#i would very much like to add several strong words here but let's just say that she's still waiting for her epiphany (if it ever comes)

[bluedestinybluebird]

A potem przychodzi taki moment, że dosiadają się do ciebie na stołówce studentki, które rozmawiają o wczesnych doświadczeniach z obozów tanecznych (kiedy ja byłam dzieckiem, to dopiero zaczynało być modne) i o tym, że nie wiedzą, w którym miejscu na pewno mogą wywołać kliszę i nie chce im się tam jechać i potem dowiedzieć się, że tam się nie da (i na komentarz jednej z nich, że przecież może po to zadzwonić, zapala im się nad głową żaróweczka), i masz mini eurekę, że w sumie takie wywoływanie filmu wydawało się kiedyś bardzo poważnym zajęciem, a ostatni raz drukowałaś jakieś cyfrowe zdjęcia ponad 15 lat temu i w sumie warto by było.

A potem, nastrojona przez kasztany kwitnące tak punktualne, jak prawie nigdy, sprawdzasz arkusze maturalne z matematyki -- i dowiadujesz się, że w zeszłym roku wprowadzili nowe zasady, a w ogóle to twoja wersja matury jest już niedostępna: za to ta ta, która za twoich czasów szkolnych była dopiero zapowiedziana i zupełnie nowa, jest już przestarzała.

Auć. Auć. To tylko skrzypienie moich starych kości.

[demiesworld]

riding karaku's thigh (nsfw / 18+)

pairing: karaku x human!reader

synopsis: no plot just the usual filth

content: thigh riding, praising, dirty talking, nipple play, groping, talk of taking away virginity, corruption kink (implied) idk what else to add

notes: reader is afab and uses she/her pronouns. karaku calls reader "kiddo" but it is a term of endearment and she is of legal age.

part two here!

You were surprised that you weren't killed or eaten, yet when you met the 4 emotional counterparts of Hantengu. Especially when it came to the carefree demon named Karaku. He used to taunt you by saying he was going to eat you for dinner once they've gotten tired of you. You've been living with them for several months now and there's been no sign of either of them wanting to consume you. So you could assume you were safe.

You're pretty much viewed as their ward. Sekido would have you listen to him gripe about how infuriating his other counterparts were during missions. Urogi liked to take you on flights with him and eat other humans (of course he doesn't let you watch him, but you could hear it). Aizetsu enjoyed cuddling with you in a bed with his face hidden in your neck while he wept about being yelled at by Sekido.

And then there's Karaku. He was different from the rest. Karaku liked to have you sitting on his lap. He didn't tell you why because you never bothered to ask him. He just told you one day to sit in his lap and you did without argument. Not that you didn't like it, but you found it strange that he would pull you on his lap when he was around his other counterparts.

Aizetsu would glance over at the two of you shyly. Sekido would scowl and surprisingly not say anything to Karaku at all. Meanwhile Urogi would have this wide grin on his face and like the others he wouldn't point it out as well.

You grew to be numb to Karaku pulling you on his lap. There were times where he didn't have to initiate it. You did. You went to him crying one night because you soiled a kimono that Sekido bought you with ink. You knew that Sekido would be very upset with you about it, so the only person you could turn to was Karaku. He let you climb into his lap and sit down on it, stuttering over your words as you tell him what happened. His muscled strong arms holding you against his chest and his chin rested on your shoulder.

"Ssh, ssh, it's okay kiddo. Sekido might be an asshole and all but it's not like he's going to kill you just for spilling ink on your kimono." Karaku comforted you with gentle pets to your head.

Your shoulders jolt as you hiccup and let out a pitiful sniffle. Your voice was trembling when you ask, "D-Do you think so?"

Karaku's face fell into a frown when you asked him that. "I'm one of his counterparts, so of course I am right." When you sat there and blinked slowly at him he sighs, "Listen, the most Sekido might do will probably be complaining and warning you to be careful about it. Then he may or may not buy you the same kimono." He explains to you.

The explanation brought a relief off your shoulders and you kindly smile once you felt relaxed. You knew how unpredictable Sekido could be with anger being his only emotion. Though you needed that reassurance. You were happy that Karaku could provide you with that.

"I feel better now, thank you Karaku."

The demon just snorted and turned his face away from you. "Don't thank me, kiddo, just pray in whatever God there is that Sekido will be in a tolerable mood tomorrow."

You firmly nod your head, "I will do just that."

Karaku hums and there's a comfortable silence between you two as you sit on his lap. The demon looks at you from the corner of his eye and then says, "Don't you have to take a bath or something? I know you like to be clean before you go to sleep."

You perk up when he says that, "Oh yes! It is getting late and I did come over unannounced." You stand up from his lap. As much as you didn't want to leave from his lap, you didn't vocalize your feelings. You did a good job at hiding your inner thoughts.

Your foot steps lightly pad along the floor towards the sliding door and you delicately touch the frame. Just as you were about to slide the door open you pause. Thoughts were running through your head as you poised there with pursed lips.

Karaku notices your hesitation at the entryway. He starts to speak about it, but your silvery voice asked in a haste. "Would you walk with me to the bathhouse?" His eyes widen for a fraction of a second before narrowing at you and tilting his head to the side. Your back was to him so you didn't see his befuddled expression until you looked over your shoulder at him. You smile tenderly at the demon and you went to explain, "It's just that... there's demons around this part of the forest and if a demon sees me walking alone they will probably end up eating me." You then add, "Maybe if they see me with a stronger demon beside me they won't bother to attack me." Your eyes drift to the side hoping that Karaku bought your story.

The tanned skin demon sat there deliberating your explanation, and he didn't say a word or moved. Suddenly he grinned widely exposing his sharp fangs. If he accompanies you on your journey to the bathhouse no other demon would dare to challenge an upper moon like him. Karaku arrogantly stood to his feet stretching his muscular arms above his head and scuffed his towering figure to you.

He chuckles at the hopeful expression you made. "Don't worry kiddo, I won't let anything happen to you. Now go grab your things, and I will meet you at the entrance." He opens the door for you and places a hand on your lower back to move you forward.

You turn to Karaku as he slides the door closed to his chambers and emphasized worriedly, "Shouldn't we inform the others that we are leaving for the bathhouse?"

He quickly tells you, "No." and leads you in the direction of your respective chambers. "Go gather your things, kiddo."

After you've got together your belongings, you meet with Karaku at the entrance and walk with him to the bathhouse. The demon strides behind you holding his uchiwa perched on his shoulder. You walk ahead of him holding your items inside of a wicker basket. The walk to the bathhouse did not take long and you two didn't encounter a demon on your way.

The bathhouse you used was thankfully deserted due to the demons that surrounded the forest. No humans would use it in the dead of night for fear of being attacked. At least not without adequate protection. You enter the bathhouse, strolling to the steaming pool encircled by stones and a open window behind it. You place your wicker basket on the stool gently.

Karaku sniffed the air for any scent of another demon and he didn't sense any. He stood near the exit of the bathhouse waiting for you to settle before he announced, "I don't smell any other demon around here. So I'm going to be standing outside, waiting, while you finish up in here." He turned his back to you, grabbing the side of the door to open it.

"Karaku, wait!" You accidentally said it as a shout, causing him to jolt at the sound. Even you were surprised when you did that and you covered your mouth with your hands. You stared at Karaku's broad back and meekly ask, "Would you like to bathe with me?"

Karaku twist half his body to face you with a bewildered expression. His thick eyebrows were raised, green eyes widened, and mouth ajar by your question. He processed what you said before he piped, "What?"

You wave your hands defensively, and exclaim, "Wait, wait, just listen to what I have to say first!" You clutch onto the edge of your kimono's collar with a fist and nervously revealed, "I... I'm sorry. It's just I like spending time with you Karaku and I don't want to be alone in here without you."

If the demon had a heartbeat it would have been pounding against his chest. Instead there was a dull ache at the center and it made him feel uncomfortable. It was an unfamiliar feeling that he hadn't felt before. Not before you.

While he didn't know how to welcome this foreign feeling, he knew that he wanted to discover it with you. So the demon did what would probably be taboo in demon culture. He accepted your confession for his affection. "I will stay in here with you." He affirmed.

You softly ask in admiration, "You will?"

His deep-voiced whispered to you in a vow, "Yes." He tosses his uchiwa onto the ground; his green eyes didn't leave from yours. Karaku walked towards you and gently touched your face with his large hand. His thumb affectionately caresses your cheekbone and you lean towards his touch. Even though it was cold in comparison to your warm skin just the physical contact of it made you glow. Karaku's nose nuzzles on the top of your head, breathing in your gentle scent. His eyes flutter shut when his lips kisses your forehead.

Karaku guides you in the direction of a folded privacy screen and then leads you behind it. "Why don't you take off your clothes and I will be waiting for you in the bath pool?"

Without thinking of what he said you eagerly yelped, "Yes!" Letting him leave you discard your clothing behind the screen. Karaku removed his hakama and his sash prior to stepping into the steaming hot water in the bath. He sat on a stone seat that was conveniently facing the privacy screen you were behind. He stretches his long strong arms and rests them on the edge of the pool.

You were about to walk out from the privacy screen when you remembered you were completely nude and you hid behind it. You squeal, "Wait, Karaku close your eyes please! I'm naked!"

"So am I." He boasted with an arrogant smirk.

"Karaku, please! Let me have some dignity!" You whine and get on your hands and knees in a praying position behind the screen.

The demon shakes his head, "No way kiddo, besides it's just you and me. We're both going to be taking a bath in the same pool and this was your idea remember?" You could hear the amusement in his voice when he teased you.

You kneel behind the privacy screen silently for a moment. You then got up to your feet and let out a defeated sigh. Your arms stretch across your chest to hide your nipples, and your other hand covers your womanhood. You still felt exposed despite covering yourself up. Karaku splashes his hand into the water and creates small waves while you timidly step out from behind. Still hiding your most intimate areas from the demon, you step into the pool, eyes avoiding his pointed stare. Karaku watches you lower your body into the water and sit just three arms length away from him.

"No way kiddo, you know that's not how I like it." He says.

You whine again, "Come on Karaku! Just this one time, because we're both naked!"

"My lap is the only seat you can sit on. Now get over here, don't make me repeat myself." He chided, waving his hand for you to come to him.

You don't argue with the demon. You wade through the water to get closer to Karaku and once you're within arms reach he grabs your wrist and pulls you onto his lap. The sudden action surprised you, and you clumsily fall right onto him. Your breasts were pressed against his chest and core sat right on his thigh. You squeal, and try to adjust your position by pushing him away but Karaku had you in a firm and unmoving grip.

"Hey, quit it." He told you seemingly annoyed by your resistance. The demon added slight pressure to your wrist. You stop moving to look at him with your heart pounding. "Sit down."

You take a seat on his thick, muscular thigh placing your hands on his shoulders to keep you balanced. This was a new position to you. When you did sit on Karaku's lap you'd usually sit appropriately with your bottom seated on his thigh. Never with your legs sandwiching his thigh between them. Your folds caressing on the skin of his groin. You shift slightly only to let out a sudden moan when your clit rubs against his thigh. Your hands fly up to your mouth, muffling the sound, and look at Karaku with wide eyes.

"I'm, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that." You hastily apologized, and the demon just smirked at your innocence.

Karaku teased, "I think you meant to do that kiddo," You go to object, but he adds on, "Was this a part of your plan to get me alone with you so you could exploit your immodest fantasies and bring them to existence?"

You shake your head vehemently denying his accusations. "No, no, no that's not what I brought you here for! I brought you here to spend alone time with you not to do... that!" Your cheeks warm up as you couldn't believe Karaku could assume you had perverted thoughts.

His hands grasp onto your hips steadying you on his thigh. Thick, long fingers were squeezing the flesh of your ass. Karaku's lips glides up the valley between your breasts and up to behind your ear. He places a gentle kiss there. The tenderness of a demon that you should normally fear bestowing upon you was intense. Especially since you were alone with him in a bathhouse just minutes away from their hideout. No other being would be able to hear your cries. Karaku lets his lips kiss you on your forehead, then your nose, and then kisses both cheeks. His face is so close to yours, you know for a fact that he could smell your fear and hear your racing heart.

"You're so tense kiddo, why is that?"

You replied, "Because you're behaving so affectionately to me and it's making me... feel scared."

One of his hands move away from your ass to cup your cheek in its hold. In his husky voice he whispered, "You shouldn't feel scared not when you're with me. You know that I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

"Yes I know that, but still Karaku-" your sentence gets interrupted when the demon lunges forward and passionately kisses your lips.

The kiss you share with Karaku is nothing sort of heart-fluttering, intoxicating and genuinely sensual. He seemed to move his lips with grace and tenderness as if he knew this was your first kiss. Which admittedly it was. Your first kiss in the eyes of humanity should have been with a human. However, your sentiments for Karaku was immense and stronger than feeling guilt for being associated with a demon like him. You reciprocate the kiss the best you could by following the demon's lead. As his lips sucked on your bottom lip your tongue swiped along the outline of his own. He seemed to like that because he moved his arms to embrace you closer to his bare chest and deepen the kiss. Now his velvety tongue was exploring inside of your mouth. He was mindful of his sharp fangs and careful not to scratch your delicate skin with them. The kiss appeared to be turning into something sweltering and intense when your tongues first touched and you could taste Karaku.

He could taste you too, you tasted delicious and addictive. He sniffed out your trembling fear turning into mind-numbing pleasure. Your body relaxing while remaining caged in his arms. The demon sucks on your tongue, obnoxiously making loud slurping sounds before releasing it followed by a short grunt. His emerald green eyes watch in amusement as you pant. He almost forgot that you were a human and breathing in your case was a crucial aspect. Nonetheless, Karaku wordlessly creates a path with his lips. Starting from your mouth to the expanse of your neck and lastly ending at the valley of your breasts once more.

You gasp when you see the demon you adored face voluntarily trapped in between your breasts. Karaku's hands hold both breasts in one palm, the left hand using its fingers to stroke over your hardening nipples. He asks you, "Will you give me the honor of pleasuring you Y/N?"

A shudder runs through your body at the question. Yet you timidly nod your head and that was enough of an approval for Karaku. His mouth opens and he licks at your nipple whilst pinching and rubbing the other. Your back arches forward and your hand cards fingers through his wavy black tresses. You let out a moan when he sucks on your nipple and swirls his tongue around it. The feeling just felt so good.

You jolt when teeth are nibbling at your nub then a tongue is flicking at it. Karaku pulls his mouth away with a lewd "pop" and moves his lips to your other neglected breast. He lends it the same treatment he did as the previous one. Velvet tongue swirling around your areola, lips suctioning your nipple, and teeth just lightly gnawing on your teat. You were sitting there on his thigh, a little unsure on what you're supposed to do. You had no experience with intimacy with a man let alone a demon. You didn't know what to do to make Karaku feel as aroused as you did.

Karaku observed your uncertainty and stops sucking on your breasts to speak. He squeezes them in the palms of his hands, successfully grabbing your attention despite you looking disoriented. "Y/N," he calls out your name. "Do you remember that feeling you felt when you rubbed against my thigh?" You sat there blank for a moment until you did have a flashback of when you accidentally moaned and you nodded your head to him. Satisfied with your answer, he continued, "I want for you to do that again. Rub yourself on my thigh, lovely."

You listen and do as you're told. You repeat the movement you did earlier, rubbing your clit on Karaku's thigh in the warm pool. You were caressing your folds up and down on him. At the same time small moans were spewing past your lips. The arousal you had been feeling intensified from doing this.

"That's right lovely, make yourself feel good okay? You're doing such a good job right now. You look so pretty, my lovely little human." He praises you and compliments you in an earnest conviction. The words he said encouraged you to grind faster, but then you suddenly slow down and return back to steady strokes. Karaku reassured, "If you want to go faster, it's okay to do that kiddo." He lowers his mouth to your nipple and mouths against it. His warm breath tickling your nipple as he utters, "Go at your own pace, hmm..." He suckles on your teat for a second then plucks it out of his mouth. "I won't be mad."

"Hnng," you make a suppressed sound. You press down firmly on his thigh and practically rut your folds along his thigh. The friction you're receiving from it is making your body feel prickly all over. "Karaku, o-oh!"

He mutters into your breast, his eyes fascinated by you, "Look at you being such a good, lovely little human. Doesn't that feel good, pleasurable, Y/N?" He lets go of your breast to hold your chin to make you look down at him. He repeats his question, "Doesn't that feel pleasurable?"

"Y-Yes, yes it does Karaku." You cease your rutting to try out bouncing on his thigh and this proved to be another gratifying method too. You closed your eyes as you bounced on his thigh, in the back of your mind you were wishing it could have been something else. You were beginning to be confident in your own skin now. You gasp when his lips were sucking harshly on your nipple and his right hand was gripping on your ass cheek. You cry out, "Karaku~ It feels too good!"

The demon releases your nipple to respond, "I bet it does kiddo." He then inhales sharply through his nose before emitting a groan. "I can smell you're getting excited from this. My lovely little human isn't so innocent anymore, isn't she? You're going to be a corrupted little thing by the day I get to have you."

You make a puzzled sound, "Huh?" your pussy throbs once you start contemplating what he meant by that. Though you did not stop moving, you did ask him, "W-What do you m-mean Karaku?"

