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awnezz · 3 days ago

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nobody gets me like you | eleven

៚ prev // next

៚ SYNOPSIS — after graduating highschool then going through your first break up, you're left to lean on your bestfriend for support before moving to america. returning home brings back memories, realizing your true feelings for each other back then, but is it too late?

៚ NOTES — hi ..i'm back 😛😛 fr this time (i think) it's literally almost 3am rn im sorry if there's any mistakes i just did a quick proofread

៚ TAGLIST — @jvngw0nlvr @kariluvsyunho @jaellymint @nujeskz @hanniehq @mwrsi @soheeunderthesun @getoxo @seoiohnnv @the-phantomss

it's about 6 pm

and you're getting ready to spend your last night in the house that you grew up in

bringing all the stuff that you've spent the past however many days packing into boxes and old luggages into your living room for the next morning—leaving your room emptied out, all for except your bed, which is still fixed

while packing the last moving box, you found one of your scrapbooks from one of your old hobbies

scrapbooking was one of the things you up picked up during summer to pass the time, alongside many other hobbies but this one stuck—you really liked taking pictures and so did all of your friends

but this scrapbook in particular was far more special than all the others; because of how close you were with eunseok, growing up together since very young, you two had taken lots of pictures together

so many that they started to pile up and so you used it as the perfect excuse to practice your new interest and you made your longest running memory book—which is what you wrote on the cover with puffy letter stickers and an old childhood picture of the two of you right in the center

looking through the pages, you start to remember how it was to be so young and have nothing to worry about

all you had to do was run around and have fun

seeings pictures from the times when you and eunseok would go to the park just down the street from your houses, swinging on the swings side by side and going down what felt like the biggest slide ever back then

a picture from when you were 12 on your first day of school, standing there with a frown on your face and your hair slightly messy from being rushed out the door because you woke up too late and eunseok standing right next to you with a big smile on his face because he couldn't keep in his laughter

one from just recently, when eunseok got his license a few years ago. you still don't know why but right after coming home from passing his test, your moms made the two of you take a picture together in your front yard like you had passed the test also

and then a picture of you and eunseok standing on either side of you bedroom pointing at your newly “decorated” room

you've always pretty much kept your room decorated the same way throughout the years, just replacing and adding new achievements to your collection as you got older but one thing you loved to do was paint your bedroom walls

you liked to keep an accent wall and every so often you’d cover up the old design and paint it again but it's been a few years since you last touched it up

wanting to do something more simple at the time but still wanting it to scream you, eunseok suggested to do stars

it could have just been because of your love for stars or maybe it was because he helped you paint it but you have never thought of redoing the wall—it was just perfect

it's honestly a little silly but you're really grateful for your moms pushing to take all these pictures, so you can look back and remember how happy your life has been

sometimes you wonder what your life would have been like if your family never had to move; how you would have been if you never met-

interrupting your thoughts, you hear the doorbell ring, but who could it be? your parents are gone and you're not expecting anyone

you open the door to no one, looking around and still see nothing—until you look down—it's a small card. “thank you for making my life worth something.” you read.. but it's not signed

standing there, looking at the piece of paper, you finally decided to step back inside your house, but then you see someone come around the corner—it was eunseok

unable to take your eyes off of him, you don't even notice that he's getting closer, nor do you notice anything else happening around you

“hey..” eunseok starts before taking a deep breath. he just got there but you could feel the awkward tension from a mile away, you haven't seen him since he tried confronting you about to kiss

if you were being honest, you weren't sure if you'd see him again before you left for the airport. it seemed like no one knew where he's been and that really worried you—but here he is—standing in front of you right now

“you know i couldn't miss saying goodbye to my bestfriend” did he just friendzone me? no, no, of course he said that, i am his bestfriend. you let out a quick nervous laugh, breaking eye contact for the first time since he's walked up to you. “yeah..” you respond

“i didn't think you'd show up” you can see the look in his eyes change, hearing that you thought he'd let you go without a proper send off. what kind of person would be he if he did that?

“i'm sorry, i was in busan, i-”

“yeah, i saw your story.. the flower shop” cutting him off quickly, just wanting to get this conversation over with.

too busy trying to act like you don't care, you failed to realize that he's had his hands behind his back the entire time, only to reveal a bouquet of flowers

“i got your favorites” you couldn't believe it. it was you, you're the girl he was getting flowers for.

at a loss for words, your mouth falls slightly open in shock. “don't say anything, just take them” eunseok says, noticing your lack of response, making him giggle to himself quietly

“i'm sorry for going silent and making you worry like that, shotaro told me” you can’t even pull yourself to say thank you for the flowers, they're too beautiful. no one has ever gotten you a bouquet like this before

the sun was setting and the wind started to pick up, making you shiver; seeing that neither of you have a cover up, eunseok suggests to continue talking inside, where he fixes the new flowers into the empty vase you kept by the tv that you always said was “just in case i ever get sent flowers for valentine's day”. it might not be valentine's day, but that doesn't make it any less special

putting the vase back where it's sat for the past year, he walks over to you to place the extra flower he bought behind your ear, tucking in the hair that would usually fall forward onto your face

“what do i have to do to get you to stay?” he asks, just barely above a whisper. “you can't keep trying to convince me, eunseok. i leave in like 12 hours” shaking his head at your response, you don't know what's got him so frustrated about this. i mean, of course he's sad because someone he's so close to is moving far away but he's been acting different since graduation

basically your whole life you've known eunseok, it's crazy to think that now you're turning 20 and moving away on your own

living in different places was something you two used to always talk about. like what places you thought would be the most fun to live and places you think you'd hate to live in. america was one of the places you guys spoke about a lot, especially since you met anton. you thought that if he can do it, then you can too but deep down you knew it was kind of a reach for you. that was until you got older and your parents started bringing up you moving in with distant family you've met maybe once or twice, just for better career opportunities they said and that felt like something you couldn't argue with

“can i stay the night?” eunseok blurts out, even surprising himself. why couldn't he just go to his place? it's just next door. wouldn't someone who hasn't slept in their own bed look forward to going back home? “of course but i have to get up really early, you're okay with that?” you question him

“yeah, i just wanna spend this last night with you, that's all” given that this isn't out of the ordinary, you don't ask him anymore questions, instead you just prepare yourself for the night that's to come. “you don't have to get the air mattress out, i got the couch” eunseok starts. “i don't want you to rush in the morning.” he says, rearranging the stuff he brought with him so he can get comfortable

it's just past 7:30 now, too early to sleep since he's here so you decided to order in some food to pass time

eating and just talking, never really staying on one topic for too long. if you were being honest, it just felt like you both were trying to distract yourselves from the fact that after tonight, you will no longer be neighbors

you end up talking about how you've been spending your free time on a new game you just bought and he was so interested that you guys moved into your bedroom so you can show him the game. “do you wanna play too?” you ask eunseok when you turn around and see him watching the screen intently. “no, i just want to watch” he replied with a reassuring smile as he opens up the blankets and leans against the pillows

you stay like this for a while, playing while eunseok makes small talk and asks questions about the game. it wasn't soon after when you noticed him get quiet—he had fallen asleep—all wrapped up in your blankets

not knowing how long it's been since he's dozed off, you turn off the game to leave the room. you were just going to take the couch for the night, but as you were stepping off the bed, eunseok catches your arm in his hand, “stay," he says with his eyes still closed, holding onto you with a grip so light that it was starting to slip

you don't argue with his request, it was getting late and you just needed to get some rest. he smiles as he lets go of your arm and while you get into the bed but you don't even notice it

he's happy to be this close to you during a time like this, it makes him feel like you won’t forget him. like he really is important enough to you that of all people, you let him be the one to be here with you while you say goodbye to the only house you've felt comfortable enough to call home

having trouble falling asleep, you toss and turn until you meet face to face with a sleeping eunseok, you didn't even realize he had turned towards you. you freeze, just looking at his face, his eyes are closed but it feels like he's looking back at you.

admiring his features, you can’t believe how much he's matured. he's older than you but he's always had that silly side to him that made him seem younger. despite always wanting to have fun, he's never failed to make sure you felt protected.

“hey,” he says, opening just one eye to see you. “i can feel you staring even in my sleep” he says, letting out a quiet chuckle

you don't know how long you had been laying there looking at him, but you just know that it didn't help you get sleepy. “can't sleep?” eunseok asks, finally opening both eyes. you just nod, letting out a deep breath—keeping the silence

he doesn't say anything, just pulls you in and wraps his arms around you. laying your head against his chest and you just let him. doing the same thing, you place your arms around his back and now you're both basically sharing the same pillow

this, this is the closest you have ever been to him. you think any normal person would feel a little awkward but you don't—it feels like anything but that—it felt natural

but you think it's because you're just that comfortable with eunseok

no matter what the reason was, you were finally able to get a good nights rest—

in his arms

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rin-may-1103 · 7 months ago

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The Eyes of Death.

This story is mostly inspired by Jaybirbie's prompt | Master post | Next

"Hey, sweetheart?" Danny called, quickly jotting down the last sentence for his paper. He'd have to remember to go back and reread it and make sure he didn't trail off into another tangent. He swears he wasn't this bad at managing his ADHD back in Amity...

"Yes, Danny?" Damian asked, turning back from the door to face him as he scrolled further down the story he was reading. The familiar font of Gotham City's gazette blurred as a picture of Mr. Freeze and Penguin finally loaded. So that's what was going on. Danny should have known; the bats already dealt with the other usual rouges, and these two were next on the list.

"Can you walk with me? I just know Nancy and her boyfriend are out there, waiting. I really don't want to deal with them again... We could spend more time at my place? Tucker sent me another movie, and I'm unsure if I should watch it alone after last time." Danny pleaded, quickly shoving all of his papers into his bag. He'd deal with straightening them out later, it wasn't like his professors weren't used to his wrinkled essays at this point.

However, he should probably redo the blueprints for Workshop. Mr. Anthlow was a hardass, but nothing could compare to his anger when a student handed in wrinkled blueprints; he claimed he wasn't going to have another 'Tanner' incident on his watch, whatever the heck that meant.

He was not looking forward to whatever Nancy wanted to talk to him about, she looked excited. Which could only mean bad things for him; considering the last time she was excited, he ended up spending time with Bane of all people. And there was no way her boyfriend was just going to let Danny get away again.

Damian grimaces, finally looking up and away from his phone. "I'm sorry beloved..." he held up the device just in time to show an incoming text from his Father, "I promised Father I'd be home a while ago. And with what's happening down on-"

"It's ok, I'll just head out the back door," Danny cut in, seeing the start of guilt on his boyfriend's face. He knew how much Danny hated having to deal with those two, and the fact Damian hasn't been able to even introduce himself to them hasn't helped. With a smile, Danny scooped up his textbooks and made his way to stand in front of Damian, "They can't bother me if they don't see me!"

Unsurprisingly, Danny could feel the guilt grow and start to float around Damian as the boy glanced at his phone, the message tone sounding out again in warning.

Danny only met Damian's father once; it was just a simple shake of hands and sharing names before the man ran off, but it did leave an impression. The man felt tired and paranoid; like, to the point Danny kind of wanted to drag Jazz over and lock the two of them in a room, paranoid. (Danny wants to say he's never seen someone that paranoid, but he'd be lying. He looks in the mirror after all.)

The point is; Danny's only met the man once, but that was enough for him to know that the man would tear down the world if he thought for even a second that one of his kids was in danger. This meant, that if Damian didn't go and reassure his father that he was alive and safe within the next sixty or so seconds, then there was a possibility that there wouldn't be another date for at least another week.

And considering this "study date" was supposed to make up for the last one Damian had missed because of his Father? Yeah, Danny wasn't going to be happy if Damian got grounded or dragged into another 'surprise' family road trip because his father was convinced his children would be dead before the 'yearly' planned get-together in November.

They had a trip to the zoo planned for tomorrow, and Delilah was supposed to be allowed out with her kids. This would be Delilah's first public outing since her kids' birth. There's no way Danny was going to allow Damian to miss that. (he swears to the ancients, if there was a rouge attack he was going to kill someone, Dark Dan's future be damned.)

Lifting his heels off the ground so he could stand on his tiptoes, Danny snagged Damian's arm and pulled him down so he could kiss his cheek. "I'll get home safe, just focus on keeping your dad from going insane. We've got a date at the zoo tomorrow and we're not missing it even if your father becomes the next city rogue."

Damian wrapped his arms around Danny, trapping him in a hug as he sighed in fond frustration. "I promise I won't miss it, ok? I'll be there."

Danny rolled his eyes and pushed Damian back, dropping back to stand on the ground, "You better, 'cause hell hath no fury like a gorilla denied the chance to meet her human best friend's boyfriend."

Damian snorted, before looking away and pretending to cough. Danny moved his textbooks to rest more securely in one of his arms, so he could point at his boyfriend. "I'm not kidding, if I show up tomorrow and tell her all about my life and you're not there, she will break out and track you down. I won't stop her either, you'd deserve whatever she does to you."

"Alright, alright. I get it, and I already promised I'd be there didn't I?" Damian chuckled, raising his hands up in surrender. Which would have been cute if it wasn't for the fact that his phone went off again, this time in an insistent buzzing. His eldest brother's ringtone; which meant Damian was going to be busy for a while.

Cursing, Damian turned and answered, "I'm in the middle of something, this better be important Grayson," glancing back at Danny, he mouthed for him to wait a moment as his brother started talking.

Smiling, Danny shook his head, snatched Damian's jacket, and started making his way out the door. There was no way Damian would finish this phone call any time soon. Danny's learned not to wait after the last four times this happened. Damian turned back with betrayed eyes, but the urgent voice of his brother buzzing even louder held him back. Waving goodbye with a smile, Danny shut the door and started making his way down the hall.

He'd have to ask Damian what happened tomorrow, Grayson didn't usually call him, especially when he knew Damian was spending time with Danny. He said it had something to do with how it was sacrilege to interrupt time spent with a significant other. Danny had wanted to ask him more about it but hadn't gotten the chance when The Riddler crashed their spontaneous meeting.

Speaking of The Riddler, Danny's social science paper wasn't looking too hot right now. He'd have to block out a time for him to work on that at some point this week. He wasn't doing anything on Friday, well, besides his early morning classes. That should work...

"Hey, Danny!" someone called, pulling him out of his musing. Glancing up, Danny internally groaned when he noticed Nancy waving at him in sheer delight. Giving her a half-hearted wave, Danny sped up and continued making his way to the back of the library. If he was quick enough maybe he could-

To his dismay, Nancy's boyfriend stepped out from behind one of the shelves and latched onto his arm. Tightly.

Just great, this is exactly what he wanted to avoid. Curse his inability to pay attention when he got lost in thought. Damn ADHD. Blasted non-existent spatial awareness. This was what he got for relying on his ghost sense, he just knows it.

"She said hi, kind of rude of you to just keep walking, Kid." Wyatt huffed, roughly dragging Danny back and towards his girlfriend. Nancy smiled brightly as Wyatt let him go, allowing Nancy to weave her arm with Danny's and practically drag him toward the front of the building.

"There's this big party going on tonight, some Jr invited us. He said it was going to be a night to remember! You should totally come with us, Danny! My friend Shela said she was bringing her nerdy freshmen too! I just know you'd fit right in with them!" Nancy squealed excitedly, shaking Danny as they finally made it to the front doors.

One of the desk attendants rolled their eyes at them as Danny glanced over, hoping that Barbara might intervene. No such luck, she was nowhere in sight, probably off somewhere shelving books. So much for that plan.

"uh, thanks, but I already-" Danny tried, stopping when Nancy scoffed and yanked him out the door and into the frosty night. "Damn, it's cold!" Wyatt cursed, taking his jacket off and quickly handing it over to Nancy. She let go of Danny and pulled it on, then stared at Danny for a moment, "Put your coat on Danny, no way in hell am I letting my kid catch a cold!"

Rolling his eyes, Danny wrapped Damian's coat over his shoulders. He was too lazy to actually put it on, not when that meant handing his textbooks over. The last time he did that, Nancy got bored and started doodling all over them. (how she had managed to do that in the little time it took to put a hoodie on, Danny wasn't sure.)

"I just want to go home, Nancy. I'm not really a party person." Danny sighed, allowing Nancy to drag him down the dark streets. His apartment was in this general direction anyway. Nancy turned to her boyfriend with a huff, "Wyatt! make him come with us!"

"Let the nerd do what he wants, it's not like it affects us if he kicks the bucket all alone," Wyatt grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Ouch, but true. Please listen to your grumpy boyfriend, please listen to your grumpy boyfriend, please listen-

"But Shela said she was bringing Carly!" Nancy turned back to Danny, a pout clear on her face, "You two would be so cute together! she's nerdy just like you! And she's totally into all those murder mystery shows you watch!"

Damn it. Not this crap again.

"That's nice, Nancy, but I'm not interested. I already told you guys, I have a boyfriend," Danny sighed, trying to gently extract his arm from hers; for a human, Nancy sure had one heck of a grip.

"Yeah, right," Wyatt snorted, patting Danny's back, completely ignoring the fact that Danny was literally wearing someone else's jacket. "We'll believe you when you introduce us, until then. You're a virgin loser."

And there we go, people; the reason Danny wanted to crawl into the sewer and die whenever he saw these two. They were nice, don't get him wrong, but they were also stubborn idiots.

"Being a virgin has nothing to do with my relationship status, Wyatt. I'm ace. you've known this since the first time we talked." Danny grumbled, allowing Nancy to drag him down another street. He wasn't sure exactly where they were going now, but he was too tired to care at this point.

If these self-claimed 'Parents' of his wanted to drag him to this stupid party, then fine. Whatever. It's not like Danny had any other plans tonight anyway.

"Asexuality isn't a thing man," Wyatt huffed, speeding up so he could guide them in the right direction now that they were heading into a rougher patch of buildings. Danny could see the man was shivering, though trying to act tough in front of Nancy. Smirking, Danny sent a cold breeze his way. The man scowled up at the sky, cursing quietly.

"Yeah!" Nancy agreed, smiling brightly down at Danny without a care in the world. Like they didn't have this conversation every other week. "You just haven't met the right person yet, Danny! And I know how awkward it is to admit that you're staying celibate until marriage, but you don't have to hide it behind being ace."

