#little does he know the true master is the middle child

[urmumsstuff]

So if yall want to know the origin of the this is why your single joke here it is

Flower wasn't really known for her temper, ironicly that went to the middle child who taught all his siblings, young and old new ways to apply curse words and put sailers to shame. Her mother often made said brother go pray after a slew of curses that would come forth.

So it honestly wasn't a surprise when flower tripped over a rock and ping pong balled down a hill in a series of unfortunate events that when she reached the bottom of said hill all they heard was the following.

"FUCK YOU, YOU MOTHER FUCKER, THAT HURT YOU RICH DICKED MORNING WOOD MUNCHER. EAT CARPET YOU FUCKING DICK. OH FUCKING SHIT THAT HURT! I HOPE THAT ROCK BECOMES SAND IN THE ASS CRACK OF A FUCKING GREASY FAT KAREN WHO DROOLS OVER HER COWARD HUSBAND. THAT FUCKING COW FUCKER"

It didn't have as much impact nor creativity and if said middle brother had heard it he would be disappointed giving her a 4 out of 10 but he wasn't there and therefore could not judge her.

The group reached the bottom of the hill to see her laying on her front in frustrated silence

"Do you need help?" The monk asked hesitantly

"No let me lay upon the bed of LIES I have fallen upon" okay there showed true to her twin but also the shame that radiated off of her.

"You look stupid"

"You have a face that is so ugly not even a mother could love you if she bore you from her flesh" wukong barked a laugh at the insult tossed his way.

"I see she agrees that you are ugly brother monkey-"

That got her up on her ass sitting and staring and fully interrupting the pig "you have no room to speak or open your mouth you dog welped, boarish whore. Your mother would deny she bore you into this world and the urge to force you to eat pork grows stronger with every step I take in your presence. You should not throw stones from glass houses you weak willed unsatisfying lazy pig. May your mother and mothers mother deny you from their family tree"

her eyes narrowing into dangerous degrees as she stared down the pig who looked rightly enraged to be told such a thing. She had the gull to bring ancestors into the conversation with a calm that wasn't like her words. Her words spoke rage of unknown degree but her voice was a deadly calm.

What followed was a fight a loud fight at that both cursing and insulting the threat of fists being thrown ever.

"You bare the mind of a half wit not worth the air he takes from the world"

"This is why no man, human demon nor Divine would look upon you in favor"

"Good I like being single, unlike you who can't seem to understand some girls would lay with you if you improved your heart and acted more in the interests of the mind and emotion then that of the flesh" that got her to pause for a moment

"Wait.. did we just make a this is why your single agruement out of the blue?"

The pig stopped to think the others watching with mixed reactions

"I do believe it has reached that point yes"

"Do you want to just say this is why your single instead of insulting each other to such degrees and agree we dislike each other?"

It was an olive branch of peace that the monk clearly wanted to be broached between the pair both having insulted the others ancestors to various degrees and other retorts.

"Do you want this swept under the rug"

"By the nine hells no I am giving some of your insults to my elder brother to add to his arsenal of things to spew forth for no reason"

"..."

There was silence again

"This is why you are single"

"Indeed it is, forever alone I am in my bed with only my own heart to keep me company"

"That is painfully saddening"

"No, that's your love life, I am content with how I am"

They talked more defusing themselves to a decent degree and making a contract or agreement of sorts to keep insults within a specified degree. Leaving them all wondering how it had gotten to that point

[ivykim]

QUESTIONABLE THINGS IVY HAS SAID

VIDEO START ▶️

“if cats have nine lives, why do jungwon and jay only have one.”

it was in the middle of Manifesto tour where each of them had their own separate rooms. ivy was going mental and bored out of her mind so she decided to turn on a live.

someone commented about jay and jungwon being adorable cats.

“jungwon and jay are adorable. they’re like newborn kittens.” ivy reads off the comment. she hums.

“that’s true. they’re adorable but something irks me.”

“if cats have nine lives, why do jungwon and jay only have one.” she asks in a genuine and questioning tone.

— philosopher vivi working overtime

“we love a sexy barbeque man.”

there were a series of knocks and ivy singing ‘do you want to build a snowman’ outside of sunghoon’s door. it was late at night so ivy did it softly. after all, they finished their concert like an hour ago.

after jay opens the door, ivy joins the live and waves to the camera. jay and sunghoon went on about how tan jay looks compared to sunghoon.

“you look like a good fried chicken.” ivy says.

“what?”

“we love a sexy barbeque man.” she does those chef kisses. the two boys never understood what was going on in ivy’s head.

— i want whatever drugs she’s on

“you🫵🏻 come over here👇🏻 WRIGHT☝🏻 NAOW😤.”

with jungwon zooming around and having a lot of energy, ivy couldn’t fully focus on reading through the ENGENEs comments.

she was really trying. as she reads, jungwon zoom pasts her trying to find a way to lose his high tension.

“you🫵🏻 come over here👇🏻 WRIGHT☝🏻 NAOW😤.” she tells jungwon in English, sounding like a mother scolding her child. jungwon runs back around and sits next to her like a good boy. they continued their live properly.

— aww mama duck vivi

“WHATS WITH THE SKINNY BAMBOO LOOKING LEGS?? COULDN’T THEY HAVE GIVEN OUR DARK MOON CHARACTERS MEAT??”

when the dark moon WEBTOON came out, ivy was curious about the story so she decided to go ahead and read out loud during the live. as she scrolls through, she notices the characters not having much figure.

“what the-” she looks at the characters and then the live and then back at the characters.

“why are they so skinny?”

— engene: “so we’re not the only ones that think that?”

“definitely but oh my god. someone feed the poor vampires- oh sorry for sooha I meant non-vampire. she’s not a vampire everyone. don’t misunderstand.”

“actually, I have to complain to HYBE. why in the world are they so skinny and where in the hell is my character.”

— engene: “oof ivy popping off💅🏻💅🏻”

“WHATS WITH THE SKINNY BAMBOO LOOKING LEGS?? COULDN’T THEY HAVE GIVEN OUR DARK MOON CHARACTERS MEAT??” the passion as she says so.

— passionate vivi. she protects and attacks🤺

*stares at bird* “he would probably make a good source of protein.”

ivy was busy staring out the window. she was bored. waiting for their turn at Inkigayo for their Sweet Venom recording.

“noona, what are you doing?” jay asks as he comes up behind her with a camera.

“looking out the window.” she lays her head against the window and shuts her eyes a little. “I wanna sleep.”

“same. now would be a good time to sleep, I’m dead tired.” jay says.

her stomach grumbles a little. “urgh, now I’m hungry.” just then, a bird had perched onto the ledge in front of the window.

“god, the things I’d do for some chicken.” jay groans. ivy points to the bird and stares at it.

“he would probably make a good source of protein.”

jay has never whipped his head so fast. it’s almost like he would get a whiplash. “HE WHAT?”

— you know she’s crazy when jay looks at her weird

“crazy? I was crazy once. they locked me in a room, a room with sunghoon, and sunghoon makes me crazy. crazy-”

ivy was busy reading a few comments since she was bored and didn’t exactly know what to show the ENGENEs. she was seriously trying to think of a content she could do to engage the audience.

“mmm, do aeygo?” she deadpans at the camera. “sorry, I’m not an aeygo master. you can ask sunoo.”

that is until she decides to pull one aeygo out of nowhere. she easily gets embarrassed. “okay, okay, no more. I look like a goblin doing aeygo.”

“where is sunghoon?” she reads out loud. “he’s probably at the dorms. he finished his schedule for the day.”

“does sunghoon make you crazy? huh? you mean in what way?”

“in general?” she thinks for a second, “crazy? I was crazy once. they locked me in a room, a room with sunghoon, and sunghoon makes me crazy. crazy-”

ENGENEs were commenting thinking ivy drank soju before doing the live.

— not her following that one meme😭😭

“sometimes in life you just have to life.”

ivy was basically doing her normal thing. reading the live comments and also entertaining ENGENEs.

“do you ever feel like a plastic bag.” she reads off the comment. “yes, everyday. i wanna drift through the wind and i want to start life again.”

“noona, are you drunk.”

“I’d like to know too. Maybe this tea has alcohol inside of it but no, I’m not drunk as far as I know.”

“what do you do when life doesn’t go your way.”

“deep question. I like it.” she sighs, “sometimes in life, you just have to life.” she makes a sad face, wiping her fake tears.

“it’s true, that’s how life works when it doesn’t go your way.”

– oml philosopher vivi strikes again

“even if you don’t succeed, just fail.”

in yet another solo live she did, she had basically gotten viral for making these ‘inspiring’ quotes. multiple people praising her because she can make up this true story-comedy quotes.

“unnie, make more inspiring quotes.” she hums at the comment. “give me something you want me to make a quote out of.”

she skims through the various comments, “ah, mmm. you failed a test? I’m so sorry about that.”

“umm, even if you don’t succeed. just fail. studying isn’t everything. you can always try again!”

– I’m gonna kiss her. she’s so perfect

“I’m a sunbae??? THEY ARE HOW OLD??”

with illit debuting, enhypen was finally a sunbae. they had hoobaes under BELIFT Lab now and so ivy heard about them. the boys were just talking about it during the backstage video.

“we are sunbaes now.” jake says.

“mmm.”

“and they are younger than ni-ki. I believe the average age is about 18.6.” jake continues. Ivy hums again before she processes what jake was truly saying then she practically whips her head over.

“I’m a sunbae??? THEY ARE HOW OLD??” she says in shock.

– the cultural shock ivy experienced.

Ivy: turning 23 this year

Iroha: turning 16 this year

*outro of video plays*

PART 2?

[darthgloris]

2AM THOUGHTS #5: Ahsoka snitching on Anakin to Y/N about his crush on her

Ahsoka looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes with a small smile.

"What?" Y/N asked.

"My Master." She replied simply.

"What about him?" She wondered, looking back. She saw Anakin already staring at her with a charming smile. As soon as she met his eyes, she smiled back and offered him a small wave, which he returned gladly. She giggled at the thought of having his attention and turned around, returning to her conversation with the Padawan.

"That." Ahsoka deadpanned.

"Oh, come on, he's just being sweet." She dismissed with a wave.

"Is he?" She asked rhetorically. "You think he's sweet, you should hear the way he talks about you."

"What? What does he say?" Y/N wondered.

"Ugh, you have no idea! Do you know how many mornings I've spent listening to him whining over you and going 'she's such an angel, I don't know what we did to deserve her', 'I wish I could spoil her with everything she ever wanted', 'I'd leave the Jedi Order in a heartbeat if she asked', 'Maker, she's so intelligent, she makes everyone here look like a dog'-"

"Wait, wait, what?" She interrupted. "Anakin said he'd leave the Order for me?"

"He did. You turn him into mush just by existing," she confirmed. "He wants you so badly that if you complimented him, he'd die."

The realization of what she meant to him was a bit overwhelming, yes, but it made her happy. The happiest she had ever been. "That's... wow."

"What are you going to do about it?" Ahsoka asked.

"I... I don't know, I mean... he's amazing. He really, really is." She sighed, sitting on a rock.

"Do you like him?" The Padawan pushed, although she knew the answer as clearly as anyone with eyes.

"Of course I do, who wouldn't? I mean, he's sweet and kind and gentle, he's handsome, he's smart, he makes me laugh, and- oh."

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow, amused. "Gotcha."

"All right, then, I'm going to spend time with him more often." Y/N concluded.

"Starting now. Go." Ahsoka said and gave her a little push to where her Master was working.

Y/N walked closer to Anakin, who smiled brightly when he caught sight of her. "Hi."

"Hi," she replied, chuckling softly to herself. "What you doing?"

"Oh, just fixing this speeder. It got hit pretty bad during the battle." He sighed, hands on his hips as he examined his work from afar.

"How'd you fix it?" She asked, smiling fondly as she scooted closer to him.

"It's just boring stuff, you don't want to hear about it." He dismissed.

"No, tell me. I'm curious, I want to know." She smiled, resting her chin on his metal armour to peer at the ship. Through the Force, she could feel the butterflies erupting in his stomach. He loved when she took an interest in him and she knew it. Meanwhile, she felt sparks running through her body at the feeling of his toned muscles on her skin.

He let out a breathy chuckle before beginning his engineering rant. Her heart swelled with cuteness overload as he explained every step and every detail to her, and he looked so happy while doing it, as if one of his recurring daydreams had finally come true.

She wrapped her arms around his middle from the back, briefly nuzzling into his neck before turning her attention back to the ship. Her heart skipped a beat as she felt the muscles of his abdomen through his robes. Anakin froze as he felt her touch engulf him.

"Y/N..?" He hesitated.

"Yeah?" She asked, hoping he wouldn't make her pull away.

"Are you on death sticks?"

"No, Ani." She laughed, nuzzling her nose into the short curls on the back of his neck while she smiled.

"Well, then, um..." he hesitated. "...could you do this more often?"

"Aw, of course." She smiled as he melted into her embrace. He rested his hands on hers and continued explaining the final steps, every once in a while looking back to see her face.

When he finished, he was smiling like a happy child, finally getting the love and care he needed. They were both blushing furiously and smiling like idiots.

Ahsoka watched from afar with a smirk on her face, proud of her newfound matchmaking skills. Her heart burst with happiness as she saw Anakin press a kiss to Y/N's forehead, looking down at her as if she were his whole world.

Finally, the pining was over.

