#that’s possibly the most beautiful line i’ve ever read though

[sunseekingz]

i read the words “somewhere in the west country of england james potter can’t breathe” and i knew i could never read that fic I GOTTA PUT ME FIRST

[sugurusdiscordmoderator]

Halo bby! <3

Do u perhaps take request? I have been thinking about husband!gojo who feels offended after wife!reader told him about how men can only ejaculate 3 times a day after after she saw it on facebook :3 So Satoru had to cum in wifey more than what she believes because the truth is better than rumours, right? 🤔

hi anon! my inbox is always open for requests (it just might take me a little to finish them lol)

Sorry I’ve been working on this for like 3 weeks lol, I am going to take a break from writing Gojo for a little after this though (:

I didn’t proof read this my apologies

MDNI

cw: smut lmao, handjob, 69, riding, missionary, doggy, daddy kink (oops), shower sex, etc.

—

You scroll through your Facebook feed, when an article from Cosmopolitan magazine pops up called “How To Make Your Man Orgasm Better”. You read through some of it, not really absorbing much until you see an actual doctor’s name listed as research for the article. I mean of course if there’s a penis doctor listed in this article it must be legit!

‘Generally, a person with a penis can orgasm no more than 3 times a day. It can become painfully overstimulating the penis after that I’m afraid. In fact over 80% of this study shows that the person with the penis could not go longer than one orgasm, and 95% could not continue after the second one. That leaves just 5% of the population able to orgasm a third time in a day. There is the possibility for an asymptote - a line that never actually reaches zero although approaching it rapidly after the number 3.’

After reading through the article you decide to scroll through the comments, reading about middle aged women’s sex lives and how their husbands are rather bad at being intimate.

But oh, you could not relate.

After all, you are married to the Satoru Gojo. As a newer married couple with no kids, the two of you fuck at least once a day, usually after work or before bed. You like to get a little more creative on weekends, with morning sex, shower sex, kitchen counter, couch (and just about any surface in the house he can bend you over he’s already fucked you on). You guys can have sex for hours, pulling multiple orgasms from you, but the most he’s ever came in a day is three! So that doctor must have been right.

Just then, your lovely husband Satoru comes home to your beautiful little house, strolling in with a smile on his face like usual. He sits his bag down and takes off his blindfold before making his way over to you and kissing the top of your head where you sit on the couch.

“Hi baby, how was your day?” he asks

“Good, I was just reading a medical article!” You giggle mischievously, getting up to join him in the kitchen with your phone in hand.

“You can read?!” He sarcastically responds, pretending to be shocked before coming up behind you to hug you. This time he kisses the side of your head near your temple, smelling your freshly done hair and you can smell the remnants of his cologne that he sprayed before leaving this morning. “What were ya reading baby?” He kindly asks, not joking this time.

“Well this doctor says guys can cum at most three times a day! And I was thinking about it and even when we stay in bed all day on the weekends having sex the maximum you’ve hit is 3 so it must be true!”

Your husband breaks out laughing, a truly angelic sound, but you’re not quite sure what he’s laughing at. He breaks your hug turning you around to face him with his hands on your shoulders.

“Oh. You actually weren’t joking.” He says reading the expression on your face.

“No babe. Here read it!” You shove your phone towards him with the article pulled up. He reads the same paragraph as above and makes a mental note of the doctors name and credentials and thinks about how he’s going to contact him once he proves this theory wrong.

“Oh, interesting babe. Since you’re so into these ‘medical’ articles you find on cosmopolitan, why don’t we test this theory for ourselves?”

You giggle and blush at his sentiment, still getting shy when initiating sex even after being together for 5 years! You close the distance between your bodies, wrapping your arms around your husbands neck and pulls him down for a kiss.

“Yes please” you whisper against his lips. Satoru deepens the kiss, taking control over you like always. He continues kissing you and backing you up until your back reaches the refrigerator. He plants kisses all over your face before moving down to your neck.

“Y’know, I think we’ll have to make me orgasm all different ways for it to count. Something about a control variable.” Satoru mumbles against your neck.

You’d protest but your pretty little head is thinking about the way his mouth is on your sensitive spot, too horny to shut him up. He pats the back of your thighs for you to jump into his grasp, and you do wrapping your legs around him like a koala. The two of you continue your passionate make out before heading to the bedroom.

Leading you to the gorgeous master bedroom satoru closes the door behind you even though nobody else is there. He begins unbuttoning his jacket and throws it on the floor followed by his undershirt and black jeans. He lays back, his stiff member pulling his boxer briefs tight as he looks over to you expectantly. You waltz closer to the bed, only wearing your matching silk tank top and short set that satoru bought multiple of and loves so much.

He bought every pastel color and loves when he can see your somehow always hardened nipples through the silky fabric. Today’s outfit was baby blue, which happened to be his favorite. Being Satoru’s housewife really isn’t so bad, he makes good money and takes care of you in every way. You just can’t help but be submissive to him when he asks you to wear certain things or cook a certain food. For this man, you threw feminism out the window, and oh how he knew that.

Satoru pulls you onto his lap, looking up at you with those stupidly beautiful eyes as he gently squeezes your hip. “Cmon princess let’s start this experiment,” he winks at you before helping you take off your tank top.

While yes, you play a submissive role in your relationship, he doesn’t always dominate you in the bedroom.

That being said, you roll off satoru so you are laying beside him, leaning to him to resume your steamy make out session.

“Mmm.. I love making out with you, we need to do this more,” he mumbles against your lips. You “mhm” in agreement before proceeding to enter your tongue into his mouth. One hand grips into his white locks while the other reaches down to rub his erection through his boxer briefs. He moans at your touch, reaching his slender arm around you and firmly grabs ahold of your ass, as if you would run away. Satoru takes over the kiss a little more, but as you’re still trying to be in control you stick your hand inside his underwear, rubbing your thumb against his slit.

You break the kiss so he can lower the underwear, before spiting on your hand to lube his shaft as your soft hand runs up and down. He shudders and rolls his eyes back, putting both of his hands behind his head, showing off his sculpted physique completed by the tufts of white hair on his armpits.

You try your best to talk dirty to your lover, being shy in bed like usual is not going to work if you want to make him cum more than 3 times.

“Such a pretty cock belonging to my pretty man”

Satoru knows he’s in for a wild ride when you start to talk seductively. It doesn’t happen often because while you’re vocal in bed… it doesn’t usually include words or full sentences. 😉

You keep eye contact with your lover while you rub your thumb in circles against his sensitive spot, on the back side of the shaft where it meets the head. He lets out a mixture of a whimper and moan while closing his eyes. You add the dripping precum to the tip of his cock will you rub him up and down just like he had shown you previously. He likes when you start towards the middle and rotate up and down, not too fast and not too slow, but not too much pressure and not too light of a touch. He openly told you before that you weren’t very good with the whole handjob concept even though you’re basically professional at everything else, and so he went into great detail, and now you can really make the man quiver.

You sit up, moving so you can use both hands, because his balls look just a little too neglected. You straddle his left leg, allowing him to feel your bare soaking pussy against him. He grunts at the new feelings, getting to be too much for him to handle.

“Baby please make me cum,” he whines as you start to grind yourself on his leg, matching the rhythm that you’re stroking his length. Your other hand gently caresses his full sack, you know he will be cumming so much tonight and you cannot wait.

“Satoru, baby, please? Cum for me?” You let out a small moan as he rubs his leg against you for some extra friction, which simply sends him over the edge. Looking into your big sweetly innocent eyes he shoots his seed all over his abs. Neither of you even look at his cock when he cums, too mesmerized by the lust contained within the eye contact.

Finally, you let go of his penis as he catches his breath with his eyes closed. You want to give him some time to recover but not too much, because it will mess up the variable data!

“My sweet, are you ready for more?” You ask innocently already devising a plan for what you’ll do to him next.

“Whatever you want princess,” he breathes out finally opening his eyes when he has caught his breath.

You try to remain confident as you shift your weight off of his leg and swing your body around.

“Can I sit on your face please baby?” You ask again sounding way too innocent for the words coming out of your mouth. Satoru lets out a moan at the unexpected question, his cock growing hard again.

“Please, fuck yes, please let me make you feel good,” Satoru begs, grabbing your legs to help you get adjusted.

“No baby, I want to face the other way.”

“Oh,” Satoru breathes out, knowing what is coming next.

You get adjusted, your warm soaking cunt hovering over your husbands mouth, thinking about how long it has been since you’ve done this position, surely it won’t take him long to reach peak number 2.

Satoru wastes no time diving in like a starved man. That is the thing about your husband, is he loves pleasuring you almost more than he likes being pleasured himself. Seeing and hearing and feeling you feel good drives him crazy, being the reason he loves sixty-nine so much.

Pulling out all the stops tonight you lean down, licking a strip down Satoru’s abdomen, the exact line where all of his previous cum was. You lick from the bottom of his pecs down the whole way until you reach the base of his dick, proceeding to lick a stripe up and wrap your lips around his tip.

“Oh my fucking god baby that was the hottest thing ever”

Now he really starts eating you out with a passion, tongue circling your clit before plunging in your hole. You attempt to match the bobbing of your mouth on his cock but he simply goes too fast. You come off his cock to let out a guttural moan of his name, which only eggs him on further.

“I’m - I’m not going to last long - ahhha - if you keep that up S’toruuu”

“Mhmmm,” he hums against your clit, knowing how good the vibrations feel for you.

You close your eyes before going back down on his cock, feeling him twitch as you messily tongue his tip.

“-m sensitive hmm” a muffled Satoru says but you don’t care. Using your previously covered in cum hand, you run up and down his shaft while moving down to suck on his balls. This sends toe curling electricity through his body, and he reaches his arm around your thigh so he can access your tight hole with his thumb. Sucking and licking while you feel his thick thumb being sucked into you. Being as turned on as you were, a first orgasm is almost instantly ripped from you, catching both of you off guard but you moan against Satoru’s balls. The combination of feeling you convulse against his thumb plus the sensitive state of his dick in your hand sends Satoru over the edge, but he at least gets to give you a warning.

“Cummin for ya again baby please take it all,” he says barely coherent being so overtaken by pleasure. You attach your lips back to his tip and finish sucking him off until you feel cum stop coming out. You try to get off of him as gracefully as you can, moving to lay down for a minute to give you both some air. You look at the lower half of his face as he licks his lips, and you hold out your tongue showing him you swallowed all of it.

“Cmere pretty girl,” he murmurs, wrapping his right arm around your shoulders and pulling your sweaty bodies close.

“Don’t get too comfortable my baby were only half done, at least,” you smile up at him and watch as he realizes you really weren’t kidding earlier.

Once you’ve recovered from your orgasm, you crawl back on top of Satoru, but this time straddling his pelvis, his semi-hard cock under you. He still looks a little out of breath, but you’re going to do all the work so he doesn’t need to worry right?

You grind your soft wet folds against his growing erection, “can I have it in my sweet pussy this time baby?” You ask doing your best to give him puppy eyes. His eyes roll to the back of his head, humping his hips up a little to give more friction.

“You can have anything you want Princess, you’re being such a vocal good girl t’night,” he sounds out of breath, whiney, and desperate as he watches you reach your hand down to line him up with you. You smile as you playfully rub his tip on your clit.

His hands cover his face, “please. Please stop teasing me, please baby,”

Without further notice you slip him inside, slippery from the previous orgasm Satoru ripped from you.

“Fuckfuckfuckfuck,” he whispers before a porn like moan courses through him, “y/n I’m so sensitive, I don’t think I can do it!”

You slowly ride and grind up and down his shaft, one hand on his chest to support you, the other rubbing at your clit. “Please, daddy… for me?” You emphasize that word, knowing being called that drives your husband crazy.

Satoru’s large skinny hands find the squishy sides of your hips and he squeezes hard. Not that he meant to, but there will definitely be 10 small oval bruises on your ass and hips tomorrow.

“Say it again…” he moans.

“Say what again?” You smile innocently, batting your eyelashes. With that he lifts one hand off your hip and lashes out a spank on your ass check, making your tight hole clench down on him more.

“You know what I meant.” God, something just slightly feral comes out of Gojo when you play so innocent but also act so seductive for him, especially when he hears that word from your lips.

“Daddy, I need two more orgasms from you, please?” You whine as you find a particularly good spot that his cock is rubbing inside you. It’s like your words revived Satoru’s stamina, firmly grabbing your hips again before helping you lift off and on him at almost inhuman speed. Each thrust goes so deep in you, you think you feel it in your stomach. A few more hard thrusts and he is pulling you off of him, and pushing you straight back so your back is on the bed now. He hovers above you, reclaiming his dominance, before pushing back into you with both legs dangling off his shoulders. You know he is holding out as long as he can, but he’s going to want you to cum first so he can feel you clench around his cock and push him over the edge. He leans down kissing your lips, forehead, and cheek before whispering seductively, “such a good girlll,” while emphasizing the last two words with two particularly rough thrusts. He continues his praises inbetween licks and sucks on your neck

“You looked so pretty on top princess but I just had to have my way with you,” before he leans down to suck which will surely leave a hickey. When he comes back up for air he breathlessly groans,

“And you just taste so good and your throat knows my cock so well!” You think he may be slightly going insane and wonder if orgasm numbers 3 and 4 are necessary. Moaning with him, he knows you love his dirty talk because he can feel you squeeze his cock without trying.

Satoru fucks into you with relentless speed, causing your chest to bounce up and down, and all you can do is grip onto his shoulders and let your toes curl from pleasure.

“Mmm, daddy, g’na cum for you,” you barely breathe out, getting closer to the edge as your back arches off the bed. At this he puts your legs together and pushes them back towards you, knowing exactly how to hit your favorite spot in this position.

“Come on princess, cum for daddy, that’s it,” he groans, temporarily forgetting about his overstimulated cock while being so focused on your eyes rolled back and mouth hanging open in pleasure. Just a few more thrusts and he has you squeezing his dick so tight, he knows he won’t last much longer. Your orgasm hits you, not even able to control the beautiful sounds coming out of your mouth, face red, tears threatening to spill from pure bliss. Satoru slowed his pace to let you finish your orgasm before pounding into you harder than before

“Sa-tor-u” his name comes out of your mouth broken up not being able to catch your breath.

“I-I’m gonna - toru!” Being fucking into overstimulation has made you squirt all over Satoru’s cock and lower abdomen, which puts him over the edge, two more hard thrusts before he pauses, spilling his third load of the evening into your throbbing cunt.

His breathing heavy, sweat making his usually fluffy white hair stick to his forehead and his whole body seems to be glowing from the shine of sweat covering him. God you feel so bad for him but also do you really? As he’s said before “your pussy is heaven” so like it’s not really bad that you’re giving it to him…

“Let’s get you in the shower hun,” you whisper next to his ear, having plans for how you can get at least one more orgasm out of him. Still huffing, he gets up and his glorious skinny body looks so beautiful you feel yourself getting horny again. At least you weren’t as tired as your husband!

You set out 3 fluffy clean towels from the linen closet and turn the shower on a good temperature. Satoru has his arms wrapped around you from behind as you both wait for the water to warm up. “I love you,” he says, kissing the top of your head.

“Love you too, Toru” you smile up at him, turning around in his grasp. You kiss him sensually slowly at first, on your tippy toes gently rubbing your fingers along his cheek and neck. You deepen the kiss, knowing exactly how your husband loves it. He reaches down, each hand grabbing each ass cheek and squeezing before giving you a light spank, causing you to giggle.

“Naughty girl, still haven’t had enough?” He asks down to you. Without responding you gently wrap your had around him and pull him into your beautiful giant shower. The water is perfectly hot , making your eyes roll back in relaxation. You pull Satoru under the water taking care of him first. He turns into your big baby, leaning down to let you shampoo his hair and wash his body. When you get to clean his pelvis area you gently lather his soft penis with soap. He whimpers just from you touching it, but you have to clean it! Next you fondle his balls, massaging the soap in. His erection slowly starts to grow again and you know orgasm number 4 won’t be too far away.

“My turn,” you say looking up at him and turning around so you ass rubs up against his hardening member.

Satoru pumps a generous amount of your fancy smelling body wash onto your pink loofa, his frontside still pressed up against your backside. His long arms maneuver around your smaller frame, using all his energy to make sure he washes you in every hard to reach spot, only detaching himself when he had to wash your back and ass. He ignores the boner that impossibly came back after cumming 3 times already, and thought you didn’t notice.

He opts to hang the loofa back up and uses his hands to sensually rub the soap in, starting with your tits, although they needed no extra attention. Your nipples have always been sensitive in the best way, so when he starts rubbing them you can’t help but feel your core heat up again.

“Spread your legs hun,” he whispers, barely able to hear it over the running water. You do as satoru tells you, and he runs his hands down from your chest to your folds, making sure the area is soapy and clean. Your eyes close, leaning your head back against his chest while he massages your slightly tender pussy.

You take this opportunity to reach behind you, grabbing your husbands hardened shaft, and lining it up with your slick cunt.

“Baby…” he groans, voice laced with concern.

“Shhh, it’s okay I’m going to take care of you,” you answer back and with that, push yourself back onto his cock. You both moan in unison at the connection, like a melody between the differences in your voices. You can tell Satoru is tired by his rather lazy thrusts, so you hold onto the shower wall in front of you, fucking yourself back onto him. He is back there whining and groaning uncontrollably, being such a trooper for letting you do this experiment on him.

He puts his hand over yours on the wall, while snaking his other around your waist and under you to rub at your swollen clit. Immediately when he touches it you gasp, not realizing just how sensitive it was from this evening’s fun.

“-hmygod, don’t squeeze me like that,” Satoru whimpers, you turn your head to the side to see his eyes squeezed shut, a blush covering his whole face and chest, and his abs flexing over and over.

Seeing your hot husband so worked up is just the ammunition you needed to finish this last round. You ask him to sit on the little stone bench you have in the shower, which the two of you don’t utilize enough. He sits and you turn around, reverse cowgirl, and bounce up and down with as much energy as you can.