Taking a deep breath, Danny closed his eyes and focused on not shouting out of frustration. The celibate comment was new, the acephobia, not so much. "Ok, first of all; Asexuality is a thing, which many people ARE. Literally, 1% of the world is ace. That's over 70 million people. Second of all, I'm not celibate, and I'm not sure if you even know what that means, considering you know I was raised Atheist."

"What does being an Atheist have to do with celibacy?" Nancy asked, tilting her head to look at him. Danny groaned, smacking his forehead against his textbooks. He was NOT going to explain this to them tonight.

"You know what, Nancy? It doesn't matter." Danny huffed, trying again to gently pry her hands off. He wanted to go home. He wanted to cuddle with his boyfriend. He wanted to go back to Amity. Maybe go to the realms and play with Cujo. He did NOT want to deal with these idiots.

Wyatt stopped walking and turned to face them, rolling his eyes as Nancy pouted at Danny. "Come on babe, let the loser go. He obviously doesn't appreciate your efforts."

"but who else is going to convince him to live a little? He's just going to go back to his apartment and sulk by himself!" Nancy cried, tightening her grip again.

"Who cares what the kid does, Nancy? let the dude die a virgin loser. Now let's go, we're already late as is."

"But I really want him to-," Nancy tried, cutting herself off, as both she and Danny spotted a cloaked person appear out of the shadows behind Wyatt.

Wyatt lifted his brow before slowly turning to see what the two of them were staring at. The cloaked figure suddenly whacked him over the head with a metal pole before he could fully turn around. Wyatt's body dropped to the ground with a heavy thump, making Nancy scream, "Wyatt!"

Shit, Danny stepped back, trying to pull Nancy with him as the cloak dude tossed the metal pole to the side with a loud clank. Which was confusing, why would he through away his weapon?

"Shut her up!" the cloak dude cried, bending down to grab Wyatt's arms. He better not be telling Danny to do that, because that would just be stupid and- Suddenly, a dozen more cloaked people flooded out of the darkness and surrounded them. That answered Danny's questions at least.

Danny tensed up as a couple of the people tried to grab onto him. Quickly pulling Nancy back, successfully this time, Danny glanced around to try and find an exit. He couldn't do anything crazy right now, not unless he wanted to give away his secret, but some self-defense should be fine.

Nancy suddenly let go of his arm and smacked one of the cloaked people in the face, "Don't you fucking dare touch me! Wyatt! Kid, get out of here!"

Danny turned to her in alarm, eyes wide in horror as she quickly disappeared into the cloaked crowd. Another cloaked person managed to latch onto Danny's shoulder, reminding him to focus on his situation. Quickly stepping back, he slammed into the man grabbing him, knocking his grip loose. Ducking under another attempt, Danny swung out his leg and tripped the dude into two others.

Twisting to try and make his way over to where he figured Nancy was, Danny dropped his textbooks and punched someone in the face. Damian's jacket was yanked off his shoulders, making him turn with a growl. Punching another person in the face, Danny lunged at the group.

"Hurry! before the bats find us!" the supposed leader cried, making even more cloaked people surround Danny. There was no way a normal civilian would be able to fight their way out of this, so Danny would have to allow himself to be caught soon. Only after biting and scratching the fuck out of them though. Just because he had to let them catch him, doesn't mean he has to make it easy.

~30 min later

Danny stared at the leader as the man droned on and on about needing the right sacrifice for the ritual to work. Nancy and Wyatt grumbled behind him, agreements from the other kidnapped victims filling Danny's ears like bees.

"The sacrifice shall be the one who treads the veil between life and death, the one who's beloved by the spirits as their own! He shall be pale as a corpse, his body kissed by death many times throughout his life. His hair as black as the sky on a moonless night, cradled by the moon since birth." Mr. totally-read-one-fake-ritual-book-when-he-was-a-teen-and-now-has-to-make-it-everyone's-problem droned on dramatically, reverently dragging his finger down the old dusty tome's page,

"so Mr. Wayne?" Nancy huffed, pressing her back into Danny's side. Wyatt chuckled, shoving his foot into Danny's knee, "No, it's totally Mr. Drake he's talking about. Have you seen that dude's eyebags? they make him look like a ghost."

One of the strangers leaned over, rolling their eyes, "No, it's got to be Mr. Dent. The dude's literally half living half not."

"No, Two-Face is half insane, half burnt chicken. Ain't nothing about him going to please ghosts. He was a fucking lawyer, for Christ shake." another guy added.

"the dude said 'he' which crossed out half of y'all," Danny added, glancing at the group around him. The women blinked and then rolled their eyes; only in Gotham would they get kidnapped and not actually be needed.

"Assholes," Nancy huffed, she glanced over her shoulder and down at him, her face set into a frown, "You good, kid? you're like freezing cold."

"I'm fine," Danny huffed, focusing back on the leader. He could just feel the old magic rolling off the book; this was something dangerous, especially in this dipshit's hands. Ancients, he was going to have to do everything he could to keep the man from actually doing the ritual or mess it up if the bats didn't get here in time.

One of the cloaked people suddenly dragged a camera out from a side room, grumbling about networks and livestreams being shit. Huh, well that would definitely help provide their location to the bats. They must be really inexperienced cultists then...

"The sacrifice shall fall into our hands by fate's design. The sacrifice is here and waiting for what his whole life was meant for. Now-"

"Elder!" one of the other cloaked figures cried, waving their phone in the air in excitement. Dread quickly filled Danny's stomach.

"All the bats and birds are busy dealing with those scoundrels they call rouges! If we hurry, we can complete the ritual before they can interfere!"

"Perfect!" Mr. 'Elder', cheered, slamming the tome closed and handing it off to one of the others. "So?" Mr. Elder started, turning to face them with a sharp grin, "Who's it going to be?"

Danny glanced at the group behind him, all of them having gone silent as the cloaked group started pulling out their ritual things, one of which was a very blood-stained knife.

Mr. Elder started circling them, humming and hawing as he studied each one of them. He stopped next to Wyatt, studying him intently.

Quickly weighing his options, Danny straightened up and glared at the man, "I'll be your sacrifice."

Immediately Nancy leaned away from him with a gasp, Wyatt's foot dropping to the floor with a thud. "Danny, no!" Nancy hissed, turning her body so she could face him. Danny didn't glance at her, just continued glaring at the cultist. The cult leader laughed, "Well then. So it shall be! You heard the sacrifice, tie him to the chair!"

With everyone watching, all Danny could do was tense as four of the followers walked over and pulled him up. "No!" Nancy shouted, leaning over and grabbing onto him. Wyatt reached out to Nancy, wanting to pull her back. The men tensed up, ready to interfere. Quickly pulling back, Danny frowned at Nancy and Wyatt, "I'll be ok, just don't do anything stupid!"

They harshly pulled him up and away again, before Nancy could reply. And because he was already pissed off, he made it as difficult for them as possible as they dragged him to the wooden chair. The camera person focused the lens on them, recording it as they shoved him down to sit and wrapped a bloody rope around his limbs.

So much for thinking they were inexperienced... They've done this before, he knows now. How many times? He wasn't sure, but if he had any say in it after tonight, they'd never do it again.

Once he was securely tied to the chair and gagged, because Danny couldn't help himself but insult them, the cultist started preparing the ritual. Why they hadn't done so beforehand, Danny wasn't sure; that is until one of them sliced a deep gash into his right arm and collected his blood into a bowl.

With a grimace, Danny watched as they mixed his blood with black paint and started drawing a circle around him. The camera dude stepped closer and practically shoved the camera into his face. leaning back, Danny glanced between the camera and the people drawing with his blood.

Suddenly, his arm tingled with ectoplasm, making him panic for a second. he can't heal the wound! not with all the people around him and being recorded! Shit, what had Vlad done last time?? Uh, right! core smothering. He could just smother his core to stop his body from healing. Man, acting like a civilian was a pain in the ass.

Glaring up at the camera now that he wasn't as panicked, Danny watched as the dude stepped back, pulled out a paper, and started reading out loud. "GOTHAM! tonight you shall join us as we summon the most powerful being in the world!"

Did he seriously need the paper just to remember that?

The leader stepped forward when the circle was complete, "Now!" His voice echoed around the silent warehouse, startling the other kidnapped victims. The cameraman turned and focused on him, stepping out of the circle altogether. Danny watched the kidnapped people out of the corner of his eye, wanting to make sure they weren't hurt during this whole fiasco.

"Let us begin!" the leader cheered, suddenly gripping Danny's shoulders tightly. "Join me as we summon our lord and savior! The great tyrant of the dead! The embodiment of war and bloodshed! The one named PARIAH DARK! THE HORRIFIC GHOST KING!!!!"

Immediately, Danny was both completely terrified and amused. He had been worried that they were going to try and summon some great evil demon, not the fucking old tyrant. He could fight Pariah any day of the week.

No, what terrified him was the fact that because Danny won the right to the crown by defeating Pariah the first time, he had no idea what this summoning was going to do. Was it going to work like they wanted and summon Pariah? cool, great even. He can deal with that, might have to reveal his ghost powers if the fight got dirty, but nothing too bad.

or was it going to summon him because he was the king, and if so? how? Would that even work considering he's the sacrifice? would he just disappear and reappear? This could lead to a lot of questions Danny was NOT ready to answer. Gaslighting everyone here into believing he could fight Pariah as a 'meta' human would be easy, convincing everyone that he's not the ghost king or a ghost AFTER getting summoned; not so easy.

The leader released Danny from his grip as he walked over and snatched the tome from one of his followers. Snapping the book open, the man started chanting without warning, pointing at random people to notify them when it was their turn to start.

It was like watching a school play; all the student's doing as they were taught as their teacher directed from the side. Cultist A slammed the bowl of leftover blood on the ground, splattering the black remnants all over Danny and the circle. Which was gross, Danny was going to have to burn this shirt, because there was no way he was going to get this stain out. Cultist B tossed salt at Danny a few minutes later, smacking him in the face with the small white crystals. Shaking his head, Danny glared at him. Cultist B threw the salt again.

The leader's smile grew as he continued chanting.

Seven other cultists joined in the chanting, waving their hands up and down as their voices echoed around them. Danny glanced nervously around the warehouse, hoping he'd spot one of the bats. This was being broadcast, they should be on their way at the very least.

After another minute of looking, Danny glanced back at the other kidnapped victims. Nancy was balling her eyes out, burying herself into her boyfriend's chest. Wyatt was staring at him with wide eyes, clearly unsure about what to do. Probably feeling guilty because they both knew the leader was going to choose him. A few others were looking away, clearly fearing for his life. The rest watched on, trying to show him through their actions that they were there with him till the end. (whether he 'died' or not)

It was weird, but Danny had to give it to them; Gothmites were badass. He doubted anyone in Amity besides his friends would have been brave enough to watch what was happening. Even if they didn't know if he would live or not.

His core crackled, making him choke a little as he finally felt the pull of the summoning. Well, that's just great. Shaking his head, Danny tried to clear his throat. The summoning was making him feel weird and he did not appreciate it.

The chanting got louder as one of the people walked up to him, holding the knife in a white-knuckled grasp. Danny eyed it wearily, glancing between it and the rafters above. Where the hell were the bats when he needed them???

The cultist kneeled before him and raised the blade, slamming it down into his chest right as the leader stopped chanting; Danny gasped, more out of surprise than pain as he stared at the knife. The dude gave him no warning that he was going to stab him. Usually, cultists slit people's throats, right? What the fuck was up with stabbing him???

His blood slowly bubbled up and around the knife, slowly staining his shirt red. Yeah, there was no way in the realms he was going to be able to save this shirt now. Man, he had liked this one too.

He could hear Nancy's sobs turn to wails as the cultist yanked out the knife and handed it to the leader, who Danny just now noticed had joined them in the circle. His blood started gushing down his chest with every beat of his heart, again he held back his core. (what does he do now??? faint? scream? how do normal people react to getting stabbed?????)

"Take this lowly sacrifice as a sign of our eternal loyalty, and grace us with your presence! Your humble servants plead that your godly ears hear our prayers! Join us in this mortal realm and bequeath us your power and name to rectify the sins of our brethren!"

Ok, first of all Danny was no where near lowly you piece of fuck-

Danny's core pulsed, sending out nauseating pain up and down his spine. Gasping, Danny leaned as far forward as he could, trying in vain to grasp at his chest without using his powers. His core crackled, striking a blinding flash through his brain. The echoes of his death crawled up his left arm, waking the old dead nerves into firing signals at his brain.

Danny couldn't help himself, he screamed as the pain grew worse and worse. His thoughts turned hazy, his body cold as his core pulsed again. His heart stuttered and then froze, his core flooding his body with freezing ecto not a moment later. Absently, he could feel the wash of ectoplasm crawl over his body, changing his body minutely. He didn't transform, but he definitely looked more ghostly than human.

All the pain disappeared a moment later, allowing Danny to slump forward, his head hanging low and blocking his face from view. His chest did not rise in ragged breaths, nor did his fingers twitch with life. His mind was still sluggish and clouded with something, making it nearly impossible to think. Squeezing his eyes shut, Danny tried to focus.

"Your Highness?" someone asked, their voice too loud as it rang in Danny's ears. His core pulsed, another flood of ectoplasm flooding his body. His eyes slid open again, allowing him to see the green glow lighting up his chest and lap as he stared down at them.

Slowly, Danny lifted his head, his bright green gaze locking with the man in front of him.

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dresshistorynerd · 2 months ago

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Historically Accurate Jasmine

Another remake! I remade Jasmine for my series of "Historically Accurate" Disney Princesses. I honestly don't like the first version of Jasmine I made five years ago. It's not well drawn, I don't like the design, it doesn't look Jasmine and I incoherently mixed elements from different time periods. I also made some embarrassing blunders in history while explaining my thought process, since back then I was much less familiar with the history of Middle East and India. So I definitely wanted to redo her.

Research and references under the cut!

I do like Aladdin a lot, but let's be real, it's a very Orientalist film. Orientalism is the colonial lens through which the west looks at Asia and North-Africa, or the so called "Orient". It's dehumanizing and fetishistic lens - the west at the same time despises and covets the "Oriental" body. The "Orient" is flattened as one single entity and it's all savage and exotic, backward and mystical. Orientalism is fueled by jealousy and entitled superiority. In Aladdin it's very visible in how the setting blends a lot of very different Asian cultures, flattening large parts of a very diverse continent. It's set in sandy desert, but a lot of the elements of dress especially are much more Indian in aesthetic. Certainly fitted bodices and exposed stomachs are not practical clothes in a desert climate. The characters too are frequently exotised and fetishised with most female characters including Jasmine dressed and posed to appeal to the colonial gaze that covets brown bodies. Jasmine is sexualised much more that any of the white Disney princesses.

Originally the story was going to be more focused, though I can't imagine it ever lacking in Orientalism. It was supposed to be set in Baghdad, but during the production the First Gulf War happened, so they tried to distance it from the original Iraqi setting by setting it to the fictional city of Agrabah. Would there have been less Indian elements? Probably. It is pointed that in the wake of American forever wars in the Middle East, to not cause a stir Disney elected to make the movie more Orientalist. Orientalism was the inoffensive option.

Deciding on the historical setting to ground the redesign in was not simple considering the mess that the movie's setting is. One Thousand And One Nights is a collection (or many collections) of Islamic folktales from Northern Africa to Central and South Asia. So India (especially Mughal India ruled by Muslim dynasty) wouldn't be an incorrect setting and certainly neither would Middle East. The problem is that the film seems to imply there's no meaningful difference. Rather than trying figure out what is the most fitting place and time period for the film, I looked to the origins of the story of Aladdin. Apparently Aladdin’s story was added to One Thousand And One Hundred Nights by a French translator in 1709. He got the story from a Syrian-born Maronite storyteller, Hanna Diyab, who might have come up with the story himself. Most of Syria (at least Aleppo where he was born) was at the time part of Safavid dynasty Persia, so I decided to set my version of Jasmine in 17th century Persia.

I basically based the design on the illustration from 1702-3 by Mu'in Musavvir first below. The more fitted and tailored style with wider skirt likely influenced by European fashion it represents became fashionable in mid 17th century, so it still fits the time period I'm aiming at. The colour is simply perfect for Jasmine and I really like the overall desing. I did look at other art as well to get a better understanding on how the cut of the dress works, so here's couple o more references: second one is "Two Lovers with a Servant Woman" from 1696 by Mu'in Musavvir as well, third and fourth are details from paintings in the Chehel Stoun palace in Isfahan from 1646. Eyebrows grown together was considered especially beautiful feature so of course I gave Jasmine brows like that.

I of course gave her a crown, since she's a princess and depictions of Safavid princesses seem to always have a crown. I found that usually in art women had a white veil with their crown which is why I made her veil white, even though with the scarf band, which was the more typical headwear for women, colourful veils seemed to have been much more popular at the time. The veils in 17th century were also very long. For the crown and jewelry I wasn't as concerned to be using references from mid to late 17th century specifically, since these tend to change slower than other fashions. I based the crown mostly on the first illustration below from c. 1600 by Muhammad-Sharif Musawwir of a Seated Princess and the earrings on the second illustration from c. 1540 by Mirza ‘Ali of a Seated Princess with a Spray of Flowers.

Most of the images I found on this very useful blog which had gathered A LOT of Persian illustrations and paintings in handy timeline. A lot of the information of Safavid fashion I got from this MET Museum write up by Nazanin Hedayat Munroe.

#historically accurate disney princesses #historical fashion #fashion history #fanart #disney fanart #disney #history #art #my art #aladdin #disney princess #safavid fashion #safavid empire #persian fashion

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zombii-writess · 25 days ago

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𝙷𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛

You made it.

All those hardships thrusted upon you ever since you appeared in Twisted Wonderland. All those overblots you fought, all those nights where you sat alone in the dark, wondering to whatever god was willing to listen to you, a magicless human with nothing to her name. Barely above a whisper, you asked the stars above you; Is there even a happily ever after for me?

Oh, what a silly human you are, they laughed, not like you heard them. There’s always a happily ever after. And their words spoke true you realized, staring at the large doors you were supposed to enter from, wedding dress clenched in your shaking hands, you smiled.

You made it.