He smirks at you then goes to explain, "What we have between us will not stop here and just be a one-time thing my lovely human. I'm hoping to be the one and only to take away your virginity and show you what true bliss feels like." He brings his mouth to your ear, his deep voice whispering into it, "I'm only holding myself back from penetrating you because I know you are a virgin and a ripe one at that Y/N." He sniffs the air around you then groans, "Fuck. I'm not just going to stop at taking away your virginity either, I'm going to take away your innocence, and together you and I will explore our deepest, darkest desires. Your experience with me will be like with no other human or demon. Even if you leave me, I will be sure to bestow such a great impact on your sex life, that future partners will never be able to bring you to a climax." You let out a whine, frantically rubbing your clit on his thigh and hearing him growling, punctuating each word, "Not, like, I, will." Karaku looks at you in your eyes then asks, "Would you want that my little human?"

You eagerly nod your head to him, tears running down your cheeks and a hiccup coming from you. "I would want that Karaku! I don't want for no one else but you!" Your toes curled and your stomach tightened up when you start to feel a foreign sensation brew. You don't know what it is, but you know it feels like a balloon inside of you needs to pop. Your hands grab a hold of Karaku's face, boldly initiating an open-mouthed kiss, while you frantically rut your clit on his thigh. "Mm! Hm!"

"Agh, hm, fuck, kiddo. Tell me what you feel right now."

You stammer, "I-I feel like I'm going to- something's going to burst." You let out an abrupt gasp when your body tenses up and legs start to shake. "K-Karaku! Karaku!" You cry out his name, burying your face into his neck as you rut your hips against his thigh. Unknowingly just enduring your first orgasm.

He strokes his hand up and down your back, his mouth pressing kisses to your temple and praising you, "Good girl, good girl. You did so well, lovely." He hears you sniffling and clutch onto him tighter. Then the feeling of warm tears touching his shoulder has him cooing, "It's okay, it's alright my little human. I know it surprised you but did it feel good when it came out?" You hum in agreement and nod your head. "See that wasn't bad now was it?" You shake your head to which the demon just chuckles at you. "Ah~ Whatever shall I do with you kiddo?"

You move your face from the junction of where his neck and collarbone meet to look at the demon with teary, puffy eyes. Your voice is wobbly when you articulate the words, "C-Can I take a pr-proper bath now Karaku?"

Karaku agreed to letting you actually bathe this time. You used your soaps to clean off the dirt you accumulated during your day. You even got him to help you with scrubbing your hair and he allowed you to comb his hair after noticing there were tangles in it. By the time the two of you were finished, it was getting to be late at night and you both had to go back to the hideout. You walked with Karaku side-by-side to the hideout. As you two neared it you heard voices yelling at each other.

"What the hell do you mean you couldn't find their scent? You're part bird! How does that even make sense?!"

"The trail started from Karaku's room then it ended right before the bathhouse! It's not like Y/N could have just up and disappeared! She's been taken by another demon Sekido!"

"Sekido, Urogi, please calm down. Your fighting is making me sad."

"Shut the hell up Aizetsu! You're just as hopeless as Urogi!"

You and Karaku both shared a look while you stood in the clear pathway listening to the three of them bicker with each other. Not one of them sensed your presence as they were too consumed in their argument to bother.

Urogi dared him in a shout, "...If you think we're so hopeless then why don't you go out and find Y/N then?!"

Sekido retorts, "Someone has to stay here just in case she comes back you buffoon!"

Aizetsu raises a hand and quietly offers, "I could stay behind."

They both yell at him in unison, "No!"

notes: ngl this shit took me forever to fucking finish. but it is done! i just hope i made the smut as nasty as possible. feels like i focused more on the romance and angsty shit though.

© 2023 demiesworld

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

which turtle do you think can handle spice? lol i made some spicyx2 ramen for dinner and both my parents asked me if this was food or nuclear war fare, they got scared of how red the ramen broth was lol

Spicy Food (Headcanon)

A/N: The lucky wheel decided on the 03 boys for this one, so here we go💚 I myself am very bad with spicy food, like it's really bad. Like, if the food does as much as touches anything spicy, I can’t eat it. But I think the guys generally would have a way better time handling it💚

--------

Leonardo:

Leo does pretty well with spicy food. He’s used to Splinter’s spicy noodle soup, and was always the angel that ate everything his father made for him, without complaining. Not that he ever complained. According to his taste buds, all of Splinter’s cooking was amazing.

When Mikey started taking over in the kitchen, Leo could not help but find the food a little… What is the right word? Uhm… bland? But don't get him wrong, Leo loves his little brother’s cooking, but he did prefer his father’s addition of spice to the food. It just that feeling in his mouth that reminded him of childhood.

Although Leo is a terrible cook, and has been ordered by his whole family to never touch the stove or the oven, Leo did know how to use the kettle for tea, and the microwave for making leftovers. But he also knew how to make instant cup noodles as a snack, often finding himself gravitating towards the extra spicy once. But even then, he often finds that they aren’t spicy enough, and adds a little more himself.

Raphael:

Raph has a love hate relationship with spicy food. On one hand he loves spicy snacks, but on the other he isn’t a big fan of warm and spicy meals. As a child it had almost caused several meltdowns at the dinner table, back when Raph didn’t have the words to clearly explain to Splinter that the noodle soup was causing him middle discomfort.

Raph could not explain it. It was as if the heat from the food made the spice so much stronger, to a point where he just couldn’t eat it. Even as a teenager and as an adult, he would let the soup cool down for a bit, before finally feeling comfortable enough to eat it.

But funnily enough, Raph LOVES spicy snacks. Chili chips or at least some kind of spicy dip with his chips, and this guy would be happy.

Raph once shared some of his chips with Casey, not thinking they were so strong. But neither Raph or April had ever seen someone run so fast to the fridge for milk, giving Raph a hint that his snacks may be spicier than he first thought.

Donatello:

No one knew for sure, but there was this theory in the Hamato family, that Donnie’s taste buds were immune to pain. Donnie did not seem to care if his food was spicy or not. The important thing for him was that it tasted good, and that the texture didn’t make him run for the hills.

Leo had long speculated that it came from years of caffeine addiction, but that did not explain how seemed to have shown the same behavior, years before he even tried coffee for the first time. Spicy food just didn’t bother Donatello.

With that being said, it’s worth mentioning a time where Donnie’s spice tolerance really came to show. One day, an absolutely sleep deprived Donnie had made himself a cup of coffee, but in his sleepy state, he had added hot sauce to his drink, instead of the milk. The horror on his brothers’ faces when he took a sip, and went as far as to say that it even tasted better than usual, before he went back to work in his lab.

Michelangelo:

Mikey had never been a picky eater, but if there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was spicy food. It had been like that since… pretty much forever. Sure, Mikey could eat mildly spicy things, but he just had a taste for more sweet things.

Mikey’s food making was therefore obviously less spicy than Splinter’s. But just because his food was less spicy, it didn’t make it any less good. Mikey’s cooking was amazing, even if Leo seemed to miss the good old days, where his mouth was about to burn off.

But Mikey’s mild intolerance for spicy food, gave Raph a great opportunity for a prank. One day while Mikey wasn’t looking, Raph added one of his spicy chips to Mikey’s already opened bag of salty chips. The scream that followed when Mikey then unexpectedly bit into that one chip, was so loud that people on the street above looked around in confusion. It was no surprise that all of Donnie’s milk suddenly disappeared after that, having been drunk by a hysteric Mikey that desperately tried to kill the fire in his mouth.

[willalove75]

Alcina's New Maid Pt. 17 Lady Dimitrescu x Reader

Summary: You have your final few days of training and the morning of the meeting finally arrives.

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI. Very brief mention of suicide (while talking about Donna's past and her parents). No details mentioned, just mentioning the act itself. If you want to skip that part, skip to the dialogue after the paragraph starting with **.

Tags: fluff, light angst

Notes: Part 17! Sorry for the teeny tiny cliffhanger but we were reaching 5k words so I had to cut it off. Next chapter will dive straight into the meeting! Also, I re-read most of this the other day but I'm sick and don't have the mental capacity to go over it again so apologies for any errors!

Click here for the rest of the series

Gif source

The following morning Cassandra woke you up before sunrise again for your last full day of training. Once you were warmed up she started sparring with you again and showing you different ways to get out of different kinds of grapples.

After breakfast she brought out one of her old daggers and handed it to you and taught you how to use it properly now that Karl was making you one of your own. Cassandra showed you how to wield it, and the different ways you can use it for defense and the occasional attack. Once she was satisfied with your movements she ran inside and grabbed a wooden dagger and used that to spar with you.

The first hour of the sparring session ended with her poking you with her wooden dagger in at least eight different places that would kill you. She grabbed Dani and used her as a model to point out where the main arteries in the body were and how to hit them to either kill your opponent or cause massive damage.

She continued sparring with you and teaching you how to block the most important parts of your body to avoid death or severe injury. After a few hours you were finally getting the hang of it and you decided to take a quick break for lunch. Zina brought out your lunches again and Bela and Daniela joined the two of you, all of you eating in the courtyard.

When you finished eating Cassandra quizzed you on the locations of the major arteries again and had you practice sheathing and unsheathing your dagger while you digested. After about an hour it was back to sparring. Once more you sparred with Bela and Daniela but this time they had the wooden dagger. Bela was hard to hit due to her defensive nature and you were able to get a few hits on Daniela because her moves were so erratic and chaotic. None of the hits you landed would have done much damage - no less kill someone - but the fact that you were able to hit her at all meant you were progressing well.

"Okay, now you'll have mother, Aunt Donna and Uncle Karl there to help you if shit goes sideways so you won't have to fight Miranda alone." Cassandra says.

"Which is a good thing because if you fought her alone you would definitely die." Daniela adds in.

"Oh yeah, without a doubt. You'd be super fucked. But even with the three of them Miranda is still stupid strong so it'll still be a really hard fight. Lets team up, you and Dani and me and Bela and we'll do a team match. This will encompass everything, grapples, defense, the daggers, you gotta be on your toes."

The match started and Daniela immediately went after Bela and Cassandra headed directly for you. You were able to fight her off for a decent amount of time before she grappled you. When you realized her grip on you was too strong you were able to grab your dagger and stab her in the leg and get out of it. Even though you missed the artery it was still enough damage to knock her off her game for a moment and get out of her grip.

It felt wrong attacking the girls. Even though you knew a stab like that was the equivalent of a papercut to them. Attacking them wasn't something you enjoyed. Although if you were being honest, attacking anyone wasn't something you enjoyed so at least when you go to stab someone else when they attack you you won't feel as bad as you do when you stab one of the girls.

Bela was able to knock Daniela down and headed over to you to assist Cassandra. Two on one was tough and you didn't last long at all. Although you lasted longer than you thought you would - meaning you were able to fight them off for about a minute instead of immediately being subdued. Bela managed to pin you down and when Daniela finally got over to you, Cassandra was quick to pin her, winning them the match.

The sound of applause rang through the air as Alcina walked over.

"Well done girls. Cassandra, your swordsmanship with the dagger was fantastic, Bela, wonderful defense, Daniela, I don't know how you always manage to keep your sisters on their toes, even after all of these years. And draga, you did a fantastic job, you held your own well. I'm very proud of all of you." She says with a smile. "Now girls, go get washed up, dinner will be soon."

The girls swarm up to give their mother kisses on her cheek and head inside. Alcina walks over to one of the benches and sits down. She pulls you into her lap and holds you close.

"I am very impressed draga mea, truly."

"You are?"

"Yes, I saw you stab Cassandra in the leg to get out of her grasp. Your quick thinking was impressive my love."

"Thanks. I really hope a fight doesn't break out at the meeting. It's one thing sparring with the girls, but with Miranda? I don't know, it makes me nervous."

"It makes me nervous too draga mea. But I'll be there with you and I won't let anything happen to you. Donna and Karl also swore to help protect you so you will be okay." She says.

"I'd hate to be the reason anyone got hurt."

Alcina kisses you on the head and you look up into her golden eyes. She smiles down at you and places a knuckle under your chin and leans down, capturing you lips with hers.

"I won't let anything happen to you, draga mea. I promise." She whispers against your lips.

"I know." You reply before kissing her again.

Alcina nuzzles you and the dinner bell rings.

The two of you walk into the dining room and the girls swarm in. Hunger hits you the moment you smell the delicious food and as soon as your plate it piled you dig in.

Alcina lets you sleep in a little the next morning and just as you're getting dressed the breakfast bell rings. After breakfast Cassandra reviews some of the things she's taught you over the last few days and the two of you finish up right before lunch.

The rest of the day goes by pretty quickly. Cassandra does another quick review with you after dinner and once the two of you are finished you head into your room and find Alcina drawing herself a bath.

"Ah, draga, there you are. How was it?"

"It was good, I was able to retain almost everything she taught me."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. Would you like to join me?" She asks as she finishes taking off the rest of her clothes and steps into the tub.

You nod and pull off your clothes and toss them in the hamper. Alcina lifts you into the tub and sits you down in her lap with your back against her chest. Once you're comfortable you let out a sigh and lean into her. Alcina wraps her arms around you and kisses your neck.

You're completely enveloped by her, by her scent, by the feeling of her skin against yours, her warm breath skating across your neck. As stressed as you are over tomorrow's meeting you can't help but feel relaxed in her arms. When you're with her like this you feel more safe than you ever have in your life. Even after everything - all of the pain, the hurt, the heartbreak, she's still the one that brings you more comfort than anyone else ever has. If you tried making sense of it you'd surely get a migraine. But right here, in her arms, you're safe. And that's all that matters.

"How are you feeling about tomorrow?" You ask her.

"It's difficult to know how to feel when I don't know what her intentions are, draga. If it were solely about the hunters I would say I am prepared and looking forward to coming up with a plan to deal with them. Although yes, the hunters will certainly be discussed because they are a topic of concern, I know Miranda and I know she's not asking you to be there to solely take notes."

"Are you afraid of her?"

Alcina pauses for a moment to contemplate your question as her fingers mindlessly trace patterns across your skin.

"Yes and no."

"How so?"

"I am not afraid of her for myself. She is incredibly powerful and even though it would not be easy, she could certainly kill me. But I know she won't. She needs myself and the rest of the lords to keep the village under her thumb as she searches for her perfect vessel. And since I do most of the work she knows that killing me would be a mistake. But I fear for the day that she deems us unnecessary because when that day comes, she won't hesitate killing all of us. Her power is nearly limitless and I have no doubt that she will do anything and everything to succeed in finding a suitable vessel for Eva. Even if it means destroying everything around her to do so. Until then she will do whatever she feels is necessary to keep us, the lords, in line. I'm also worried that she is going to try and hurt you to hurt me. I wouldn't put it past her to do something like that again and that scares me, draga mea."

She sighs and holds you tight, nuzzling her nose into your hair. As you take in her words, the word "again" sticks out.

"What do you mean 'again?'"

"Lets finish up in here and I'll tell you in bed."

You nod and you both finish bathing. After drying off and putting on pajamas you crawl into bed and curl under Alcina's chin. Alcina holds you close and continues.

"Many years ago, decades ago at this point, Karl had a paramour. It wasn't someone he truly loved but he did care for them. They were a worker at his factory and the two of them began spending time together. Karl began slacking off to spend more time with them; Mother Miranda got wind of it and she was less than pleased. One day they went missing. Mother Miranda called a meeting and none of us knew why until we arrived and saw Karl's paramour chained down at her feet. She said they were nothing but a nuisance and they were only causing trouble, distracting Karl from her goal of finding a perfect vessel. She ordered Karl to kill them and he refused. Mother Miranda was going to kill them but instead I offered. Karl was furious but I knew that whatever Miranda was going to do, she was going to make them suffer horrifically because Karl refused her. She relented and I was the one who killed them. It was the only time I ever apologized to someone before I killed them. They knew that this was a mercy kill and that Miranda would have done much worse so it was also the only time someone had thanked me for doing it. Miranda was pleased and allowed me to take their body back to the castle to do what I pleased with it. Karl came over the next day and he was so angry, he thought I drained their blood and turned them into one of the vineyards scarecrows. But I didn't, instead I cleared a small spot on the edge of the woods and had them buried. Karl was grateful and after we had a conversation he understood why I did what I did. Karl was still relatively new and hadn't seen Miranda's wrath like I had. He knew refusing her would anger her but he didn't realize she would have taken it out on their paramour instead of himself."

"Is that why he hates Miranda?"

"One of the reasons. He hated her well before that incident. She had kidnapped him and infected him with the cadou when she found out that he was one of the descendants of the four founders of the village. He never got a say in the matter like I did. She just took him and forced it upon him."

"That's so horrible. Why didn't he just leave after he got the cadou?"

"It's difficult to explain but in the end he wasn't able to. Miranda would have hunted him down. Once we were given the cadou, whether or not we had a choice in the matter, we were forced to stay. She was also able to influence him to stay."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone takes to the cadou differently. I have a theory that those with a higher affinity to the cadou are less affected by Miranda's control. To a certain extent, Miranda controls the mold because her powers were given to her by the Black God, which is where the mold comes from. Since the cadou contains the mold, by extension Miranda has a certain amount of control over it."

"So can she control you?"

