#if you want me to add anything on lmk and i will

[yuyu1024]

Lettuce

Pairings: Mingyu × y/n

Genre/tags: non idol, dating

Warning: 🔞 fluff but still smut, pet names (babes, baby, love, honey, sweetheart etc.), cursing, unportected/protected sex (always be safe), kinks (size, breeding, tits, etc), mention of small age gap, mention of low self-esteem/confidence and insecurities

~~~ [lmk if i miss anything]

Words: 2.6k

Disclaimers:

- this story is just made up

- english is not my first language, please be nice 😊

A/N: been away. I didnt know if I should post this or delete but then... I dont want effort to go to waste so.. 😅 i hope this is an okay one.

Have a nice day.

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

"Are you still waiting for your ride home?"

You look at the group of girls standing a few feet away from you. They are from the department across your office.

"Is your boyfriend late?" She adds a follow up question

You smile, "I am." You cautiously answer.

They are not your friends so you are not comfortable to share more than that. And also they are known to be the gossipers in the officr so, any details about your personal life would be the next topic for the next few weeks if you share anything with them.

"It's already late... are you sure he's still coming?" One girl asks.

Luckily, the bus arrives just in time for them to hurry in. No time for you to even chat with them anymore.

"Thank goodness..." you sigh feeling relieved.

*pings*

🐶: sorry, im late. 😭

🐶: i helped an old lady cross the street.

🐶: didn't know she would ask me to also help her get boxes of soju in her shop.

🐶: she admitted to pretending to struggle crossing the street so she can ask anyone to help her and his son 🙃 and then made me buy a whole bunch of lettuce.

🐶: like a whoke bunch😶

🐶: you like lettuce right babe?😚

You smile as you read your boyfriend's text. You don't know if its you imagining him pouting because he feels sorry he made you wait or its because he felt used and scammed.

💖: you're so silly.

💖: its still a good deed so its okay 😊

🐶: but i am 10mins late.

🐶: i cant let my princess wait for me.

💖: i can wait. As long as its you... ♥️

You see him read the message and then not reply.

"Hello stranger..."

You got startled when Mingyu embraces you from behind and kissed you on the cheek.

"Yah! You scared me." You slap his arm

"Sorry..." he giggles and kissed you again. This time on the lips.

"Stop..." you say, blushing. "We are outside."

"So...?" He grins and then puts his arm around you. "We are a couple. Who the fuck cares?"

You roll your eyes. "You know people judge..."

"No... they are just jealous because I am dating a wonderful woman..."

You shake your head. "No... they are not jealous because of me..." you push him away. Forcing a laugh. "Probably because you look good in that double denim look."

Here you go again with your self pity and self judging. You always do this. 'This' notion that you are way below over any other girl and that you are just lucky Mingyu is your boyfriend. You always make an effort to put yourself down without even noticing that Mingyu does not like it.

He fucking loves you. Inside and out. From head to toe. From front to back. He even loves it when you are not at your best behavior nor position. He just... loves you. Period.

But on your end, even with a million reassurance, you always doubt yourself for him.

***

Arriving at his apartment, the first thing you did was announce that you are going to take a shower. You didn't even looked at him when you said it. You're not mad at him or whatever. You are just guilty and feel sorry for being down out of the blue. You didn't even talked that much during the ride home.

"Hey..." he takes you by your arm and pulls you close for an embrace. He kissed the top of your head and then forehead. "Take your time... I'm going to cook dinner."

You smile with no teeth showing. "Okay..." your voice sounding almost a whisper.

"Anything in particular you want? We have meat, fish and vegetables... like a lot of lettuce..." referring to the whole plastic the old lady sell him. "You want something with soup or fried? Ramyun or pasta?"

"Hmm... I like pasta... and a salad on a side?"

"Okay... as you wish my princess..."

The whole apartment smells like a five star restaurant. The fragrance is to die for and makes your mouth water. When you got out of the bedroom, hair still damp, you got suprised by how extravagant Mingyu arranged the dining area. Fancy plates, lit candles, wine glasses and a bottle of his favorite red win. All of a sudden, iy felt like you entered an Italian restaurant wearing your baby pink pajamas and hello kitty slippers.

"Hi, babe." Mingyu is a ray of sunshine while putting on a few more finishing touches on the table. "Ready to eat?"

"Aww..." your heart is aching with pure joy. He is the sweetest man alive.

You stumble your way to him, caused by your own feet. He managed to catch you giggling with you. You look silly but he find it cute. And then as your eyes met he immediately captures your lips for a kiss. Small pecks that got deeper and more seductive. The kisses are loud that it echoes and bounce off the walls of the apartment. He can't also stop touching every curve of your body. From your hips, to your ass and to your tits. He even lifted your shirt so he can access your bra and yank one side down exposing you boob.

"M-mingyu...." you giggle as you try to pull away from the kiss. He does not want to let you go. He keeps on chasing your pink lips whenever a gap starts to build in betweem his. "We need to eat... the food will get cold..."

He didn't answer. He leans lower so he could give love on your exposed bud. He suck it first before he lets his tongue lick it and make your squirm.

"M-mingyu..." you inhale. "The food...?"

He finally lets you go, smiling. "Fine." He chased one more kiss. "But after we eat..." and another one. "I'd like to go straight to dessert." And another one. "You know I love my dessert." He says, bitting his lower lip while grinning like a mad dog.

"You're crazy!" You pinch his nose.

"Crazy over you..." he growls and suddenly picks you up off the floor. He puts your legs around his waist and you automatically hang your arms over his shoulder to hold on.

"Yah!"

"I can't wait. I think I want to begin our dinner with dessert first." His eyes is filled with desire and he is ready to wreck you.

Kicking the door open to your bedroom, Mingyu lays you down gently but in a hurry at the same time. He is on a mission. He is not going to make love to you. He will FUCK your brains out tonight. You know that look in his eyes.

"No condoms... I need to feel you... skin to skin..." he pulls his shirt off and throws it, hitting the wall, then begins to unbuckle his belt and pants. "And I'll like to fill you up until it leaks out of your pussy." He adds, grinning

"Oh God..." you try to get a hold of yourself. Not ready for what is coming

He pushes down his pants and underwear in one go. His length springs free and is up, steady and hard. It's tip glistening with pre cum.

"Turn around..."

