#so we know his imitation comes from a place of admiration

[amelikos]

Amethio and Roy are both imitating Friede for their Terastal pose.

[queenxxxsupreme]

Ghost (Logan Howlett x reader)

A/N: this is my first attempt at a fic in a while, so please just bear with me. This takes place after the events of Deadpool and Wolverine. I feel like I am not too great at writing Wade’s character and I think I’m still learning how to write Logan so just please don’t hate me if anything seems out of character. I hope you enjoy :)

Warnings: cursing, mentions of thoughts of suicide, nothing else out of the ordinary for a Deadpool and Wolverine fic

Word Count: 3.1k

Summary: What happens when the man who broke your heart shows up on your doorstep with a weird man claiming to be from another universe?

As you were tying your robe into place, the sound of glass shattering in the other room caught your attention.

“Fuck.” You muttered before hastily making your way down the hallway. “Nugs, what the hell are you doing in here?”

The overweight orange cat meowed loudly from where he sat on the floor. Directly beside him was a pile of dirt and the remnants of your favorite flower pot.

“Nugget! Dude, we have talked a million times about you trying to get up on that shelf.” You shooed the cat away from the mess, then went to retrieve a broom. “You are far too big to be trying to climb up there. You could get hurt.”

He meowed again and rubbed against your calf, offering his own version of an apology.

You swept the dirt and plant material into the dustpan. As you were making your way towards the trash can, a firm knock came at the front door.

Nugget started meowing loudly. It was almost like he was trying to imitate a siren and warn you that there was someone at the door.

Cautiously, you moved towards the door. You weren’t expecting anyone, sure, but you also knew absolutely no one in the city, so why would someone be knocking on your door at 11:30 on a Wednesday night?

You pulled the door open to see an unknown man. He wore a trucker hat with the words ‘this is actually my first rodeo’ stitched on to it. He was wearing a gray hoodie and jeans. The skin covering his face was scarred badly.

“Can I help you?” You furrowed your eyebrows.

“Oh my FUCK! You didn’t tell me we were coming to see Y/N!” The man turned around to reveal Logan Howlett.

Your heart jumped to your throat at the sight of him, and the very thought of breathing went right out the window.

He stood with his arms crossed. The dark red flannel he wore stretched over his muscles. It was like the shirt was two sizes too small for him. The jeans he wore were dark and fit him snug. His hair wasn’t as poofy as you remembered it being, but it was still styled and spiked just like he had always done.

As you took in the sight of the Wolverine, you realized he didn’t look as unkempt as you so vividly recalled him being the last time that you saw him.

“Uh, hi, Y/N.”

Hearing him say your name almost made you vomit right then and there. It had been years since you last heard him say your name.

You snapped out of your trance, the tension and nerves in your stomach twisting into anger.

“What the fuck do you want, Logan?”

”I know it’s a long shot, but we need somewhere to stay for the night.”

You couldn’t believe what he was saying. What made him think he had the right to ask you for anything?

You started to close the door but the man you didn’t know stopped you, placing his hand on the door.

“Hold on just a second, Y/N! We have some wild— and I mean wild —stories to tell you.”

”I don’t know you, fuck nuts.” You snapped. Your irises disappeared as the entire eye turned black. “Now if you two don’t get the hell away from my apartment—,”

”I know you don’t owe me anything, Y/N.” Logan paused, taking a second to admire how stunning you looked. You stood there in nothing but a soft pink robe with little cherries all over it and your hair was wet. You even smelled the same. “We’re doing some…. work nearby and we need somewhere to stay.”

”Go fuck yourself, how about that?” You tried to close the door but this time Logan stopped you. His hand was firm and steady as he held the door open.

“I-I just want to talk to you.”

You held his gaze, your eyes returning to their normal Y/E/C color.

Perhaps if he hadn’t looked so different from the last time you saw him, you’d slam the door in his face. But he didn’t look broken, his eyes weren’t empty. The Logan standing before you was more like the one you fell in love with years ago, rather than the one who had broken your heart.

“When was the last time you had a drink?”

Logan let out a heavy breath and almost rolled his eyes.

“Look, I’m not gonna lie to you. It was, like, forty-five minutes ago. But it was just one drink.”

”He’s seriously been cutting back on the alcohol.” The stranger nodded his head. “But if you ask me, I’d rather him be loaded with that shit. Makes him more tolerable.”

Logan elbowed him harshly in the ribs.

”It’s a good thing I didn’t ask you then isn’t it, buddy?” I raised my brows at the stranger.

”Yikes, you are just like I remember you being. All sweet and mean and shit.”

“Please, Y/N.” Logan pulled your attention back to him.

With a sigh of defeat, you stepped back and held the door for the two men.

“Yes! Thank you, Y/N.” The stranger happily entered your home. “You know, I’ve always wanted to see what your place was like. The you from my world banned me from her place a long time ago. We wear the same size shoes, you know. And apparently, she doesn’t like to share. Said I stretched out her Burkins. And her nighties.”

You furrowed your eyebrows as you listened to the man ramble.

“Who in the fuck are you?”

”Wade Wilson.” The man turned around to face you, holding his hand out. “You might know me as Deadpool.”

”No, actually. I don’t.” You crossed your arms over your chest, ignoring his outstretched hand. “Where the hell did you get this guy, Logan?”

”Uh, it’s a long story.”

”I can explain it all, momma. Let’s have a seat.” Wade gestured to your kitchen table and then pulled a chair out.

***

You stepped out onto your balcony, pulling a carton of cigarettes from the pocket in your jacket. Your eyes flickered out over the city.

Never in a million years did you think that Logan Howlett would show up at your apartment looking like a kicked dog. Never in a million years did you think he’d be able to dig himself out of the hole he tried to bury himself in ages ago. And never in a million years did you think he would have the guts to stand in front of you asking to stay for just the night.

He needed somewhere to stay for the night, somewhere to rest in the midst of whatever the fuck he was doing. And with him came a strange man by the name of Wade Wilson.

The air was cool and a gentle breeze blew through your hair. The faint sound of car horns kept you from being too absorbed by your own thoughts.

Out of the corner of your eye, something moved. It was Wade.

You took a puff of the cigarette and then offered it to him.

“Oh, no thank you. I’m trying to limit my oral intake of carcinogens.”

You nodded, finding it best not to question him, and moved to sit down at the little table.

“Sometimes I think things couldn’t get any more crazy. The man who broke my heart and made me contemplate offing myself shows up at my front door out of the blue with a man claiming to be from another universe entirely. How am I supposed to react to that?”

Wade opened his mouth to answer your rhetorical question with something sassy, but he stopped himself. He could see that your eyes were glossy and your breath was shaky. Your hand trembled as you held the cigarette up to your lips.

He slipped into the seat next to you, racking his brain for something to say.

“Did you know that?” You asked him, your eyes finding his. “That when we broke up, when he…. When Logan decided that he was done…. I thought about killing myself.”

”No, I didn’t.” Wade spoke softly.

”We were together for years. Almost a lifetime. And he just…. He just couldn’t take it anymore. After what happened at the school.” You paused for a moment. “He couldn’t move on, but he couldn’t die either. Everything just turned him into someone I— someone I didn’t know. Don’t know.”

Wade watched you in silence. His chest began to feet tight, like it was hard for him to breathe. Seeing his best friend— or at least his best friend in his world —so torn up, so genuinely hurt, made Deadpool feel bad.

“In my world, you two were together until his dying breath.”

Your eyes snapped over to him, unsure that you had heard him right.

”What?”

”Wherever you were, he was not too far behind. You two were inseparable. Practically joined at the hip.”

You gazed at him for a few moments, giving yourself time to process his words. An ache began to stir in your gut, the same ache that you fought every single minute of every single day to suppress.

“He-He died? In your- In your world, I mean.”

”Yeah. Oh, yeah.” Wade rubbed his palms on the thighs of his jeans. “It was a real dark time for everyone. I never even got to team up with him before he croaked.”

You flicked the ashes from your cigarette into an ashtray. You leaned back in your seat, taking a deep breath.

“Your Logan, was he like this one?”

“Very similar. This one gives off slutty vibes. And he’s more drunk than the one from my world.”

“Was I happy with him, Wade?”

The Deadpool looked at you for a while. It was so weird to him that you were questioning your happiness with Logan Howlett. In his world, all you ever did was talk about Logan, about the memories you had with him.

“Happier than anyone I ever knew.” He nodded his head softly. “Look, I don’t know your situation with him in this world, but I think you should let him talk to you.”

You took a deep breath of the cigarette. The back of your throat burned.

“I can’t do that.”

“Sure you can. Just let him talk and explain himself. Make him feel like a dick for what he did. Then have the hottest makeup sex ever. Lovers-to-enemies-back-to-lovers sex is the best. Or so I’ve heard. I haven’t had a chance to experience that yet. Still on my bucket list.”

“He wouldn’t listen to me before. What makes you think he’ll listen to me now?”

“In our little journey we’ve had, I think I’ve been a good influence on him. I got him to smile, like, three times.”

You wanted to believe him, to trust the words he was telling you and the grin on his face. But you couldn’t stop thinking back to the Logan you remembered.

The cigarette between your fingertips disappeared beneath your touch, the gentle breeze taking away the particles of what was left of it.

You looked down at your hand, a shaky breath leaving through your lips.

“I don’t know, Wade.”

“That’s okay, momma. That’s okay.” He put his hands up. “It’s late and it’s been a wild and odd day for you. Why don’t you go get some sleep?”

“Yeah.” You nodded your head, standing from your chair.

He stood to his feet and looked down at you for a few moments. Then his arms wrapped around you and he pulled you in for a tight hug.

“Oh, uh–,”

“Shhh. Just let me hug you.” He whispered.

You were confused and shocked a little bit, but you hugged him back nonetheless.

“You smell just like the Y/N from my world.”

”Alright, okay.” You pulled away from him.

“I’m gonna go see if the princess is done with her shower yet.”

“Goodnight, Wade.”

“Good night, Y/N.”

You watched him walk back into your apartment and he disappeared around a corner.

You stood there for a few moments in silence. He was an interesting man. You almost enjoyed how much he constantly annoyed Logan.

“What a fucking day.” You rubbed your temple with one hand as you moved to return to your seat.

The cigarette pack was pulled from your jacket pocket and you took out a second cigarette. You put the stick between your lips, then reached back into your pocket to pull out a lighter.

Someone cleared their throat. You turned your head to see Logan standing in the doorway. He was in a pair of black sweatpants and a t-shirt. His hair was damp, a telltale sign that he had just gotten out of the shower.

You said nothing to him for a few heartbeats.

“Your friend is strange.” You nodded to the seat beside you that Wade had previously sat in. As Logan sat down, you held out the pack of cigarettes for him.

“Thanks.” He muttered, taking the box and pulling a cigarette out. You took it back from him and tossed it down onto the table. “He’s…. He’s not too bad.”

You lit your cigarette, then passed the lighter to Logan.

”When’d you take up smoking?” He placed the lighter down on the table next to the pack of cigarettes.

“Couple years ago.”

Logan wanted to look at you, to see how much you had changed in the years since he had last seen you. But he couldn’t bring himself to see the way that you looked at him. The sadness. The grief. The anger. So instead, the Wolverine focused his gaze on the skyline ahead.

The two of you sat there in silence for what felt like ages. Part of you didn’t know what to say, but the other part of you didn’t feel like it was your job to be the first to speak. That was on him.

You finished the cigarette with one final deep breath, then you put it out in the ashtray. The silence was getting to be too much, and you contemplated getting a third cigarette.

“Why did you come here, Logan?” You crossed your arms tightly over your chest.

”I wanted to…. I guess I just wanted to see you.” He blew a cloud of smoke from his lips. “The whole way here, I was trying to think of something to say, of what I could say to apologize to you, to show you that I am sorry. But nothing is good enough. Nothing sounds good enough.”

You turned your head to look at him, tilting your head to the side just a little.

“Start with an actual apology, Logan. Tell me that you are sorry. God knows you’ve never fucking done that before.”

Logan pressed his lips together tightly. He couldn’t bring himself to look at you, not yet at least.

“I am sorry, Y/N.”

You didn’t realize you were crying until the breeze blowing over the balcony made your damp cheeks feel cold. You turned away from him, hastily wiping your eyes with the sleeve of your jacket.

“I am— I’m so, so fucking sorry for everything.” Logan’s voice was quiet.

“I thought about killing myself, Logan.”

It was his turn to look at you. His brows were drawn together and his lips parted.

“What?”

“I had no one left. The Professor was gone. Storm, Jean, there was no one fucking left for me to go to.” Your voice trembled as you said each name.

“I’m— Y/N, I’m sorry. I just…. There was a lot going on and I—,”

”You don’t think I didn’t fucking see what was going on, Logan?” You cut him off. The sadness and grief you felt quickly turned to anger. “I wanted to help you. I did everything I could to try to help you! And you just shot me down like I was a fucking nobody to you. Like we hadn’t spent the last fifteen plus years together!”

”I didn’t know how to process everything!” He raised his voice. All the emotions from all those years ago came flooding back to him. “You couldn’t fix everything, Y/N! You couldn’t just make things better with a snap of your fingers! I was an asshole. The biggest fucking asshole in the world. And I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

You stood to your feet. The thought of just sitting idly while you felt the white hot anger of a thousand suns under your skin made you want to vomit.

“Fuck you, Logan. Actually and genuinely fuck you. To think you have the right to find me and just waltz in and try to apologize for fucking being the absolute biggest dickhead in the entire—,”

Logan cut you off by wrapping his arms around you. He pulled you into what was perhaps the tightest hug you had ever had in your life. He buried his face against the side of your head, his hands pressing firmly into your back.

You were frozen in shock for the first few seconds. What was he doing? What was he trying to do?

”I’m so fucking sorry.” His voice cracked. “I’m so sorry.”

And just like that, you melted around him. Your arms wrapped around his torso. You buried your face in his chest.

Sure, you weren’t completely accepting of his apology. There were still plenty of conversations the two of you needed to have to work through your issues. But you would be lying if you said you hadn’t been dreaming about this moment for years.

You stood there for a long time, probably too long, holding him as tight as you possibly could. Your tears dampened his hoodie at the center of his chest and you were sure you could feel his own tears making your hair damp.

When he finally felt that he had held you for long enough, Logan pulled back. You looked up at him, taking in a shaky breath through your lips. His large hands came up to cup your face, thumbs brushing the tears away.

”We should go to sleep.”