"Not necessarily. I believe she has a certain amount of influence over me, but no, she cannot control me because I have a higher affinity to it. For example, the moroaicǎ and lycans have almost no affinity to the cadou so Miranda can control them if she wanted to. In the past she has, but she generally she views them as a waste of time so she gave Karl the job of overseeing the lycans and myself the moroaicǎ."

"So how can you tell who does and doesn't have a higher affinity to it?"

"My theory is that the more mutated the subject, the less affinity they have towards it. The moroaicǎ and lycans are at the bottom, they are the most mutated and most easily controllable therefore have the lowest affinity. Next comes Salvatore, whom you haven't met yet. He is severely mutated and will do anything to please Miranda. Next I believe is Donna. Although her only mutation is on her face, she is very mentally unstable which leads me to believe that Miranda can more easily influence her."

"How is she mentally unstable?"

Alcina lets out a sigh as her fingers dance across your skin.

**"It is quite a tragic story. Many years ago, before she received the cadou, her sister, Claudia, died. Donna was very young when it happened and her parents were unable to deal with the death of their child so they committed suicide together leaving Donna all alone."

"Oh my god, that's horrible."

"It was horrific. After they died she isolated herself and developed severe depression and anxiety. When she received the cadou, she took part of hers and put it into Angie and now primarily uses Angie to speak when she's around mixed company."

"Wait, so Donna is that chaotic?"

Alcina laughs and shakes her head.

"Gods no, Donna uses Angie to speak but the cadou granted Angie her own personality. Part of me believes some of the things Angie says are the thoughts Donna would never say out loud but that is just mere speculation."

"So how do you know when it's Donna talking or Angie?"

"Donna's voice comes through Angie."

"Oh, got it."

"Yes. So because of Donna's mental illness, she is more easily influenced by Miranda but since her and I have formed and alliance that influence has been fading."

"How about you and Karl?"

"Based on my mutation theory, I would be next given," Alcina gestures to her body. "and Miranda does have some influence over me, but not much. I have retained enough of my own cognitive abilities to not fall completely under her influence. There are times where I can feel her influence and if I so chose to I can ignore it. But the pull is there."

"Is it hard to ignore?"

"In the beginning it was, but now not so much."

"Can she tell when you ignore it?"

"Yes, but only because when I do, I am not doing what she wants so she knows her influence on me has failed. Whether she knows I consciously ignore her or not is still a mystery."

"So Karl has the highest affinity to the cadou?"

"As much as I loathe to admit it, yes. Which is also why I refuse to relay this theory to him because I would never hear the end of it. But he has no visible physical mutations, at least that I am aware of. And he hates Miranda more than any of us. He refuses to do anything she asks unless it directly benefits him and he has no desire for her acceptance or approval."

"Do you have any desire for her acceptance or approval?"

Alcina pauses for a moment and you look up at her. She has a faraway look in her eyes before she looks down at you and sighs.

"Truthfully? Yes." You feel the hairs on your arms raise at her answer. Not that you're completely surprised, but hearing her say it out loud makes it real, too real. "It's complicated. There is a part of me that yearns for her acceptance. There's a part of me that's willing to do nearly anything for her. I understand how ridiculous that may sound but after so many years of being under her rule, it's difficult to not want acceptance from the person who essentially created you. And since she rarely shows her approval of anyone the thought of being one of the few becomes almost addicting. She has done a lot for me. She saved my life, although it was under false pretenses. Still, I am still alive because of her. She gifted me the girls, gave me the castle, the vineyard, and the business so I had a way of supporting myself. She has done a lot for me, for my family. In a way in feel indebted to her for those things. But at the same time I hate her. I can't stand what she's done to me, how she's manipulated me and used me over the years." She tightens her grip around you as she thinks back on her past history with Miranda. "I despise how she treats my daughters poorly. I hate that after everything I do for her, after everything I've done, she still views me the same as the rest of them. It aggravates me to no end."

"So you hate her, but at the same time you want to be her favorite? You know that sounds crazy, right?"

Alcina chuckles and rolls her eyes at you.

"I said is was complex, draga."

"Complex is an understatement." You say with a laugh.

Alcina shakes her head and runs her fingers through your hair. An unsettling energy fills the room as the two of you think about tomorrow's meeting.

"Even though I feel that pull of her influence, even though I crave her acceptance, I will never let her hurt you. I don't want you to think for a moment that I won't do everything I possibly can to protect you, draga."

"I know." You say, cuddling into her more.

"Good. Now try and get some sleep draga mea. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Her fingers comb through your hair and you feel her nails scratching at your scalp. She holds you a little closer after pulling the duvet over the both of you.

Even though you're tired you can't seem to fall asleep. Anxiety begins to creep its was into your chest and you cling to Alcina a little tighter.

"Rest, draga. I can hear your heartbeat from a mile away."

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous."

"So am I, but you need to sleep."

"I can't."

Alcina lays you on top of her, resting your head on her chest. One of her large hands scratches at your scalp as the other traces patterns across your back.

"Close your eyes, draga mea. I have you. I will protect you, I promise."

"I know you will. And I love you so much for that."

"I love you too."

Alcina starts singing, her fingers moving perfectly in time with the song and your eyes start to flutter shut. Even though you don't know what song it is since it's in Romanian, whatever she's singing is soothing and begins to lull you to sleep.

Alcina hears your breathing and heartrate settle and knows you finally drifted off. She finds herself having a hard time falling asleep - she's too anxious about tomorrow's meeting. But the soft sounds of your snores help her to relax and a little while later she dozes off into a restful sleep.

The following morning you wake up in the same exact position you fell asleep in; laying on top of Alcina with her arms wrapped tightly around you. Alcina feels you stir in her arms and brushes the hair away from your eyes.

"Good morning, draga mea." She says with a kiss to your head.

"Good morning." You say with a yawn as you stretch out on top of her and curl back up in her arms. "Did you stay here all night or did you get up to work and pull me back on top of you when you came back to bed?"

"No, draga." She says with a chuckle. "I stayed here all night with you."

You didn't say anything in response, just a light chuckle and then you nuzzled your face into her neck. Here in bed, in her arms, it was safe. You were safe. There wasn't a single part of either of you that wanted to get out of bed this morning. Neither of you wanting to leave the comfort and safety of each others embrace. The thought of starting the day made you a little anxious but after taking a deep breath and filling you nose with the scent of Alcina's skin and shampoo, your anxiety melted away and you relaxed into her.

"Can we stay here forever?" You asked as your lips brushed against her skin while your face was buried into her neck.

"I wish, draga mea. I wish." She sighed.

Reluctantly, the two of you finally got out of bed. The meeting was taking place in the chapel at the castle shortly after breakfast so both you and Alcina started getting yourselves ready for the day.

Alcina put on her usual floor-length cream dress, leather gloves, pearls, and her hat. The two of you decided that it was best that you wore the uniform that her handmaidens normally wear. She was sure that Miranda knew the relationship between the two of you was past the point of you just being her handmaid but in order to keep appearances up you both decided wearing the uniform was the way to go.

Once Alcina was finished fixing her hair and makeup the two of you headed down to the dining room for breakfast. Just as you were walking in the girls swarmed in and appeared in their seats.

"Good morning mother!" The girls said in unison.

"Good morning daughters." She said.

You could tell the girls wanted to ask how you and Alcina were feeling about the meeting but none of them dared to. They could tell Alcina was already on edge and they didn't want to make her worse. The nerves in your belly slowly but surely began to build as the time to leave creeped closer. Even though you weren't hungry you forced yourself to eat a decent meal because you knew you were going to need the energy.

Breakfast was quiet and the tension in the air steadily built as the time passed. Every so often you would look over at Alcina and every time you did you noticed she was further and further away mentally. You could tell that her mind was heavily focused on the meeting and that the newspaper in her hand was just a front. The only reason you knew that was because she stayed on the same page throughout the entire meal yet burned through at least four cigarettes. She looked as if she was rereading the same sentence over and over again as her mind wandered. By the time breakfast was over her eyebrows were so closely knit together they nearly became one.

When the girls finished eating they all kissed their mother on the cheek and wished her luck at the meeting. Daniela and Bela gave you a hug before they left and Cassandra punched you on the shoulder and mumbled "don't die." before swarming away.

As the girls left Zina entered the dining room.

"Pardon me, my Lady." She said to Alcina, whose eyes were back on the newspaper. "Lady Beneviento and Lord Moreau have arrived."

Alcina looked up and nodded before taking a sharp inhale and putting the paper down. She took one final drag of her cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray and downed the rest of her wine in one large gulp. Removing the napkin sitting on her lap, she carefully dabbed the corners of her lips and looked towards you and back to Zina.

"I made sure the chapel was stocked with extra wine. One bottle of sanguis virginis and the rest of your finest vintage, my Lady."

"Thank you Zina, your fine attention to detail never goes unnoticed."

"My pleasure, my Lady."

"Ready, draga?" Alcina asks you. You nod in response and she stands up. "We shall be off then."

As Alcina walks past Zina, Zina hands her her cigarette holder with a lit cigarette already sitting at the end. Alcina nods at Zina with a small smile and leaves. As you walk past Zina she stops you by putting her hand on your shoulder.

"Be careful." She whispers with a small squeeze before removing her hand and heading back towards the kitchen.

Alcina expertly guides you through the castle halls. Once you leave the main part of the castle you notice that the halls are less ornate. The smooth stone walls slowly turn more jagged and unkept and the cracks in the floor grow until the stones beneath your feet are uneven. You've never seen any part of the castle in such a state of despair before. Alcina doesn't say a word the entire time. The juxtaposition of her and your current surroundings is a fascinating one. Her steps are purposeful and she's as elegant as ever as she strides through her domain. Alcina is a woman of elegance, of nobility, she's a queen roaming the halls of her castle. Yet the current surroundings show evidence of disarray. The further down the hall you walk the worse it gets. Alcina would never let the main areas of the castle look like this. If a spec of dust is left behind she throws a fit. You wonder why she's allowed this area to fall apart so much, seemingly without care.

She leads you to a large door and turns towards you. As you finish taking in your surroundings you look up at her. There must have been a look of confusion on your face as you took in the crumbling walls around you because you hear Alcina sigh.

"As you know, I take pride in keeping my castle in top shape so I am sure the passageway has been rather out of the ordinary." You nod your head in response. "This side of the castle sustained extensive damage during the war and I was never able to properly conduct the repairs. The dilapidated state ended up keeping wandering maids away and it warded off unwanted visitors. It was far too much trouble to repair it and since it provided almost guaranteed privacy for these meetings I allowed it to remain in such a despicable state."

"Got it. That makes sense." You say with a small smile. Alcina returns the gesture but her smile doesn't reach her eyes.

She takes a deep breath and exhales. Her eyes stay on the floor and she looks like she is having trouble saying something.

"Are you okay?" You ask.

"Yes. I have something to ask of you, and I hate that I have to ask this of you."

"What is it?"

"In order to attempt to keep appearances up, I don't think it would be wise for you to," she pauses for a moment. "for you to call me Alcina during the meeting." She says quietly. Her eyes flick up to yours and they're filled with concern. "I know we are well past formalities but I'm worried about Miranda as it is and if she hears you call me by my given name, I fear it will make things worse."

Alcina starts to ramble a little and you take a step forward and reach out to grab her hand.

"Hey," you say, looking into her eyes. "I get it, it's okay. I promise."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, my Lady." You say with a smirk.

Alcina releases a breath that sounds like a sigh of relief and she cups your face with her hand.

"I truly don't know what I ever did in my life to deserve you, draga mea." She whispers.

The two of you share a moment as you gaze into each others eyes. Angie's cackle rings out on the other side of the door, effectively ruining the moment the two of you were having. Alcina closes her eyes and takes a grounding breath before adjusting her posture and putting her "countess" mask back on.

"Stay by my side and do not do anything unless I give you the okay. Understand?"

"Yes, my Lady."

She nods in approval and looks at the door and back to you.

"Shall we?" She asks.

You nod in response and she pulls a key out of the band around her hat. The door unlocks with a soft "click" and swings open. Alcina returns the key and she ducks under the doorframe, making her way into the chapel.

"Here goes nothing." You think to yourself before following behind her.

[just-some-random-blogger]

I would love to read something about Matt Smith as Milo Crown from Morbius. I don’t know if you have watched it or if you like it but I feel like reading some fluff / smut with him would be so cute. Like turning the bad ones into good ones just for her is my favorite. Maybe he‘s been in love with her forever and gets jealous of Michael? Maybe he questions her love for him and gets all insecure and she shows him how much she loves him ?? Or maybe just some waking up next to each other stuff or anything if you‘re up to it.

Him Or Me

Milo Crown x Reader

Summary: "Between the two of us, you always chose Michael," he mutters softly all of a sudden. "I only chose Michael because you keep turning me away!" I quip back, face moving closer to his, "you never let me get close to you unless he's around.

Word Count: >800

Warnings: gender neutral reader, jealousy, mentions/depictions of violence during a heated argument, hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, typos, etc.

A/N: i was meant to write this the moment i got it but ???? it died????? HHAAHAHHA anyway ever since i watched Morbius (solely for my husband matt HAHAH) i was like 'aint no way his character doesn't have fics' and the urge to write fics for him was strong. tbh i didn't think the movie was as bad???? as everyone was making it out to be???? (maybe im blinded by how amazing matt was in it what a fking simp) i mostly just thought it was very confusing ??? and cliche ig ??? its a marvel film ya know, i feel like marvel films have been reaching a decline in soul as of late anyway enough for that hot take i hope you like it lovie. it turned into an angst prompt though so ..... lolol AHHHAAH also of course we have to add this scene as the gif AHHAHAH iconic Tagging: @pinksirensong @aralezinspace @sloanexx

"Stop bringing Michael into this," I snap, pointing a finger at him.

Milo scoffs, "and why wouldn't I be bringing him into this?"

He snarls as he walks past me. I grit my teeth, watching him move to his table to pour himself a cup of gin.

"Because he's not part of this conversation, Milo!"

He laughs as the alcohol spills into his cup. He puts the bottle down and turns to me, raising his glass, "that's funny," he takes a sip, then keeps the object by his lips, "you say that as if it's ever just the two of us doing something. I can never get you alone," he brings the glass down and laughs again, "you like him too much."

"Are you fucking hearing yourself right now?" I wave my hands, "I'm here with you aren't I? I'm concerned with what's happening with you, not Michael."

Milo chucks his glass across the room, "NO!"

I cringe and cover the sides of face with my hands.

"You're HERE," he walks over to me, "because Michael called you. You're doing this for him!"

My breath hitches as Milo stands in front of me with a scowl and a heaving chest. I look up at him as I slowly drop my hands. I feel my eyes water at the severity of his tone, the accusation that I did not care for him.

"Between the two of us, you always chose Michael," he mutters softly all of a sudden.

I flare. "I only chose Michael because you keep turning me away!" I quip back, face moving closer to his, "you never let me get close to you unless he's around!"

His face twitches. He lets out an airy chuckle under his breath. He shakes his head, "liar," he grits his teeth and rather painfully admits in a low voice, "I always want you around."

I scoff at him and straighten up, "and what you're doing now is a good indication of that, huh?"

Milo's eyes begin to glass.

I release a shudder as a tear rushes down my face. I look away from him and wipe my tears, but then Milo catches my face as he releases a breathy curse, "fuck- I..."

I shake away from his hold and I move off to the door.

With his newfound powers, which was the reason for this argument in the first place, he runs up to me and blocks my way. Milo clutches my shoulders and shakes his head, "please, don't leave."

I clench my jaw, "you don't seem particularly willing to listen to me."

"Please," he steps forward.

I release a breath, "Milo-"

His hands come to my cheeks, "please."

"I don't-"

My words are cut off by the press of his lips on mine. He leans into me and pulls me in, the warmth of his body mingles with mine. He tastes like gin, but he smells as nice as he always does. My hands come to his torso as he slowly deepens the kiss and slides his tongue against my lips.

When we break away for a breath, Milo presses his forehead on mine and heaves. His breathing is too heavy to be the consequence of mere kissing. He huffs, "I haven't had the balls to tell you that I have been in love with you since the day you laughed at my jokes."

I look at him as he tucks hair behind my ear.

"I'm sorry I... blew up on you," he rubs my cheek, "or scared you," he shakes his head, "I would never hurt you."

"Milo..."

"I just figured I wouldn't have a chance with you anyway, especially not when Michael was... well, Michael, and I was me."

I knit my brows and shake my head, "you're a fucking idiot."

He nods, "I am. I know that-"

I cut him off this time and take my turn at cupping his face.

When we pull away, I look at him and comb his hair back. He looks at me with slightly parted lips. I press mine into a soft smile as I take his hands and place them on my waist. I lick my lips "has it never even once occurred to you that I do the shit that I do because I... like you?"

Milo's brows knit a fraction. He blinks. Then, he pulls closer to him. I bring my hands to his chest as we look at each other.

He tilts his head then slowly, his lips curve into a small smile. He releases a chuckle as I rub his chin with my thumbs. He leans into me, "you like me?"

I scoff out a chuckle and roll my eyes.

"Or... is it my money?" he hums with a lopsided smile.

I throw my head back as I laugh. I look back at him as he rubs my sides affectionately. I sigh and shake my head, "you caught me," I raise my hand, "hand over your wallet."

Milo does not hesitate, one hand leaving me to fish for the object in his back pocket.