[phoenixyfriend]

A Child’s Ink: Chapter Two

Read on AO3

Let's take a field trip to Little Sundari!

I actually started writing this almost immediately after I finished the first chapter. Then it grew too large and turned into "The Process of Acquiring a Padawan," a separate fic entirely, and only now have I finished The Depa Section.

I also haven't finished anything I actually like in months so I'm pretty happy to have completed something I actually care about.

A Child's Ink: First Chapter, Series: Anakin and the Jedi Babies

--

Depa’s first encounter with Ylliben Skywalker’s habit of collecting meaningful tattoos comes well before she is introduced to his true past, and even before she starts settling into the knowledge that her own figure is as Jedi Master. He is just an Initiate that she happens to spend sometime with. He is a friend, albeit a much younger one.

His father broaches the subject, first.

“Knight Billaba,” he greets, approaching her in the refectory. “I’m glad I could find you. May I sit?”

She gestures at the empty chair across the small table. “Of course. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Actually, yes,” he says. His smile is almost apologetic. “I may need a favor.”

“I’m listening,” Depa says.

“There’s this tattoo parlor in Little Sundari that I’ve gotten Ylliben an appointment at, to get his ink fixed. I was going to take him there myself, since he officially needs an adult escort until he’s fourteen, but I’ve been tapped in for a mission that clashes with the appointment. Rescheduling could push it out by weeks, even months. Would you be willing to go as his adult? I know it’s a bit of an ask, what with the distance, but I figured since you like the kid…”

Depa considers it. “When’s the appointment?”

“Next Centaxday, eleventh bell.”

She’s got a free spot on in her schedule then. No classes to teach or shifts to take, just some half-planned thoughts of sparring and research in her open time. “I’d be happy to. I’ve never been, actually. I imagine Ben would have an easier time than I figuring out how to navigate, and which restaurants are authentic, if we have time to explore.”

Skywalker grins at her, free and cheery. “I think he’d love the chance to play tour guide, yeah. Not that he knows the area, really, but…”

“I know what you mean,” Depa says. “I look forward to it.”

--

Depa picks up Ylliben from the Initiate dorms early, when the sun has only just risen. The train ride is a lengthy one, and she wants to skip over the crowds as much as possible. They’ll maximize the amount of time they spend in Little Sundari, this way.

When the doors open to release the child within, Ben isn’t quite sleep-rumpled, but he’s bleary-eyed and fighting a yawn. It’s a valiant effort at pretending he’s unaffected by the hour. Depa hides her amusement as best she can, just spreads her arms in an offer to hug.

Ylliben tips forward into her. He buries her face against her middle, fingers grasping at her outer tunic. He does not groan and moan as many a child his age would, but he does huff a soft little sigh of frustration as she hugs him back. Even Depa has to laugh at that, and ruffles his hair as she rocks and turns a little on the spot, letting Ylliben leach at her warmth.

“Early morning for you?” she asks.

“I couldn’t fall asleep as early as I tried,” he mumbles, “and I really tried.”

Poor baby, she coos in her mind. Instead, she assures him, “you can sleep on the train. Do you have everything you need?”

“Comm unit, credits for the ink, credits for lunch and discretionary spending,” Ben confirms. This is punctuated by another adorable little yawn.

Depa glances up past him to the crèchemaster, who nods. “He’s had a small breakfast and his morning medication, and I already got him signed out in your name, Knight Billaba.”

She nods back. “Thank you for being so accommodating.”

“Not at all,” the crèchemaster says. They tap Ben on the shoulder, prompting him to finally pull away from the cocoon of Depa’s robes. “Be safe, listen to Knight Billaba, and remember to comm if you’re going to be late.”

“Yes, Master Popolis,” Ben says, bowing politely despite the grumpiness he continues to radiate.

“And have fun,” Popolis adds.

Ben finally grins. “Yes, Master Popolis.”

“Shall we?” Depa asks as the door whooshes closed.

Ben takes a deep breath that’s certainly another attempt to mask a yawn, and almost manages to sound natural when he answers, “yes, Knight Billaba.”

“You know you can call me Depa,” she tells him, heading towards the hoverbus station in the next wing. “I don’t mind.”

“Kay,” Ben mumbles, eyes drooping despite being on his feet and actively walking.

She ushers him onto the bus, timed perfectly as they planned, and sits in the half-empty transport with full expectation that she’ll have an Initiate dozing against her side in moments. She is proven correct. The other passengers largely ignore them, being mostly commuters, who see Jedi on this route regularly. There is an elderly Rodian, however, probably somebody’s grandparent, who keeps looking up from their knitting to smile at the sight of little Ben half-asleep as he is.

It takes half an hour to reach the CoCo town interdistrict train depot, and then Depa is gently bullying ben to his feet and onto the hypertrain. He goes right back to his prior position, leaning into her side and drowsing like the child he is. She uses the trip to catch up on some reading, occasionally watching the cityscape pass her by. It’s been quite some time since she’s had reason to come this way, and never this far. Little Sundari is about half an hour further along this train than Depa’s ever traveled it before. It’s interesting, the way coruscant changes as they pass from old-continent CoCo town to basin buildings. Little Sundari is among the many “lower class” neighborhoods built on what was once the ocean floor. Little Keldabe, to her memory, is in a more affluent region, up on the plains section of a different past continent. Realistically, the reputation the basin districts have is exaggerated… but it’s technically true that Little Sundari is less than CoCo town.

However, that is because everywhere is less affluent than CoCo town.

They reach the Little Sundari train station two-and-a-half hours after leaving the Temple, and Ben wakes up with far more grace this time. They disembark, and Depa checks her comm.

“We have a few hours before your appointment,” she says, “and it’s a forty-minute walk. Knight Skywalker said you had a few things you wanted to show me on the way?”

Ben brightens, grabbing her hand and tugging. “There’s an uj’alayi shop that Bo told me about!”

“Bo?” Depa asks.

“The Duke’s younger daughter,” Ben says. “She’s a few years older than me, and she came to Coruscant a few years ago with her dad.”

“A friend of yours?”

Ben makes a face. “She’s… a lot.”

Depa stifles a laugh. “Is that so?”

The pout on him is adorable. “I prefer Satine.”

“And who’s that?”

“Bo’s older sister,” Ben says. “She’s a lot nicer, and she doesn’t bite when we spar.”

“Ben,” Depa says, patient as she can, “you bite in spars.”

The look he shoots her could be politely described as ‘disgusted.’

(Continue on AO3)

[fictionalmenaremytype]

Percy Jackson episode 7 spoilers!!!

First of all, that cliff hanger is more cruel than the actual cliffhanger...okay maybe not but you get the point.

- WE GOT CRUSTY'S. If I'm honest though I wasn't really disappointed when I thought he wasn't in it.

- I am sad we didn't get DOA records but the fact that they didn't fare with Charon tells me DOA does still exist they just used a different entrance so I'm hoping for it to be used in a different season. Would be funny if Nico used it in the 5th season with Percy.

- Annabeth's "Dude, don't make me come back out there!" Tell him, WiseGirl!

- Oh my god Percy and Sally at his first boarding school is so sad but when I tell you I cheered when he locked that car door! Persassy at his finest.

- "not in Kansas" "Hey focus, we left kansas four days ago." "Yeah, I-" so it's basically Canon they were going to see the Wizard of Oz in BotL then yeah??

- Percy is so polite with all the souls! "We're all dying...to some extent."

- The boys bribing Charon and Annabeth is staring at them like they are about to get them in trouble again.

- "You can buy a new whistle" I cackled

- AWW CERBERUS...I mean Ahhhh Cerberus!

- Annabeth is so smart but Grover getting eaten?? Was scared he wouldn't come back.

- I feel bad for Aryan being covered in that gloopy stuff that looked gross.

- She just chucks Percy the ball to get herself up! INGENIUS!

- Aww Annabeth's little sad backstop moment and Percy wasn't even listening!

- The way Grover lost the pearl is very clever! I wasn't expecting that but it makes more sense than Poseidon forgetting about Sally.

- New Information?!?!? Mate you could have sent an email!!!! I'm sorry but maybe the fact he was on the school gymnasium roof probably suggests that the school wasn't keeping a good enough watch on him!!! Report the school!!!

- HOMESCHOOL??!?!?! Of course Sally can't do that she's barely able to support her, Percy, and Gabe as is! But Percy seeing all of that is so sad.

- That soul is terrifying I never want to watch the fields of Asphodel scene again (I've watched it four times)

- Annabeth getting stuck because of her regret (which I'm assuming is regret leaving home) I was scared for her. Completely forgot about the pearl.

- I really thought the sound were going to do some Weeping Angel level scary stuff.

- She's so smart using the pearl

- I thought the desert was another dream sequence but nope! How did I forget!

- Sad we didn't get the tartar sauce line but I'm also glad we didn't.

- I am convinced they only came off of Grover's hooves because he has hooves and not feet. If his foot filled the shoe properly he would have been dragged to Kronos.

- "is this?" "No!" "Well it looks like-" "it absolutely is not" "Okay, so what is it then?" "Yeah that's the master bolt." "I mean, I think so right??" I love how they show it takes them longer to get to the truth without Annabeth.

- return the bolt ❌️ Take the bolt to the person you think stole it ✅️

- The café scene is so sad what! "I would never do this to you." Has me sobbing. my favourite thing about the show is all the extra scenes we're getting that explains how difficult it was for Sally to raise Percy, it just adds to why there's so many year-round campers.

- that elevator is badass

- I love how Hades tries to connect with Percy with the nautical reference. He's so funny. I want a scene in season 4 or 5 of Nico just ranting in Italian and Hades sat on his thrown like "Yeah yeah I know."

- PERCY DEFINITELY PANICKED SEEING HIS MUM IM GOLD BECAUSE WHEN HE WAS IN GOLD HE ALMOST SUFFOCATED TO DEATH AND SALLY HAS BEEN LIKE THIS FOR FAR LONGER. HE'S PANICING THAT SALLY IS EXPERIENCING WHAT HE DID.

- "huh?"..."the bolt is my brothers drama I don't want anything to do with it." Spoken like a true middle child.

- "my helm!" "Your what?" So funny. Percy knows loads of stuff about Greek mythology but not about the helm.

- Oh my god, the way this is setting Annabeth up to be the traitor??? The helm turns people invisible like her hat. Percy realised he was supposed to be dragged to Tartarus, which would make sense why she saved him from the chair...he knows someone partnered with Ares, and both Annabeth and Ares were upset with Athena when Ares arrived!! Kind of suspicious...

- "Kronos." chills.

- Hades helping them in exchange for the bolt makes sense now because he only wants to defend his land. He's thinking he's the closest to Tartarus, so he will experience his father's wrath first and therefore needs the strongest weapon.

- "Nice pearl?"

- "Hold fast mum."

- Sally burning the milkshake as an offering is so smart but WHAT CAFÉ HAS MATCHED IN THE SUGAR BOWL?!?!?

- The way Poseidon just turned up because Sally needed him <3 (couldn't do that for Percy though could you mate?)

- "it's a him, he saw it." I cackled.

- Poseidon and Sally having that kind of relationship where they put feelings aside to help the other person. It's giving besties with a child.

- "one day...one day when he's ready...when he knows who he is...and where he belongs...and fate has revealed to him his true path...and that day..." And that day is next Wednesday because surprise! Its a cliff hanger! And the end of the episode!

- The way they looked at eachother when they realised what was about to happen though has set them up to be such a perfect trio.

- I will never get over how cool Ares is!

- And riptide/anaklusmos (which for non book readers is the name of Percy's sword) looked so sick.

This episode was so good and I'm so glad it wasn't like a 25 minute episode. Even though the actual content only took 36 minutes, it felt well spaced and gave time to understand what was happening. I am a little teensy bit worried for how the last episode will go as there's quite a lot to cram in. They have to find the Helm and fight Ares and then they have to return to camp so I'm a little bit worried but I have faith that Rick, Aryan, Leah and Walker will pull it off.

[dilfmansion]

Eclipse ~ Post-TotK Zelink

words: 2k

read on ao3

Nightmares are nothing new to Link.

He’s had them nearly every night since waking up. He doesn’t remember dreaming when he slept then, drifting weightless in that pool of blue fluid, but every time he’s shut his eyes since has been fraught with visions.

Even now, after all that has happened, after the Calamity and the Upheaval, after losing everything and finding it again, he still can’t seem to shake the worry that follows him into sleep.

The dreams are not the same from one night to the next.

Sometimes it’s about his arm.

The feeling of it rotting away while still attached, the flesh infected with malice and death. The way his nerves fry and his grip on the master sword slips as muscle is worn through and rendered useless.

Sometimes it’s Ganon.

Red hair corded like sinew, eyes so full of calm hatred that Link’s hands start to shake if he looks for too long. His hands wrapped around Link’s head, squeezing like he’s trying to burst his skull.

Zelda sleeps with him now. It had been something silently agreed on when she came to stay in Hateno and just never left. It helps, a little— having her there. He likes waking up to the smell of her hair, the press of her hand to his chest, soft murmurs of assurance as she coaxes him back to sleep. It’s a vast improvement from silence and an empty home. It doesn’t stop the dreams, but they seem easier when she’s there.

Today the nightmare is something new.

It begins with the blood moon. Hung low and bright in the sky, it casts deep shadow across the landscape that seems to twist and writhe everywhere it can find darkness. Link blinks. It feels slow, uncoordinated. He recognizes this place, he thinks. A vague approximation of the ruins of Sanidin Park, slightly distorted and stained red from the light of the moon. 

