#the great wave chapter 5 review

[cocogum]

The Great Wave - Chapter 5 Review

‼️ SPOILERS FOR THE CHAPTER ‼️

I’m not going to lie, this was the best chapter of the first volume so far. Not only was it better than the old chapters because we had much more to see and think about, but it’s also because it had some soft intimate moments mixed with happy scenes and not to mention felt longer than the others.

I would like to point out that I was completely in the right to explain why it was perfectly reasonable for Amalia to be worried that Aurora would take her place. In my chapter 4 review, I mentioned how Aurora had no right to lead the kingdom without Amalia even if it was in her legal right to do so. Aurora doesn't fully grasp the beliefs of the Sadidas. If she banishes Amalia, the final member of the royal Sadida family, from the kingdom, she will lack crucial insight into the kingdom's governance, particularly regarding the functioning of the Tree of Life.

It's important to note that while Yugo may not be a Sadida or a Twelvian, he has at least demonstrated the bare minimum level of cultural understanding and interaction that surpasses Aurora. Having lived among the Sadidas and rescued them multiple times, he has even communicated with King Oakheart without difficulty. However, it's worth noting that not all Sadidas may fully accept Yugo despite everything he has done. A good example of this would be what @vinillain has said about the topic in their post. I actually recommend you to see what they have to say about it.

Aurora has told Amalia to go back to her adventures, implying that she doesn’t need Amalia IN HER OWN HOME. Not only is the blue cow trophy wife a dumbass, but she’s also extremely unaware of the consequences she could receive if she lets her go.

It’s completely ridiculous but insane to kick the only remaining royal family of the Sadida kingdom if you don’t know how to keep the very living thing that keeps its people breathing.

This just keeps me wondering what the hell is Aurora’s goal besides ruling another kingdom other than the Osamodas one. Is there even another goal? Because if there isn’t, you gotta keep the only member of the royal family around you if you don’t want to fuck a kingdom up babes.

Aurora is legitimately an embarrassment to all blondes out there. They are already tired of hearing the annoying stereotype of “being dumb blondes” so don’t make it worse for them.

I hate what this is implying and I hate how Amalia explains it to Yugo.

Amalia already told Yugo in Season 4 that the sadidas protect the trees with their lives. And now, she’s here specifying to him that once a Sadida dies, they are still very much present in other ways.

Tot I swear on my ass, if this turns out to be some kind of foreshadowing for Amalia’s death, I’m booking a plane ticket straight to France. However, if this turns out to be some sort of implication that Amalia will replace or be the official guardian of the Tree of Life, I might be into it. We’ll just have to see where her words will go.

I loved how Yugo immediately went to console her and brought her into his arms. My guy doesn’t hesitate at all anymore and I’m so proud 🥰 He’s now able to give her the love she deserves 💕

This is the first time he mentions the past, and I'm glad he remembers how she used to be and can see the good in her, even when she was less mature.

Look at how he admires her in this very moment! He’s absolutely smitten 💕💕

“But already full of courage.” Yeah, the fearless sassy adventurer is definitely his type lol

I’ve been seeing a lot of people talk about the pregnancy situation with Aurora and with Amalia as well. The recurring references to pregnancy in certain chapters have led some to speculate about their significance. They are so vaguely placed in some instances but still present that the mentions almost appear like they’ve been strategically placed, leading to the belief that they may play a crucial role in upcoming events.

Here, we have Amalia crying her tears out at the idea that Aurora is perfectly justified to regain her position as queen simply because of her alleged pregnancy.

Just this scene alone makes me believe that Amalia has all the right to get pregnant as well. This is literally the scene that’s pushing the idea of her getting a kid.

Amalia. Get pregnant already. YUGO HELP HER-

I genuinely hate the fact that Amalia believes Armand would’ve let Aurora become the leader in his place because she’s harbouring his “child.”

Like no babe that doesn’t make any sense.

Throughout Season 4, we were able to clearly understand that Armand and Aurora did have feelings for one another but that didn’t mean Armand thought she was worthy to take his place if he was gone.

There’s a reason why there was only one throne in the Sadida kingdom.

There’s a reason why he was the only one conversing the most with other symbols of power or influence such as Master Joris, Yugo, and the cow king.

There’s a reason why he only addresses himself when he’s talking about the sadida leadership.

There’s a reason why he says “my people” rather than “our people”.

There’s a reason why he told Amalia, straight to her face, that she’s got it from here right before he sacrifices himself.

Armand never thought about Aurora when it came to any kind of leadership.

And sure, even if the child is real (because I still do not believe that wench), that doesn’t mean Armand was expecting the child to take over for him, much less Aurora, when Amalia was still in the picture.

Man was just horny that’s it.

Oh oop- drama???

Omg no this is genuinely such a good moment.

Amalia accidentally tells Yugo that he’s a stranger in the eyes of the royal Osamodas family and supposedly the other leaders as well and Yugo simply accepts this fact while she’s over here internally cursing herself for saying that to his face.

Because Amalia knows she’s right. And Yugo knows it just as much as her, if only more. Despite how Yugo wants to help Amalia in the situation she’s in, he’s aware that his very existence is a disturbance to the other leaders. (Which is a parallel to what happened with the Eliatrope goddess and the other gods around her.)

It greatly bothers Yugo to not be able to help his wife because of what he is and it is pretty understandable. There are people who are clashing with Amalia so he’ll obviously want to fight back.