[angst-is-love-angst-is-life]

☕️the most egregious problem The Flash has is that it literally NEVER ADDRESSES ANY of the trauma it consistently puts Barry and co through, like it has other problems but I think that's the worst lol

1000000% and I will die mad about it.

Since it’s (always) on my mind, let’s take season 2 for example shall we?

If I had a nickel for everytime Post-Zoom-trauma just disappeared at the drop of a hat, I’d have four nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s fucking INFURIATING THAT IT HAPPENED F O U R TIMES

The four (for lack of a better word) victims in question: Caitlin, Barry, Jesse, and Jay.

Caitlin: kidnapped and held against her will for (I believe) two weeks (that’s putting it simply but we’ve all seen the show so🤷‍♀️). The show gives her one single episode to deal with it, during which she shows very real symptoms of PTSD— solved and therefore ignored and glossed over entirely with a single pep talk. I would also like to add that she showed NO fear of him in the season finale which makes no fucking sense with what the show established only an episode earlier. But tbh, this is the best one because at least the show ACKNOWLEDGED that trauma; if only for one episode.

Barry: Back broken during first encounter (among other severe injuries), humiliated by being dragged around the city to show he wasn’t strong enough to stop Zoom, confidence shattered from the experience. Like Caitlin, we got one episode to deal with this trauma and in that episode, Barry also showed signs and symptoms of PTSD (the entire season is evidence tbh). But of course, one pep talk from his dad and everything’s magically ok :-D !!!!!! I’m going to eat glass (also I will definitely make a post on that fucking episode because I hate it). As mentioned; he continues to have PTSD symptoms throughout the season but it’s glossed over so much and attributed to generic-superhero-stuff™️ that it really doesn’t matter. Gods, I could go on all day about Barry’s post-Zoom AND post-Thawne trauma. (Oh, he was also kidnapped, threatened, and {borderline} tortured by Zoom in the Earth-2 episodes; but that’s all normal superhero stuff ofc so it doesn’t matter right :-D !!! gnawing at the bars of my enclosure)

Jesse: Good gods where do I even start. Kidnapped by a known serial killer, tortured by said serial killer, repeatedly and (probably) constantly threatened with death, and held captive for around 9-10 months. Mm also, she was clearly terrified of Zoom every time he showed up prior to her rescue. Sounds like an extremely traumatic experience with multiple opportunities and instances to develop PTSD right? WRONG! According to the lovely writers; people are completely fine after a traumatic experience is over! What’s PTSD??? chewing glass chewing glass chewing glass. They didn’t even TRY with her, at least with Barry and Caitlin they pretended to give a shit about what they went through but Jesse makes two things crystal clear. 1) The writers don’t care about your trauma unless you’re an MC. 2) The writers put minimal effort into trauma if any; MC or not. It’s like they said ‘Ooo, we should have Caitlin kidnapped by Zoom!’ ‘Won’t that have some sort of effect on her? Being kidnapped is a terrifying experience’ ‘Ah fuck you’re right… eh, we’ll give her one episode ig’ ‘What about Jesse?’ ‘Who?’

Jay: Fucking. Hell. I ordered this in what I consider best handled to worst. Jay is by far— handled worst. Let’s see here *checks notes* Ah yes. Kidnapped and taken to a completely different Earth, an attempted theft of his powers, imprisoned and put in a mask so he can’t speak, {not confirmed but very likely with Zoom’s track record and somewhat implied} tortured, had his identity stolen and {likely} mocked and tormented about the subject, and the ~delightful~ cherry on top— held captive in this situation for at least one year. Fuck I’m so tired. Anyways; there’s not much to say. He got rescued (off-screen ofc), was able to access his powers instantly with no problems, and left to go back to his Earth. Trauma? What trauma? *gestures wildly at said trauma posted above* That’s not traumatic at all! *screams* I don’t care how much experience you have as a superhero— that doesn’t just GO AWAY! PTSD, FLASH WRITERS. LOOK INTO IT P L E A S E fuck I just remembered the show is over now ALL YOUR MC’S HAVE IT! EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. Sigh. In the end of *gestures at said trauma* all that, Jay was just used to cause Barry more greif from his father’s death. Obviously he gets roles in later seasons but (as far as I can remember) this whole thing was never brought up again. Sigh.

I COULD GO ON

I COULD GO ON FOR DAYS

but I won’t cause dear gods I’ve been typing forever now

[kookieswan]

Red Light - Whispered Kisses

Nightmare!Hoseok x Psychologist!Reader

Word Count: 1.6k

Genre: Horror AU, Monster AU, Psychological horror, Fluffy…? Angst.

Warnings: Talk of killing/injuring people, mentions of gore/blood, a dead body, hints of sexism and bigotry. It should be noted that this story will contain themes of horror/psychological horror and also explore obsessive behaviors and codependency. Many characters are morally gray. Please be warned!

Summary: Hoseok may be a Nightmare, but you’re not willing to let him endure the horrors that lay below.

Notes: So, congratulations to everyone who got this far and knew. Proud of you. Also new character. Guess who. This takes place almost immediately after ‘Twisted Hearts’.

This is the 22nd part of the Red Light series. Find the Masterlist here ♥️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You will not be sending him to a deeper level in the facility. I won’t allow it. It’s my duty to analyze and protect the mental well beings of the Nightmares and harming them will only do damage.” It didn’t take long for people to figure out that something was going down, the alarms blaring almost as soon as Hoseok killed Andrews and crushed his heart for you. You had thought things couldn’t get any worse at that point, and then Williams walked into the office casually, an ocean of guards waiting outside of the small room for his call. You won’t allow it though. You won’t.

Williams raises a brow as he stares you down, Hoseok standing passively in the corner of the room as if to not seem like a threat. Upon hearing footsteps marching your way, he had ripped away from you, the warmth of his body disappearing and leaving you cold and wet with blood… it’s a passing thought, but you miss how you felt when he was holding you close.

“With all due respect, you have no say. He broke out of his bindings, knocked out guards, caused damage to the facility, all things he’s smart enough to know will get him in a large amount of trouble.” All very true, but the more you think about it, the less you care. Glancing down, you notice Andrews’ arm sitting directly in front of where Williams stands. Said man glances down at the severed arm and slowly nudges it with his perfectly polished shoe like it’s trash on the street.

“Ah yes, he also killed Andrews. Hard to forget considering his body is scattered around his office. Another offense to add to the large list.” Most of the office is covered in some sort of gore, on the walls, the desk, your body... You don’t really want to think about how there’s likely pieces of heart stuck in your hair. Clearing your throat, you try your best to keep your voice controlled but firm. You won’t let him walk all over you, but you also know your position which is sadly underneath him.

“I’ve been making progress with these men. You sending even one of them away right now could possibly cause a chain of events I’m not sure you’re equipped to deal with.” Williams eyebrows raise at the insinuation, the challenge, and you inwardly cringe. Perhaps your wording was a bit much, but you feel as if it’s true. The Nightmares won’t be happy with another of their own being treated badly, not from the info you’ve collected over the past month an a half. There’s a sudden tussling from behind you, Hoseok taking a tentative step toward.

“… If I could have some input-“ The Nightmares voice rings out, deep and gravely and warm. Williams cuts him off quickly though, throwing him a sharp look and raising a perfectly manicured finger.

“You get no input 061318. No one has the last work except me; not even your psychologist has authority here, so why would the likes of a vile creature like yourself?” His tone sounds disgusted, and the anger in you flares hotly, the need to flick the older doctor on the forehead strong. There’s a snort of laughter from Hoseok but besides that, he says nothing else, so you speak up in his place.

“Dr. Williams, please understand that this was just… A minor accident. I believe Ho- 061318 having a session or two with me could solve the issue at hand. Talking things out could be very beneficial.” William is starting to lose patience, mouth opening in a near snarl, but instead of yelling, the office door clicks and opens. A man walks through confidently, a doctor indicated by his badge, and instead of looking horrified, he simply smiles largely.

“Williams. Stand down.” A deep accented voice cuts through the tension, deep enough to echo through the room. The annoying man goes completely quiet and bows his head, causing you to startle. Williams has the most authority on this floor over the other doctors, so if this man is ordering him around, then-

“My name is Doctor Kim, Taehyung Kim. It’s a pleasure to meet you Dr. _____, I’ve heard many things about you. Good, bad, praise to the highest of heavens, disgustingly perverted rumors… You’re quite the enigma around here.” Well, he certainly doesn’t beat around the bush. It’s refreshing though when most of the other personal down here like to keep their secrets held close. He holds out a hand and you shake it firmly, giving him a small smile in return.

“The pleasure is all mine Dr. Kim. Excuse me for asking, but I’ve never seen you in this level of the facility before…?” The man is in the taller side, at lest half a head taller than Williams. He pushes his square glasses up the bridge of his nose, eyes sharp as he lets out a small laugh.

“No worries. I work on the deepest level mostly, but I like to make rounds time to time. I heard about the pending Code Red and had to come check for myself… Excuse me for just a moment, hm?” It’s almost funny, watching the smile melt off his face into a firm line of what you can only guess is some level of discontent. Williams visibly shrinks back, somehow becoming even smaller and more pathetic looking. Perhaps you’re not being very professional but you feel that time has passed for now.

“Williams, I sent away your little entourage. Also, before you even insinuate it, you won’t be sending 061318 to the deeper levels, and you won’t be isolating him either. Andrews was a piece of garbage and we should all be glad he’s been disposed of. If anything, this beautiful Nightmare has done us a favor.” Hoseok’s remained relatively quiet through this whole ordeal, but you can see his wings subtly shift from the corner of your eye, just barely pushing outward. Williams stutters a bit, apologizing as Dr. Kim addresses you softly.

“Dr. _____, if you would be so kind, please escort 061318 to this floors washing facility, and perhaps think about using it yourself; you’re both quite messy. I will send security to assist you in a while.” Nodding your head diligently, you look toward Hoseok and beckon him to come closer. He does so until he’s next to you, allowing you to wrap your hand loosely around his arm as a thin line of security. You don’t get far before Williams decides to open his big fat mouth again.

“Dr. Kim, I don’t think-“ Dr. Kim’s loud sigh drowns out Williams grating voice, and again, Hoseok let’s out another chuckle as his wings start to span the room, his smile like a perfect heart. The other doctors don’t pay any mind, both of them staring each other down, one with a look of disgust and the other with thinly veiled fear.

“Frankly Frank, I don’t particularly care about what you think. Now, Dr. _____, please be on your way. I look forward to talking with you more in the future, but for now, Frank and I have much to discuss.” It’s a battle to contain your laughter, your mouth twisting almost violently as you give another curt nod and tug Hoseok to the door without further question. Anything to get away from Williams and to get the blood off.

He walks slightly behind you, the halls completely quiet, not a soul in sight. Your thoughts run wild, still unbelieving if the events of today… Hoseok pulls against your hand slightly, calling for your attention as you round another corner. You ignore his bare chest and the way blood drips from the arms of his tattered jumpsuit.

“You just indirectly saved me from a questionable fate, doctor. I acted brashly, I realize that, and I feel that I owe you an explanation of some kind. It could keep you safer if you knew…” It’s almost odd listening to Hoseok speak so calmly after he just killed a man less than twenty minutes ago. Then again, it is Hoseok, so perhaps not. You keep leading him down the white halls, letting your hand slip into his properly with a small hum.

“Hoseok, really, it’s okay. I’m not super glad that you broke out and ran but it’s alright. I’m just a little emotionally exhausted right now.” Glancing up at him and slowing your pace, he looks unsettled. Not just because of the blood that’s covering his face, but because of the almost sad look he wears. It makes you want to reach up and brush the frown away, but you refrain.

“It’s not alright. The things he was saying about you, the things he did to you… it’s disgusting. He didn’t deserve to get away with it.” You spot the entrance to the washing facility and pull him closer, finally standing outside of the door as he looks down at you intensely. His wings stretch out fully and curl in, almost like an inky shield around you. Poking a single finger into his bare chest, you give him a questioning look.

“How did you even catch wind of the stuff he was saying? I know the guards like to talk, but still…” He raises a gentle hand to your chest, placing it right where the skin peaks out over your stained blouse, and you will your heart rate to remain steady. Hosoek seems to listen, to feel for a few moments as you keep still, while you enjoy the sensation of warmth his hand brings to your crimson coated skin.

“Because, dear heart…” The Nightmare removes his hand from your chest and leans in close. So close that you feel his breath mingle with yours as he whispers softly. So close that you swear, for just a moment, that his bloodied lips brush against your own.

“I can hear your cute little thoughts… Every. Last. One.”

[sen-no-kotowari]

PGR Amplifier Liv Character Profile

I'm back for a bit with Amplifier Liv's Character Profile! I am going to also post her other version's profile in the future so stay tuned for that. You can learn more about her in the cut down below!

Voice Line Data

Motion Voice Lines

Lobby Voice 1

Liv: Though Lucia doesn't often say it, she is keen on your acknowledgment of her. Even though Lee sometimes tells you harsh words, he truly is concerned about you just like I do. If it means that everybody would be safe and sound, then my sacrifice will be reciprocated.

Lobby Voice 2

Liv: Desire, oath, miracles—all of these somehow are tied to causality. The reason I was able to remain by your side like this now is nothing more than a strong desire left in the very depths of my heart.

Lobby Voice 3

Liv: If our encounter with each other can also be called a miracle, then... would the price for that miracle be this beating heart of mine enduring 'til the end of my life then?

Raise Affection Level

Liv: Yes, I quite like it. When I see this scenery that's full of life, I could imagine it—this planet brought back to life, and the future standing there together with you.

Repetitive Taps

Liv: Is there something wrong? There's no need for you to be worried... If you're worried about me, I'm right here.

Log-In

Liv: Until dawn breaks through the night, please stay with me, even for a while longer.

Online for a Long Time

Liv: I'm sorry... It's because I'm still unreliable that you're facing such hardships...

AFK

Liv: Since you're sleeping, it's okay for me to come close to you, right? ...Ah! Wha-, Co-commander...?! Don't tell me, were you awake this entire time?!

Shake

Liv: Is there an ongoing emergency? ...So it's one of your pranks then, Commander?

Offline for a Long Time

Liv: It's been a while, Commander... While you weren't here, the nightmares came back. It felt just like that day when you were in a coma, except I couldn't do anything but wait... As much as possible, please don't leave me like this for a long time...okay?

Introduction and Formation

Structure Acquired

Liv: ...Good morning, Commander. I've been always waiting for you to open your eyes again, all this time...

Level Up

Liv: I shall devote myself to becoming the last hope of humanity in saving a multitude of lives.

Advancement

Liv: A rise in rank? I no longer need it.

Model Improvement

Liv: I've been remodeled, just as planned... I'll save more people in need of help, without fail.

Skill Upgrade

Liv: The number of casualties from the war has decreased... I have to be faster.

Equipment

Liv: I could save more people in proportion to the improvement of the weapon's efficency, right?

Add in Team

Liv: I won't let anybody else die.

Assign as Captain

Liv: Understood, I will protect everyone. ...No matter what lies ahead of us.

Mission Accomplished

Liv: Mission accomplished. War trophies and rewards have already been sorted and placed in the storage room.

Daily Small Talks

Voice Line 1

Liv: The stars shining down on the night sky are really beautiful. Their radiance within the darkness is reminiscent of life existing in a post-apocalyptic world. That's why, I... don't want both the land and sky to be devoid of life.

Voice Line 2

Liv: For every miracle, there is a corresponding cost—in order to establish a future free from strife, I left countless lives in an everlasting frost. I'm not the first one, nor will I be the last one.

Voice Line 3

Liv: Though the remaining life I have is meager, I immediately thought of wanting to live beside everyone. When everybody needed help at that time, I couldn't forgive myself who wasn't there.

Voice Line 4

Liv: Let's light a bonfire, just until the morning sun rises. If I can expel the looming darkness in this land, then I don't mind burning all of myself into ashes.

Voice Line 5

Liv: For the sake of obtaining a sliver of hope, I paid several consequences...

Voice Line 6

Liv: Shadows exist behind those who chase after the light. But, right now... everyone's here by my side. Even within the darkness, you can feel the warmth of others.

Voice Line 7

Liv: Before I was enlisted in the Gray Raven, I always told myself that I want to be a part of a warmhearted place... But that dream has already been granted because every single day I spent here was truly blissful... Now it's my turn to protect other people's dreams.

Voice Line 8

Liv: The waiting time whenever my Structure model's being adjusted was unbearable. My memories with the Gray Raven Unit were my only solace during those times.

Voice Line 9

Liv: Though Lucia doesn't often say it, she is keen on your acknowledgment of her. Even though Lee sometimes tells you harsh words, he truly is concerned about you just like I do. If it means that everybody would be safe and sound, then my sacrifice will be reciprocated.

Voice Line 10

Liv: Among the vast number of stars, only the Northern Star showed people the way... Hehe, these words remind me of the person standing in front of me right now—an admirable person shining radiantly who belongs to no one.

Voice Line 11

Liv: Desire, oath, miracles—all of these somehow are tied to causality. The reason I was able to remain by your side like this now is nothing more than a strong desire left in the very depths of my heart.

Voice Line 12

Liv: If our encounter with each other can also be called a miracle, then... would the price for that miracle be this beating heart of mine enduring 'til the end of my life then?