You do as he says and go on fours on top of the bed. He pulls your pants down, revealing a bare and wet pussy ready to be torn.

"No panties huh..."

You blush. "Well... I know we'll have sex today... I just didn't know its going to be this soon..."

Mingyu hovers on your back, hand sliding up and down your curves. "Do you want me to stop and just go on with dinner?"

You lower your heard, embarassed, even though he's not seeing how turned on and red you are. "No... I would never say no to you..." after a few breaths in you look back, cheeks red and warm. "You know sex with you is my only addiction."

"Fuck yeah it is..." he says proudly and satisfied

He eases himself in, slowly but deliciously. He skipped prepping you. He can't wait anymore. His dick is aching and wanting to feel your walls.

"I'll be a little rough to you today, babe." He smacks your ass and a moan escapes your lips. "I didn't like what you did earlier..."

"Ughhh!" He slams strong and consistent. It's driving you insane how he could hit the very back of your cervix. Actually he could hit every thing inside you. Thats how long and thick he is. "W-hat... what did... I do?" You arch your back and pushed your upper body up so he can embrace you and touch your body as he thrust your brains out.

"You know..." he grunts as he adjusts and tries to go deeper, even though he is already at the deep end of your insides. "I don't like it... when you don't appreciate yourself..." he inhales and exhales as he feels you clench and make it tighter. "Fuck! Babe!" He kisses the curves of your neck and bites on your shoulder when he feels the tightness thats make it fucking sensational for him

You ubotton your top to give him access to your chest. You didn't unhook your bra though. You just pulled the ladies out and the bra helps give them a push up.

"You are beautiful... sexy... and a wonderful woman..." he pushes your hair out of his way so he can kiss your neck. "Love yourself... the way I love you."

He then pulls out, almost making you cry and beg. But them makes you turn around to face him.

"Can you?" He asks with the most loving eyes

You crash your lips to his. Pushing your tongue in him. You didn't stop until you hear a moany cry from your boyfriend. His brows then creases when you playfully bite his lower lip. "I want to..."

"But what?" He carries you off the bed and pins you to the wall, beside the window of your bedroom. Your one leg touching the ground while the other is hooked over his forearm. "Answer me, babe."

He slams back in you. Stronger and much deeper. Which confused you coz how? Its not like your cervix can expand. But thats what it felt when he slammed you. It didn't hurt. It felt insane actually. Insanely goodm

"You are kind... sweet... caring... hardworking... knows what you like and dislike... respectful..."

You are catching your breathe in your throat. Its like you are choking from excess pleasure. You try to speak but you can't let go of the high. So instead of speaking, you just shook your head.

"You don't agree?" He asks. Mingyu looks at you with his puppy eyes and showered you with kisses. Then he kept repeating all the good qualities you have as a person and even physically.

He really is telling you every bits about you. Everything that he loves and dislike but accepts coz it is you. It is part of you. He really do love you.

"What can I do... to reassure you?"

You put your hand over his mouth. Not to shut him down but to hush him for a second. Just for a moment until you get it all out for him.

"Fuck me!" You cry as you can't help but  cry more of his name. You are so close to your orgasm. "Nggghhhh...!"

You shut your eyes ready to explode but then Mingyu pulls away from your hand, takes you back in bed to finish, when he suddenly says the two words you didn't expect him to say while he's fucking your brains out

"Marry me..." he says.

Your eyes opens, looks at him in pure shock and bliss. "W-wha..." you can't finish your words. He was hammering you. You can't answer. "Mingyu!" You moan his name so loud when your world spun around.

"I love you." He grunts as he see you melt and when he pushed into you a few more times, he finally begins release himself you. All the warmth and every drop of him in you. "Fuck!" He exhales, dropping his body on you but not his weight. "I love you..." he says again. "So much..." he kisses your shoulder and then your cheek. "So... what do you say?" He smirks

"Suddenly?" You look at him, confused.

"Hmmm..." he scrunches his nose, still wearing the smile on his lips. "Not really..."

He then gets up, pulling out of you, which felt like you got more naked than what you are now. More exposed.

"Wait lemma clean you first."

He runs into the bathroom and takes a towel to wipe you clean. Just clean enough to be presentable but not totally wipe his seeds off you. He wants that in there.

And then he runs out of the room.

"Where are you going? Babe?" You are confused. Why is your man running outside the bedroom ass naked

Giggling as you see him comeback in and carrying the plastic bag of lettuce.

"Huh? What's that for?" You sit up and wrap the thin white blanket to your body.

"I lied. Well... we still going to have salads and all..." he is mumbling. "This should be over dinner... but... I could not help myself earlier so..."

"Mingyu... what is going on...?"

Laughing but still trying to pull a serious face. "It was true that an old lady sold me this but... as I was helping her she took the paper bag the came wit this... and I panicked." He sits down beside you. "I didn't want to put it in my jacket or pocket coz... it will be obvious... and when we walk and your cold you always put your hand in my jacket's pockst so..."

"Mingyu!" You grab his face and kissed him. To make him focus. "Just say it..." you are giggling now too.

"Okay..." a soft smile spreads to his lips. "I know... you may think... I'm still young and naive."

"No you're not..."

"Yeah but... still... anyways..." he nervously laughs. "Like I said... you are an amazing woman. Anyman who you choose to love will be the luckiest. And thankfully its me..." he then goes down to his one knee and pulls out a black box from the plastic of lettuce. "I said I didn't like what you did earlier... you looking down at yourself... but that does mean I hate you or mad at you for it... I just say that because I care.. I want you to feel... assured and happy." He opens the box and shows the most brightest ring you ever saw in your life. "If I have to always reassure you for the rest of our lives... I don't fucking care. I am up for it. I love you and I can't live a day without you." Pulling out the ring and taking your hand. "Please marry me... I will serve you and love you forever..."

You watch him put the ring on your finger.

"So...?" He looks at you with doe eyes

Letting go of the blanket covering your body, you launch yourself to him, making you guys fall on the floor. "I love you Kim Mingyu..." you say first before kissing him. "Forever is not a bad idea..." you kiss him again. "Of course I will accept."

"Sorry if I proposed to you after sex... at diner would've been fantastic"

"Don't say sorry... I do love your way..." you get up from embracing him. "It brings back to how we started."

He sits back up. "Right."

Then you stare at your ring. "Who could've guessed that... I will be marrying the guy I met and fucked at a friend's birthday?"