Link steps into the vision. It feels dull, like tepid water lapping against his skin. Strings of malice seep up from the ground and dissipate. It would almost be beautiful, if he didn’t know what it was. What it could do.

He thinks to look up, drawn by some invisible string to the statue of the horse that sits in the middle of the rotunda. Link’s breath stops in his throat.

Zelda stands there. Barefoot, staring up into the bloody sky. She looks like some homage to the Goddess, clad in robes dyed pink and brown by the light of the moon, 

It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

I missed you , Link responds, though he doesn’t remember speaking.

Zelda turns to him slow. Like they’re underwater. 

At the same unhurried pace, Link feels an echo of discomfort at the very fringes of his mind. Something is not right, though he can’t place what. 

The princess picks her steps carefully as she steps towards him. She moves stiffly, like her legs aren’t quite limber enough to carry her. Link frowns. Doesn’t move from where he stands as she approaches.

You are so loyal.

She’s right in front of him, suddenly.

Kneel .

Link does– his legs turn to liquid under him before he can choose to obey. When did she get so close to him?

Do you know why I like you, knight?

He doesn’t like the way she says these things. She speaks to him like he’s a child, but there’s something missing. The words are hollow. Absent of tone. Link swallows down a question– she’s already asked him one, requested an answer. He stays silent for a few beats.

I serve you .

He blinks and Zelda is gone. 

No .

Her voice returns, directly in his right ear, sharp where it should be soft. Link is pushed forward by the force of the word and something he cannot name. He trips over himself to look back at her.

Zelda smiles, the expression dying before it reaches her eyes. 

Silly boy . She rises from her low bow. You’re a fine warrior, but you’re quite dim, aren’t you?

Link’s brow creases, his eyes searching her face. It holds no humor, no sense that she may not be telling the truth. She wears an expression of utter indifference. And Goddess, that hurts .

You would do anything for me, if I asked.

It’s true and Link knows it. Maybe that’s why he falters.

You would kill for me , Zelda continues. Her feet begin to lift off the ground. Black pools flood her eyes in place of vibrant green. You would die for me . You have, before.

Fear crawls into Link like an animal. It begins to gnaw at his bones, make his breath come quick and his hands seize up. He squeezes his eyes shut, praying to the Goddess that that will make this go away, make everything normal again, bring the real Zelda back so that she can laugh and take his hands and tell him kind things.

Link is awarded no such luck.

When he opens his eyes again it’s not to Zelda. It’s to Ganon, looming massive and stifling above him, mirroring the red moon.

You will die again .

Link is ripped from the dream like a bandage from a fresh wound, raw parts of him sticking to its fabric.

He wakes up crying.

The blankets are shoved off as he scrambles to sit up, clawing at his heaving chest, breath catching in his lungs before he can take in enough air. His throat aches and sweat sticks his bangs to his forehead. Streaming in through the window, just as vicious and unwelcoming as it was in his dream, is the light of the blood moon. 

“Link..?”

He responds to the soft call of his name instantly, wild eyes snapping up to find where it came from.

Zelda is standing there at the top of the stairs. She looks almost out of breath, like she had run up them, and pure, soft worry has set creases in the lines of her face.

All Link sees is the Zelda from his dream. Her dead eyes, the way she moved like her limbs were not her own. He hears what she had said to him. How true it had sounded. Like his stupidity was a fact, like all he was good for was following her around like a stray dog and barking only when she commanded it. Link starts to shake his head, his tongue caught.

Zelda moves towards him, slow, careful. She had learned quickly what his nightmares are like, how scared he can be when he wakes up from them. Most nights she is already there next to him, cupping his face in her hands and carding fingers through his long hair and telling him everything is okay. Tonight is different. This is new territory.

“It’s alright,” Zelda is quick to assure, concern creasing her brow as she comes to rest at the side of the bed, kneeling to bring herself closer to Link’s level. “You’re safe, Link, it was only a dream.” She reaches out to him. A hand on his knee, nothing more, but the gesture makes him jump as if he’s been burned. Link recoils, pressing himself into the corner where the bed meets the wall. His breaths begin to come faster, tears spilling down flushed cheeks and fingers trembling where they’ve latched onto a fistfull of the bedsheets.

Zelda’s eyes widen– that had been mistake, evidently. She withdraws her hand, eyes searching Link’s for any sign of what went wrong. What he’s seeing that she’s not. She is a scientist. This is what she does best.

It only takes a few moments for her to notice it. Link is tracking every movement she makes. Every time she blinks. Frantic, hesitant. Assessing what she might do next. Zelda sees it on his face. Slowly, painfully, realization dawns. 

She is a threat.

Zelda ignores the ache in her chest that flares up at that thought. Gingerly, so as not to frighten him more than she already has, she turns around, never raising herself higher than Link’s eye level. She sits with her back to him, a universal act of surrender and trust. Placing the control in his hands. 

“I’m sorry,” she says, soft and level, eyes cast down to the floor, “I didn’t know.”

It doesn't feel like enough. Zelda wants to wrap her arms around Link, press soft kisses to his forehead and show him just how little of a threat to him she is. But now is not the time.

Minutes pass in silence. Eventually Link’s panicked breaths begin to slow, and the light of the blood moon graduates to a softer red as the night passes its peak. 

“It wasn’t you.”

His voice is startling in the quiet. Zelda lifts her head, taking a moment to sit with the words.

“In your dream?”

She doesn’t need an answer to know she’s right. Link has told her about what happened during the Upheaval before, on nights not unlike these. When his hands move feverishly with the weight of words he cannot say. He’s told her about the other Zelda. The figment of malice and deceit that Ganon had seemingly crafted for the sole purpose of destroying Link’s will. Of shredding any hope he had left. It had worked well, if this was any indication.

Zelda moves slowly as she angles herself back towards Link. He’s still backed into the corner like a feral animal, but some of the fear seems to have subsided. Now Link sits there, hand curled in the hair at the back of his neck, miserable and exhausted . Dark circles cast his eyes in shadow, lids only halfway open and lashes wet with clingling tears.

“I know it wasn’t.” Zelda extends a hand again– slower this time, making sure Link sees exactly what she is doing as she places it palm-down on the bed at least a few inches away from him. He watches, makes no change or indication of discomfort. Progress , Zelda thinks. “I’m sorry for frightening you.”

Link shakes his head. He lets his hand fall from his hair, reaching across his lap to let his own hand rest near hers. Not quite touching. 

“I missed you.” 

His voice is so small it hurts. Zelda bridges the gap between them, fingers lacing together in a small promise of assurance, comfort. 

“I will always come back to you.”

That’s all it takes. Link’s face cracks and he looks up, finally meeting her gaze as another round of tears well up in blue eyes. He unfurls himself from his hiding place, stretching out towards Zelda, towards solace.

She meets Link halfway and catches him as he all but falls into her arms. Zelda holds him close against her as she smooths his hair down against the back of his head, chest hitching with ragged sobs. His fingers curl in the back of her tunic. 

They hold each other fast there for far too long to count. Hours, maybe. Until Link breathes steadily again and his fingers loosen in the fabric of her clothes. Zelda only moves when her legs begin to grow numb beneath her. She joins him in their bed then, limbs tangling together as they curl into one another, as close as they can be without taking up residence beneath each others’ skin.

It’s late– early, rather, and they both need rest. Link breathes out against her, long and soft. Gentle. At ease. He reaches out until he finds her hand, calloused fingers cradling hers as he turns it palm-up to face them and begins to write against her skin. The slow drag is warm and familiar. I love you. Zelda smiles, kisses the side of his head.

“I love you,” she returns, a whisper against Link’s temple, and it’s so earnest because it’s true. She would give her life for him in a heartbeat and take care of him until the word ceases to spin. He is the bravest person she has ever met. The strongest, the kindest, the most honest. He is a thousand perfect things, and he will hear every one if it takes her a lifetime to speak them all.

As the last rays of the blood moon fade, and the sky cedes to the dim light of morning, Zelda feels the soft imprint of his smile press against her collarbone.

[slashingdisneypasta]

I love complicated relationships between heroes and villains.

Andy keeping Chucky near and calling him best friend even while he feels fury and disgust and fear just looking at him, because to be fair Chucky has been there, haunting him, for as long as he can remember. He was just a child when this started, he barely remembers a time without Chucky hunting him. They have each other in the worst way.

Meg looking at Hercules and seeing his uncle sometimes. They were more then servant and master to each other and everyone knows it; Just because it was never said doesn't mean its not true, and Meg has to live with that all the time. She thought she had nothing to lose, it wasn't like she liked him- but that doesn't change the fact that her and Wonder Boy's shared monster-- will always mean something slightly different, to her. She wants to recover but without anyone to understand her trauma, where does she start??

Laurie wanting to kill Michael, wanting to shoot him in the head over and over until his head is just bone fragments and blood on the pavement looking like a Picasso. But at the same time feeling connected to him because there is no Laurie Strode in the world, without the monster that keeps trying to kill her. Without Michael.

Basil grieving Ratigan. Like, seriously grieving him. And honestly?-- Hoping, that he... survived, somehow. He cant say it out loud and he cant talk about it with anyone, not even dear Dawson- he can barely even face his own thoughts on the subject. But Ratigan was the only other that... understood, and... that could contend, with him... And he'll miss that for the rest of his life. For the rest of his life, there will be something missing from him. And he has to live with the fact that that thing he misses, was a disgusting, nefarious criminal that hurt more people then even he could count and would have happily continued.

Jasmine, having grown up with Jafar - him being almost another uncle to her over the years, - , having to sort through her memories differently, now... Those times she ran into him stalking the halls in the middle of the night and she snarked pettily at him just because she didn't like him? Was there an even darker note to those moments that she didn't recognise back then??

Lori waking up in the middle of the night, sometimes, wondering about Jason. He didn't deserve what happened to him, he was a victim. She wishes she could have saved him... that someone, could have saved him. Will worries about Freddy, but while he's shaking and hyperventilating about nightmares, Lori's in her own head- at Crystal Lake, looking for the boy who deserved better. Hoping he finds peace. She doesn't dare say it out loud, though.

In the night, Simba remembers his uncle the way he was when he was a kid. His silly uncle- kind of sad, and a little scary, but fun. His favourite adult. But during the day he remembers the terrible way Scar looked at him in the end, how he manipulated him and took away years with his mother... how Simba had killed him... And he doesn't know how to merge the two no matter how many times Nala tells him Scar was always dark. Sometimes Simba cant sleep from the guilt from murdering his uncle.

Drake looking at Jim in that old costume and that chainsaw with that insane look in his eyes and feeling utterly heartbroken. He looked up to this Darkwing Duck for his whole life- Jim helped him to get through the worst parts of it, in fact. Without Jim he may not have made it! But now Jim's a destroyed person, mad with envy and his hero is trying to hurt him!! All Drake can think is how This isn't right, this isn't right. This isn't right...

Jim (Gordon) looking at Barbara now and despite the horrors that she has willingly committed, sometimes he sees the woman he was planning to spend the rest of his life with...

[altairattorney]

[SEKIRO] Dust Hymn

The fury in Owl’s eyes is unparalleled. And a thought without precedent, somewhere from the newly loose soil of his mind, makes something in Wolf snap.

Little voices left to rot and plot The crunching of your teeth may help you sleep, but will not lift you Always wished you'd walk through another song Hang you like a lullaby - Purity Ring, Dust Hymn

[AO3]

“Forsake him”.

The tone of Owl’s words is familiar and new at once. The commanding tone of a man who is not used to waiting, tinged with the slightest hint of an urgency that was never there before. The hesitation between them hangs heavier with each passing second.

A terrible risk to take with someone who is, by any means, not patient.

Wolf tries to say something, but no words are found in his mouth. He has never even considered responding to an order before. His gaze slides to the door instead, then to the stairs, and there is no stopping what comes next – the images fill his mind one by one, faster than lightning.

He is thirteen, curled into a corner of their modest home. The filth on the floorboards he lies on does not bother him. Soft voices converse just outside the walls, and he is a ball of tension as he tries to catch as many words as possible. His rest hinges on what Lady Butterfly will say – every night her lips hold his fate, the fine line between sleep or fifteen minutes of blinding pain. She will scold his father if he dares, that is true. It will not matter. Enraged Owl is a beast, and for good reason, he says; the monster in him is what pushes Wolf onward, as there is no mercy on the road to perfection. He strains to listen until his ears ache. Then, defeated, he closes his eyes, wishing he could fall asleep without having to think about anything.

He is in his twenties, and the screen door opens on nothing more than an infant. The creature in front of him knows a life he could never have pictured; as revered as it is defenseless, his frail frame looks like it could snap in half under Owl’s hands. Wolf kneels as he was raised to do, without the need to ask about anything. But the way boy wanders towards him, accompanied by an attendant in his bumbling little steps, is rewriting something in the way he understands the world. Maybe one day this child will grow into a different kind of man, one with insights and stories nobody ever cared to tell him. Maybe, somehow, Wolf will capture a hint of something new, by just standing at his side.

He is some years older, already dying alone. He failed to expect the unexpected, and it is all his fault – if he could so carelessly be struck from behind, he deserves to die just the way it happened. Shame is the last trace of life in the trail of his breath, and occupies each thought of deprecation. He thinks of how he failed his master, his family, but above all his own father. The pain of his burns echoes that of the past, when he was a young boy in constant need of punishment. He deserves it, he knows. He deserves exactly what he got. He does not deserve – nor could he expect – the small hand that holds his out of nowhere, and the pleading voice that brings him back to life.