Characters: Riddle Rosehearts (Here), Leona Kingscholar, Azul Ashengrotto, Kalim Al Asim, Vil Schoenheit, Idia Shroud, Malleus Draconia

a/n: went wedding dress shopping with my aunt a few days ago cuz she wanted to renew her vows with my uncle in june and seeing so many wedding dresses made me feel inspired! also apologizies if anyone is ooc, i tried my best !!

Your heart was pounding with excitement and nervousness. You were just a few minutes away from marrying the love of your life. The man who's been stuck to you like glue the moment you saved him from his overblot and helped him change for the better.

Pacing back and forth, you don't notice the familiar cherisher grin appear next to you before the rest of his body appears. "Nya? Is the wife-to-be experiencing cold feet?"

Jumping, you turn to face the voice and find Che'nya, in all his cheeky glory. "Yo!" He struts over to the nearest loveseat and like a cat, sprawls his body across the plush cushions, hands behind his head, and his tail swaying against his thigh. Not a care in the world.

"Che'nya? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be sitting with the rest of the guests?" You stopped your pacing to question your friend. "The weddings about to start and I don't think Riddle would appreciate you missing the ceremony-"

The beastman waves your questions with a few flicks of his hand. "Relax~ I'm just here to check on you by Trey's request and from his judgment, he was right." He sits up and scans your face. "Riddle's wife is experiencing cold feet!" Che'nya laughs, poking at your hot cheeks with his nail.

"It's not funny!" You whine, turning your face away from the prodding and walked over to the vanity. Che'nya follows after you, looking at you examine yourself, playing with your hair to fiddling with the vail you wore. "What if I mess up the vows or I trip walking down the aisle? Oh! I don't want to embarrass myself ESPECIALLY on my wedding day!" You shrieked, covering your face and curling in on yourself.

"What if Riddle regrets asking me to marry him..." You whimpered.

"Do you regret it?" The cat beastman asks, tilting his head.

"No! Never!"

Che'nya lets out a sigh, leaning his shoulder against yours as he once again pokes at your cheek. "Oh, then I doubt Riddle will ever regret asking you to be his wife, in fact you should've seen him planning out your proposol!" You look at the beastman with confusion.

Before you were able to ask more about it, Che'nya beats you to it.

"Man! Riddle was so worried about the smallest details, he would bark orders left and right and if one of the flowers in the bouquet were just off by a centimeter, he would get red in the face and redo the whole thing himself!" Che'nya cackles, clenching his stomach from laugh.

"An-and! When it was finally time for the proposol Riddle had the nerve to get cold feet! He was spouting nonsense like 'What if [Name] regrets saying yes?' PFT-"

Dropping back to sit on the loveseat, Che'nya laughs harder while you stared dumbfounded at the information.

Riddle getting cold feet?? But on the day he proposed he was as cool as a cucumber!

Though, you thought, heart thumping in your chest as heat spread across your cheeks. It does feel nice to know Riddle feels the same... maybe he's experiencing cold feet right now?

Standing up, you smacked your cheeks, pumping yourself up for the walk. "I got this!"

Wiping tears away from his eye, Che'nya giggles. "Got what?"

"The wedding, I'm sure Riddle is just as nervous as I am right now and I wanna show him that we're in this together!" Gathering the front of your dress in your hands so you won't trip, you stomped down out the room, bumping into Cater who had arrived to tell you that it was time.

・❥・

Standing in front of the large pearl white doors, you took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled.

"Nervous?" A voice asked.

You looked to your left and spotted your professor who you had grown to see as a father figure during your time in Night Raven College.

Smothering down your dress, you responded shyly. “A little.”

Then familiar notes of 'Here Comes the Bride' begans playing.

"Are you ready?" Your professor smiles at you and stretches out his elbow.

Linking your elbow with his, you nod straightening your shoulders. "I am."

Soon the doors were pushed wide open by magic and there stood Riddle across the room at the altar, waiting for you. Your heart speeds up once you both make eye contact.

Walking closer and closer, Riddle blinks away his tears rapidly, straightening his back one more once you stood in front of him, hands laced with each other. His breathes through his nose harshly after getting a good look at you closely.

You were just as beautiful as the day he met you.

He zones out whatever the officiant is saying but Riddle immediately locks in once he hears it was his turn to say his vows. With shaking hands, Riddle pulls out a folded paper from his breast pocket and with a loud, shaky voice, he spills the vows he spent countless hours on.

"[Name], you have been my rock since the day we met, you have seen me at my worst and stood by my side whenever I was blinded by rage." He pauses, eyes flickering to yours before swiftly back down at the paper again.

"You soothed me whenever I had doubts, and you stuck with me after my mother cut contact even after all the harsh words she had thrown at you. F-for you, I would break all the rules."

Slapping a hand to your mouth, you choked on the sob that threaten to escape. Tears bubbled at your water line, a few managed to escape and leave a burning trail down your cheek. "R-Riddle..."

The officiant smiles, glancing between the two of you. "Riddle Rosehearts, do you take [Name] as your lawfully wedded wife? In sickness and in good health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, til death do you part?"

"I do."

Smiling, the man turns to you and repeats the same phrase.

"And you, [Name] [Last Name], take Riddle Rosehearts as your lawfully wedded husband? In sickness and in good health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, til death do you part?"

Sniffling, you smiled. "I do."

The man smiles and turns to the bundle of fur on the side. "May we have the rings, please?"

Grim perks up and waddles over, presenting the rings. After placing the rings on each other, Riddle and you held your hands together, not once removing your gaze from each other.

The officiant then loudly proclaims. "I now pronounce you, husband and wife, you may now kiss the bride."

Riddle wastes no time and immediately cups your face in his hands and placed his quivering lips upon yours. The hall explodes in applause at the now married couple.

Whistles ring out once you wrap your arms around Riddle's neck to bring him closer to you, salty tears mixing with your kiss.

Pulling back to stare into each other's eyes, you give your now beloved husband a smile.

"I love you Ridde."

Riddle chuckles, tears finally rolling down his as he uses his thumb to wipe at your wet cheek.

"I love you too, Mrs. Rosehearts.

Who Was Invited?

Cater Diamond, Trey Clover, Duece Spade, Ace Trappola, Che'nya, Trey's parents, Malleus Draconia, Lilia Vanrouge, Silver Vanrouge, Sebek Zigvolt, and a few professors you had grown close to. Riddle's mother never showed up

While Riddle wanted a small wedding, he couldn't say no to you once you gave him those puppy eyes.

My tip jar! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

excuse any mistakes !!

#x reader #fanfiction #twisted wonderland #malleus draconia x reader #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #riddle rosehearts x reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #leona kingsholar x reader #kalim al asim x reader #vil schoenheit x reader #idia shroud x reader #x female reader

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miyamor · 5 days ago

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❝ KISS ME HARD AND SOFT; ❞

۶ৎ ft. h. sero, s. todoroki, i. midoriya, d. kaminari, k. bakugou, e. kirishima navigation mha masterlist

۶ৎ headcanons of doing the hungry kiss trend (I don't wanna be me) with the mha boys. with links on how I think they'll act in the video<3

HANTA SERO⨾ a video of the trend came up on his fyp a few days ago, but he didn't watch it long enough to get to the main point of the video. it was 6pm on a friday night and hanta was adjusting the strings on his guitar when you showed him the tiktok on your phone and ask him to do the trend with you. him being the boyfriend that agrees to do anything as long as it's with you, he immediately agrees.

the both of you step out of the dorm building and find a street light pole to lean your phone against. you set the timer and put distance between you and hanta. right before the timer ends, you see hanta wink at you with the smirk he always has on his lips.

you push him first but he was quick to return the favor. he whispers a quick "sorry" before turning you around and dipping you down. hanta made sure to keep a hand on the back of your knee to make sure you wouldn't fall down. it's the least he could do after pushing you, after all.

─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────

SHOTO TODOROKI⨾ he rarely opens social media so the poor boy was unaware of what you were about to get him into. when you showed him the video, he understood the couples' want to kiss, but he couldn't wrap his head around why they find the need to be violent with one another. but he still agreed to do the trend with you when you asked him to. though he assured you that he won't be harming you in any way.

the phone started recording and after shoving shoto, he didn't know how to react. he wasn't expecting you to be so aggressive with it. though he couldn't stop the growing smile on his face when he realized you must've thought you could actually push him. nevertheless, shoto wanted that kiss. he wasted no time leaning down and meeting your lips with his.

─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────

IZUKU MIDORIYA⨾ izuku first saw the trend when he was peaking over kaminari's phone while they were sitting together in the common room. minutes had passed before kaminari noticed your boyfriend had gone quiet and was red in the face.

and so of course it came as a surprise to him when you asked him to do the trend with you. but since it was for you, he still agreed to do it despite thinking he wouldn't even last the whole fifteen seconds.

as you were setting u the phone to record, izuku got his act together and focused on the task at hand. follow through with how the trend is supposed to be done, and kiss you like how he always does. though it didn't really play out like it did in his head.

he kept overthinking how to push you and right before the kiss, he froze to check if the camera was still recording before finally pulling you closer. after the video, he kept apologizing about how awkward he was and that he was more than willing to redo it if needed.

─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────

DENKI KAMINARI⨾ a video of the trend passed by your fyp just a few hours ago when denki came barging into your dorm going on and on about why you should do the trend with him as the video played over and over again on his phone while he talked. denki assumed he would have to finish his speech before you agreed but three minutes into his rant, you interrupted him with a simple "sure".

he honestly didn't care for the first half of the video, because his only goal was to steal a kiss from you. when you started recording, denki made sure you were able to atleast shove him before pulling you in for the deepest kiss he had to offer. he was able to lift you up in the process too. denki made sure to show that kissing you was the only goal he had in mind when he kept kissing you even after the phone stopped recording.

─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────

KATSUKI BAKUGOU⨾ katsuki's first response when you showed him the video is "that's stupid". you were insistent on getting him to do the trend with you despite his glares and unfazed scowl. though at the end of the day, all it took for him to finally agree to do the trend with you are a few feather light kisses on the neck.

as you made your way outside the dorms, katsuki made sure to express his distaste for the situation. from your dorm room up until you're outside the dorm building, he's been non-stop grumbling and glaring at you. as if he doesn't like doing tiktok trends with you.

while recording, he made sure to be the one to bump you on the shoulder before you attempted to push him. he thought it was cute how you actually thought you could make him budge with such a small push. he chuckled at your actions before grabbing you by the front of your shirt and pulling you in for a kiss.

─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────

EIJIRO KIRISHIMA⨾ eijiro's first thought when you asked him to do the trend with you was how he could say yes to you without having to push or shove you while recording the tiktok. he didn't want to say no because he loved making tiktoks with you, but he didn't want to have to shove you like how the videos showed either.

so while you were setting up your phone to record the two of you, he kept thinking of ways to distract you from noticing he wasn't actually gonna do the trend how it's supposed to be done.

when the phone started recording, eijiro made sure you were able to bump into his shoulder and atleast try to shove him. before he reached a hand out to grab yours and pull you into him for the kiss. and eijiro supported your back with his left hand as if his life depended on it.

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westerosisim · 3 months ago

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Currently in my wip folder

My wip folder is overflowing with unfinished ideas because I can never finish what I start, but I thought I'd share some wips that are almost/mostly finished, that I actually plan to release.

@paigeraptor wanted a version of this young Rhaenyra hair. Since it's quite easy to mesh I decided to make it (BTW! I'm not doing commissions or taking suggestions, this was a one time thing!). I made two versions, one with all the hair in the back and one with some strands in the front -since Rhaenyra wore the hair both ways.

^This will probably be my next release!

This hair will literally be the death of me, but I'm still not giving up on it! Someday people!

Like I said on @westerosisimhistorical yesterday, I'm making some historically accurate grecian hairs. Not sure where to post them though...

I also (finally!) figured out how to unwrap meshes properly in blender, hence the seven pointed star. I have not, however, figured out how to weight paint it properly, that's why it's currently floating...

Last hair is a finished hair that I made a while ago, but for personal use. I think it's really cute though, so I thought about releasing it someday, only if it's something you guys want though!

Oh also! I HATE the new cas zoom in!!! My cas thumbnails are very basic screenshots from cas (I know it's not as professional as other creators, but idc), but now I don't know what to do! Like do I have to find a new way to make thumbnails now?? If so, then I feel like I have to redo them on all my other hairs to make it look more organized... :((

#sims 4 #sims 4 cc #ts4 cc #sims 4 hotd cc #sims 4 wip #wip #blender #sims 4 cc making

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moonstruckdraws · 2 months ago

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Hephaestus & Algaea

Trust is not given, it's forged.

Ver. 2

ver. 1

Look at thaaaaat another God on my list. Of course I had to do another Goddess though cause they're too fun to make- So I made his wife (who I didn't know was his wife until a while ago) Algaea, one of the Charities/Kharities!

Before I start to spew nonsense and act like I know what I'm doing with these designs, I must give mention to @superscrub323 because of their help. I would not have the ideas of what to do with Hephaestus (and ESPECIALLY Algaea) if now for their assistance, so I take no credit in the rambling I will be doing in this post, except for a few things. Thank you again, I really appreciate it. :]

Now to rambling (edit: this is quite a long one, sorry):

His clothes are the most.. different out of everyone else with one of his sacred animals just plastered on it instead of incorporating it in a more creative way, but honestly I was so frustrated making his design.. He's the most likely to get changed for better detail (like on his belt I just blanked and moved on until adding that heart lock, but I'll get to that). Same for his prosthetic leg. I just had to get something down on the canvas or else I'd be stuck. But I'll be redoing that too to be better.

For starters, if you're wondering why he ain't in an apron or any blacksmithing attire it's because I like to think Hephaestus is so comfortable and used to forging that he wouldn't see a need to change. If he gets the job done, does it matter what he wears? (my real answer is because I didn't want to because I had.. like no inspiration to-) He gets his clothes dirty and covered in dust, so I imagine Algaea making him promise to wear an apron more often. He will probably have goggles in the future too, but right now he doesn't.

Giving him an arm made of magma and rock was not my idea, but it is such a sick idea. I'm not surprised to see others take the same approach because honestly it's incredibly cool. Hephaestus is described as lame because of his leg(s) or apparently his face (???), which the latter I never understood when younger. Idk if that's a newer thing or not, but it just didn't make sense to me, and still kinda doesn't. When asked if I wanted to go with the prosthetic or an ugly face, I went with the prior because I didn't want to do anything to his face, but ended up making half of his face magma so- I interpret it as, after being thrown off Olympus, he lands on his face so hard it breaks (do the gods have bones..??) his skull. That gets hardened & fixed by magma, while the surface skin remains just plain magma (idk how it stays in okay-). His other leg being made of magma and rock was another idea I thought of, and saw when looking for refs, so I thought it'd be cool to have that with his arm.

Gave him a beard. Plan was to have him be bald, but stars, I am a sucker for a man bun so he has that now- also told that since he likes to make jewelry, I should deck him out in it. Obviously he is not decked out in it- again, no ideas in my brain, and with all the magma, he was getting cluttered as it was. And jeez this is going on long- why does he and Algaea have the most symbolism rn?-

Moving onto Algaea, the youngest Kharities out of the three, which I never remember for the life of me, I always think she's the oldest. Probably because alphabetically.. Anyway, I was suggested to give her a fuller body and make her have accent purple. Also was suggested to give her blonde hair in a braid, but I went for ombre instead as I imaged her hair to be brown. Why not mix the two? I also wanted her hair to be up in a bun (higher up than Hera and Athena's) and added braids in that.

Also side headcanon that I plan to give all the Kharities (those outside of the main three as well) flowers on the side of their heads (because Antheia has em, so I thought why not)

However the flowers she and her two sisters are going to have are poppies of different colors, and be part antelope. The Kharities (at least when I tried looking, but I also could've not looked hard enough) had no sacred animal or plant that I could find, so I got creative.. anemones, or Poppies, are sacred flowers to Aphrodite (due to the whole Adonis thing), so I'm giving it to the three Kharities just by that association. And I added the antelope because it symbolizes grace & beauty, just like they do. Because Algaea is the youngest, I gave her the shortest horns (and plan for Euphrosyne to have those boomerang-shaped horns & Thalia to have the spiral ones). She has three heart clips on her person as an attendant to Aphrodite & being the third daughter. And she's in jewelry of course, though the patterns on her clothes will likely change to be better.

Final thing: the heart lock & key. I wanted to add something to Algaea, and an open spot was her neck, so I was going to give her a necklace with a key on it. But I went to look up how keys looked in Ancient Greece, and well, it's too big to be a neckpiece lol, but I did find images of Roman keys and decided to use that. Problem was, I didn't like how it looked, so I moved it. To her bracelet. Originally in its place was a donkey, but I put the key there and thought it would be cool if the key was like a spare key to Hephaestus's forge. It's tucked into the bracelet and no one would be the wiser (good on you Hephaestus). And I gave him a heart lock because, c'mon- (I needed to fill the space on his belt it's so gosh darn bland I can'tttttt! I want to fix it so bad but I'm so OVER HIM RIGHT NOW) whatever I'll get to it.

oh also he cools down his magma so he doesn't burn her. okay that's it-

#greek mythology #hephaestus #algaea #<- i just prefer this one you know? i like using versions of words with 'e's instead of 'i's as much as possible #or just the cooler looking words like Kharities over Charities #algaia #<- because its the more known spelling i see so..#sorry for the long posts lately #sorry this one is even longer #for the record: i dont hate hephaestus- im just tired & not good at drawing dudes #the fact im not satisfied with his design (just the clothes & prosthetic. everything else is cool to me) is a big part of why too #ill get around to it #its not like im redoing aphrodite for the 4th time #april 2025 #hephaestus x algaea #hephaestus x aglaia #greek god designs

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masoncantthinkofaname · 3 months ago

Note

Hiii!! first of all, finding ur tiktok felt like my prayers have been answered😭 You ARE genuinely the most open-minded person i have seen about shifting. The way you talk and approach shifting in itself shows your experience and I'm all here for it😈

Sometimes it feels like time is the most imp factor in shifting when it's not even real. You and so many others have spoken about this already, but that feeling of being so close to making this crazy discovery but then i look back and see everyone (my closest friends) have moved on in life cuz they didn't have to become that crazy scientist. Maybe because i have shifted before (but that was a WHILE ago), that feel even more crazed because i know i can do it. But it's not happening. I know this kind of mindset will do me no good but I'm just girl:(

You know how people say "u should find perfect balance between your cr and dr" and "shifting should not be a form of escapism". Now although that is true to a certain extent, I kinda don't want to do that!? But since i don't want to ""get behind"" i try to compromise with cr just to realize that i am meant for everything not something, and it's continues to cycle.

