it felt.

With him nestled snuggly back inside you, the new angle making him feel somehow bigger than he had before, you set a slow rhythm first to get your bearings, then sped up when you felt more confident in the motions.

The room was full of the lewd sounds of your wet pussy moving over him, of your heavy breaths and the slapping of skin, and the faint sound of music and conversation in the living room downstairs. Slow rolls of pleasure worked their way up and down your spine, making you clench down on him every so often, which you saw made his eyes flutter just a little every time.

As you moved you could feel Steve’s eyes trained on where your bodies met, his gaze all but burning your skin, but it seemed that letting you do all the work wasn’t on his agenda as one of his hands, which had been gripping your hips, moved up to knead your tit roughly, though not unpleasantly, feet planting so he could move his hips to meet your movements, making the sounds of skin on skin louder.

The slow rolls of pleasure turned into sharp zings that had your tightening with every thrust in, and you could see him fighting to keep his eyes from rolling back in pleasure. “What’s the matter, Pretty boy? Never had pussy this good?” You taunted on panting breaths.

His sharp eyes snapped back into focus, filled with the same anger meets lust look you’d had moments ago.

That was the only warning you got before he was standing with you in his arms, and all but slamming you on your back on the desk.

The jarring movement, and sheer unexpectedness of it, knocked you a little for a loop, which gave him the chance to pin your hands over your head, giving him full control over the situation once more.

Rather than make a smart quip he set another brutal rhythm, clearly chasing his pleasure more than yours, but the only indicator of that was that he wasn’t looking at you anymore, as you were still clenching around him, now feeling that sweet building of pressure low in your belly that told you would cum soon.

And he could tell too if the way he was making choked off little noises, like he was trying not to moan, was anything to go by.

You came first, that much was certain.

You hadn’t been fighting it, trying not to cum, but even if you had it would have been a futile effort, between him still rubbing hard against your g-spot with every thrust, and his pelvis grinding against your clit in the same movement, it would have taken some pretty gnarly thoughts to keep your orgasm away.

And when it hit, it hit hard. A knot tight in your belly snapping, sending you arching up into him with a breathless gasp, and clenching around him tighter than you had the whole night as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through you.

He followed shortly after you, a low sound that you could tell he tried to swallow and failed, his hot shuddery breaths fanning over your neck where his face was buried.

You both stayed there, panting, basking in the last dregs of your pleasure, for a couple of moments, before he sat up and pulled out with a word or glance at you, yanking his jeans back up and buttoning them as he walked away like he hadn’t just had a clearly mind blowing orgasm.

Cocky bastard.

You gave him the same level of attention as you scooted to the edge of the desk, righting your skirt and pulling your panties back into place from where they were hanging around one of your ankles.

He left before you did and was in the backyard watching Tommy do a keg stand when you emerged, you glared at each other as you stood by the punch bowl, silent mutual hatred, but it felt different now.

Shit.

[dragonknightcal]

What dog breeds would the chain be? (I'm sick, so bear with me lol)

Time: Caucasian Shepherd. Large, quiet, affectionate enough with their own people, but super alert and protective, despite not always seeming like it. These dogs do not bark, and their bite is not an idle threat. A mighty livestock protection dog with a mind to defend their family.

Twilight: OK, so I know everyone will think some wolf related thing, but I genuinely see him as another herding/livestock protection dog. An Anatolian Shepherd, to be exact! A reserved dog, but more friendly to strangers and tending to tolerate/enjoy the company of children and their family members.

Wild: Our third farm dog, this time a herding dog. Enter the Australian Cattle Dog, also known as Heelers. Heelers are affectionate to family members and fiercely loyal. Unlike the other working dogs previously mentioned, Heelers are more volatile and energetic, matching Wild's loyal, hard-working, but often spontaneous personality.

Warriors: Refined and intimidating, the captain would most certainly be a Doberman Pinscher. An intelligent breed, good with people, but intensely in tune with possible threats. A beautiful protector, a lifelong companion, and a terrifying adversary.

Four: Our pal Four is a Welsh Corgi! No, this is not a height joke. Welsh corgis are another herding breed, hard-working, intelligent, and durable little guys. People often underestimate the ability of such a small dog, but Corgis are more than capable of handling themselves.

Sky: After a lot of consideration, I believe Sky would be a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Another breed of protection dogs, Rhodesians are mellow and quiet, rarely drawing attention to themselves, though they do often have a splash of mischief in their personality that comes out once you get to know them. They are fiercely loyal, as all dogs on this list, but also friendly enough to members outside their family. They are polite dogs, who's quiet nature and controlled power reflect Sky's own laid-back but protective personality.

Wind: With Wind's love of water comes the magnificent Lagotto Romagnolo! One of the oldest breeds of water dogs, they are incredibly intelligent, even to the point of being characterized as sly by those who have owned them. The Lagotto is incredibly hard working, but often child-like and requires enough enrichment to remain out of trouble, just like a certain pirate we all know and love.

Hyrule: Ok, its probably something to do with my experiences with them, but Hyrule is a Chihuahua. A whole lot of life in a seemingly harmless package, these dogs are fiercely loyal, and until you gain their trust, you better watch out because these little creatures have it out for you. But, once you earn that trust, you have a friend for life who will protect and love as much as they are able.

Legend: Legend is a Jack Russell Terrier for a couple of reasons. Yes, because they are small and spunky, but also their loyalty, bravery, and general toughness. But, there is also a second reason. Tilly. Tilly is a dog at the barn i work at, and she is what I like to call a "Rabbit Dog." She'll bark and bark and bark at you for hours, but the second you make a move to engage her, she's gone. But, give it time, and let her control the situation, and you have a begrudgingly affectionate buddy. Why do I use the term "Rabbit Dog" for that? Aaaaah, that's a completely different story.

Thank you for listening to the ravings of a sick man (/gn). Now, I sleep!