He is a few days younger than today, and he staves off exhaustion by chewing on bits of the sweet rice ball throughout the night. Kuro is sleeping just behind him, so tired from carrying such a huge weight on his lean shoulders. He cannot ask for more – he would never dare – but every fiber of him wishes he was allowed to. The food is lending him restoration he has not felt in years, like a hot spring in the middle of a cold Ashina winter. Though it still feels beyond his comprehension, Wolf begins grasping some of it – the care that must have gone into making this food, the time spent for the sake of someone else, for his own sake. It is a small idea, newborn and fragile, somewhat like the child he first met so many years ago. That too, Wolf feels, is something worth protecting. And he chews on it with the food, alone in the night, with the sound of Kuro’s light breathing as his only company.

He is back, to the here and now. The fury in Owl’s eyes is unparalleled. And a thought without precedent, somewhere from the newly loose soil of his mind, makes something in Wolf snap.

He is alive. He breathes and thinks and talks, despite the machinations of the monster he called father. He is alive, but not thanks to him. He is no longer a scared boy curled on a filthy floor. And he may never get what he wished for – a duel, even a word, on the same level as him – but he is aware that his father’s approval, of all things, is not what he needs anymore.

He does not need his father. He does not need to give an answer, either. He can do better than that.

Wolf takes a deep breath, and then – for the first time – he chooses to draw his sword.

[linkedkeysau-official]

"What's My Age Again?" - A LK/HW oneshot

AO3 link

It was late, and Link was still awake, going over battle plans and strategies once more. Things had been calm these past few days, but he, Zelda, and Impa all agreed they should be ready at any moment should things turn sour. He’d thought Mask was asleep. He’d hoped so at least. Still it hardly came as a surprise to hear the little one quietly attempt to get his attention.

“Captain…?” Link turned around. He knew immediately the kid’s question wasn’t going to be as simple as why he was still up this late or something small like that. Clearly written on the smaller hero’s face was a look of worry. Something was really bothering him.

“What’s up, Sprite?” Link pulled himself away from his work to come sit beside the boy at the edge of his cot. 

“H-How old am I? Like… How old do you think I am?” He asked awkwardly. This was not the first time Link had seen the kid struggle with this. In truth, nobody knew the kid’s true age. He had the body of a 10-year-old, sure, but his mind was clearly far more mature than that. And yet, neither adults nor kids seemed to understand him. 

“I don’t… I don’t really know how to answer that.” Link admitted.

“Just… If you had to guess.” Mask pressed.

“Well, you look about 9 or 10. But I’ve seen you act like you’re 17 or 18. So… Somewhere in the middle? 14 or 15 perhaps? Does that feel right?” Link asked. Mask paused, but shook his head.

“No. It feels just as wrong as every other guess.” he said sadly.

“Well, how old do you feel?” Link asked him.

���I’m… Not sure. That’s why I asked. No number feels right. Sometimes I feel older than I should be. Sometimes I feel younger.” He explained, “Everything made sense before the Master Sword… After that it was like I was a child in the body of an adult. But when I got sent back, it was like being an adult in the body of a child! But do I even know what it feels like to be an adult either? I’ve never really been one, no matter the lie my body told. But… Can I really call myself a kid anymore? So much has happened since I left the forest, and I don’t think I could ever go back to the way things were. I’m not a kid, I’m not an adult, and nothing in between feels right either. So… Just how old am I?!” he wailed. Link wasn’t sure how to respond at first. He had no idea the effect that messing with time so much had on this kid… this person… Well, he did, but not anywhere near the full magnitude of it. The poor guy was having a full-on internal crisis, and Link had no idea how to help. Or did he…?

“Okay. Disregarding how you feel, how do you want people to see you? How do you want to act? Basically, how old do you want to be?” Link asked. Mask hesitated. Link could almost see the thoughts running through his mind. He felt too old, and he certainly didn’t like when people treated him like a helpless, fragile, or immature baby… But did he really want to be considered a grownup? He could handle responsibility, sure. But did he want to constantly carry those burdens the way the Captain did? Or did he want to let go, to let himself mature more before worrying about that again? Did he want to embrace his self-sufficiency and be left to take care of himself all on his own again? Or… Would it be too bad to let someone else help him for once? Mask believed he knew his answer now.

“...10. I want to be 10 again.” He said quietly, “I’m not ready to grow up yet. I want… I want to be a kid again.” The Captain gave him a small smile.

“Alright. 10 years old it is.” His smile turned into a smirk, and Mask got the feeling he wasn’t going to like what happened next, “Buuuut, if that’s the case, then I think it’s past your bedtime.” Before Mask could react, the Captain had scooped him up and wrapped him in his soft blue scarf so the kid couldn’t escape.

“WAIT NO I TAKE IT BACK!!! PUT ME DOWN!!!” He shrieked. Link laughed,

“Nope, too late. Besides, your little body needs the sleep regardless of what age you are mentally.” He set the kid down on his cot. Mask stopped trying to fight back and resigned himself to letting the Captain tuck him in.

Tuck him in… A soft goodnight from a caretaker; Mask never had that before. It was strange, but… comforting. It was nice. Something he wanted to get used to. He knew he shouldn’t. But… would it be that bad to embrace the babying just a little bit? 

“Goodnight, Sprite. Sweet dreams.” Link said, gently ruffling the kid’s hair with a smile. 

“‘Night, Captain…” 

[children-of-the-sun-au]

Hey guys! New ask blog!

1000 years after the Journey, the Jade Emperor realizes how low the security is so tries to create an army that would combat any enemy, their first choice? Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong created OffSprings by the gift of the Goddess Nuwa’s magic to create Heaven’s very own, Stone Monkey Army.

———————————————————————————-

Rules:

-No NSFW, Blog runner is a minor.

-No Homophobia

-No Toxicity, respect all ships

-No spam please

-No Anon Magic (Unless it’s to gift a character something)

-Have fun!

Additional Rules:

Address me as Sunny! You’ll know I’m talking if I speaking in this: ‘font’

Arc 1: Welcome! When MK gets arrested by the Celestial Realm things get a turn for him and he learns things about his mentor he thought never existed.

Arc 2: after they are invited to a party by Tang’s obnoxious parents. Shenanigans ensue when the Celestial Realm’s own party gets crashed

Arc 3: Surprise surprise! A two-parter arc, MK and Zammy’s birthdays are coming whoo-hoo! But what’s this? Something lurking in the corner? Well strap on folks cause this one might be a doozy!

Arc 4: Part two of Arc 3! Shi Ku strikes at the heart of the Celestial Realm endangering it at last! But what’s this? A secret revealed from the Zodiac himself?!

Arc 5: A trial is held for the Zodiac Monkey’s fate and the fate of his child…but when biases and corruption play a role in the fates, will there be true justice to this all?

Arc 6: MK and Zammy end up in a bit of a scuttle with the Zodiacs. However this lands them in the Monkey District where MK learns a bit of information of his mother and father.

Arc 7: MK begins training with Chikao and a family bonding is in session

Arc 8: Years have passed and MK has mastered his training, however, it seems as if he’s caught himself in a middle of a warzone

Arc 9: The battlefield has shook, Destiny will finally be destroyed…right?

Arc 10: All out war is coming for the Monkey King’s Children against the Celestial Realm. As the balance gets shaken even further, how will fate once more be saved?

Arc 11: Mysterious forces are at play…luckily, we’re trying not to traumatize Wukong even more!…right?

Arc 12: Zammy and Rin try to find a way to have separate souls…meanwhile Erlang gets a coronation…temporarily…no seriously the Jade Emperor hates him

Arc 13: The New Jade Emperor gets corrupted by the power and thus does an Adam against the Stone Monkey Army…battle ensues as a Constellation has fallen.

Arc 14: Shenanigans ensue when the fallen has arisen and some more love drama

Arc 15: Being the Jade Emperor is tough man…

Arc 16: A deal gone wrong, when Dragon defects and tries to defy chaos.

Arc 17: Let’s get into the season of LOVE with some Valentine’s Specials.

Arc 18: Let’s continue the Season of Love with a crazy er…can we even call her an ex?

—————————————

!REBOOTED!

Arc 1: MK gets arrested by Jidu for Season 2 and afterwards accidentally breaks a rule against his Constellation.

Arc 2: Azure escapes, a secret is revealed and ooh, more Wukong lore.

Arc 3: Rin and Zammy go to trial. Ling becomes MK’s constellation and we get a slight preview of the Zodiac Monkey’s past…also Wukong and Rin might have a baby

Arc 4: After the trial Wukong and Rin settle down. However, MK gets captured because of a stunning surprise from Wukong’s other family.

Arc 5: It’s Con Swap Day! And okay Li Jing is being a jerk nevermind

Arc 6: MK finds out there’s more to himself than he seems when Zammy reveals a secret…also Pigsy tries to flirt with Rin despite Tang’s annoyance.

Arc 7: Zodiac Monkey’s secret is revealed and we get Zammy backstory.

Arc 8: The Trial has commenced however. It seems like Zodiac Monkey has something up his sleeve

Arc 9: Seems like things are getting a little…tense…the New Jade Emperor seems to have gotten himself an army

Arc 10: Azure is defeated…and Zammy gets a funeral.

!Spoilers for Season 5 in the Next Arc!

Arc 11: Dang a long arc…welp basically…it’s Season 5…but with a lot of twists.

Arc 12: Short World MK Arc except MK accidentally breaks the fourth wall…

Arc 13: Multiversal war arises…looks like MK’s in for a real treat.

[blackcur-rants]

Sylvia Jacqueline Carton dove her face into her bowl of noodles, greedily devouring every last inch of her meal with the intensity of a jackal going down on a piece of meat. Her face was absolutely getting messed up and dirty and would probably end up smelling stronger and more pungent than a figgy pudding at Christmas time, but Sylvia didn’t care. It tasted good and that was all that mattered.

And once the meal was finally finished, Sylvia groaned with satisfaction, for that was the most filling meal she had ever had in her entire life. Sylvia had not been poor growing up, in fact quite the opposite. Though being a poor orphan of mixed Irish and Chinese descent growing up in the middle of the rolling fields and tranquil village squares of rural Shropshire had had its difficulties for sure, Sylvia’s aunt Christina had always made sure she was fed and well-cared for as she occupied her strange life of living halfway being the scruffy, dirty village tomcat and the magnificent and noble honours student of the local school. Aunt Christina (the older twin sister of Sylvia’s father Peter Gerald Carton, a rather stout and peculiar but kind-hearted man who had raised Sylvia on his own for the most part after his Hong Kong-born wife Melissa Elaine Sima had died of bowel cancer when Sylvia was four years and three months old before dying himself in a freakish car accident when Sylvia was eight years and seven months old and leaving his sole child in his own sister’s care) had been the bartender at the local pub in their hometown of Upton Magna, and thus had been a master of cooking fabulous and wonderful feasts for her little niece even before she became the girl’s official guardian. As a result of growing up with all of this good food and drink in her life as a grieving and rather lonely but highly intelligent child, Sylvia had always turned to eating and drinking a nice meal or two whenever she was stressed out by something or other, which was honestly rather frequent in the profession where she worked.

“Wow” a friendly and well-meaning voice called out as Sylvia was finishing the last of her broth, “You really were super, super hungry in the aftermath of that case, weren’t you?”

Sylvia stopped for a while before accidentally spitting out all of her remaining broth all over poor Charles Jonathan Stryver’s face. Stryver was somewhat bemused at this turn of events and did nothing much other than just calmly and carefully pick up a towel and wipe the hot soup broth off of his face.

“Yeah, I was” Sylvia responded after not much time, “I don’t know. There was just…something about that woman that just…captured my imagination or something else in me in a way no one else ever has”.

“She does kind of look like you, to be quite honest” Stryver said at last as he finished wiping the last of the soup broth off of his face.

“Yes, I am aware of that” Sylvia said again, “but thank you for stating the obvious, Professor”.

It was true though. Catherine Elizabeth Darnay had gotten stuck inside of Sylvia Jacqueline Carton’s head and just refused to get out of there. There was just something about the way she laughed at some bad, cheesy joke or another, the way she had smiled when Sylvia had gotten her off the hook for whatever stupid, bullcrap charges had been hurled at her for her time as a Red Cross nurse serving in Iraq, as if caring for human life and well-being had made her somehow complicit in the atrocities of Saddam or Osama. There was not much that Sylvia knew about Catherine, only that she had been born in Algeria, the daughter of a French businessman and his Algerian wife, with both of her father and her maternal grandfather having some connection or another to the infamously awful Evremonde Industrial Manufacturing, one of the cruellest and most disgusting military industrial war crime-profiting criminal leagues in the whole entire world. Fortunately though, it seemed to Sylvia at least that Catherine was a good and kind and noble woman who had long since rejected the wicked ways of her vile family and had chosen to be good and kind and just to all of God’s children.

(It’s so funny how I’m for the most part an atheist and yet I still think of Cat Darnay as almost a woman of God Themselves. Must be Aunt Christina’s upbringing again or maybe iit was just being brought up in proximity to a church and having a vicar’s daughter for a first crush).