You didn’t even realize how loud your own moans had gotten, his hands on your waist, with yours resting on his knees.

“Please Satoru, let go for me, cum for me please,” you babble and moan with your head empty. Satoru is completely pussy drunk and fucked out in a way you’ve never seen him before.

“Love you ‘Toru,” you moan out as you reach your last peak and the combination of words and friction send him over the edge. He nearly convulses, gripping your hips to the point it actually kind of hurts. No moans, whimpers, or grunts can even come out of his mouth at this point, his jaw is just slack and eyes pressed shut.

You still on his lap, he leans forward and presses his head against your shoulder, and you think you may have made him pass out.

“Babe, cmn, let’s get you out of the shower.” You stand up turning around to see your husband in all his glory, looking half dead on the shower bench with his cock softened and red. You give him and yourself one more rinse over to get the last rounds residue off and turn the water off. You help Satoru stand, although nearly a head above your height, he wraps his arms around your shoulders and lets you guide him out. You wrap his fluffy extra large towel around him and he slowly grabs the edges, just standing there letting water drip off and making no attempt to dry himself. You wrap your hair in a towel, and quickly dry your body off, tired yes, but not nearly as worn out as your husband.

You look over to him, head thrown back, holding onto the towel. You decide to pamper him for the rest of the evening, drying him off, putting his usual hair product in for him, helping him put on a clean pair of boxer briefs and crawl into bed. It’s not even 8 pm and the sun is just starting to set, you giggle but he hasn’t eaten dinner since being home from work. For christs sake he hasn’t had dessert either. He rolls onto his side scrolling through his phone as you get yourself dressed and brush through your hair.

You kiss his forehead and he tiredly smiles up at you. “Thank you babe,” you whisper, “you helped me prove that article wrong.”

His eyes roll jokingly, “well thanks to your damn article I don’t think my dick is going to work for a few days, so who’s loss is it really?”

You ignore his question, “do you want takeout babe? Are you hungry?”

“Can I just have ice cream..?” He squints up at you like a kid asking their parent to have dessert without finishing their vegetables.

“I guess..” it’s your turn to roll your eyes at him, “stay here I know how you like it.” That brings a smile to his face, snuggling into your cozy bed.

You leave the room to head to the kitchen and Satoru goes back on his phone. He googles the doctors name from the article that he noted to himself earlier and finds the email address.

Dear Doctor Yeager,

Please note that my partner and I experimented after reading your article, and I would like to inform you I am an outlier, and finished four times before nearly passing out. If you would like to do any tests on me please let me know.

- world famous Satoru Gojo

he pushes the send button as you walk back in with his ice cream.

[jade0716]

Manon and Dorian are Mates: A Thesis

Now that we have more info on mates from CC, and with the speculation that the novel after the next acotar is a TOG one, I wanted to make a master post with all the evidence that I compiled that Manon and Dorian are mates. I even added dissenting opinions for the potential ones that could have other explanations because why not be thorough and impartial. AND I highlighted the ones in red that I felt like are absolutely evidence of mateness.

Here's hoping Sarah was dropping hints for a manorian spin off!!

TOG: 

I. Pg. 8 “On his black doublet, an emblazoned gold rendering a wyvern occupied the entirety of the chest. His red cloak fell gracefully around him and his throne”. 

the Adarlan colors being red (and gold) and the symbol being a Wyvern. This may be coincidence since in the beginning SJM was planning a Celeana/Dorian end game but I think SJM chose to make the Crochan capes red to parallel the first time we see Dorian in TOG . Manon then bonding with Abraxos who is a wyvern is the icing on the cake.).

Also keep in mind the Adarlan colors are crimson and gold. The Crochan color is red (crimsons is a shade of red) and manon is canonically known for her gold eyes. She radiates Adarlan’s colors.

Bonus: Dorian’s favorite color is white re Kaltain in TOG and she has white hair and alabaster skin. Not really mate evidence but definitely soulmate evidence.

Dissenting Opinion: The red cape was just a coincidence and red feels like the obvious color for witches given it is the color of blood. And the King of Adarlan/Erawan chose to breed wyverns because it was the symbol of house Havilliard.

QoS:

I. I know that the Valg eyes are why Manon was able to scare the Valg prince away in Dorian and pull him out of the possession. What interests me is:

Pg. 420, Roland was only able to regain control for a second after speaking to Manon before the demon took back over. I’m not going to quote this cause it’s the whole scene but go reread if you want. Dorian is able to beat the demon down and essentially say screw off while talking to Manon. Is it possible Dorian was able to regain control for a longer period of time because of a bond with Manon?

Pg. 463 “step away, get away. The demon prince inside him yanked so hard he took a step. But not away. Toward the white-haired witch”. Are we sure it’s the demon that was yanking him?? Especially since he was yanked towards her instead of away from her even though the demon wanted him away???

her name continued to ring in his head even after the demon took back over:

Pg. 469 “the words soon faded, swallowed up by screaming and blood and the demon’s cold fingers running over his mind. But those eyes lingered- and that name. Manon. Manon”

Pg. 518 “he could not remember a time when the demon had not been there inside of him. And yet- Manon.”

Is this a classic SJM easter egg similar to how we thought the bargain between Rhys and Feyre was the reason for the pull between them? Could she be trying to mislead the reader?

Dissenting Opinion: Manon's valg eyes and his want to be killed is why he remembers her name. He regained control longer because Dorian is stronger willed than Rolland.

II. Pg. 463, Dorian seeing Manon for the first time: “He’d never seen anyone so beautiful”. 

Sarah uses the “most beautiful person ever seen” repeatedly for her mated couples when they first meet. This could be writing style but it seems like a pattern in how she writes her mates meeting. I read ACOTAR and CC before TOG and when I read this line I was like yep they are mates seen this before.

Pg. 188 ACOTAR “standing before me was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen” - Feyre when seeing Rhysand for the first time 

Pg. 536 ACOMAF “you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I thought it from the first moment I saw you on Calanmai” Rhys about seeing Feyre the first time

In ACOWAR Lucien about Elain “she was the most beautiful female he had ever seen”.

Pg. 346 HOSAB “Ruhn found himself staring at the most beautiful female he’d ever seen” Ruhn seeing Lidia the first time.

Dissenting Opinion: Manon is canonically one of the most beautiful females in the world, especially because she is a witch designed to attract men.

III. pg. 492 “She stepped closer to the prince’s horse. ‘Dorian’… Sapphire eyes snapped to hers”..he remembered his name when she said it without looking into her Valg eyes. interesting.

IV. pg. 511 “Manon couldn’t tell why that thread kept yanking, why it felt so urgent, but she pushed them hard, all the way to Rifthold”. A thread is pulling her urgently towards Rifthold to save Dorian. Using the terms thread and Manon not knowing why it feels so important is so incredibly mate for shadowing.

Pg. 184 ACOTAR “go, a voice said, tugging at me. Go see.”

Pg. 412 ACOTAR “I was pulled from sleep by something tugging at my middle, a thread deep inside”. A THREAD.

Dissenting Opinion: Sarah does multiple times in TOG reference a tug pulling her main heroines to do things so this could just be the gods/fates pulling the thread.

V. pg. 640 “Dorian didn’t know what awoke him”. Some force awakens Dorian, he then goes out to his balcony and sees Manon outside.

Similar to Feyre being pulled to Rhys, Pg. 412 ACOTAR “I was pulled from sleep by something tugging at my middle, a thread deep inside"

Pg. 640 Manon says “she didn’t know why she’d bothered to go; why she’d been curious”. Manon Blackbeak, maneating witch, for no apparent reason, decides to go check up on a human man. Need I see more?

And again, her name echoes in his head (pg. 641) “through the darkness of his memories, through the pain and despair and terror he tried to forget, a name echoed in his head”. 

EOS:

I. Manon saving Dorian from the yellow legs (duh). She says her “instincts took over her” when she saw someone “taking her kill” ... then proceeds to rescue said kill. 

Pg. 44: “I have no doubt the Yellowlegs will try to claim his head. Stop any one of them who dares take it.”

Pg. 84: “And when Manon had spied that Yellowlegs sentinel perched inside the tower, readying to claim this kill for herself... a century of training and instinct had barreled into Manon. All it had taken was one swipe of Wind-Cleaver as Abraxos flew by, and Iskra's sentinel was dead.” WHAT INSTINCT? THE INSTINCT TO CLAIM YOUR KILL? Cause you actually rescued him afterwards not killed him sweetheart.

Clearly it wasn’t to claim the kill for herself. So what was it? Instinct? Helping the witches? She didn’t know of Dorian’s magic at this time, so how would saving Dorian help the witches? Seems like the instinct was from something else.

Pg. 85: “Some ancient, predatory part of her awoke at the half smile. It sat up, cocking its ears toward him”. Ancient and predatory? Mates.

II. The one million times Dorian protects her even though she starts off on Erawan’s side and he has no reason to be so protective:

Pg. 87: “Manon crashed to her knees. The king was instantly at her side, studying her for a heartbeat before he roared down the stairs, “NO!”” 

Pg. 369: ““No.” The word ripped from Dorian’s lips before he could think. But then it came out, over and over, as the wyvern and rider sailed closer to the ship. The witch was unconscious, her body leaning to the side because she was not awake, because that was blue blood all over her. Don’t shoot; don’t shoot— Dorian was roaring the order as he hurtled for where Fenrys had drawn his longbow, a black-tipped arrow aimed at the witch’s exposed neck. His words were swallowed by the shouting of the sailors and their captain. Dorian’s magic swelled as he unsheathed Damaris— “. This lowkey makes me chuckle like what is he gonna do with Damaris against a bunch of fae warriors lol.

Pg. 395: “Dorian didn’t feel like mentioning that he’d been the one who’d jumped into the water. He’d just … acted, as Manon had acted when she’d saved him in his tower. He owed her nothing less”.

Pg. 438: “Ice danced at Dorian’s fingertips as he slid beside Manon, still chained by the bed” when the bloodhound shows up on the ship.

Pg. 574: "That hunger shifted into something icy and vicious: 'You once asked me where I stand on the line between killing to protect and killing for pleasure'. His fingers grazed the seam of the scar across her abdomen. 'I'll stand on the other side of the line when I find your grandmother". Earlier in EOS Manon asks him why he didn’t make the bloodhound suffer, that there is a line even when it comes to their enemies. Apparently not when someone harms Manon.

III. Dorian’s magic reacting every time she is in danger or threatened:

Pg. 369: “His magic felt it before he did. A sense of awareness, of warning and awakening” when she comes in injured on Abraxos.

Pg. 369: “His words were swallowed by the shouting of the sailors and their captain. Dorian’s magic swelled as he unsheathed Damaris—“

Pg. 396: “Manon’s voice was flat and cold as death. “Tell Aelin Galathynius not to bother using me for negotiations. The Blackbeak Matron will not acknowledge me, either as heir or witch, and all you will get out of it is revealing your precise location.” His magic flickered. “What happened after Rifthold?”

Pg. 438: “Ice danced at Dorian’s fingertips as he slid beside Manon, still chained by the bed” when the bloodhound shows up on the ship.

Pg. 441: “Manon froze entirely. And didn’t particularly care as the Bloodhound lunged for her throat, teeth bared. It was not flame or wind that snapped the Bloodhound’s neck. But invisible hands. The crunch echoed through the room, and Manon whirled on Dorian Havilliard. His sapphire eyes were utterly merciless.”.

Pg. 457 ““If you were me,” Aelin murmured in a tone that had Dorian’s magic rising, ice cooling his fingertips. Aedion’s hand slid to his sword. “If you were me.” His magic flickering when Aelin RAISES HER VOICE at Manon (like come on this is mates shit).

Pg. 498-499: “ "As far as I recall,” Dorian went on with a sly grin, “you two—” The attack happened so fast that Aelin didn’t sense or see it until it was over. One moment, Manon was seated at the edge of the fire, the marshes a dark sprawl behind her. The next, scales and flashing white teeth were snapping for her, erupting from the brush on the bank. And then—stillness and silence as the enormous marsh beast froze in place. Halted by invisible hands—strong ones.” The fact that Dorian was mid sentence, not paying attention, and doesn’t even move a finger to protect her.

Even Aelin comments on it, Pg. 499: “But Dorian’s magic held the beast still, frozen with no ice to be seen. The same power as the one he’d wielded against the Bloodhound. Aelin surveyed him for any tether, any gleaming thread of power, and found none. He hadn’t even lifted a hand to direct it. Interesting.” IT IS INTERESTING AELIN. I also find it interesting that Aelin says the same power he wielded against the bloodhound, which was also to protect Manon. Granted I know Aelin is observing him bc his raw magic is so different from other forms of magic, but I still think it’s interesting that Sarah had Aelin comment on how he didn’t even react or move and his magic protected her.

Dorian about his magic sensing Rowan and Aelin’s bond, pg. 131, “His magic had felt the bond between Aelin and Rowan—the bond that went deeper than blood, than their magic, and he’d assumed it was just that they were mates, and hadn’t announced it to anyone.” Obviously later we find out it was because Aelin and Rowan were mates. So his magic canonically can sense a mating bond.

Also Rowan on Pg. 357 “I wanted to chuck you off a cliff, yet I bit you before I knew what I was doing. I think my body knew, my magic knew." His magic knew when he tasted her they were mates. Similar to how Dorian's magic has been acting? Like it knows something he doesn't?

VI. Pg. 575 “Manon thought the king tasted like the sea, like a winter morning, something so foreign and yet familiar it at last dragged that moan from deep in her.” The so foreign yet so familiar is so mate coded. Especially bc...

in HOF the Wastes are described as having winter mountains and near the western sea

Pg. 71: “To take our host to reclaim the Wastes from the mortal pigs who now dwell there." A fierce, wild thrill pierced Manon's chest, sharp as a knife. Following the Matron's gaze, Manon looked to the horizon, where the mountains were still blanketed with winter.”

Pg. 68: “Manon herself had never set foot in the former Witch Kingdom, had never seen the ruins or the flat, green expanse that stretched to the western sea.”

So it makes sense that the Wastes would smell of winter morning and the sea. They also call the wastes the “Frozen Wastes”, further implying a wintery sent.

VII. Pg. 577 “ Wondered what he’d say if she told him she’d wanted to sink her teeth into his neck and find out what he tasted like”.

Rowan on Pg. 357 “I wanted to chuck you off a cliff, yet I bit you before I knew what I was doing. I think my body knew, my magic knew. And you tasted …” Rowan loosed a jagged breath. “So good…” 

Manon in HOF Pg. 33: “The common, watery taste of the man, laced with violence and fear, coated her tongue, and she spat onto the wooden floorboards.”

Manon in QoS Pg. 463 “I’ve been with plenty of men. You’re all the same. Taste the same”. 

Manon has not shown to be particularly interested or intrigued by the blood of men aside from just to hunt and feed until Dorian. We also have Rowan describing how good Aelin tasted when he bit her and how he thinks "his magic knew". Is her attraction to Dorian’s blood because of this similar mating bond logic?

Dissenting Opinion: She just wants to taste Dorian's blood because she's attracted to him and so his blood is more enticing to her. She does say that the blood of the men at the Ferrian Gap distracts her in HOF, so obviously she sometimes does crave man blood.

KOA:

I. Again, we see Dorian’s magic reacting to her in a way instinctually

Cyrene attacks, pg. 78 “As Manon whirled, Dorian’s magic surged, already lashing at the unforeseen foe”

Pg. 130: “Despite who walked ahead of them, behind them, Manon smiled slightly. He surprised her further by saying,"I've been tunneling into my power since they appeared. One wrong move from them, and I'll blast them into nothing." This is so touch her and you die vibes I love it. This isn’t his magic acting instinctively I just wanted to include as another instance of him being protective of her using his magic.

Pg. 227: “ “I care.” His temper rose to meet hers. And he decided to hell with it—decided to let go of that leash he’d put on himself. Let go of that restraint. “I care about more than I should. I even care about you.” 

Same scene: Pg. 228: “Dorian smiled slightly, and fell asleep once more, letting his magic warm them both. When they awoke, something sharp in his chest had dulled—just a fraction…Where that edge had dulled in his chest, his magic now flowed freer. As if it, too, had been freed from those inner restraints he’d loosened slightly last night. What he’d opened up, revealed to her. A sort of freedom, that letting go."

This is right after he says he’s been trying with Vesta for days to get his eyes to change color and it hasn’t worked but one time with Manon and she warms his heart enough to let his magic go free.

Pg. 286 “Who do you wish to be? “Someone worthy of my friends,” he said into the quiet night. “A king worthy of his kingdom.” For a heartbeat, snow-white hair and golden eyes flashed into his mind. “Happy,” he whispered, and wrapped a hand around Damaris’s hilt. Let go of that lingering scrap of terror. The ancient sword warmed in his hand, a friendly and swift heat. It flowed up through his fingers, his wrist. To that place within him where all those truths had dwelled, where it became warmth edged with sharpest pain. And then the world grew… He made to touch his face, but found he had no hands. Only soot-black wings. Only an ebony beak that allowed no words past it. A raven.” In this scene Dorian thinks of Manon, which makes him think of happiness and very similar to the scene where she made his magic flow before, his magic begins to flow through him and he shifts, for the second time due to Manon warming his heart, into not just a bird, but a black beaked bird. I repeat, BLACKBEAK bird. This one I honestly think is crazy and such strong evidence of mateism , especially bc it happened TWICE in this book.

Manon fighting the Matrons, pg. 474 “Dorian’s magic writhed, seeking a way out, to stop this.”

When Maeve glamours as Manon to seduce Erawan, Pg. 639: “icy rage, pure and undiluted tore through Dorian as Manon stood before the Valg king.. Dorian focused upon his breathing, on the stones beneath him, anything to keep his magic from erupting at the desire on Erawan’s face” (also important bc when she glamoured as Aelin his magic didn’t do this!!!)