[cdbabymp3]

meet editor!reader aka hamzah's super cool roommate 🖥️🎧🥣💝👟

˙ . ꒷ ⌨️ . 𖦹˙—❝ AND I CHANGE MY MIND, BUT IT'S STILL ON YOU... ❞

BACKSTORY ; editor!reader starting talking to hamzah online after submitting her editing portfolio to the channel. before she ever met him in real life, she was incredibly down bad for him. never in her wildest dreams did she think she'd be picked to be the channel's main editor/videographer. her whole life has changed in the span of only a few months. she moved to toronto, and after her soon-to-be apartment flooded, hamzah takes her in. what starts as a 'temporary' arrangement, leads to the two becoming long-term roommates with no end in sight. hamzah's too obsessed with her. she's too obsessed with him. but neither of them can muster up the courage to make the first move.

PERSONA && INTERESTS ; editor!reader, though shy, will randomly fire comebacks at hamzah and martin when they're in the heat of a joke. she's incredibly funny, which is one of the reasons why she fits so well working for the channel. her humor is stupid and sometimes dark, always reflected in the way she edits the channel's videos. she loves cutesy, girly things and is constantly forcing hamzah to decorate their apartment in that way. he fights it, but can't say no to her. she likes to draw and animate silly things for merch promo's and even designs some of the merch !!! at first, she never wanted to be on camera. she was too shy, afraid if she'd get hate or just weird fans. after request upon request from the slushies to see her, she finally starts making little cameos, working up to being in full videos. many people choose her as their channel bias, making edits and fan art. she loves her job more than anything. getting to travel and make silly content with her best friends is so cool and she never takes it for granted !!

໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა taglist ; @nativegirltapes @etherealval + let me know if u wanna be added !!!

(i couldn't fit all the face claims i wanted bc tumblr has a stupid 10 pic limit but i will add more in mood boards to come !! i'm trying to make it as diverse and poc friendly as possible, so pls lmk if u have any suggestions !!! <3)

[loser-otaku-girl]

answering @maskedrealities questions

to be part of the jirai community u should be mentally ill (this is not me saying u need to become mentally ill if ur not im saying its prob not a safe space for u if u do have good mental health). most people in the community dont wanna get better and dislike ppl w good mental health in our spaces. this is a space where we can all be messed up together.

you can leave the community whenever. id suggest leaving if u want to get better because often being in a community full of illness (and other stuff) can make it harder to heal.

me personally i wouldnt tell others to join the community especially if theyre mentally sound (or like not mentally ill, doesnt sh, doesnt have bpd (or any other disorders that can be heavy do deal with just bpd is the most common among us (u also dont have to have bps obvi))), ect cuz that can mess them up. but if there is someone you know who wants a community to be themselves in that fits the jirai lifestyle/ideals id say tell them about it but dont force them to join.

my fav parts of the jirai community is having a place to be insane without being judged.

hopefully that answered all ur questions and if anyone has any other questions just lmk!

and if u want to add anything feel free cuz i have not double checked what i wrote...

[valtsv]

this quote about cordyceps from this article in a scientific magazine is basically how i've always imagined possession to work in horror stories. the demon/entity/whatever doesn't alter your perception, displace you, or control your mind, they just take over all your bodily processes, bypassing your brain entirely. they force your mouth and vocal cords to form the words they want you to say, force your limbs to move in the direction they want you to go, and force your lungs to keep expanding and contracting and your heart to keep beating, even through excruciating pain and horrific injury, so you can't even self-sabotage and your friends and loved ones are discouraged from trying to stop you for fear of what harm they might cause you to do to yourself to escape. you're a passenger in the driver's seat of your own car, and the hands on the wheel, though outwardly apparently the same pair you've always had, are no longer your own.

[demigod-shenanigans]

"I can go into why i dislike ToA (especially Tyrant's Tomb is. a book that exists) but box of pandora. Once open good luck shutting me up" (source: your tags)

Now that you said that, i'm geniunely curious. Open the box. I dare you

This should be obvious but @ the people who really enjoyed ToA, this post is not for you. I’m not sure I’ll even tag it because this is mostly me venting into the void because two people asked and not me wanting to ruin other people’s fun. These are just my personal opinions.

I also apologize if I get any details wrong, I did recheck a lot of the things mentioned but it’s been a minute since I read ToA and might not remember everything 100% correctly. Also, obvious spoiler warning.

*claps hands together* Okay, you asked for this but heads up, it’s going to be long. Maybe grab a snack and a glass of water beforehand.

My beef with ToA can be summarized into a few key points that I’ll elaborate on below but basically:

-It tries to wrap up character arcs for some of the seven (and Reyna) but does this through the eyes of someone with zero context and also treats these characters arcs as unimportant footnotes in the larger story

-Jason’s death and everything surrounding it was handled extremely poorly.

-I cannot remember any demigods staying mad at Apollo. Redemption arcs should not mean everyone has to forgive this character for all the shit they’ve done in the past.

-The death toll. This is not helped by the fact that a lot of the deaths feel like they exist solely for the purpose of making Apollo learn death sucks over and over again (Jason is the worst example of this, but there are others)

More grievances I have but don’t have enough to say about to justify a longer explanation:

-There are a whole bunch of new minor characters on top of the old ones already struggling for screen time. I don’t remember much about any of them, which is a shame because the idea behind some of them is really compelling.

-The story is centered around the Triumvirate as antagonists, with Python as a final boss, but book four just dumps an additional antagonist on you out of nowhere? Why?

-Reyna rejecting Apollo is nice and all but I still had to put up with him crushing on her and was very uncomfortable the whole time.

-Chiron sends a bunch of new demigods into what’s potentially a death battle and tells them it’s a fun field trip (what the fuck)

-This is a personal grievance more than anything but it took me ages (book five) until I really got attached to Meg. I feel like that could have been fixed if she at least got a few POV chapters.

-Dishonorable mention to the punch line joke. Two whole camps of people lining up to hit the canonically abused kid that saved them is not funny.

Details under the cut (Pandora’s box, I did warn you)

Character arcs:

The books really do try to tell meaningful stories for people whose arcs weren’t finished in Heroes of Olympus. With some of them, you can even tell the ideas behind wrapping up those arcs were solid. But the books also tells those stories through the eyes of a character who doesn’t know these people’s pasts and quite frankly doesn’t care a lot of the time. People will voice/do something that is huge for their character and instead of going into that it’s followed up with some random Apollo anecdote that’s only tangentially related at best.