Of course, it was not to be. Catherine was already deeply, deeply in love with another person, a local nurse from Bloomsbury named Lucine Manette, who was said to be as beautiful and intelligent as they were also gentle and kind and loving. It was said in almost all of London’s finest queer circles that they were the hottest and most eligible panromantic bisexual in all of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And yet they had never married at all, for they were most prominently invested in taking care of their father Alexandre, a journalist who had attempted to blow the whistle on American war crimes in the first Gulf War and had been imprisoned on Riker’s Island for eighteen years until Lucine had successfully smuggled him out of New York to London in 2011. Sylvia sweated a little and rubbed her left hand through the jet black buzzcut that was her recently cut hair at the thought of both Catherine and Lucine, whose beautiful performances of the feminine gender made Sylvia feel even more than usual like she was the butchest butch who ever butched. Of course, Sylvia was not the super-butch lesbian that either she or her compatriots sometimes imagined her as being. Of course, she had very much been the village tomboy when she was little, always more comfortable running around in tattered jeans and light white t-shirts with a freckled smile on her face as she sat by herself with a book under the old ash trees that made up the forests around her home village of Upton Magna than trying to be a pretty little girl laughing and giggling with the other village children. However, she had never held more “girly” things in all that much contempt. In fact, she had loved the brave and headstrong young women she saw in her childhood princess movies and classic novels even as most of them had worn dresses rather than pants and ended up with hot boys rather than with other beautiful girls. In fact, for most of her childhood, Sylvia had dreamed of moving to the city to find a beautiful, strong woman to take her up into her arms and spirit her away into a new life of wonder and love…only to come to London and find that all of the eligible and beautiful queer women had been taken and she herself was left all alone. And that, sadly, was when her heart had started to turn as cold and bitter as a winter snowstorm, and when she had begun to harden herself to the idea of love and companionship and had resigned herself to the fate of being alone and fairly miserable with only her mentor Professor Charles Jonathan Stryver and her books and Hakkasan food to keep her company through her darkest times.

However, no sooner than Sylvia Jacqueline Carton started on the depths of these musings when she saw none other than Catherine Darnay and Lucine Sophia Manette coming into the Hakkasan and sitting down together on a date. Sylvia was rather reluctant to be seen by them for fear of embarrassing herself in front of both these supremely lovely and most excellent individuals. So instead of even trying to sit in the same vague vicinity as both of these beloveds, Sylvia Jacqueline Carton bolted straight up from the table and ran to the bathroom to gather her thoughts as she stared into the mirror. Once there, Sylvia Carton plopped herself down onto the toilet and tried desperately not to scream loudly at the top of her lungs as she held her head tightly between her hands. Part of her just wanted to quiet down and head silently home through a way that nobody else could see until she could flop down upon her bed and let the tidal wave of emotions ride all over her until she could fall asleep at last…and meanwhile, another part of her just wanted to strip off all of her clothes then and there and scream naked into a mirror until she passed out at last and had to be carried home by Stryver…until she then remembered that the London autumns were, to put it very bluntly, not the warmest and most pleasant experiences in the world, and she decided that being able to get home calmly and quickly was a much, much better thing than being carried home in her birthday suit by her old professor. And so it was that, once the pounding in her ears had died down into a barely audible crawl and once her heart had ceased pounding and settled down into a quiet yet still constantly eternal vibration that kept the human body alive for as long as it could, the lawyer known as Sylvia Jacqueline Carton finally exited the bathrooms of this humble London Hakkasan and reentered into the world of normal conversation.

However, when Sylvia Carton reentered into said world of normal conversation, the conversation that was wholly surrounding her was anything but normal, to put it very, very bluntly. For there was on the restaurant TV screen at the moment a special presentation from the BBC about how national hero John Arthur Barsad had been caught trying to play hanky panky with Jeremiah Isaac Cruncher, a local bank teller for Tellson’s Bank. And one must know, dearest reader, that when your narrator refers to “hanky panky”, they are in fact referring to a massive blow job that Mister Cruncher administered to Mister Barsad and which Mister Barsad had decided to record on video and had accidentally posted to his Facebook account and which was now going viral across the nation.

(And possibly the world, if we’re being quite honest)

[thetempleofthemasaigoddess]

Vassal of the King (part 4)

Frerin x OFC

Author's annotations are here!

*****

Frerin is one hundred and twelve years old on the day he meets Verdandi for the first time.

Tharak Bazan is just the last of a long list of towns and villages he has reached, and stopped in, during his years of wandering. He has worked as a smith, busboy, stablehand, bricklayer and much more, whatever he could find and paid enough for food and the simplest of abodes, even though he cannot count the nights he has spent under the sky, both in winter and in summer. Frerin has lived his childhood as a prince, with servants who took care of his every need, and his youth as a vagabond, depending on the kindness of others for sustenance and never knowing when he would eat next; the circumstances he is in now are an acceptable middle ground, where he can afford very little more than what he really needs, but he has realized he likes it - or at least, he feels content enough with the life he has chosen for himself.

He moves without a set destination, not rarely leaving the choice of path to the toss of a coin, never stopping for more than a year in the same place, between lands populated by Dwarves (he keeps his braids neat and simple, terrified at the idea someone might recognize him as one of Erebor's people, or worse, as a child of the Line of Durin) and in others where his short stature makes him easily recognizable among Men. He could not explain why, but even in the most hospitable town, when his work was well paid and the people were friendly and there were no roaches in his mattress nor rain filtering through the roof, he has never fully felt at ease, always knowing that was not his place and he would have to leave soon. Maybe this is his destiny, he has reflected more than once as he checked whether he had coin left for an ale or mended his boots as Dís had taught him before setting out on the road once more, to never find a new home after losing his true one to Smaug. Or maybe he is being punished, because the Maker does not forgive who among his children abandons their family when they are needed the most.

Frerin reflects on those almost four decades of wandering as he works on a horseshoe at the anvil, the hammer heavy in his hand and the sweat trickling down his back under his shirt. It is not a bad life after all; the comforts and riches of his youth in Erebor are far behind him, but at least now he has no one telling him what to do; he is free to live his life as he pleases. No one counting on him, no one expecting anything from him apart from a good day's work and the coin to pay for his room. No expectations to live up to, no duty and responsibility beyond his skills pushed on his shoulders.

It is a relief. Bittersweet, and with an unpleasant aftertaste of guilt, but at least he can sleep easily at night... most of the time.

Also, only three days have passed since his arrival at Tharak Bazan and he has already found lodging and a job, thanks to a chance encounter with a smith, the owner of a well-established forge and in need of an assistant, friend of the Dwarf who rents him his room. Master Volg put him to work for half a day, unable to fully hide how impressed he was with the younger Dwarf's skills. "The job is yours." he simply said, and Frerin felt a pathetic, naive flutter of pride filling his heart; he had been prepared for much more, but the teachings of his father and grandfather are once more allowing him to earn his keep. He is not exactly swimming in coin, but he can afford an ale or two in the evening and even to replace his boots, severely tested after the last march. What else does he need?

Yes, it is a good life; a life to be content with. Or at least so Frerin keeps repeating in his mind, so often he can almost convince himself, as he does his utmost not to think about his family, about Dís and Thorin, about how terribly he misses them and how heavy his heart is with shame and guilt for his past actions, and how often he feels himself suffocating because of the melancholy and the solitude that have become his inseparable companions...

He does not regret his choice after the discussion with his brother; he could not have done differently, and his family deserved better than him. But then why do I feel so wretched? Why would I give half of my blood to go back, or even just to see the two of them again, just one last time...?

"May I come in?"

Frerin lifts his eyes from the anvil, vaguely shaken and at the same time grateful for the chance to avoid those thoughts, those memories, those feelings he cannot seem to make peace with and that traitorously return to his mind when he least expects it. "Yes?"

A red-haired Dwarf woman has entered the forge, looking around her with uncertainty; the sound of Frerin's voice startles her, and for a moment she looks upset, as if annoyed she had been taken by surprise by someone she had not seen. "Where is master Volg?" she asks once she has composed herself.

"He has been called away for a commission. I am his new assistant. May I be of assistance?" Frerin politely asks, and the Dwarf woman hesitates, as if she were really deciding whether he was up to the task. Her hair, reaching her waist in two thick braids, is really red, but not the flame colour so popular, and uncommon, among the Dwarf women of Erebor. Hers is a darker hue, almost burgundy, that suddenly reminds Frerin of his mother's favourite necklace, set with five garnets as big as quail eggs, that Thráin had gifted his wife on the occasion of Thorin's birth.

He liked that necklace; and he likes that colour.

"Maybe." she concedes in the end; she approaches Frerin as she takes something out of her satchel "I would have this repaired, if you can."

She hands him a case of worn leather, a knife inside. It is a simple, albeit well-made, tool, its single-edged blade clean and that must have been sharpened recently; a few runes are engraved on the handle. The blade is broken, almost perfectly in half, but the Dwarf woman has carefully put back the two pieces in the case, so as not to scratch the handle.

"Well?" she asks, sounding perhaps more worried and earnest than she wishes "Can you repair it?"

Frerin shrugs his shoulders as he turns the knife over in his hands to examine it. "Yes, it should not be too hard. Although..."

"Although?"

"You are free to do as you like, but if I were in your boots I would discard this one and buy a new one. Look there." he invites her as he waves to a small table nearby, on which Volg has arranged a few tools on sale "You will find a couple of knives of the same, or even of a better, quality than yours. It will be cheaper than having it repaired."

It is an advice Frerin has given in fairness, to help the Dwarf woman who otherwise would have probably spent her coin in vain; it will be a loss for the forge and Volg, a master he has already come to respect, but Frerin cannot stand shop owners and artisans who take advantage of their clients' naivety.

But the Dwarf woman does not seem to appreciate his thoughtfulness; for a moment she even looks offended by the idea. "No, thank you." she answers, immediately taking back the case with the knife from Frerin's hands and protectively grasping it in her own, as if afraid he might steal it "Thank you for your time, I better ask somewhere else."

She bows her head and turns, briskly walking towards the forge's doors, her braids gently swaying with her steps. Frerin looks at her for a moment, and then, following an impulse he could not explain but that in the years to come he will bless as the most fortunate moment of his life, he follows her.

"Wait, please." he asks, laying a hand on her shoulder - and immediately regretting it, given the warning look she casts in his direction. She has light blue eyes, and full lips on a fair-skinned oval face; she is not smiling, but she has the sort of features that Frerin guesses would make dimples appear on her cheeks if she did.

She is beautiful.

"What is it? I do not want to buy a new knife."

"You do not have to; but will you please tell me what has gotten into you? I only wanted to advise you about the best way to spend your coin. Why did you react as if I had tried to rob you?"

It is perhaps an improper question to ask, and he should simply let her go and return to his work; what if master Volg comes back, and finds him arguing with a client? But he is intrigued, and wants to know the truth about her reaction; the Dwarf woman looks at him, as if assessing his sincerity, and after a moment she sighs.

"I am sorry; I did not mean to sound disrespectful." she mumbles, which of course is not an answer to Frerin's question; he gently takes the knife inside its case from her hands, and she lets him have it after a moment of indecision.

"Come back in an hour, please."

The Dwarf woman obeys. When she steps in the forge for the second time -Volg has not returned yet, but by now Frerin has forged enough horseshoes for the whole of Rohan's army- she looks twice as anxious as before, but her lips open in the largest, happiest smile Frerin has ever seen when he presents the knife to her, blade clean and whole once more. "You did it!"

"It was actually pretty easy. It is a good tool, the two pieces solded perfectly. You should be able to use it as you did before."

The Dwarf woman smiles, happy and relieved as if she had been told a deadly disease had left her body; Frerin looks at her as she takes back the knife from his hands, kisses it devotedly and delicately puts it back in its case. "Thank you; thank you, truly. Forgive my discourtesy, I should have not reacted like I did."

"I am not offended. Will you tell me why you were, then?"

She smiles; and, as expected, the dimples appear. She is holding the knife, back in its case, as if it were the Arkenstone, or a newborn baby. "I think you deserve it. It is actually pretty simple: this knife belonged to my father, who passed into the Halls a few years ago. He used it for his work."

"What was your father's trade?"

"He was a tanner; and a pretty good one at it, according to his clients. I saw him skin animals with this knife for decades; my mother had gifted it to him, and he considered it his amulet. This is why I could never throw it away and replace it, even if the blade could not be repaired; it is the dearest token we have of him."

"I see." Frerin says, and he does; he left the camp carrying with him the little he owned and nothing more, and while his family and friends (his mother and grandfather, both lost; his father, disappeared towards who knows what doom; his dear brother and sister, who he would give anything to see again) are still in his heart, the memories as vivid as the day he last saw them, he sometimes wishes he had a small gift or a token to remember them by.

Oh, well. They would not want one of mine, that is for sure.

Silence falls between them. The Dwarf woman puts back the case with the knife in her satchel, but her eyes are still trained on Frerin; he looks back at her because, he finds out, he cannot help it. The azure of her irises is pretty, but that is not what has captivated him: it is the intensity of her gaze, the way her eyes smile even once her expression has turned serious.

Suddenly, as if waking up from a daydream, the Dwarf woman starts rummaging in her satchel, finally retrieving a few silver coins that she offers to Frerin. "Is this enough?"

He takes two of the coins, mentally calculating a fair price given Volg's rates. "As I said, it was a pretty easy job."

She smiles, and suddenly Frerin forgets how to swallow. "Thank you." she whispers "Truly, thank you, master...?"

"Fjalar, son of Farri." he promptly answers; after forty years, the lie comes naturally to his lips, even though Thráin's face still appears in front of his eyes' for a fleeting moment, every time he introduces himself "At your service."