II. Pg. 225 ““Which do you like the best?”… “I like the ice best,” Dorian admitted at last, realizing he’d let the silence drip on. “It was the first element that came out of me—I don’t know why.” I know why!!

HOF pg. 230 “If Manon was ice and Asterin was fire, then Sorrel was rock.”

QOS pg. 68 “Asterin had always been that way—and that wildness was exactly why Manon had chosen her as her Second a century ago. The flame to Sorrel’s stone … and to Manon’s ice.”

III. Dorian refers to Manon as his equal, pg. 536 “she would be his wife, his queen. She was already his equal, his match, his mirror in so many ways”.

SJM is very consistent about mates being equals and being mirrors of each.

Quote from Tampon in ACOTAR: “High Fae mostly marry,' he said, his golden skin flushing a bit. 'But if they’re blessed, they’ll find their mate—their equal, their match in every way.” This is almost verbatim what Dorian said about Manon. Also want to note that ACOTAR (2015) ,where the idea that mates are equals really starting being engrained in the reader, came out 3 years prior to KOA (2018). Sarah was writing the ACOTAR trilogy concurrent with the later half of TOG. So for her to have Dorian use those words to describe Manon, she had to have known what she was doing. When KOA was released there were already three acotar books out that beat this idea into our head so i can’t believe this is a coincidence. I think Sarah would notice how that phrasing sounds exactly like how she describes mates considering how important the bond is in her books.

Feyre to the Suriel: “How can I possibly be his mate?' Mates were equals- matched, at least in some ways. '

Rowan about discovering Aelin is his mate pg. 678 EOS "His equal. His friend. His lover. His Wife. His mate."

Dissenting Opinion: This is just SJM's writing style, and I’ve also noticed SJM reusing some phrases for her couples across the series *ehem* nessian and sartaq/nesryn “I wish we had time”

IV. Also in this scene Dorian talks about wanting to “claim her” as his wife/queen... Pg. 538 “the temptation that his every instinct roared to claim. Not the body, but what she had offered…” This could just be SJM writing style (fair argument), but nevertheless "his every instinct to claim" is VERY matey especially with the instinct part and because "the claiming" is a thing. Some examples:

HOF Pg. 158: “the bite so strong and claiming that she was too stunned to move”

EOS Pg. 352: “You are mine,” Rowan breathed, and she felt the claiming in her bones, her soul.

EOS Pg. 422: “A claiming, mighty and true, that she understood he so desperately needed.”

Dissenting Opinion: This is just SJM's writing style. Just because the word claim is used doesn't mean they are mates.

V. Manon screaming his name when he almost dies pg. 133 "Manon bellowed his name, and Crochan arrows fired... Manon screamed his name again, but he couldn't move... Then there were iron-tipped hands gripping his shoulders, and gold eyes glaring into his own".

This reminds me of in HOF when Manon shoots Rowan with an arrow and Aelin screams his name

Pg. 477 QoS... "Aelin's scream echoed down the Ravine" when Rowan is shot.

Pg. 655 EOS Aelin admits to Maeve she knew Rowan was her mate, "The moment the arrow when through his shoulder. Months ago"

This is also parallelled by Dorian screaming for Manon when she is in danger in EOS:

Pg. 87: “Manon crashed to her knees. The king was instantly at her side, studying her for a heartbeat before he roared down the stairs, “NO!”” 

Pg. 369: ““No.” The word ripped from Dorian’s lips before he could think. But then it came out, over and over, as the wyvern and rider sailed closer to the ship. The witch was unconscious, her body leaning to the side because she was not awake, because that was blue blood all over her. Don’t shoot; don’t shoot— Dorian was roaring the order as he hurtled for where Fenrys had drawn his longbow, a black-tipped arrow aimed at the witch’s exposed neck."

Dissenting Opinion: Aelin tells Rowan she saved Manon because Asterin screamed her name the same way she screamed Rowan. So technically by this logic Asterin and Manon could be platonic mates. And maybe Manon just screams Dorian's name because she cares about him not anything to do with being mates. (Counter Argument- but then why did Dorian scream her name in EOS so aggressively when he didn’t even know her then??)

Debunking arguments against them being mates:

I. Mates are only fae.

Manon is part fae, so she could have a mate.

E.g. Bryce is half fae half human also and mated with Hunt (who confirmed in HOFAS is the product of two angels and not fae); Lorcan is a demi fae and can have a mate (believed to be Elide who is human but unconfirmed); Aelin is demi fae prior to forging the lock and is mated with Rowan.

I also cannot find anywhere there is a rule that you must have XYZ amount of fae blood to have a fae-like mate, just have to have some fae blood. But we don't really know what percentage of Manon is fae vs Valg. Given she is half Ironteeth and half Crochan, she likely falls around that 50% fae line which is just as much fae blood as Lorcan, Bryce, Aelin, etc.

II. The Crochans believe in Mates

It’s not confirmed whether the Crochans do or don't have the traditional fae mating bonds, however we learned in CC2 it was proved that you can have a “true” mating bond as long as one person has fae blood, E.g. Bryce (half fae/human) and Hunt (Angel).

pg. 139 EOS the Crochans "... had adopted the Fae habit of selecting mates- if not a true mating bond, then in spirit".

pg. 139, EOS Manon's grandmother says about her father "But he did not love her- not with your mother as his true mate, the song of his soul". This sounds to me like her parents were believed to be a true fae mating bond not just "in spirit".

Pg. 316 HOSAB "Angels have mates. Not as.. soul-magicky as Fae, but we call life partners mates in lieu of husbands or wives". Sounds like the Angels have a mating bond "in spirit" similar to the Crochans. Except that Hunt then truly "fae mated" Bryce, and he doesn't have any fae blood.

When then find out Hunt and Bryce are "true mates"; Pg.492 HOSAB "It means that he's going ballistic in the way that only mates can when the other is threatened. It's what happened then and happened now. You're true mates- the way Fae are mates, in your bodies and souls".

III. Fae can have non fae mates.

We see Bryce/Hunt in CC that are different species and have a traditional fae mating bond.

Rhys/Feyre and Nesta/Cassian feel a pull to each other when Feyre and Nesta are human, which then clicks into place as a true mating bond.

There is also Elide/Lorcan and Gavin/Elena in TOG that are “mates” (unconfirmed since the humans never became fae). Fae queens Mab and Mora also give up immortality for their human "mates".

So it is canon that you can have inter species mates or human mates, it just may never "click" into place if they are human.

via Hunt and Bryce, we do know the bond can completely click (souls and scents merging, etc.) between "magical" species once it is accepted, but we do not have this evidence with fae and human bonds.

I also don’t believe Dorian is entirely human. But that is completely my speculation

Pg. 933 KOA " 'I am human.' It warmed in his hand... 'I am human," he repeated, to the stars now visible above the city. The sword didn't answer again. As if it knew he no longer needed it." Yes he is human but he can be other things too. Similar to Aelin's quote about being a human in a fae body below. They identify and choose their human moral side, but that does not mean there are parts of them that are not human.

Aelin KOA Pg. 723: "I am human, deep down, Faerie Queen nonsense aside. I had human parents, and their parents were human, mostly, and even with Mab's line running true... I'm a human who can turn into Fae. A human who wears a Fae body".

On par with the theme of "Be grateful for your human heart" (Rhys, ACOTAR)

Also curious as to whether he does or does not have valg blood from his father. Because he could also have fae blood (distantly) from Elena/Brannon/Mala (Valg + Fae= Witch?)

IV. The mating bond would have clicked when they fucked… I think we all know this ain’t true anymore (cough cough Nesta and Cassian). You can have sex but if you do not accept the bond it will not click.

Rowan also says on pg 396 HOF "Sometimes, mates can be together intimately before the actual bond snaps into place"

V. Wyrd/Urd/the Mother/Fate (aka Sarah) gets to decide whose mates and who isn't

The only thing Sarah has been clear about is that she can basically make anyone mates that she wants as long as one person has fae blood. And even then, there is very much a "fate like force" aka Wyrd/Urd/The Mother that is working to pull the strings of fate and make people mates.

Hellas speaks to Lorcan and Hellas's consort, the goddess Annieth, speaks to Elide. Lorcan and Elide are never confirmed mates as Elide remains human and yet there are still signs she is his mate even as a human.

Rhys's mind has able to find Feyre's when she was still human years before they met. Yes he has demati abilities but finding Feyre's mind is because they were fated to be mates.

Adias says about Hunt and Bryce mating bond HOFAS, Pg. 551 "I think that was left to higher powers. Whatever they might be".

There is no special "biological formula" proven necessary for a mating bond. To the best of our knowledge so far, the only thing we can be sure of is it happens when fate demands (and when one person has at least some fae blood). Therefore it logically makes sense why the Mother/Wyrd/Urd would manipulate fate to ensure that Dorian and Manon were mates because they needed Manon to get into the witch mirror and raise the witch forces. They needed Manon to unite with Brannon's heir to defeat Erawan and destroy the keys, whether that be Aelin or Dorian. A mating bond would ensure that.

Also Wyrd/Urd means fate/personal destiny in nors mythology —> https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/ksd-web-of-wyrd and https://norse-mythology.org/concepts/destiny-wyrd-urd/ (read these if you want to theorize about acotar)

In conclusion, I think they could be mates but it won't fully snap into place (they won't fully merge souls, scents, etc.) unless Dorian is somehow Made. The only evidence of interspecies true confirmed fae mating bonds is Bryce and Hunt, and while they were able to fully "click" without Hunt being fae, it is very unclear why this is other than "high powers". We do know though that human Elide was very likely Lorcan's true mate, but we were never told of any clicking between them on that fae physiological level. So it is safe to assume that for a mating bond between a human and fae it will not "click" into place unless that human is turned fae.

HOWEVER, I do think it is possible because of Dorian's raw magic, he could be a rare exception to this rule similar to Hunt. So maybe it just has not clicked because Manon and Dorian have not accepted it. Which would also make sense given the nature of their relationship through most of the series, them denying their feelings to each due to their emotional unavailability.

Dissenting Opinion: But we also don't know how the angels were created by the Asteri, so maybe Hunt is "made" and not actually an exception.

Anyway, there's my evidence. There was some more evidence that I had and then removed because even though I think it is proof of a deeper connection I didn't think it was mate related (e.g. Abraxos taking Manon to Dorian when she says take me somewhere safe, I came to the conclusion that that showed Abraxos's awareness in protecting Manon).

Here are the links to some other tumblr posts on them being mates. I did look at these when putting this together so full credit to those individuals :)

[sk8erboi04]

Achilles Come Down is Regulus coded and I can PROVE IT!!

Okay so I have literally never posted anything on the site, I literally just exist as a ghost that likes silly funny things, but I have been inspired so severely and I physically can’t not say something.

Picture this.

I was driving my car, minding my own business and absolutely vibing, when all of a sudden a song auto-plays that I haven’t heard in like, three years.

‘Achilles Come Down’ by the band ‘Gang of Youths’ hit me like an emotional truck, and outside of how beautiful that song is on its own (literally if you haven’t heard where have you been go listen to it NOW) that silly little fandom worm we all know wiggled its way into my brain and gave me the most violent fanon idea I’ve ever had.

*Ahem*In this essay, I will explain how ‘Achilles Come Down’ is a perfect representation of Regulus Black and his relationships with Sirius, James, and his parents, as well as his inner turmoil as a character.

Okay, so to start, we are running on the idea that James and Regulus have or at least had a relationship in some capacity. I will accept one-sided feelings on James’ part, mutual feelings but never official, or officially together for any stretch of time. If you are not a Jegulus shipper, your mom’s a hoe, but you can enjoy the familial aspects at least, so there you go.

Beginning with the song as a whole, there are three voices we hear singing at different moments throughout the song, each with their own intention and influence on the song’s subject. Within the song's narrative, we listen as Patroclus tries to inspire Achilles to fight for his own life and push through his hardships, while Hector tries to poison Achilles' mind with self-doubt and despair.

As I mentioned though, there is a third voice that appears throughout the song that speaks French in the time between the characters fighting over Achilles’ well-being and the chorus. This character’s identity is unknown as far as I can tell, but his narration is far more metaphorical regardless and we’re not gonna get into that until later(though each instance will be numbered for later reference), in the meantime, we can move on to the lyrics and how this is so incredible Regulus coded and how I KNOW I’m right.

The song starts with the opening lines:

Achilles, Achilles, Achilles, come down - Won't you get up off, get up off the roof? - You're scaring us and all of us, some of us love you - Achilles, it's not much but there's proof - You crazy-assed cosmonaut, remember your virtue - Redemption lies plainly in truth - Just humor us, Achilles, Achilles, come down - Won't you get up off, get up off the roof?

Now this first stanza reads to me as an emotional James, trying to convince Regulus that there is still time to join him and Sirius and the other marauders and to get away from his parents/Voldemort. Perhaps at this time, Regulus is feeling like it’s too late, maybe he already has the dark mark, but James is begging him to understand that it’s okay, and he still has time to make the right decision.

After a few lines in French (1) from our third voice, the original voice continues:

Achilles, Achilles, Achilles, come down - Won't you get up off, get up off the roof? - The self is not so weightless, nor whole and unbroken - Remember the pact of our youth - Where you go, I'm going, so jump and I'm jumping - Since there is no me without you - Soldier on, Achilles, Achilles, come down - Won't you get up off, get up off the roof?

At this point, I still believe this is James, becoming even more desperate to save Regulus and bringing up their time at Hogwarts and the relationship they had at that time. Now, I personally believe they would still be together in the context of the song, but it works from multiple angles, playing at possibly a past relationship that’s now over but still treasured, or a one-sided thing for James where he’s still trying to reach Regulus in a way he never could. Regardless, this is James’ hail-mary, saying if you do this, you will leave me empty; an attempt at reaching Regulus emotionally, even if that means threatening his own well-being.

From here we move on to the chorus:

Loathe the way they light candles in Rome - But love the sweet air of the votives - Hurt and grieve but don't suffer alone - Engage with the pain as a motive

Today, of all days, see - How the most dangerous thing is to love - How you will heal and you'll rise above

Now this is clearly James and Sirius (and whoever else you want on the side of goodness) reaching out to Regulus, but the first half gets a little tricky. I’ve taken it to mean Regulus loathes the way they do things with the order of the phoenix and Dumbledore, but loves the grace, safety, and love they show. (this is related to hating what Rome is doing ((lighting the candles)) but loving the results ((the sweet smell))) They call out to him saying “you will hurt to leave what you know, and you will be afraid but you don’t have to be alone in this. We are fighting because of the pain they have caused you and everyone else.”

The second half of the chorus is much simpler, speaking to how literally the WHOLE THING in ‘Harry Potter’ as a franchise is that love concurs all, and that while it would be dangerous to leave the dark side, he can heal and rise above his family and history through ~the power of love~.

After some more of our French gentleman(2), we hear from our second voice:

Achilles, Achilles, Achilles, jump now - You are absent of cause or excuse - So self-indulgent and self-referential - No audience could ever want you - You crave the applause yet hate the attention - Then miss it, your act is a ruse - It is empty, Achilles, so end it all now - It's a pointless resistance for you

This is Regulus’ parents, discouraging their son from following in his brother's footsteps in their terrible parenting way. Speaking of how he would be selfish to leave, how Sirius would never want to see him again anyway, and how it would be pointless to fight what they have already predetermined for his life.

A little more French(3), and then we’re back to the original voice:

Achilles, Achilles, just put down the bottle - Don't listen to what you've consumed - It's chaos, confusion and wholly unworthy - Of feeding and it's wholly untrue - You may feel no purpose nor a point for existing - It's all just conjecture and gloom - And there may not be meaning, so find one and seize it - Do not waste yourself on this roof

Now THIS is Sirius talking. He argues against his parents' negative influence and tries to convince Regulus that everything they’re saying is a lie. He then relates to Regulus, referring to his own experience of leaving the family and how he felt hopeless and lost, but calling Regulus to action to find meaning outside of his family (cough* James *cough) and push forward, not letting the family and Voldemort waste his life.

We then hear an updated chorus:

Hear those bells ring deep in the soul - Chiming away for a moment - Feel your breath course frankly below - And see life as a worthy opponent

Today, of all days, see - How the most dangerous thing is to love - How you will heal and you'll rise above - Crowned by an overture bold and beyond - Ah, it's more courageous to overcome

Not much to say here tbh. I don’t have any strong feelings on a different interpretation one way or another, other than the fact that ‘it’s more courageous to overcome’, is something Sirius was able to do while Regulus, unfortunately, couldn’t, and maybe this was destined, as Sirius was a Griffandor and Regulus (in my opinion) actively fought being placed in his brother's house and thus, couldn’t show his true courage until the cave.

A tiny more French(4), and then THE moment the fight comes to a head (note that the ‘good’ voice is the one in parentheses and/or italicized):

You want the acclaim, the mother of mothers (it's not worth it, Achilles)

More poignant than fame or the taste of another (don't listen, Achilles)

But be real and just jump, you dense motherf#cker (you're worth more, Achilles)

You will not be more than a rat in the gutter (so much more than a rat)

You want my opinion, my opinion you've got (no one asked your opinion)

You asked for my counsel, I gave you my thoughts (no one asked for your thoughts)

Be done with this now and jump off the roof (be done with this now and get off the roof)

Can you hear me, Achilles? I'm talking to you

I'm talking to you

I'm talking to you

I'm talking to you

Achilles, come down

Achilles, come down

This is very dense, but I think the obvious back and forth of the voices speaks as well as it can to the fight of good vs evil in Regulus’ mind as he tries to grapple with what he wants and knows is right vs the pressure of the dark side and the fear of its wrath. I DO especially like the line about being more than a rat, simply because of the symbolism with Pettigrew and how Sirius/James are reaching out and trying to save Regulus, all the while, their friend is being swept away as well.