”Yeah.” You nodded your head, stepping away from him so that you could gather yourself quickly. “Um, yeah. I think Wade said something about sharing the guest bed with you.”

”Oh, great.” Logan rolled his eyes.

“You can always sleep on the couch if you want.” You offered, moving around him and into your apartment.

You stopped in the kitchen to watch him. As he stepped into the dim lighting of your home, you found yourself staring at him once more. It felt like you were dreaming, like maybe this was some sort of coma dream. Maybe you fell down the stairs in your apartment and this wasn’t real.

”Good night, Y/N.”

“Good night, Logan.”

[zykamiliah]

So we know SQQ uses The Wives/The Women as a stand-in to talk around his attraction to Binghe, but another thing SQQ does is use the Original Shen Qingqiu as a way to talk around his own personality, (negative) emotions, and even self-esteem, either by contrasting himself against him, or by finding similarities. It makes a lot of sense, since he's inhabiting the body of the original, the person he needs to, to a certain point, imitate to survive.

From the very beginning, SQQ finds similarities between o!SQQ and him, and says he doesn't get why someone with reputation, good cultivation and the biggest sect backing him up would be so envious of other people's potential to the point of scheming against them. The Original Shen Qingqiu was not satisfied with the things he has and instead of idling his life away, like Shen Yuan in his previous life, he's digging his own grave.

When rummaging through the carriage interior, SQQ finds a lot of stuff that was frankly unnecessary to take on such a short trip, like "five or six different tea sets". And noting this, SQQ thinks,

No matter that in his past life he could have counted as a wealthy second-gen, he still hadn’t been this pointlessly indulgent in his pursuit of first-world affluenza, okay? (Chapter 1: Scum)

He's saying, "unlike him, i wasn't needlessly indulgent".

Another example is when he compares his own competency to that of O!SQQ. He does this a few times in the first volume.

The original Shen Qingqiu’s skill at facing down demons should have made this quest as easy as killing a chicken with a knife. Shamefully, the knife had failed to even hit the chicken. In seconds, Shen Qingqiu discovered something that made his mood even worse. (Chapter 2: Mission)

In other words, "unlike the original goods, I am so uncool right now". But the best thing about this part is that... it puts SQQ in a bad mood. I want to call attention to the fact that he feels shame for failing, for being being weak when he should be strong. Shame doesn't come out of nowhere.

Rereading this volume and noticing this few hints of his character and emotions really challenge the notion that SQQ/SY is just an easygoing person. There's a lot of mental gymnastics being performed so he doesn't have to confront his own emotions. If the unreliable narrator tells me he's easygoing, should I believe him? I am questioning everything he says until it's confirmed by his actions.

Now, going back to how he uses o!SQQ to talk about his own competency, and most important, how he feels about being competent, strong, etc.

Surrounded by the cheers of the sect’s disciples, Shen Qingqiu attained a complete victory in the first match.

At this moment, Shen Qingqiu realized why the original flavor had clung to being a poser like it was his lifeline—it was unbelievably satisfying. (Chapter 2: Mission)

Why is it so hard to say "being cool feels so so good"? Being admired, strong and capable is something he comes to enjoy, and I wonder about Shen Yuan, and what was his life like. Why does he have to use o!SQQ to open a sentence about why being "a poser" feels good. He won't say he himself is a bit of a poser, or that it feels good to be cool.

The original flavor pushed Luo Binghe onto the battlefield because he was shameless! He didn’t care about the sect’s reputation! He hated Luo Binghe to the bone, enough to want to vicariously torture him via the hands of demons!

The current Shen Qingqiu didn’t share any of those three motives! (Chapter 2: Mission)

SQQ is not shameless, in fact there's a lot of shame in him. He cares about the sect's reputation, even if he's been in PIDW for, what, a few months? And most of that time he spent it in a cave cultivating. I wonder why he latched himself to the sect so quickly? As if a part of him always wanted a place to belong to, be part of, play an important role, a place he could contribute to.

“Do you think that the burden of peak lord will be too heavy, Qingqiu?” asked Yue Qingyuan.

The original Shen Qingqiu would most likely have suspected that Yue Qingyuan was trying to undermine his authority or something of that sort. However, the current Shen Qingqiu knew that Yue Qingyuan was genuinely worried about him overworking himself and damaging his health(...) (Chapter 3: Favor Points)

He's saying: "unlike him, i don't misunderstand people", which is... clearly not the truth, but he doesn't know that. SQQ thinks he has a pretty good grasp about people's intentions and that he's good judge of character.

All that said, the quote that actually made me connect the dots about how SQQ invokes the original to talk around his own emotions is this one, when they're facing MBJ:

“Unusually inferior talent,” [Mobei-Jun] said. “Foundation and techniques inflexible. Leave.”

Shen Qingqiu said nothing.

He wasn’t some unmatched genius in the Human Realm, but his talent was still at least one in a thousand. And Cang Qiong Mountain’s foundation and techniques weren’t inflexible, they were orthodox! Mobei-Jun still described them as he would a pile of garbage. If the original Shen Qingqiu had heard this, he would have coughed up three liters of blood and run away crying to make a voodoo doll. (Chapter 4: Conference)

But wait, that first sentence kind of sounds familiar, doesn't it?

From early on, he’d known that even if he idled the rest of his life away, he’d never want for food. Perhaps due to this carefree upbringing, devoid of either competition or pressure, he came to believe that ranking in the top ten of a competition was good enough, so long as it had more than ten people. (Chapter 1: Scum)

He's saying "as long as I score among the best I don't have to be a top ranker". Like, if he's comparing himself to others, he won't feel bad because he's not at the bottom. He's average, and average is good, right? Like a "at least I passed the test, I don't need a top score" type of thinking. It feels like something he'd tell himself to feel better about his own performance.

The middle child, saying that as long as he has an average rank everything is fine? Hahaha. Yeah ok, Shen Yuan. (wtf are you hidinnnng)

But I want to draw your attention to this sentence

If the original Shen Qingqiu had heard this, he would have coughed up three liters of blood and run away crying to make a voodoo doll.

because it's so fascinating how SQQ is mentally incapable of admitting to himself that his pride has been hurt by MBJ's words. He feels insulted, and he channels that emotion by projecting his feelings on and picturing what the original would feel in that situation.

Oh, but zy, isn't this just SQQ's humorous running commentary on everything that happens to him? Maybe he's not really upset about what Mobei-Jun said about him having "unusually inferior talent".

Nope. He's really, really pissed off

Just as the sword array was about to come down like sheets of rain, Shen Qingqiu snarled within his heart.

I’ve done my best, but he still thinks I’m low-level trash, so what can I do?!

How loathsome! If I have to die, couldn’t it at least be in a better-looking way? After being stabbed with hundreds of black swords, I’m going to be a sieve! Who could bear to look?!

He SNARLED in his heart. MBJ didn't call him low-level trash, he did that himself. It pisses him off that he's going to die in such an uncool way that will leave him looking like an ugly bloody pulp.

Is this really a guy that doesn't care about his reputation or how he looks to others, that calls himself an "easygoing person"????

This is a guy that has had to repress every emotion related to his own pride and self-esteem. And this is something he was doing in his previous life. Again, what the fuck was going on with the Shen family?!

I don't think this is the way a man that is satisfied with his lot in life would think.

Shen Qingqiu was a man of few needs; he would have been satisfied just idling away to a ripe old age. In that way, it wouldn’t be that different from how his previous life had been going.

youre LIYING. I'm not going to trust anything you said about yourself EVER AGAIN. you were so satisfied to "idle your life away" you died from eating expired yogurt! you were clearly repressed and depressed and unhappy and pretending to be okay!

[a-a-a-anon]

absolutely fascinated by young dee who is criminally under-discussed so here is my dissertation on what happened in her college years (ft. dr. gainer, setting her roommate on fire, being institutionalized)/my idea for a fic that I will almost certainly never write/my way too serious take on a few throwaway dee lore lines

timeline background: we know that dee majored in psychology ('charlie got molested') and got "three fourths" of the way in (meanwhile dennis finished his psych minor.) assuming this was a four year program, I'm gonna guess that in her third year she got institutionalized and most likely had to drop out ('gun fever too: still hot'.) we also know that she had her back brace until she was twenty ('underage drinking'), so I'm guessing that means she got her back brace off in her third year.

we know that dennis fancied himself a psychologist since he was young, but I think dee did too. in particular I think she was wary and interested in her brother's psychology; she seems very aware of his psychopathy and bpd in 'making dennis reynolds a murderer' and 'psycho pete returns.' in my head she's been interested in dennis' psychology since they were kids and she saw him snapping crows necks. so instead of forcing her way into acting school, she studied psychology to better understand her brother (and also deep down, herself, who is very much the other side of the same fucked up coin.) it also meant she could tell herself she could study her characters even better when she became an actress.

i think she put in (her version of) genuine academic effort to get in, fuelled kind of by spite (remember the way she studied that thick medical book in 'hero or hate crime' or her very quick math in 'boggs: ladies reboot'). she studies books and gets cricket to quiz her and she still fails to get into penn. but frank always pitied her (i think she was his favorite of the twins-remember "let your sister into the gang", "that's my girl!", "i'm sorry the grift didn't work out, sweetie") so he shells out cash to get her in, but also to get her away from home so he has to deal with her even less.

dennis wants to do anything dee does but better and he wants to keep her close by (to watch her crash and burn, and also because he's weirdly possessive-see 'the gang broke dee' "i'm your select!"). and obviously he's barbara's favorite. so barbara gives him money to get in too. she also gets him into a frat and pays for his classes and his rent and everything he needs. dee has to live in a dumpy dorm with a female roommate.

but college presents dee a chance to moult her previous place in life where she was known as a monster (remember how insistent she was that "people can change!" in 'franks pretty woman'. I think dees always wanted to believe she can shed that feeling she's inferior, but she never has). in my head her female roommate is basically normal-has real friends of her own, mentally stable, attractive-which is exactly what dee craves. dee wants to be popular and well liked and she wants to infiltrate her roommates life, imitate her, be in the Cool group. and she places all her hopes on a friendship with the roommate but dee has never navigated real female friendships before, not with someone like her. deep down she also wishes she found what dennis found in mac, whatever it was, because ever since dennis met mac he's never been as close to her. and i do think dee is some flavor of queer. and the roommate is well liked in the way that dee admires and envies. so there is that blurriness between wanting to be her and wanting to be with her. in my head her roommate looks like the woman from dee's fantasy in 'the gang saves the day' (and they both represent that promise of escape from dee's shitty life).

dee is so desperate for the roommates approval and her love and her life that she goes insane, copying and flattering and competing with her. ever the shitty actress, she tries to emulate her, but comes off as manic and creepy. and maybe her roommate is nice enough to not completely shun her, recognizing that she's struggling. maybe in dees mind they actually are becoming friends when her roommate asks things like "are you okay?"

and dee has to talk about her plan with dennis because he's the only person who would Get It. and she makes it sound like it's almost working. dennis feels jealous and worried and threatened that maybe dee might actually be seen as normal, especially when she gets her back brace off in the third year. so dennis fucks her roommate, more of a show that he owns and controls each and every pathetic part of dee’s life than anything else. and so that dee knows she'll never be as good as him, she'll never as easily charm people as dennis does. (or at least he tells her he does).

to prove that To Someone dee is Good Enough, and so desperate for attention, dee (who's been groomed all this time) enters a sexual relationship with her professor dr. gainer. she tells herself she has the power in it, that she seduced him ("he didn't molest me. i had sex with him 'cause i wanted to.") and she has a mental break, because the thing she told herself held her back from being loved (her back brace) is finally gone by now and yet she still feels like a monster, and the only scrap of "love" she can get is from her professor.

and then she can't take the fact that she can steal her roommates clothes, can emulate her sexual prowess (in dee's own fucked up, delusional way), and still neither be well liked like her nor be loved by her. so maybe dee will always be a monster. so dee tried to burn her roommate in her bed, because she represented the promise of change and popularity, and that promise was a lie and dee's effort was for nothing. and she's institutionalized.

and i think there was kind of a falling out between the twins and their parents, because barbara wants to abandon dee but dennis can't help but visit her. and frank doesn't even step foot in a place that reminds him of his traumatic childhood, and avoids dee even more than he used to because she is his childhood mirror image. so the family becomes even more fractured and estranged.

and maybe dee becomes medicated and slowly crawls her way halfway to normal by the first season (her acting classes are so well-adjusted, taking part in healthy hobbies of her!). until her father comes back into her life and everything falls apart <3

side note, even though dee is crushingly lonely-"I just got a cat 'cause I wanted something to hang out with. I don't have, you know, a roommate or anything, and I don't really have anyone to talk to..."-AND she struggles to pay rent whenever frank cuts her off, i hc that she refused to ever get a roommate in particular female roommate again after this because both her internalized misogyny got worse and she was afraid of what would happen (what she would do) again.

[sanasanakun]

I think my favorite part of the dlc’s final boss is how it (can) directly mirror your Tarnished, and by extension, their relationship with Ranni. Obviously, this is coming from me, your resident Ranni glazer who will make everything about her if I can, so please understand this is my interpretation. 

My interpretation is that Miquella/Radahn act as a foil to Ranni/Tarnished, specifically when it comes to the themes of love, consent, and freewill. Now, I know it’s up in the air about how consenual the pact between Radahn and Miquella is. Personally, I see it as non-consensual; Miquella resurrected and controls a puppet of Radahn and/or bewitched him to be his “promised consort.” Given the theme of control with Miquella, I don’t think FromSoft would turn that around on us at the last second. Radahn’s situation is meant to be the final nail in the coffin; a demonstration of what Miquella’s “love” exactly means. Total control over one’s entire self and mind. Anyway, I digress, let’s get into how I see their situation mirroring, and acting as the antithesis, to Ranni and Tarnished. 

First, we’ll examine Miquella and Radahn. Miquella is presented almost throughout the entire game as a beloved figure. He is literally called “Miquella the Kind,” and his actions at the Haligtree paint him as an even more heroic figure. A demi-god who wants to help the weak, the oppressed, and anyone in between who has been scorned by the Golden Order. As we discover in the DLC, Miquella wants to create an “Age of Compassion.” But there’s always a catch, and Miquella’s plan is no exception. Why? Because his new age would remove the free will of everyone by giving him total control of how they feel, act, etc. He’ll make them happy and at peace because they’ll have no choice; they’ll have no self. This is exemplified in literal form with Radahn. The relationship between the two brothers presents itself as a one-sided obsession on Miquella’s part. Though we don't know a ton about them together, I think it’s safe to theorize Radahn didn’t willingly go along with Miquella’s plan. Radahn is canonically a fan of the Golden Order given his admiration of Godfrey and his father, Radagon. I can’t see him wanting to disrupt the current way of things. Plus, I don’t believe Maleania and Radahn would stage a fake war just to get Radahn into a position where he could be resurrected via Mohg. Too many hoops to jump through, so Occam’s Razor says Radahn rejected Miquella. 