"I am Verdandi, daughter of Rann, at yours and your family's."

Those last words should feel like a stab in Frerin's heart, like they have every time his introduction has been reciprocated in the last four decades; but for the first time they do not, even though he does not fully understand why - yet.

The Dwarf woman takes her leave, but she has taken only a few steps on the busy street when she turns and smiles at Frerin, who has followed her to the forge's doors. He smiles back and waves at her, thinking that he would really like to see her again, this Verdandi daughter of Rann.

TAGGING @starlady66 and @elvenenby.

[babybluebex]

𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 | 𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 | your period cramps are especially bad one night, and, after letting him in on a secret, eddie offers himself up to help you feel better. 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | eddie munson (stranger things, 2022) x fem!reader 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬 | smut (minors dni, , period sex, oral and fingering f!receiving, p in v sex, unprotected sex) mentions of blood, praise kink, master kink, everyone in this is 18+ and if you aren't, you shouldn't be reading it! 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 | i’m riding the crimson wave and need a sweet eddie to help get rid of my cramps so i wrote this and am living vicariously through it lol

“What’s wrong, baby?” Eddie asked, smoothing his hand down your arm. “You seem really down today.” 

“Nothing’s wrong,” you assured him. “Just a little tired, that’s all.”

“Are you sure?” Eddie asked. “Because you’re not trying to sneak into my lap or anything.”

It was true. You had been sitting on Eddie’s bed with him for almost an hour now, absorbed in your book and almost fully ignoring Eddie. Your reason was simple, though; your curled-up position against his pillows eased the painful cramps in your middle. If you tried to move, the cramps and aches got worse, and curled up was the best position for you. 

Eddie had been sitting on the edge of his bed, trying to figure out a Metallica riff by ear. He had been making good progress, too, until he had stopped and turned to you. 

“I’m sure,” you told him. “I’m just reading, that’s all.” 

“Really?” Eddie asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Because you’ve been staring at me for the past five minutes. Doesn’t seem like reading to me, princess.” 

“Sorry,” you mumbled. “I’m just… Crampy, you know?” 

“Aw,” Eddie pouted, and he grabbed your hand and kissed your fingers. “Does your tummy hurt?” 

“Eddie,” you sighed. “I’m not a child, my tummy doesn’t hurt. I’ve just got period cramps, okay? And sitting like this makes them hurt less.” 

Eddie strung off his guitar and set it on its holder in the wall, and he moved carefully to you. He put his arm around you and tugged you close into his body, and you buried your face in his warm chest, breathing in his scent of stale cigarettes and cologne and his natural musk. Eddie was always a comfort to you, especially in moments like these, and you kissed his chest through his shirt. 

“I’m sorry,” Eddie uttered softly, and he smoothed his hand down your head. “What can I do for you, sweetheart?” 

“Nothing,” you said, then, a moment later, upon second thought, added, “Have you got any Tylenol?” 

“I think so,” Eddie said, and he started to get up, but you tugged him back, whining softly. “Baby, I can’t get it for you if you don’t let go.” 

“But I want you,” you mumbled, and Eddie pouted at you. 

“My sweet girl,” he whispered, and he kissed your forehead. “Fine. I’ll stay. But seriously, is there anything I can do to help you feel better?” 

You knew of one thing he could do, but you were unsure of if he would want to. You had heard that, apparently, having an orgasm would help ease period cramps and, while you didn’t feel apprehensive about asking, you figured Eddie would want nothing to do with that. Your anxiety spiked in your chest, and you swallowed thickly. “I-I heard this rumor,” you began softly. “That period sex… Y’know?” 

Eddie laughed lightly. “No, baby, I don’t know,” he said. “You want me to fuck you, sweetheart? All you’ve gotta do is ask.” 

“Are you sure?” you asked. “I mean… It’ll get messy.” 

“I’ve got towels,” Eddie said simply. 

“We’ll get messy.”

“I’ve got a shower too,” Eddie told you. “If it helps you feel better, I’m willing to try anything.”

“But the blood—”

Eddie surged forward, and he pressed his lips to yours. His kiss felt hot on your mouth, heavy and hot and arousing, and his hand touched your cheek lightly as his tongue pressed past your lips and into your mouth. Your body reacted to him before your mind could think of it, and your legs turned to nudge Eddie’s with your knee. 

“Fuck the blood,” Eddie whispered. “I’m not afraid to get a little bloody. Anyway… That’s pretty metal.” 

“You…” you began, and trailed off as Eddie kissed you again. His hands fell to your waist, and he tugged you fully underneath him as your hands tangled in his hair. You would always fall to Eddie’s charms. You moaned as his tongue dominated your mouth again, his hands flitting all around your body to touch every part of you. Finally, his hands found home on your hips again, and his fingers dug into the waistband of your shorts as he broke the kiss. 

“What d’ya say, baby?” Eddie asked. “Gonna let me fuck you right now?” 

“Please,” you whined, and Eddie’s skilled hands tugged down your shorts. He captured your panties at the same time, and you cringed as your pad crinkled with the movement. 

“Oh, baby, please don’t be embarrassed,” Eddie pleaded quickly, seeing your discomfort in your eyes. “Look, we don’t have to if you think you’re gonna be uncomfortable. I’d love to, but if you don’t want to—”

“No, no,” you said quickly. “I-I want to, it’s just… I don’t know why I’m embarrassed. Just keep going.” 

“Okay,” Eddie said gently, his eyes still wide and watching your every move. “Seriously. Tell me if you’re over this and we’ll stop.”

“Eddie, please,” you whined. Your pussy was throbbing just by being exposed to him, and you added, “I want it. I do. You should get a towel, though.” 

“Right,” Eddie nodded, then he seemed to snap out of whatever trance the sight of your pussy had him in. “Right! Towels…” He got up from the bed, tugging his jeans higher on his hips, and he mumbled to himself as he went to the bathroom and retrieved a few towels. You took the time to strip off your shirt and bra, and you rubbed your thighs together for any hint of friction as Eddie half-jogged back into the bedroom and shut the door with his foot. 

You could see his erection pressing against his zipper as he mumbled, “Lift up your hips, baby,”, and you grinned as he carefully spread out one of his towels on the bed below you, settling down a second one for good measure. His eyes were bright as he watched you squirm to get comfortable, and he smiled and leaned down to kiss you again. This one was quicker, just a hard peck, before he pulled back and tugged his shirt up and over his head, tossing it in the corner. 

He was back on you in a second, jerking his thigh between your legs, and his mouth met yours in a messy kiss, open mouths and wandering tongues. You loved making out with Eddie, especially the nights where no clothes would come off and you were left pathetically grinding against his thigh to cum. You did just that, rubbing your pussy on his leg as you moaned into his mouth, and your brain caught up with your body quickly. “Shit, Ed, I don’t wanna get blood on your jeans,” you started, but Eddie laughed. 

“I can wash them, baby,” he said. “Seriously, don’t worry about staining anything or getting anything dirty or whatever. I can wash everything. All I want you worrying about is when I’m gonna put my dick in that pretty pussy of yours. Alright?”

You nodded, and Eddie kissed you again. His kiss was heavy and demanding, and his fingers reached down and lightly touched your pussy lips, and you squealed as your hips jerked up to get more of his touch. 

“How rough do you want me to be, baby?” Eddie asked. “You want that sweet, mushy shit or you want me to be mean?” 

“I dunno…” you started. 

“What’ll help you get off harder?” Eddie added. 

Your tummy flipped at his words, spoken so casually but so beautifully, and you mumbled, “Not really rough, but, like… Enough.” 

“Enough,” Eddie repeated, and his hand snaked up to your throat, lightly pressing his fingers into your flesh. “Is this enough for you, pretty girl?” 

“Yeah,” you whispered, already feeling the effects of the limited blood supply. “S’perfect….”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re already going brainless,” Eddie chuckled, and he pressed his thigh up into your cunt, letting the rough fabric of his jeans touch your clit. “You’re so cute. Rub down onto me, baby, let’s get you a little wet.” 

You nodded in obedience, something you knew Eddie liked, and you rolled your hips down onto his thigh as his leg came up to meet you. He leaned forward and started to kiss your neck, sucking your sensitive skin between his teeth and marking you to all hell, but it only made the throbbing between your legs grow more intense. Finally, a well-timed rock of your hips aligned with Eddie’s hard thigh, and you moaned as your clit rubbed against his jeans. 

“Good girl,” Eddie whispered, his breath hot against the wet patches on your neck that he had made. “You want my fingers? Or my mouth?” 

“Whatever you want,” you told him, and he kissed your neck once more, just above where his fingers sat. “However you want me…” 

“No,” Eddie said firmly, and he removed his hand and titled your head to look at him, his fingers capturing your chin. “Tell me what you want, baby. Tell your master exactly how I can please you.”

Eddie knew what he was doing. He knew that you loved when he called himself that. He knew you loved to call him that. He knew that, the moment you called him Master, it was all over for you, and keeping any semblance of a cool head would be impossible. 

“M-Mouth,” you stammered breathlessly, and your heart thumped when you remembered exactly what that meant for him. “Oh, but you don’t have to—”

“Hush, baby,” Eddie told you, and he sweetly kissed your cheek. “I wouldn’t have offered it if I didn’t want to.” 

With that, he slunk down your body, taking care to kiss over your hips and belly, and Eddie was quick to part your thighs and coo softly at the sight of you. “Already shaking,” he said softly, and he kissed your thighs, easing slowly closer and closer to your pussy. “God, I know you’re gonna taste so good.” 

“Like blood, maybe,” you stuttered out, forcing a half-laugh, and Eddie cast his eyes up to you. 

“But that’s you,” he insisted. “No matter what part of you it is, it’s you, and I’m gonna love it. You hear me?” 

You nodded, your brain a little fuzzy with the praise, and Eddie pushed his hair behind his shoulder before he dived in. His tongue made a long, heavy lick up your pussy, tasting you from bottom to top, and you groaned at the softness of his movements. He was so kind and gentle with it, and he hooked his lips around your throbbing clit and gave it a firm suck as his big brown eyes locked on yours. 

You couldn’t help the high-pitched moan that left your throat, and your head fell back on Eddie’s pillows as he fell off of your clit. You could feel your heartbeat in the walls of your cunt as Eddie started a rhythm, licking and kissing and sucking at you. His eyes closed, his eyelashes pressing nicely against his upper cheeks, and he moaned into your cunt. “I was right, baby,” he whispered and, when he came up for air, your own breath caught in your throat at the glossy red-brown hue on his lips. “You taste so good.”

“Jesus,” you panted, and you pressed your hand to your chest as your head tipped back with a laugh.”I can’t believe I’m letting you do this.” 

“But it feels good, doesn’t it?” Eddie asked. “And those cramps aren’t as bad, huh?” 

“I guess you’re right,” you mumbled, and you worried your bottom lip between your teeth. “Can you add your fingers?” 

“Sure,” Eddie said, and he put his lips back on your clit as one of his fingers prodded at your hole. His finger added to the experience, giving your cunt something to clench down on instead of uselessly throbbing, and your moan caught in your throat as Eddie fucked his finger into you and sucked hard at you at the same time. His tongue danced around your clit as he fucked you hard on his finger, and every inch of him inside you wasn’t enough. 

“More,” you mewled, writhing under his grip, and Eddie’s free hand rubbed soothing circles on your hip as his second finger joined his first without hesitation. His rings were cool against your warm skin, and your legs opened wider for him. “Fuck, Eddie, more.” 

“No, no, baby,” Eddie said, stilling his fingers inside you. “What do you call me?” 

Your heart skipped a beat. “M-Master,” you managed to stutter out, and Eddie’s eyebrows raised. “Please, I want your cock.” 

“Good girl,” Eddie said gently, landing a sloppy kiss on your clit. “You’re so good for me, saying please and everything.” 

He withdrew his fingers, stained the same color as his lips from your blood, your slick collecting wetly on his fingertips, and Eddie wiped his hand on the towel below him before he went to his belt. “You’re a little sweetheart, you know that?” Eddie asked, and you covered your face with your hands as you squealed. 

“Eddie!” you whined. “Stop!” 

“No, no, listen to me,” Eddie told you. “You’re so cute, and you’re funny, and you’re kind, you’re the whole package, baby. And I get you all to myself. I’m a lucky motherfucker.” 

“Whatever you say,” you mumbled, your cheeks growing warm. “Can you just fuck me already?” 

“No problem, babe,” Eddie said easily. He leaned forward, and his warm hands grabbed at your body as he kissed you. You almost didn’t mind the tang of your own blood on his tongue as he kissed you, mouths open and panting and spit gathering on your lips. His kiss was heavy and needy, almost as needy as you were, and you moaned gently into his waiting mouth. 

Eddie was quick to push down his pants and boxers, and you gasped at the dark stain on his already-dark jeans, seeping through thinly onto the fabric of his blue boxers. Although, unlike before, where you were worried about making a mess, the mess only made your belly flip and your cunt throb. 

He was hard already as he undressed, not having taken too long to become aroused, and your mouth watered at the sight of his hard cock as it slapped up against his belly. Once he was fully naked, he slotted himself between your legs again, and he slid his cock up your wet pussy, groaning softly at the feeling. “So wet,” Eddie mumbled. “You ready, sweetheart?” 