Thank you so much for your kind words! It makes me incredibly happy that my posts can help people, even if a little!

It's really frustrating to know that you can shift, but it feels like something is just holding you back from actually getting there. I understand. I've said this a million times, but people see time as this terrifying thing. Telling a shifter it might take them another month is seen as incredibly demotivating. And although I get why, I really think people need to get more comfortable with time itself.

It took you a few years, but in the end, does it really matter? I can only imagine how much you have grown as a person, how much you have learned and matured into your choices. In the off chance that it will take you a couple more years to fully shift to your dr, would that really change that much?

If you were told that you were absolutely, 100% guaranteed to shift within the next year or two, you would gladly wait all that time, knowing that, no matter what, you'll make it to your dr at the end of it.

But technically speaking you already have that guarantee. Shifting is already yours. Whether it's going to be today, next week, next month, the one thing you know for sure is that you're going to shift.

Time is nothing to be scared of at all. In this reality it's made out to be a huge deal, a clock you're always racing. But there is no clock, only eternity. You can redo, change, rewind, skip past anything you want. I promise you, you're not behind.

The more you embrace that shifting is already yours, and that it's nothing you're fighting to achieve, the easier it becomes. You have the promise of living any and as many lives as you want. Time here on earth is so incredibly short. Even if you would only shift when you're 70, it's nothing compared to how many years you'll live, to everything that's waiting for you.

You're okay, you're doing amazing. Allow your journey to unfold itself however suits you best. You know the end result is guaranteed, so don't worry about the time it takes you to get there💚

#shiftblr #reality shifting #shifting #shifting motivation

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auspicioustidings · 1 year ago

Text

Flinch

Summary: You thought you would die trying the day you tried to escape your abusive husband, but destiny has other plans. Words: 5.2k TWs: domestic abuse, rape

(I read this book months ago, forgot all about it and today it burrowed into my head again and I assume caused this so if you wanna read a good version of this concept I'd recommend it!)

You would die trying today. You had to.

The 20 week scan had been yesterday and while your husband was away on a work trip he would return this evening. You knew your bodyguard had already told him that the baby inside you was a girl. He did not want a girl. You shook at the memory of when he left 3 days ago.

He had taken you on your hands and knees, no less cruel in how he did it than before you were pregnant, and told you about how his son would be his legacy. His hot, wet breath had been in your ear as he spilled inside of you. You’d better give me a son, wife. If you misbehave and grow a female I’ll need to fuck myself into your womb to get rid of the little slut and try again.

The baby had saved you the most severe beatings the last 4 months, but your husband found other ways to torture you. You could barely even look at your guard anymore knowing that he had been witness to the week your husband had made you spend in an open room penned in by glass. It had been a luxurious prison cell where everybody could see your every move, the bathroom facilities not hidden from view at all and your body on full display. He said it was so they could make sure you were healthy and happy during your pregnancy and then he had fucked your arse in front of his men and smacked you hard across the cheek when he was finished for being such a cry baby.

He would certainly beat you black and blue for failing to bear him a son. But you didn’t really care about that, you had agreed to be his wife 6 years ago when you were 17 and thought he had hung the stars. But this baby who at first you had hated you had come to love. He would kill her. He would kill any of her sisters after her. You could take any punishment he gave you, maybe you’d get lucky and he’d finally kill you, but your daughter deserved a chance to live.

So you would do something you had not done since your 3rd attempt 5 years ago had ended with broken ribs, a broken nose and a concussion that had made you dizzy and sick for months after. You were going to try and leave.

It would be difficult. Your guard was loyal to your husband and never flinched at his treatment of you, so you did not expect help from him. Your left leg hadn’t quite healed right after it had been hurt a few weeks ago during a particularly rough fulfilment of your marital duties so you couldn’t put weight on it very well.

Plus you knew you were ugly now. Your eyes had sunken in and were smudged underneath with purple from too many sleepless nights. One side of your face was mottled with bruises. The rest of your body was too thin but for your protruding stomach and covered in marks. You remembered your father yelling at you about beauty being the only thing women were worth when you were a child. Your parents had been happy when you got engaged to such a wealthy man and you had not heard from them since the day they handed you over. You had been pretty then. You wondered how disgusted your father would be with how you looked now. He certainly wouldn’t help you in such a state.

There wasn’t much time. Your guard was stuck to your side but for one hour in the afternoon where you were expected to thoroughly clean yourself and prepare yourself for your husband's return. The rules of that never changed regardless of your condition. You would spend the hour making yourself perfect, your holes clean and ready, your skin soft and fragrant, your hair braided how he liked it and a thin nightgown perfectly draping on your body. If he found fault with you then you could expect a great deal of pain before he brought in his men to redo the whole process. It was not pleasant when they did it.

The fear made your mouth dry. Not only would you be punished for trying to escape, but you would be found lacking in your appearance and preparation and that would carry its own punishment. You could not do this.

A kick from your daughter argued that you could and it spurred you into action. This was it, your last chance to save her.

–

“I’m gaggin’ for a pint.”

Ghost snorted a laugh.

“You’re always gagging for something Johnny” he quipped, Gaz elbowing Soap teasingly while Price just rolled his eyes from behind the wheel.

“You’ll behave back there. This truck has a no gagging on anything rule in place. Bunch of bloody moppets” he barked.

The Captain was mostly just glad to be heading back home. Some therapist would have a field day with him considering home to be a small off-the-record safe house on the edges of a tiny fishing village, but then he was sure they would quit long before he had gotten to that part with the amount of shite he had been through.

His team had their own flats dotted around the UK, but they seemed to prefer to spend most of their down time together in the safe house. Maybe one day they would all admit that the safe house was just their actual house now, but it was unlikely to be anytime soon. It was still spartan after all, looking drab from the outside and as regimented and dull as any other military base on the inside. Not really homey. Garrick had sincerely attempted to start a little vegetable garden last year but it had been a resounding failure, meaning the little cottage was surrounded by weeds that choked the path. At this point the locals probably thought it was haunted.

It was still a long way off. Two more hours to base where they could switch out the army issued truck for his own modern and well kept pick up and MacTavish’s frankly ridiculous little hatchback that should really not be able to handle the country roads leading to the safe house but was somehow still kicking. He swore he was some sort of car witch.

“Don’t worry Captain, I’m too classy to have a gag reflex!” Gaz shouted over to him with Soap snickering in the background.

“That right? Lieutenant.”

Price laughed at the carnage happening in the back of the truck as Ghost pounced on Gaz and tried to shove fingers down his throat to get him to gag while Soap took Gaz’s side as he almost always did when it came to a fight with Ghost and tried to fight him off. The rough housing in the back at least kept them occupied for a little bit while Price lit up a cigar.

He wasn’t paying as much attention to the road as he ought to, but then this stretch of road was almost always empty. They were more or less in the middle of nowhere, the nearest civilisation being some fancy gated community out past the right side of the forest this road cut through.

Only 5 hours to go now and at least 3 of those would be done in his much more comfortable truck with climate control and not this tin can.

Ghost chuckled as Johnny grabbed at Gaz’s top, trying to pull him back into the truck as Ghost was shoving him out. Poor Gaz’s top half was dangling precariously out the back and he could barely breathe through the wheezing laughter. Ghost was someone with fast instincts, so he felt Gaz tense and was immediately on guard even before the man yelled out and started scrambling to launch himself out of the back of the truck and onto the road before Price had a chance to properly stop the thing.

“Stop the truck!”

“Bloody hell, Garrick get your arse back in here!” Price yelled and cursed as he brought the truck to a stop a little ahead of where Gaz had jumped out.

Ghost had a hand locked around Soap’s nape, the Lieutenant knowing if he didn’t keep the man grounded he would be out of this truck and by Gaz’s side without even stopping to check for danger. Price trusted him enough that he stayed put, watching the two of them who were watching out the back to see what Garrick did.

–

There was a man on the road. You were so sore and so tired, your adrenaline nearly exhausted. You had gotten so close, the road was right there. But he was one of your husband's you thought. Not one you recognised, but the casual clothes with military gear was just like your guards.

The choice now was how hard to fight. It hardly felt like you could fight anymore, but somewhere in the woods you had made the decision that you were not going back. Better you die with your daughter than allow her to die alone. You hoped this man was ruthless and efficient about it, that he made this quick. You had to make sure he killed you. You were not going back.

“Hey, it’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you. My name’s Kyle and I can help. Are you hurt?”

He sounded painfully kind and that felt unfair. It had been so long since you had been afforded kindness, why now? Maybe this was your last meal.

“I- I won’t go back” you said, screwing up your courage and trying to stand as straight and strong as you could with the exhaustion and pain blanketing your body.

The man slowly moved one hand to take off his cap while the other was stretched open in front of him. He was showing you he wasn’t armed you thought as his cap was put on the ground and he raised his other hand to show it was also empty and crouched a little lower than his full height.

“Ok, I’m not going to make you go back anywhere. I just want to help” he said, gentle.

Throughout the years you had learned not to trust. When you were 10 and your mother had promised you a birthday party but then spent the money on a night out to the pub for her and your father instead. When you got your first period and you asked your father what you should do but he just smacked you for telling him something so disgusting. When your husband promised he would be gentle on your wedding night and it wouldn’t hurt, but he broke both promises. When a maid promised to help you escape but instead told your guard your plan. Your husband had fucked her in front of you while you were laying unable to move from the beating. You had never seen him be so gentle.

You so wanted to trust someone and not have it backfire. Just once. Just enough to give you some hope that your daughter could have a good life with people who would look out for her. But when he shuffled a little closer you flinched and stepped back. It was too hard to try and trust him.

The movement put you more in the dappled early evening sunlight. It would be dark soon.

–

Kyle fought to keep himself relaxed even when the light revealed what he had missed before. The scared woman in front of him was pregnant. Couldn’t have been very far along with how small she was. Her face was a mess of bruises. He wanted to hunt down whatever useless piece of shit had done this to her.

But he had to stay calm for her sake. He couldn’t start demanding information when he hadn't even managed to get close enough to examine her. He needed to get her far away from the danger first, get her medical attention and then get justice once she was happy and healthy and safe.

It also needed to be quick. This was a woman who was running, so it stood to reason there was somebody chasing. But how did he convince her to get into a truck with a bunch of armed strangers?

She startled, looking like she had seen… ah fuck, Ghost had hopped out of the truck and walked over.

“You know how to use a gun?” he asked her, almost casual despite the grit behind it.

She shook her head and her eyes widened as Ghost lifted his sidearm into his hands. Kyle thought perhaps his Lieutenant had lost his damn mind when he started calmly explaining the basics of the gun before stepping forward, putting it on the ground and stepping back again.

“Sergeant, back up” he ordered and Kyle reluctantly took a few steps back. “You need help and we can give it. You pick up that gun, get in the truck and if any of us touches you without your permission you point and shoot. We’re about two hours out from a military base, there’s a doctor there who can check you over, make sure the baby is ok.”

Maybe Ghost was a genius or maybe he was a maniac, but then it wasn’t the first time he had flirted with that line. Kyle watched the woman hesitantly move forward. She reminded him of a little mouse approaching a piece of cheese. When she got close enough she darted suddenly and grabbed the gun, holding it up to them. Her arms were shaking.

He was used to the sounds of a bullet firing by now, but he still felt himself jump when she fired out into the woods on the other side of them.

“Y-you actually gave me a loaded gun?” she said breathlessly, seeming almost outraged that Ghost would truly do such a thing. Kyle sympathised.

“You feel better?” Ghost answered, nodding his head to the truck where Soap was watching with rapt attention.

“...yes” the woman said before walking (although he noted it was more limping) over to the truck and letting Ghost help her in only after trying herself and realising she wouldn’t be able to hop up and keep ahold of the gun at the same time.

–

The man in the skull mask didn’t ask any questions and he seemed entirely nonplussed about the gun pointed at him as the eerily silent truck took off. The other two in the back seemed nervous and the man driving hadn’t interacted with you at all, instead keeping his attention on the road.

Skull mask made a call and his voice sounded like a shout with how quiet it was.

“I need you at Stirling Lines in 2 hours… yeah, needs to be you for this… send me the standard form and I’ll get the answers over to you… she doesn’t need delicate from me, she needs help… thanks for this, see you then.”

The one that shared a bench on your side with the mohawk looked increasingly alarmed at the conversation.

“LT…” he started, some worried warning in his tone.

The LT ignored him, looked at his phone and then looked up to you after seemingly finding what he was looking for.

“Name, gender and birth date?”

“I… what?”

“Jesus Christ LT!”

“I need to get information for the nurse I have meeting us at base” the LT said, ignoring the mohawk man’s outrage and staring at you with those unsettling eyes sunken behind the mask. “The questions are going to be invasive. The exam is going to be worse and it’s going to take hours.”

“That’s enough Lieutenant” the man driving hissed, only to be equally as ignored as the Lieutenant's eyes stayed on you.

“Get through it. Get through it to spite the bastard.”

You felt a flutter of panic try to take hold. Your adrenaline was gone so it was hard to even feel that, but he thought… they all thought you had been raped.

“It’s not… I’m married” you said by way of explanation.

The atmosphere was tense, but after you said that there was a distinct feeling of sadness coming from mohawk and Kyle, a feeling of pity. The skull mask had no such pity emanating from him.

“He told you that because you’re married you couldn’t say no. Reinforced that. It’s brainwashing and you can break that. It wasn’t marriage they used as a reason for me, but they tried to brainwash me to think I consented to it just the same. I didn’t and neither did you. Spite the bastard.”

Nobody else spoke for the next 2 hours but you and the man in the skullmask. He asked questions and you answered them. At the start you took time to answer, hesitant from the humiliation coursing through you and making you feel sick. An hour in and you had no emotions left to give, only cold answers that floated through the truck and hung in the air like the twisted body of the saviour had hung on your bedroom wall, watching and judging.

By the time the truck was pulling through to a base you felt rinsed of everything, numb. The only shred of warmth came from the hand holding yours and you could not remember exactly when the man with the mohawk had put it there.

–

“Simon…”

“It’s not like you hadn’t read my file sir.”

Price had read his file. He knew what Roba had done to this man. It didn’t make it any less jarring to hear his Lieutenant say it out loud in the back of a damn truck with a strange beaten woman and his two Sergeants who until now had no real idea of his past.

“You solid?” he asked, not wanting to push him to talk about anything he didn’t want to.

“I’m angry.”

He knew that from Simon’s record too. It had taken a while for him to be cleared after Roba because he was so angry all the time, his aggression too volatile for even the military. This whole situation was bringing up old wounds in his Lieutenant and he was lost with what to do about it.

“Lieutenant Riley” came a call from the nurse finally leaving the exam room. She had an American accent, Southern. He suspected she was probably the one who saw Simon after Roba considering that had been in Texas.

“Appreciate you coming on short notice” Simon replied with a nod of thanks.

“Consider it payback for getting me my visa. No point in mincing words, it’s bad.”

“Consider it a matter of national security” Price said.

Technically he shouldn’t be told anything about the state of the woman in that exam room without her consent, but then it would not be the first time he got around GDPR citing national security. The nurse was clearly versed in how the military worked and handed over the clipboard she was holding. Simon read along with him over his shoulder.

“Bleeding Christ. She’s 21 weeks?” he asked, shocked.

“Long term malnutrition. She wasn’t given any control over her food. They gave her enough to keep her alive, but nowhere near healthy.”

“This…” Simon started, looking at the results from the x-rays.

“Consistent with prolonged torture. Some of the breaks never healed right. She’s still healing from a fracture and some ligament tearing in the left leg, a few broken ribs and a crack in her orbital bone. She said he had been more careful with her since finding out she was pregnant.”

Price swore loudly. He saw plenty of civilian casualties. He had caused the deaths of innocent people in the pursuit of saving other innocents. He was no stranger to evil. But this wasn’t a terrorist attack. It wasn’t a hostage in a facility. The woman was just an ordinary person who was being tortured for no large cause, not for the advancement of some twisted doctrine. She was being tortured for the crime of being a wife.

“Can you keep it off record?”

He was a bit taken aback that Simon was asking that. Surely they wanted this on record? But then he followed that action to its conclusion. They found her near a community that very rich people lived in, it followed that this husband had money to spare. They would know she was missing by now and they would know the radius of where she could have reached by car or train.

The second she was admitted to a hospital as a malnourished and beaten pregnant woman she would go missing. He wouldn’t trust the police as far as he could throw them to protect a domestic abuse victim when the perpetrator was rich and powerful enough to track her down and pay them off. The military wasn’t any better. Hell he knew of monsters in his own department who would insist on taking her for a spin before handing her over.

“I’ll talk with her” he said, Simon giving him a grateful nod.

Somehow he needed to convince that woman that she was coming to the safehouse with them until they could deal with her husband along with every single one of his accomplices. They wouldn’t make it to prison.

–

You wanted so badly to sleep but the alarm in your head wouldn’t let you. You couldn’t possibly be safe. You were never safe.

The nurse had been kind in her examination. She said this was specifically what she was trained for, that you were not alone. Others had been through this and survived. Others had went on to have brilliant and bright lives while their attackers had turned into insignificant, small creatures in their memories. You still found it hard to think of your husband as your attacker. All you had known growing up was that the man of the household owned the women in it and it was his prerogative how he handled them.

You hadn’t been allowed to shower first even though you wanted to. It was strange to think that it was deemed lucky that you weren’t permitted to shower outside of your hour preparation time and that you hadn’t been given that hour since your husband had last used you for his pleasure. He knew you desperately hated having to lay with his spend inside of you. You had begged your guard to let you clean up properly before getting your ultrasound, but he had only smiled as he said no. Of course he had. He was well versed in experiencing your humiliation and your husband was well versed in creating situations for him to do so.

It was painful when she had examined you internally. She told you that it shouldn’t be, that you associated penetration with pain now so your body was seizing up making the speculum feel much worse than it normally would. She apologised, said that was something that wouldn’t happen forever once you got healthier and knew you were safe. You could hardly believe it when she told you sex wasn’t supposed to hurt for women.