Voice Line 13

Liv: I am prepared to sacrifice myself, I promise I will protect any secret there is. I only wish for you to watch over me as I continue living my own life until the very end.

Voice Line 14

Liv: "Understood," "I've already prepared myself." ...Even though I've repeatedly told myself these words, I could vaguely see your face from the depths of my heart... But this feeling simply won't disappear. Perhaps those were my lingering attachments in response to my desire "to live."

Voice Line 15

Liv: No matter how far the future is, even if life is a futile dream, I will find you in the darkest night sky and offer you what remaining time I have left.

Raise Affection Level

Voice Line 1

Liv: Thank you very much, Commander.

Voice Line 2

Liv: ...I've already received plenty of gifts from everybody.

Voice Line 3

Liv: One mustn't stop being kind toward others, isn't that right?

Voice Line 4

Liv: Although I'm thankful for your kindness, it might be better to give this to people who need it more than I do... It's for me, you say...? I...

Voice Line 5

Liv: Even if you did not do a single thing, I'd always take notice of you.

Voice Line 6

Liv: I'd like for you to please share the cross you're bearing with me, Commander. I don't wish to see you bear that heavy burden, all on your own.

Voice Line 7

Liv: Commander, could you please grant a single wish of mine? No matter what happens, please don't forget about me.

Voice Line 8

Liv: I've treasured all of the things you've given me. Every time I see them, I remember you. Somehow, I also feel like your absence made my heart grow fonder.

Voice Line 9

Liv: I could feel the hopes and wishes you've entrusted to me... My heart feels very warm. If only you would stay here, I think I'll continue walking on until I could no longer do so.

Voice Line 10

Liv: Precisely because my remaining time to be happy is short, I feel that I should cherish the moment right now.

Voice Line 11

Liv: ...The confusion left inside my Sea of Consciousness is slowly disappearing... ...Hrm... If I start to feel less tense, I feel sleepy... ...I'm sorry... stay by your side... (softly breathes)... Mmn... (softly breathes)... ...Commander. ...Commander...

Voice Line 12

Liv: Could you... please come a little bit closer to me? Just like that fleeting dream. What kind of dream? ...It's a secret.

Voice Line 13

Liv: This warmth... Please let me lean on you, just for a little while longer.

Voice Line 14

Liv: I cannot embrace all of this world's coldest nights. However, you could embrace me, who exists within those nights.

Voice Line 15

Liv: Are you heading for battle now? Or will you be writing the mission report? Wherever you're headed, I wish to accompany you. ...I'm sorry, have I troubled you?

Voice Line 16

Liv: Yes, I quite like it. When I see this scenery that's full of life, I could imagine it—this planet brought back to life, and the future standing there together with you.

AFK

Voice Line 1

Liv: This place is quiet...

Voice Line 2

Liv: ...Oh, it seems like you feel asleep. Seems that we should call it a day now...

Voice Line 3

Liv: Commander?! Commander! ...You're just sleeping, huh.

Voice Line 4

Liv: Since you're sleeping, it's okay for me to come close to you, right? ...Ah! Wha-, Co-commander...?! Don't tell me, were you awake this entire time?!

Voice Line 5

Liv: It's okay, I'll take a break just like this. You're here, so long as you're here by my side, it's more than enough.

Online for a Long Time

Voice Line 1

Liv: Commander, you've gone over the required work hours. Let's take a break now.

Voice Line 2

Liv: Please come a little bit closer. I wish to do something to soothe the Commander who has been working hard lately.

Voice Line 3

Liv: I'm sorry... It's because I'm still unreliable that you're facing such hardships.

Voice Line 4

Liv: While I did say that it's okay to take a break as long as you're not doing work on the side, but...No matter how I look at it, you're working on something, right? (Sigh)... You have an idea of what it is I want to say, right Commander?

Voice Line 5

Liv: It's definitely because you, yourself, are safe right now that you can move toward the future together with everyone. Commander, if I ever— ...Even if I'm no longer with you, I hope you learn to love yourself more.

Log-In

Voice Line 1

Liv: Commander, I've finalized all of the mission for today. Please feel free to verify them.

Voice Line 2

Liv: Because I could see there's hope, you don't need to worry too much. I will do everything appropriately and would never betray everyone's expectations.

Voice Line 3

Liv: So you're here. Eh? Was it surprising that you can't surprise me from behind now? Since I've been assigned to the Raven Unit for a long time, it seems I could sense your presence even if you were to quietly approach me.

Voice Line 4

Liv: Welcome back. It seems like I can peacefully spend the day with you as well. Eh? Why is that, you ask? ...Oh, it's nothing. Looks like there's no need for me to needlessly worry, so long as you safely come back home.

Voice Line 5

Liv: Until dawn breaks through the night, please stay with me, even for a while longer.

Voice Line 6

Liv: Good morning, did you have a good rest? That's right... I've been waiting for you to come this entire time. No, there weren't any emergency missions. I just... dreamt of a frightening dream. You weren't here, no matter where I search... Just like that day.

Voice Line 7

Liv: Even if the lonely lamb became an existence carrying a multitude of hope, it will unconsciously search for the presence of its shepherd. Welcome back, Commander.

Voice Line 8

Liv: I dreamt of a very happy dream yesterday. The land has been revived, the city remnants were surrounded by colorful floras, and the people living in that brand-new world were full of smiles... You were also among those people. Eh, what about me? I...

Offline for a Long Time

Liv: It's been a while, Commander... While you weren't here, the nightmares came back. It felt just like that day when you were in a coma, except I couldn't do anything but wait... As much as possible, please don't leave me like this for a long time...okay?

Shake

Voice Line 1

Liv: Is there an on-going emergency? ...So it's one of your pranks then, Commander?

Voice Line 2

Liv: Please, come back, Commander!

Voice Line 3

Liv: I'll protect everybody.

Repetitive Taps

Voice Line 1

Liv: Is there something wrong? There's no need for you to be worried... If you're worried about me, I'm right here.

Voice Line 2

Liv: That day too... You were trying to wake me up just like this.

Voice Line 3

Liv: The Commander's hands are really warm. It's a little embarrassing, but I don't dislike being touched by you.

Activity Task Full

Liv: The activity taskbar has reached the max value. Would you like to take a break soon? If it's possible... Please hand some of your work to me as well.

Battle Dialogues

Battle Start/Character Switch

Liv: I shall return all of this calamity to the void with me.

Voice Line 1

Liv: The flames of purity shall bring salvation.

Voice Line 2

Liv: I am no longer powerless.

Voice Line 3

Liv: Vanish within the light.

Ultimate Skill 1

Liv: These hardships... shall be incinerated to oblivion here.

Ultimate Skill 2

Liv: Hope... will be reborn from the ashes!

Light Damage

Liv: Grh... I can withstand it.

Heavy Damage

Liv: ...I must not let everything end here...

Incapacitated

Liv: ...I'm sorry, in the end... I have failed...

Friend Support

Liv: I've been able to confirm the support objective.

QTE

Liv: Please let me handle it.

Battle End

Liv: May you rest in peace, because I shall free you from that prison called "agony."

Structure Documentation

Document Detail 1

BPN-08—the model name is Solaeter, an Amplifier-type Structure model. It's the latest Specialized Structure model developed by the Science Council and has the ability to "purify" the Punishing. The actual principle behind this is that the model would absorb the Punishing and exterminate it through the Omega-type weapon installed inside the model.

Document Detail 2

To import the data gathered from a certain emissary to this model, the Solaeter is endowed with a unique characteristic that is almost identical to an emissary's. Along with the data recording of the Punishing being "purified" streaming into Liv's Sea of Consciousness, she vicariously experiences the emotions of the people suffering from this calamity in a form closely similar to virtual reality.

Document Detail 3

"...It's for the sake of all humankind's wellbeing." After she changed her model, Liv was overflowing with love and affection toward all creation without fear or favor. She equally loves all humans and is determined to fight until the bitter end for the future of all humankind, without ever considering her own future.

Document Detail 4

The wings on her model were suggested by Liv herself and are made from an extremely durable material. While it was made to be lightweight, it allows stable flight even when at high output. It could also be used as a shield when needed.

Document Detail 5

"This is my answer, my decision... I never gave up, not even once." Liv herself doesn't have any regrets about her choice. She lives her life without fearing death for the sake of the life she holds dear, for the sake of the time she cherishes so much. Even if the future is something far-fetched in the wake of illusions and phantom pain, she took a step towards the future, smiling.

Document Detail 6

Just like how Liv took up arms for the people she holds dear, the people who long to protect her wish want to walk the same path as her and face the bright future ahead of them together. Amidst the torrent of her memories, Liv finally attained her wish.

Rumors and Secrets

Secret 1 The Star of Life's Fool, who never knew Liv's name, calls Liv an "angel." Liv herself, however, isn't aware of that fact.

Secret 2 She was actually quite pleased with the Solaeter model since she could feel that she attained the power to change everything. Since the operation time was short, however, Liv regrets that she wasn't able to save more people.

Secret 3 Liv bears the adverse effects of the overload on her Sea of Consciousness and Consciousness Decay underneath her gentle smile. She hasn't talked to anyone about what she thought about the suffering she experienced in her Sea of Consciousness nor the pain and separation that plagued her life.

Secret 4 Solaeter's aerial elevation is slightly higher than Luminescence. The model's higher field of vision made Liv a little bit sensitive to motion sickness, so she lowers her altitude as much as possible during standby.

Secret 5 After Liv changed model, she was gifted with the unique ability to draw small animals in. Birds constantly gather around her in particular.

Secret 6 Once in a while, she imagines what kind of life awaits them at the end of their war with the Punishing. Although Liv could visualize the beautiful future she hopes for her precious friends and comrades, she rarely thinks about her own future.

Secret 7 Because the Omega-type weapon is installed in the Solaeter model, Liv's model temperature is a bit higher compared to her previous models—it was easier to notice her bashfulness since the blush of her cheeks is redder than before.

Secret 8 The sheep plushie Liv usually sleeps with on her maintenance capsule was donated to a youth development center before she carried out her final mission.

Secret 9 Liv used to help out at Eden's greenhouse before. Whenever she talked with the greenhouse's staff, she occasionally almost called the plants by the nickname she gave them. Just like she remembers the name of all the people she saved, she remembers the name and growth state of all the plants she raised.

Secret 10 "To start a flower shop or become a part of the forest rangers"—After she returned to Eden, Liv talked to the Commander about her dreams and aspiration when she was a child. Now that she became a Structure, she had saved an infant, protected a group of people taking shelter in a safe area from the driving rain, and taken upon the wishes of hundreds and thousands of people herself. The Commander she loves dearly answered her: "The young Liv's childhood dreams came true in a different shape than she had imagined."

Secret 11 Liv is embarrassed to have her back seen by the Commander so she oftentimes tries to face her back away from the Commander's sight.

Secret 12 What Liv wrote the most inside the Queen of the Night[1] origami was "The Commander hasn't woken up today as well."

月下美人 (lit. Moonlit Beauty) or more commonly known as Dutchman's pipe cactus/Queen of the Night is a cacti flower that blooms at a single night between July and October.

[axels-corner]

Chapter 6 of the coffee shop au

Summary: Kenric, Kesler, and Terik bake cookies while trying to sort things out

Notes: We're halfway through! I hope you enjoy the chapter

You can find chapter 5 here

Characters: Terik, Kenric, Kesler

Words: 1,782

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48995623/chapters/125896006

There was a sugary sweet smell in the air that made Kenric's mouth water, they had finally finished the chaotic adventure of getting the cookies into shape and prepping them for the oven. But after many failed attempts, and several runs to grab more chocolate and caramel chips, notable failures included the first time when they went to add the salt and one of the triplets had loosened the salt shaker at dinner that night, and well things got a little salty as Terik would put it. Though he would've much prepared the chaos over the discussion he knew they where about to have that he was dreading.

“So,” Kesler starts while hopping up on the counter, “Oralie huh, I thought she hated your guts? You know after the whole Blackswan thing”

“Me too.” Terik added leaning back against the counter eating some of the cookie dough from the bowl

“That makes three of us.” Kenric says, “Also Terik I would advise against eating raw cookie dough remember what happened last time.” Terik sighs

“So let me get this straight, you don't like it when I eat charred toast, but you don't want me to eat raw cookie dough either.” he dipped his finger in the leftover batch again “Also you sound like Bronte.” Kesler snorted at that

“Seriously? Charred toast?”

“It's got a nice crunch, don't judge it until you try it.” Kenric hides his smile by rubbing his forehead

“Fine, but when you get food poisoning I'm telling Emery and Bronte it's because you ate raw cookie dough.”

“I'm fine with that.” They all lapsed into a nice silence, Kenric wondered if he willed time to stop, if it would, but of course it doesn't work like that. As Terik put the bowl in the sink, Kesler crossed his legs on the counter.

“I suppose we should talk about Oralie now.” Kenric hung his head and sighed

“Yeah, probably.” Terik cut him off

“Wait, before we do I never got the whole story of the Black swan just bits and pieces. What happened? I mean you and Oralie where close.”

“Well we where in our senior year of Foxfire High school when Prentice approached me,

“So we still on for Saturday movie night?” Oralie asked smiling as she hugged him, he hugged her back

“We so are, what do you want to watch tonight?” She shrugged

“I'm not sure, we'll figure it out.”

“Or fall asleep surfing through what to watch.” They both laughed, this was nice, Kenric thought spending time around Oralie was easy, it was fun, it felt like she lit up whatever room she walked in. There was a light tap on his arm, he turned to see who it was, it was Prentice, with a very unpleased looking Tiergan standing next to him. “Hey Prentice and Tiergan, what's up?”

“We where wondering if we could talk to you really quick?” Kenric squeezed Oralie's hand

“I'll be right back.” She nodded

“I'll go find Terik, Kesler and the others, and save you a seat.” He nodded and jogged after the other two who where already walking off. They walked quietly until they entered a classroom, Which he thought was empty, but when the lights flickered on he saw that it wasn't. Juline, the Forkle twins, and two other kids where already in there. Before he could ask what was going on one of the Forkle twins, Errol he thinks, asked

“Do you know what the Black Swan is Kenric?” He shrugged with one shoulder shaking his head

“A good place to go if you want coffee?” One of the kids he didn't know laughed, while Loki shook his head.

“Partially, you know how there's a superhero theme so nobody knows who the employees are?” He nodded “Well what if I told you that's because it's true that they're superheros.” He raised an eyebrow

“Really?” He had a strong feeling this was a prank , but he'd play along for now “What do they do then? And why are you telling me this.” Loki sighed

“Because we need your help, well you or Terik but he has significantly more eyes on him with him being considered for the council and all, with the rumors of Councilor Augustin stepping down in a couple of years.”

“And what exactly do you need my help for?”

“It's hard to explain just watch.”

When the video started Kenric recognized it immediately. It was the explosion from so many years ago. They had ruled it as a misfire of the canon from the school play but something always rubbed Kenric the wrong way about that story, the pieces just didn't fit. He was willing to let it slide because nobody had been hurt and the only damage there was, was too the stage curtain, but know he knew why it had seemed a tad suspicious. At the end of the video there was security footage of two people tampering with the fake canon.

“Do we know who they are.” Kenric asked, and as the words left his mouth everyone's shoulder start to droop

“We where hopping you would.” Errol said, Kenric looked closer they where both wearing dark cloaks that made it so they blended into the background but on one of them there was a small piece of hair sticking out, a golden blond piece of hair. He pulled out his phone and frantically started searching through his text messages till he found the right conversation with the last text sent around three and a half years ago that told him and Terik to stop searching. He held it out to them,

“Could this be anything?” They all gathered around, Errol was the first one to speak up

“Well it looks like we've got ourselves a lead.”

Over the next few days he helped the Blackswan search, they found out they called themselves Neverseen but that was it. Eventually days turned into weeks and weeks turned into a month than months. With only dead end after dead end, it was like Ruy and Gethen had disappeared. He could also feel his relationship with Oralie straining like a rubber band but he was so close he just needed some more time.

Until their rubber band finally snapped, he and Oralie had a big argument in which he said some things that he would always regret. After she confronted him about sneaking away all the time, missing classes, skipping lunches, forgetting about their dates and eventually just not responding to her texts at all. He ended up avoiding telling her about his suspicions about Gethen, since Gethen was her brother and how do you tell someone you think their brother sabotaged people, plus would she even believe him?

“I never found out if she would've believed me since well you both saw how the conversation ended. I did text her once trying to explain about Gethen but she blocked me as soon as she saw his name.” He was no longer looking at Kesler, and Terik but rather the tiles. He wondered if he could count them enough if it would stop the tears from falling, but alas water has a mind of it's own and he watched them fall down onto the tile floor. They stood there for a long moment before he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and pull him into a hug, Kesler joined seconds later. He isn't sure how long they stayed there, could've been minutes could've been hours, but eventually the tears dried, as a river does with no rain. Terik still had his arm around his shoulder,

“Are you feeling better?” Kenric could hear the sincerity in his voice, as much as he and Terik liked to poke fun at each other they still cared for each other, was the others rock, the shoulder to lean on. He was that for Terik when he had torn his Achilles in their junior year, and Terik was that for him now, as he had been when he and Oralie first broke up. Kesler broke the silence one again with a small gasp that had Terik and Kenric's heads snapping towards him. Almost as if reading their minds asking him what he said in a quite voice, like he was scared to speak the thought into existence

“What if Oralie's apart of the Neverseen?”