Taking Leo as an example: Apollo has no idea why Leo settling down and finding a home somewhere after everything he’s been through is meaningful. That’s a story that could have been the focus of an entire book of its own, but instead it’s just a side plot to a completely different story. And that story really should have been told through Leo’s eyes, or at least through the eyes of someone like Jason or Piper who realize why this is huge for him.

Apollo also does not care why Leo and Calypso are fighting, so it’s not something that’s properly explored. Leo’s fights with Calypso are mainly mentioned/witnessed. You get some guesses as to how they started but they never mention the exact reasons. They both say they care about each other, but only to Apollo, when the other person isn’t present. When they sort things out it happens largely off-screen. I was also not a fan of the way many of their issues ended up being pinned on Leo being sexist when it was actually way more than that.

ToA does this a lot. It gives arcs to characters who honestly deserved to be explored more, but those arcs are barely footnotes in a larger story where these characters just cameo for a hundred or so pages.

The cameo stuff works okay for Percy and Solangelo because the books are very aware they’re cameos and they get to have fun but this is not their story. But the characters the series tries to give proper plots to are all over the place.

It’s said that Jason and Thalia are really close but they never interact in the books. Jason had a bit of a chance at a normal life finally but that’s barely gone into. (More on Jason later because my god did how the books handled him piss me off massively)

Piper’s struggles with her queerness get the random Apollo anecdote treatment. There’s some stuff about her reconnecting with her dad and her heritage but that’s not explored a ton either.

Frank’s firewood burns up and he’s fine, which is just sort of hand-waved and doesn’t feel meaningful, especially because I think the fireproof pouch was already a fine solution? Congrats on being free of this, now you can get stabbed to death like all the other characters, I guess.

Reyna gets a sort of arc but it feels really weird because it happens almost entirely off-screen. She spends a large fraction of the book chiding Lavinia for leaving her post, then gets her leg broken, is off-screen for a while and then just DIPS with the Hunters after her home suffered huge casualties.

I also think her joining the Hunters is a super lame way to resolve her arc in general (she just lays down one responsibility to sign up for the next, and a character not wanting romance/not wanting romance right now should be allowed to exist without having to join the eternal maiden’s club, but that problem isn’t isolated to Reyna and could honestly be a whole post of its own)

This also comes down to the fact that I’m here mainly for the demigods. I care about these kids having good arcs and good lives. I care significantly less about Apollo having to learn really obvious shit like “murdering my pregnant girlfriend was perhaps a little messed up”

Jason’s death and everything surrounding it

Killing off a major character (especially one whose arc isn’t finished) can be a plot twist that works at times. But it has to be handled well. Doing it to a character that’s suffered horrifically and is starting to heal is also a hugely shitty move, but I understand you want meaningful deaths for the plot sometimes.

But you cannot do it the way Rick did it with Jason’s death. If he was going to kill off one of the seven, he should have done it in Heroes of Olympus, with that character narrating and their friends getting to deal with the aftermath and grieve.

Instead, Jason dies in a book that he appears in for like. A hundred pages iirc? Two-hundred at most? You get Apollo narration on it, and sure, he’s big sad about it, but he also knew this guy for two days.

Piper gets a few pages to deal with his death, then disappears from the book and comes back for a heroic rescue later. Leo gets like two pages to deal with the fact that his best friend is dead. They then proceed to fuck off to Oklahoma instead of going to the funeral. For what reason? No idea. The book doesn’t bother to explain it.

Jason gets a Camp Jupiter funeral, with none of his Camp Half-Blood friends present, because fuck the fact that him belonging to both camps was a huge part of his arc, right?

Piper and Leo know Jason is dead but they cannot be there because they’d already used up their time as ToA side characters, I guess. Percy and Annabeth can’t come, they don’t find out due to demigod communication issues until the end of the series. Thalia also doesn’t get to go to her brother’s funeral. She doesn’t find out until the funeral is already over. We don’t even really get to see her grieving, her finding out Jason died happens off-screen too.

Because this is the Apollo show, Apollo is the guy who leads the funeral procession instead of, like, Reyna, who knew Jason for years.

Also, for some reason, the person avenging Jason is Frank? Absolutely no offense to Frank, he’s a great guy and I’m sure he cared about Jason, but that choice still feels deeply comedic considering I can remember exactly one meaningful interaction him and Jason had in HoO (Jason giving Frank praetor position at the end of HoH) and not a single conversation they had beyond that. If Rick had to write Leo and Piper out of the plot, why not at least have Reyna avenge him?

Jason dies specifically because Apollo broke a stupid oath he made on the River Styx. We’re told that people around him will keep dying because of this. He dies as a chess piece in a stupid game between gods, for the sake of Apollo’s character development. He dies so he can be brought up every hundred pages for Apollo to waffle about how sad his death was but how he’d also definitely not want to be brought back (I get it, we cannot revive people constantly, but having Apollo make this point when, again, he knew the guy for two days, is still really stupid. Nico also gets to make the same point at the end just in case the reader didn’t understand before that we’re not bringing Jason back)

Apollo is forgiven by everyone

Related to the above point. Like I said, we’re outright told that Jason dying is a direct consequence of Apollo’s oath. Apollo also knew taking them along on the mission would get Jason or Piper killed and he did it anyway.

Piper gets to be mad at him very briefly, but when he tries to apologize at the end of the book, she interrupts him and tells him “it’s fine” (her voice is described as “no anger, just natural heat”)

Thalia doesn’t get to be mad at him at all. Her baby brother died and she just pats Apollo on the back and tells him “it’s fine, Jason made his own choices. That’s what heroes do.” And then it’s made about how Artemis lost Apollo when he got transformed into a human instead of. Like. The fact that Thalia just lost her baby brother for the second time in her life.

IT’S FINE?? THAT’S ALL ANYONE HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS??

Hell, Apollo even has a sort of dream hallucination of Jason’s ghost so that ghost can forgive him too.

Was that really necessary? Why do people think that a character learning to be better means absolutely everyone has to forgive them? Wouldn’t it have been a better sticking point for a god to learn people are allowed to stay mad at you?

The death toll

A lot of people die in these books. People dying in pjo books has always been a thing, but it’s never felt this pointless or this much like it was solely happening for a single person’s character development.