“Yes, Master,” you replied, and Eddie grinned like the devil as he carefully pushed his cock into you. Even just the head of him was enough to make your head tip back and a moan to leave your mouth, and Eddie leaned forward and kissed your open mouth as he pushed in deeper. 

“I love to hear that,” Eddie mumbled, and he hissed as he sank fully into you, his balls hitting your ass as he buried himself up to the hilt in you. “Tight pussy, fuck… You’re so good for me.” 

His hands anchored themselves on your hips, and he drew himself out of you almost fully, letting his cock drag against your wet walls, and you whimpered when just the leaking head of his cock remained inside you. Quickly, he snapped his hips forward, and the sound of his flesh hitting yours drove you wild. Eddie picked up a quick pace, fucking you just how you asked, rough but not too rough. The bed creaked with every fuck into you he gave, and he huffed through gritted teeth. “This wet cunt,” he mumbled. “All soaking wet, just for me, yeah? Soaked little pussy…” 

“Yes!” you cried, and you grabbed at his hard shoulders to anchor yourself to him. If you weren’t touching him, you were afraid that you might have floated away. Whoever had said that sex helped period cramps was right; you couldn’t even feel them anymore. All you could feel was Eddie, the hot drag of his cock inside you, the throbbing of his cock in time with your cunt. “Eddie! Eddie, fuck!” 

“Feel that good?” Eddie laughed with another huff. “Yes, baby, scream my name.”

“Eddie!” you whined, digging your fingernails into his shoulders. You were so sensitive, more so than usual, and Eddie seemed to revel in that fact. He fucked you hard, the wet sounds of your skin hitting making your brain turn to mush, and one of Eddie’s hands fell off of your waist and came up to lightly touch your clit. 

The slight brush of his finger made your hips jerk, and you mumbled out, “Eddie, fuck… Feels so good…”

“God, you’re so good,” Eddie told you as his thumb played lightly with your throbbing clit. You could feel your heartbeat in every inch of your body, and you squirmed as your body struggled to take everything Eddie was giving you. “Your fuckin’ pussy is good, and you’re so good, my sweet little thing, my girl… Fuck, what is going on?” 

“What?” you asked. 

“I’m about to cum already,” Eddie laughed breathlessly. His neck and chest were red with the exertion, and you smiled at his confession. “You make me cum so quick, fuck.” 

“Please, Eddie,” you pleaded, your hips bucking in time with his, and you groaned as he speared you deep, deep enough to feel in your chest. “Please cum, Eddie, please, I wanna feel you when you cum…” 

“God!” Eddie moaned, his lip tugging tight between his teeth. His moan was deep in his chest, drawn out and beautifully raspy, and, when he opened his eyes, the chocolate brown ol his eyes was gorgeous and blown-out, all fucked out. “You’re so fuckin’... Hot, Jesus. I’m gonna cum.”

“Do it, Master,” you told him, and he groaned again before he buried his face in your neck. “Oh, my Master, are you gonna give me your cum?” 

“Fuck, yes,” Eddie whispered into your neck, and his scratchy voice made your cunt throb around him, and he groaned again as your cunt squeezed his dick tight. “Yeah, I’ll give it to you, baby. Fuck…” One more fuck into you, and you felt a shudder pass through Eddie’s body as he came hard, pushing himself fully into you and pumping you full of it. 

His thumb remained in your clit as he came, urging you to your finish with him, and your breath caught in your throat as you felt the hot coil in your stomach release. “Eddie!” you managed to cry, and you gripped him by the back of his neck as you came. Your head felt fuzzy as you gushed around Eddie’s cock, throbbing and milking him for every bit of his cum, and you groaned softly when he slowly began to fuck in and out of you, riding you through your orgasm. 

Your ears still felt full of cotton as Eddie spoke to you, and you listened through the fluff as he kissed your neck and praised you. “My good girl,” he whispered, remarking you in the places he had made them before. “My perfect girl… And look, baby. Towel did its job. How do you feel?” 

You swallowed thickly, and you pulled Eddie, his warm, sticky-sweaty skin molding to yours. Your lips found his, and you moaned softly as his gentleness. He always knew how to make you feel good. “Better,” you told him. “They were right; sex makes cramps go away.” 

“Who told you that, anyway?” Eddie laughed, still kissing your neck. 

A warm flush overtook your face as you thought about the admission you were about to give, and you giggled and covered your face. 

“Oh, now I have to know,” Eddie laughed, and his hands went to your wrists, tugging your hands away from your face. When you looked back at him, you couldn’t help but smile at the sweat that had collected on his upper lip and dripped off of his bangs. “C’mon, baby, who told you this wonderful bit of news?”

“I-I read it,” you told him finally. “In Cosmo.” 

“Really?” Eddie laughed. “You read Cosmo?” 

“It’s not a habit!” you exclaimed, and Eddie kissed your cheek. “I-I was at the library and I was bored and picked it up!”

“Maybe you oughta pick up Cosmo more often,” Eddie said. “If it gives you tips like this.” 

[emyluwinter]

How will tsum tsum malleus react to yuu tsum tsum or how will Malleus react to yuu tsum tsum snuggle up against him

I hope I understood your request correctly. Enjoooy~ (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ

Well, was it very unusual for a fairy to first be one of his narrow circle of "knights"? Suddenly he brought this "thing" called tsum with a striking similarity to Sebek himself. And now he sees exactly the same small rounded creature similar to his human friend? It's intriguing~

Oh, this tsum is all charm. Despite all the very impressive difference in size and strength, tsum tsum Yuu is not afraid to climb on his leg, shoulder, palms, and comfortably settle down like a bird in its favorite nest. Seeing this little one in his palms was definitely the best event of the whole day. It seems he hears Sebek's screams somewhere …..or is it a squeak from confused Yuu? Tsum tsum Yuu definitely doesn't mind his company and enjoys spending time. Malleus was pleasantly surprised that despite these tiny legs and arms, tsum tsum Yuu does not lag behind him by one of his big steps. Lilia felt sick from laughing and he literally cried when tsum tsum Yuu first began to "climb" on Malleus' leg, as if a caterpillar was trying to conquer a high branch. However, other students of the hostel swore that they thought that tsum tsum would be burned. Because of Draconia's very focused gaze. In fact, the prince was just worried that tsum tsum might fall and get hurt. After all, he was tall for them. And didn't want a "little friend who looks like a human child" to be seriously injured in one way or another.

Malleus melted when this little one snuggled up to him as if they had known him all they life. And he is not one of the strongest magicians in the twisted wonderland. It was definitely appreciated on all points how tsum tsum Yuu were soft. And Malleus had a tiny trace of tsum tsum Yuu's nose on his cheek due to the fact that tsum fell asleep and buried their noses right in his face.

Malleus Draconia also received the following achievements:

He felt tsum tsum Yuu's cheeks. Lilia persuaded him to do this, and now she will try to remember this feeling for the rest of her life. Malleus now thinks that tsum tsum Yuu is filled with marshmallows or something elastically soft. a new quest - Someday he will try to touch the Prefect's cheeks.

The cutest handshake from tsum tsum Yuu and their little paws or hands. They are not sure which term fits exactly here. Malleus laughed softly that it only took his index and middle finger to make a handshake.

Tsum tsum Yuu climbed on his horns. They caught clothes on one of the horns and had to ask Lilia to take off the poor guy.

Malleus' cap from tsum tsum Yuu uniform was fearlessly stolen. Now he knows that the Prefect can be mischievous from time to time. It was funny to watch tsum tsum Yuu trying to get into it like a cat gets into a small box Tsum tsum Yuu examined his staff with a spinning wheel with interest. Malleus thought it looked like a hamster with a wheel. He didn't mind~

Tsum tsum Yuu was like a little snorting hedgehog when Malleus noticed that tsum tsum Yuu noticed the next tricks from the duo of Adeuce. Swears at them even in this form.

Once tsum tsum Yuu bit Sebek because he pulled their paws too hard trying to "free the Young Master" Sebek had to put a plaster on his finger, tsum tsum Yuu brought him some cookies in the form of a dragon and lightning as an apology. Tsum tsum Yuu are always very not satisfied when they are disturbed because of other people's problems. Malleus notices this when Tsum tsum Yuu quietly hides behind his cloak on his back in these cases. Once tsum tsum Yuu stole Director Crowley's top hat in some incredible way. Stuffing in all the soot and the remaining coal from the fireplace from the dormitory of Diasomnia. Malleus is still wondering what made little tsum tsum Yuu so angry about Director Crowley.

Aaaand tsum tsum Malleus and tsum tsum Yuu.

Two cute little tsum tsum. True, one can break through all your bones despite his "innocent charm of the tsuma" Guess which of these two can do it. ~

Tsum tsum Malleus brings tsum tsum Yuu various pebbles or old things that can be found in the ruins. Tsum tsum Yuu brings different leaves, buds or small beautiful stones to ask tsum tsum Malleus about them.

Usually tsum tsum Malleus sits next to tsum tsum Yuu and they talk about something among themselves a little bouncing. Sometimes Tsum tsum Malleus rides tsum tsum Yuu on his back. Sometimes the opposite is true.

When tsum tsum are completely exhausted, they can be found as two small buns wrapped with each other. Tsum tsum Yuu is usually embraced, tsum tsum Malleus does not mind in principle.

[wizworldanalyses]

A collection of Severitus

- Leo Inter Serpentes (series)

By Aeternum

757K WIP Ao3

Slytherin!Harry, Severitus, Drarry

Harry meets draco on much better terms and doesn’t argue with the sorting hat when it tries to place him in Slytherin. Complete series rewrite.

12/10 super funny, adorable, amazing. Retelling of the entire series and is everything you would want in a Harry Potter fanfic

- Namesake Necklace

By WiCeBa

121K COMPLETE Ao3

De-Aged!Harry, Child abuse, Severitus

Harry gets hit with a potion that deages him to 6 years old. Severus is called to help and realizes Harry’s home life at the Dursley’s.

8/10 pretty good and Calls out dumbledore on his bs. Get to meet severus’ mom and she is a sweetheart

- Crime and Punishment

By melolcatsi

165K WIP Ao3

Severitus, Child Abuse, Therapy

Harry gets arrested for a burglary Dudley committed, and dumbledore sends Severus to bail him out. Severus then discovers Harry’s home life and takes him in.

9/10 very in character writing and good characterization of childhood trauma. Plus Harry and Severus go to therapy

- The Wizard’s Nephew

By kat_o_nine_tails

75K WIP Ao3

Child!Harry, Severitus, No Dursleys

When Severus arrives at the potter household on Halloween, he ends up leaving with Harry in tow. He disguises him as his nephew, and takes him in.

9/10 dad Severus is adorable and he has an amazing relationship with the muggle family that lives down the street. Baby Harry is adorable as well.

- Far Beyond A Promise Kept

By oliversnape

135K COMPLETE Ao3

POA, Severitus, No War

Severus picks up Harry in his third year after running away from the Dursley’s and begins training him on defense to prepare him for Voldemort’s Return

9/10 You get to meet Severus’ parents at the end and Voldemort died immediately after His return in GOF with Severus’ help. Not as fluffy but still cute.

- Whelp I & II (series)

By jharad17

I 75K COMPLETE FFnet

II 80K COMPLETE FFnet

Child!Harry, Child Abuse, Severitus

Right after Severus takes the job of potions master at hog warts, his first mission is to check on Harry at the Dursleys. Severus discovers a seven year old Harry tied up and chained in the backyard like a dog and takes him in.

7/10 a bit rough of a read because it shows just how messed up a young Harry is from is abuse at the hands of the Dursley’s. Severus makes a great dad though and is trying his best to help.

TW: Thorough descriptions of child abuse

- My Little Runaway

By BlueRowley

137K WIP FFnet

Child!Harry, Child Abuse, Severitus

Harry runs away from the Dursley’s when he is seven and Albus sends Severus to try to scare Harry into going back home. Severus finds Harry in the middle of a snowstorm and has to take him to a hotel for the night where he discovers the abuse the Dursley’s put him through.

9/10 young Harry is adorable and cheeky. Severus struggles with becoming a parent and tries finding Harry a new home but then misses him too much and it’s super cute. There’s a scene where Harry comes up with a ‘smile potion’ for Severus and it is ADORABLE.

- A Thousand Words

By Ailee17

162K WIP FFnet

COS, Severitus

Harry finds a picture of Severus and Lily as kids at the Dursley’s in his second year. This begins the development of a family he never knew he could have.

10/10 Very in character and great development of their relationship

- Secrets

By Vorabiza (Biza)

395K COMPLETE Ao3

DH, Drarry, Severitus, Good!Malfoys

When Draco appears on the Dursley’s doorstep holding a baby and asking for Harry’s help, it begins the strangest summer of Harry’s life.

10/10 Victoria is adorable and I love that Crabbe and Goyle are actually good in this story rather than being villains. Plus Remus and Severus make great parents.

- Nobody Cared

By etherian

360K COMPLETE Ao3

Slytherin!Harry, Good!Malfoys, Severitus

When Vernon burned all of Harry’s school supplies and forbade him from going to school Severus shows up and takes Harry in. Harry gets sorted into slytherin and becomes friends with Draco and Hermione. Harry’s gets adopted by Severus, and Hermione eventually gets adopted by the Malfoys.

11/10 Lucius and Narcissa are kinda the stars of the show. They are so sweet and caring in this fic and Severus is trying so hard and so calling Dumbledore out on his shit.