Now that’s great and all, but the real meat I want to analyze comes from the actual boss fight, or more specifically, the twos’ body language during the fight. Radahn is an empty shell. He doesn’t have any dialouge aside from small grunts. He doesn’t address us at all, which is entirely unlikely for how he’s been described. He’s a ferocious warlord who values the strength of both his allies and enemies. At the very least, he would address someone as prolific and talented as the PC Tarnished. Yet, he doesn’t. Radahn is literally there to act as “the muscle;” he is the strong and powerful lord that Miquella admired him to be. However, by making Radahn only act like this, Miquella has erased the true essence of what made Radahn. He lacks his soul. Miquella might be the more interesting of the two when it comes to body language. I think Miquella’s theme of control really shines with how he places himself on Radahn during the battle. He is literally draped over Radahn with his arms wrapped around his neck. Obviously, at first glance this is meant to imitate an embrace, solidifying the two as both a team and lovers. Yet, Miquella’s position doubles in meaning when considering his need to control. The arms could represent a collar, with Miquella acting as the leash. His hovering gives off a “helicopter” vibe (for a lack of a better term). While playing I called him a “helicopter parent,” comparing him to where they are constantly looking over your shoulder and trying to direct you. Essentially, Miquella is caging Radahn in his embrace, revealing his need to control the situation and Radahn himself. Miquella is the personification of control; he won’t allow free will to happen because he thinks it causes too much pain and uncertainties. And Radahn, he embodies the fate of those who would live under the Age of Compassion; he is a puppet. Specifically, he is Miquella’s puppet in both battle and love. He doesn’t have a choice in the matter at all. 

So, how is this the antithesis to our beloved blue wife and the Tarnished? Ranni doesn’t appear to help the Tarnished during their fight with the duo, which I’ve seen a few complain about. While I would love to fight alongside my support princess (and I have downloaded the mod lol), I think Ranni appearing would undermine the character FromSoft has established and her relationship with the Tarnished. Ranni is very hands off. She gives her vassals the tools to work with and then tells them to do what they wish with it. She never forces you to do anything you don’t want to. When you confront her about her role in the death of Godwyn, she willingly admits it and then asks you if you’d like to pledge service to her. She doesn’t say, “You know my secrets, therefore you will be in my service so I can keep an eye on you.” Instead, it’s a choice; a choice for someone far below her in class and power, but she gives it to you nonetheless. For Ranni, the ability to choose and live the way you desire is incredibly important. She seems to dislike outside forces messing with the ability to expereince life (as she says feel, see, taste, etc). 

Therefore, in the final battle with Miquella and Radahn, Ranni is there with you via the tools she’s provided and the faith she has in you (you can interpret this as her blessing with the “we will see each other once more”). She doesn’t need to be hovering over you, arms wrapped around your neck; she trusts the Tarnished above all else to succeed and fight for her. But should they choose not to, she’ll be heartbroken but she won’t stop you. As for the Tarnished, our character is not a shell of a person. They are someone teeming with ambition and the will to fight for their chosen successor. They fight because they want to be there and challenge whatever comes to face them; they don’t need Ranni telling them “go fight Miquella and Radahn for me pls.” 

Their “Age of the Dark Moon” also is the antithesis to Miquella’s “Age of Compassion.” Whereas his is about control, Ranni wants to remove all outer god influence from the world. She wants people to experience their lives without the intervention of any god; to experience life on their own terms, whether they want otherworldly guidance or not. She literally takes her order and leaves the planet (?) with it and you. 

Ok, that’s enough of me rambling about whatever the fuck comes to my sleep deprived mind. I have a flight to catch in three hours, so I’m gonna leave it here. In closing, Ranni good I love her very much mwah<3

[vespertiliosworld]

Shivani

Damian Wayne x Reader

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

You were playing with the little Robin keychain that came with the menu you got at BatBurger. "Aw! That's so cute, I didn't know Robin could be so cute." You spoke while admiring the toy.

Robin was glaring at you like he had been doing for the last twenty minutes. He didn't like the toy, nor the way you played with it.

"So stupid." He grumbled before eating his veggie burger. You were all sitting together on the roof of one of Gotham's tall buildings, eating your burgers.

Superboy laughed at his situation with food scraps on his face. "I got Batman!" he said, holding up the keychain. He drank his coke while shaking Batman.

"Next time I'll get Red Hood." you said in an excited voice. Red Hood was your favorite, but you couldn't get him first while Robin next to you.

Robin felt enraged. "Why? He's such an idiot." he said in a disgusted tone. He had finished his burger and was waiting for you and Superboy.

You giggled slightly and rolled your eyes at him. "He's not! He's so cool! He never runs away from a fight, he's so cool, his body is so good, he's got muscles and oh my god I wish I could meet him!" You squealed with admiration and listed a bunch of things in one breath.

Robin looked at him with disgust on his face. He didn't understand why you liked Jason. To him, Jason was a total loser.

It seemed a little silly, but Red Hood was your favorite hero. "Well, I wonder if he's handsome?" You talked to yourself while picking up the garbage from your burger.

Robin grimaced and stood up. "He is not, he is very ugly." We all know that's a lie, right? Without waiting for you, he jumped off with a bat-hook towards another roof and jumped away.

"I don't understand what's wrong with him!" you said, rebelling.

Superboy shrugged and rose from the ground. "I think he's jealous." Then he winked and followed Robin without another word.

Not understanding, you quickly followed them. "Hey!" Night flights were very good. Especially with your friends. Your flying races with Jon, imitating Robin while he's bossing you around, eating burgers after long chases, and running around to warm you up in cold weather. It was all fun.

When the patrol ended and everyone started to disperse to their homes, you wanted to wander around for a while longer. You take every opportunity you have to use your powers freely.

As you flew over Washington, the houses with their lights on below looked like stars. The view was interesting, but you had to get back home before it was too late and Diana got worried. You stayed above the clouds to avoid attracting attention as you flew home.

When you got home, you noticed that Diana was getting ready to go somewhere in a hurry. She moved from room to room and you followed her. "Where are you going?" you said curiously.

Diana paused for a moment and turned to you. "Void, he's back. We're going to stop him with the team." she said quickly.

"Okay, I'm ready anyway." You said and held your sword.

Diana shook her head and put a hand on your shoulder. "You're not coming, his goal is to catch you anyway. It would be better if you stayed here." she said and turned to get ready.

You slumped your shoulders in disappointment. "You're right, okay." you said meekly. Of course you won't stay at home, you will follow.

When Diana hurried away, you silently followed after her, keeping some distance between you. She was too thoughtful and focused to notice you.

So it wasn't much of a hassle to follow her. The place where she met Batman and Superman was like an apocalyptic scene. Void's soldiers were everywhere, blood, severed organs, and dead people were scattered like decorations. As if Void was enjoying this, he was watching what was happening from above with satisfaction appearing in his black eyes.

You hid in the clouds to keep yourself away from it, but Void looked right at you, sensing the energy radiated by the relic you wore. You swallowed and hid further into the clouds, but he stared at you with bloodthirstiness, absorbing the dark energy emanating from dead bodies and scared people.

Feeling like you couldn't hide any longer, you pulled out your sword and gripped it tightly. When Void sent a large fireball towards you, you split it in half with your sword and quickly attacked him. When Void quickly retreated, you swung your sword at him once again. This time he caught your sword and smiled. "Hi dear."

You turned your eyes at him and tried to press your sword harder, but it didn't work. Void shattered your sword into pieces, this time he is very powerfully. While you didn't have time to pull away, he grabbed you by the neck and squeezed you. “When someone says hello to you, you have to say hello back, dear.”

When he threw you like dirt, you hit the ground and were dragged away. He screamed in pain with laser beams when he came at you and tried to attack once more. When you looked back in surprise, Robin jumped in front of you and stabbed Void in the eye with his katana. Just like you did before.

When Void stepped back, Robin came to you and extended his hand. "It must be hard being this powerless ." Even though he used a condescending tone towards you, you were happy.

You took his hand and got up. "Thanks." you said gratefully. Superboy landed next to you, punching one palm with the other. “Let's take this bitch down!” Robin grinned when you shouted loudly.

Although Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman saw you, they were too busy to help. There were Void's bloodthirsty soldiers everywhere. Wonder Woman turned to you as she shattered another one with a single punch. "Shivani! Be careful!"

You turned to her for a second and smiled. Your sword was broken, but you didn't necessarily need a sword. As you lunged forward and swung your fist at Void, he turned to you. Superboy took advantage of this by getting behind him and shooting lasers with his eyes. Before Void could realize this, Damian cut off his arm with sword.

You quickly jumped into the air and brought your fists together to deliver a solid blow to Void's head. Before he understand what was happening, you smiled proudly as Void broke the ground and created a dent.

"We did it! We won!" Superboy looked around, see the disappearing Void's soldiers.

You smiled and entered the rift, reaching for Void's necklace, which glowed black. "What's this?" The black stone was shining as if it was drawing you in. You reached up and took it off Void's neck and held it in your hand. It was an heirloom just like yours.

"I think I found something." As you looked hypnotized at the stone that pulled you in, you called out to the other two. Robin quickly jumped down and reached for your shoulder, but suddenly your body started shaking in pain. "Fuck!" You fell to your knees and whimpered in pain.

You screamed in pain as black veins of unknown origin appeared on your body. “Y/N!” You wanted to turn to Damian's shout, but everything suddenly went dark.

[callie-the-creator]

headache

sfw. warnings: one mention of titans, but that’s about it! there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

author’s note: the reader is gender neutral and the pronouns that are used are you/your.

you, eren yeager, levi ackerman, and the rest of squad levi had just finished an old scout base where they will prepare for the upcoming scouting mission. but that wasn’t important now. what was important was that you— along with many of the others— were exhausted from a hard day’s work of cleaning and captain levi’s strict demands for the place to be spotless didn’t necessarily make things easier.

“hey, y/n…” petra spoke up, tearing you away from your thoughts. “you don’t look so good, is everything okay?” she asked which prompted the others to stop eating and stare at you for some sort of response. levi was at the far end of the table, lifting his cup to his lips to drink some of his tea, and once he heard that you weren’t up to par, he stopped.

“yeah.” you let out a small yawn. “i just think i overworked myself,” you reached over and messaged one of your shoulders, groaning. “that and i feel a headache coming on.” you wished that you were back home and have someone like doctor yeager to give you proper treatment, so you didn’t have to suck it up.

“oh, boohoo!” oluo said, suddenly. “we faced man-eating creatures and you’re worried about a little ol’ headache?” oluo bozado has a reputation for trying to copy their dear captain levi, such as his rough speech and confident attitude, which caused him to be at slight odds with petra. but you know what they say: imitating is the best form of flattery. despite knowing this, it didn’t make his comment any less humiliating.

you decided now to bite your tongue. for now.

“that’s enough.” levi bowed his head. your undivided attention snapped toward the captain and watched as he, slowly, stood up which caused the wooden legs of the object to slightly scrape against the ground, the noise echoing in the rather empty place. “y/n,” his cold and unreadable fell on you. you tensed. “i suggest you go to bed. i’ll make some tea for you in the meantime.”

the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop if it did. the only sound that accompanied the main hall was the heels of levi’s boots clicking against the ground which only grew quieter when he left the table before he opened the door with a loud crrrk and then left to prepare your tea.

“what was that all about?” eren mumbled under his breath, looking around innocently once there was no sight of the captain.

“i think it’s pretty damn obvious what it was.” gunther smirked mischievously before suddenly pressing his weight against you, resting his side and head on you, in dramatic fashion. “looks like y/n’s got themself a little admirer. better watch out, petra. you got some major competition.” the blond joked.

“you jerk!” petra scowled once her devotion to the captain was brought up.

because of gunther’s little comment, a small spat broke out between him and petra. he tried to reassure it that he didn’t mean anything by it by raising his hands whilst petra continued to take it personally. while this was happening, you couldn’t help but wonder if there was some truth in the whole ‘levi having a soft spot for you’.

but there was one thing you knew for sure: the raised voices of petra and gunther sure as hell weren’t helping out your headache. if anything, it just caused it to worsen. making you seethe and wince at the pain. “hey, uh, guys?” you spoke up. “i think i’m going to head to bed. i’ll see you all tomorrow, yeah?”

“oh…goodnight then, y/n!”

“sleep well.”

“cya.” oluo dismissed your goodbye. again: he tries too hard to be like captain levi.

“see you later!” petra shouted, trying to be louder than the rest of the boys.

“yeah…get better soon.” eren said.

letting out a small huff, you hurried out of the dining hall and made a beeline toward the barracks. once inside your room, you stripped off your day clothes and slipped into your more comfortable night ones. sinking onto your bed, you sighed in relief as the tension slowly ebbed away.

but before you could find any solace, a knock at the door startled them.

"come in," you called, your voice a little groggy from the pounding headache. the door creaked open, and there stood levi, his usual stoic demeanor intact. he held a steaming cup of tea in his hand, and without a word, he approached and handed it to you, being cautious not to spill a drop. “oh…thank you.”

you accepted the tea but hesitated to drink it. gunther's earlier comment about levi still lingered in their mind, casting doubt on the situation and your relationship as a whole with the captain. it’s no doubt that you had grown to have feelings for the man, but you always thought that you were good at hiding it…

levi noticed your reluctance and broke the silence, his voice crisp and unreadable, "what’s the matter? you don't want it or something?"

quickly shaking your head, you took a few tentative sips of the tea to please him. it was soothing, the warmth spreading through Your body and providing a momentary respite from your headache. after seeing that you at least had something to help your headache, levi, almost begrudgingly, turned to leave the room.

but just as he reached the door, you couldn't bear the uncertainty any longer. “captain?” you called out his name, stopping him in his tracks, but he didn't turn around to fully face you. he simply wanted to hear if you had any departing words before he too turns in for the night. you, however, had other plans since you decided to confront the unspoken question that had been hanging in the air. "what do you think of me?" you asked, your voice trembling ever so slightly.

the captain, at first, didn’t do a thing. just stood there. was he trying to think of the right words? what if the thought of your relationship hadn’t crossed his mind? after a moment of silence, levi shifted his body, turning to face you. his expression, as always, remained inscrutable.

you felt almost stupid for asking such a thing. “you know what? just forget i said anything…” you trailed off, looking away bashfully.

without a word, levi stepped forward and leaned down, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead. it was a brief, soft touch, but it conveyed a depth of emotion that words often failed to express. he whispered, "get some rest," before straightening up and leaving the room, leaving you with a mix of emotions and a much lighter heart.