Kenric felt like all the air had been punched out of his lungs. Like when he was a kid and would drink a Capri Sun and then suck all the air out, except this time he was the Capri Sun. he felt the cold tile on his knees from where his jeans had holes in them, he really needed to fix that.

“Hey, you still need to breathe man oxygen is not optional.” He laughs and as he does a little air rushes back through his lungs, he takes a couple deep breaths nodding at Terik to say he's fine, thought Terik doesn't look to believe him, before looking at Kesler.

“Anyone could be wearing the hood after all, since there was no voice,, or features except for the blond hair.” Kesler nodded seeming to be deep in thought. Kenric looked out the window the moon now high in the sky, and he slowly got to his feet, Terik holding his arm as if he would fall any minute, he appreciated it though. He glance at his phone that said 12:47 “Me and Terik should probably be getting home.” Kesler waved, as they left the timer for the cookies went off and he turned back towards the oven.

As Terik and Kenric grab their bikes from outside the store both of them ask,

“Is he going to be okay?” Kenric shrugs, because he didn't have an answer this time, and it appears neither did Terik.

The ride home was mostly uneventful, until they passed the Black swan cafe and, the new coffee shop, and they can hear arguing from inside one of them though Kenric's unsure of which, but the interesting part was the dialogue. He could make out bits of pieces as they drove up, and after they passed, but as they where passing a door or a window must've been open because he heard

"This isn't going to work I've already almost blown my cover like three times today! He's getting suspicious! We need to abort"

"That'll look even worse just stick out okay, trust me in a couple months we'll be home free."

"Fine, but I'm getting acting classes and sending you the bill."

Then he heard a door slam and both coffee shops, both the old and new fell silent.

Coffee Shop au taglist: (if you want to be added or removed just let me know)

@winterfireice @official-kenralie-fanbase @antisocialdork

[thaliajoy-blog]

Personal best ASOIAF quotes - part 2 (in no particular order)

⭐ "The stone is strong, the roots of the trees go deep, and under the ground the kings of winter sit their thrones. So long as those remained, Winterfell remained. It was not dead, just broken. I'm not dead either" (Bran Stark)

👉 don't let anyone tell you that Asoiaf is a nihilistic, dark, edgy universe. It is anything but. These last words of the second book, after so much misery has already happened to our dear protagonists, are full of hope. The world is broken but not dead, not dying. It can still be mended.

⭐ "Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and as he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman's name." (Daenerys visions)

👉 way to talk about a character and to sell him to you, peak romanticism. Poetic ✨. Rhaegar would have liked it.

⭐ "You never knew Lyanna as I did, Robert. You saw her beauty, but not the iron underneath." (Ned Stark)

👉 also superb and poetic (there's a good rhythm to that last sentence, it sounds just right, just like what it means should sound like). Adds to the sense of mystery around Lyanna & the fascination this other dead but romantic figure of the past can evoke in us. The binary between what Ned knew & what Robert knew.

⭐ "Some say knowledge is power. Some tell us that all power comes from the gods. Others say it derives from law. Yet that day on the steps of Baelor's sept, our godly High Septon and your queen regent and your ever-so-knowledgeable servant were as powerless as any cobbler or copper in the crowd. Who truly killed Eddard Stark, do you think ? Joffrey, who gave the command ? Ser Illyn Payne, who swung the sword ? Or...another ?

[...] Power resides where men believe it resides. No more, no less [...] A shadow on the wall. Yet shadows can kill. And oftimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow."

(Varys the Spider)

👉 the classic, of course. I always like these kind of things in fiction, essentially saying that the world's rules are based on complete illusions, that we live and we play in a world whose rules we could control but actually cannot, or at least not yet. Although given his ulterior motives it's possible that Varys is completely kidding with Tyrion there ça and severely underselling his part in Ned Stark's death and the unravelling chaos of Westeros.

⭐ "The world was simpler in those days, and men as well as swords were made of finer steel." (Jaime Lannister)

👉 peak nostalgia here, and that's also a big theme of the book. The idea that the world has gone off balance since their youth, because events happened, choices were made, people died that should not have, innocence was lost, people grew to be worse or to reveal themselves to be worse...the longing for the past is a sort of trauma response.

⭐ "You are her perfect prince, agreed, bright and bold and comely as any maid could wish. Daenerys Targaryen is no maid, however. She is the widow of a Dothraki khal, a mother of dragons and a sacker of cities, Aegon the Conqueror with teats. She may not prove as willing as you wish.

[...]

I know that she spent her childhood in exile, impoverished, living on dreams and schemes, running from one city to the next, always fearful, never safe, friendless but for a brother who was by all accounts half-mad... a brother who sold her maidenhood to the Dothraki for the promise of an army. I know that somewhere upon the grass, her dragons hatched, and so did she. I know she is proud. How not? What else was left her but pride? I know she is strong. How not? The Dothraki despise weakness. If Daenerys had been weak, she would have perished with Viserys. I know she is fierce. Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen are proof enough of that. She has survived assassins and conspiracies and fell sorceries, grieved for a brother and a husband and a son, trod the cities of the slavers to dust beneath her dainty sandaled feet." (Tyrion Lannister)

👉 this speech Tyrion makes remind you of how good with words he is, how perceptive he is, a good guesser, and also gives you chills hearing about the brazen brilliance of Daenerys' story. Most of the nuances of her life are there.

⭐ "When Jaime opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the stump of his sword hand. The hand that made me Kingslayer. The goat had robbed him of his glory and his shame, both at once. Leaving what? Who am I now ?" (Jaime Lannister)

👉 like this idea of a "tabula rasa" : Jaime by this "sacrifice" is now opened to new possibilities, by losing something he is gaining the chance to find other futures than what he (hadn't) imagined. So of course, major identity crisis at 30 and so...leading us to some of the best stuff in ASOIAF.

[writingwithcolor]

Desexualized Mammy & Strong Black Woman, too busy for “frivolous love”

“Alyse” (Anon Submission) asked:

My science fiction story includes a black woman (Talia) who raises two children that aren’t her own and takes on two young adults as apprentices. One of the children she is raises has Arabic background and was taken into her home upon his father’s death (his mother’s whereabouts are unknown). She was a close friend of his father and the closest thing he had to a relative. The second child has mixed French-Latinx background and was taken in after becoming shipwrecked with no means by which to contact her people. Talia was the first non-hostile individual she encountered and one of the few who would so openly embrace a stranger. Since Talia is Master Medic (the highest medical authority in her community) she is training two apprentices (think residency) and eventually mentors the second child as well. She was once married and passionately in love but lost her husband to illness. In this setting, some technology we take for granted is inaccessible and violence against their people is commonplace. Most have experienced sudden loss. This particular loss was the catalyst that drove Talia into medicine- a desire to protect her loved ones and prevent others from experiencing similar tragedy. She is usually kind (though businesslike) but sometimes succumbs to a frigid, furious depression when, despite all her knowledge and determination, she can’t save someone. 

I worry that her maternal association with the two children (one of whom is an outsider) mires her in the mammy trope. On top of that, she hasn’t pursued romance since the death of her husband. I’ve considered giving her a romantic subplot but there are already so many characters to keep track of. Furthermore, I just can’t see her engaging in the frivolous pursuits of new love when she’s dealing with kids, students, and an extremely taxing career. 

In terms of race and culture in this story, practically every character can trace their ancestry back to populations displaced through war. Even Talia’s second child was shipwrecked during a botched evacuation from a military science lab. The people who live here have been isolated for generations and no longer have a real concept of their ancestry. Cultures have blended, new religions have formed, and many of our familiar racial/ethnic issues are forgotten. However, new and different but equally toxic ones have replaced them. In this way, Talia’s blackness doesn’t carry the same associations in her world as it would in ours. However, readers may still make these associations. Do you see any issues with her character that I could amend? 

So! You have:

A highly educated Black-coded woman (the highest medical authority in the community)

She raises two kids alone 

She also looks after two apprentices

She is widowed (not sure the race of the husband, was he Black?)

Having experienced heartbreaking love, Talia's drive to look after, protect and save people through medicine is a great motivation for the way she is. Her experiencing depression and taking losses seriously is also very human and is dynamic characterization. 

However, such characterization with Black women is prone to brush across several tropes. You have a Black woman who gives and protects, but what does she get in return? Who cares for her? 

Prioritize your Black character’s happiness

"I’ve considered giving her a romantic subplot but there are already so many characters to keep track of. Furthermore, I just can’t see her engaging in the frivolous pursuits of new love when she’s dealing with kids, students, and an extremely taxing career." 

Priorities, priorities. Is love a frivolous pursuit in her eyes, or yours? Because I strongly disagree. You probably don't mean to but you, as the author, having an excuse to NOT give the Black woman romance is showing that you do not think she's worth being loved. TV viewers and stans who are uncomfortable when Black women characters have relationships find similar excuses to explain away not wanting BW in relationships.

"She's too strong and independent for a man/relationship" 

"I liked her better alone." 

"It'll take away from her character."

“A romance doesn’t feel right for her”

These sorts of statements above are grounded in racialized misogyny. 

Relationships do not lessen the woman.

Relationships does not lessen Black women. 

Love

Whether that love is romantic, familial, or friendship, it can come in many forms. Give Talia love. Because Black women characters deserve it! Either one or all! 

Let her have a loyal best friend, a cat, and a girlfriend. Because why not? And not to downplay the love of children to parents, but please provide her love beyond what she gets on a maternal level from the children she looks after. 

The stories that Black women are in today severely lack love for us, so why add to the narrative of Black women being all work and no play, and too [insert excuse here] to be loved? 

Of course, you didn't provide all the details from your story, but I'm not seeing much of a balance from the struggle. She is a caretaker, teacher, doctor (or doctor-like figure). 

Her position and background in itself is okay. It's the Strong Black Woman being presented with seemingly no commentary that strikes me. 

Where is her team to help balance the weight of the world? 

Who takes care of her when she's depressed from another loss? 

What does she get in return from taking an emotional and physical toll to heal her community? 

Do those around her recognize all she does for them and offer their friendship? 

When does she get to relax and turn off the need to be everything for everybody?

Fitting love into a book with many characters

There are many books with several characters to keep track of. People tend to manage. Also, I'm sure some of those characters are in and/or out of relationships. Even stories that couldn’t be classified as romances have relationships of some sort. It’s unrealistic to have a ton of characters and none of them be in relationship(s) of some sort. Not when there’s so many forms of it and many sexualities. 

Friends, frenemies, enemies, romance, affairs.. Relationships make stories (and life) interesting. By no means do I think adding these dynamics harm your tale. And what’s one more for a hard-working Black woman who sacrifices a lot and clearly deserves a shoulder to lean on? And, if you use an existing character to be that friend, family, or lover, then you won’t need to pencil in another character.

For romance specifically - I think a misconception when it comes to including romance in stories is that they have to somehow take over the story. Romance does not have to bombard the plot nor be described in lavish detail. Not every story is a romance and those sort of details aren’t everyone’s style or things they’re comfortable with. A sentence or two establishing relationships does not take away from the story.And how those relationships look and affections expressed will vary based on the characters, sexuality, etc.

Not every character needs to have a deep level of detail. 

“Katie and Lisa, a newly engaged couple, walked into the meeting.”

“Jack and Jamie are a married couple in their 40s.” 

“The two met in college. After two months of blissful courtship, they eloped, eager to start their happily ever afters. Twenty years together, they were still blissfully in love and never too far from one another.”

Sentences like the above are enough for some characters. You don’t always need to put in paragraphs worth of relationship-establishing details or plot. 

When it comes to the characters whose love you would like to highlight, at least a bit, you still don’t have to go over the top.

Use subtle details. 

“As soon as Talia’s back was turned, he gave her a longing look before shaking his head and getting back to the patient.”

“He squeezed her hand before taking hold of the stethoscope.”

“She kissed her wife goodbye before racing out the door.”

“You mean the world to me.” he had said, holding her face. Those words stayed with her all day, making her heavy load light as a sack of feathers.

“She soaked his shirt with her tears and he just held her tight, saying nothing, silently holding her together.”

As for Talia specifically…

Talia having the mindset you described, as love being frivolous and not a priority, is understandable knowing her background (I just don't agree with you as the creator using this as a means to keep her alone. Whether she’s romantically alone or without close friendships). She has lost so much, and continues to experience loss with patients. This can be extremely traumatizing. I gave some examples of being subtle, so perhaps that will help with the burden of feeling a thick subplot of romance doesn’t fit in your story. 

And as Talia doesn’t strike me as someone who would go looking for companionship, what if she stumbles upon it without trying? Is there someone on the medical team that can offer her friendship? Someone who admires her and feels the urge to care for her that she feels the same for, or has pushed feelings down for? What happens when she can’t hold those feelings down anymore?

Takeaway

Talia deserves healthy love, even if she doesn’t believe it or feel she has time for it. That love can come in any and many forms, not necessarily romantically required, although it is a plus. A struggle-ridden novel is balanced by love, support and rest for characters that hold the weight of the world. If you do not, evaluate why you want to write Black characters in these struggle roles without at least a social commentary. 

~Mod Colette

[forever-rogue]

If you're looking for Bucky requests, may I perhaps request something to do with Dad!Bucky? Like maybe he's surprised on how much his kid (I always see him with a daughter but that's just me) grabs onto his metal hand when they're walking or just gravitates towards it more than his flesh hand and he's always throwing major heart eyes whenever the child does this. 🥺

A/N: Dad!Bucky? Please I’m so heckin’ soft right now - no one touch me 🥺

Pairing: n/a

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: none

BUCKY MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

»»————-　♡　————-««

"Daddy!" Bucky was pulled back into reality as he looked up from the ground. A small flock of pigeons had gathered around him as he fed them some seed. They were cooing and chirping happily at him and in some ways had become steadfast friends over the years. But when he looked up and found his daughter grinning and waving at him, his entire heart melted, "daddy! Come and catch me!"

Sofia displayed a gap-toothed grin,  her dark curls windswept and blue eyes wide and excited. She was his little clone in almost every single way. You'd told him that since the day she was born and, almost as if you had a sixth sense, you'd insisted that she would cling to him like glue. You'd been right. Very right.

He couldn’t help but grin as he watched her running around, attempting to catch some butterflies as Falcon, the beloved family dog, followed closely behind. You’d had him since before she was born and they were thick as thieves.  Quickly pulling out his phone, he made sure to snap a few photos of them to send to you before getting up and chasing after her. He was on solo-father duties today as you had a few things for work you had to attend to that day.

Of all the things in the world Bucky thought he would ever have, a family of his own was never one of them.

But as he ran after his daughter, making quick work of catching up to her little legs, and swooped her up in his arms, a wave of peace and calm washed over him. She squealed in delight as she tried to squirm out of his arms, Falcon barking happily at the two of them.

“I’ve got you, little monster,” he peppered gentle kisses over her face as she giggled and attempted to wrap her small arms around his neck, “so easily defeated, little one. One day you’ll be strong enough to fight me off.”

“I don’t want to, daddy,” she insisted as she snuggled against his chest, “I like when you hold me. Besides, my legs are getting tired.”

A lump welled up in his throat at her little declaration; in some ways he wished that Sofia would stay this young and carefree forever. But in others, he couldn’t wait for her to grow up and reach different milestones that he could help her grow through. He still struggled, here and there, with the idea that he was actually good and hoped in some ways that raising her would give him the chance to prove to the world he could do good. Perhaps it would prove it more to himself than anyone else, but that was beside the point. He just wanted to be a good father, just as he worked to be a good husband.

He already was - the best ever - you had consistently told him such. Nothing you’d ever done that had shown him otherwise. It was something he still found to be a miracle at times.

“That’s what happens when you’re a shrimp,” he laughed softly as he kissed the top of her head, “one day, you’ll be tall and running over me. But that’s a long time from now - want to get ice cream before we go home?”

“Yes,” she grinned and looked at him with wide, ocean blue eyes, “mommy said no ice cream though...she said I had too much when I went to Uncle Sam’s the other day.”

“Mommy isn’t here right now,” he put a finger up to his lips and whispered softly, “it’ll be our little secret, okay?”

“I thought secrets were bad, daddy!”

“Only when they hurt other people,” he slowly set her back down and smoothed out her wild curls, “we don’t keep important secrets to ourselves and we don’t do anything to hurt others, yes?”

“Yes!”

“Exactly - and us getting ice cream doesn’t hurt anyone,” he reminded her as the little girl nodded eagerly, “we’ll make sure to brush your teeth extra well and then we’ll bring some home for mommy too. She can’t be mad then, right?”

“She loves ice cream too,” Sofia insisted as Bucky laughed, “we can all get ice cream! Falcon too!”

“Maybe not Falcon,” Bucky into his jacket pocket and fished out Falcon’s leash before clipping it onto his collar, “he can’t eat the same food as us, baby. But we can stop and get him a special treat too at the pet store. We can do that first, get our ice cream, and walk home. Mommy should be back by then too.”