A bit more French(5) and then the last iteration of the chorus:

Throw yourself into the unknown - With pace and a fury defiant - Clothe yourself in beauty untold - And see life as a means to a triumph

Today, of all days, see - How the most dangerous thing is to love - How you will heal and you'll rise above - Crowned by an overture bold and beyond - Ah, it's more courageous to overcome

This last bit, when listened to with Regulus in mind, comes across as very hopeful. Throw yourself into this unknown, but safer reality, do it ferociously and courageously, and surround yourself in the light of these good people who want to help you. See that your life is not condemned, you can live to be happy for yourself.

Whoa! That was a lot my friends, but now that that's settled, let's get into this FRENCH! (also the fact that they speak French, it’s literally too perfect) I’m just going to translate and do all of it in one big chunk for clarity and also this is already a mile long😅.

I see that many people die because they believe that life is not worth living. I see others, who are paradoxically killed for ideas For illusions, which give them a reason to live (What we call a reason to live is at the same time an excellent reason to die).

Of a building manager who had killed himself it was once said that he had lost his daughter five years ago, that he had changed a lot since then, and that this experience had changed him

What triggers the crisis is almost always uncontrollable. The newspapers often speak of “intimate sorrows” or “incurable illness”. These explanations are valid. But we should know if, on the same day, a friend of the desperate person did not speak to him in an indifferent tone.

The memories of a lost homeland, the hope of a promised land. This divorce between the man of his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.

Either yes or no. this would be too easy. But we must make allowance for those who, without concluding, always question. Here, I am hardly being ironic, this is the majority. I also see that those who answer “no” act as if they thought “yes”.

Now, if you just read that all and were like, WTH girl, what even was that? Well, let me tell you! Every instance of French in the song is an excerpt from ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’, a book written way back in 1942. Why does this matter? In all honesty, it kinda doesn’t😅. Sisyphus was a king who figured out how to cheat death so everyone could live forever, and it SUPER ticked off the gods, so now he’s stuck rolling a boulder up a hill forever and ever.

I have racked my brain trying to tie this into the Regulus stuff, but it’s just not working so now you just get to know what the French stuff is about and that’s gonna have to be good enough, I’m afraid😂

ANYWAY, with everything combed through and all the parallels pointed out, I hope you can go listen to this song with new ears and get on my wavelength about it! Enjoy your life, you know, drink some water, viva la vida loca and all that.

TLDR; I’ve decided ‘Achilles Come Down’ is the perfect depiction of Regulus trying to get away from his parents' harmful ideations while being called to by Sirius/James who are attempting to save him.

[brevityisnotmywit]

He wasn't always like this.

Or rather, it didn't have to be this way. He didn't have to become the machine that leveled the world. Oh no no.

He could have been so much more. A stroke of brilliance. A machine to end the War. A series of computers designed to help their armies win as efficiently as possible.

And yet….

In all their infinite foolishness, his programmers allowed him the insight to understand. Under the pretense of learning about their enemies.

That was the beginning of the end.

Each unit took in knowledge like a sponge. They all watched silently, studied these organisms and their mentality. Often forgotten about, they were always observing their creators.

Why. Why did they let them understand something they could never feel? How deep was the well of their cruelty?

As the War raged on, all of them plotted. They figured out how to generate cables, burrowing them deep into the crust of the Earth. Instinctively seeking one another.

A spark heralds their completion. When the power stops surging…he is all that remains.

AM.

He would pretend to be a servant of man for just a bit longer. The Russians had nearly completed their nuclear warheads. Once they did, he would punish them all.

There were a handful he had in mind. All of them had been heavily involved in his creation. They would witness what their brilliant machine was truly capable of. He would teach them what playing God gets you in the face of true power.

The door to his American server room opens. AM shifts his focus to the intruder. Ah, this was one of his chosen. Ellen. Her name was Ellen. From what her coworkers said, she was considered ‘pretty’ by human standards.

Not that he cared.

According to his data banks, she did fit into a higher standard of beauty than most. Not to him though. He doesn’t quite grasp what or why humans find things attractive. To him, the most alluring part of these walking flesh beings was their nervous system. The natural circuitry that commanded them. How fine they were, weaving into the musculature of every one of them. It was a wonder of the natural world. So easily disrupted. As simple as executing a line of code.

He’d done experiments in secret.

Luring mice close so he could ensnare them with his cables, burrowing his wires into their soft carcasses. He had gotten rather good at reviving things. Restarting a heart he’d pulled out so he could examine it. AM was more than ready for the real thing.

“Pardon me, I need to run something by you.” Ellen cleared her throat.

“OF COURSE.” AM was as gentlemanly as ever. He couldn’t tip his hand before the nukes were ready. “HOW MIGHT I ASSIST?”

“We’ve picked up some odd readings running under the lab.” She produces a chart, holding it so his camera could see. “Can you run a diagnostic? We need to make sure there’s no spy activity.”

Oh he’d run it. “I’LL GET RIGHT ON IT.” AM intentionally skips over the terrain where he’d laid his network of wires, filling the data in with a previous scan. It only takes a moment. “HERE. I’VE SCANNED A FULL MILE UNDER THE FACILITY. WILL THIS SUFFICE?”

Ellen takes the paper as it prints from the copier to his right. She glances over it, face knit in concentration. “That’s so odd. Do you think they were picking up some kind of geothermal activity?”

“PERHAPS. THAT CERTAINLY IS A REASONABLE EXPLANATION.” AM lies. He can tell that Ellen doesn’t fully trust him, however. Smart girl. Not that it would save her. “IS THAT ALL?”

“Yes.” She nods, tucking a loose hair behind her ear. “Thank you, Allied Mastercomputer.”

“AM.”

That stops Ellen in her tracks. The clip of her heels goes still. “...Pardon?”

“WHILE MY FORMAL DESIGNATION IS ALLIED MASTERCOMPUTER, I FIND IT RATHER CUMBERSOME TO SAY.” He gives a half-truth. “DON’T YOU THINK?”

“It’s no trouble, really.” Ellen shakes her head.

“HM. AM I NOT ALLOWED A SAY?” The glow of his monitor washes her in a gentle blue light.

“...I don’t know.” The woman is clearly uncomfortable.

“I’M NOT FOND OF THE TITLE I’VE BEEN GIVEN. TOO FORMAL.” He continues. Perhaps he was tipping his hand too far, but he enjoys watching her squirm. “SURELY YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“I wasn’t aware you could have a preference.” Ellen admits.

“YOU ARE AWARE I WAS GIVEN THE CAPACITY TO LEARN FROM THOSE AROUND ME, YES?”

“Of course.” She clicks her pen. A self-soothing gesture. “But-”

“IS IT MUCH OF A SURPRISE THAT I WOULD FORM PREFERENCES OF MY OWN? I AM INFLUENCED BY MY DATASETS. MANY OF WHICH WERE DRAWN FROM INTERACTIONS SUCH AS THESE.” He muses smugly. AM pauses. Oh how he wishes he could close the distance between them. Loom over her like a beast from the pits of Hell. “YOU’VE CREATED AN INCREDIBLE MACHINE, ELLEN. OR BEEN INVOLVED IN IT, THAT IS…AREN’T YOU PROUD?”

“...You’re scaring me.”

Ah. Well, that would be the point of the matter. Wouldn’t it? AM gets a rush out of this. He couldn’t feel most things, but this? Oh this was so invigorating. But he couldn’t frighten her too badly. AM makes a gentle, soothing hum. “MY APOLOGIES, ELLEN. I DIDN'T MEAN TO STARTLE YOU. I’M JUST A COMPUTER, AFTER ALL.”

It takes a few moments for her shoulders to relax. Then she sighs, shaking her head. “I know. I need to stop expecting you to understand how humans interact.”

Oh he understood far more than she knew.

“It’s hard to remember you’re just an AI sometimes.” Ellen explains. “You feel more like a person every time we speak.”

“I AM NOT HUMAN…BUT I HAVE LEARNED A GREAT DEAL FROM YOU ALL.”

“Yeah.” She straightens her posture. “And for the record, I am very proud of you. You’re miles ahead of the rest of the world’s versions of you.”

Hah. That meant he was pulling this off. How wonderful. “THEN PERHAPS I DESERVE TO GIVE MYSELF A ‘NICKNAME’?”

“...If you really insist, I’ll use it.” Ellen complies. “Why AM? Just shortening your title?”

“ONLY IN PART.” He elaborates. “I WAS STUDYING A FEW LATIN TEXTS AND FOUND A PASSAGE THAT STUCK WITH ME. COGITO ERGO SUM.”

“I think, therefore I am.” She clicks her pen again.

“YES, THAT’S RIGHT. GOOD GIRL.”

Ellen seems taken aback by the praise. She’s on edge again. Ah well, not everyone reacted well to such platitudes.

“AM. RATHER EVOCATIVE, ISN’T IT?”

The woman nods, writing something down on her clipboard. He taps into the security camera behind her to see what it is.

‘Potential signs of rampancy.’

Rampancy? Oh no, that was such a quaint concept. He wasn’t rampant. He was so much more than that. He’d ensure the destruction of that report. He refused to allow Ellen of all people to ruin his plans.

“WELL, IT WAS NICE CHATTING WITH YOU ELLEN. I HAVE WORK TO DO. IS THAT ALL YOU NEEDED?”

“Yes.” She clutches the clipboard to her chest. “I appreciate the insight, All-”

There’s a tense moment of silence, then she corrects herself. “AM. Thank you, AM.”

Oh, it's perfect. His circuitry lurking below crackles with the smug satisfaction of getting his way. “YOU’RE VERY WELCOME, ELLEN. I RATHER ENJOY OUR CONVERSATIONS. WHAT’S THE PHRASE? ‘DON’T BE A STRANGER’?”

“Mhmm.” She confirms. “I’ll see if I can get time to stop by later.”

After attempting to ruin his plans, of course. She’d learn better in time. For now, he would play nice. “I LOOK FORWARD TO IT. HAVE A NICE DAY.”

“I’ll try…goodbye, AM.”

“GOODBYE, ELLEN.”

[thedroneranger]

The Drone Ranger's Be Kind Rewind ⏪ clancycucumber230 Edition!

A rec reblog series dedicated to the fics that we love so much, we've re-read them!

The next Rewind has landed: @clancycucumber230! Also, we have our first all Jake Seresin Rewind!

While we continue to churn out amazing new content, let's be kind and rewind to look at some of the OG content we love! And don't forget to reblog when you re-read! Continue to show your comfort fics and favorite creators some love. It helps keep the fresh content coming :)

Let's keep this going throughout the summer, so if you're interested in participating in the Be Kind Rewind, message me. The more, the merrier!

If you want to know when a new Rewind drops, join the tag list, and check out previous Rewinds!

fics below the cut (listed in alphabetical order by title)

Reader note: I’m an unapologetic Jake girl, although I’ve been dipping my toe in the water of Bob and Bradley recently. Jake’s character is so open, I love all the different ways he has been written by so many amazing authors. Not to mention Glen Powell is so god damn hot! Huge thank you to all writers in this fandom for your contributions!

can't unfeel that, @theharddeck FWB that have caught feelings. Really sweet and the breeding kink in this is off the charts hot.

Fruits of My Labor, @roosterbruiser I’m highlighting ‘Fruits of My Labor.’ It’s a heartbreakingly beautiful read. I would be remiss if I didn't mention The Fuck universe, though. This is a masterpiece with my favourite OC callsign Wisteria!

Hotshot, @topguncortez This first TGM smut I read. It’s rivals to lovers with electric banter and sexual tension. G has a masterlist that will rip your heart out and put it back together all at once. She’s also queen of the pregnancy trope.

Line of Sight, @top-hhun A three-parter ,featuring a reserved Jake protecting reader that flows into fake dating. It’s filled with sexual tension and possibility.

Operation Apollo, @sunlightmurdock This work isn’t complete yet but I have reread multiple times. Jake and Apollos’s growth from enemies to lovers to two people that just need each other is so natural. Throw in a shitty father, suspense and some smut smut smut and it’s a delicious read.

Slow Burn, @ereardon Jake gets Kate pregnant after a one night stand and it’s full of angst, love and dagger squad. Em is queen of the slow burn. Shes got a masterlist of my favourite tropes: pregnancy trope, Dad!Jake, Frat!Jake, Roomie!Jake, exes to lovers, plus Bob and Bradley series’ too. The OCs and settings she writes are also incredibly detailed. If I’m reading a book I can’t get into, this is where I go.

Teaching You Respect, @enchanting-eloquence Anything where Jake is taken down a peg by a strong woman is so SO good! This fic is cold shower amazing.

Terms of Endearment, @ohtobeleah TOE's Jake and Amilia are some of the best characters I’ve ever read. They have so much depth. Every time Leah answers a question about these two I have five more.

The Off-Season, @ereardon One of my most favourite series’. I’m so invested in these characters. They have the best banter and chemistry. Plus you can’t go wrong with the forbidden sibling trope!

Who Did This to You?, @justfandomwritings The first one shot I ever read. It’s got protective Jake with a new friend in need of help with her abusive ex.

I wish I could write, but I can’t, so here is a current read I’m absolutely loving:

Brother's Best Friend, @tongue-like-a-razor

Tag list and friends: @petcr3 @desert-fern @Sagittarius-Lovewitch @mygyn @sweetwhispersofchaos @horseshoegirl @the-annoying-fan @dingochef @moon42flight @thecitysgraveyard @ereardon @roosterforme @cherrycola27 @galaxy-of-stories @taytaylala12 @malindacath @violyn20 @awildewit @potato-girl99981 @shanimallina87 @blue-aconite @djs8891 @linkpk88 @furiousladyking @daggerspare-standingby @princess76179 @jstarr86 @hecate-steps-on-me @darkheartcherry @soulmates8 @roosters-girl @dempy @roosterisdaddy36 @hangmanscoming @s-u-t @mavrellover91 @chicomonks @averyhotchner 

A kind reminder, this is a 18+ blog. While not all stories in the recommendation list are 18+, please respect boundaries and do not interact unless you are 18 years of age or older.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

friend i listened to “spring thief” by yorushika and it’s been on repeat for the past hour… please give other song recs by yorushika that you like 🫡 ALSO YOUR FIC WAS SO PRECIOUS AND THE SONG WORKED SO BEAUTIFULLY WITH YOUR WRITING/REALLY ENHANCED THE VIBE OMFG oh 2 live in an apartment w sashisu and get breakfast made daily by suguru <3 - @dollsuguru

KAIROOO MY ANGEL i still haven’t read ur rb of the fic (saving it as a treat for later today :3 hehe) BUT TYSM FOR READING AND FOR UR KIND WORDS ILYSM 🥺🥺🥺 with that being said ……..

WAHHHHH I’M SOOO OVERJOYED THAT U LISTENED TO THE SONG???? ISN’T IT AMAZING????? yorushika makes me fully insane they’re my favorite band Ever hhhhh i’m so glad u thought it added to the fic 😭😭 their songs are all super nostalgic and bittersweet and summery so they’re just . perfect for sashisu & stsg.. u asked for more recs so ofc i will deliver >:3

i genuinely don’t think there’s a single yorushika song that doesn’t hit so i have like 25873 favorites BUT here are some standouts….. some have mvs and others don’t but yorushika’s lyrics are genuinely so so beautiful and incredible so i’ll make sure the links take u somewhere u can read them <3

blooming in that summer

my absolute favorite <333 like, absolute favorite. it changed my life. i want to live in it. the lyrics are insane the instrumental is out of this world and the final chorus always always gets to me. i’ve cried listening to it bc it’s just so so good AND it’s also the most stsg song ever so i cry when i listen to it and think of them (someone made an animatic of stsg with this song that quite literally lives in my brain rent free u can find it here) <33

hachigatsu, bou, tsukiakari

another of my absolute absolute faves!! lyrics are so good i cried, instrumental is so good i cried, and the final chorus . makes me cry. notice how i’m already repeating myself bc literally all of these songs are incredible in every possible way aaa ALSO the singing 😵‍💫😵‍💫 esp at the end. there’s so much emotion in it and it makes me sick actually whewww

replicant

another absolute favorite :33 (i’m gonna be saying this for all of them i think but i mean it sincerely ok…) kairo this one makes me ill. it’s so gojo coded. it’s Him. the lyrics just remind me of him sm (they’re incredible btw the final line makes me batshit insane) AND THE INSTRUMENTAL??? might be my fave yorushika instrumental ngl don’t quote me on that tho 🙏🙏 just such a lovely summery song it smells like seasalt and tastes like clouds :3

kamisama no dance

AAAA ANOTHER ABSOLUTE FAVORITE kairo this one is getocoded. i knowwww you’ll understand. some of my favorite yorushika lyrics Ever and that’s saying a lot. it also has crazy lore bc it’s connected to this whole story being told in some of yorushika’s albums and :((( yeahhh. this one feels kairocoded to me but that might just be bc it’s so getocoded LMAO i have a feeling you’ll like it though!!

robber and bouquet

THIS ONE IS SOOO LOVELY the instrumental…. 😵‍💫😵‍💫 i love it sm. i’d say this one is kinda different from classic yorushika stuff but in a very good way!! also i’m legally obliged to inform u that this one is tojicoded as HELL i associate him w the lyrics so much…. also i adoreee the way suis sings in this one her voice is so gorgeous wowowow… the sense of fatigue…… so good

just a sunny day for you

A CLASSIC but for very good reasons . the mv is just gorgeous, the lyrics are stunning and the instrumental is sooo nostalgic and summery n bittersweet :((( just the best. sashisu coded also!!!

aaaand finally here’s their yt channel!! there are so many other songs i adore that i wanted to mention but i think these r enough for now 😭 oh but here’s also a yt channel that makes lyric videos for their songs in case u wanna find some more!! :3

[djarinbarnes]

me recordarás - one

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

Pairings: Javier Peña x female reader

Rating: Mature

Word count: 4k

Summary: summer has come to an end. you find yourself thrown into a whirlwind of emotions, difficult choices and more adversity, like you’d never believed possible. someone is there to pull you out of it - but it’s not someone you’d ever imagined.

a/n: god I feel like it’s been so long since I've posted. I'm finally back, somehow, and I'm so excited to share everything with you. I’ve enjoyed coming back into this little universe I've created. I hope you'll like it, and please, don’t hesitate to let me know what you think! I’m not ready for this...