Jason is the most pointed example of this, but there are more. Starting with the fact that two of Apollo’s kids almost get torched in front of his face in the first book (Austin and Kayla) and somehow that is not a sticking point. I don’t think it’s ever brought up again afterwards.

Other characters that die so Apollo can learn death sucks:

-Several Dryads die saving the grove of Dodonna

-Heloise the Griffin

-One random unnamed demigod in Dark Prophecy (mentioning them because that’s where it occurs to Apollo demigod deaths also suck)

-Money Maker (Dryad)

-Crest

-Harpocrates and the Sybil of Cumae

The death toll in Tyrant’s Tomb is completely ridiculous. Like, “feels worse than Last Olympian despite not even being the final battle”-ridiculous. And unlike how Percy at least gets to use that tragic battle to change things in a fundamental way, the Camp Jupiter demigods don’t win anything significant. Their home is only almost completely destroyed. Some of them aren’t dead. That’s it.

If you remember the name of any side character Camp Jupiter demigod from HoO, there’s a very high chance they die in this book.

We don’t get exact numbers for how many people die. The book actually explicitly refuses to give numbers, stating “We didn’t count the dead. They weren’t numbers. They were people we had know, friends we had fought with.” (Which gets even more ironic due to the fact that, again, we barely have any named CJ demigods to begin with)

The closest thing we get to numbers are that 25 demigod members of the legion died in the battle before the book started, and towards the end there are fourteen total demigods still standing of the first to third cohort combined. Even if half the missing demigods are “just” so severely wounded that they can’t fight anymore, that’s still 60 dead kids! The pre-book battle was mentioned to have been hardest on the civilians. We don’t know how many of them died, and losses among the fourth and fifth cohort are also unknown, but that is a ridiculous amount of losses. Why are there so many dead kids in this book and why are we all just supposed to be okay with this?

Jupiter explicitly forbids the other gods to intervene. The only one who does is Diana, after an offering, and she takes her sweet time to get there. That camp is named after the guy! That’s people’s kids down there! I know the gods not helping their kids isn’t exactly new, but this is on a whole other level.

There are funerals but those are largely skipped over, and Frank announces that they’ll resolve this by asking Lupa to bring in more demigods so they’ll come back stronger, which. Baffling statement. Let’s just fix the dead people by replacing them.

TL;DR: Good on Apollo for learning to be better, but I really didn’t like how it was done. There were a handful of things I liked in almost all the books, not including Tyrant’s Tomb which wins the award for rrverse book I most wanted to chuck out of a window. Some of the ideas were good. I think the first and last books are mostly solid (largely due to the fact that those don’t try to shove in entire side character arcs). But the things I did enjoy just get very heavily outweighed by everything that annoyed and upset me.

I really wish ToA had been mostly new characters with maybe some minor cameos, and other people’s arcs had been saved for different books. I also think splitting the perspective between Apollo, Meg and maybe the character who was trying to have an arc in that specific book would have helped.

[irritablepoe]

ok, i know i've done this analysis before though it has been an addition to another post of mine and most people only see the first post - soooo i'm gonna list the main points on here again

ok first i was like - this looks like fyodor, right? like the hair, the wound, the white clothes, and ofc the fact that he is nailed to a cross. fyodor sees himself as a kind of messiah, so it would make sense for him to think that he's dying for the sins of others. he also lies his actions and his life into god's hands as in "he's doing what god would want". come to think of it, fyodor's death might be fyodor's way of "cleansing the earth of sin" but i don't know if he sees it that way. anyways, i'm going to explain now why i think this is fyodor up there and why i think this scene already foretold fyodor's death.

now, there's so much to find in the light novel. we see fyodor at the end of the untold origins adaption and this might be a very obvious hint that fyodor's death is foretold in untold origins already. but the stage play reveals a lot, too.

first of all the stage play's summary is "an angel who murders", specifically an angel that kills their own kind.

that sounds an awful lot like fyodor doesn't it? he wants to kill all ability users after all. Now, i see fyodor in the murderer here, but i also see him in the victim bc of the following quote.

fyodor has been stabbed (not with a knife but yk), he fell with the helicopter, and he was poisoned. The heavy water could possibly count as strangulation but that might be me reaching. while most of this could also connect to dazai, he was shot by fyodor, not stabbed. it could potentially also relate to sigma, who fell with the elevator, was strangled by teruko and one could potentially say he was poisoned by fyodor's memories. also there is nothing unique about the ways they are murdered. fyodor sees sigma as an ordinary man. i'm kinda torn on this.

"if it was an angel, they would use the devine blade in their hand" like come on...

it's said in the stage play that there are 12 victims. someone in the other post mentioned that there were 12 apostles, though i don't know how this would make much sense in this context other than the connection to fyodor, that sees himself as jesus 2.0

ofc ofc there's also the judas x jesus dynamic between nikolai and fyodor here. nikolai being the one that wants to kill fyodor and "hires" dazai to do just that. though ofc nikolai regrets it immediately. also if we connect the 12 apostles that would be the 12 victims of the play or rather of fyodor, nikolai would've been beyond those victims, too. he was supposed to die.

also, i know this is about murakami BUT "the killer became the victim"!!!

idk if i have a final point here other than "look! this is connected!", but thank you anyways for everyone that commented on the last post, i included a lot of your points as well (if you want to be tagged, i'll do that ofc :3)

thank you for reading!

[sierice]

just realized that i can post my outfit inspos for apollo on this blog. im going to abuse this a normal amount i promise. wait whats that- [hits you with 5 blocks of images]

[imminent-danger-came]

Hi again! Listen, if we indeed get the MK vs SWK fight you've been predicting, I want it to be CATHARTIC. I want both parties fighting to show the RAWEST, UGLIEST, MOST FUCKED UP parts of themselves to each other without holding back, and embrace those parts in one another wholeheartedly just as much at the end. And I don't want this fight to be at the end of the show, no, I want it to be inn the midle of the show run, not even just a few episodes spare afterwards but several seasons, to see them work on the ruined previous framework and build on it as a sturdier, more stable foundation, and I want to see it unfold and develop in the show. I want to see them fight together with that new bond against the big boss or whatever passes as it. I think what I'm trying to say is Eldritch!MK better not be the last boss, and that even in a fight with out-of-control MK, SWK still unconsciously holds back even if he doesn’t want to. Also for Wukong to show his OG power in its full glory at the end against the final boss who is hopefully not Eldritch MK. You may disagree with some of my points but we can agree to disagree. Eat fruits!

DUDE. YES.