“Okay daddy,” as soon as he straightened back up, he held out his hand to her, expecting that she’d gravitate towards the warmth and gentleness his normal hand offered her. Instead, she reached for the black and gold vibranium of his left side and clung onto it without reservation. She held onto him as tightly as possible, giving him an expectant look with a happy smile.

In some ways, he shouldn’t have been surprised at all. She’d never, even as a baby or toddler, had shown any fear or hesitation when it came to his vibranium arm. When she was tiny, even smaller than she was now, she didn’t understand the difference. She just knew that daddy has a different arm, but she’s never questioned it or made any sort of situation out of it. Even when people would stare, whether they knew of his past or not, Sofia was never phased. In turn, it gave Bucky the confidence not to care either.

You’d started the process of slowly helping to get him comfortable with being who he was, not hiding from the world, and the small girl had aided as well. These days he was able to go out without fear or worry about how he looked. He wasn’t anyone or anything he was just...Bucky. Bucky the husband, Bucky the father, occasionally Bucky the sidekick to Capitan America. And it felt good. For once in his long life, he was just a normal man.

And frankly, that was all he had ever wanted. What a thought - the man that had been through hell and back, several times, and all he wanted was a quiet and peaceful life. It had been a long time coming, but now that he had it, he didn’t plan on ever letting it go.

“Daddy?” Sofia asked softly as she started walking and noticed he wasn’t coming, “what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he promised softly. Bucky squeezed her hand gently before taking a step forward with her and Falcon quickly matching his stride, “Sofia?”

“Yes?”

“How come you never ask about my arm?” if he didn’t ask, curiosity would kill the cat. Typical Bucky Barnes, he knew you would say, asking a mere child for an explanation of something much more complex than anyone of her age would understand.

“Your arm?” her little brows knitted together as she looked up and gave him a confused look.

“You have to have noticed it’s different,” he shrugged as they walked out of the park, “it’s metal - vibranium - no one else has one like it.”

“That’s okay, daddy,” she stopped and quickly turned his hand over in hers, tracing over the palm gently, “it’s pretty. And it’s okay to be different! Mommy always says that and you do too. It doesn’t matter what anyone looks like, as long as they have good hearts. Right? If you’re kind and nice, nothing else matters!”

“Yes,” he felt himself getting choked up again as she started to race along the sidewalk, attempting to pull him with her. Sage wisdom from a five-year-old, “you’re absolutely right. I love you, little monster.”

“I know! I love you too, daddy,” she grinned, “now hurry up before they run out of all the good ice cream!”

»»————-　♡　————-««

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[omgreally]

Hi there!

Could I please make a little request for Din?

"I didn't know where else to go"

Thank you, hope you're doing ok today! ❤

Hey lovely! First off, I am SO SORRY this took so long. I know it's been months and I have nothing but terrible excuses. Hopefully this makes up for it at least a little?

Shelter M, Din Djarin/Smuggler F!Reader, 2.1k words Warnings: Angst, drinking, unhealthy coping mechanisms, swearing, Helmetless!Din, lil bit of making out, brief almost-but-not-quite questionable consent, unresolved sexual tension (but who knows, maybe I'll do a Part II?) Summary: Mando has nothing left, nowhere to go. Except to you.

He stands on your doorstep, a soaking wet mass of metal and muscle. The rain falls in rolling sheets, sliding through his hair, down the back of his neck, underneath his cloak and in shining rivulets over his Beskar breastplate.

Without the helm, the Mandalorian looks...smaller, somehow, deflated, but maybe that’s just the defeated look lurking in the dark space behind his eyes.

He looks drained. Empty.

It’s him, though - nobody can fake pure Beskar armor, much less the set he wears. It’s mirror-finish, reflecting your stunned expression in rain-blurred steel.

You open your mouth to say something, but fail to find the words. They all seem so inadequate to address Mando standing in front of you, maskless.

He’s not quite looking at you, his gaze alternating between the ground and somewhere beyond your left ear. You resist the urge to glance behind you, instead taking him in, cataloguing the changes since you last saw him.

It’s been months, but it usually is. His circuitous route of bounty hunting doesn’t intersect with your parts of the Rim very much, which is fine; this way your businesses don’t overlap. As a smuggler, you’re far too likely to be on the wrong end of a tracking fob, so you stay away and so does he.

Once, you were a useful connection. You’re not sure when you crossed the line into ‘ally’, much less ‘friend’. Yet here he is, staring at you through the pouring rain. Helmet off, tucked almost protectively underneath his arm.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” he says, dully, and his voice sounds so different yet familiar that you experience a sense of disorientation, of the planet’s surface tilting beneath your feet as you re-orient yourself to this strange new reality where the Mandalorian comes to you for help.

Once, you would have asked for credits first. Now, all you say as you recover from your shock is, “Are you all right?” He shakes his head mutely as you step back and allow him access into your planetside flat.

It’s small, so small that his arm brushes you as he steps over the threshold. You resist the odd urge to put a hand on his shoulder; you’ve never had to comfort him before, save for buying him a round at some space dive or other after a job gone bad. This is something different. This is something else entirely.

You don’t ask what happened. You doubt he’ll give you a straight answer anyway. And you don’t ask about the helmet. He takes a seat at the kitchenette counter and sets it down on the counter in front of him. The black, empty visor stares at you silently as you fetch a bottle of something cheap and strong and hand it to him, knowing he won’t need a glass.

Mando uncaps it and takes a long drag without a word. He makes a face - so strange to see the expressions that are usually hidden by the mask of the helmet - and suppresses a cough as he hands the bottle back to you. You shake your head and set it down next to the Beskar headpiece.

You’re not known for your empathy, and neither is he, so you settle on practicality which you know he appreciates. “Are you injured?” you ask, businesslike as you examine his face a little closer. There’s the bloom of a bruise on one temple, underneath the damp plaster of his dark hair.

“Not permanently,” he says, that trace of dry sardonicism that you usually find irresistibly hilarious now making you frown. “I’m fine,” he adds gruffly as he reads your expression. You huff, crossing your arms, but he says nothing more. Just picks up the bottle again and swigs with an audible “Ahh,” from his throat.

“Why are you here?” you ask, at last, after watching him drink for a minute in silence. Mando looks at you, at your eyes, and holds your gaze for a long, uncomfortable moment before he finally answers.

“I lost him.”

“The kid?” It feels like you’ve been hit, the air punched from your lungs. You assumed he was back on the Crest, asleep, not - gone.

You had only met the little gremlin twice, once when Mando needed fuel and ammo on the cheap, another for a place to lay low for a day or two. The weird green creature...grew on you, like a very cute fungus. His nonsensical babbling, insatiable appetite, and obvious love for the Mandalorian was infectious. You admit it; you were weak. You got fond. And, in turn, fonder of Mando himself.

And now…

“You found his people?” you manage, and it comes out in a croak. You clear your throat and Mando offers you the bottle. You take it, tossing your head back for a deep swig. It burns going down and warms the suddenly-cold cavity inside your chest.

“Yeah,” Mando says. “He’s...he’s safe, now.” The he was never safe with me is unspoken but you hear it anyway. You pass the bottle back to him.

“I’m sorry,” you say, and mean it. “I know...I know it was never a permanent arrangement, but he clearly meant a lot to you.”

“Yeah,” he says, looking down at his helmet before fitting the rim of the bottle to his lips, tossing his head back and draining the rest of its contents in several long gulps.

You watch the shape of his throat bob in his neck above the wet snarl of his cloak and look away quickly. A buzz is building in your veins already and he’s had most of the bottle - you’re surprised he’s still upright.

“You holing up in your junker tonight?” you wonder, after casting around for a change of subject. An expression of pain crosses Mando’s face, a grimace not caused by the alcohol, for just a second before it’s gone.

“The Crest is gone. Melted to slag and dust.” He says it without inflection, and that’s how you know it’s hurting him.

“Fuck,” you summarize elegantly. Mando nods.

“I haven’t got anything left,” he states. “No ship. No credits. No more favors to call in. Nothing.”

You reach out, more out of anger than anything else, and grab his hand, squeezing so tightly that the wet leather squelches. “Stop it,” you say harshly. “You have everything you need. You’re a kriffing Mandalorian.”

He snorts, pulling his hand away - with some effort. “Not anymore.” He stares down at his helmet, and beneath the scruff and fuzz and rain, his lips press together in a tight line.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“I broke my Creed,” he shrugs, setting a hand atop the smooth dome of Beskar. “More than once. Didn’t matter at the time. All that mattered...was saving the kid. Making sure he was safe.”

“Mission fucking accomplished, then,” you say, shaking your head. “You pick yourself up. You rebuild. You move on.”

“How can I?” He meets your gaze, and you flinch at the dark intensity of his - something molten, furious there that you’re suddenly afraid of. You haven’t forgotten the promise of violence coiled in his every limb. “I have nothing to go back to. Nowhere to go. That’s why I’m here.” He waves a gloved hand with obvious disgust, and for some reason, that hurts, a sting behind your breastbone like something almost physical.

Mando must see the look on your face, for he wilts like damp lettuce. “I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine. I get it,” you say brusquely, your words clipped. You take the empty bottle from the counter, your fingers curling around the neck and squeezing, hard. “You come in here, beaten-up, drink my alcohol and drip all over my floors - but I’m the last place you’d go. I get it.”

He rises to his feet, and you forgot how tall he is, how broad. And despite - ormaybe because of - the unfamiliarity of his helmetless appearance, Mando is still intimidating. You don’t shrink back, though; you square your shoulders and your jaw and lift your chin in challenge.

“You’re the last person I’d put in danger,” he says in a low voice, a voice that stirs a strange sensation in the pit of your guts that you haven’t felt in a very, very long time.

“You forget what I do for a living?” you manage, your mouth suddenly dry. You swallow past it, tasting the aftertaste of alcohol and your own misplaced nervousness.

“I’ve been hunted from one end of the galaxy to the other,” he continues in that same husky baritone that makes your knuckles go white. “I wasn’t going to bring that down on you.”

“I appreciate that,” you manage, diplomatically - but he’s not having it, staring you down like his life depends on keeping eye contact. “But I’m a big girl. I can handle things myself.”

He looks you up and down - just once - but with such practiced ease that it makes you wonder how many times he’s done the same thing from beneath the visor. You shiver despite yourself.

“I know,” he says, and then before you can move or react or think, he lunges into your space and kisses you.

If you were shocked by Mando’s sudden appearance, you’re fucking floored by this. You don’t know how to react at first but he proves quickly to be competent enough at this to coax your lips apart with his and get you to kiss him back.

He tastes like a distant hint of blood and smoke and his body is solid as his arm snakes round your waist without you noticing and he pulls you to him. He holds you so that you’ll have to twist away to escape and with the confidence that says he knows you won’t want to. 

And you don’t.

Instead you let the bottle fall and it clatters forgotten to the ground as you grab him by the pauldrons and let him lick into your mouth with the answering surge of your tongue and your hips pressing to his.

Mando kisses you like he needs to, and you realize that he’s half-hard already, impatiently nudging a knee between your thighs and pressing you to the wall. You break from his mouth to breathe and wonder if he’s ever had anything but this - a wild, fervid fumble of hurriedly-parted clothes and tangled limbs.

You don’t want to be this for him - a receptacle for his despair, his rage. You have too much of your own to deal with. But you can’t deny that you’ve thought about this, imagined something similar to this very scenario - but you never counted on the weight of emotion that comes with it.

“Stop, Mando,” you say as he sucks bruises into your neck, the edges of his teeth making your breath catch on nothing. He goes still, but his hands are tight on your hips, holding you to him. You can feel his breath, heavy and warm in your ear.

“Not like this,” you tell him. “You can stay, but we’re not doing this. Not like this.”

At first you think he’s not going to let you go, and the thrill that passes through you from the thought is unconscionable. But then his grip loosens and his leg withdraws and he steps back, out of your space. You rub your face with hands you can’t admit are shaking before finally looking up at him.

He looks wrecked. Broken. Staring at the ground, damp hair hanging over his forehead, and you catch the trembling twitch of his bottom lip even as he ducks his head to try to hide it.

“You can take my bunk,” you tell him. “We’ll talk in the morning. Okay?”

For a second you think he’s going to argue, or just...walk out. Relief blooms in you as he nods. He turns without a word to retrieve his helmet before he retreats down the hall.

You watch him go, and the slump to his shoulders breaks your heart. But he’s staying, and that’s something.

You never thought you’d have a broken Mandalorian sleeping in your bunk. 

And you’re not sure if you regret the fact that you’re not there next to him.

[blindbeta]

Trope Discussion: The Blind Prophet / Blind Seer

This covers blind seers, prophets, clairvoyant characters, etc. Anyone who can see or predict the future, usually through seeing visions. This trope is extremely common. It also has roots in classical mythologies, religion, and literature. It is not necessarily bad on its own, but the way it is used in fiction and it’s popularity with non-blind writers makes it an uncomfortable trope for me much of the time.

I understand that not everyone will agree with me, but I think some of my suggestions can be helpful because this post offers potential ways to make this trope better for those who wish to use it.

I neglected to include it in my post about Things I Want to See More Of / Less Of in Blind Characters, but it is still something I want to discuss. I thought it warranted its own post. To get an idea of my thoughts on this trope, I don’t think it is so much harmful on its own, such as the cure trope, but rather I feel it is over-used and used in ways that contribute to ideas I find harmful. In the case of this trope, the ideas I find harmful refers mainly to the idea that blind characters need something extra or special that is designed to make up for their blindness.

The blind prophet or blind seer is something people seem to assign to their blind characters because it feels right. I would like writers to consider why this is, ways to avoid problems associated with it, and ways to be more intentional with how they design blind characters in the future. To clarify, I’m not saying you should never write a blind character who can see or predict the future. I’m not even saying this is best left up to blind writers. I’m saying I want writers to be aware and have more intent when they use this trope. Hopefully this post can help people do that.

I often receive asks or messages about blind characters who can see the future. A few common characteristics include:

1. this blind prophet is the only blind character

2. this blind character is the only person in the story who can see the future

3. this blind prophet is always totally blind - I have only received one message in which the blind prophet in question had some vision in one eye

4. seeing the future is portrayed as making up for or otherwise replacing the character’s lack of vision (again, the trope is almost always about a totally blind character)

So, in other words, this trope can be used for writers to make up for blindness, whether that means actually giving the character sight through their visions or making up for it emotionally. For example: “This character is blind, which is sad, but that’s okay because they can see even more than we can! They’re special!”

Let’s break it down.

Discussion: 1. this blind prophet is the only blind character

Why is this a problem? First, I think we are well beyond having only one blind character in our stories. Sometimes having one blind character feels as if the writer believes having more than one would be unrealistic. Sometimes it also feels frustrating to explain over and over that affirming stereotypes can often be avoided by simply having several blind characters. Unfortunately it often feels like a struggle to get writers to consider it. This means the only example of a blind person in the story is one who can see the future, which means they affirm this trope or stereotype for the casual reader.

Second, having the prophet be the only blind character tells readers that blind characters cannot exist without something to make up for their blindness. They can’t even exist in a story without this.

Discussion: 2. this blind character is the only person in the story who can see the future

Why is this a problem? This one is similar to the first one. We have the token blind character who is the only one who needs sensory based powers. Because, remember, the blind character needs to make up for something, apparently.

Why does the blind person always have to be the prophet? Why can’t they be the strong one or the one with teleportation? Why can’t they be, I don’t know, the person with power of attraction or display proficiency with a weapon?

Why do they always have sense based powers? Why not another power? At least a character like Toph is a powerful bender. She can do plenty of things aside from see, plus her adaptation was derived from everyday use of a power she already had rather than a power she was given for the purpose of seeing.

It gets a little disappointing when a blind person’s power is just the ability to — I guess — see? More on that in section 4.

Discussion: 3. this blind prophet is always totally blind - I have only received 2 story ideas in which the blind prophet in question had some vision

Why is this a problem? I’ll try to explain this part as best I can.

There is nothing wrong with having a totally blind character. That is not what I’m getting at here. My issue resides in the idea of seeing the future making up for blindness, and this means, the character usually needs to be totally blind.

I think this is a manifestation of the myth that all or most blind people have no vision at all. This is not true. In fact, the majority of us have some remaining vision. I asked my totally blind friend who said she had only met one other person who was like her.

I think this is also a manifestation of the idea that blindness needs to be made up for. With a special sight power and not with something like flight or technology-based powers. Writers who are consciously or unconsciously accepting this idea need to have a totally blind character. Because if the character has some remaining sight, what needs to be made up for?

Discussion: 4. seeing the future is portrayed as making up for or otherwise replacing the character’s lack of vision (again, the trope is almost always about a totally blind character)

Why is this a problem? I want to stress that these are two separate things. Both problems, but different ones that have roots in ableism.

When I say ‘making up for’, I refer to a blind character being given visions to make up for their lack of actual vision. As I mentioned before, this character, almost always totally blind, needs something to make up for blindness in the narrative. These visions can be brief ideas of the future or actual flashes of light or color. Either way, this character is being given a special kind of “sight” which makes up for their blindness. This can be a way for a sighted audience to feel better, or for the writer to feel as if they have made up for the character’s blindness. This is mostly emotional or mental. The character doesn’t need to actually see anything in order to fulfill this part of the trope.