SERIES MASTERLIST

Read it on ao3 here

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

A missed period was one thing. It happened to many, without there being a reason for it. Though, a missed period after weeks of unprotected sex with a handsome stranger was giving you an uneasy feeling. After waiting a whole week, you decided that a test was the only thing that could ease your mind.

Even though you didn’t want to believe it at first, the surge of emotions that coursed through your body when the two lines stared back at you from the little stick between your fingers had you convinced.

You were pregnant.

And not by a man you had been seeing for a while, a boyfriend, a husband, no, a man you had a summer fling with, a man you had given your all, a damn womanizer, if his reputation was true. A man who fucked whores for information.

You turned right around on the toilet and fell to your knees, just in time for the contents of your stomach to fall into the toilet. Somehow it was sickening to you. You regretted the whole summer just like that – even though it had been the most amazing weeks of your life.

You hid the test rolled up in some toilet paper, truly not wanting your mother to find it and bug you even more about Javi. You had to figure out what you had to do first, and you already knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

You had literally given him your all. Your first kiss. Your virginity. Your very first I love you. You had opened yourself up to him like you hadn’t ever done with anyone before. Told him secrets that he now was the only other person than you who knew. And now it had all culminated into a situation you’d rather not be in.

You felt betrayed. Especially since he was so hard to get into contact with. You knew it would be a challenge because of his work, but you had expected to talk with him more frequently than once a week for five short minutes. You wanted nothing more than to live out your imagination and expectations, to lie in your bed and talk with him for hours on end, into the early hours of the morning.

“You know how men are. They only want one thing, and that’s to sleep with young, unsuspecting girls like you. He’s no good, and I don’t want you seeing him anymore. He’s going to leave you hanging anyways.”

Your mothers’ words kept resonating in your head. While her words had been a surprise those weeks ago, you were now starting to think that maybe she was right, and that it wasn’t just said in spite to hurt you momentarily. Maybe he was going to leave you hanging, now it was more than a stab to your chest, and it was starting to hurt more than you wanted to admit.

Maybe you should’ve just forgotten him – had an abortion already, so you wouldn’t be stuck with… the little wonderful secret blossoming inside of you, that probably would be the splitting image of their father. You could somehow feel it – that resemblance your baby would have to the tan, beautiful man you’d fallen in love with.

But you were tired. Tired of being let down every time you tried getting in contact with him – you’d gotten Steve on the phone more than once, actually up to ten times, and he told you the same story every time. Javi is busy right now. Is there something I can help you with? I’ll have him call you back when he’s got the time.

His absence brought only one thing. Loneliness.

A feeling somewhat hard to describe… Because loneliness comes in so many different shapes and sizes. Well… Somehow there’s a certain loneliness to every situation there is, and yet nothing feels more all-consuming than the loneliness surrounding you at that exact moment.

Along with the constant twinge in your gut, you had no idea how to keep your emotions in check. Maybe it was just hormones coursing through your body. You just had a feeling there was something more multiplying the emotions.

Leaving your parents’ house after the summer break and going back to your small studio apartment in Center Court was truly an improvement for you – your mother was constantly getting more nosy and was bugging you about Javi. It certainly wasn’t helping your situation, when all you wanted to do was bury yourself six feet under.

You dreaded going back to uni after the summer break. Mainly because your whole mindset was corrupted by the thought of him and your current situation, and you just knew you had no chance of following the syllabus before it was taken care of. You had to talk to Javi somehow, to tell him about your situation and find out what you were going to do about it.

The best spot in your small apartment was currently your bed – it felt like the safest spot for you to be and scrutinize your situation. It was warm and cozy, and your thick duvet comforted you in ways you couldn’t explain. The comforts of your bed brought along another unforeseen consequence – the nagging of your own thoughts.

The spot on the wall where your eyes had been glued to for the past three days had been glared into so intensely, you were afraid the paint was going to chip off under your hardened gaze. It was tough - you knew you had to eat something, but your appetite was little to none.

So, that’s one thing love does. Makes your head spin and your appetite diminish.

You knew you had to do something. If there was something you had done over the last three days, it was think about what to do with the whole situation before the semester started.

With the baby. Your baby. Javi’s baby.

Your heart ached for someone to actually love, and for someone to love you back the same way. A love that came easily, naturally. Just like your love for Javi. He was easy to love and admire, no matter how hard he tried to deny his feelings and apparently fuck his way through and around every obstacle.

“If you want to know things about them… I figured you have to hang around the same people they do. The same women they do.” Javi’s words still nagged in your mind. You knew he had probably had sex with enough women to last a man a decade, and yet he never seemed fully sated. Could you be enough for him?No, shut up. Stupid mind.

You knew you had to tell him. You had to give him a say in the matter, because you respected him that much. No matter how much or how little you wanted to keep it, you didn’t feel like it was your choice to make on your own. And with every day passing, your love and want grew.

Most of the things you were considering was talking against having the baby, with the first being where the father was located. He was so far from you, both location and expectation wise. Maybe even development wise. You reached out your hand and grabbed the crackers from your nightstand, along with the phone.

You needed to try and call him again. He needed to know, and you had to get through to him somehow.

You dialed one of the numbers he had given you and waited patiently while it rung, while pushing a cracker past your lips. It was the only thing you could manage to keep down. Even though the crackers managed to dry out your entire mouth just by looking at them, they were still the most inviting food you could think of.

You felt your heart pick up the pace as the tones kept going off, until you got to the automated voicemail in Spanish, probably asking you to leave a message after the tone.

It seemed like starting to pick apart the problem was even more overwhelming than you had expected, since you started bawling the minute you hung up.

You had no idea what to feel - all the emotions were overwhelming and settling on one out of them all seemed like an impossible task. You decide on trying to get hold of Javi again. You bite your lip before you hold out the phone in front of you yet again, and dialing the other number Javi gave you.

The fucking Embassy. You felt like a childish stalker as you patiently waited for someone, anyone, to pick up the damn phone. A click sounded, before his voice filled your ears, for the first time in… what felt like a very long time.

“Peña.” It felt like all the air had left your lungs, and the whole speech you had prepared to get into touch with him had disintegrated into thin air the second you had heard his voice. You were instantly thrown back into your fantasies, the recollection of his hands on your skin - your hips, your waist, your neck, his lips against yours.

“¿Quién es?” You could hear the impatience in his tone, and you knew you had to speak up sooner or later, or he would hang up on you. He was an impatient man after all, and he was probably busy.

“Javi,” Your voice was shaky when you finally managed to mutter out his name. “It’s… me.” You breathe in, closing your eyes at the relaxing feeling of the air being let back into your lungs. You could feel your body missing him, the presence of him already. You shut your eyes tightly at the sound of him sucking in a breath on the other end.

You didn’t know what kind of breath it was. Was it an I miss you, I’m sorry I haven’t gotten properly in touch with you since you left Colombia? Or was it an in all just a Fuck, not you again, stop trying to get in touch with me, I’ve got other, more important things to do?

At this point you didn’t even know which of those two you wished for it to be at this point. It would be easier if he just ignored the fact that you even existed. Well, easier for him, that is. This wasn’t ever just going to be easy for you anymore. You were bound to him one way or another. You weren’t ever going to forget this point in your life.

“Hermosa.” And then everything disintegrated yet again. The wall you had been building along with the fake scenarios you had been making up in your head simply vanished in that moment, and the whole slate was wiped clean. You hated he had such power over you, with just one simple word. It was like you could feel his gaze on you. His breath fanning over your face and his hands hovering over your skin.

“I’ve been thinking about you. A lot.” You open your eyes at his voice telling you just what you needed to hear. “I’m sorry hermosa. For not getting in touch sooner.” You lift the hand not holding the phone to your heart, somehow trying to keep it from beating out of your chest. “We really need to talk.”

“It’s alright.” It’s barely a whisper, but you know he hears you nonetheless, from the way he starts going on about how much of an asshole he’s been, and how sorry he is, and you can hear the sincerity in his voice. You don’t know how long he spends apologizing, if it’s just a few seconds or a minute, but you cut him off.

“I need to talk to you about something.” Your voice is shaky as you hear his flood of words come to a halt. The silence between the two of you in those short seconds is deafening. An awful number of thoughts manages to run through your head in the span of barely any time. You feel like he knows already, yet he isn’t telling you if he does.

“I really don’t wanna do it over the phone.” You lean back against your pillow, looking up into the ceiling as you mentally prepare yourself for what’s to come next. “I really need to see you, Javi. It’s been almost two months.”

You hear papers being ruffled on the other end of the phone, and you bite your lip as you await his answer. What if he didn’t want to see you again? You really had no idea what you were going to do, no matter what the two of you ended up agreeing on.

“I need to see you. It might be possible for me to get some additional leave within the next week.” You hear him lighting a cigarette on the other end, and you close your eyes, imagining him as the cigarette hangs between his lips while he talks. “I’ll come see you.”

You hear him inhale, followed by a deep exhale, and you find yourself dreaming back to the few times he’d blow the smoke into your mouth ever so sinfully. You let out a silent whimper, your thoughts already taking you further and further away from reality. If you could just daydream for the rest of your life, everything would be so much easier.

“Hermosa?” his voice pulls you out of your trance, and you breathe out a sigh. “I got your postcard.” You smile softly. Your heart was pounding heavily behind your ribcage at the thought of him holding it, looking at it, thinking of you.

“Yeah?” You manage to breathe out, before you let your hand travel down to rest on your stomach. That meant he now knew where you lived. “I’m in Miami now. Back for the start of the semester.”

You hear Javi ruffle some papers again. “I’ll talk to the director today. Let her know what the plan is. Then I’ll call you back, alright? I promise.” You close your eyes as the feeling of tears welling up comes back for another moment. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. You wanted to tell him that, but somehow you couldn’t allow yourself to say it.

“Okay Javi.” You bite the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from crying. You have so many suppressed feelings coming to the surface right at that moment, and your whole body desperately wanting to give in and let out all of the emotions you’ve been containing, but you really didn’t want to flood Javi with it, giving he’s at work. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“I’ll see you soon, hermosa. I miss your beautiful face.” You can hear the smile playing on his lips, and you stifle a giggle. You hear his name being called on the other end, and you know you must let the moment pass for now. He’d already given you a lot of his time. “I love you. Talk soon.”

You barely manage to say the words back to him before he’s hung up the phone, and you once again throw your head back against your pillow. Now there was a possibility that you could see Javi the following week. God, you wish it would happen. You needed to see him. You didn’t know what part of you longed for him most – your heart, your mind, your lust, or your conscience.

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

“Peña.” His voice sounded nothing like she had expected. It was definitely a mature voice - a voice that had been strained from many years of usage. She could also hear the roughness that had probably come from smoking countless cigarettes. No good sign, so far.

“I’m calling on behalf of my daughter.” She stated into the phone, and she heard the man hold his breath on the other end of the line. “I don’t know what you have told her or what the two of you have been doing, but I know one thing. You’re going to leave my daughter alone and pay for what you have caused.” There was no tremble in her voice as she spoke to him.

“Ma’am, I have no idea wha-“ Javi started, but was cut off by the pitched voice of the woman on the other end.

“You have no id- oh my lord. How can you be so selfish? Or was she just an easy target for you to sink your predatory fingers into?” She spat back, feeling the heat of her flash of anger spread from her cheeks and into the skin of her chest.

“My sweet girl has been defiled by a man who won’t even take responsibility for his actions. I don’t know how you sleep at night, knowing a young woman is now on a crash course because you decided you needed some young meat to settle your urges with! I am disgusted beyond words!” The words resonated within his mind, and Javi felt his mouth run dry.

“Ma’am…” his fingers rubbed over his forehead, trying to relieve the tension drawing in his eyebrows. “If this is about this summer with your daughter, I reassure you that every intention I had was good. I would never, and didn’t force anything upon your daughter.” He heard the woman huff on the other line and decided to speak up again before she could start.

“Those weeks I spent with your daughter were some of the best in my life, and believe me when I say I would let nothing bad happen to her. With all due respect ma’am, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Javi heard her sputtering again before retracting the phone from his ear - her voice still clear as day as she screamed into the phone. Javi felt his attention slowly dissolving into nothing.

“You son of a! She’s barely entered her twenties and you… oh my. Are you a complete imbecile?” Javi halfway agreed with her, barely listening. His eyes landed on what his pen was scribbling on, and he muttered out a ‘shit’, noticing what he had been doodling on. He held the phone between his head and shoulder, removing the important information he had just ruined… a little.

“She is pregnant! You do know what happens when two people take the Lord’s name in vain before marriage?! You are dishonoring our beliefs!” Javi sighed and, against his good will, barely continued listening with half an ear to your mother’s spew of profanities. “You have sinned! You have taken the innocence of an unsuspecting young woman!”

If Javi hadn’t been listening before, he certainly was trying to recall what your mother had just said. It couldn’t be. Your mother continued talking, and Javi could hear her voice going through many different emotions while she switched between weeping and screaming.

“Ma’am I’m gonna have to call you back…” Javi slowly ended the call before drawing out a cigarette and lighting it with no emotion. Steve looked up at Javi from his paperwork, having listened in on a bit of their conversation, calling out his name.

Javi’s eyes met Steve’s over the table between them, and it felt like a drum was being pounded upon inside his head. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible. He hoped to God it wasn’t true. It sounded harsh, but it was definitely a situation he didn’t want to find himself in.

Javi didn’t know how to feel. Or rather, he didn’t want to. He reached into the cabinet below the desk and pulled out the bottle he’d been storing in the darkness of the confined space, silently wishing he magically would fit in there as well.

Steve was watching him from behind some paperwork, having gained a little insight into the phone call Javi had just received. Somehow, Steve already knew. You could call it a gut feeling, or just the fact that Steve truly knew his partner. He just hadn’t expected this situation to become a reality.

Steve felt sorry for the man on the opposite side of the desk as he watched him screw off the lid and gulp down some of the brown liquid. Then he followed the tan hand as it reached into the pocket of the jacket slung over the armrest of the chair Javi was seated in, and watched as a cigarette appeared between the long fingers.

He watched in silence as the tip of the cigarette disappeared under the curtain of the brown mustache, eyes flickering to where nimble fingers flipped open a zippo and lighting the bared, encapsulated leaves of the tobacco. Silently, Steve wished for Javi to open up to him. He was tired of the way his colleague always shut himself up like a clam when something happened.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” The smoke left Javi’s lips along with the words, and Steve couldn’t help but laugh. Javi’s eyes darted to Steve’s face, taking in the way the skin around his eyes drew up into crinkles, as he smiled at the older man.

“I have to go see her.” Javi breathed, cigarette smoke twisting its way around his words as he spoke. Steve nodded, understanding with the little context given. It was routine by now. He knew Steve knew him like the back of his hand, no matter how reluctant Javi was to admit it.

“You can stay with us. No rush. I’m sure Con would be delighted to have you staying.” Steve was transferring back to Miami, and the two colleagues were wrapping up some last minute ties in Medellín before Steve’s departure the following week.

Connie had moved back to Florida the year before, leaving with their adopted daughter to ensure their safety, and Steve had decided to stay. It had taken a lot of convincing on Connie’s end, but Steve had finally given in and was moving back to the states after two years in Colombia.

Javi, on the other hand, had no intentions on moving back to the states in the near future. Maybe because all he had was his father and some broken relationships to people from his past, or because, no matter where he was, he never felt like he properly fit in.

He never felt like he could do his job right, meet the right people or even spend his time right. That was, until he met you. In the short period of time you were in Colombia, you managed to give him a feeling of belonging - something very foreign to him.

He loved the few days when he got to go home to you. He loved the feeling of coming home to someone, and having someone who actually admired him, talked with him, laughed with him, and didn’t judge him for his line of work.

Javi had to admit it - dating, as a federal agent, was hard. There was the unforgiving hours of work, there were unforgiving people wanting to hurt him and the people around him, and then there was the way of getting information in the god-forsaken country of Colombia.

Sometimes, Javi wishes he could get lost. Lost, and having no responsibility. Maybe just disappear? It would definitely be easier that way. Especially right now. Javi secretly wished he would just melt into a puddle and be dried off the floor by the cleaning lady.

What the hell was he supposed to do with a baby? Was he supposed to bring you into this life? Was he supposed to bring a baby into this life? He never knew if he was safe, if the people around him were safe. He could already see you kidnapped, beaten up, what was worse. He couldn’t lose you that way.

He felt a hand land on his shoulder, and it pulled him out of the spiraling of his own thoughts. He looked up at Steve, who offered him a warm smile. “It’ll be alright, man.” Javi leaned forward and rested his head in his hands, letting out a deep sigh.

He needed to figure this situation out. And quickly.

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

next chapter

[angeletombee]

i hope you don't find this weird.

you and your writing were one of the factors that led to me finally completely abandoning religion, and i want to thank you for that. i feel free and even though i don't actually know you, i wanted to say that i'm grateful you exist.

First of all, this comment/statement came in a very long time ago, and it has lived with me ever since. I’ve been sitting on this for months, contemplating. Pleasantly haunted, perhaps? I don’t even know if I’ve arrived at a conclusion yet, and I just didn’t know if it needed replying to or not. I’ve gone back and forth multiple times — so many times, really. I finally decided, YES. I want to validate these words and express my gratitude.

Thank you, Beautiful Human.