You hadn’t thought you were capable of it after today, but you still cried when she did the ultrasound. There she was, still alive and well. You wanted to tell her it would be ok now, that you had done it, you had gotten away and she would be safe. But it didn’t seem real.

The exam had taken such a long time. Your clothes had been taken from you and the thin gown did nothing to make you feel less exposed. She wanted to take the bank notes stuffed into your pocket as well, promising that they would be replaced, but you had begged to keep them and she had let you. The MRI wasn’t mentioned when the nurse had first explained everything, but part way through she had asked if it would be ok for one to be taken. She made sure that you didn’t have to interact with anyone else but her which calmed you a little.

Now you were alone. She told you that she would let you gather your thoughts and then a shower and clothes could be organised.

You needed to figure out your next move. £410 wasn’t a lot of money, but it would have to be enough to get your daughter somewhere safe. You could work. Your last job had been as a waitress when you were a teenager, but you were good at cooking and cleaning and willing to learn just about anything so you were determined you would find something. You didn’t have much choice.

There was a knock at the door and you told them to come in. Your voice sounded awful, scratchy and hoarse.

It was not the nurse.

The man from the front of the car didn’t look at you unkindly, but it did not stop you from flinching as he stepped towards you. You wished you hadn’t let Kyle take the gun from you when you arrived.

He immediately stopped and showed his hands just like Kyle had on the road.

“My name is Captain John Price, the men in the truck are my team. You’ve been brave today and I know it’s been hard. I can get you a shower and some hot food, how does that sound?”

You felt yourself shrivel and shrink. A shower with him. You hated being in a shower with your husband, he always forced you to your knees. Whenever he gave you a chance to breathe it was only under the high pressure spray of the water and it made you feel like you were suffocating. He liked that.

Could you get on your knees for this man? If it was for your daughter, if it kept her safe, then yes. It wasn’t so bad was it? You had survived worse. It was just your mouth.

You stood shakily and nodded, eyes fixed on the ground as you picked up the bank notes on the side table and held them tightly in your hand.

“Where did that come from?”

“I…” you started, taking a moment to try and think of a lie before giving in to the mental exhaustion and just telling the truth. “I stole it from my guard’s wallet.”

“Atta girl.”

The praise made your ears feel hot. You had half expected to be arrested on the spot, but the man, Captain John Price, just started leading you out of the room and down the hall to the showers.

“Soap, that’s the moppet with the mohawk from the truck, volunteered some of his things. He’s a bit of a peacock, so there should be everything you need. It’s a communal shower but I’ll stand guard at the door for you so nobody will come in. You can lock the door, but if I knock I need you to answer so I can confirm you’re ok. Towels are here, clothes here. We don’t have anything for maternity so we’ve guessed on what size will fit.”

You were taken aback. He wasn’t going to be in here with you. You didn’t need to service him. Your grip tightened around the cash in your hand before loosening as you looked at it.

“Don’t even think about it. You don’t owe anyone here a damn thing. Go shower.”

With that he left. You locked the door and waited for 10 minutes to see if he would unlock it from the other side and come in. He only knocked once and when you responded that you were fine he was silent again.

Satisfied that at least you didn’t think he would come in you stripped off and finally had a shower. The hair products and shower gel left by Soap (you thought that was a funny coincidence) smelled nice, like pine and maybe a hint of something sweet. Your husband only ever let you use things with a heavy smell of roses.

The nurse had asked what you meant by preparing yourself when you mentioned that you hadn’t done so and escaped instead. She told you that you didn’t need to do that here, but then there wasn’t any of the equipment you were used to anyway. It felt luxurious in a way, to clean yourself just for yourself.

The next time Captain Price knocked and you confirmed that you were ok, he kept speaking with you.

“I would like you to come with me and my team. We are heading to a safehouse a few hours from here and it’ll be the safest place for you to recover. You would have your own room with a lock on the door.”

You were glad nobody could see the way your face screwed up in some grotesque mixture of fear, confusion and, worst of all, hope.

“I… have money. I can pay rent.”

“...ok.”

He sounded somewhat reluctant to accept that but you couldn’t not pay for this. You would constantly be waiting for one of them to collect in some other way if you didn’t give them cash.

You touched your stomach, silently asking your daughter if it was ok to trust this man. She gave a kick.

–

Johnny didn’t think he had ever seen anyone so fragile. She had fought it Price had said, but eventually their new housemate had fallen into an exhausted sleep in the passenger seat of his truck.

When they arrived it had been him who bundled her in his arms and carried her to bed. God she was so small for someone who was supposed to be halfway through a pregnancy.

He had watched her since Gaz had jumped out of that truck. She had flinched then, she had flinched when Si got out of the truck, she had flinched when Price had went into the room (he probably shouldn’t have been hiding out in the hallway watching through the open door, but he just couldn’t stop himself).

She hadn’t flinched at all when he threaded his fingers through hers in the truck. Her hand was so tiny. Too tiny, much like the rest of her.

He put her to bed in his room since the spare was a bit of a wreck and he bunked with Gaz. They could sort it all out tomorrow after he had gotten her a massive breakfast. He was shite at cooking anything but a greasy fry up but he wanted only the best for her, so he’d already fired off a message to the girl who owned the best cafe in town and asked for a priority breakfast delivery that he was going to be paying a fortune for since it was last minute and out of the ordinary.

He didn’t know this woman, but he knew intrinsically that he would.

–

You dreamt sweet dreams. A cottage made cosy. Cooking whatever meals you wanted with ingredients you grew yourself in the garden outside. The gentle pleasure of careful hands and tongues, opening you up to a new world you never thought existed, one where your pleasure was first and foremost and the press of a body into yours didn’t hurt. The give beneath your fingers when you touched your own body, fat and soft rolls that reminded you of how safe you felt, how happy and healthy you were.

And a little girl running towards a returning hero, being swept up and laughing delightedly about it.

Best of all in that wonderful dream, you didn’t flinch once.

#mhairiwrites #tf 141 x reader #well well well #look who has dissociated and written something jumbled and nonsensical in one go #I am once again asking my brain to do this with the series I am trying to finish instead of with a random completely different concept

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lecl3rcw · 2 years ago

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Recipe for disaster

Pairings: Charles Leclerc x sister!reader, Arthur Leclerc x sister!reader

Warnings: Curse words, sibling insults.

Summary: Baking a cake with Leclerc 2, 3, & 4.

Authors note: I’ve seen so many siblings/friends on tiktok try this trend so this is my take on this trend but with our fav siblings.

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“Ughh change the dang channel Arthur” The girl groaned finally having enough of her older brother hogging the TV, “Get outta my face” he replies rolling his eyes pushing her away.

“You are so selfish! You’ve been hogging the TV since Enzo left, which was 4 hours ago” she says snatching the remote away from him which resulted in the boy getting up and trying to snatch it back. “Give it back Y/N!” He says reaching out to get it. She leans back her hand away from his, only for the remote to be grabbed by someone else.

“Gosh you two are unbearable” Charles says rolling his eyes shutting the TV off. The two younger ones looked at him in disgust, “Ugh I hate when Charles actually starts acting like an Older sibling” Y/N says, “I know right? It dosent suit him at all” Arthur says, the two teaming up against Charles all of of a sudden.

“Excuse me? You should be greatful I’m doing this, your brains are rotting and frankly I can’t stand hearing you argue one more time, so we’re gonna do something, as a family, that dosent involve the TV” he says, “Fine, what would you like to do Charles” The Girl says taking a seat on the couch, Arthur took a seat next to her. The two looked at each other in annoyance before moving away from each other.

“Well, we should try baking a cake” Charles says enthusiastically, “a cake? Charles no offense but you guys do not know how to bake” the girl says snickering only to recieve a smack on the back of her head. “Arthur, I’m gonna kill you” she says before lunging on him, “alright that’s enough, Arthur go sit on the chair” Charles says, “This isn’t over” he says squinting his eyes at the girl to which she reciprocated by sticking her tongue out.

“Anyways, we’re gonna bake a cake but one of us will be blinded, one of us will be deaf, and one of us will be mute” Charles said. “Respectfully, no Thankyou” Arthur says, “What why?” He asks him.

“I can’t stand Y/N when she’s fully capable of doing things, I don’t have that type of patience” he says getting up to walk to his room, Y/N scoffed “Bitch” she whispered under her breath, “Tur… I didn’t want to resort to this but if you don’t do this, I’m gonna tell Maman that you’re the one who broke her vase” Charles says, He gasps, “You wouldn’t” He says, “He might not, but for sure will” The Girl says giving him an evil smile, “Ugh fine” He says succumbing to the request against his own will.

While Arthur and Charles went to the store to get the stuff for the cake, Y/N took out all the utensils, bowls, and other stuff, she even made 3 chits to make it even on who gets to be what. About 30 minutes later, the brothers return and Y/N has changed into an old T-shirt that she doesn’t really care about. Alas, the siblings were ready to pick their chits and get started on the cake.

“Y/N you should pick last” Arthur says, “Don’t we all pick at the same time?” Charles asks, “She could have sabotaged it to get the one she wants” he says eyeing her suspiciously, “Arthur has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?” She says shaking the bowl with chits, “No, because I’m not” He replies, she rolls her eyes before letting the boys before her pick their chits.

“We open it at the same time ok?” Charles says, When Y/N grabs hers, the three open it at the same time. “Hah! I get to listen to music while I do this” The Girl says happy she got the loud music option, “I cant talk” Charles says groaning, “You think that’s bad? I have to blindfolded! She cheated I demand a redo” Arthur says putting his paper back in the bowl, “It’s not my fault you’re such a sore loser” she says, “Guys it’s fine, let’s just get started on this cake” Charles says officially being done with his younger siblings.

Little did Charles know that baking this cake was the worst decision he could have ever made in his life. With Arthur not being able to see, Y/N not being able to hear, and him not being able to speak, this was for sure gonna be a distaster.

As Arthur grabbed the eggs, well as he attempted to grab it he struggled considering he couldn’t see, “Can someone give me the egg” He asked, “WHAT?” Y/N screamed not being able to hear anything, “Damn stop yelling” He says, Charles visibility rolling his eyes, that didn’t go unnoticed by the youngest Leclerc, “Can someone please Hand me the egg already” Arthur said. Charles handed the egg, Only for Arthur to completely miss the bowl, “Oh you dumbass” Y/N said slapping her hand on her forehead, “What? What happened” Arthur questioned, Charles pushed him out of the way.

“TUR YOU GOTTA STAY AWAY FROM HERE” The Girl says before grabbing a paper towel and cleaning the dropped egg. Little by little the siblings worked their way into making a heart shaped, vanilla flavored cake.

“Now this is the hard part, the decorating” the girl sighed, “hand me the icing” Arthur said, “ARTHUR SPEAK UP” she says, “I SAID HAND ME THE ICING” he says, matching her volume. “OHHH” as she was about to Charles stopped her, shaking his head no, she put the icing back down.

“Hello? Charles? Y/N?” He asks, “WE GOTTA WAIT FOR THE CAKE TO COOL DOWN” Y/N says, the siblings waited and waited, with a lot of ups and downs (Arthur making a mess, Y/N screaming and Charles being a victim) the siblings were finally done. They took of their headphones, blindfold, and cloth off. “Finally lord” Charles says, “This was your idea, and it was the dumbest idea ever” Arthur says rolling his eyes, “It was actually fun, I wish Enzo could be here too, I rarely get to see you guys nowadays” the girl says her mouth spilling all of her heart’s secrets.

“Aw Chérie” Charles says pulling the girl into a hug, Arthur joins in which suprised her a little, “I love all you guys so much” she says, “we love you too” they says unanimously. The 3 were so caught up in their moment they didn’t notice the oldest Leclerc sibling come enter the house and kitchen.

“What the hell is that supposed to be?” Enzo questioned.

“A cake? I learned it from culinary club at school”

“We need to get a refund for those classes”

#charles leclerc x reader #arthur leclerc x reader #Charles Leclerc x sister!reader #arthur leclerc #charles leclerc #f1 imagine #f1 x reader #f1 fanfic

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hellionscorner · 10 months ago

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Til Death do us Part

✨✨🌸🌸🌸First Fic, Darlings-- I apologize if it's too long or maybe some errors I'm still learning this thing🌸🌸🌸✨✨

Warnings: Fem! Reader, Arranged Marriage, “noncon”, Spitting, Tiddy slapping, Toji tossing you around like a doll, Hate Fucking, Reader is a brat, threats of impregnation

Word count: 2592 ( Long as hell I’m sorry😓)

Toji never saw himself as the settling down type, especially with the line of work he was in. Always on the go, how could he stop every five minutes to cater to some spoiled rotten brat who has just now been revealed to him not even two hours ago for the very first time at the altar? What made him a little more complacent with the contract was that his new little wife would have him set for life. He took your last name without a problem. Toji didn’t give a shit that he was sold for a lowball price because in the end he still won and nothing was going to fuck it up for him. He watches while sprawled out on the bed as you went back and forth from the full body mirror that hung from the wall before going back to the bathroom.

“They’re expecting you, the prodigal child, to mate with a non-sorcerer?” He scoffs a laugh, finding the whole marriage to be pointless if that were the case, “Don’t they know that may increase the chance of them not getting a sorcerer heir?”

After a beat you finally respond to him while redoing your lip liner, “They can expect all they want, but unless they physically come in here and hold me down while you mount me like some fucking mutt in heat, they’re going to be expecting for a long while.” you had no problem challenging the elders of your clan and his clan, you knew you were the strongest and wouldn’t mind flexing your strength for them all to see. You had long since changed out of your wedding dress and into a darker dress with high slits on the sides that stopped at her waist, thin string laced criss cross into the material allowing the slits above her thigh to be mere windows for her bare hips, the dress a stark contrast from her wedding gown she had on mere hours ago.

“You’re feistier than what I gave you credit for.” He chided before standing up somewhat curious as to why you were taking so long to get ready for bed. Toji stopped dead in his tracks when she stood in the doorway of the bathroom,“You shouldn’t assume things about people, it'll screw you over in the long run.”

He wasn’t sure where to look first and yet on the outside he refused to show too much of a reaction for someone of the likes of you, but the sight made his thoughts slowly start to shift. Folding his arms across his broad chest he tilts his head slightly as he continues to scan her body, “ Interesting outfit.”

“Interesting enough to get some free drinks.”

“You’re gonna try to get other men to buy you drinks on our wedding night already?” Toji smirked, doing another once over his bride, his eyes lingering on the shape of her breasts and how they nearly spilled over the top of her low cut neckline.

“You really hate me that much, hm?”

“I’m sure you hate me more.”

“I do, actually.” He says without a hint of hesitation or doubt, his lips curled up before his tongue darted out to lick his lips. Toji felt a tinge of doubt when he saw the way your brows furrowed together in a glare, he wanted to wipe that defiant look off your face one way or another but he wanted to see how far he could push his bratty wife.

“Even if I hate you, it’s not a very good look. Imagine what the clans could say if they found out that their new bride is already seeking out other men to buy her drinks..” He stepped closer blocking you in the bathroom, “On her wedding night.”

Your hand finds itself on his chest to maintain some semblance of space between you both, “Oh please spare me that bullshit…you’ve got an endless supply of money now that you are a part of my clan.”

Toji’s eyes glance at your hand before they fix themselves back on you, “ That’s besides the point here. You’re my wife. You’ll make me look like a damned fool if I let you leave this house.. Especially dressed like this.”

“If you let me?” Your hand moves from his chest to fold both of your arms across your chest as you squint up at him, you’ve never needed permission to do whatever you wanted and you sure as hell weren’t going to start asking for it like some docile debutante, “ I don’t need anyone to let me do a goddamn thing.”

Toji’s eyes darken before his arm reached out grabbing you by the waist and pulling you flush against his body. His chest rising and falling while his blood rushes rampantly through his veins, no woman has ever talked to him like that. He loathed the way her lips pursed as you waited for him to retort back meaning you already figured out what bratty thing you were going to say back to him. Your fucking mouth is infuriating to him and to make matters worse it was turning him on.

“You should watch that fucking mouth, wife.” his free hand gripped her face forcing you to look up to him as his thumb traced her bottom lip causing it to part to partially reveal the bottom row of your pretty teeth. Without any hesitation you bite down on his thumb then stomp on his foot. Toji hisses with a grimace from the pain for a brief moment as you slipped out of an opening and ran toward the door. Unfortunately for you, you weren’t too versed in running in heels and Toji had your wrist back in his grasp in no time. Using the opportunity of you losing your balance, he swings you to the bed like you weighed nothing.

You flipped to your hands and knees scrambled on the blankets to put more space between yourself and your crazy ass husband, he grabs you by your ankle and drags you back to the edge of the bed on your stomach with a low growl. Panting softly you reach back and try to pull your dress back over your bare ass, but Toji snatches your hand away and pins it above your head. You could feel the weight dip into the bed between your thighs. Your eyes squeeze shut trying to keep focus on escaping and not how he handled you like you were a doll.

Toji settles on his knees in the bed before flipping you onto your back, using that opportunity you attempt to kick him in his head and he of course catches your other ankle gripping one in each hand, “ You like pissing me off, don’t you?” he separates your legs in a ‘v’ moving close enough for your ass to rest on his lap, “ You think it’s funny to be a bad girl?”

“Bad g-girl? Nngh— get the fuck off!” You squirmed more, reaching up for the pillows and throwing them at him. Toji’s eyes are drawn to your pussy almost immediately, tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip softly.

“ Or what?”

He leans in closer, his semi-hard cock resting against your glistening cunt, the motion allows him to smell your arousal and it took everything in his power not to roll his eyes back with a groan so he closes his eyes briefly. Toji’s eyes shot open wide when he felt the small warm splatter land on the corner of his lips and his cheek.

“You little fucking brat,” His tongue darts out tasting you sweet saliva and he growls low snatching your face back into his hand in a bruising grip until your lips parted from each other before he spits in your mouth. You cough when you unintentionally swallow while thrashing under him.

“Are you going to be a good girl now?”

“I fucking hate you!”

Toji smirk returns and he leans closer, his body practically swallowing yours up, “I hate you more.” he moves his lips to your ear, “And yet, here we are. Married to each other.” Shocked at how your body reacted to his voice in your ear, you snatch your head away. He grabs your chin again forcing you to look back at him, “You still got some fight left in you after all and yet..that little body of yours is betraying you by soaking my cock through my pants.”