[violetrainbow412-blog]

Day 16: stargazing

Masterlist flufftober 🎀

Reblog if you liked it!

You let out a sigh of satisfaction when you finished preparing the back of your father's pickup truck, after several minutes and a lot of effort to stretch the blankets enough. There was a mat, a duvet, sheets, and plenty of pillows so the two of you would be comfortable on the date you had prepared for your boyfriend. Spencer had told you about a meteor shower that occurred every ten million years and that on this occasion would be visible in the region, so he believed it would be a sin not to take advantage of the night to see it together and, in the process, spend a nice time between you. You seemed very excited about the idea and had prepared food to spend the hours that you were going to wait and, of course, a thermos full of coffee to share.

“How does it look?”

“It's perfect,” he replied happily.

He had been busy reviewing some celestial maps that he carried with him, under the light of a flashlight that you had in the trunk. You were in a remote section of the countryside and without all the light pollution of the city the stars could be seen in their maximum splendor, which had you completely fascinated. You had never done an activity like this and you knew how much Spencer was excited about astronomy, so the idea that he wanted to share that with you made you feel special.

You climbed up to the space you had arranged and he immediately imitated you, where both of you sat with your back comfortably leaning on a pair of pillows. You pulled a blanket to cover your legs and those of your boyfriend, who soon intertwined them to shorten the distance.

“I assume you know the constellations, right?”

"I do! At this time of year several can be seen. Like that one over there that is shaped like a trapezoid with a tail, do you see it?” he asked, pointing to a specific point in the sky. You had to admit that you weren't the best at finding shapes in celestial bodies, but you tried with all your might, until you finally understood what he was referring to “That's the Big Dipper, it's the third largest constellation and it's visible for all year round in the northern hemisphere, in addition to being one of the best known and most important in astronomical history. It has eight stars, one of them visible only in very clear places like this and they are called Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Megrez, Phecda, Merak, and Dubhe”

“There is a myth in Greek mythology about it, isn't there?”

“Yes, Greek mythology considered Ursa Major to be the bear that Callisto had been turned into by Artemis after being seduced by Zeus. Homer mentions the Bear in Canto V of the Odyssey, in which Ulysses tries in vain to be guided by her to return to Ithaca, his land”

“Wow,” you sighed, as you continued to look up to admire the stars your boyfriend was telling you about.

“When I was a child, I asked for a telescope as a birthday gift and this was the first constellation I learned because if you follow a line a little higher you can find the polar star… that one over there, do you see it?”

"I see it"

“That star serves to guide you because it always points north, so no matter where you are you can find your way if you find it. That way I imagined that whenever I was lost, I could come back home” he confessed to you, with a nostalgic smile on his face.

You stopped seeing the celestial sky to focus on him and you couldn't stop yourself from kissing him when you saw the sparkle in his eyes watching you with enthusiasm. The kiss was gentle and short, just as if you wanted to reward him for his eloquence, and then you settled under his arm with your head resting on his soft chest.

“You probably know a few thousand facts about the stars, or am I wrong?”

“I have never counted them, but from the books I have read I can assure you that it is an approximate amount”

“Well, we still have a few hours until the rain starts so start spitting them all out. I want Sagan to feel threatened in the afterlife by my knowledge of the universe at dawn” you joked and the soft laugh he let out above your head was like music to your ears.

Spencer talked and talked and you listened attentively to everything he had to tell you, only interrupting him to ask questions or to ask him to eat a little or try his cup of coffee. In the same way, you were changing positions as the hours went by, sometimes lying down, sitting, other times he with his head resting on your shoulder, and you even went so far as to sit on his lap, with your back comfortably against his torso while that he spoke kindly in your ear.

"You are tired? Bored?"

“None of that, love” you smiled. Right now you were lying in front of each other, with him absentmindedly tangling a lock of your hair in his finger “It's the most interesting date I've ever had in my life.”

“And it's going to get better, because it's the scheduled time for the main show,” he murmured in a theatrical voice, while he sat down and helped you with one hand so that you were in the same position.

He hadn't lied, because after a few minutes he saw the first star crossing the sky. You gasped in surprise like a little girl would, and your shock only intensified when another star sped past. Suddenly dozens of stars imitated the first ones and your smile grew as a new one appeared.

"Look how beautiful!" you squealed, shaking your shoulder excitedly at your lover, who was smiling the same way you were. “It’s wonderful.”

Spencer felt the need to hug you from the side to enjoy the view and the company at the same time, while you continued to look at the sky with fascination.

“We are experiencing a unique event in our space-time,” he whispered, the words slightly muffled by his lips in your hair. “And… I wanted to give you something equally unique.”

Suddenly you felt his hand take yours and then a metallic object sliding down your ring finger, forcing you to stop looking at the sky to look at him, with an expression of nothing but shock.

“Spencer, what—?”

“It's not what you think,” he hastened to say. You looked at the jewel and realized that it was a delicate ring that was completely smooth and silver in color. “It is a promise ring, it is used to… well, to promise a loved one that at some point it will be replaced by one that involves a greater commitment," he explained to you, suddenly becoming a nervous wreck "I thought about giving it to you today because I love you so much and I wanted you to know that I would like to go further with you, if you accept me”

"Darling…"

"Do you like it?" he insisted and you were forced to drown his fears with a prolonged kiss on the lips.

“Of course it does. I love you so, so much and you don't know how happy this makes me, I wouldn't want to be with anyone else in the vast universe. I'm serious"

That was enough of an answer for him and then you settled down again to enjoy the rest of the astronomical phenomenon, knowing that you would only be able to forget that night when the time necessary to witness another of those meteor showers had passed.

taglist: @navs-bhat @reidwritings @tricia-shifting14 @spencerslove @vivian-555 @r-3dlips @rhiannonhippiegirl @taygrls @simp4f1 @sdddoobydoobydoo @taintedstranger

[neuroprincess]

Perfect Family - Melissa Schemmenti/Female Reader

Melissa Schemmenti/Female Reader

Summary: It's Luca's first presentation and the moms are very excited for this event.

Classification: Domestic fluff

Warnings: None

Word count: +2500

Unrevised

"Now we spin and..." Melissa patiently instructs, spinning with Luca, following his childish rhythm, then puts her hand to lips, which him repeats and they throw a kiss in the air "Mwah!"

"Mwah!" the baby smiles clapping hands excitedly watching his mother smile as he imitates her " Lap, lap." he raises a little hand opening and closing it quickly, a sign he has learned to ask moms to take him on their laps.

The boy gets what he wants when the redhead crouches down and lifts him in arms, hugging his little body against hers, dropping several kisses to his chubby cheeks and little hands. LuLu giggles feeling tickled, which makes the teacher laugh, barely able to handle the cute thing in her lap. It's one of the beautiful moments in having an 18 month old baby at home, half the time they are interacting like this and it melts her heart, other half she and her wife are running after the little ball of energy, since learning to walk he simply became a danger away from adult eyes. After he learned that he can run he almost made them both faint with worry, in several situations. With each passing day he looks more and more like a Schemmenti, the coppery hair has darkened a bit approaching brown, the olive eyes are framed by large eyelashes, similar in shape to Melissa's, as well as the mouth and chin that clearly inherited from her. She rocks him on the lap admiring the little face and receives a look of admiration, priceless for that. When the son looks at her this way the world suddenly stops, heart races every time she sees the happy and innocent smile directed at her and there is nothing the mother lioness won't do for her son.

"Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!" he repeats the gesture of throwing kisses when the other mom enters the nursery "Mama!" and starts to rock happily.

"Calm down, big boy!" Melissa smiles and squeezes him tighter so he doesn't fall off lap "He's growing up too fast."

"I know, it seems like yesterday he was so small we were afraid to hold him in our laps and now he barely stays in our arms." Y/N approaches and is about to give the teacher a kiss when she is interrupted by Luca's little hand pushing her away, he stares at her in disapproval "And he wasn't that jealous."

"Mine Mel! No, no!"

"He always was, the only difference is that now he can express it."

"You're right. But it's so unfair. I carried him for months, breastfed, changed diapers, stayed up nights to make him sleep and you're the one he's jealous of. I can't even kiss you." the two laugh and the younger runs a hand through his coppery hair, stroking the soft strands, even at a young age he has a bit more hair than most babies and can even do a few hairstyles "I wonder how we should style his hair tomorrow?"

"Maybe to the side, nice and neat. We know it won't last long, but I think it will for the first hour at least. Enough." Melissa knows what she's talking about, every day his hair is perfectly styled to go to daycare and comes back an awkward little mess, like it's uncontrollable "I think we're more nervous than he is about the presentation."

"For LuLu it's fun, he probably doesn't even know it's a presentation." she shrugs, the three have been practicing for over a week for the big day which is the boy's first presentation at daycare "Plus he's loving having to wear the lion mane."

"Wasn't he going to be the rabbit?"

"Yes, but the child who was supposed to be the lion had an allergy to the fabric of the mane and they switched places."

"Then we don't need to style his hair, since he won't be wearing the rabbit ears." the redhead says hopefully.

"Mel, we're not letting our son go unkempt under the costume."

"No one will see."

"You have a point."

Melissa runs through the halls of the daycare trying to get to her son's classroom in time, the event started about forty minutes ago and as much as the couple had organized a plan so she could arrive on time after work neither of them counted on an accident on the main street where she got stuck, luckily Y/N had left early to get Luca ready and took him there. She feels relieved when sees the familiar colorfully decorated door with sun, rainbow and handprints forming a tree, taking a breath before trying to enter as quietly as possible. Lucky for her, the presentation hasn't started yet, parents are looking at the activities and cute pictures of their children, all exhibited on the walls and tables. Y/N is near the entrance, looking at pictures of the babies interacting, hunting for the ones where LuLu is.

"Hey, amore mio!" the redhead walks quickly over and kisses her quickly "I thought they would have started by now."

"Hey, honey! Lucky for us they were a little late, Luca looks so cute." their hands come together and they walk slowly across the room "But that you should know by now, he pulled his mom."

"I know I'm beautiful." they laugh, continuing to walk seeing other pictures hanging on a wall, their son appears in almost all of them and usually hugged with some classmate, no surprise considering his love language is physical touch "Look at these..." on the table there are some activities exhibited, with cotton, paint and confetti everywhere, many with Luca S. written on the edge "Hopefully we can keep this, otherwise I'll just sneak it home. Will you be my partner?"

"Always!"

Minutes later the children began to enter the classroom, organized by the teacher and helper so that they stand side by side, minimally lined up. The parents arranged themselves in the chairs in the center to watch them, the moms settled themselves in the front chairs, perhaps Melissa's gaze intimidated anyone who tried to approach the seats she chose. They wait anxiously for it, Luca is one of the last babies to enter, walking hurriedly on his short little legs to where the teacher points. He immediately notices his moms' presence and gets all giggly, rosy cheeks, small teeth showing and eyes not leaving them at any moment.

"Our boy is so well-behaved." Melissa says proudly as she notices how he does what had been ordered and barely gets out of his place "At least here, we know that at home he is more hard."

"Absolutely! Mel, he looks so cute, just like a teddy bear and I want nothing more than to shower him with kisses."

LuLu is wearing a yellow jumpsuit with a lighter circle in the middle that resembles a lion's belly, a cap with ears and a cute mane. The teacher already has her phone in hand taking some pictures, these will surely go into the photo album, maybe with a cute collage. And she puts the phone to record when notices that they are about to start performing, leaving it positioned on the lap so that they can watch the performance without the need to adjust the camera, not wanting to miss any moments of the dance.

The children's song starts playing, some babies are instantly agitated while others seem unsure, looking anxiously at their parents, Luca does this and is comforted by his moms, Melissa does the initial dance moves with hands and he repeats them excitedly. They don't stop looking at each other at any point, when the boy seems unsure about what to do next she helps him by doing the movement. It's a dance of less than two minutes, halfway through he is more relaxed, finally having fun just like he did at home practicing with them. The last few seconds are the most important, that part that Melissa loves so much and has practiced a lot, the move she calls "LuLu's spin". He smiles happily as he spins around and puts a little hand on the lips, throwing a kiss in the air toward his moms.

"Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!" he repeats excitedly as the song ends and ignores the teacher, running up to them, unlike expected Luca doesn't throw himself at the redhead but at Y/N "Lap, lap."

The younger is surprised, even though he is just one and a half years old he makes his preference for Melissa very clear. So seeing him run up to her was a total surprise for both of them, the teacher doesn't miss the chance to record this unique moment, Y/N quickly takes her son in lap and shower him with kisses, lovingly hugging the cute little thing. It's a cute family moment that both would remember fondly, for sure he won't remember this when he grows up and they will make sure to show the videos and photo albums. The cloud is one of the best tools ever invented.

"I'm glad I didn't have to steal the activities, she was nice giving us some pictures too." Melissa says excitedly as she leaves the bag with activities on the coffee table, her wife walks behind with their son on lap, since the presentation he doesn't want to leave her arms, instantly and suddenly attached "Is he sleepy?"

"Surprisingly no, even the car ride didn't tire him out." she sits down on the couch with the baby still on her lap "Luckily I brushed his hair, who knew he would get tired of wearing the costume and the teacher would take pictures."

"Is that your way of saying you are right?"

"Actually, yes."

"Okay, you are right, amore mio." the woman joins the two on the couch, sitting down next to her wife as she gets rid of the boots, soon thrown in the middle of the room, on another day they would care if they weren't so tired "Come with Mama Mel, bambino." she holds out her arms expecting Luca to do as usual, cuddle up without a second thought.

"No, no!" he whispers and cuddles tighter into Y/N, pouting.

"I thought I was your favorite, LuLu." Melissa smiles lovingly, stroking his hair "And you did great, big boy. We did all the moves, didn't we?! Luca Schemmenti, the best dancer of all."

"Dance! Yay!" the couple laughs as he happily agrees, convinced that it's true.