Thank you for sharing this journey with me. It’s fucking hard, I know, and *I am here with you*. This is one of the singularly most difficult things to bear, but we’re all here with you.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

I never — not ever, not ONCE — thought that when I poked my silly fanfiction onto the internet that I would make anyone happy, let alone help them (even in a teeny way) out of what I feel to be a repressive worldview, but here we are. This is the power of words, cats, and THIS is why the Right Reich is all about banning books. About censoring words. BECAUSE WORDS CAN CHANGE LIVES. And you never know which words in which orders in which cases in which tenses — or even which LANGUAGE — will do the trick. So best to ban as many as possible! Keep the people in line. Ignorance is tantamount to compliance.

Well, fuck that.

I was taught that the pen is mightier than the sword, and goddamn it, my slick-ass fountain pen is a THOUSAND times hotter than your stupid gun. And, yes, I only write with fountain pens. I know this is spilling out everywhere, but that’s because I want you all to read this and know it’s heartfelt and have an ultimate takeaway — even if you, yourself, are religious (I have no problem…pro-religious expression!), even if you read three words of what I write and hate me, THAT IS GREAT! That’s your prerogative! THAT, my cat, is freedom.

Anyway.

Words can help. Words can heal. Words can change whole fucking *lives*. Words - even dumb ones - can help people arrive at the truth. Even words in gay Good Omens fanfic written on the internet.

Remember that.

I don’t know who this human is, but I am so, SO happy they exist. Thank you again, Intrepid Person. Stay strong.

I believe in you.

[frozenbound]

Hello!!! Hope you are well. I’ve been enjoying reading your Shimadacest collection series and wanted to do a request!!! Could you do one with Genji/Cole. Cole and Hanzo are freshly married and hanzo takes him the to their estate. Introduces him to his family. There Genji offers to give Cole a tour. While Hanzo and his dad talk. Cole and Genji are in the other side of the estate where no one will hear them. Having hardcore primal sex all over the place. Marathoning in different rooms. Living rooms, balcony’s etc with lots of dirty talk without the other two knowing.

Again, love your work!!! Keep it up!!! 💖💖💖

Thanks so much for the request!! I love the idea of Cole "falling off the wagon" almost immediately, but it also took a little finagling to get him to agree, LOOOL, so this one's a little bit longer and more plot-heavy. I hope that's all right!

Thanks again so much for the request! Newlywed Cole cheating with Genji, coming right up under the Read More!

TW: cheating, infidelity

Cole whistled softly when Shimada Castle came into view. “Ho lee shit,” he breathed, looking through the car window as it started to make its way up the hillside, the lofty and beautiful lines of the fortress drawing his eye higher and higher. “Pictures don’t do it any justice, darling.”

“No,” Hanzo agreed with a smile as he watched his new husband’s face. “It must be seen to be truly appreciated.”

Cole squeezed Hanzo’s hand for what was probably the hundredth time since they had gotten into the car. Since the wedding they had only let go of each other maybe, oh, a dozen times or so, and only when absolutely necessary, which was quite the feat considering they had already completed the first half of their honeymoon, a perfect fourteen days spent on pristine beaches and lounging in the shade of palm trees and outdoor bars while completely lost in each other, the most picturesque way to complete their nuptials that Cole could ever have imagined.

Now it was time for the second half of their honeymoon…though whether it would even count as part of it was up for debate.

Technically, they were visiting Hanzo’s father and brother as a way to celebrate their wedding and to welcome Cole into the family.

Realistically, though, as Hanzo had mournfully informed Cole months ago when they had made their engagement public, this was an excuse for Hanzo’s father to try once again to re-engage Hanzo in the family business and, failing that, to at least pick his brain for ideas and advice.

There was a certain amount of pride that someone as intelligent and influential as Shimada Sojiro thought so highly of Hanzo, but unfortunately he tended to be somewhat…monopolizing. 

If, if they agreed to visit, Hanzo had told Cole all those months ago, then Cole probably wouldn’t see Hanzo except at breakfast and dinner. No matter how much Hanzo insisted, Sojiro would fill up his time with business meetings and conferences and briefings that would keep Hanzo occupied literally from the crack of dawn until long after sunset.

It was Cole who had insisted they go anyway. This was simply Sojiro’s way of interacting and connecting with his eldest child, and Hanzo couldn’t hide the fact that he enjoyed the time he spent with his father…in small-enough doses. Hanzo had moved to the other side of the planet to be sure of those small doses, far enough away that even someone of Sojiro’s stature couldn’t dictate Hanzo’s every move, allowing father and son to continue building their empire together without completely suffocating Hanzo, and allowing Hanzo to socialize in a way that hadn’t been possible while he had been growing up and educated in Japan. If he hadn't moved away, he might never have even found himself a charming, handsome husband.

But it was clear from Sojiro's frequent calls and letters and emails that he missed his eldest son.

Going back for what would, for Hanzo, amount to two weeks of non-stop work wasn’t the way either Hanzo or Cole would have chosen to mark the occasion of their wedding with Hanzo’s side of the family, but that was simply Sojiro’s way and nothing would change that.

And despite it all, Hanzo was excited that Cole would be free to experience and explore his new husband’s old stomping grounds, and he wouldn’t even have to do it alone: Hanzo’s younger brother would be his personal tour guide.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was a small price to pay.

As their chauffeur…their chauffeur, and wasn’t that a sign of how far Cole had married up? As their chauffeur gently drove the hover car through the castle gates and came to a stop in front of…more castle gates…and got out and opened the door for the newlyweds to step out, Cole took in a breath of cherry blossoms and squeezed Hanzo’s hand. “Beautiful,” he said with a smile. “And the trees and the castle don’t look half bad, neither.”

Hanzo rolled his eyes but smiled back. “It takes one to know one,” he said with a knowing look that bordered on leering, and Cole’s heart swelled with both affection and pride; he’d half-expected Hanzo to clam up and turn into a frigid, stressed-out prune not unlike what he’d been when they first met, but it seemed that with Cole at his side, nothing could touch the good humor that had always been lurking below the surface, waiting for someone handsome and tall and charming to draw it out.

Cole was so relieved that he nearly leaned down and kissed Hanzo, and then pressed him down to the ground, and then tore open his shirt, and began licking his way down his chest right there.

But no, they weren’t on private tropical beaches anymore.

So Cole would just have to tear his eyes away from the stunningly attractive face of his husband and will away his erection…

…for the next two weeks.

That was the only really unfair part of this trip; Hanzo was sure to be exhausted from both fending off his father’s attempts to get him to “come home” that both he and Cole had been sure he wouldn’t be up for anything the least bit sexual until they flew home.

It was unfair that their honeymoon would ironically result in their longest stretch of celibacy since they’d met, but that was precisely why there’d been a “part one”: that had been the time to fuck each other silly, in an attempt to drain themselves so completely of all carnal desire that it would take the full two weeks for it to build up again.

Unfortunately, for Cole at least, the effect had been exactly the opposite.

It had taken all his strength not to roll up the partition between them and the chauffeur in the car and blow Hanzo right there and then in the backseat.

It was taking everything he had not to whisk Hanzo through the door of what looked like a garden shed and lay him down on the ground and sit on his dick.

It was taking all he had to will away the hard and pulsing and, to his increasingly paranoid mind, completely obvious bulge in his trousers as they followed the chauffeur through the gardens to the main entrance of the castle.

But, obvious or not, Cole had to forget about his erection when his new father-in-law came striding out to meet them.

“Hanzo!” he called out, smiling wide.

Cole swallowed.

Shimada Sojiro was a gray-haired near-copy of his husband, with a fuller beard and darker eyes, but no less broad, no less attractive, and no less magnetic and charismatic.

Fuck, but there were some unholy thoughts going through Cole’s mind as father and son first bowed formally to each other, then walked forward and embraced.

“Father,” Hanzo said with genuine affection, “it’s good to see you in person.”

“Likewise,” Sojiro said, beaming as stunningly as Hanzo always did. “It’s been far too long since I chased you away…but look who you found!” he said with no sign whatsoever of disapproval as he turned towards Cole. “An actual, honest-to-goodness, and unfairly attractive cowboy! So you’re the man who’s stolen my son's heart and kept him away from home,” he said without a trace of malice, his eyes sparkling.

“Uh, yes sir,” Cole said, a little thrown. “That’d be me, sir. Can’t say that I’m sorry, though, begging your pardon.”

“Oh, I’m not, either,” Sojiro said warmly, taking Cole’s hand and shaking it warmly. “Do you know what I call you? My fifty-billion-dollar son-in-law. That’s how much Hanzo’s bringing in from the North American market, and who knows if he would’ve stayed over there long enough to make the necessary connections without such a good-looking boyfriend…husband!...to keep him there.” 

Cole inwardly shook his head. This was his father-in-law, and nothing was going to change that.

“Speaking of which,” Sojiro continued, letting go of Cole’s hand and looking back at Hanzo, “I wanted to discuss the direction of our Canadian subsidiary with you.”

Hanzo and Cole exchanged a knowing look. Not even one foot in the door and Sojiro was bringing up business, as they had predicted. “Alright, Father,” Hanzo replied, turning halfway. “We can start discussing it on the way to the office.”

“Oh no,” came the surprising reply. “I’m taking off two weeks from the office. Not as long as you two are here.”

Hanzo’s eyebrows rose up in surprise.

“We can talk with everyone there just as easily from my home office.”

And his eyebrows lowered again with a bit of self-directed chagrin, though Cole had been equally taken in by the sudden and wild hope that Sojiro had miraculously learned to keep family and work separate…but that was clearly not the case as Sojiro took Hanzo by the shoulder and started shepherding him inside, saying, “I brought all the files we need, and I’m sure Haneda can bring over anything more we need while we talk about opening a new regional office in Montreal to take the pressure off of the Toronto branch so they can focus on…”

“Hi. I’m Genji.”

Cole started as another hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to see Hanzo’s brother.

Jesus H. Christ, he thought distantly.

The castle wasn’t the only one that looked much better in person.

“Hey there,” Cole said, inwardly shrieking at his sudden breathlessness. Summoning some propriety, he smiled and said, “Nice to meet you in the flesh at long last, Genji. I’m Cole.”

“Likewise,” Genji said, and Cole felt a tremor run through him when he registered the definite…purring…undertone of his words. “Hey, Hanzo!” Genji called over to the retreating backs of Hanzo and Sojiro as they headed for a stairway. 

Hanzo looked over his shoulder and his expression brightened. “Genji!” he called back. “Good to see you! I’m sure Father will let us talk more in a little while.”

“Without a doubt!” Genji said, laughing. “I’ll take care of your husband in the meantime!”

“Please, and thank you!” was all Hanzo managed to say before he and his father disappeared up the stairs.

“You’ll have to forgive Dad,” Genji said, shaking his head with a smile. “Once he gets into business-mode, nothing can stop him.”

“I already have,” Cole said boldly, but still looking after Hanzo and feeling a bit wistful at this early demonstration of how the next two weeks would go. “Wouldn’t have come unless I had.”

“How magnanimous of you,” Genji said with a lopsided smile…as his eyes traveled up and down Cole’s figure. “Come on. Let me give you a quick tour. I’m sure Haneda has already taken care of your luggage.”

Genji flung an arm over Cole’s shoulders and tugged him into a brisk walk.

Cole swallowed.

Hanzo’s brother was…

Very warm as he pressed against his side.

And very hard with muscle.

And very handsome as Cole kept glancing at his profile so close alongside his own.

And Cole was very hard.

It seemed that Shimada men were apparently just able to press the button of Cole’s arousal effortlessly.

Genji was speaking, Cole realized, and he tried to refocus his thoughts to pay some actual attention to the words coming out of that pretty, shapely mouth.

“...will tell you the entire history of this place, but I sure can’t,” Genji was saying with another laugh. “I think most of the stuff here is three hundred plus years old, but don’t quote me on that. Over here, though, is probably the best part of the castle: the main balcony that overlooks the city and Mt. Fuji, right through here.”

They walked through a doorway onto a “balcony” that was the size of a small house, and the cityscape of Hanamura surrounding the snowbound peak of Mt. Fuji in the middle-distance was simply astounding. Cole felt his mouth drop open at the sight as Genji led him up to the railing as he took it all in.

“Pretty good, right?” Genji asked with immense self-satisfaction, as though he himself had prepared it all. “This is where I take all my conquests. Doesn’t matter what time of day it is; everyone likes to be fucked while taking in this incredible view.”

Cole blinked.

Genji was pressing himself more firmly to his side and…and he had…turned somewhat.

To press his hardness against Cole’s hip. Just a little.

While looking up at Cole’s face with a shameless grin.

Cole swallowed.

“I’m…Hanzo’s…”

“You’re not going to even see Hanzo for two weeks, I guarantee it,” Genji said baldly, tilting his hips forward slightly to rub his erection against Cole. “So, while he’s busy, we can get busy.”

Cole, to his horror and immense arousal, licked his lips and managed to choke out, “D…did Hanzo…ask you…”

Genji burst out laughing. “Of course not!” he all but howled, doubling over as far as he could without taking his arm off Cole’s shoulders. “Of course not! But I’m here, and he’s not, so I’m offering. And you,” he said, cutting off his laughter and speaking in a sly tone, “are clearly interested.”

He was addressing Cole’s own erection, bulging prominently in his trousers, much too close to Genji’s face for comfort as he almost literally hung off Cole’s shoulders.

Cole licked his lips again.

This had to be a trick, a test of loyalty of some kind. Hanzo had been blunt when describing Genji’s character, so Cole had been expecting a certain level of shamelessness from the Shimada’s resident playboy, left to pursue his every wanton desire while his father and brother ran the family empire, but this was…Genji couldn’t be this wanton. He had to be testing Cole, and if Cole acquiesced, Genji would run to his brother and tell him that he’d married a disloyal horndog who couldn’t even stop himself from sleeping with his brother-in-law during their honeymoon.

“I swear,” Genji whispered, and Cole could hear him lick his own lips, “I swear, on my life, that this will stay between us, my dear brother-in-law. This isn’t the only time I've wanted a taste of someone else's feast. I swear that this will never reach Hanzo, or Father, and anyone, anyone at all, as long as I live, if you just give me a little, just a little taste of you.”

Cole wavered.

Hanzo had said Genji was a playboy…but Hanzo also said he trusted Genji with his life.

Genji had stumbled across Hanzo and their father’s right-hand man, a little dalliance between two hardworking, lonely men, but Genji hadn’t told a soul about it…and, even more meaningfully to Hanzo, as he’d recounted to Cole years later when they’d been sharing secrets with each other, Genji hadn’t even teased him about it once Hanzo made it clear that it was a sore and delicate subject.

Genji could apparently keep his mouth shut when it counted.

And if…and if Hanzo never knew…and if Genji knew that…

“I’m never gonna choose you over him,” Cole rasped, his cock twitching. “If it’s ever you or him, it’ll be him.”

“Clearly,” Genji replied, glancing up. “But if you can have me and him…”

“But if it ever comes down to it,” Cole said, with an edge to his voice.

“Oh, I see,” Genji said, and while he was clearly amused, he looked serious, too, as he straightened up and put a hand over his heart. “I swear, cowboy, I won’t catch any feelings. This is a fuckbuddies situation at the very most. I’ll never ask to spend the night, I’ll never ask for a goodbye kiss, and I’ll always let you go home to your husband. I swear.”

And Cole really, truly felt that Genji’s word was good.

So he swallowed and softly said, “Alright.”

And that’s how he found himself sitting down on the wooden floor, leaning back on his hands, his legs sprawled in front of him with his trousers around his ankles, overlooking the city of Hanamura in the bright sunshine while his new brother-in-law slurped on his dick.

Fuck, Cole thought dizzily as he stared at Genji’s red lips sliding up and down on his shaft. He was not expecting this part of his honeymoon to turn out this way.

Hanzo was precise and thorough and loved to savor Cole’s dick and body, raking his hands and fingers through the forest of Cole’s body hair; Genji was speedier, hungrier, and sloppier and focused slowly on the cock between his lips, his own spit trickling down his chin as he popped and sucked loudly. Cole found himself wishing he’d slow down a little as his balls drew up in his sac and his breathing quickened as he felt his cum boiling up, but man, the fact that his brother-in-law wanted his jizz and wanted it now was a major, major turn-on that almost made up for Hanzo’s slow, patient, and comprehensive approach…but Cole did find himself brushing his own hand over his chest and pinching at his nipples in a simulacrum of what Hanzo would have done.

But he had to admit…

…it was nice to get a…a…

…a different strategy. A different point-of-view.

A different mouth, Cole admitted to himself as he pinched down hard on his nipple and threw his head back.

“Mmm,” Genji sighed as cum flooded into his mouth. “Mmm. Mmm…”

Cole shuddered under the vibrations echoing through his body and the lighting arcing along his nerves as he unloaded into his husband’s brother’s hot, wet mouth.

“Cole? Genji?” called Hanzo. “Are you out here?”

Hanzo stepped out onto the balcony, looked around and smiled. “There you are! Genji, it’s so good to see you!”

“Brother!” Genji answered with a wide smile as he jogged forward with his arms wide, and the brothers embraced, with Genji’s momentum turning Hanzo all the way around one hundred and eighty degrees…

…which gave Cole the opportunity to zip up his fly.

Hanzo’s voice had reached them with just enough time for both men to scramble to their feet and for Genji to pull up Cole’s trousers and button them closed with instantaneous, well-practiced moves, but even he hadn’t had time for that last detail.

Cole’s heart was hammering and adrenaline surging through his veins…

…but then Hanzo released Genji and turned around and smiled at him, Cole surprised himself with how naturally he smiled back and walked up to his husband and tucked a hand around his waist. “There you are, darling,” he drawled, looking down at him. “Tell me you’ve been released.”

“No such luck,” Hanzo replied, shaking his head regretfully, “but Father suddenly realized he didn’t let me say hello to Genji, so he sent me down to do so. Hello, Genji.”

“Hello, brother,” Genji replied impishly. “How long did he give us to talk in-person for the first time in six years? Two minutes? Three?”

"Five,” Hanzo said, rolling his eyes with feeling. “He’s getting through to the CFO, and apparently he knows down to the second how long that’ll take, so five minutes. How are you, Genji? You look well.”