In my mind I've never thought of Eldritch!MK as the final big bad, legitimately. Which now I realize that's kinda silly, because the show could go that direction, but in my mind MK would be pushed further down a path of chaos by being manipulated by our new antagonist. This isn't something he would want ("This isn't what I wanted!" for the sweet sweet Azure parallel), but something he'd be pushed into—whether through manipulation, or past memories, or some reveal or WHATEVER it is that pushes him to the brink.

Ultimately however, MK has to eventually defy his fate and use his powers to leave the world "better than he found it"—he has to come to terms with the fact that he'll hurt people, and people will hurt him, and that's how life works. He ultimately has to accept himself. Being the "final boss" of the show would leave very little time for MK to truly learn to love himself and learn who he truly is, which is why I think it probably won't happen. Maybe he'd be the final boss of a season—but certainly not the show as a whole.

But a cathartic and messy Wukong and MK fight? That's something I am hoping we get, and think we definitely have the potential to get! Here's a short list of people who have chewed Wukong out thus far:

Mei (3x10)

Macaque (4x11)

Curse MK (4x07)

Azure (4x13)

Pigsy (2x10)

Ne Zha (3x01, 3x10)

Now, with how often it's brought up the ways in which Wukong has failed MK...don't you think MK should have a turn here? MK gets close in 2x07, but there he's yelling at Macaque disguised as Wukong, so obviously that doesn't count. We are long overdue for MK himself laying out all of the hurt and anger he's been holding onto for 4 seasons—that itself needs to happen, whether it's through a physical fight or not.

And after finally, EVERYTHING is out in the open, they can build their relationship stronger than it was before. I, like you, really do hope Wukong and MK (or even MK and Mei tbh) fight together against our last big bad. Honestly watching them fight together in 4x13 was so fulfilling, seeing them bounce off one another and work together just like MK always wanted.

However, I am also ready for them to tear each other apart (MK for SWK literally, but SWK for MK probably metaphorically lol) and then build each other back up, both of them fully accepting each other, flaws and all. Just because you love each other doesn't mean you won't hurt one another, you know? Just because you love someone doesn't mean they're not flawed. And in some ways, I think both Sun Wukong and MK need to accept that fact about each other. Like, this confrontation needs to be MESSY and RAW, and I think a climatic anime battle is a great way to do that (4x13 MK V Azure fight proving my point perfectly, or honestly even something like Samadhi Fire Mei in 3x10).

But those are just my thoughts!

[10piecechickenmcnugget]

Howdy! Under my post you offered to talk about Purpled's lore/character and it would be really cool is you did that!

You have unlocked an unskippable cutscene I could literally talk about this for days on end

under the read more cause this is gonna be LONG

okay SO the very basics of Purpleds character is just he’s a really skilled fighter, so he became a mercenary to put those skills to use

ccpurpled said himself that cpurpled just wants money and power

but despite this, he’s not a fan of conflict at all, and prefers to avoid fights and wars whenever possible

a favorite quote of mine, “I’m like Switzerland, I don’t really fight, but when I do fight, I win” (not word for word I forgor)

he greatly prefers to keep to himself, and just gather materials and chill with his dog and mind his own business, because he’s seen what happens to everyone else, and doesn’t want any part of it

Early in the server, before he did a lot of serious lore, he had a decent amount of relatively positive relationships with a couple people, and he didn’t necessarily hang out with them or anything but he trusted them

he mostly just sat around and built stuff, the first big thing he was a part of was the Manberg vs Pogtopia war

-karl recruited him against his will

-he ran around for like 30 minutes just rambling about how he had no idea what was going on ever

-he fought for like 3 minutes before switching sides

-*getting killed by fireworks* “IM ON YOUR SIDE” “YOU WERENT BEFORE”

-was dead silent for like 40 minutes as he just ran around fighting people and no one acknowledged him

-schlatt fucking died “did he just have a heart attack?!?” “He just fucking died!!” And then went silent again

-the whole thing were no one wanted to be president

-it ended up being tubbo

-no one could figure out who the traitor was

-watched wilbur die right after lmanberg blew up

-killed one of the withers and was very proud of himself

-Connor joined the game, left the game, joined the game, stole purpleds pants, and left

-purpled went home, reiterated that he had no idea what the fuck just happened, and ended stream

this is so long already but wait, there’s more!!

not a whole lot important happened after that, he was still living in a cabin of the main path, and his UFO was just kinda vibing (that’s a surprise tool that will help us later)

he kinda chilled on his own, and suddenly the Eggpire is a thing! Purpled has no friends, so he doesn’t care!! (There are vines all over his UFO but he doesn’t live there anymore so he doesn’t do anything about it)

suddenly Ponk wants to talk to him, and now uh oh, BadBoyHalo is in some random ass cave trying to hire Purpled to kidnap Puffy

purpled has nothing better to do, so he takes the job

he doesn’t log on for months, so Quackity puts bombs in his house

suddenly purpled logs on and Quackitys like “I understand this looks bad but I want to hire you”

“what’s this another mercenary job?” God forbid someone hire him to do his job

he accepts, and badda bang badda book now he’s working against the Eggpire

Q, purpled, and Techno are going to take down the red banquet, and then Quackity decides to be an asshole (Purpled and Techno want to go in and help, but Quackity makes them wait and foolish dies, then Quackity goes in and plays the hero)

they beat the shit out of the Eggpire (bad is not happy with purpled)

purpled leads everyone out of bads creepy basement “you’re a hero, purpled” “I try my best”

purpled wants his payment for helping the duck man

Duck man pays him, and then breaks the entire fandom and blows up purpleds ufo right in front of him!

purpled wants to kill him, Quackity tries to convince him not to, tells him that he’s basically nothing now, and purples goes home

fucking dumbass blows up his own house after having 37 mental breakdowns

slime is spying on him and purples wants to strangle him

he goes to las Nevadas, “I just want to make it very clear that I don’t think there will ever be a point in time where I respect you as a person,” and joins LN just like Q wanted!! Surely nothing bad will happen!!

~timeskip~

Quackity has an anxiety attack, purpled leads them to the most unnecessary trap ever, he and Q yell at each other, Quackity does a fucky wucky, and now Slimecicle is dead

purpled just fucking walks away like the girlboss he is, and later kidnaps slimes corpse and traps him in a cave

Punz shows up, says some stuff, purples agrees to work for him and dream (this will not go well)

they raid las nevadas!! dream blows some shit up, foolish releases an army of slimes, and purpled yells at Quackity some more

slime reveals he’s not actually a dumbass and shoves purples of off a balcony

and then the server fucking ended so I guess that’s that!