"Well, my little dancer, shall we take a nap?" Y/N asks rhetorically and receives a disapproving look from son.

"No, Mama!" Luca hugs her tighter and lays his head against the top of her belly.

"Okay, we can stay like this for a few more minutes." the younger laughs at her son's behavior and turns to the redhead "Let's test it, kiss me."

"You're the boss, principessa." she moves closer to kiss her wife, expecting Y/N to be pushed away as she always is, but this time it's Melissa who is pushed away "What..."

"Mine Mama!"

"Okay, this just gets weirder and weirder. And you know, young man, she is my wife."

"Mine Mama!" he just repeats grimacing, ready to fight, this is the first time this has happened, at least with the teacher.

Y/N just watches the scene amused to finally see her wife in her position, as she had become accustomed to being the favorite, even before the baby came into the world he was already showing preference. She smiles, delighted at how they have created an incredible little family, with an incredibly loving, kind-hearted and devoted wife. A mother completely in love with their son. And he, well, he is simply the love of their lives, a little human full of light and hope who has made their days brighter, the great joy of the house. When met Melissa she thought she would never love someone more than loves her, only to find out she was very wrong when discovering she was expecting Melissa's child. Luca is the fruit of their love, materialized and lived, with his own personality, tastes and lots of affection.

"Well, I read somewhere that some children feel and get attached when they sense that their mothers are... expecting another baby." she whispers slowly between the mom and child discussion, smiling as she realizes that the noise has ceased, Melissa staring at her with confusion in eyes as if she hadn't heard correctly.

"What... Do I understand... or not?" the redhead whispers back.

"I'm pregnant."

The woman's first reaction was to hug her wife, practically throwing herself on top wrapping her in arms, the boy didn't even mind this time, he just laughed between the hug. But he wanted to push his mom away when the couple shared a quick and passionate kiss. None of them can believe that this is happening, not even Y/N despite having taken the test the night before after spending the week filling out the symptom bingo. Melissa, on the other hand, is more surprised that the procedure worked on the first try considering their history with Luca's pregnancy, which they suffered the disappointment of two negatives before finally getting a positive one. It was a hard wait that was totally worth when they welcomed the little bundle of joy into their arms. So when he turned one year old, right after the party and a comment about having another child, they talked about giving LuLu a baby brother or sister. The exams came weeks later and the first try was less than a month ago. And now the baby is here. It's just unbelievable.

"Damn, we're having another baby!" she almost screams, very excited at the news "Did you hear that, LuLu? You're going to be a big brother."

"Big bwudda?" he asks confused, not knowing exactly what it means.

"Yes, bambino mio. Mommy has a baby in her belly." Melissa explains calmly, pointing to the spot and carefully places his small hand on the spot.

"Baby?"

"Yes, I have a baby right here. Let's add to the family." Y/N places her own hand on top of the boy's and they exchange a warm smile, shared by the other woman who places her hand next to them "Your little brother or sister."

"Sis, sissy..."

"Yeah, I think it's a girl too, LuLu." the redhead shrugs and turns to her wife, kissing her lips softly "And you know the Schemmenti have great intuition."

"Yes, I know. But Mama here may also be right, I feel we are having another boy."

"Y/N, are you wanting to bet?"

"Maybe."

"Be prepared to lose, the Schemmenti are also great at betting." Melissa blinks and wraps them in her arms again, she was ready to sleep before the news and now all she wants to do is spend the night with the little family she have, talk about the children, about how Y/N is and feels, the shared future that promises much to them "Thank you..."

"For what?"

"For giving me a beautiful and perfect family."

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Schemmenti Family Masterlist

[queenquinzel715]

Halfdan 18+

Wrd count 3,398

Y/n p.o.v

People always told my mother that twins were a true blessing of Freya, but when one is a crippled son while the other is a normal girl, it gets more difficult. My brother Ivar was born ten minutes after me, but he deems himself my boss. Growing up I was in charge of pulling Ivar everywhere I went, which was mostly to Uncle Floki's home. He taught us everything we needed to learn on how to be Viking. Most came to fear Ivar, but when I got caught in my own hunting cabin torturing a man that was watching over Kattegat. I got the nickname Galco which means monster. So far I've never been bothered by the name, people would run away, and I'd be left alone like I like.

Over the years my brothers have allowed me to be in charge of weapons, but of course I have my shadow behind me telling where I mess up.

"You have to sharpen that end or it won't snap into place." Ivar snaps over my shoulder.

"I know Ivar I'm not finished." I try to calmly respond.

"Don't snap at me, because you're to stupid to actually build weapons properly." He rolls his eyes with his sassy voice.

"Can't build…." I slam the arrow shooter down as I turn to him. "Ivar I've been building weapons while you were going crazy crawling after Floki, so would you shut up." I walk out of the work area we have in the blacksmiths.

I was stomping my way through Kattegat, people would jump out of my way, but one man kept following me without me even noticing. The brother of King Harald Finehair, Halfdan the Black, a man that has worked with my father and eldest brother, a man I've heard so many stories of, and admired since I began my own stories. I've heard he's been asking questions about me, and since the first stories that are told are my torture stories then I'd say it's good he wants to hear more. I'm opening my cabin's windows when I see a shoulder poking from behind a tree. I quickly grab my bow and arrow, shooting the tree in warning, and to my shock Halfdan jumps from behind with his hand up with a sly smirk on his face. I watch his every step as he walks across the field getting closer to the window.

"Why are you here?" I ask imitately.

"I heard of this cabin, and saw you coming out here. I thought I would get a look at your weapons." He seems to be speaking truthfully.

"Behind a tree?" I smirk at him as I lean on the window.

He seems to stagger a bit, but when I point to the door he walks inside. He eyes all the weapons I have hanging on the walls, but stops at my baskets of snakes.

"I tend to collect different snakes I see on my walks." I honestly tell him.

We get comfortable talking about the different weapons I have made or in the middle of making. He helps me finish the arrow shooter and advance another weapon I had. We tell stories as we work, mostly raiding stories, his England times, and I give him my details of my nickname sake. The way we move together is like we've been with each other for years. Once the sun starts to set I roast some meat and potatoes as we sit on the palette I have made of blankets and pillows.

"I still don't understand why Galco is your name. Why would a mother name a gorgeous girl like that?" He waves around the bone he has in his hand.

"My name is (y/n) Halfdan." I laugh. "People just call me that since I started torturing people." I take the plates away as I laugh.

"(Y/n) is much better." He compliments, standing up. "I'd much rather call you that." He's standing against my back now.

"Halfdan, you know my brothers will kill you if you continue to try this." I informed him.

"Love, do you think.." he runs his hands on my waist to connect them on my stomach. "I care about your brothers when I have a goddess like you in front of me." He softly kisses my shoulder, causing me to lean my head back. "I want you as mine (y/n)." He whispers to me as he moves his hands along my body. "I need someone who thinks like I do, who can handle my ways." He turns me around to face him.

"Halfdan, I take words seriously. If this happens then you are mine." I grab his arms so I can lean into him.

He deeply kisses me while he pulls me against his chest, and all I could do was move my hands to hold onto the back of his shoulders. Everything moves so fast as he pulls my dress off to me pulling his clothes apart. He slowly lays me onto the palette with a hand behind my head, and his arm around my waist. His lips move around my neck, shoulder, down my chest, and once to my breast he licks my nipple in circles. I hold onto the back of his head not really feeling anything in my body other than heat, and shaking.

"Halfdan please." I moan out as he kisses down.

His head goes in between my legs using his shoulders to keep them out of his way. I've never had a man do this to me before, and I'm angry at every man I've been with for not doing this amazing thing. I couldn't stop moaning his name loud, and having my back shoot up into an arch. He keeps moving his tongue around, but he adds his finger into me. With his finger curling up, his tongue circling around I tighten my legs around his head and cum so hard making him groan as he gets everything. As he stands on his knees he wipes his mouth, but his eyes stop me. They were almost black with a primal look, like he was claiming me completely just for him. I let my legs rest on his hips as he leans over me with his hard cock slowly entering making me gasp, but he kisses me as he bottoms out. I hold the back of his head with one hand, his side with the other as he starts moving. He rests his forehead against mine with a groan while I moan out. He grips my hip as he goes harder.

"Halfdan!" I yell from the stretch I've never felt.

"Mine" He groans, his head falling into my neck.

He starts pounding away like he lost all self power, and is letting everything go. I can't even begin to think of how good he feels from the non stop cumming. He lifts my legs higher to his shoulders making him go so much deeper than before. He's holding onto my hips using them to help him pound into me. My body arches as I let out a loud moan, but as I feel my body shake he groans loud.

"Fuck!" Halfdan finishes deep inside me with a tight grip on my hips.

He lets my legs fall as he slowly pulls out of me causing a surprise gasp to leave my mouth. He gives me a smirk as he leans back down to kiss me, and lay down next to me. I'm so relaxed my eyes won't open, and his body is so warm I don't want to move.

-Next Morning-

"Love, I have to get going." I'm woken up by Halfdan whispering into my ear.

"Then leave, why must I get up." I smirk at him.

He rolls his eyes before kissing me, rolling over me as his hands cage me to the pallet. He kisses around my face, neck, and down to my chest. He gives me a soft smirk as he stands.

"You have to get up, because I know your brothers will be looking for you if you aren't at breakfast." He holds his hand out to me.

"Ugh. I wish they'd let me be." I grumble as he helps me stand, but pulls me to his chest.

My naked body against his clothed body just makes him feel so much warmer than mine. He holds me by my lower back.

"I could always just take you with me. You'd be left alone… for the most part." He grabs me tighter causing me to laugh.

He gives me a last hug before leaving. I smile to myself as I lift my dress from the floor, but I almost lose my heart when an angry Ivar comes crutching his way into my cabin.

"Halfdan?! Have you…no no I know you've lost your mind!'' He yells pointing at his finger in my face.

"Ivar I'm a grown woman I don't need your approval. Now leave so I can get dressed in peace." I move to the small wall I have off to the side.

"Grown woman who's stupid enough to pick a man that won't actually care for you." He leaves once he realizes I'm not going to respond.

Not long after I'm about to reach the great hall when a body is thrown from the doors. Ubbe, Ivar, and Sigurd are glaring at the slowly moving body.

"You can beat me all you want, but (y/n) do as she wishes." I hear Halfdan tell my angry brothers.

"Well let's ask her ourselves." Hvitserk decides now to come outside, making everyone turn to me.

I can't move. I just look at my family, and then to the man I've actually felt normal with even before yesterday. He would always made me feel like a normal girl that liked a man. My brothers eye me like I'm some villain. Ivar shakes his head at me, because he knows what I'm going to do. He just doesn't know where. I give Halfdan one last look before bolting away from the great hall to the stables. I mount my horse, and push my poor girl as fast as she can until I reach the past the small river. I dismount to guide her into the water, going up the river, and getting out at the waterfall. I then ride my horse only a few miles til my father's cabin comes into view. This is the cabin he stayed in while he went into hiding. He only told me about this cabin, and I only come here for my moons.

It's only three days until we leave early for England. I'm glad I keep supplies up here. I know this seems cowardly, and Halfdan probably feels betrayed by me just leaving him there beaten up. I don't even understand why I ran. I just can't believe everything just flipped over night. One night my brothers, except Ivar, would eye me like I'm an angry dog that's one movement away from attacking, but now I'm their fragile little sister.

-Three days later-

I ride slowly into Kattegat with my head high as people point, and whisper about me, gods only know about what this time. I give my horse to the stable boy, and walk into the great hall as everyone is giving one last cheers to the gods for safe travels. I speak to no one as we load the boats, and set sail. I do keep looking over to King Finehair's boat to see Halfdan look over from time to time. I wish I actually talked to him, but I know he wouldn't want to speak with me.

As we get to England we start to build camp immediately. I'm helping with my tent as I looked over to see Halfdan move trunks of weapons to tents. I roll my eyes at my little girl act, and get to work. That night I swear I hear walking near my tent opening.

As I wake up, and get ready I find a new piece of armor that goes over my shoulders on the ground. I quickly strap them on as I walk to the front of lines with my brothers. Ubbe hugs me like always, giving me a quick nod, Hvitserk smirks at me from his spot, Sigurd touches axes with me, and as I step to Ivar's horse wagon he rolls his eyes at me.

"Don't die with those off-made weapons." He says as he ties his gloves.

"Don't worry I'll be close to protect you little brother." I laugh as he snaps his head to me.

"Ten minutes you awful…" He grumbles to himself. Cursing the Gods for giving him a twin.

Northumbria is an English kingdom my father spoke highly about, and since King Aelle is the one who killed our father we thought it'd be better to kill him first. The closer we march the faster my heart pounds the more I want to run ahead. The moment my axe makes contact with the Saxon's sword I get hit with my childhood of my father teaching me. The faces my father would make at my strength, at the precise strikes I'd make. I catch myself laughing at certain points in battle, and then laugh harder at myself.

Everything seems to stop once I hear my Viking family cheer I'm victory. I smile around catching my breath, but I'm spun around. Halfdan pulls me into a Saxon home, throwing everything on the ground, and putting me on the table. I grab hold of the table as he rips every strap in his way until he can finally push himself inside of me making me moan loud. I could only hold onto the table as Halfdan grip my hips in a bruising grip.

"You are mine." He grunts in my ear. "Think you can run from me, and act like I'm not here." He pulls out of me to quickly turn me around.

He enters me roughly again making the table scratch against the floor. He grips the ends of my hair to pull me up to have him bite my neck.

"HALFDAN!" I scream out as I shake against his body.

"What is it, love?" He mocks.

I keep moaning out as he grips my body in rough, tight grips. I can't gather any part of myself, but when he deeply groans with a final push so deep I get a sharp amazing feeling as he finishes inside me. He leans against me as we take deep breaths, and just cling to each other.

"I'm sorry I ran. I got scared with everyone looking at me." I tell him honestly.

"I know. I was going to wait until later, but I know your family's plans. I couldn't wait." We laugh at his last statement.

(Actual detail blood eagle)

He helps me tie everything in place in time for my brother's to collect King Aelle. My brothers Ubbe and Hvitserk tie him up as Ivar and I sharpen the tools we will use. Sigurd takes the first as Bjorn opens the great King open for me to crack his rib off. Ivar completes the rest, so Hvitserk can raise his arms to spread open more. We left him on the spot they dropped our father. We are joking like old times as we ride back to town where we set our new camp.

"So you and Halfdan?" Bjorn asks.