Toji shifts and he presses his lower half against your core with a bit more pressure, “I wonder how long it’ll take to break you and be the sweet little wife I know you can be.”

Your body nearly seized from the contact, “W-What are you doing?”

He smirks at the sound of her voice faltering, he rocks his hips once and chuckles at the way your body tenses from the motion, “What does it look like I’m doing, brat?” your hips slightly buck against him making his already hardened cock throb, “You still haven’t apologized to me,”Toji moves his hips again in an agonizingly slow pace, “But your cunt is weeping for my forgiveness.”

Your hips jump again, low whimpers bubble in your chest begging to be let free. He tilts his head slowly watching as your hips move desperately to his slow movements. Deeming it safe to move his hand from pinning your wrists down, he moves his hand to pull the neckline of your dress below your breasts.

“Don’t you dare hide those fucking moans from me, brat.” Toji’s voice lowered into a growl before delivering a harsh warning slap to your breasts. You yelp and attempt to fix your glare up at him, “You don’t deserve them-” your voice cuts out almost immediately as he ruts harder against you, the head of his cock bumping against your clit.

“You can say whatever that bratty little brain comes up with…it’s not going to change the fact that your body is begging for me to claim it.”

“You’re del-delusional!”

“Mhm, sure.”

Toji rests your legs on either side of his shoulders and unbuttons his suit pants, lowering them just enough for his cock and balls to be free. The scene above you looked like something out of a wet dream. His disheveled hair, the open dress shirt that exposed his absolutely perfect chiseled body, and the piece of resistance was how your legs looked resting on his broad shoulders with his cock resting right against your needy clit. It felt a hell of a lot different when it was just through his pants…the mere heat between you both was nearly enough to cease any coherent thought you both had.

“What’s it gonna be,brat?”

You watch as Toji traces his cock along your wet folds, sucking in a breath you sink your teeth into your bottom lip and let out a quiet whimper bracing yourself. His lips curled into a knowing smirk as watched as you looked up at him expectantly. He wants nothing more than to just get up and leave you to your own devices, but he’d be lying if he said that his cock resting on your cute and drooling pussy wasn’t a sight he’d get on his knees and thank the gods for. Toji could call himself insane for even considering the fact, it’s just you are one of the few women who have managed to get completely under his skin. Why wouldn’t you listen to him? Why were you making it so difficult for both yourself and him?

His cock throbbed against you, with a low growl he pinches your swollen clit which earned another yelp from you.

“I don’t hear you begging, wife.”

“T-Toji Toji!” your cries slurred as your vision blurred with tears, your clit throbbing with need.

“That’s not what I wanna hear and you know it, brat.”

“Plea-” Toji didn’t give you a chance to utter the entire word before he’s impatiently sliding into your needy cunt with ease and bottoms out into you with one move, “Ah- Fuck!” your words a pitch higher. The sudden intrusion and fullness in your lower belly made you dizzy with euphoria.

“Close enough, brat.” He chuckled, swallowing softly before clenching his jaw to have some semblance of control. The way your eyes rolled back in ecstasy wasn’t making it any easier for him. Toji leans forward until his hips kiss your plump ass and the tops of your thighs pressed against your tits, wanting to get a good view of your face before rolling his hips at a medium pace.

“Ohhhh my goooood!!” your voice vibrated and shook with each hard thrust.

“It looks like I’m earning those sounds aren’t I?” The smugness in his voice is ever so present as his fingers dug into the plushness of your thighs pushing your knees further into your chest allowing him to hit a deeper angle into your sobbing cunt.

Your juices coat his thighs and your ass which only fueled his movements, the way your cunt squeezes around him earned you a low moan from his lips. One hand goes to splay on your lower back bringing you up to meet his thrusts, your arms loop around his neck, brushing your lips against his as a test.

Toji’s chest rumbles with a deep chuckle, “ What is it that you want? Ask nicely and I’ll give it to you.” He lied, he knew deep down inside of him you could ask or even demand it from him and he’d give it to you. However, that didn’t mean he was going to go and admit it, yet.

“Kiss—n-nggh–want a kiss.” You pant out against his lips.

“What happened to please, huh?”

His complaint is silenced when he feels your tongue against his lips, making his pace falter for a moment.

“Fucking hell…brat.” He groans quietly before slamming his lips against yours, sliding his tongue inside to fully claim your mouth while picking back up his pace. Your moans rang in his mouth and were absolute music to his ears. Feeling your cunt thrum in sync with your heartbeat, he could tell you were close and he knew he’d be soon after you.

His hips pump faster into you all while bringing your hips to meet his, the feeling of your nails biting into his skin before dragging them down his chest. It was only fair to claim you in his own little way as well. With one final hard thrust, his breath stutters feeling his release flood around the length of his cock. Your body shudders immediately reaching your own high from the warmth, his hips rock lazily into you.

Toji pants softly with his face buried in your neck, almost in disbelief at how quickly he’d lost himself in his bratty little wife. Your head falls back taking a deep breath of cool air, he instinctively runs his tongue up your neck licking the thin sheen of your sweet sweat.

“Are you done fighting me or do I need to keep pumping this pretty cunt up until you’re round with my kid?”

“You’re like a fucking super villain.” You hissed when he takes your nipple between his teeth.

“Damn right I am and you’re fucking bound to me. Til death do us part, sweetheart.” Toji says licking your nipple after releasing it with a laugh.

#jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen smut #toji x you #jjk smut #fanfic #toji fushigro x reader #jjk toji #hellionscorner #toji smut

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psychophanticpervert · 2 months ago

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Redoing that OC ask meme cuz I didn't realize it should probably be its own post and also I've had more time to consider how having a sibling would change Nico (spoiler: a lot). Reading Smarty's inspired me to finish it, sigh. Plus, I was talking with Reckoning the other day and it made me consider how it Nico would interact with other people.

That being said...

THAT OC ASK MEME TEMPLATE THAT WAS GOING AROUND A WHILE AGO FOR: NICOLETTA CUCCI

1. Describe your OC physically- what do they look like? What notable features do they have, or what’s your favorite part of their design?

Her most noticeable feature is her height, or lack thereof. She's a whopping 4'7/140cm, thank you Neily. She has a similar body type to Yunie and unfortunate twink genes, but since she's such a gymrat she has thicker arms and legs than her sister, and weighs more too. Her build is unassuming until she knocks out somebody a foot taller than her. Her skintone is darker than either of her parents, and she technically has freckles, but they're so light you can barely see them. She has a lot of hair, enough to sweep around her ankles, thick and wavy (nightmare to brush), and it's a mousy brown color that's a mix of either of her parents. Dainty nose and a fuller lower lip. My favourite and least favourite thing to draw are her eyes; they take up most of her face, and she has very long eyelashes (4 on the top and two on the bottom, which is important to me), and she got that blue eyed stare. Her pupils and the outline of her iris are pink like Yunie's, but I think the color is a little darker, I'm too lazy to look at her ref sheet rn. Sometimes I get annoyed drawing them because of her anisocoria in her left eye, and I'm not sure if it comes across as what I want to. She (most of the time) has Angel TF, but I tend to waffle around with how I draw her wings lmao. Heart halo that is particularly radiant.

2. What role would your OC fill in a friend group?

Lost child. That younger friend your friend brought that you don't know very well but your pal promises that it won't be a big deal. Night ends with one deceased, two injured, and three in jail btw.

3. What is their stance on religion? Are they a devout believer, against the idea of gods, or somewhere in between? Do they make their practice or their opinions public, or keep it private?

She believes in God, Jesus, Satan, angels, and demons. Her idea of religion is distorted by her own mindset, because she's had hallucinations she's interpreted as divine since she was a child. She generally believes it's something that is personal to everyone, so she does not go around preaching to people, but it is fairly obvious since she doesn't hide her practice. She says grace before eating, always. She may also offer to exorcise you if she thinks you are possessed (wether you have the demon tf is unrelated). She arbitrarily discards houses to thieve from if she thinks there are demons in them. Demon TFs make her mildly uneasy, but she mostly feels that they are the victim of circumstances.

4. How do they act when they’re sick, and does it change depending on who they’re around or how sick they are?

She has a high rate of physical illness due to her mental illness, which is exacerbated due to being frequently injured, especially because she's in such a high-stress environment. She's learned to tough it out and go on like nothing is wrong. Besides items of monetary value, she also steals ibuprofen from people's houses. Because Yunie doesn't want her going to Harper's, she sometimes forces Nico into bed if she thinks it's too severe. Because she can't work in this condition, Yunie does the sex juice experimenting then, (tho not always, since its important to consider how it would affect her when not sick as well) so she also has a pavlov'd response to associate symptoms of sickness with arousal and has trouble distinguishing between the two.

5. What’s one hill your OC will die on (anything from a guiding moral position to a strong opinion about combining mint and chocolate)?

1. It's impossible for humans to connect with people. 2. Therefore it is impossible to truly know someone. 3. If you do not know someone you cannot love them. 4. The exception that proves this rule is family. 5. That it is acceptable behavior for her to tolerate mistreatment from people just because she considers them family. 6. She doesn't expect other people to follow these rules or to understand them. 7. Strawberry >>> Chocolate.

6. How did you choose your OC’s name?

Like a lot of people who play DoL she started out as selfsona adjacent, so I just gave her my middle name that I barely use. The more I played the more she became her own weird little person, so I gave her a variant of my actual name, but gave her a nickname that nobody uses for me (Nico) to mark us as distinct people. In universe, the only reason her name isn't like Minfilia or Yda is because Piers shot down all of Neily's favourite names, so she just gave her a name that sounded mildly similar to her own in a narcissistic moment. I've been thinking of making her middle name Moenbryda or smth because it's kinda funny, but idk-

7. Lots of people don’t have a favorite food when put on the spot, but what’s a food or drink that your OC would never turn down if someone offered it to them?

Strawberries, or strawberry flavored things, which she insists taste different. She eats them whole, leaves and all, and she likes strawberry juice, candies, ice cream, milkshakes, and gum.

8. What’s something that your OC owns that means the world to them? What’s something they own that they don’t like, but can’t bring themself to part with?

She doesn't own a lot of things. She has a framed photo of Jesus an Evangelist gave her when she was younger that she puts stickers on. She feels better knowing someone is watching over. She also has a pair of tinted lenses to help with her astigmatism, I just never draw them because I'm a lazy cunt. In Childhood Trauma AU she has an iPod Arin gave her when she was like four to help with auditory hallucinations. Of course, the thing is more than ten years old so she's always having to fix it, but it's the only thing she has left of him.

9. How do they fare in cold or hot climates, and which do they prefer?

In theory she would say the heat, but she fares the cold better, she runs relatively warm, and oftentimes the heat makes her symptoms worse.

10. Share a sentence of dialogue from your OC that you think represents them well.

"You're always... going to be alone. But... you're not worried... about that, right?" In a deeply non-malicious tone.

Her speech is sometimes stilted due to disorganized thoughts, so she tries not to talk too much.

11. How are they seen by people around them - family, close friends, colleagues, or strangers?

Family: She is deeply loved and cherished. Either to a detrimental level (Arin), or the opposite (Yunie). She is extremely Weird TM, but it doesn't seem that way to them because it's their normal. They are not very responsible about her mental illness either way.

Close Friends: It depends, but she is generally a very accommodating person, so she's great for asking favors. She's protective if you ask her to be, so maybe also guard dog adjacent, as long as you're not asking her to fight off like 6 people at once or Eden. If you get really close with her you might actually see some semblance of a real personality and of personhood, which is somebody cheeky, sarcastic, sensitive by turns, and very opinionated.

Colleagues: She doesn't have many. Probably the same way she is seen at school, which is quiet and strange. Best avoided. Landry find her impressive, Mickey is probably fonder of her than they'd like to admit.

Strangers: She can behave erratically in public, so they think she's weird and also best avoided, but it's also Rapechestershire so the majority of people see that she's small and bruised up, so an easy target. Not always wrong.

12. What does their bed and/or desk look like? Tidy or cluttered - are they both the same, or is one neat and the other messy?

Since she shares a room with Yunie, it's honestly very barebones. They share a desk AND the bed, so it's good they're both small and don't have many possessions. The sheets and room are relatively clean because Yunie's a minor neat freak. I don't think the bed is made since it's kind of a waste of time and also they have like one (1) blanket/pillow. If she lived alone it'd be messier because she doesn't have the energy to clean most of the time.

13. How do they deal with pain (physical or emotional)?

She has an honestly horrifically high level of physical pain tolerance. Seriously, you might wonder if she has CIP or something, because what the hell. She just has an insanely high willpower, like her sister. It takes a lethal amount of damage to put her down, and even then she is biting at your ankles the whole time. After a certain threshold she will usually just go catatonic or have a psychotic break.

Nico LIKES to think she doesn't feel emotional pain!!! She has a worshipper mindset towards her family so she doesn't feel any negative feelings about Yunie selling her out, if that happens. She's just happy to have been useful. When people she considers friends betray her or throw her under the bus, she doesn't feel all that bothered either because it just reinforces her mindset that people are inherently unknowable and that you can't rely on anybody. But honestly a lot of that is bullshit and if you engage positively with her enough she will start to care for you outside of that, so when you betray her AFTER like a year or five of nice interactions she shuts down and maybe tries to kill you. Or herself. Depends what's going on with her life yknow.

14. How comfortable are they relying on other people, and what situations would change their comfort level?

It doesn't bother her if somebody helps her out, but she has no expectations of continued support. Very much a live in the moment kinda girlie. The idea that somebody might help her just because they want to is odd to her, but she won't reject help, although she generally assumes she should pay the favor back somehow, if only because that's what is socially expected.

15. How does your OC take up space? What do they do with their hands when they talk, or how do they sit in chairs?

She doesn't take a lot of space in general, and she prefers to keep it that way. She generally finds most social interaction confusing so she prefers to be someone who is easy to ignore and look over, but she's not the kind of person to purposefully turn someone away. She has difficulties expressing all the thoughts in her head, so she uses hand gestures in an attempt to clarify, but sometimes they seem completely unrelated to what she's saying. She usually seeks out corner chairs to draw less attention to herself, and sits slightly hunched over with her hands in her lap.

16. Point assign D&D ability scores to your OC (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA; out of 27).

I literally play D&D and I still don't really get what these mean. I will just. Describe.

STR: Middling. She's shockingly athletic, so it's higher than you might expect, but her size is her downfall, there is only so many punches you can throw when you're child sized and your opponent is like. Six feet plus or whatever.

DEX: High. She's small and agile, and a fast runner, with good reaction time. This is partially because I think she has an overwhelming amount of bad traits so I wanted some balance.

CON: Almost maxed. She can take a lot until you beat her down, and when she's down you need to double it until she's not moving anymore.

INT: Pretty high. She's got a lot of book smarts and reads as a hobby, primarily non fiction and things that she feels help her understand the nature of the world. Science and physics and math are always the same. They make sense. She thinks these are useful things to know.

WIS: Low. She has a distorted mind and difficulty understanding people. She's pretty easy to manipulate when isolated.

CHA: ???. She's probably really fucking weird to normal people, but if you're also messed up she's pretty endearing. She has a lot of charm points based on appearance, so some people let her erratic personality slide because of her facecard.

17. What are three moments in their life that impacted your OC the most?

It depends on the timeline loooool. Something that almost always happens is getting diagnosed, although what she's diagnosed and the consequences of that vary. Most of the time it just adds to the feeling of wrongness and otherness she has with other people.

18. If they can or would drive, what would their car be like?

I would never punish pedestrians by putting Nico in a vehicle. Fucking atrocious driver, even worse at night. If I gave her any kind of transport, it would be a bike.

19. How do they connect with the people around them? Love language, how they offer comfort, etc.

Not something she feels is possible, but generally her brutal honesty is an attempt at connection, though she doesn't expect it to be successful. She is nice to people, because she doesn't understand why when you are hurt, you would want anybody else to feel that way (though she doesn't judge people for having that mindset). Her first impulse when someone is upset is to talk with them, but she's discovered that most people feel worse afterwards, so she leans towards physical affection since that's her own preference. If they don't like it, she will generally just sit in the same space as them and listen unless they ask her to leave.

20. What kind of clothing do they feel most comfortable in? What kind of clothing do they wear most often?

She's not very picky. She likes comfortable clothes, which usually means her pyjama's. Her wardrobe is very haphazard, because she shares some clothes with Yunie, and whatever she buys for herself is usually from the kids section. She also has lots of clothes she got as a gift, or was recommended, because she doesn't mind when people dress her. Noé gets her things that are similar to Damsel's since Nico mentioned she likes it, Shiloh tries to get her more "adult" clothing, and she has a bunch of Twink Era Rhett shirts that don't fit him anymore. If I drew her in things she bought on her own with no concern for money or size, it'd probably be big ass pants with tight shirts, short-shorts, oversized jackets, and sneakers.

#pat yaps #dol pc #nico #nicoletta cucci #nicolore if you will.#writing a bunch because the art is not arting #nicoletta

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mjart12699 · 7 months ago

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Decided to post a fic I wrote a while ago on here since I have been too busy lately to write anything else anyway enjoy some Muriel’s not the Step Father He’s The Father Who Stepped up content

Woodcutters

I’ve always liked the woods. It’s always been calm, but not silent. There are little noises I can pay attention to and identify as I walk the path, feeling the dirt beneath my shoes.

It’s different now though. The woods are filled with the noise of people, scared people who came here out of fear of the city and settled right in the yard of my zio’s oldest friend.

The friend who is now my ma’s boyfriend, it seems.

Muriel seems nice, and from what Asra has told me he’s a good person. I feel calm around him, and so do the chickens and other animals that live here, so I suppose I can trust him. What’s weird is seeing how my ma is around him.

My ma was not very trustworthy of other people before she got sick, and she still had a lot of social anxiety after she woke up again. She’s been working on it. According to Asra and Finn, I’ve been a big help since we’re really similar. She got a lot better after we found Wojtek, a puppy that grew into a bear-like dog a few months after she was okay again. To see her so relaxed around someone, let alone Muriel, is a bit weird.