so, long story short, purpled is pretty much just a badass but also cringefail assassin, who does not like people or conflict, and has cared about two things ever (his ufo and his dog, which is thankfully still alive), but is also still just a teenager, and has some shit going on.

he doesn’t care about a lot, but he does have silly little feelings sometimes and the only two times he ever showed that he blew up his own house and the second time he fucking died

[gibbycat]

saw an anon ask on @/zilodaks blog that asked for advice on how to write ai characters. as someone who is drawn to and likes analyzing these types of characters, i offer some advice below (read more; note there are discussions of portal characters that aren't spoiler-free so be wary):

for the sake of making myself clear, i'm going to use GLADoS and wheatley from the Portal series since they're a) very familiar to people and b) they're relatively easy to understand character-wise. i'm only going to discuss them as it pertains to the points i'm making. i encourage you to research some popular ai characters and take the time to deconstruct their character to figure out why and how they work (you can also figure out why they're popular too!). with that out of the way, let's get into it.

when i interact with ai characters, i've noticed that most (if not all) share three things in common that makes them compelling to people:

their original purpose (why they were created)

the "rules" they must follow (which, to me, is their motivation)

a development of sentience

purpose

all ai are created with a purpose in mind. if you look into some popular ai, most of them were originally developed to fulfill some need/want that their creator wanted to see fulfilled. they can be simple, such as running simple equations, or complex such as overseeing an entire community of people. GLADoS and wheatley are similar in that they're both personality cores, little spheres of ai that are noted for their ability to express emotions. but they serve different purposes.

in GLADoS' case, she was created to oversee and maintain the enrichment center on behalf of aperture science. wheatley, on the other hand, was made with the sole purpose of inhibiting GLADoS' intelligence so that she is easier for the scientists to manage.

when creating an ai character, it helps to figure out what they are originally created for (as well as *who* created them) to get a good start on fleshing them out. which brings me to my next point:

2. "rules"

ai are machines first and foremost, programmed by their creators to fulfill a purpose. as a result, theyre bound to a set of "rules" within their programming that helps to fulfill their purpose in an efficient and successful way. as the central core of the center, GLADoS (and later wheatley) have a strong desire to conduct tests and maintain the center to the best of their ability. since GLADoS was intentionally created for this purpose, the center has a clean look and smooth operation under her guidance.

wheatley, however, does a terrible job which is (primarily) because of his original purpose as an "intelligence dampening sphere". as a result, the center becomes messy and rocky in terms of operation. though GLADoS and wheatley are both personality cores, their differences in their purpose and "rules" overall dictate the condition of the center beneath them.

after deciding on the ai character's purpose, you can then move onto figuring out the "rules" included in their programming since that can influence their behavior. to me, the main rule that GLADoS must follow is the rule of "maintain the testing facility and continue testing on behalf of aperture science". she does follow this rule faithfully to a t, even if she has the habit of harming the test subjects involved. which brings me to my last point:

3. the issue of sentience and morality

a lot of popular ai characters have some level of sentience to them. sentience, in layman's terms, is the base level of consciousness that allows organisms to feel things and recognize that feeling. in my opinion, a lot of sci-fi writers and creators play with sentience in ai characters because it makes them more compelling/interesting to their audience (giving human traits to nonhuman beings). this also allows them to explore the potential consequences of allowing ai to gain sentience.

with GLADoS, wheatley, and others within the enrichment center, they all have some level of sentience that allows them to experience pain and emotions. to me, this makes them more approachable to the audience since they aren't unfamiliar (the use of human traits makes them more palatable).

but at the end of the day, ai will fall back on logic/reason in order to solve all potential problems. inevitably this often leads into morally grey territory where they may cause harm in the pursuit of fulfilling their goals. even a "good" ai may be so tightly bound by the "rules" that it pushes them towards harming humans in order to adhere to them (a famous example of this is HAL 9000).

both GLADoS and wheatley have done actions that have harmed chell, even though wheatley was the friendlier one towards her throughout the portal 2 campaign (though it is mentioned in portal 2 that him dropping chell into the pit was an accident).

keep in mind that an ai gaining sentience does not mean that they will develop a good moral character. again, ai are machines and will act according to what is programmed in them. while that doesn't mean it's impossible for them to change, they are incredibly resistant towards it.

a good way to tackle ai characters in this regard is to decide on two things:

whether they gain sentience (and if it evolves into a more "human-like" consciousness)

what they do as a result of sentience

these questions are broad because there isn't an exact answer i can give. there are many ai characters across the spectrum of "good" and "evil", with a good amount of them falling in the morally grey area. to me, the matter of sentience is fully dependent on their purpose for creation and the circumstances surrounding it. similar to how humans raise children, ai are molded by their creators into what makes them unique.

ai, as a concept, is a fun one to explore. but it can be difficult to figure out where to even start since they come in so many shapes and forms (literally). to summarize, consider the following factors when writing an ai character:

research some popular ai, take some time to deconstruct their character and figure out why they work within the narrative. as much as research sucks, you can't make an ai from scratch without some background knowledge.

once you do the research, you can then:

figure out their purpose: who created them, and what they were created for

figure out the "rules" they follow. this can relate to their purpose or, if they are sentient enough, can be a honor code that they adhere to.

determine the level of sentience that the character has, and what they do with that.

[datastate]

HI TOBIAS this is for you (linking the picture because i can't put it in)

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!! AHHH <333

WAHHH just. okay. okay. let me get my words together. kai in his classic pose of course <3 it's impressive how you've managed to get the hands down actually!! the way fingers curl around it are always difficult with such a thin object, but it just looks gentle here... <333 the clothing folds as well are really well done!! particularly around the apron + where it'd be tied behind him... very very nice...

& aeheheee <3333 YOU DID MY DESIGN FOR HIM TOOOO AHHH ;; ohhh even down to the design for his apron :3 i know that those can be a bit of a pain sometimes but i really truly appreciate that you added them... it's a small thing, but. really dear to me & definitely feels more sentimental rather than just leaving it at splatters + ties into kai's name;; (not wholly, but. the wisteria/general plant themeing with the satous + sara's own uniform. clenches fist...)