"Yea (y/n) him of all people." Hvitserk mocks.

"I don't think I could ever explain to you how I feel or how things are. However the Gods gave me a strong man, and I'm not going to question it." I laugh as we get to camp, and I go to my tent to bathe.

I have some of the girls help me with the water as I try to get as much of the blood off as I can before getting into the tub. I use some of the oils I found, and groan from the hot water. I can actually feel the knots untie along my back, some of the scars I have sting a little. My mind races from how battle went, what is to come, but I'm stopped with thoughts of Halfdan. I feel the water start cool, so I get out. As I wrap a linen around me Halfdan sneaks his way inside, making me stop in motion. He stops once he gets a look at me, and just falls to his knees.

"Goddess." He grumbles looking from my feet up to my eyes.

"Halfdan, get up." I laugh, but I'm stopped when he grabs the linen.

"I can't believe you are mine." He moves the linen over me to dry me off.

He helps me dry my whole body leaving soft kisses from my ankles as he rises to leave a long kiss on my lips. I smile at him, but when we hear my maids coming he tells me he'll see me at the celebration before running out.

I smile to myself as I walk into the celebration dinner in the town center. I'm about to sit next to Ubbe at the table when I hear Sigurd tormenting Ivar again, but something makes me snap my head at Ivar. He quickly grabs his axe, and throws it at Sigurd. I somehow grab it before it hits Sigurd. Everyone is quiet until Ivar crawls away with a shocked look on his face.

"Sigurd, I swear you never stop you torment. Next time I'll let him kill you if you don't learn to keep your mouth shut." I tell throwing the axe on the table.

He stands with a scowl as he steps closer.

"You're just defending him, because you know I'm right. No one, but other cares for him." That did it.

"Step back." I warn.

He comes closer with his hands reaching for his sword, but I stop him by putting Ivar's axe to his throat. Ubbe stands, but I give him one look making him sit back down with his eyes on his plate. I slowly feel a warm hand slide around my waist, and the other grab my wrist.

"Breath, love. He is your brother." Halfdan whispers to me as he takes the axe from my hand.

He slowly moves me from my brother's tables, and puts me in between him and King Finehair. I glare at Sigurd as Halfdan places a plate of food in front of me.

The rest of our time in England Sigurd stays away from me even though he and Ivar have made up. I will not tolerate him disrespecting me like he thinks he can with Ivar. I catch myself glaring at him as I help Halfdan pack up.

3rd pov

Ubbe watches his sister grow more and more dark toward Sigurd as he keeps being Sigurd. Even at her wedding to Halfdan. She doesn't even acknowledge her brother, Sigurd as he makes jokes on her life. She just whispers to Ivar, Halfdan, and her new King brother in law. It wasn't until (y/n) became pregnant that Ubbe understood what they whispered about. As (y/n) told her brothers of her new gift from the Gods Sigurd tried attacking her in her sleep the night before she was supposed to leave Kattegat to go to her new home in Norway. Ivar was waiting in her room to protect her, and (y/n) and Ivar killed Sigurd.

(Y/n) gives birth to two boys of perfect health, naming them Eirk and Egil. Once she is back raiding Ivar is king of Kattegat and tries to set up an attack on her, and her husband while they are planning to raid England with him. She ends up killing Ivar late at night, becoming Queen of Kattegat. Only to give birth shortly after to a girl, named Helga. She ends up giving Kattegat to Bjorn, so she can go home to Norway. Over time King Harald gives his kingdom to Halfdan when he gets too old, and still doesn't have sons. She dies with her pet owl watching over her howling as she goes to Valhalla to see her husband who died in the battle of Norway to keep our land from the Irish.

Fin

[littlemissoblivious]

Parking Lot Shenanigans

Warnings: Reader has hair that is long enough to be cut and for Joel to grab. AFAB!Reader, Female coded reader, Oral sex (m receiving), public sex, praise kink, pet names. I think that covers everything so please let me know if I missed something.

Summary: Your Daddy takes you out for a day of pampering at the salon so you think of the perfect way to “thank” him for his generosity.

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

Joel had been your Daddy for going on two years now. You met him at a bar while out with some friends. They were dancing while you volunteered to watch the table and the drinks and he noticed you sitting by yourself so he started chatting with you. At first, you weren't sure how to handle the situation since he was so much older but then again, you always did have a thing for older men. In the end, you exchanged numbers and started talking on the regular. Eventually, Joel proposed the current arrangement you were in. Of course, you were shocked and it seemed to come out of left field for you.

Fast forward to the present day and here you were at one of your favorite places; the salon. Your Daddy has been so busy with his brother and their company that he hasn't been able to spend much time with you. But he promised he would be yours the whole day with no interruptions. After getting your nails taken care of you were getting your haircut. You saw a cute style online recently and really wanted to imitate it.

“What do you think Joel?”

Joel looked up from a magazine he was browsing through and smiled, “it looks great sweetheart”.

You beamed back at him feeling a slight heat to your cheeks under the praise. It wasn't too much longer after that the stylist finished and you practically floated over to Joel.

“Have I told you how happy I am about today Daddy” you whispered

Joel put down his magazine with a smirk.

“You mighta mentioned it one or two times but I'm sure we could come up with a better way for you to show your appreciation, babygirl.” He walked away with that and headed for his car in the parking lot. You felt your cheeks heat at the implication and eagerly followed him out of the salon.

You shielded your eyes with your hand from the hot sun, before putting your favorite pair of designer sunglasses on, one of many gifts from Joel. You smile when you think back to when he gave these to you. You were vacationing in Rome and you begged so prettily for them, how could he refuse? Once at the car, you sigh in relief that the A/C is already going at full blast. Just as Joel is getting ready to reverse out of the spot you stop him.

“Wait Daddy, let me thank you for such a wonderful day,” you say lowly.

You lean over the center console and lay your hand on his thigh and sweetly kiss his cheek then lean back and look him in the eye. You watch as his eyes darken and see his cock start to harden in his jeans out of the corner of your eye. You move your hand over slightly and start to rub his cock lightly to tease with a slight smirk and he can't stop the moan that he releases.

“Does that feel good Daddy? I bet I could make you feel even better,” you smirk, still rubbing his growing erection. He is almost painfully hard at this point and now slightly unconsciously lifting his hips. He starts to scowl a little then, “Well what are you waiting for little girl?”

“Yes Daddy,” you smiled with glee

You started unbuttoning his pants but were having a little trouble, something Joel seemed to enjoy and eventually he helped you but not before making a comment about how you were “always needin' Daddy's help huh”. After you gave him a quick pout that turned him on more than anything, his pants and underwear were down enough that you could admire his beautiful cock. A bead of precum was already sitting on the tip of his girthy length so leaned down and licked it off. You couldn't help yourself with him. You loved the taste of Joel's cum. Taking his cock in hand you wasted no time licking from root to tip. Joel hissed and rested his big hand on your head.

You did this a few more times licking him like your favorite lollipop before looking up and gathering saliva in your mouth and letting it dribble down onto his cock. The groan Joel let out was positively filthy. You slowly started taking his cock into your mouth a little bit at a time. No matter how many times you've done this, he will always be a challenge. He's coaxing and praising the entire time, but he's not even halfway before you have to stop because he starts to trigger your gag reflex. You release him from your mouth with a wet pop.

You pant slightly as you pump with your hand, “I love your cock Daddy.”

“S'that right babygirl? You're doing so good taking Daddy's cock in that pretty mouth.”

You beamed under the praise and went back to sucking his cock while your hand pumped what your mouth couldn't reach. You felt Joel's hand thread through your hair and tug slightly tighter when you started to hollow out your cheeks and bob a little faster.

“That’s it baby, just like that. You're doing so good.”

His praise only spurred you on, causing you to move your tongue back and forth as you bob up and down. Joel moans and hitches his hips slightly trying not to fuck your face. He knows he's big and he knows this is not the time to be rough. But goddamn when you do that little move does that drive him wild. He tightens his grip on your hair and pulls you just the slightest bit more onto his cock and ruts into your face before letting you up.

“Fuck, baby you're gonna make me cum you keep doing that.”

You giggle a little breathlessly, “That's the point silly Daddy. Now I want you to coat my throat. I wanna taste it the rest of the day,” you purr with dark, heavy eyes. That said, you enthusiastically went back to it. You started sucking Joel's dick like you were trying to suck his soul out. Joel's moans and groans were picking up as were his thrusts. His grip on your hair was almost painful at this point but you didn't care. You popped off with a gasp and kept at it with your hand but took one of his balls in your mouth. Joel's eyes nearly rolled back into his head.

“Fuckin' Christ girl your gonna kill me with that sweet little mouth. M'not gonna last much longer you keep doin' that.”

You gently released his ball, “cum for me Daddy.”

You took him back in your mouth and hollowed out your cheeks while your hand took care of where your mouth couldn't reach. It wasn't too long after this his thrusts started getting sloppier and you felt him start to twitch. Ever the gentleman, he still tries to warn you and give you an out, “M'gonna cum pretty girl.”

You ignore him and double down on your task. He twitches a little more and with a shout floods your mouth. You swallow as much as you can but some still manage to escape but luckily your Daddy was there to help you catch it. He catches the overflow on his thumb and feeds it back in your mouth. You open your mouth to show him you swallowed everything and he pulls you into a rough but passionate kiss, not even caring that he can taste himself.

“You ready to head home now Babygirl?”

“Yes Daddy”

[panda-writes-kpop]

a question of morality, or a test of loyalty?

A/N: Hi guys, girls, and non-binary pearls! This was written as a birthday present for @ghastlybin , so happy birthday to a wonderful friend and fellow clown. ❤️ Also, this was heavily inspired by the works of @kingmaker-a (you can probably spot the references and thank you to King and @neon-city-dreams for fielding my questions since this fic was a bit out of my wieldhouse)

TW: ACAB and anti-capitalism themes, betrayal, alcohol, food and drink mentions, OOC SuA, a surprise guest at the end :)

Summary: One wrong turn can change your life forever. Some, like SuA, are resistant to change, while others are at the forefront of it all. Where will you lie after everything in your life changes?

♡ Masterlist ♡

"Hey, Geek Squad, over here!"

SuA waves you over with what surely is a weapon in her hand.

"What did you do this time?"

Your lab coat freely flows behind you as you walk towards SuA with haste.

"I think you mean 'What did we do?'" A smirk lies on SuA's face, and the tamed wilderness that rests in her brown eyes should tell you that nothing but trouble is on the horizon. "Watch this!"

With a simple click, the cylindrical object in her hand comes to life. It emits a deep violet color before SuA begins swinging it around. You duck before she swings the object over your head.

"What are you trying to do, behead me?"

She bursts out into a fit of laughter before turning it off.

"No, it doesn't have the capability to do that, but you may have given me an idea for my next project."

"C’mon, be serious. What is this thing for?" You gesture to the object that SuA tosses in the air carelessly before catching it.

"It's a zoning device. The superior asked me to work on it since you haven't had any great ideas as of late."

Your eyes widen as you fold your arms.

"Genius takes time-"

"Genius takes time -" SuA imitates you with a high-pitched voice as you sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose.

"You're acting like a child-"

"You're acting like a child!" She imitates you again, but this time, she uses a deep voice.

"I hate you."

"I love you~"

"That's not what I said." You matter-of-factly say as she lightly pushes against you.

"Well, that's what I heard." She smirks, again, before grabbing onto your arm.

You do your best to hide the shyness on your face as you lead her back to the lab.

"Speaking of genius-"

"Speaking of genius-" SuA bursts out laughing before squeezing your arm. "Okay, I'm done, you can continue on."

"Remember that car design that wouldn't work due to the spring constant-"

"Oh, here we go with the math stuff-"

"It's Physics, Sua," You're quick to correct her, "but I managed to fix it, and I should have the plans for you by tomorrow so you can start building."

"Look at you go, Calculator Watch!"

"You're so mean to me." You joke before poking her sides.

She screams and you flinch before breaking away from her.

"Don't do that! I'm sensitive." She crosses her arms in front of her chest in defiance, but the soft smile on her face tells you that she knows you're joking around. "Are you going to get drinks with me tonight?"

"I've got to change first, but yeah, I'll come." You adjust your lab coat before grabbing your ID from its protector. "Same place as usual?"

"Yup," She nods as you place your ID in front of the scanner, "and I don't think you need to change. You make the lab coat look hot, if I'm being honest."

A bit of red dusts your cheeks as the light in front of the scanner turns from green to red.

"Thanks." You mumble before waving her on. "Let's get this done so we can get those drinks, huh?"

"Now you're speaking my language!"

~

Living in the city had numerous benefits, and one of which was the fact that you could walk from your workplace to home and then back again. You liked taking the scenic route home as you could admire the delicate, dainty work that the city gardeners had created in the small gardens that dusted the sidewalks.

You liked taking the 'good' way home, or at least, that was the name that your co-workers gave it. They didn't like to go through the regular parts of the city due to the high crime rates, so they stuck to their same-old ways. You weren't against the poor and out-of-luck, but safety was a real concern for you, so you take the routine way home every day.

Today, however, was not your lucky day as there happened to be unavoidable construction work on both your regular and alternate route home. That meant that you would have to take the back alleys home, and although you weren't fond of the idea, you didn't want to be late to meet SuA.

Arming yourself with one of your homemade projects, a knife-like object that would send the victim to sleep once it penetrated the skin, you carefully walk through the alleys as you keep your head up. Awareness was a key tool in surviving in the city, especially if you weren't rich or happened to be in the wrong area at the wrong time.

The walk home was nerve-wracking but mostly peaceful. A few stragglers gave you some strange looks, and you couldn't blame them. Your pristine clothes and pure white lab coat must've looked strange next to a worn-down building covered in graffiti. You paid them no mind, and to the stranger that went too close, you flashed your weapon which caused them to quickly back away.

Everything was peaceful, and you felt yourself relax as your apartment building came into sight. Since you were on a main walkway, there were armed guards everywhere, which caused you to slip your weapon back into your pockets. Your quickened steps turned into a relaxed stroll as you tried to find your keys in your pocket.

After giving yourself a quick pat-down, you find the keys in your left pants pocket. You fish them out as you approach the building.

You're stopped by a crowd of people who are talking among themselves. You try to navigate around them, but the crowd's density causes you to reconsider. You'll be heading into the street if you want to do that, and considering how fast most cars go, you choose to stay off the roads.