“Hey, Sawyer.” Finn’s deep voice pulls me back from my thoughts, and the scratch of my pen on the paper I grabbed comes to a halt. “Did you hear what I said?” He sits down next to me, and I feel his eyes on the paper more than see them. I shake my head in response, tracing imaginary lines in my mind across his dark hands as he fiddles with a foraging bag. “The adults are having another meeting, so your mama is going to be busy again for a little bit. I figured we could go look for some more of those honeysuckle flowers that you like, maybe practice some illusions?” I think on it for a moment before nodding, packing up my art supplies in my bag and standing up.

“I have to put my stuff away.” I sign to Finn before running off to my tent. It’s near ma’s and Muriels, towards the back of the hut and away from the people. Ma made a few jokes about how the three of us have that in common, the need to be away from the noise.

I open the flaps of the tent as I undo the locking spell, walking on my knees to avoid letting my dirty shoes touch the floor of the tent. I know it will get dirty anyway, but I don’t like the feeling of dirt touching my skin when I sleep. I tuck my art supplies under my pillow, shaking out my bag to make sure I didn’t miss anything and then repacking what I will need to take with me. My stuffed mammoth, my mini sketchbook, a piece of charcoal, gloves, extra socks in case the ones I’m wearing get wet, a sweater, and some candy so I don’t chew the inside of my cheek. Once that’s packed, I wiggle back out of the tent, closing the flaps and redoing the protection spell. I nearly fall back when I stand up and turn around to see Muriel, kneeling down to pet Wojtek right outside my tent.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He doesn’t stand up, which I’m okay with. The man is ridiculously tall, my earliest memory of him being when Asra took me out here, I think I was a toddler. He had been wearing his chains, and his hair had been a lot longer. I also remember he didn’t seem as soft as he does now, a feeling I can’t really explain. “Your mom and I have to meet with everyone again, to talk about what’s going to happen. We- I mean, she wanted you to know where she was in case you’d need anything.”

I nod in response, feeling my hair brush against my neck and slapping it away when it itches. Muriel’s face changes when I do that, the same way that other adults do when I do anything considered weird. “It’s itchy.” Is all I sign before I walk away, finding Finn and his cat, Annette, on the outskirts of the settlement and taking one of the more wild paths with him.

I practice my magic a bit as we walk, summoning small gusts of wind in my hands and holding up leaves or flowers in midair with it as we walk, and sometimes coming up with small illusions. Finn’s job when we are not hiding from a bloodthirsty monster and his band of mercenaries is to dig up old bones and study them, paleontology. I went on a lot of his digs with him the year that we left Vesuvia while mama was sick. He had always kept me in the shade, putting big hats on my head and making sure I was wearing enough sun cream to “keep the people who make it from ever going out of business”. He talks about the bones he’s found as we walk, telling me what he thinks they might have looked like and asking me to summon the description in my hands, then summoning his own to compare. It’s a fun game we play, something that keeps my mind from wandering to the bad stuff.

By the time we find the grove where the honeysuckle is, the sun has started to head more into the evening, and a chill blows through. I pull my sweater out of my bag, the soft purple yarn smelling a little bit old and in need of a wash, but comforting.

“I admit that I brought you out here with another ulterior motive.” Finn’s large hands pluck several of the white and yellow flowers at a time before he deposits them in his bag. “You’ve been looking a little sad, and it’s easy to see why.” I turn away as he talks, knowing that he knows I am still listening. “It was nice and calm for a while, then the Countess hired your mama for a weird job. A week later she has to go down south with a scary lady and the best friend of your uncle, who looks and seems like the exact opposite.” Annette climbs some of the branches, her soft fur shining a warm brown in the dappled sun, her golden eyes watching me knowingly. “ Then she comes back after months of being away, right before the biggest party of the year, dating said guy.” He’s right about that, it was weird to see them together. Asra seemed really happy about it, and tried to tell me stories of him and Muriel when they were growing up while he and my ma were down south, but it still felt strange. “Next thing you know we are all running away from the city and into the woods and we have to set up camp around a bunch of other people, some of which have obviously not learned about camping etiquette.” This makes me laugh a little, because it’s true. Not a day goes by out here where someone doesn’t start an argument with another person about something stupid. I feel Finn’s hand on my shoulder, and look up to see that he also finds it funny. He kneels down to my level picking some of the flowers on the forest floor as he does, all ones we can use for medicine or food. “The point is, you’ve been holding in a lot, and it’s okay to miss your ma. I know you think that because you’re one of The Big Kids out here that you have to act brave and happy all the time, but you need to remember that you are nine years old. It’s okay to have all of the bad feelings.” I don’t like that he’s able to read right through me, but that’s what happens when you spend most of your life around someone.

My throat feels sore and wet, and the area behind my eyes hurts. I know it’s a sign that I’m going to cry, but I still don’t like it. Finn pulls me down, leaning against the small tree the honeysuckle had been growing around and letting me sit against his side. I rock back and forth against the tree, not able to do anything else to calm myself down. Finn fishes my stuffed mammoth out in response, tucking it into my arms and rubbing his hand up and down my back as I hide my face in my knees. Annette comes down from the tree, purring as she wiggles her way into my lap and kneading her paws in order to get me to release my legs from my grip, preventing marks that I would normally scratch into my skin. It feels like forever has passed before I stop crying, and it still feels stupid to cry over something like this when I’m done.

My legs feel heavy when we decide to go back, so Finn hoists me up so that he’s giving me a piggy-back ride. If I weren’t so tired from today I would protest, especially since I’ve been getting a bit too big for that, but Finn doesn’t seem to mind, and carries me easily all the way back to camp.

I’m nearly asleep when we do get back, but I’m awake enough to help Finn and Mazelinka, Zio Julian and Zia Portia’s kinda-grandma, with making dinner. Mazelinka tells stories as we make the soup, her time at sea and the antics Portia and Julian would get into when they were younger. Everyone who was at the meeting, the Satrinava’s, Asra, Muriel and Ma come and eat with us when the sun starts to set even more.

The soup is good, and it makes me feel nice and warm despite the temperature drop outside. Finn sits between Ma and I, chatting with her about what happened in the meeting as we eat. He’s always felt like a nice protective bubble for when I don’t want to talk, but I know from experience that Ma will ask me what’s wrong soon. She has a weird sixth sense for it. By the time I’m done with my dinner some of the adults have gotten out drinks, some dancing around controlled fires and others laughing loudly with each other.

I don’t like it.

Ma see’s that easily enough, and when Finn begins to dance with Asra and Julian she scoots closer to me.

“Time for bed?” I nod, leaning against her and breathing in the smoky scent that lingers on her clothes from the fires around us. Wojtek follows us when we stand up, yawning and stretching before sending a deep bark out into the woods, earning a howl in return. “We’re going to head off to bed, you gonna be okay?” I already know she’s talking to Muriel. I hear him hum in response before she takes hold of my hand and we walk back to the tents together.

It gets cold pretty quick once we leave the community fires, but even then I am slow to get into my tent and into my pajamas. Ma gets hers on from her own tent, tapping the outside of mine in silent question. I open the flaps to let her and Wojtek in, which makes the tent really cramped pretty quick.

“So, today was pretty long, huh.” Neither of us are good at small talk, or starting conversations, but it’s surprisingly nice that she’s trying to ease into what she wants to talk about. I nod, grabbing my quilt and wrapping it around my shoulders before leaning into her, nearly melting when she wraps her arms around me and pulls me down onto the pile of furs that make a bed for now. “I’m so sorry baby. I haven’t had a lot of time with you lately, and when I do there’s always other people around so it’s never just you.” I tell myself that I’m listening, even as she runs her tattooed fingers through my hair and the thump of her heart tries to sing me into sleep. “I can’t promise to spend tomorrow with you, but after all of this is over, we’ll do whatever you want. Day and dinner, does that sound nice?” I nod as I hum in response, and it doesn’t take long for me to fall asleep after she brushes my hair out of my face and Wojtek curls around me.

The snow is up to my knees out here, and my breath freezes as it leaves my mouth. There are structures that surround me, old and worn so much that it would be impossible to fix them up again.

Suddenly, the red sky no longer weeps little white flakes. Instead, they’re gray, and it smells awful. The ash nearly chokes me as I try to run through the snow, but I’m not paying attention, so I fall through the ice and the cold water seeps through my bones as sharks swim in protective circles. I don’t have the time to scream. I try to kick my way back to the surface, I should know how to swim, but it feels like something is holding me back.

I don’t look down to see what it is.

I can’t.

But I can feel her bones, and hear her soft voice.

I’m on the shore again, but the scene is different. It’s an island this time, and there’s no snow. Only ash. I wonder if it’s the same ash from before as I push aside the dry branches to walk through it, the feeling of dread in my chest doing just as much damage as the ash in the air.

I come to a building, brick and mortar and on fire. Ash piles out from it and I can’t tell if those who were once inside are still screaming or if it’s just the flames and coals. Something touches my shoulders, the same thing from earlier, and when I turn to see what it is my screams die in my throat.

The specter doesn’t have any defining features, just embers within shadows. Empty eyes see right through mine, and their hand reaches for my shoulders again. The touch is gentle, and filled with so much sorrow that it’s overwhelming.

I nearly vault out from my blankets, any sound dying in my throat when I throw up next to my bed. Wojtek is gone, and the tent flaps are open. I barely process that Ma comes in when I throw up again. She rubs my back and holds my hair away from my face for a few more minutes to make sure there’s nothing left in my stomach. I think she asks if I want to go to bed with her. I think I nod. Muriel is standing outside the tent, not enough space for him to come inside. I think I hear her say something about cleaning up, and then I’m passed to him.

He smells nice.

We go into his and Ma’s tent, where he gets water and a rag and sits me down near the bed. There’s a small orb of light, just enough that we can see but not too much to hurt our eyes in the late hours. He helps me clean my face, rearranging the furs in the tent so they’re more spread out before sitting me down in the middle. He leaves the tent for a few minutes, I think, and when he comes back Ma is with him. She gets me to drink some water, running her hands through my hair and pulling me close. I think I hear her and Muriel talking to each other, asking out loud if I might be sick. I shake my head, but I’m too tired to explain. I just want to sleep.

Ma lays down first, pulling me with her so that I can use her arm as a pillow. Muriel is the one that pulls the blankets over all of us, his thick arm wrapping around both her and I. He doesn’t seem to mind that I’m here, and the little nagging voice that tells me I’m in the way nearly shuts up when he pulls us both closer.

I’m confused when I wake up, and feel like I’ve been boxed in by a million blankets. It takes a few seconds longer than I’d like to admit for me to remember what happened last night, and another few for me to process that the reason I’m so squished is because I am surrounded on all sides. Wojtek managed to lay on top of me in the night, further boxing me in between Ma and Muriel. It was nice last night when it was nearly freezing outside, but right now, under a thick quilt and the sun beginning to rise once again, it is not.

I resign to my fate, however, when I remember that Wojtek is nearly twice my size, and even if he wasn’t here on top of me I don’t want to wake Ma and Muriel. I take a deep breath and settle back in, tracing imaginary lines on Muriel’s face while he sleeps.

I like studying peoples faces, it’s something I’ve always done as far as I’m aware. I’m not very good at telling how someone is feeling just by their face, and I have difficulty recognizing people whenever there is a slight difference in appearance, like when they change their hair, makeup or even the metal of their jewelry.

I’ve never really studied his face before. He wasn’t around enough to warrant interest, but now he’s around all the time. He doesn’t seem to like it when people stare, though, and after Finn explained why I just avoided looking at him in general. He has a scar on his cheek and brow. I mentally trace the scar on his cheek, and look at how there isn’t hair growing close to it like there is on the rest of his face. I wonder if the hair can no longer grow there.

I’ve gotten bored of tracing his face by the time Wojtek yawns and gets up, somehow managing to not not step on any of us as he leaves the tent for the morning. The change still wakes Muriel up, while Ma still holds on to a few more minutes of sleep. I had closed my eyes and pretended I was still asleep when Wojtek left, and I turned over when Muriel got up to get ready for the day. He’s still wearing most of the Masquerade outfit that the Countess gave him, although he took off the cape part, leaving only the shirt, pants and boots. Everyone else had managed to find their normal clothes after the fact, except for him.

He’s weird.

Ma finally wakes up after a few minutes, brushing my hair out of my face again before getting up. I wiggle back under the covers, knowing that it’s time to get up but not wanting to leave the cozy nest. I don’t know if they know that I can hear their hushed voices.

“Do you want me to stay while you talk to him?” Muriel’s deep voice is easy to identify on any day, even with the failing enchantment The Hermit gave him.

“If you want to, I won’t pressure you, but it has been a few weeks since we’ve been out here, gah, I don’t know how to talk about this…”

“It’s fine, I think I get what you’re trying to say… and you’re right, I shouldn’t just avoid being around him… I’m not sure how to explain why I have been either.”

“It’s okay, it’s understandable. You don’t have to explain right now, but I do think it’d be good for him if you were here while we talked.”

He hums in response, and I feel Ma’s footsteps come closer before she kneels down and gently shakes my shoulder.

Despite being awake before them, I still feel groggy. I turn over to see that she’s already pulled half of her hair back, although a lot of it still frames her rosy face. I sit up, still pulling my blanket around my shoulders and groaning when my stomach growls.

“Buon giorno piccolo, ti senti meglio?” She rests her hand on my forehead while she talks, pulling it away after a few seconds and scooting over a little closer when Muriel comes to sit down, a cup of water in his hand. “Do you still feel sick?” I think for a minute to see if my stomach still feels all twisted up, and nod when the thought of eating makes the nausea worse. Muriel hands the cup to me, his brows knitted together making the scar on his forehead move slightly. A little voice in the back of my mind wonders if it still hurts.

“Bad dreams?” I hadn’t expected him to speak, and everything feels slow before I am able to nod, doing my best to drink the water and get rid of the bad taste in my mouth.

“Would you like to talk about it?” Ma rubs her hand up and down my back, sending shivers through my brain and down my spine. “We’re pretty good at listening.”

My head throbs when I think about it too much, but I do my best to tell her anyway. “The sky was red, and I fell through the ice. There were sharks, and something was pulling me down.” Wojtek comes back into the tent, sitting down across Muriel’s lap and extending his paws into mine. “Then I was back on a beach, and I went through the woods to the building. It was on fire, and the thing that pulled me down just stared at me.”

By the time I’m finished with what I could recall from the dream I can hear Vesuvia waking up for the day as well, mixed conversation muffled from the tent. Ma pulls me closer, nearly into her lap and continues to rub my back, using her other hand to comb through my hair. Muriel looks at the floor, his hands busy petting Wojtek.

“Maybe drawing the thing in your dream will help a little, we used to do that all the time.” Ma’s idea normally works. Most of my memories of her from before she got sick are of us drawing together, her showing me how to mix paints to get the color I want and the way different brushes would have different strokes. We haven’t done it in a while. I nod against her shoulder, the movement making me skull throb, before standing up and going to my tent to get ready for the day.

We have breakfast just outside our tents, the first one in a while that’s at least a little quiet. Muriel had the idea in the first place, and Ma went to the campsite to tell Asra we’d be having breakfast alone.

I’m so used to someone trying to squeeze by me for something or bumping into me that it’s a little bit weird that we get to make breakfast and eat in silence.

I pull my hood up over my head, hiding the tangled mess my curls had become overnight and sitting down a few feet away from Muriel, close to the fire. I watch as he shakes the frying pan with the eggs, thinking of the paint colors I would need to get the right shade of yellow for the yolk.

“Do you want to try?” Muriel’s voice breaks my thought, and I look to see he’s holding a spatula out to me. I scoot closer, looking at him before grabbing it and trying to flip one of the eggs. The yolk ends up breaking, but when I try to give his spatula back to him he just scoots closer, putting his hand over mine to hold the spatula and flip one of the other eggs. That one doesn’t break. I still give the spatula back to him, preferring to watch and not fail at something so early in the morning. By the time ma is back from talking with Asra everything is cooked and served on three plates.

“Sorry that took longer than anticipated, Finn wanted to know if you were doing okay and then Nadia heard and yada yada yada…”

“It’s fine, Sawyer helped me with the eggs.” Muriel hands her the plate and gets the kettle off of the fire, pouring the hot water into three cups before settling back and getting his own plate.

“Did he now?” She has a weird look on her face, even as she stirs more cinnamon into her tea and crosses her legs to balance her plate, it’s like she’s hoping for something.

They chatter back and forth as we eat, mostly about the battle plans and safety measures taken in the forest. Everyone’s talked about those types of things so much that I’ve learned to tune it out, but it also means that I tend to tune out important stuff.

Like when ma asks me a question.

I look up from my plate, ma has her head tilted the way a cat does when they’re curious about something, as though it makes more sense at an angle. “Repeat?” I have to use both hands to sign most of the time, so I just set my plate to the side.

“We were talking about the things we could do today. I think we all need at least a little bit of a break before tomorrow.” She looks between both Muriel and I as she talks, taking a sip of her tea in between. “Got any ideas besides painting?” I stir the eggs and mushrooms on my plate as I think, tidying them into their own piles so they’re not touching.

Of all the things we can do out here, I’ve done most of them. I’m not saying that I would be bored with anything I’ve already done, I’m just worried that none of them would result in anything useful.

Muriel leans over to ma, whispering something in her ear that makes her nod, her smile changing to the one she wears when she’s about to beat Asra at cards, a rare occurrence. He turns to me, his plate almost cleared of the mushrooms. “Maybe you could help me with renewing the charms around the camp? The forest has had more traffic than it’s seen in centuries and the protective spells we’ve had up are nearly burnt out.”

Well, I have needed to work on my charms… I nod, resuming my breakfast with a set plan for the day.

“That’s great! I do have some stuff I need to work out with the Countess, so you two will be alone in that endeavor, but I’ll come back to paint sometime after lunch.” Wait, us two? “I’ll see you later.” She kisses Muriel and then kisses my forehead, standing up with her dishes seemingly without any thought.

I help Muriel clean up around the fire pit after we’ve finished eating, washing the dishes and putting them away. Wojtek helped with the dishes too, licking off any remaining food from mine and then following me around while I did my morning chores.

When everything’s all done and put away I go back to my tent to get my bag, making sure that nothing was misplaced before putting it on and stepping out.