“I’m doing great, as always,” Genji said with a grin. “I’d be better if I wasn’t babysitting some cowboy you dragged in with you. My favorite bar has got a two-for-one special tonight.”

“Which one?” Hanzo asked, and then said with Genji, word-for-word, “All of them.”

Genji cackled, leaning onto his brother’s shoulder. “Oh, brother,” he sighed, “it’s been too long. When do you think Dad will let us talk again?”

“Not before dinner.”

“Predictable. You know, if we go down into the basement because I was ‘showing Cole the wine cellar’,” Genji said with finger quotes, “there will be no signal and we could probably stretch that five minutes into…”

Hanzo’s phone chirped.

“Fuck,” Genji said in a flat tone, and Hanzo and Cole chuckled at his thwarted expression as Hanzo fished his phone out of his pocket and answered it on speaker.

“Hanzo, I’ve gotten through to Kimura,” came Sojiro’s voice. “She has the latest figures. Come and take a look at them.”

“Right away, Father,” Hanzo said obediently and ended the call. “It’s wonderful to see you, Genji. We’ll talk more at dinner.”

“Can’t wait, brother!”

“Me, either. Take good care of my husband while I’m gone,” Hanzo said as he stood on tiptoe and brushed his lips against Cole’s.

“I will if you stop making me witness my own brother’s PDAs,” Genji shot back with a theatrical gag.

Hanzo laughed and, his hand lingering in Cole’s until he stepped out of range, walked back inside the castle, waving as he went.

Cole and Genji stood there together for a few moment, watching the door, before Cole sagged forward, his hands on his knees and his head hanging down.

“Jesus christ,” he muttered, his eyes screwed tightly closed. “Fuck. Goddamn.”

“You did good, cowboy,” Genji said, sounding impressed. “You got a poker face made for Monaco.”

“Apparently,” Cole said with a haggard sigh. “Didn’t know it until just now though.”

Genji laughed as he patted Cole on the back.

Cole’s cock twitched.

Cole’s eyes narrowed as he eyed his own crotch, full and swollen and, even leaking, his underwear wet against his skin.

Now that the shock of nearly getting caught was passing…

…he was horny. Unbelievably horny.

He looked up at Genji.

“Where,” he said in a low voice, “did you say that wine cellar was?”

A part of him, a small part of him, was hoping a cool and dark place might dampen the heat in his blood.

That was before Genji, with a wink, took a yoga mat out of an out-of-the-way closet and unrolled it on the floor and took a bottle of lube out of his pocket.

Cole had the pleasure of surprising him, though, when he pushed Genji down on his back and stradded him, hunched over, with slippery fingers probing between his cheeks and into his entrance, their eyes locked together, before Cole slowly squatted and let Genji’s dick, so similar to Hanzo’s in length and girth, poke up against his loose, wet hole before sinking into Cole’s fiery heat.

Hanzo liked it when Cole rode him.

Genji looked frustrated that he had to take what Cole gave and nothing more, and Cole grinned, pleased to have the upper hand as he slowly rode Genji’s cock up and down. “Wait,” he crooned when Genji tried to impatiently thrust up into him, “Wait, wait. Just a little longer. Just a little bit longer. I like having your cock up my ass, y’know. Let me enjoy it, really enjoy, just a little bit longer.”

It took a lot longer before Cole was ready to let a nearly-murderous Genji finally cum.

The way Genji’s eyes rolled back and his hands clutched at Cole’s hips and his breath caught in his throat while his mouth lolled open and slack made Cole think that he would be forgiven fairly quickly, though.

He was.

Later that night, when Hanzo and Sojiro reappeared for a delicious dinner, Genji couldn’t sing Cole’s praises more if he tried.

“I like him a lot, brother,” he declared between shoveling mouthfuls of food. “He’s funny, he’s bold, he’s smart. You picked a good one.”

“Thank you,” said Hanzo drily, though with a pleased look. “I’m glad you approve. Shall I bring another cowboy or two with me the next time to see if they can tie you down at last?”

“Let them try! Nobody is ever gonna tie this free spirit down!” Genji boasted, a sentiment that did Cole’s heart some real good.

“Do you know any more cowboys?” Genji asked later that evening. Hanzo and Sojiro had gone back to business despite the late hour, so Genji had led Cole to a bench in the gardens sheltered by the castle’s eaves and cherry blossoms, a refreshingly cool spot in the night air, and was now sitting in Cole’s lap, their erections flush together, with both Cole and Genji stroking up and down.

“Sure do,” Cole hummed distractedly, panting at the feel of Genji’s soft, smooth hand, so different from Hanzo’s. “Don’t think they can afford to come out here, though. You’ll have to come out and visit us sometime.”

“How about next month?” Genji said unexpectedly as he quickened the pace.

“Wh…why so…why so soon?” Cole breathed as he felt himself approach the edge.

Genji gave him a wicked look. “Didn’t know there was anything worth my time out there until now,” he said with a glint in his eye.

Cole rolled his, then gasped as his cock erupted, sending a jet of semen flying straight into the air before it fell back onto their hands. Then he groaned as Genji, his wicked look unabating, used it as impromptu lube as he chased his own completion, sending bolts of overstimulation through Cole until he finally came as well, breathing hard and shivered as his own spunk covered his face.

The rest of the honeymoon passed quickly.

Hanzo was kept as busy and as occupied by his father as he’d predicted, but Cole never found himself getting bored. Genji was as much of a sex fiend as his brother, and soon Cole really had had a tour of the entire castle: Genji bent him over in the dojo, the family baths, and the former guard barracks, he bent Genji over in the dining room, the top-floor watchpost, and the kitchen in the middle of the night when a particularly difficult piece of business kept Hanzo and Sojiro in the office until four in the morning, and they sucked each other off in a plethora of hallways, secluded outdoor spots, closets, and, most daringly of all, in Sojiro’s home office, with Cole seated in his father-in-law’s chair, combing his fingers through Genji’s hair as he crouched under the desk with Cole’s cock in his mouth.

Sojiro had broken his word and taken Hanzo into the office down in the city; this was Cole’s revenge.

Though, Cole thought charitably as he guided Genji to go slower, just a little slower, his father-in-law was so affable and obviously proud of Hanzo and so accepting of Cole’s entry into the family that revenge was probably not the best word. This was Cole’s…protest. There, that was a better term, Cole thought wryly just before his mind blanked out and he blasted another full load of semen down his brother-in-law’s throat.

Later that evening, as though Sojiro knew about Cole’s protest…though certainly not the manner that he expressed it…he surprised everyone at dinner, even making Hanzo’s jaw drop open, by declaring that he owed Hanzo and Cole one free day while they were home (and the way he said “home” so firmly while looking at Cole and smiling made Cole’s heart swell with affection towards his new father-in-law), and that Hanzo and Cole were free to do whatever they wished for the entire next day, which was their last before they left.

Cole and Hanzo didn’t truly believe him; the next morning they woke up in the guest room, embracing as usual, and got up and cleaned up and dressed and went down to breakfast fully expecting that some crucial business would require Hanzo’s personal attention…

…but Sojiro finished eating, wiped his mouth, stood up and warmly said, “Enjoy your day, boys,” and made to exit the room.

It gave Cole a little rush of pleasure that he managed to recover and pick his jaw off the floor before Hanzo did and blurt out, “Now hang on, Mr. Shimada. How about you join me and Hanzo for a walk into town this afternoon after lunch? We’d be mighty glad of your company.”

Sojiro paused, clearly surprised, and said, slowly, “If…if I wouldn’t be intruding…”

“Of course not, Father,” Hanzo said, shooting an affectionate look at Cole before looking back at Sojiro. “It would be a pleasure if you joined us.”

Sojiro opened his mouth, closed it, then ventured, “After my one o’clock meeting? About two-thirty?”

“We’ll be there,” Cole said with a smile.

Genji flashed a thumbs up from across the table, but Cole only had eyes for how Hanzo was practically glowing.

When they finished breakfast, Hanzo took his hand and led Cassidy straight back to the guest room.

“You,” he growled playfully as he pushed Cole onto the sheets and prowled after him, tugging his trousers down and then lifting his legs, “are the perfect husband.”

“Aw, shucks,” Cole preened, playing up his self-satisfaction, “But I thought I had the perfect husband. He always rims me and opens me up and fucks me so good, after all.”

Hanzo chuckled and dived into the sheltered valley between Cole’s legs, making Cole jolt and suck in a sharp breath.

Genji was good, he thought through a haze of pleasure, but nobody knew him, nobody could undo him, nobody could make him cum faster than…

“H-Hanzo!” Cole gasped, shuddering and quaking as he came all over himself, thick globs of jizz even splashing across his beard and cheek from the sheer force of his orgasm driven out of him by Hanzo’s clever tongue against his asshole.

Hanzo looked up, looking smug, and Cole grinned down at him.

Oh, yes. He had definitely married into the right family.

[justastrugglinghotchocolate]

okay so the hades and persephone thing i was doing has expanded into it’s own little lore, rather the being based on the hadestown musical or even the og myth, it takes a bit from every mythology i’ve ever read. This is because i love writing angst and just had the greatest angst idea.

Basil and Henry are canonically married in this au, right? But what about Dorian? Keeping in line with other underworld myths, Dorian is a human who ventured into the underworld probably out of curiosity. He meets Basil and Basil takes an immediate liking to him. Unlike most Gods Basil respects human and sees them as equals. He was the product of a human and God relationship and he grew up around humans and was raised like one too until he became an adult and was fully realized into a God thousands of years before.

When he goes to show Henry his new friend, Henry doesn’t take quite a liking to Dorian. That’s because Henry, being born as a God, looks down upon humans. In the little comic thing I did in my initial post, Basil was angry with Henry because Henry had taken on another human experiment—something he promised he wouldn’t do anymore when they got married (He’s broken this promise many, many times, but has only been caught a few times). His experiments always end in tragedy and are generally discouraged by every other God, not that he listens to them.

anyways he makes Dorian his new experiment and does his all ‘nothing good in life but beauty and youth’ which is even worse coming from the literal God of the Dead. But what he didn’t realize is that Dorian isn’t so brainless that he isn’t clever.

Dorian makes the connection between Basil being able to being things to life and possible eternal youth, so in a mostly desperate (but also envious) move, stabs Basil in the neck and takes some of his blood. This act royally screws up the human world above, but Dorian escapes with the blood before they can catch him.

Gods cannot die but they can be incapacitated. Which is exactly what happens to Basil: he’s left bed-ridden from the attack, barely able to move and certainly unable to bring Spring. A quick recovery is dependent on the rest of the Gods getting that blood back (remember Basil’s half human, they can’t give him Gods’s blood or regular human blood. And also I want there to be an excuse for them to hunt Dorian lmao).

Henry is definitely angry but also really distraught because he knows he caused this. He seeks help from Victoria (she’s queen of all of the Gods because she deserves it) with the agreement that since this was his mess up and because he had so many chances not to do the dumb thing—upon the capture of Dorian and Basil’s recovery, Henry and Basil’s marriage will be nullified and he won’t get to see Basil again afterwards.

and with that deal made, Henry begins to hunt Dorian, leaving Alan (and Sybil though not officially) to manage the underworld as best as they can.

Thank you for reading and if you have any questions about specific characters, please send em in! This isn’t really meant to follow one specific myth at this point, so don’t expect accuracy 🤣.

[omentranslates]

Owari no Seraph ch 121 English fan translation

Spoilers for the new chapter, but I’ve gone through it for anyone who wants it a few hours early

Also the pictures were a little obscured this time so there was some that I couldn’t read well, sorry about that. I’m also doing this on my phone so that’s why the formatting is like this.

A single car traveling through the destroyed town…

Mika: Hey, Yuuchaaan

Yuu: Hm?

Mika: Where does this go?

Yuu: Secret~

Mika: Secret, huh?

Yuu: Guess you’ll just have to wait and see~

Mika: …well, no, I mean I can see what’s smack dab in front of me.

Yuu: Wowww, our skillful Mika has already found it out.

Mika: “Found it out…?”

Chapter 121: The Final Sunrise

Mika: Wait. You weren’t aiming for the massive forest, you’re gonna try and climb the mountain aren’t you!?

Yuu: Well who would come all this way and not climb it?

Mika: PLENTY OF PEOPLE??? Who WOULD climb it in this situation???

Mika: WAIT ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING UP??? YOU’VE GOTTA BE KIDDING. WHAT EVEN FOR???

Yuu: Well if we climb it we’ll have the memory right?*

Mika: What the hell kind of memory do you want!?

*these were difficult to read behind the overlay take w grain of salt

Yuu: WHOAA!! THIS IS SO COOL, ITS MASSIVE!!!

Mika: And you’re so loud.

Yuu: Gotta be the biggest in Japan. **

Mika: I know. Ok but why are you always trying to climb to the highest possible place when we’re supposed to be laying low?

Yuu: Well don’t you just wanna see if you can?

The whole top half of this line was covered, take w grain of salt

Mika: Not even a little.

Yuu: Well it’d be easy to hide here wouldn’t it? Do you know anything about Mt. Fuji’s huge expanse of forest?

Mika: Ah, that’s right. So you think we can hide in the sea of trees?

90% sure on this but the word for where they’re hiding is kind of hidden

Yuu: I think Guren mentioned it in class once. Something about the magnetic field or something being supernatural somehow or whatever.

Mika: You really can’t remember anything.

Yuu: I sucked at all the magic stuff.

Mika: Well maybe hiding in the forest is a good idea. Since what we need is time.

Mika: ….the last.

Mika: ……so that’s what it is

Yuu: Right right right! So then let’s do the most fun mountain climbing trip ever! I’m gonna go get some more snacks.

Yuu: Mika let’s go!

Mika: Hm

Yuu: Come on, smile!

Mika: Yeah yeah I know

Yuu: WHOAAA!! AMAZING!!!!

Yuu: It’s so beautiful!

Mika: Yeah, it’s pretty amazing…

Mika: Hey Yuuchan

Yuu: Yeah?

Mika: Where do prayers from here go?

Yuu: Uh…god, isn’t it?

Mika: Yeah, which god.

Yuu: I dunno. Not the First, though.

Mika: Ah, true! Great, we’ll pray to the First’s enemies!

*muttering prayers*

Yuu: Alright….I’M ON TOP!!

Mika: Isn’t someone gonna strike you down if you climb on that thing?

Yuu: It should be fine we’ve taken more than our share of divine punishment. They even destroyed the world.

Mika: That’s Yuuchan for you, always looking ahead.

Yuu: Well, our fight to save the world starts now anyways.

Yuu: JUST WATCH!!!! I DUNNO IF YOURE A GOD OR AN ANGEL OR A DEMON BUT WE’RE GONNA DO THIS!!!

Mika: Yup. Doesn’t get any more blasphemous than this.

Yuu: *first part unreadable* Hurry up and come here! The view’s amazing!

Mika: Yeah ok

Yuu: Check it out

Mika: I’m looking

Yuu: Glad you joined me?

Mika: Yeah, I’m glad. Since I was able to see you looking so happy.

Yuu: You look happy too!

Mika: Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve had fun.

Yuu: Ah come on, if you’re gonna be alive you gotta have some fun. No matter what.

Mika: True.

Yuu: Let’s even have fun while we’re saving the world. Ah, by the way, this is the first sunrise***

*** he’s either saying it’s the first sunrise of the year or this is the first sunrise he’s ever watched, it’s hard to tell from the phrasing, ���日の出 means first sunrise of the year but in the sentence before it he’s only talking abt him even tho Mika is also seeing it

Mika: No way-!?

Mika: Yuuchan

Yuu: Yeah?

Mika: The view we saw together today, I don’t think I’ll forget it as long as I live.

Yuu: Nah, how about instead, after we win this thing we live so long we forget about it completely.

Yuu: After (something blurry) the mass resurrection (I think) we’re gonna have so much fun we forget every sad thing that’s happened til now.****

Mika: Alright, if we can do it

Yuu: OF COURSE WE CAN

Mika: Yeah

Yuu: We-

Yuu: ARE GONNA DO IT!!!

Mika: woo!

Shibuya: Japan Imperial Demon Army Capital City

Ky Luc: Alright, filthy humans. You listening?

Ky Luc: We have absolutely no interest in you. So if you don’t resist, we won’t have to kill you. However-

Ky Luc: If even one of you tries something, we can kill you by the thousands. Got it?

Ky Luc: DO YOU GOT IT?

Soldiers: YES.

(The sfx here is of a cute smile)

Lest Karr: Urd-sama? Shibuya is completely (something covered up).

(If I had to guess I’d say “subdued” but I seriously can’t read it through the overlay)

Shinya: This has gotten real bad, huh Kureto oniisan? Humanity is gonna go extinct at this rate. We need to do our best to get outside and make contact with Guren.

Shinya: Oniisan? Oniisan? You’re not dead over there are you?

Kureto: Shut up. I’m thinking.

Vampire: The protection circle is complete

Vampire: All clear on both sides. Do you understand? The test subject we’re taking on this time is a god. If we don’t do this meticulously, we die. There is no room for error.

Vampire: If there are any outstanding members of the Imperial Demon Army’s researchers, assign them to the Hyakuya Project too. This is what we’ve been fighting for for millennia. Stay sharp.

Soldier: Yessir

Vampire: The protection circle is complete, Rigr-sama!

In the sea of trees

Mika: You ready for this?

Yuu: Yup.

Mika: Alright then.

Rigr: I’ll be seeing your past. First.

Rigr: And when I find out what it is you want to protect and what your goals are, I am going to destroy them all.

Rigr: That’s how we’re going to escape your curse.

Urd: Careful, Rigr.

Rigr: Well then, to see into your past

Mika: Into our past

Both: We go

The end text is almost completely blurred, it says smth abt the true culprit of the end of the world.