You shoot SuA a quick text saying that you'll be late, and you slip your phone back into your pocket as you try to weave through the crowd. You stop dead in your tracks when a piercing scream breaks through the hustle and bustle of the city.

With that, the crowd breaks as people go running in different directions. You're left confused until you look to your right.

A girl who couldn't be older than fifteen is shoved against a wall by a couple of guards. She wails again, but they pay her no mind. One guard looks at the other for a moment before pulling out a skinny blue metal rod. You gasp when it illuminates blue after the guard turns it on.

The girl screams and thrashes against the guards, but you're unable to help her. Interfering in the business of the guards in a serious offense, and you don't need that sort of thing on your record.

Besides, if you did rescue her, what would you say?

"Oh, you see that torture device in that guards hand? Funny story, actually, since I'm the one who designed it."

~

Conflicting opinions battle in your mind as you unlock the door to your apartment.

Should you have intervened, even if it meant your own demise? Would it mean anything if you did? Would those above forgive you for the transgressions against society?

You carelessly throw your lab coat on a nearby coat hanger as you nervously pull at a strand of hair from your head.

That image is scorned into your memory, and you know that you can’t go back to work and continue to do what you did every other day before. The thought of it makes you nauseous, but the question remains to be answered.

What are you going to do next?

You try to pick an outfit in peace, and you’re successful for a moment before another wave of guilt crashes over you.

That little girl could’ve grown up to be something great… god-knows-where she is now, or if she’s still alive.

Still alive, you hope as you get dressed, please be alive.

You have to hope she’s alive. Otherwise, the guilt would eat you alive.

~

“Hey, you made it!” SuA roughly pats your back before rubbing your arm. “You look nice, all dressed up like that.”

You nod and bite your lip before ordering a drink.

“You alright?” SuA tugs at your arm as you sit next to her. “I know you’re quiet and withdrawn at times… but this is strange for you.”

“I have a lot on my mind.” You confess as you thank the bartender for giving you a drink.

“Like what?”

“I wouldn’t want to trouble you.” You shake your head as the thoughts come to the front of your mind.

“I worry about you.” Her voice softens, along with her mannerisms. “You can tell me, you know.”

“If I do… you won’t judge me for what I say, right?”

“Not unless you say something stupid.” She shoves you with her shoulder before grabbing your hand. “I’m all ears.”

So you tell her everything.

Everything about what you say. Everything that you had thought in the past hour. Everything, everything, e v e r y t h i n g.

When you finish, SuA quickly hushes you before speaking in a low tone.

“You can’t- you can’t do anything about that girl-”

“That won’t help me sleep at night.” You mummer back. “What do you think?”

“I… You need to move on.”

“SuA, I… I can’t.”

“I know.”

“So?” You softly say.

“So.”

“You can’t… you can’t just say that!” You exasperatedly say. “You need to tell me something.”

“What do you want me to say?” SuA asks with a bit of anger in her voice.

“I need you to tell me anything, SuA, I need you to tell me it’s alright.”

“You’re an adult. You can comfort yourself.”

“I need you to be on my side because I love you!” You raise your voice a moment before lowering it again. “I can’t stand the thought that you believe in these… sick, twisted ideas that this company, this city, this world promotes!”

“You love me?” SuA softens further before embracing you. “I’m sorry that I never said anything before.”

“What do we do now? How do we move forward?”

“I think that’s a question that can be answered after a few more rounds of alcohol.” SuA suggests before pulling away from you.

“Oh… okay.”

“Hey.”

“Hey?” You tilt your head at her.

“I love you too, you nerd.”

~

It was a dangerous plan.

It was a bad plan.

But it was your only option at the moment.

You and SuA would go into work tomorrow like nothing was wrong. During the shift, however, the two of you would be destroying any of your work that could pose a threat. After that, you’d wipe SuA and yourself from the computer system so you’d be completely untraceable. Then, after you had called in a favor from an old friend, you had a couple of electric motorcycles that would get you out of the city before anyone knew anything was wrong.

It was, most definitely, a horrible plan. One error could end with the both of you dead.

It was your only chance to right a wrong, and your chance to escape this nightmare with SuA, so it had to be a good plan that went well.

At least, that’s what you told yourself as you got dressed this morning. After combing your hair into place, you grab your lab coat and head to work.

One last day, you tell yourself, and the rest of your life can be spent doing something good for once.

~

You offer SuA a gentle nod as you clock in with your idea. She smirks before poking your side with her elbow.

“Why so gloomy?”

“I’m trying not to be.” You mumble before walking in the lab. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you soon.”

Brief greetings between the two of you were rare, but you had to hope that none of your co-workers thought that anything was wrong. Luckily, no one paid either of you any mind as you slipped into the lab.

You offer a glance backward as you see SuA walk towards the workshop with a phone in hand.

She’ll be fine, you know it. SuA’s a burning fire that’ll do whatever it takes to survive.

You just have to hope that your own resolve can last through an entire shift.

~

The day goes smoothly, to your surprise. In between working on a comfort project for one of the rich families, you’re able to delete or modify most of your work that would’ve led to the development of weapons or something worse.

As you stare at the weapons in front of you, you can’t help but wonder why you didn’t see this before. Was it the money that blinded you, or were you truly ignorant and resigned to what the people above you were doing?

It didn’t matter because you were going to be done with this life in an hour.

An hour. 60 minutes. 3600 seconds.

Yet the time crawls by at any agonizing pace.

One hour.

~

You look at the clock in front of you before pulling your flash drive from the device in front of you.

Three minutes.

Three minutes left, and all of you had to do was remove this flash drive from the premises. Maybe you could take it with you and try to amend the war crimes that you had committed by association, or-

The sound of your boss calling your name causes the hair on your arms to shoot up. You discreetly put the flash drive in your pants pocket before turning around.

“Yes?”

“Did you delete all of your work?”

“I-” Shit. “It was an accident.”

“Liar.”

They step aside to reveal SuA behind them.

Your mind races through a million possible explanations before landing on the one that hurts the most.

SuA betrayed you.

She mouths an ‘I’m sorry’, but you’re too blindsided by her actions to say anything.

She did this? After everything she said last night?

“You can hand over the files, and I’m willing to let this go due to your history of good behavior.” Your boss says as they extend a hand out.

You sigh before fishing the flash drive out of your pocket.

“Good, now just hand it to me-”

You hesitate before gripping onto the flash drive.

Could I really live with myself if I did something like this?

You drop the flash drive on the ground before stomping on it with your foot.

You hear SuA gasp as you dryly laugh.

“Whoops.”

“Seize them!”

~

Public execution.

You knew that was the fate that was destined for you before it came from the judge’s mouth. You had committed treason against one of the biggest companies in the city, which basically meant that you had committed treason against the whole city.

You didn’t really care, though. The one person you actually cared about turned you in, and for what gain?

You thought SuA was honorable, kind, funny, and respectful. There were many nights where you had dreamed of being something more with her. Now, she was repulsive to you. Everything that you had adored about SuA became something that you cursed at. You were so, so wrong about her.

You, however, were right about SuA in one respect: She would do whatever it took to survive.

The guard stationed at your door had told you that SuA wanted to come and see you, but you refused.

Why would you want to see someone who doomed you to death?

Well, you did that part yourself, but it still hurts.

You were numb, so death didn’t seem so bad.

Three days. 72 hours. 4320 minutes. 259,000 seconds.

The amount of time that you had left to rot in this cell before you died.

~

You had stopped eating a day ago after you found out SuA was paying the jail to provide you with meals that you liked.

You’d do anything to spite her at this point. You knew that she couldn’t handle the fact that your blood would be on her hands, so you’d relish in the thought of making her waking hours as torturous as possible.

You trusted her.

You had the two weeks before your sentencing to mourn the loss of that relationship.

In the place of cold, wet tears and lonely nights were fiery anger and bitter words, but you knew that you couldn’t say any of it to SuA.

She’d apologize, you’d apologize, and she’d get the closure she needed.

So you wouldn’t let her get close. If you had to be punished, then so did she.

~

The guard in front of you knocks to signal meal time.

“I’m not hungry. You should already know that.”

When they look at you, you realize that this guard isn’t the same one that you’ve had.

“Sorry,” You grumble before hugging your knees close to your chest, “you must be new.”

“Well, I’d be new if I was a guard in the first place.”

“Huh?”

You quickly stand as the guard tosses their hat to the side. Light purple waves of hair fall down her shoulders.

“Who are you?”

“We’re impressed with your efforts, Scientist Zero.” She smiles before fishing keys out of her pocket. “You’re coming with me if I didn’t make it obvious already.”

“What do you want with me? A private execution?” You bitterly spit as she offers you her hand.

“You can sit and rot in this jail if you want, but I think you have some amends to make, right?”

“How do you know so much about-”

“Do you want to come with me or not?” She offers you an ultimatum, and you sigh before cautiously taking her hand.

“I’m choosing to trust you in the hopes that you don’t stab me in the back.”

“I’d never dream of it.” She jokes, and the laughter squeezes the vulnerable part of your heart.

“I need a name before I fully put my life in your hands.”

“Lee Gahyeon.” She answers before pulling you to the side.

Another person, dressed in similar prison wear, takes your place in the cell before Gahyeon closes the gate.

“Don’t tell me they’re going to-”

“We do what we have to.” Gahyeon darkly answers. “A lot of people have faith in you, including myself, Zero. Is it alright if I call you Zero?”

You pause as you think back to the names you’ve been called before.

Geek Squad, Calculator Watch, Nerd.

“I’ve been called worse, believe me.”

[razorblade180]

To Be.

Nahida:It’s finally nice to be able to speak to you all!

Zhongli:The pleasure is all mine.

Ei:Likewise. I think we all needed a chance gain new perspectives.

Venti:Some more than others. Which reminds me, it pains my heart to know that after all the trouble I went to traveling to celebrate the cultures of my friends, none of them dared to visit my own during the festive season.

Zhongli and Ei: We never asked you to visit.

Venti:You shouldn’t have to. That’s the point!

Nahida:Maybe if it’s at all possible, I could join along with my citizens. They seemed happier after returning from Windblume.

Venti:Mondstadt welcomes you with open arms and smiles! I can already tell we’re gonna be wonderful friends.

Nahida:Hehe, I think so too. I also believe I can learn a great many things from each of you in the ways of being an Archon.

Zhongli:You give us way too much credit…

Ei:I’ll go as far as to say I myself am in a way…relearning that responsibility.

Nahida:Oh, you misunderstand. I’ve learned quite a bit about each of your nations overtime, and my goal isn’t imitation. We’re all different and so are our problems. I suppose…what I hope to learn is the resolve of an Archon. I’m aware it’s a difference of experience and time, but the way each of you are spoken about; it’s quite beautiful.

Venti:Hehe, aww, that’s sweet of you. Personally I think you’re doing a good job.

Ei:I’d have to agree. So young, yet already so determined to protect your people; to understand them.

Zhongli:It’s no exaggeration to say you are wise beyond your years.

Nahida:Me? I…I feel like I’ve been doing what I wanted; more or less. I can’t say for certain if that’s good or wanted by my people.

Venti:Much like apples that have fallen from their trees, citizens in one way or another embody their god. Even if they aren’t aware of it. My personal opinion is if you really want to learn about yourself and your people, then take a look at vision holders in your nation.

Nahida:Really?

Zhongli:Hmm, that little belief of yours again?

Venti:Oh come now, don’t act like it’s not something you enjoy.

Ei:It pains me to admit but Barbatos’s view on this is something that I both agree with and find uplifting.

Nahida:I’m not quite sure I understand.

Venti:Next time you get the chance, close your eyes and try to feel the presence of your vision bearers. The criteria is always vague of getting one and so many of them live such different lives. However, I find that if you take the time to listen to them, a similar feeling comes from each of them that I like to attribute to why they gained one.

Nahida:So what you’re saying is you believe it’s more than the just a matter of coincidence that leads to a person being in Mondstadt getting a Mondstadt vision? Much like how many seeds don’t grow in every soil. Some plants are only meant to grow in places that give them exactly what they need to bloom.

Venti:Wonderfully put!

Nahida:If you don’t mind me asking, what do you all believe what it means to be given a vision in your respective nations? It would have to be more than ambition.

Zhongli:When I think about those who have been seen as champions in the eyes of the divine, no matter the era or the subject, I feel their discipline; a fortitude harder than any stone. From the adepti who conquer evil, uphold the laws, or the common man dedicated to cooking, music, healing, or burying; their discipline shines through. I myself never described myself as such. At least not as more than any other person.

Venti:Don’t listen to him. Fortitude might as well be his name.

Ei:Generals, priestesses, honored house holds with high responsibility, humble firework owners, even wandering samurai and the must unruly of individuals; overtime as I felt their ambitions and saw them with my own eyes I kept witnessing the same thing. No matter the lifestyle, they all carry themselves with a passion and elegance to do what they must. I admire that greatly and I am a little ashamed to admit I wish I noticed that sooner. I believe that is why Inazuma has both endured internal and external struggles through the ages.

Zhongli:You could say in a way, you’ve kept your promise to make a nation of eternity. The environment may change, but the passion and resolve remains.

Nahida:That’s a beautiful way to look at it.

Ei:Now if only all that passion didn’t clash with others. *sighs* They really are my people.

Nahida:If I had to guess Mondstadt’s it would tie back into freedom, right?

Venti:*smiles* Such a simple yet powerful thing it is. When I close my eyes, I hear footsteps. The unlucky adventurer heading out, the librarian making another cup of tea, an outrider patrolling, a knight getting back to work, an angry bartender making questionable drinks, and even the sound of kind man striking out on his own. I hear all these footsteps, walking down paths they’ve chosen to make for themselves their way. To be in Mondstadt is to be free to play the ballad of your life in the way that’s music to your ears. Others shall surely dance to it.

Nahida:Hmm I think…I’m starting to understand. I haven’t gotten to chance to visit any of your homes, but I’ve met plenty of your people before; vision holders and regular citizens. I can now see that in all of them…there was glimmer of what makes the three of you who you are. We really are the tree in Venti’s analogy.

Venti:It’s a real shame not all apples are sweet. Bad apples exist, but that’s unavoidable. Much like with Ei said earlier, when everyone is free to sing their own tune, harmonizing becomes that much harder. Still, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Far be it for me to tell people how to sing.

Zhongli:Doesn’t stop you from intervening on occasion.

Venti:Not every song needs to be performed on stage. Especially when the crowd clearly hates it. A swan song is a song all the same. Isn’t that right, Ei?

Ei:Precisely.