I haven’t gotten to do much with charms quite yet when it comes to practicing magic. Asra focused a lot on water types and illusions at first, teaching both Finn and I the simple stuff. Ma always taught me about hedge magic, and after she woke up we all learned about various magics from Asra, but we haven’t really focused that much on charms for a while.

Wojtek bumps his snout into my hand, indicating that he wants me to rest it on my head while he leads me somewhere. It’s how we walk through the markets on a normal day, and at the moment he’s leading me towards Muriel. His head nearly reaches one of the lower branches, and the fur cloak he wears makes him look a lot bigger.

“Most of the charms were made by Asra, but some of them are mine.” I’m surprised I don’t have to walk very fast to keep up with him, his pace being slower than Julian’s, who practically leaps everywhere. “We actually started making them when we were a lot younger, when we first moved out here. Some of them had to be replaced over time, mostly from weathering, but others have held on for longer.” We stop walking when we reach one of the trees, huge and covered in moss. “Like this one.” Muriel gets something out of his pockets, long strips of cloth that he wraps around his hands and ties off at his wrists.

I have to wave to get his attention before signing. “What are those for?” He pauses wrapping his other hand before continuing with an answer.

“They’re to keep my hands safe, and these,” he pauses before pulling out two smaller strips, “are to keep your hands safe.” Wojtek sniffs the fabrics before sitting down at the base of the tree, taking a deep breath like he’d just run a mile. Inanna seems content to sit with him.

“We’re climbing?” I might as well ask all of my questions before I can’t ask them.

“Mhm, can I see your hands?” Muriel kneels down in front of me, showing how to wrap the cloth the right way so that it actually stays.

It feels weird.

“I’ll help you up to the higher branches, but most of them are pretty close together, so you won’t have to worry.” He leads me to the base of the tree after standing up again, eyeing the branch for a moment before looking back at me. “I’m going to have to pick you up for this one, will you be alright with that?” Looking at the tree, I don’t think I’d get up there any other way, so I allow it. Muriel puts me on his back, the same way Finn does, and jumps to grab onto the branch. I have to squeeze my legs to avoid falling off, but he pulls us up to balance quickly.

I get back down, holding on to Muriel’s arm without thinking about it so I can balance myself. I’m not really used to climbing trees this big.

“I can show you the branches to grab before you climb, and then I’ll follow.” Muriel looks around at the branches above us, pointing to a thick one I can reach. “You might have to jump a little for that one, but you can push your legs against the tree. I’ll be right behind you.” He’s right, even at the base of the branch I have to jump a little, pushing my legs against the tree for leverage and clinging to it once I’m secure. It takes a lot longer for me to get upright than Muriel did, but he doesn’t seem to react, he just climbs up after me and shows me the next branch and the next one and so on.

It feels like forever has passed once we reach the top, where a small, worn out charm dangles from a branch on a piece of twine. Stones and seashells decorate the center with twigs woven around them to create a rune. The closer I am to it, the safer I feel, but it’s a different safety than Asra’s magic.

Asra’s protective spells feel like tempered glass around you, watching the ocean from inside and hearing the echo of the things that pass. Muriel’s feels like diving into a nest of blankets and furs in front of a fire when there’s a howling blizzard outside.

I sit on the branch as close to the tree as I can get, looking over the trees and across the horizon. I can pinpoint the camp from here due to the smoke that rises from some of the trees in the distance, and behind me I can see a few of the small mountains, which ma likes to call glorified hills.

Muriel shows me the process to recharge the charm, which seems to make it age backwards somehow. His hands take on a slight green and bronze glow as he focuses on the spell for the first half, but then he stops.

“Hold out your hands, and concentrate on the rune and what it means to you,” I do as he says, watching as my hands develop a dim bronze and orange light washes over them. It flickers even as I try to focus, giving way to the green and bronze light from Muriel’s hands. “For a first try you did well. It took me several to even make this work in the first place. Then there was getting them all put up.”

I have questions.

I wait until we’re done with the charm, watching as Muriel hangs it back up on the same branch, which makes it rewind in its age within a few seconds. Once he’s done with that he looks below us, eyes bouncing from branch to branch and plotting a route back down. Before he can move to get down I tap his arm, making sure I have his attention before signing.

“How old were you when you moved out here?” He makes a weird face, his eyebrows raising and eyes widening, an expression that Asra says means someone is shocked. He almost says something a few times, but then decides not to.

“How about we talk when we’re on the ground again.” He doesn’t seem to want to answer at the moment, maybe it’s because we’re so high up.

I follow him down, sometimes having to hold on to him while he gets us to the branches that are further apart, much safer than jumping down.

Wojtek and Inanna are still waiting for us at the bottom, and their tails start to wag once they can see us. Wojtek runs in a circle at the base of the tree until we get down, wiggling in place in front of me while I pet him. We get back on the path to the next charm after catching our breath.

“My childhood…” Muriel’s voice is quiet, a deep rumble in the distance. “Wasn’t very pleasant. I had Asra, and they had me, but that was it. I had thought for years that my parents had abandoned me because they couldn’t feed me, and I grew up avoiding being a burden at all costs.” The brush is thicker back here, and I have to raise my arms to get through. “The people of Vesuvia were hardly ever kind to the children of the docks, and Lucio’s rule made their wariness of us even worse, especially when he began to collect us for dirty work.” The next tree is shorter, and we go through the same routine as we go up. Muriel pauses to talk in between branches, explaining that his parents had not abandoned him, but he just didn’t know what had happened to them. He explains how he met Asra, and their eventual decision to go to the forest. “I had watched and helped some people build their houses at the outskirts of the city when I was a little older than you are, and once I thought I knew enough we went to the woods to build the hut. It took most of the spring and summer. I had to fix a few things as we got older, like the fireplace and the roof, but it was worth it to escape the city.” When we get down again I don’t even recognize that my legs feel sore, too many questions going through my head to even think about it.

I ask a few more questions as we walk, most of them just verification of Asra’s retelling of their childhoods together. Those seem to make him a bit less nervous, and I get to hear some of the stories that Asra never told, like the fact that when they first met my ma was because Faust had tried to climb in through her window at the shop.

“First time I actually met your mother was at the shop as well, and she was still pregnant with you.”

“Actually?”

“Yeah. Your ma and her aunt were celebrating the solstice, and Matty had invited Asra and I. I hadn’t gone to the coliseum yet so I wasn’t as nervous about going somewhere like that if it had been a few months ago.”

“Did you like her then?”

“Hm?” The next charm is on top of a big rock that we’re approaching, so Muriel gets that one by himself pretty fast. It’s quiet for a minute before he answers. “I don’t really know. At the time I knew that she was someone who’d befriended someone I cared about, and I was really just making sure they were safe there.” He hits the ground with a thud, dusting his hands off and sitting down against the rock. I sit down with him and watch Wojtek try to play with Inanna. “I remember that she was more focused on making sure we all ate than making an impression, and that she enjoyed playing the banjo your aunt gave her. She fell asleep before everyone else though. I carried her up the stairs.”

“And me.”

“Yeah, I suppose I did. Don’t tell her I said that though. She won’t let me live it down.” I think he might be joking since he laughs after he says that, but I still won’t tell ma. “Let me know when you’re ready to go to the next one, we’ll take a rest for now.”

Inanna watches as Wojtek races around her, sighing when he starts to slow down a bit and walking off into the forest when she’s done entertaining him.

The clouds in the sky begin to gather, and the air begins to smell like it’s going to rain. I stand up immediately, but Muriel just kinda relaxes into the rock.

“We need to go back.” I jump up and down in front of him, pulling my sweater out of my bag and over my head to avoid any droplets. He takes a minute to stand up, dusting off his hands and unwrapping the cloth from them.

I try to make a run for it, keeping my sweater over my head and ignoring how my bag thumps against my legs. Wojtek runs ahead of me, his ears flopping and his fur getting soaked within a few seconds once the rain turns from a sprinkle to a downpour.

I’m not a fan.

I love the rain… when I am inside. However, when I am outside, it becomes difficult to enjoy. The water is cold and makes me shiver, making my clothes feel weird and stick to my skin. My hair gets frizzy and tickles my ears and touches my neck in a way that I just can’t stand.

Heavy footsteps follow behind me, getting closer and closer until I feel heavy furs wrapped around me and my body lifted up over someone’s shoulder.

Muriel gets us back to the camp faster that way, and I don’t think he breaks a sweat the entire time despite all the climbing that we did.

The magicians in the camp work to make shields over the fires to keep them from going out and the people huddled around them dry. Almost everyone else has resigned to staying in their tents.

The tent ma and Muriel stay in is filled with light, and ma opens the flap before we can. “No entry until you’re dry, come here.” She laughs as she lifts her hands, filled with a warm light that sends away all the water from our clothes and prevents any more from getting on. “Leave your shoes too, they’re caked in mud.” I don’t even wiggle around much before I feel her take my shoes from me, and Muriel sets me inside the tent. I’m still wrapped up in the cloak so I lose my balance and fall to the ground, and judging by the laugh I hear from outside ma definitely saw.

Untangling myself from the cloak takes a minute, and once I’m out of that I can see that ma has Muriel sitting on the ground while she dries his hair with a fluffy towel. He reminds me of when we have to dry off Wojtek with towels, the rare smile on his face proof that he might be enjoying it.

I always feel like I’m intruding whenever I see them like this. It’s weird, I know. I don’t know how to explain. I’m not jealous, I know that. However, I’ve never really witnessed openly romantic relationships up close. Zia Matty tells me about herself and Husain, the archeologist she’s married to. I’ve seen people on dates or strolls throughout the city, but I’ve never seen anything besides that.

Thunder claps outside of the tent, and lightning follows soon after, making the darkness of the forest outside not as heavy.

“It seems we’re in for some worse weather than we thought, huh?” Ma pulls out her bag, embroidered with bees and violets on the cloth, setting it on the ground and pulling out paint brushes, paint and paper. “Good thing we had plans for stuff that we can do inside, but first!” She turns to me, pulling another towel from the makeshift clean laundry pile in a corner of the tent. “Devo farti i capelli, sembri un piccolo leone.”

I don’t have to scoot very far to be close enough that she can do my hair, but it is funny to watch Muriel’s face as he tries to piece together what she said with context clues.

Ma talks to the both of us as she does my hair, stuff about her morning and how the meetings went. I can tell she’s leaving a few details out since I’m here, but I’m not sure I would want to know anyway.

The feeling of the brush in my hair is a familiar one, bringing up both pleasant and bad memories. I hated having my hair brushed when I was little, and would run away from anyone who tried to do my hair in the first place. Asra said that it took a while for ma, Finn and them to find a hairbrush that I wouldn’t scream at, and we still use the same one years later. She rubs one of the oils we managed to get from the shop in her hands, rosemary and mint, another familiar scent that almost immediately makes me relax a bit more. She always puts it on my scalp, massaging it in and combing whatever’s left on her hands through the rest of my hair. Asra likes to joke that it’s why my hair grows so fast. The longest I’ve grown it was down to my waist, but that was before ma got sick, and when she woke up most of her hair had been cut off.

That was the only haircut that I ever asked for.

Muriel tells her about how our morning went, finding a few of his own things within the tidy piles of stuff we have in the tent. He uses a knife to carve into a block of wood, the chips curling when they fall to the floor. It’s nice to watch, and I nearly fall asleep before ma’s done braiding my hair away from my face and down my spine. It’s still a little damp when she’s done, and it will probably stay like that until tomorrow because of the weather and just how much hair there is.

Even with the storm raging outside, it’s nice and cozy inside of the tent. The spells were put on all the tents when we first got out here to prevent leaking and damage still intact thanks to daily check-ins.

We sit around the lantern, each person focused on their own tasks and almost completely silent. It’s not awkward, for once. If anything, it feels right.

The paintbrush in my hand glides on the paper, leaving streaks of color over white that will soon longer show through. My favorite things to paint are mammoths, an animal that I’ve always loved. A majority of my books back home are about them, and I’m pretty sure Zia Matty and Asra are to blame. Matty liked to show off her illusions before bed, something she did with my ma and her brother when they were little, and with me before she fled from the plague. Her favorite one’s to do were often about ice-age animals, talking about the theories about them and what we know so far. Asra likes to say that they encouraged my interest in them after they crocheted my stuffed mammoth for me. Finn helped me gather my collection of books about them due to his job, even making a cast of a mammoth's tooth as a gift for my birthday one year.

I hope none of it has been destroyed by the raiders.

While the rain continues to pour outside, it’s warm and dry inside of the tent. The fabric of the tent is a deep blue, a little taller than most of the other tents around the camp so that Muriel can stand up in it for the most part. Furs cover the floor, keeping it warm compared to the cool ground. More furs are piled on one side of the tent, the makeshift bed ma and Muriel have been using. A chest of clothes and useful things from home is next to the bed, flowers painted all over it adding color to the space without looking odd.

Most of the noise from inside the tent comes from the sounds of Muriel’s knife scraping against the wood block, or ma’s erratic sketching on her paper. I look over and see that ma is painting a field of rolling hills with tiny blue flowers. Mine is almost finished, since I painted what I had seen in my dreams last night. It’s not as good as ma’s painting, but she’s an artist for a living and an adult so she would be better anyway. I scoot closer to ma and show her the painting I did. She takes it from my hands carefully, blowing on the paper to help dry it while looking at it. Her brows furrow while she looks at the paper. We spend a few minutes like that, just looking at the painting. It makes my heart beat faster and my throat feel tight because I’m worried I did something wrong, but she pulls me close again and sets the paper down.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I shake my head, and scoot back to my spot to grab more paper and my paint brushes again. I can see out of the corner of my eye that Muriel moves his head so that he can see the painting, and moves closer to ma to whisper something in her ear before going back to his carving.

I’m painting mammoths again. The field they walk in is covered in frost and small patches of vegetation, just like Zio Finn said they would. I like to paint them with bright colors though, using purples and blues and greens with the normal brown paints instead of just shades of brown. Ma is still working on her flower painting, adding small details with a thin brush and a careful hand. She’s used to tattooing skin and taking her time with it, so her paintings normally have a lot of tiny details that most people don’t notice in them. Muriel’s carving is starting to take shape too, and I’m starting to notice that he’s looking at my stuffie a lot in order to carve the mammoth.

The rain refuses to clear up, pouring harder with each hour that passes. The thunder and lightning doesn’t slow down either, and I wonder if we’re at risk of flooding. Muriel makes me think that he can read minds sometimes because right after I thought of that he told us that he built the hut here because it hardly ever floods, and if it does he has charms and protective spells around his hut to prevent leaks. He and ma enforce the charms on the tent for the same reason, checking the storm protecting thingy on top and drying themselves off when they come back inside. Muriel has me help him make more protective charms to put up directly outside of the camp and when we’re done with that I get out one of the books I managed to take with me and read while ma and Muriel do… whatever it is they do.

It was stupid to think we’d have a peaceful day.

The raiders attack when the sky is at its darkest, sending shouts through the camp and startling all of us in the tent. Ma tells me to stay put while she and Muriel go and help everyone, putting on her boots and cloak and leaving me alone in the tent.

I fiddle with the necklace my dad gave me and hold my stuffie while I wait for them to get back, rocking back and forth on the blankets and looking around the tent to keep myself busy. It’s hard to do anything else when I’m worried about my ma getting hurt or worse, and it feels like time moves slower while they’re gone.

It takes a while for them to get back, and when they do Muriel has a cut on his leg. Ma cleans it up and heals it, but falls asleep right after so he helps her into the furs and removes her shoes and cloak. I’ve seen her fall asleep after using a lot of magic, but never just from a healing spell.

“She fought pretty hard… no wonder she’s exhausted.” Muriel stacks the furs on top of her, brushing her hair out of her face and taking off the green bandana she has over her hair. “Are you alright?” I nod, finger combing the fur of my stuffie and rocking back and forth. “I… there has been a lot going on lately and if you need to talk to someone… I don’t mind.” I set my stuffie down to sign, my head tilted to the side.

“I’m okay.” I don’t actually know if I’m okay or not, but I tell him I am anyway. He sits with my ma for a few more minutes, not really doing anything when he grabs his carving stuff again. I watch as the wood curls when he pushes the knife against it, the pile on the floor slowly growing.

“Do you want to try?” He’s already carved out a rough shape for it, and he’s started working on details. “I’m not sure if your mom would be okay with you handling knives, but I started learning when I was about your age, and I’ll be right next to you.” I think his logic makes sense, so I move to sit cross legged on the cushions next to him and watch him carve the wood. He explains a few things while he does, and then hands the wood and knife to me. He shows me how to hold my thumb against the knife to guide it and how to keep my fingers away from the knife's path.

Muriel has taken over carving the wood by dinner time again, but he’s given me one of his older pieces to paint. It’s a carving of a bear, but I paint it green and blue with tiny flowers all over it.

Ma sits up and rubs her eyes, looking at us and at the top of the tent. “What time is it?”

“It’s close to sundown, if I had to guess.” Muriel puts his things away, looking at my ma when he’s done.

“I’m going to guess you two waited to eat until I was awake again?” I nod, bouncing my leg and still painting. “Well we should get started on that then…”

“You should rest, MJ.” Muriel tries standing, but while his leg is healed it must still hurt because he hisses through his teeth when he stands.

“You should too, but alas we are both adults here who need to eat and I’ve gotta feed this one here too.” She says all of this with a smile, standing up and ruffling my hair. Both of them end up working together to make something, ma heading out to the camp to check up on Asra once we had everything started. Dinner is okay, but I miss being able to cook on the stove back home. Even the fireplace in Muriel’s hut would be better, but he’s lent it to the Satrinava’s and Mazelinka uses it to cook for a lot of people at once most of the time. I show ma the carving Muriel let me paint after we’re done cleaning up, and I start to head to bed. Wojtek still isn’t back, but he’d be soaked anyway, so I start to get ready to go to sleep.

When I start to open the flaps of the tent, Muriel stands up, the carving he’d been working on in his hands. “Put this next to your pillow… it should help.” He hands it to me, and when I look closer at it I realize he’d carved runes into the back and the belly of the mammoth. I can see ma watching from the bed where she’s rearranging the furs and pillows before bed. She’s not very discreet.

“Thank you.” I sign to Muriel before heading to bed, doing a small spell to keep the rain from touching me before I get inside my tent.

I think the carving works, because I don’t have scary dreams that night.

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