TW: Sexual Assault/Abuse

- Malfoy Flavor

By Vorabiza (Biza)

199K COMPLETE Ao3

Post OOTP, Bio-Parent, Drarry, Severitus

When the blood wards on the Dursley’s house go haywire, Dumbledore and Snape go to investigate. Snape takes Harry in and begins training him over the summer and they both discover that Lilly uses charms to cover up Harry’s true parentage. Harry decides to go back to school under the name Dustin Snape in slytherin to help protect his friends and to help join the school together against Voldemort.

11/10 Draco and Harry have a great relationship, the story is funny and serious and sweet. Snape makes a great dad for Harry and it’s just all around a good story.

- You’re a Parent, Severus (series)

By acmparker

225K WIP Ao3

Young!Harry, Rewrite, Severitus, Remus/Snape

Severus Snape had formed a Blood Bond with Lily Evans when they were at Hogwarts. This means that when Lily dies there is another whose blood relationship with her is recognized by the blood ward Dumbledore places on Harry. Severus Snape decides to check on how the Dursleys are treating Harry, about a month after Lily's death, and isn't pleased with what he finds. With the help of Remus Lupin, Severus has been caring for Harry ever since.

10/10 Kind of halarious considering Severus has to pretend to hate Harry at school and Harry does everything he can to give it back to him. Plus Remus makes an adorable mom, and it’s hilarious that Severus and Remus pretend to be dating in front of the entire school.

- Forgiveness and Redemption (series)

By waitingondaisies

130K COMPLETE Ao3

Disguised!Severus, Severitus, Child Abuse

After Severus is discovered as a spy, Dumbledore tasks him with going undercover as a gryffindor student under the guise of finding out if Harry is mature enough to handle the information of the horcruxes, in reality he does this to help med Harry and Severus’ relationship.

9/10 very in character writing. Wonderful characterization and and interesting storyline.

- The Definition of Home (series)

By Oliver.Snape

78K COMPLETE FFnet

Post OOTP, Deaged!Harry, Severitus, Child abuse

Harry runs into Snape while trying to find the definition of home, and finds himself drawn into Snape’s Order mission to learn more about Voldemort’s past at the orphanage.

9/10 A good story, but nothing makes it stand out to me. Young Harry is cute, and Snape and Harry’s interactions when he’s his older self is really funny. The sequel, The Definition of Family definitely adds to the story and makes it much better.

- Bruised Words (series)

By Starknjarvis

49K WIP Ao3

POA, Severitus, Sirius/Remus

When Harry runs away after blowing up Aunt Marge, Severus picks him up from the Leaky Cauldron and takes him in.

9/10 The first work is quite short, but the sequel, Blackberry Tart is quite good. Sirius and Remus have a very adorable relationship and having Sirius and Severus have to get along for Harry’s well-being is a fun interaction.

- Arms of a Dark Angel

By Snapegirlkmf

232K COMPLETE FFnet

PS, Severitus, Rewrite

Before Lily died, Severus made a promise to take care of Harry but to not let anyone know. Throughout his childhood, any time Harry was sick, Severus would take care of him. It wasn’t until Harry’s first year at Hogwarts that he finally figures out who his Dark Angel is.

9/10 A really good story. The way Severus take care of Harry as a child is adorable and I love how Harry warms up to Severus once he figures out who he is.

[angelasscribbles]

Heir Apparent Chapter 16: Breaking News

Series: Heir Apparent.

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Drake x Riley, Liam x Riley (past)

Rating: R

Warnings: Mature themes

Word Count: 2,183

A/N: This is my submission for the @choicesprompts, it wasn't planned but once I started writing, I was like oh shit, here is the next chapter of Heir Apparent!

Find the prompt here

Everything else: Master List.

“Holy crap, we’re gonna be late!” Riley yelped when her eyes glanced up at the decorative wall clock. “Turn that off!” she ordered in a cross tone to her companion, who was still watching the streaming show.

“Late? For what?” The question was asked in a tone that was both confused and distracted.

“The THING!”

Her companion finally pulled his eyes away from the 60-inch screen, brows furrowed. “I know of no THING,” he protested.

She heaved a huge sigh of exasperation. “It’s on your calendar! Now, stop talking and start moving!” She gently slapped his forearm in light admonishment. “I’m done with the conversation now!”

She turned away to plump her pillows.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she felt arms wrap around her waist and pads of thumbs press into her hips. Her body was a feather as it was pulled back onto the bed.

“Sit back down!” her companion ordered.

The woman frowned at him before her eyes found the television screen again.

What the...? Is that …? WHAT is he doing?

“I’m sat!” Riley informed him as she plunked down onto the mattress next to him.

Drake had stopped the episode of Top Chef he’d been watching, and the news had come up on the regular cable channel it was now tuned to. Liam’s face was plastered all over the screen. But it wasn’t Liam giving a news conference like she had first thought. It was old footage of him accompanying a breaking story.

The scrawl across the bottom of the screen made her heart sink, “Oh, no.” She breathed out in a quiet panic, their dinner with the Valtorian council forgotten.

“I’m so sorry, babe.” Drake told her, his eyes full of concern as they traced her face.

“Turn it up please.”

“Are you sure?”

She simply nodded. He pointed the remote at the sixty inch flat screen and pushed the volume button.

“A confidential source tells us that Cordonia will soon have its heir despite the king’s relationship status as a confirmed bachelor.” The female reporter with short cropped brunette hair spoke to the camera.

“So how does that work?” The middle aged male anchor asked her.

“Well, there is some precedence in our history. The father of Queen Kenna’s children is unknown as she chose another woman as her life partner, but it never mattered because Kenna was the one who carried the Rys blood. It’s a little tricker when the male parent to the out of wedlock child is the one in the line of succession, but there is still plenty of precedence for it. There have been illegitimate children named as heir before when the monarch had no true born children. King Fabian, for example, his biological children were conceived with his mistress, not his wife. He simply had to claim and legitimize them. Unlike a hundred years ago, we now have DNA testing, so confirming paternity is really a simple matter and my source tells me that this testing has already been done. The child in question has allegedly been confirmed as the biological child of King Liam Rys.”

“Do we know who the alleged mother is?” The anchor asked.

Riley’s hand landed on Drake’s arm, her fingers pressing into him. He scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her. This was exactly what they were hoping to avoid. They had wanted to make the announcement themselves, in order to better control the narrative. The last thing he wanted was to have his pregnant wife blindsided by a hoard of rabid reporters on a random Tuesday when she was trying to shop or attend a council meeting.

He had increased the number of guards on her detail. With Liam’s consent and full support, he had quickly thrown together a new guard until that basically amounted to a queen’s guard. They just didn’t call it that, because she wasn’t the queen. She was the duchess of Valtoria, and she was his wife, not Liam’s.

But she was still carrying the heir to the throne.

“No, Tomas, we don’t have confirmation on the mother yet, but rumors are circulating about several different women the king has been connected to in the past.”

“In the past?” The anchorman asked, “Is the king not connected to anyone right now?”

“If he is, he’s keeping it a secret.” The reporter answered, “King Liam has not been publicly linked to or seen with a woman since he broke his engagement to Madeleine Amaranth. We have reached out to the Countess of Fydelia for comment and she has issued an official statement that she is not pregnant with the king’s baby, or anyone else’s. The countess denies having ever had a physical relationship with the king.”

The camera cut back to the anchorman, “I remember at the time their engagement ended, there were rumors that the break was caused by the king’s feelings for another woman.”

“Yes, Tomas, those rumors were never substantiated, but the woman in question was Riley Brooks, Cordonia’s Every Woman and the current Duchess of Valtoria who married the king’s best friend, Drake Walker in a private, intimate ceremony earlier this year.”

Tomas raised his eyebrows as he insinuated things. “And is there any precedence for the king conceiving an heir with a woman who is married to another man?”

“Yes and no. King Tiberius, the great great grandfather of King Liam had three children with the married Duchess of Krona, Brinn Albright. But those children were never considered for succession because he had children with his wife as well. He never publicly acknowledged those children, and the Duke of Krona apparently turned a blind eye and raised them as his own. Subsequent DNA testing of descendants have since proven what was known as an open secret at court at the time.”

“Wow. Well, this is going to be history in the making if the mother is married to another man and king claims this alleged heir and inserts them into the line of succession.”

“Yes, Tomas, but it would also serve to strengthen his position by securing the Rys line and calm the pressure from factions that are clamoring for him to marry and produce an heir. If this information is true, then Cordonia has an heir, and the king will not be under pressure to marry any time soon.”

“Well thank you, Merina. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.” Tomas turned away from the screen with Merina on it and faced the camera, “and now all of Cordonia is wondering, who is the mystery woman carrying our future and why hasn’t the king made an official announcement? We’ll be back with Robert Somerson, political analyst, tenured professor of political science at Cordonia University and author of ‘Kings and Queens of Cordonia: A History’ for discussion and some possible answers, right after this break. Please stay with us.”

“Turn it off!” Riley said, barely contained emotion tainting her words.

Drake clicked the television off and took her fully into his arms. His hands ran down her back, stroked through her hair and glided over her shoulders as his mouth trailed through her hair, “It’s ok, baby, it’s ok. I’m here, I’m right here.”

They had known this day would come; they had just hoped for more time. At least the press hadn’t figured out that Riley was the pregnant woman in question, but they would. It was only a matter of time.

“I’m ok.” She wiped at her eyes before staring up into his, “I love you; you understand that right?”

He tightened his grasp around her body. “I do understand that Riley, I’m not running away again, I promise.”

“And I’m not leaving you for Liam, you know that too, right?”

“I know.” He hugged her even tighter. They had already been through hell, their marriage almost torn apart by insecurities, misunderstandings, and lack of communication. He wasn’t making any of those mistakes again.

“You have been nothing short of amazing through all of this and some days I don’t think I deserve you.” She told him.

“Whatever.” He scoffed, “I’m the one that doesn’t deserve you and the whole world knows it.”

“Do you think….should we call Liam?”

Drake sighed as he considered the question. “Not right now. Reporters will be circling him like the vultures they are. Let’s wait. If anyone catches wind that we called him right after that story broke, it could point them in your direction.”

“I think they already are.”

He shook his head, “Nah. You’re just one of several possibilities at this point.”

“It’s going to become obvious soon.” She told him.

His eyes slid down her body. She was right. She was already wearing looser clothes to accommodate her growing belly. It wouldn’t be long before the curve of her once flat stomach was noticeable to the public at large and not just to him. They had hoped to wait until after the baby was born to make an official announcement, but with the press already scenting blood in the water, Liam’s most recent ex walking around Cordonia with a baby bump was going to cause much more than a splash. It was going to set off a feeding frenzy.

And he still hadn’t told his mother or sister.

“We need get out ahead of this and make a statement before they figure it out on their own.” He told her, “But first we need to warn our friends and family because when they can’t get to us, they will fall on people like Hana and Max. Bertrand can handle himself with the press, but my sister needs a heads up and my mom-“

Riley nodded. Hana, Olivia and Max already knew but that was it. She was dreading having to explain the situation to her husband’s family, “Drake, I’m sorry, it’s my fault that-“

“Shhhhh. Don’t start that again. This is part and parcel of the royal lifestyle. The press will always be obsessed with every little thing you do. Your friends and family will always be fair game to them. Max, Bert, Hana, they understand this.”

Riley sniffed as tears threatened to spill down her face, “A lifestyle you never wanted.”

“What?” He drew back to look directly into her eyes, “I know I talk a lot of shit about the nobility, but I’m used to it too, and somehow all the people I love most are part of it. You, Liam, Leo, Savannah now that she’s a Beaumont. Hana. Hell, even Max, and don’t you dare tell him I said that!”

Laughter broke through her tears, “No promises, Walker. The fact that he made that list would send Max over the moon and you know it!”

“Yeah. That’s precisely why he can never know.” Drake chuckled as he wiped at the errant tear that escaped and trickled down her cheek. 

“Ok.” Riley drew away from him and stood up, “We’ll get everyone together in the next day or two. Meanwhile, we still have to get to that council dinner I was trying to tell you about. Nothing can look amiss and we’re already late!”

“Ok, you’re right.” He stood and stretched, “But I still maintain that I had no prior knowledge of this thing, as you called it.”

“Yes, Drake, it’s on your calendar, I put it there myself!” She told him indignantly as she reached for his phone.

He let her pull it out of his pocket and watched as she scrolled through it. Her face lit up triumphantly as she opened his calendar app then immediately fell, her brows creasing as she scrolled back and forth through it. “What? Shit. No, no, I know I put it on here!”

“Are you sure you didn’t just think about putting it in there?” He laughed as he reached for his phone.

“Yeah, maybe.” She muttered sheepishly as she handed it back, “Fucking pregnancy brain!”

“It’s ok babe. I got it. I’ll call and let them know we’re running late while you go pee. I know you need to, and probably grab a snack to eat on the way as well.”

“I don’t need a snack on the way to dinner, Drake!” She said indignantly.

He gave her a look.

She flushed, “Fine, ok, I could use a granola bar. Shut up!”

He held his arms up as he laughed, “I didn’t say anything!”

He watched her scurrying around the room getting ready and he felt like his heart might explode. Despite everything that had happened, here they were, together, happy, in love.

He knew all hell was about to break loose, but he also knew that come what may, they could handle it. Because he could handle anything as long as he had her by his side and in his corner. He didn’t even care that she kept forgetting to inform him about council meetings until the last minute. He didn’t care that marrying her had made him a duke. All he cared about was that he was hers and she was his and they were happy.