Zhongli:Do try your best to be…fair and gentle whenever possible.

Nahida:Violence isn’t a thing I appreciate anyways. As well as needless cruelty.

Venti:You make it sound like I’m evil when you phrase it like that! I’m pretty fair. Certainly more so than certain places where terms such as “wrath of the rock” and “divine punishment” exist.

Zhongli and Ei: Would you like to experience both?

Venti:See!?

Nahida:Haha! I guess passion and discipline wouldn’t flow the way it does for their people and land without such intense archon personalities. I am rather curious now. What would I feel inside from my champions and citizen. What does it mean to be in, or rather be apart of Sumeru? What’s the part of me inside all of them?

Venti:When you find out be sure to tell us!

Nahida:Thank you for your guidance.

Ei:No need to be so formal.

Zhongli:Pleasure is all ours.

Venti:It’s only natural for friends to share life experiences and lend an ear.

Zhongli and Ei:Friends?

Venti:See what I deal with. They act like they won’t miss me but I know the truth.

Nahida:Yeah, I can tell you all have been through a lot together and that they cherish you.

Zhongli and Ei:Maybe we should call it a day.

xxxxx

After a long day of laughter and new friendships, Nahida returned to Sumeru. As she sat atop The Great Tree overlooking her vast nation, Nahida watched as the final rays of sunlight kissed her home goodnight. Night time in Sumeru at last. It had a certain charm she’s grown to love. The air was crisp, her heart at rest in her beautiful home. Now was as good as any time to take the advice of her fellow Archons. Nahida shut her eyes and searched for her champions graced from above.

It was faint at first; difficult even. Then…like a flower, a feeling in her chest began to take root and bloom from those around it. One was a boy adrift in the endless sky. Another was a girl absorbed in making sure her earnings were accurate one final time before resting. A man peacefully in his own world as he flipped a page in his book, two more people deep in the process a discovery of their own projects; while a third was hard at work putting pen to paper while their gaze greeted the stars. Nahida could sense the fluttering heartbeat of a girl following her own rhythm, as well as the calm and steady heartbeat of three individuals who separately traversed the shifting sands of the desert calmly into the unknown. The presence of a boy sitting in the dense forest around all he knew and have yet to uncover was next. Lastly…there was girl in the secluded hollow tree that was hard at work studying and letting her thoughts roam freely while some of them became etched in the bark.

All these walks of life and people. So unique and their own, yet a common threaded them together and Nahida found her own heart connecting to them; or rather…to all of her people. It reminded her of the endless days she traversed dreams. In that moment she realized something about herself. The centuries of confinement may have initially on the path of dream walking, but it wasn’t what kept her going back in. It was the wonder and comfort that pulled her into going deeper until she was all but lost in it; a drift in sea of her passion.

Nahida opened her eyes slowly, her chest feeling heavier than before but also with a warm smile on her face.

Nahida:Ah, I see. To be in Sumeru is to…

[vgdensetsu]

Sonic 2 development stories from character designer Judy Totoya

Yasushi Yamaguchi, AKA Judy Totoya, character designer and main graphic designer on Sonic 2, posted a few threads on Twitter for the 30th anniversary of Sonic 2:

About Tails: https://twitter.com/judy_totoya/status/1594372821794586624

“ A picture of him when he was just an admirer of Sonic. He's not chasing him yet. He imitated him and wore gloves and similar coloured shoes, but they were too big and he tied them up with a belt. “

The inclusion of a 2-player mode had already been confirmed and the American team submitted many ideas for creating this character, but the programmer, Mr. Naka, said he wanted to create a 1.5-player character that could be played with their sister (sic) and that even beginners could handle, so we created a character that was not a rival, but a sidekick character. Naka asked us to create a cute character like Urusei Yatsura's pure-hearted fox, and that's what I did.

At first, he only had one tail, but it didn't have enough impact, so I was inspired by Myau from Phantasy Star 1 and came up with the idea of using two tails as propellers. The first Sonic game was a huge success in the US, but not in Japan. So we tried to create a cute design with Japan in mind.

The characterisation and colours were designed to be symmetrical to Sonic's. His relationship with Sonic was determined with the image of Piccolo and the young Son Gohan from Dragon Ball in mind during the production of the game.

As you know, the etymology of the name comes from the word for speed (mph). The name Prower was coined by combining "per hour" and "power Bonus: Myau from Phantasy Star drawn by Judy Totoya for the 6th issue of Sega's official magazine, SPEC, published in September 1990. https://retrocdn.net/images/3/3e/SPEC_6.pdf 

About Super Sonic: https://twitter.com/judy_totoya/status/1594389198852993024

“Due to the main reference, the original story is, needless to say, a secret one, so it was a super secret that only those who cleared a special stage of high difficulty could see. In the first place, Super Sonic would not have been born without the existence of manga artist Sakura Tamakichi (Super Mario Adventures). During the development of Sonic 2, in Famitsu's column 'Shiawase no Katachi', Tamakichi played Sonic 1 desperately to see the true ending, but the result deceived him so much that we decided to give a reward that would definitely pay off in Sonic 2. The basic specification of all Sonic's items with a time limit on the consumption of rings was decided relatively quickly, but the problem was the graphics, as it was impossible to redraw all the patterns in terms of time and capacity. We tried various effects, such as a seven-colour glowing figure, but none of them were good enough. In desperation, I tried drawing the current Super Sonic, but it was not realistic to draw all the patterns, so I replaced only the basic pattern, the transformation pattern and the normal running pattern, and cheated with colour changes for the rest. High-speed running was solved with two flying patterns. This managed to reach a realistic level, so it was implemented as a super-secret only. The schedule was very tight and I started work on the ending picture at 1am on the day of master-up. The program had been dummy-programmed, so all that was left to do was to replace the picture of the final pose, but if we had been an hour short, the Super Sonic picture would not have been ready in time and it would have remained as normal Sonic.“

About Mecha-Sonic: https://twitter.com/judy_totoya/status/1594694031396999168

“Several of his attacks could not be integrated into the game due to time constraints: long laser shot from his eye, homing missiles from its fingers (10 shots in total), Super Gravity Smash (a gravity projectile that disappears after a certain amount of time, but sucks up the rings if it gets too close), which is launched when his chest armour opens.

Due to the schedule, the creation of the Death Egg zone map was cancelled and replaced by two consecutive boss battles in the dedicated boss room, but originally Mecha-Sonic was planned to appear as a mid-boss in the middle of the zone.

Its design concept was based on the image of Mechagodzilla and Gigan, with a strong and painful look. “

(note: the designers also took inspiration from Gamera for one of the enemies) 

“After the game's graphics were completed, the blades would be flown during jump-rotation attacks as an additional attack, but they were completely retrofitted, so it was not clear where they would come from. “

About Sonic's sprite: https://twitter.com/judy_totoya/status/1595403450845892608 https://twitter.com/judy_totoya/status/1595443192803266561

"Sonic 2 uses the same basic pattern as Sonic 1, except for the additional pattern (only the running has longer legs). There was one palette for one character in Sonic 1, while Sonic 2 uses one palette for two characters, so the blue gradient has been reduced." Note: on Megadrive, 4 colour palettes can be displayed on screen. A palette consists of 16 colours, one of which is used as a transparent layer to display the elements behind the sprite. Red has been reduced from 3 to 2 shades. The yellow used for Eggman, which has the same palette as Sonic, has been adjusted slightly to orange and used as the main colour for Tails. The shade of red that was removed has been replaced with a shade of orange. "I wasn't involved, but I think it was very difficult to control the palette in Sonic 3 because the number of characters increased even more. "By the way, the enemies and the user interface (UI) have the same palette, but the bosses lacked color, so I used the black of the UI shadow for them. That's why when you damage a boss, the black part of it and the black part of the UI shadow will flash."

[bretongirlwrites]

from the worldbuilding prompts - #30 for Julianne?

30. Dubious at-home cures for mild ailments

(or: why shepherd's pie has the cure disease attribute)

‘O damnation,’ said I, ‘o damnable, damnable thing! – I have got a cold.’

I must have got it in the before-times: since damnable and inconvenient the plains of Oblivion had been, I could not recall any daedra sneezing on me; the same however, could not be said of the mages, who’d come in droves from the snow into the Guild-hall. I should sooner have a thousand sneezing mages than a single moment in the Deadlands: but waking up after the latter fact, with one’s throat dryer than in the fires of Oblivion, and one’s nose running fit to flee some dremora, – it is the last straw.

‘I ought not to complain,’ said I looking at Corinne and Martin quite piteously: ‘I shall survive at least.’

‘Oh!’ said Corinne: ‘both you and Martin know a good deal of healing-magics, –’

‘Would it surprise you to learn, my dear Corinne,’ said I, ‘that try as we might, – and it’s our collective headache,’ my head pounding a little with the effort of it, ‘– no mage nor alchemist nor healer has ever managed to cure the common cold?’

Martin, who had been building our fire, looked at me with such astonishment, that I wondered at his ignorance of it: considered that people had surely come to him with the most terrible of diseases and afflictions and ailments, – but never thought, in the grip of such a pathetic malady as this, to go to a priest. Corinne, likewise baffled, could only pity me; and from some deep devoted place in her Blades armour, offer me her handkerchief. 

‘And especially not,’ said I, ‘in the middle of absolute nowhere. – Damn it all. – What do we still have in rations?

‘There used to be,’ I persisted, while Corinne was fetching the bags, ‘a woman of questionable skill in the City, who purporting to be a healer, sold her cure-alls at such remarkable prices, that the Society for Concerned Merchants was overwhelmed by the real alchemists; and the University investigated. – What on this beloved planet is this?’

‘Dried mutton,’ said Corinne, ‘I think.’

‘It turned out,’ I went on, ‘that this woman, unable to afford and maintain the proper equipment, did a sort of rudimentary alchemy in her marmite. In essence she was making soup. The remarkable thing is that, – though it did not cure anything, – her soup actually worked for certain reliefs. A sort of advanced wortcraft. – I presume this is a potato?’

The thing was so grubby, that even after washing it, I still feared to mistake it for a boulder, and lose it. Corinne however, who had got the water up to the boil, encouraged me to do whatever it was I was doing; and Martin, who was too tired to do anything but watch, awaited with a smile, the continuation of the story.

‘She held this against us,’ said I, ‘and the case stood. It’s the City… after all. She was allowed to continue practising, so long as she did not use the word potion. Such a word implies proper alchemy, and you know how it is… it did not much matter anyway. The last I heard of her, she’d gone over to Skyrim. Apparently they are fond of soup over there; and not so much of potions, – o my voice is going, –’

It had not been much of a dawn, – what with my cold; and the fog; and the memory of tribulations past: but when the water was bubbling, and our thoughts were all turned to sustenance, we may stretch our legs a little, and yawning, smile round at each other; no voices necessary. I almost forgot all else, in my memory of the story, the City which lay faint on the horizon: and when my experiment was ready, said only, and with increasing frogs:

‘I admired her. I really did. There’s a sort of expectation on us, to do things properly. Her things did not work as well as ours did: but they worked, they damn well worked. I haven’t often imitated her, until, – called by necessity, –’

Whereupon I, with a flourish and the nearest stick to a spoon I could find, poured out my creation into a bottle that Martin held out. 

‘There you have it,’ said I, ‘a potion, of fortify health, of restore fatigue: a soup-potion! I cannot cure a cold: but it will keep me going until Bruma, –’

‘It’s a shepherd’s pie,’ said Corinne at once voice rising: ‘a liquified shepherd’s pie. – A shepherd’s pie, in a bottle. – You could have made a damn shepherd’s pie.’

I fell silent halfway to drinking it. – Corinne looked at me. – I sheepish, looked away, at Martin. – And he though consternated, – and she though troubled, – and I though in the midst of the most inconvenient cold of my life, – raised a toast of pie-soup: and burst out laughing.

[itadorey]

BAEEEEEE… happy 700!!! i’m so excited for you and wish we become mooties sooner, since i’ve always just admired you from afar (girl who has read play pretend over and over until it was engraved into my brain) BUT ANYWAYS! let me participate hehe.. req-ing a fluffy gojo + glue by beabadoobee <3

ahhh thank you so much!! and omg no ur so sweet i'm glad you really liked play pretend wow ty ty for your kind words <3 and here's your drabble :)

EVENT LINK!

you turn around when someone slips into the seat to your left, coming face to face with gojo satoru as he sends you a little smile.

"hey."

you greet him with a nod, picking up your drink and taking a sip as he huffs in annoyance at your silence. he reaches over, plucking the glass from your hand and taking a drink before making a disgusted face and sliding the glass back your way.

"gojo, you already know that you don't like what i drink," you say exasperatedly, making a big show of wiping the rim before raising it to your lips once again. he pouts at your actions as he leans closer, resting his head on your shoulder as you half-heartedly try to push him off.

your breath catches in your throat when you feel his hair brushing against your neck, and you do your best to ignore the tickling sensation as you push the menu towards him. he slides it out from under your hand to his side of the table, grabbing your left hand with is right in the process.

"gojo, let go," you say, rolling your eyes fondly as he simply intertwines his fingers with yours. the menu lays forgotten as he brings your hand up to his lips, his lips ghosting over your knuckles as he finally raises his head to look at you.

"gojo," you warn, feeling the heat creep up your neck as he presses a loud kiss to the back of your hand. "the waiter will be back soon. just choose something to eat. please."

"gojo, gojo, gojo," he repeats, his tone changing in an attempt to imitate the way you say his name. "stop calling me that."

"that's your name," you say dryly, avoiding his gaze when he presses a kiss to your wrist, in the exact spot where he can feel your pulse. "what else am i supposed to call you?"

"hmmm, i dunno," gojo says, pretending to think before giving you an annoyed glance. "what about satoru?"

"i think i like gojo a little better," you tease, watching the way his expression changes as he attempts to give you a sultry look. the key word being "attempts".

"if you like it so much then i think it should be your name as well," he says smoothly, eyes shining bright as he looks at you over his sunglasses. you're unable to hold back your laughter at his actions, and you finally give in and squeeze his hand as you kiss his cheek.

"it already is, you dumbass," you say softly, watching as gojo's face lights up at your words.

"you're right," he says happily, a goofy grin spreading across his face as he places your hands on the table. his fingers toy with the ring on your finger, spinning it idly as he stares at it. "i'm the luckiest man alive. i still can't believe you said yes."

you smile as you lean against him, looking up at him and observing the soft expression on his face.

"i can."