just. ahhh all in all, this was a real treat to wake up to, and very sweet of you to think of sending in the first place at all. thank you so, so much lilian <333 i cherish him more than words can say...

[archeyeved]

continued from here .

then a chuckle , again turning attention toward the expanse of the horizon . " yes , a long walk indeed . you don't feel tired though , right ? that's a positive . but if you need to stop and take a break let me know . " then a nod , brows lift impressed that his partner was able to digest such a large amount of information . " dream logic , that's a good way to put it . hard to take a rational mind and apply it to this situation when nothing makes sense . " there was a brief stab of guilt , recalling such horrid things he had said about mister blackwood in their old life . the man truly was clever . witty . this apocalypse had turned a sour relationship into something well..that was unable to be explained fully .

a low hum at the question . " oh they're all incredibly aware , all of them . they're aware of the misery they're causing . the horror . but i believe they are separate . each fear is mm , self contained ? " a sharp intake of breath as brows knit together considering the question . for a brief moment eyes flash a sickly green glow . low light but evident . asserting dominance almost . " the eye . the eye decides all . " voice changed slightly , monotone . a slow blink and that odd glow was cast aside . " ah .. " an embarrassed sort of sound before he continued . " you and i are on i'd say a backroad . we're able to sidestep the worst of it because of the eye and its protection . but all of them , all of the so called gods are aware of us - the scope of humanity and they have no mercy , martin . even the eye , it favors me for now but if anything were to happen it would simply move on to another . and another . these things have no kindness , no shred of humanity . and those creatures are who we serve now . "

suddenly so very self aware , realizing this was the most he had spoken perhaps in his entire life eyes cast downward . " i know we're out here trying to change things . but you - well what do you think we can accomplish here , martin ? if we make it to the center of it all . then what ? perhaps just - ask elias for a chat ? tea and cake ? " the question was not meant to sound harsh .

@stillgrows

[boomerang109]

SOMEONE in the CR/VM fandom writes dyslexic Cass and i cant for the life of me remember who and tumblr search is shit so it won’t tell me

but i just rewatched that scene where pike taught grog how to read (😭) and it was in a compilation so it cut off before the end but im pretty sure if i remember correctly he doesn’t even remember enough to remember the spelling of his own name when the fox’s cunning potion wears off

and ik that eventually he must learn how to read?? that might’ve been covered as something they did in the year off? but ik they let him take twenty minutes to read giant at some point when they really don’t have twenty minutes to spare and like im pretty sure canonically it’s pike who teaches him to read

BUT. this was a long-winded way of getting to. GROG AND CASS BONDING OVER TROUBLE READING!!! and being “behind” in their “age-appropriate” studies. and just. grog who’s a hero of emon and loved and happy despite not having the intelligence that cass is being forced to speed-run as someone who is not only behind in her studies from trauma, but also as a ruler of Whitestone. and maybe she can’t take exactly the same ‘fuck it’ mindset as grog, but maybe he can inspire her a little bit? and maybe she can help him try a little harder to learn things he DOES want to learn, where before his anger would’ve made him say fuck it even if he really did want to learn? cause pike can match him in a lot of things, but at the end of the day she’ll never force him to do things, but cass has that de rolo entitlement that can actually be helpful? and yeah.

CASS AND GROG

[rosicheeks]

I wanna tip the princess for her birthday it cashapp doesn't work in my country 🥺🥺😫

You can actually tip me on my wishlist if you’re serious 🥺

[shxrp-teeth-after-dark]

viciousgold asked : [ APPROACH ]  our muses haven’t been intimate yet and receiver finally broaches the subject to sender.  (for Hewlett)

SOME MORE SMUTTY MEMES. / @viciousgold -- accepting

        𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Surely there was nothing inherently wrong between a married couple to speak of intimacy. It’s what led to large families after all. Generations of marriages, births, and more that led to where he stood today. But something was embarrassing about it. Where would he start? He had a few ideas in mind, but his inexperience sounded pathetic to his own ears. 

        On their wedding night, Edmund stared at her reflection in the mirror of the vanity. There is an unspoken expectation here that he’s almost fearful to speak about. If only because of the discomfort it can give his arranged wife. 

        ❝ I hope you find the room alright. We’ll be staying here for the time being. I’ll be assisting Major Andre. Then, once I’m finished with my responsibilities here, we’ll be traveling to Setauket, Long Island. Are you familiar with the place? ❞ It was always easy to speak of work and his duties. He could hear himself fall into the consistent rhythm of formality, the place his voice often dipped to when he was speaking with his fellow officers. He fidgeted with his robe and looked over at Marisa again. 

        ❝ Do you… figure we should? ❞ He finds himself cutting off his words with pauses and stutters, a rosy complexion rushing over his cheeks at the mere thought of broaching the subject of intimacy. ❝ You are aware of how wedding nights go, Marisa? ❞ But she doesn’t have to. She doesn’t need to. 

        He cleared his throat and then fully turned himself towards her. ❝ It's not required of us, you know. I’m content retiring for the night and figuring out the details tomorrow morning. ❞ Maybe he’ll figure out how to not trip over his own tongue by that point, too.

[bladedwoe]

( Astrid ; continued )

        𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭.

        ❝ This man is dead, ❞ she states simply, trying to rein back the humor lingering on her tongue at the man’s naivety. Her hand extended towards the corpse below for a reference of who they were talking about. ❝ Your magic will be in vain if you persist. Well, of course, unless that was your goal all along. ❞ A selfless and honorable endeavor, sure, to try to help the stranger, but the trained assassin can tell a passed-out man from a dead one. With his slack form, his stomach at rest under his jacket, and the paling skin around the exposed bits of his gloved hands -- this man was far from living.

        For once, it wasn’t her hand that aided this man in his death. In fact, the blood that once stained her hands was washed off a day ago. She was simply on her way back to the contract to make the entire trip worth it and the sight of this man halted her in her travel.

        ❝ Are you traveling to the college, my dear friend? ❞ They weren’t too far from Winterhold, the snowy mountain peaks are just overhead and she knew the air would grow more chilly the more she would travel to the other side of it. ❝ Was this man traveling with you? ❞ As her eyes scan over the body, she assumes it’s a courier and usually they traveled on their own with a sense of urgency that would tenfold if they had a companion along to slow them down. But perhaps this man was different and he enjoyed the presence of another over being left alone in the cold, but the stranger before her doesn’t seem saddened by the body.

@eritvita