The second part is about how sometimes the blind prophet can literally replace their blindness with their future visions. For example, they don’t need a cane while using stairs because they can predict when each step is. Or they might not be able to see people’s faces in visions. This erases their blindness. And in this case, why write a blind character at all?

On that note, discussion 3 also comes into play. If you want your character to be totally blind while failing to write them as totally blind, you shouldn’t be writing a totally blind character. In this instance, you probably shouldn’t be writing any blind characters, period, but I do think you would be better off writing a character with some vision instead.

Additionally, back in discussion 2, I said this: [quote] “It gets a little disappointing when a blind person’s power is just the ability to — I guess — see? More on that in section 4.” [End quote]. I wanted to add that having powers that just make up for a lack of sight is boring. I’m bored by it. Does it mean it can never be made interesting? Of course it can be interesting. However, that would require more work than some writers are putting in when this trope is used.

How to Avoid Some Problems

Problem 1: this blind prophet is the only blind character

To avoid: add more blind characters, specifically ones who cannot predict the future.

I generally advise adding at least 1 extra blind character, but for big tropes like this my happy area is 2 to 3 extra. You should have at least 2 to 3 blind characters in total to avoid both tokenism and this problem specifically. This means, if you have 1 blind character who can see the future, you should have at least 2 who cannot. This is the minimum.

The point is to expose readers to characters who do not follow the tropes they are probably used to and may even think are representative of blind people in general.

Problem 2: this blind character is the only person in the story who can see the future

To avoid: Set out to have characters who can see the future and who are specifically not blind. Also, have characters who are blind who cannot see the future.

I think, if you want a bunch of prophets in your story, this is a good way to go. You could also simply not have any blind prophets, but it depends on the story you are telling and if you have a bunch of prophet characters, you might wish to include a blind character among them.

For an ask relevant to this point, go here.

Problem 3: this blind prophet is always totally blind - I have only received 2 story ideas in which the blind prophet in question had some vision

To avoid: Create characters who are prophets with residual sight.

This problem is very much connected to problem 4, but I wanted to mention it just in case. It is not as much of an issue on it’s own.

Problem 4: seeing the future is portrayed as making up for or otherwise replacing the character’s lack of vision (again, the trope is almost always about a totally blind character)

To avoid: Don’t erase the character’s blindness with visions. Don’t give them visions as a way of making up for not being able to see at all / well. Don’t connect their powers to their blindness. The idea of [quote] “My character can’t see so what if they could - gasp - see in an extra special way” [end quote] is not that creative. Also see problem 3.

Additional thoughts:

Consider giving blind characters powers that don’t involve sight, at least not in such a direct way. Whether you have a blind prophet character or not. Perhaps another alternative could be giving them several powers.

I would like blind characters to have more unique powers, because I see this trope often. It would be fun to see something different or for this trope to be subverted somehow.

Again, I want more awareness and more intent from writers. Not necessarily complete avoidance of this trope. Would I like to come across it less? Yes. But there is still hope for it.

I hope this helps.

-BlindBeta

I also offer sensitivity readings. See my pinned post for more information.

Edit: @stealthetrees Yes I think it would still apply. Think of this type of character as also being totally blind.

[clairecrive]

hello!! can you maybe write a nikolai x reader (she’s a heartrender) and they’ve been best friends since childhood and finally got together during the war, and he proposes to her once he becomes king? And she’s scared to say yes because the country might not want a Grisha queen but she eventually says yes?

Love Story

a/n: I missed my boy and so here's a fluffy piece for him. Thanks for requesting anon, hope you like this! x

Warning: none, pure fluff

Word count: 2.1K

Tags: @jupiterandbutterflies, @randomoutsiders, @agentsofsheilds, @for-bebbanburg, @pansysgirlfriend, @hannaxmaria, @vintagebitc

(if you want to, you can add yourself to my taglist by filling this form)

SHADOW AND BONE MASTERLIST

It was late when Nikolai walked into his room. It always was. He was the first one to get up and the last one to go to bed, assuring that everything was going as it was supposed to.

Such was the life of a king.

Well, Nikolai wasn't king yet. But with his father's illness, it won't be long 'till he was.

He had been dreaming about this all his life. Hell, this was everything he had trained to be. Ignored every rumours and gossip and slander, focused only on one thing: becoming the man that Ravka needed.

And now the moment had finally come.

Nikolai could barely believe it. Yes, he was ambitious and skilled. He knew that he was the right person for this job. Either way, he was nervous.

Whenever he pictured this moment as a young boy, he had always thought that it'd be the end. The coronation being the cusp of his personal fulfilment.

But things had changed.

Now his coronation didn't hold any finality to it. It felt like the beginning of something new if anything. Something that Nikolai had been extensively planning for and was extremely excited for. But since it was something new, something that had never been done before, the uncertainty of how it could go made him a bit nervous.

Because now he wasn't alone.

A fierce heartrender had become his partner, his confidante, his better half.

Trying to be as silent as possible, Nikolai quickly undressed before joining you to bed. It was routine for you. Nikolai would come home late, you'd be deep in slumber by then, but he would always hold you close to him and kiss your neck to warn you of his presence. That would usually wake you but you'd never get angry. Actually, you were the one that told him to let you know when he got back. If only to make sure that he was okay.

"All good love, go to sleep." He'd whisper then in your ear. You wouldn't move, only wiggle close to him and pull his arm over your body so that you could hold his hand.

To be fair, you had always been a constant in Nikolai's life. You had met when you were both children. He was known for being restless, always escaping his nanny's hold to go on "adventures" as he'd call them. They'd usually entail climbing over trees or exploring paths in the forest that he had never seen.

One day, during one of his quest, he had put into his head that he needed to climb the biggest tree he could find. It was easy enough to spot his challenge but doing it was another thing.

He had been able to climb a few feet, his short stature and slender limbs aiding him in his endeavour. Looking down to assess his progress, he was confident he could really make it. Overconfident really. Because too busy loading over his abilities, he didn't notice that his foot was not hovering over a branch.

So when he went to confidently put all of his weight on it and it was met with nothing, he lost his balance. He tried to grip with all his might to the branches he was holding in his hands but he wasn't strong enough. And so, he fell.

Thankfully, he hadn't climbed high enough for the fall to be fatal. But it was enough to severely injure him.

At first, the impact of the ground left him out of breath. His head hurt too. It was only when he tried to stand that he noticed that his leg was bent at an unnatural angle.

There wasn't any blood but the sight was enough to send baby Nikolai in a panic. His breath turned hollow and frantic and now that he was aware of the injury, pain shot through his leg making him sob.

It was for the noise he made that you had been able to find him.

You were also wandering around the forest but for less nefarious intent though. You had a book under your arm and you were looking for a quiet spot to read. Needless to say, as soon as you heard his wails of agony, the book fell discarded on the ground as you run toward the noise.

When you reached him you tried your best to get him to calm down. He was hyperventilating by then. You weren't that far in your training to be able to slow his heartbeat or put him to sleep. But you were skilled enough to soothe him with your touch.

That and Nikolai was too caught up in looking at you, this stranger who was trying to help him.

While you couldn't actually heal him, you kept him company until someone eventually found you.

That was how your friendship had begun until it had bloomed into something more as you grew up.

Unbeknown to you, your relationship was about to reach another mark. Holding you close to him, Nikolai willed himself to put his plan in action tomorrow.

As his coronation grew closer, he grew more and more restless. He needed to do this as soon as possible.

The next day went by as usual. When you woke up Nikolai wasn't next to you but you found a trial with your breakfast and a handwritten note on it.

It read:

"An hour before the sun sets, meet me when it all started."

While it was unusual for Nikolai to leave you little notes in his stead, the mysteriousness of it made you antsy. What could he possibly be up to?

Your day went by, as usual, a skip in you feet as you were excited about the date.

Like he had asked you, you made sure to reach that tree in the forest exactly when he asked you to.

Nikolai was already there, pacing at the foot of the tree until he noticed you standing there.

"What is going on?" Before seeing him, you hadn't thought that this meeting could be about bad news. But Nikolai looked nervous, almost scared and that didn't happen often.

"Hello, love." He greeted you walking towards you. Holding your hands in his, he raised one to his lips to leave a small kiss.

"Such a gentleman," you cooed at his gesture, his lips curling in a small smirk as a result, "what did you do?" Raising one of your eyebrows, you asked knowing that when Nikolai was so sweet it was only for two reasons: he wanted to make it up to you or he wanted to have sex. Since doing it in public places had never been appealing to him, you thought it more likely that it was the first.

"Can't a man do something nice for his better half?" He scoffed in fake hurt. You pointedly stared at him but you were smiling.

"I wanted to something nice for you," he said shyly? while shrugging your shoulders not meeting your eyes. Without waiting for a reply, he pulled you closer to the tree where you now noticed there was a white sheet laid with rose petals and candles all over it.

"Things are about to change," he said referring to his impending coronation as you reached the sheet, "and you know what I realized?"

You shook your head in reply, too enchanted by the man in front of you and the scenery around you to speak. Nikolai smiled at you, gently reaching to your face to remove a piece of hair by tucking in behind your ear. His hand gently cupped your cheek, his smile widening even more when you leaned into his touch.

"I've realized that no matter what happened in my life, where I am in the world or what name people call me, you're always the constant."

"And I don't want that to change. Ever." His eyes flicker between yours, shining with anticipation. But why? Surely he must know that you never intend to leave him.

"That it's never going to change, sasha. I'm here to stay." You assured him, your hand reaching to grab his.

His eyes flashed again, regaining their usual confident glow. He looked reassured.

"Well, you know me, my dear. Always worrying so, I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to make it official." He joked, his hands leaving your face as he kneeled.

Kneeled? He couldn't possibly...

Your breath hitched at his position. He got a little box out of his pocket before reaching for your hand again.

"Y/n, my heart, my love, the apple of my eye, you beautiful woman," he started cheekily knowing very well how calling these things would make you blush, "We were both young when I first saw you. Me making a fool out of myself by doing something stupid as per usual and you coming to save my ass. Little did I know though that that stupid adventure would give me more than a broken leg." Both of you smiled at the memory.

"if I knew that breaking a leg would be what made me meet you, I would have done sooner. And don't give me that look," he said once you glared at him, "what's a broken leg in the face of true love?" He added making you roll your eyes. Always smooth with his words. Damn him.

"Because that's what we have, a love story. And it may not be conventional with me dragging you all over the world doing reckless things, assuming different identities and everything but it's our love story. And it's beautiful, I wouldn't change it for the world. So baby, please, just say yes and make me the luckiest bastard in the world."

His words, his hopeful smile and shining eyes were too much for you to contain your tears. They were happy tears, you both knew that. There was no way you could say no to him. But at the same time, you were a bit hesitant. Nikolai painted a wonderful picture but you knew that the reality was a bit harsher.

Kneeling as well, you also gripped his hands.

"You're my whole heart, sasha, I hope you know it." You started, your voice wavering a bit. Nikolai's face fell for a moment sensing that there was a "but" coming. But it only lasted so long before his face morphed into that stubborn expression he'd always have whenever he'd set on getting something.

"I'd be a fool to say no to you, Nikolai," you added hastily hoping to rectify your mistake. "But I can't help but worry."

"You're going to be king soon and I'm not sure how much having a Grisha consort will help you."

Where his lips were pursed in confusion now they were set in a line. Knowing what was troubling you relieved him. That was easily fixed.

"So what, my love? I'll be a king and you'll be the queen. You've fought for this country just as much as I have. Besides, you're a fool if you think that I'm going to leave you just because I'll be addressed by a different title."

The hold on your hands felt reassuring, the sheer determination and honesty in his eyes even more. You knew Nikolai and you knew that he was ambitious as well as stubborn. And loyal. Your heart warmed at his words that you knew were true. He was not going to let you go.

Suddenly, the realisation of your feelings for him and his feelings for you overwhelmed you. A sob broke through your lips making worry return in Nikolai's eyes.

"Saints Nikolai, you have no fucking idea how grateful I am you fell down that tree that day." You confessed, eyes welling with tears.

"So am I, my love. My leg a bit less but..." you both chuckled.

Returning serious, Nikolai went to open the velvet box he was holding. The Lantsov's emerald. Your eyes widened when they fell on it. You had known about it but you had never seen it before.

"Nikolai-" you whispered in astonishment.

"I know it's not exactly your style but this was fit for a queen. My mother gave it to me and I want you to have it." He said sensing your hesitancy.

"Can I also have a kiss?" You asked cheekily batting your eyelids. Nikolai laughed at your antics. He quickly slipped the ring around your finger before cradling your face and pulling you close.

"You don't have to ask twice." And with that, his lips crashed on yours. He kissed you slowly at first, just your lips touching. But as soon as the realisation of what had happened dawned on him, the kiss grew frantic. His hands were in your hairs as yours were wrapped around the collar of his coat, pulling him impossibly close to you.

Life with Nikolai wasn't easy but his love was the most real thing you had ever felt. Nothing in the world meant more to you than he did. Ring or not.

[vrishchikawrites]

Hey, It's hundreds of years later, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are immortals. Immortals are known but they dont photograph well and aren't really in the media's eye. In 2010s some one discovers the documents detailing the shamelessness of the ancient Wangxian and Lan Yuan tells his parents what the mordern world has discovered.

This is the first time I'm ever giving a prompt. Sorry if I did it wrong. Let me know if I did it wrong and I'll try again.

'A recent archeological discovery declared a win for gays everywhere.'

Sizhui chuckles and clicks on the link, curious. It is always amusing to see modern people become so excited about such things. 'Gays' have existed for as long as 'hets' have existed, after all.

'As we have reported before, archeologists working at the Gusu Library site recently discovered a hidden chamber full of sacred, forbidden texts. Among these texts was the infamous Collection of Turmoil, which may have been used to kill Nie Mingjue, a Sect Leader from the Five Great Sects era.'

Sizhui frowns, wondering why his A'die let that happen. Hadn't they removed all harmful books from the library centuries ago?

'But archeologists also discovered something that probably didn't belong in the forbidden section, a record of correspondence between sects, all meticulously archived.

"We have letters with precise dates and summaries." Wang Chuhua, the leader of the GusuLan archeological team and a Cultivation History professor at Gusu University explains to us, "They give us fascinating insight into the period just after the Five Great Sects era. We tend to gloss over this time because nothing eventful happens. It is a period of gradual decline of bloodline-based Sects and the rise of Culvation Schools. But day-to-day events are interesting in their own way."

They're indeed interesting, as the team discovered very quickly.

"Our first reaction to those letters was shock. You see, people don't really understand the historical significance of the two people mentioned here. Hanguang-jun-"

Sizhui pauses, his eyes wide. He stares at the words for a moment before shaking his head sharply.

"Hanguang-jun and the Yiling Patriarch were both great Cultivators. They were admired and studied by the first Independent Cultivators. In fact, many used the fall of Yiling Patriarch as an example of why being independent from the Sects was a good idea."

For those who don't know, the Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian defected from his Sect to protect a small group of war prisoners. He was betrayed by his martial brother and thought to be killed. It is likely that he was forced to flee for his life and hid for thirteen years before being discovered again.

"It was common knowledge, even two hundred years later, that Hanguang-jun and the Yiling Patriarch were unfailingly loyal to each other. There are some romanticized tales of Lan Wangji being punished so severely for helping Wei Wuxian that he needed years to recover." Wang Chuhua elaborates, "But while we could speculate on the nature of their relationship, we didn't have any proof until we found the letters."

These letters are complaints from various Sect leaders and cultivators. Apparently, the two great cultivators weren't just friends, they were married. And by all accounts, they enjoyed their marriage very much.

"Oh yes, they were quite... shameless in their displays of affection." Wang Chuhua adds with a chuckle, "People often stumbled across them 'embracing' on open fields or in woodlands. There's one particularly interesting letter from an inn owner requesting compensation for loss of business. Apparently, the couple were so loud in during their lovemaking, they chased all other guests away."

Sizhui chokes and feels his face burn in embarrassment.

'These letters cover over sixty years, which means Hanguang-jun and the Yiling Patriarch continued to scandalize the Cultivation World for six decades. "They were scandalous but also highly respected. Lan Wangji, in particular, was well-known for his honesty and forthrightness. Wei Wuxian is still considered one of the most brilliant cultivators of all time. We still study some of his theories today, particularly pertaining to Ying Energy Cultivation. Back then, this branch of cultivation was considered unorthodox and highly controversial."

So, it is indeed a win for the gays everywhere. Two well-known, historically significant cultivators were clearly in a loving, passionate gay relationship. And their society accepted it wholeheartedly, even if there were a few complaints about their scandalous behavior.'

"Wholeheartedly is a strong word," Sizhui mutters faintly but he can feel a rush of amusement as his embarrassment fades away.

He quickly forwards the article to his Baba and Jingyi, knowing both of them would die laughing while reading it.

It takes Baba barely five minutes to respond. The text has about a million cry laughing emojis, his Baba's favorite. Needless to say, he is amused.

"thanks for the laugh, Sizhui!" His Baba replies, "Even Lan Zhan is laughing and you know how rare it is!"

'Not rare at all,' He thinks fondly, shaking his head in amusement. He can barely remember that time before Baba's resurrection, when A'die wore a bitter, brittle expression of grief even as he lived his life fully.

That expression is a distant memory. There's always a laugh or smile in his A'die's eyes these days.

Baba won't have it any other way.