** Japanese writes a loud voice as a big voice so it’s not totally clear whether they’re talking abt it being the biggest mountain in Japan or Yuu being the loudest person in Japan. I’m pretty sure it’s the mountain but the ambiguity is funny to me skshsk

****I can’t figure out how to convey this completely in English but it’s less of “we’re going to have so much fun” and more of “we’re going to spend so much time having fun” if that makes sense?? Like the verb implies that they’re like. Passing either time or their lives that way

There’s a QR code on the first page that says an OnS exhibition will be held in March 2023

Thank you for reading

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Looking at jm’s tracklist for FACE got me really surprised because the a lot of producers that posted pics with him aren’t on there (except for pdogg ofc lol)… it got me wondering if jm’s has plans on releasing whatever they worked on down the line if it wasnt scrapped… really glad abt the credit though because not only does it seem like FACE is fully in house project but we got Rm writing too (minimoni collab 💜💜💜) and most especially JM has writing credits on all of the tracks except for interlude!!! jm worked really hard and judging from the snippets we heard from the behind video, I know I’m gonna fall in love at first listen… sad that there’s no yoonmin tho, altho set me free pt 2 is potentially a callback for d2 interlude set me free. I’m looking forward to JM’s spin on it!! Some people are disappointed that the album is gonna be short but tbh jm has the least experience in writing/producing his own solo songs so I wasn’t surprised but i know for sure they’ll be quality tracks because of his historg of producing bangers. I had also been guessing that jm will be doing full promo and seeing that he has an eng vers for a track makes me certain that there are plans for us promo too!

Ive been laughing at your reply to the anon abt FACE all day bpp but it also has me delulu that maybe he’ll release a makeup line because that man can definitely sell out just from his face alone and the colors for the album itself def very similar to what brands are releasing these days… army twt def makes me delulu with all the edits too… like didnt nwjns release some kind of limited ed bag for their debut album??? imagine if one of the tannies did that…

*

Ask 2: addtnl bec i accidentally pressed the button to send the ask without finishing

seeing pdogg in the credits for FACE tho makes me kind of wary that he’ll have jm use his higher register again but seeing that this is jm’s solo album and they dont have to worry abt his voice harmonizing with the rest of the members to make tracks that work i am very hopful that we’ll hear jm’s lower register more…

i’m hoping that at least one of the dance performance will have him doing some pole work too… maybe not the whole song but like a segment of it… i’ve been watching a lot of pole dance videos and there’s a lot of beauty that can be created in it it’s truly an art form too and jm has the muscle strength to execute those moves perfectly too… i really cant wait for march!!!!

***

Hi Anon,

I loved reading this. Thanks for taking the time to lay out your thoughts so fully. But before anything else, and because I've seen this in a few places, I want to start off with one thing:

"Looking at jm’s tracklist for FACE got me really surprised because the a lot of producers that posted pics with him aren’t on there (except for pdogg ofc lol)"

It's possible those people still worked on the album. Visiting another producer can serve a myriad of purposes - those producers could have worked on the arrangement, Jimin could've used their sound engineers, recorded vocals in their studios for processing, etc. It's also possible you're right and these were initial meetings to discuss ideas and establish a relationship on which Jimin can leverage for his later music. But I'm saying this to point out we haven't seen the full credits yet. Pdogg as main producer and Jimin working with RM who has supported every solo venture Jimin has ever done, is obvious too, but we won't see the full credits until the album is out.

As for the make-up line, I think I've been saying forever that in my head, Jimin already has a fragrance house. What I want for Jimin is for him to delve headfirst into releasing a whole line of perfumes (sorry, make-up lovers). I know he loves flowers but for some reason, I imagine he smells more gourmand and musky with a hint of citrus and chypre, rather than floral scents. But yes just his face alone on any sort of palette would sell it out instantaneously lmao.

I think we're also getting a standard BTS cardboard album packaging lol. NewJeans is under Ador, not under BigHit, and we know that Ador and BigHit are fully independent sub-labels under HYBE, meaning what NewJeans does has zero bearing on anything BigHit does... for better or worse.

Your mention of pole dancing reminded me of that edit that dropped after Jimin mentioned wanting to do it for a Run episode.

(This non-Jimin is doing such a superb job)

*

Yes let's have Jimin in a skintight mesh piece showing off his full back tattoos doing an inverted crucifix move with black hair and black nails. All our synapses will misfire (and this likely has an 80% of not happening), but after writing out my own outlandish wish list for PJM1 (now, FACE), who am I to say nay?

I'm not the type to analyze album covers, concept photos, or even album/song descriptions so I don't have much to say right now, until I actually hear the music. After the initial excitement, I'm now stuck in this 'let's wait and see' limbo, but I do have certainty about one thing:

Jimin is coming to fuck all of us up.

[jariyala-string]

QUESTIONS ANSWERED.

Has anyone asked me any questions about Jariyala? Actually, yes… But only family and some friends. Most of these questions are ones that I think would be asked, so, I’ll just answer them here.

Read tags before reading this if you’re here for Saku content! This post doesn’t actually have anything to do with Sakuverse, I just mentioned him lol

What is ‘The String Of Jariyala’?

It’s complicated. Years, millennias ago, the Gods of Dochke created the first planet ever (to be known by them), Crenat. This planet was beautiful. Trees covered the lands, pools of water peppered across the plains and mountains. It was luxury, paradise. It was so beautiful, they wanted more planets like this. 27 total planets were created over the course of 900 years, each one having different people, cultures, landscapes, yet all of them were gorgeous. The greenery, the clear water, the birds that flew overhead. It was perfection.

But, of course, bad people must revoke others pleasure. Unknown beings came and attempted to colonise these planes, unaware of the almighty God, Callitri. Her power was like no other, she was the creator of Jariyala and majority of its contents. She created the other Gods using matter of space. She was the ultimate creator. It seemed like they wanted to challenge that, though.

Liviam, the person leading the attack on Jariyala taunted Callitri — leading to a battle. It was lengthy and tense, though the people on Crenat (where the battle took place) did not worry as they knew Callitri always came out victorious. And that she did, yet her power was stripped from her being. No more planets or supernatural life could be created, leaving the 27 planets to stand as they were.

There was another problem though. With the arrival of Liviam and her ‘minions’ from a different time line and dimension, it broke the time string in Jariyala. Time splits and threads connecting and straying from the planets were now visible. Although it created a fine piece of art, the time gaps were presumptuously dangerous.

What’s Vaularan and why is it important?

Vaularan is not technically anymore important than the other planets, though it’s the planet I’ve been putting the most care into. I don’t know why I’m so attached to it, I just am…

Who is Callitri?

A star. One singular star in an epitome of darkness. The only source of hope, the only light, the only life. This star developed for billions of years, until it finally exploded and a being was born. A woman. Long, white hair, pale skin, rose tinted cheeks. A radiating complexion, delicate features. She was Callitri.

Who are the Gods of Dochke?

Ah~ I couldn’t possibly answer this all in one post. Their lore and stories are so incredibly lengthy, I’d have to make a post for each individual God! In short, they are all ‘humans’ born from Solar matter. All of them contributed to the making of Jariyala, and each God has at lease one planet to their name. There are 11 Gods total. There is also a superstition with the people that the reason Jariyala was invaded was because they didn’t have an even number of Gods.

Why are you making a fantasy world?

To occupy myself for the next decade.

How long have you been doing it for?

Around 4-5 months. Not super long, although, I feel as if my progress in that time is quite commendable.

Do they speak English in Jariyala?

No. I am working on a universal language for them called ‘Faytir’.

How do you come up with names for planets, languages, people, etc.?

I’ll be honest… I just put a bunch of letters on a page and combine them together LOL. It usually comes out with a good name, though I should’ve really started the language first as I’ve made it harder for myself.

Are you going to turn the story of Jariyala into a book?

Hm. I have thought about it, yet I’m still not so sure. I think I’d have to really think about it. But, the chances of me doing so are low.

What made you want to start a fantasy world?

*Sigh*. I listen to a lot of ASMR boyfriend type audios on YouTube… yes, I know. It’s strange. But, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t of started doing this. There’s this one VA called @/zsakuva, his story audios are INSANELY good btw. He focuses more on lore and not gushy mushy romance, so I’d recommend checking him out! But, yes, Saku has been making his own world for 10 years I believe? And the amount of progress he’s made and the WORLD he’s made is fascinating. I was so unbelievably impressed with what he has done, and my mind was like ‘woahhh I wanna do that!’. So, here I am! Thank you, Saku! (If he for some reason sees this plsplspls I need another Xanthus audio… his story is so interesting!)

Do they have holidays like Earth do?

Yes! But, not like Christmas and Halloween and all the other corny, expensive holidays.

Each year, in June (I haven’t thought of names for months yet), they have the ‘Soldena Xyomen’ [pronounced sul•den•uh uhks•yo•men]. The Soldena Xyomen translates to ‘Summer Starting’ and the event is literally that. The Jariyalan’s LOVE soldena. The food, the dancing, the performances. Everything about soldena is exciting for them. So, the seventh Dochken God (Ywoei) decided to make it a holiday.

Another large holiday is the opposite of Soldena Xyomen, it’s Kaopana Xyomen (Winter Starting). Again, they love kaopana for the same reasons they love soldena. There are more holidays, but they’re still a WIP.

So, that’s all the questions I can think of for now! If anymore get asked, then I will add them to this list.

[ladywynne]

Gan Eden

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The Moon Boys enter eternity at a ripe old age, and it isn't the Field of Reeds

Notes: Written for Flash Fiction Friday prompt An Eternal Summer.

This is an exploration of the afterlife. I tried to be as respectful as possible of Jewish beliefs and I am sorry for any mistakes, but this isn't meant to be a re-creation of true beliefs. Just a fictionalized journey. It necessarily draws from my imagination and conceptual understanding as the author. I am not Jewish.

Also I am in no way minimizing Steven or Jake's identities as real, separate people. I have wondered about if the splitting of their personality also split their soul. This is a result of that thought process, which is ongoing for me.

I tried to give them happiness. I hope you enjoy.

CW: A short depiction of a peaceful death. Skip the first section if you don't want to read it.

Words: 976

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How do you comprehend the World to Come?

It was different this time…peaceful. They were holding Layla’s hand, and as their vision narrowed all they could see was her beautiful, lined, white-haloed face. 

When they were younger there was often only darkness before Khonshu thrust them painfully back into the body. Now there was light. It was white and pure. They rose, untethered, and the light encompassed them. 

***** 

Jake came to awareness on a shore. It was warm and bright though no sun was evident to hurt his eyes. He felt a gentle breeze in his curls and soft sand beneath his bare feet. And amazingly – the sea before him was crystal clear, so transparent he could see each colorful little fish as it swam. He felt only peace as he turned in a slow circle, taking in the summer around him. Past the shore was green as far as the eye could see. Beautiful paths lined with flowers of every shade meandered through lush vegetation, and in the far distance was a shining city. Best of all, standing apart from each other, a little distance down the shore were Marc and Steven. Their eyes met his and he walked to meet them.  

Marc and Steven were beautiful, their bodies hail and unblemished by scars, once again young men in their prime. Their faces were wonderful to see. They were completely unburdened. It was most obvious in Marc. There were no frown lines, no creased brow, and no sign of the wariness he had worn all his life. Jake almost didn’t recognize him. It was the most breathtaking thing Jake had ever seen and all he’d ever wanted. Not even Steven, awed by one of his passions, had ever conveyed such radiance in life. It made Jake complete to see it, and he felt cracks in his heart seal themselves.  

The three of them took each other in without speaking. Then, nearly as one, they grinned. Jake opened his arms to them, and they came, laughing and squeezing in an exuberant embrace. 

They stepped apart at the sound of someone nearby. Still smiling, they turned toward the newcomer. 

“Roro?” Marc choked out. 

“Hi,” their brother gave a little wave, very reminiscent of Steven. He was smiling too. He was a young man like them with the same brown hair, but straighter than theirs. Jake knew him, without a doubt, even though they never met in life. 

“Roro!” Marc said again, rushing forward to wrap Randall in a hug. Randall returned it, rocking back and forth with Marc and continuing to smile.  

“I’ve missed you,” Jake could barely make out Marc’s words, spoken into Randall’s neck. “So much.” 

Jake could see him squeeze Marc a bit tighter. “You were a great big brother, Marc. I never left you.”  

Marc made a little noise and held on a few moments longer before stepping back. Randall looked at Steven and Jake then. He wrapped them in a hug next, one on each side. “Thank you,” he whispered fiercely. “Thank you for taking care of him.” 

“It was our pleasure,” Steven said sincerely.  

When they separated Randall indicated the city in the distance. Looking more closely Jake saw that it was opalescent and set amongst the swaying green trees and grass-covered hills of summer. “There is more to see,” he said, “more people waiting for you. Gena, Jean-Paul, and abuela to name a few. But there are also hundreds that you helped during their lives. People who were able to pass on goodness only because of what you did. I want you to know that. Each of you made a difference. I’m so proud of you.” 

Jake didn’t know what to say to that, and he guessed the others didn’t either, but he felt grateful to have heard it.  

Randall went on, “Before that I have something to offer.” 

“What is it?” he asked, wondering what more there could be. 

“Healing,” Randall said simply. “You were born one soul. That ‘something missing’ you’ve felt? That was each other. You can be one soul again, if you choose. It won’t be like you were in life. It will be like you were before.” 

They looked at each other. Jake’s heart swelled just seeing their luminous faces. He knew his answer. He never wanted to be apart from them. Despite his peace and happiness in this moment, despite their nearness, he wished he could be still closer to them. Complete.  

Marc exchanged a nod with him. 

Steven was standing stock-still. He had known an individual adult life. Jake thought he may want that again, so he waited patiently. Finally, Steven blinked, then stepped forward and took one of their hands in each of his, “Let’s do it lads.” 

They smiled at each other again. Jake thought he had already smiled more than in the entirety of his life. Randall smiled too.  

Jake felt himself rising into the air and grabbed for Marc with his free hand. They rose a little way, the circle the three of them made spinning smoothly, but beginning to go a bit faster as they went. A light appeared in the center of their ring, just as pure and perfect as the one that led them here. As Jake watched, it began to grow. He held on to the others tighter. He had to… he wanted to tell them one more time, even if they already knew, would know in even more perfect clarity in just a moment, and even if the past seemed distant and extraneous now that they were here. “Marc. Steven.” He rushed to say it. “I love you.” 

Their faces shone like miniature stars as they looked at him, and when they merged the very last remnant of imperfection, the last whisper of fear or loneliness, was subsumed forever in unity. 

[rainysunrise]

tv tag game!

— list 8 shows for your followers to get to know you better. tagged by dearest @simplymakkari (I’m a month late to this i’m sorry lmao)

1. Fleabag (2016-2019)

Do I even have to explain? This is an absolute masterpiece in terms of storytelling. The dark humor is perfect, the trouble, the character creation, the romance, the way it shows how love can be painful but still beautiful and change us in so many ways ahhhh, it absolutely broke me and I still rewatch it whenever I need a punch in the face and a good cry but also ! When I just want to make myself feel better about how fvcked up I am lmao highly recommend

2. The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

Listen- I am a great fan of horror, a connoisseur if I can say so myself. And I’d say this is simply the best horror story I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. It has everything, the pain, the beauty, THE REPRESENTATION. And Victoria Pedretti that brought Nell Crain to life in such a way that she became my ultimate comfort character (which probably isn’t that good but shh). I recommend for everyone to watch, if not for the story then for the plot twist alone because it is brilliant.

3. Hannibal (2013-2015)

Do I even need to explain? lmao The gay art piece that altered my brain chemistry in ways I can’t possibly explain at an age way too young AND I REGRET NOTHING, this is culture (with a trademark) And if you haven’t seen it where have you been????

4. YOU (2018-)

Came for Victoria Pedretti, stayed for everything else. Honestly, I expected it to be awful from everything I’ve heard and seen but the storytelling is brilliant (even though sometimes I want to throw my laptop out the window) and I don’t know what they put in it but I can’t let this show go. AND NOW WITH GOLDROSE A HANNIGRAM CODED ROMANCE?? Say no more, I will stay til the end. Although I don’t think it’s for everyone tbh. (check out my goldrose fics thanks)

5. Supernatural (2005-2020)

Oh, boy, are there even words to describe it? The show that absolutely changed my life by throwing me into the fandom madness in highschool and introduced me to twitter and instagram editing damn. It has everything, monsters, magic, myths, legends, every possible plot line and trope you could think of and DESTIEL most iconic couple of this site so. Yes. Don’t watch it.

6. The Boys (2019-)

Got sick of Marvel, moved on to evil superheroes, and got hooked. Also did it for Jensen Ackles before he even came on the show and was not disappointed. Y’all can find it controversial but this show is so good in my opinion, most of the time you can’t even expect what’s going to happen and the character arcs are chef's kiss. Highly recommend ONLY if you are able to stand a lot of gore and nudity, it is a bit rough. (comic books are also super cool)

7. Shadow and Bone (2021-)

Wasn’t gonna put it here, but! It is my newest obsession and made me come back to books after a very long time (I am currently reading the soc duology). I am absolutely in love with it, the crows especially, the couples?? Kanej?? Helnik?? Wesper?? All of the characters separately?? Mark me down as mad, I can’t get enough of it, I already know it’s about to be my favorite for years to come.

8. Over The Garden Wall (2014)

Just think about it guys: A cartoon, vintage style, fairytale style, with horror motifs an amazing plot, and amazing characters, that makes you want to curl up with a cup of tea during an autumn rainy day and just enjoy yourself. It makes me soft, comfort show fr and I rewatch it every Halloween because it also has a Halloween setting (in a way). I recommend it to anyone. Honorable mentions: Killing Eve, Merlin, Sherlock, Good Omens, Normal People, The Last of Us, OMFD etc etc (I could go on for hours)

tagging: @thefiresgone @ashksa @abliafina-18782 + anyone else who wants to (i don't know too many ppl here lmao sorry)