While we're on the subject of who’s more of a stranger than the actual alien, I’d like to point out that even the royal Sadida staff treats Yugo like he’s part of the family. When Yugo and Amalia were having their moment, Renate (or Canar, I can’t remember who is who these two are just always together) enters the sacred grounds and calls for them, reminding them to be a part of the wedding their friends are having. But the way Renate (or Canar) addresses them is not by their royal status, but simply by their names.

This is an important detail to be aware of because Renate/Canar had no reason to justify why he called them by their names alone.

It just goes to show that some royal servants can be comfortable calling Yugo and Amalia this way without receiving any consequences. It also implies that only the servants who have interacted and gotten along with Yugo and Amalia when they were younger, are allowed to address them by their names.

And I love that fact so terribly much.

Amalia is a queen who understands personal relationships with servants and doesn’t think the idea is a bad thing. She has always been looking forward to speaking to her servants and befriending them since she was a child. Renate, Canar, and Evangelyne are examples of this.

Another detail that can be pointed out in this scene is what Renate/Canar said next: there was a wedding the two are supposed to attend later in the day.

This wouldn’t have been such a big thing to think about if it wasn’t for the fact that Yugo mentioned to Grougal that the two people in question who are getting a wedding, are two of his and Amalia’s friends.

Literally what? Who?!? Who are those friends??? That literally came out of nowhere!

It can’t be Eva and Dally because they already got married ages ago. So who could they be? Some friends who the brotherhood of the tofu met during one of their adventures? New characters that we’re going to see in Season 5 if it ever gets released? Or simply new characters that we’re going to discover in the manga? I’m throwing all the possibilities in the air because these two individuals cannot be normal civilians that Yugo and Amalia decided to plan a wedding for. Yugo precisely stated that these people are their friends.

Because of the Brotherhood’s lack of presence, one might assume that the couple getting married could consist of a Sadida and an Eliatrope, which would explain why Yugo and Amalia are familiar with them.

The Eliatropes and Sadidas depicted in this panel appear to be getting along, as they are all gathered in circles surrounded by Sadidas who seem to be accepting of their presence.

@aphilayx circled the exact amount of small groups that contained sadidas and eliatropes conversing together.

We can also believe that the marriage is unlikely to have any of the brotherhood’s friends who they met in their adventures take part in the ceremony, as was the case with Tristeva and Yumalia’s weddings. It appears that only Alibert, Adamaï, and Chibi, who are not from the kingdom, will be participating.

All of these points only encourage the idea that the marriage Yugo and Amalia would participate in could be between a sadida and an eliatrope.

…if the eliatropes weren’t children.

The eliatropes are not adults yet. Only a few months, or possibly a year, have passed between Season 4 and the webtoon. The eliatropes are not ready to marry anyone.

But then again, an interracial marriage would still make sense. Because why would any other race be here? I don’t see anyone else. The room we were shown only displayed sadidas and eliatropes. The only other person who isn’t an eliatrope, a sadida, or even a dragon, is Alibert (poor guy’s the only Enutrof there lol). He sticks out like a sore thumb 😭

Speaking of the room, we finally get to see Chibi and Grougal! It's great to have more opportunities to see them, especially since they were only featured in the first episode of the Ovas and one episode of Season 4 until now. In both of those times, they barely spoke or said a line. But here, we can finally see them having more moments and SPEAKING.

Well, only Chibi is talking but I think that’s pretty understandable since Grougal seems to be less talkative than him cuz he’s…well a baby dragon.

Grougal chews on wood when he can’t eat anything else…

Honestly, that’s relatable for all human babies. And then we got Chibi over here who decided to snitch on him for trying to eat Az. I never thought the future inventor would be able to snitch like that, how embarrassing.

DUDE WHY ARE YOU BRINGING DOWN GROUGAL LIKE THAT?! BRO’S JUST TRYNNA BE A DRAGON-

I’ve never seen Yugo get this mad at Grougal damn. I only saw Adamaï acting like that in season 2...daddy’s mad.

Yugo gives off the vibe of being the responsible older brother who had to act mature to help the parents handle the younger kids. He’s such a big brother to them both to the point where he’s making me think he’ll be such a good househusband father.

He’s even compromising with them!! Telling Grougal to wait a bit until the food can be ready.

Please that is such a fatherly thing to do!! They usually do this when the mother isn’t watching lol. Yugo’s over here telling Grougal to wait just a bit longer so he could be able to eat whatever he wants at the banquet.

By the way, I bet the feast will only be filled with drinks and fruits based on the food we’ve seen in the webtoon trailer.

Ruel had once complained that all the sadidas ate were soups so I guess that’s also another thing these people eat. The only time I’ve seen a sadida eat meat was Amalia in the first episode of the Ovas cutting a cooked animal in Ruel’s contraption.

So yeah, Grougal’s gonna starve either way lol

Also I’m definitely using this panel as my lock screen 💕💕

Look at him, he’s about to ground him before Alibert can.

Just cuz of this scene alone, it made me think that’s how he’s gonna act if he ever gets a kid(s) with Amalia. So if his kid misbehaves, he’d make that frowning face lol

And now we’re back to these imbeciles.

It irks me that these two blue-skinned clowns are being served and taken care of by the sadidas. They got THEIR OWN SUITE ARE U KIDDING ME-

The blue cow king even had some food prepared by the sadidas for his goofy ass ride! Stop treating the sadida servants like they are your own ones!!

Aurora is as unlikable as always, ordering the people to prepare her room.

I swear not even younger Amalia used to order her people like that. She used to get along with them and even talk to them as if she was about to spill some tea. But Aurora? Cow is so entitled that she’s even acting like that to people who are not even from the same race as her.

Blue cow mentioned that the chest the Sadida servant was carrying, had a “kougnard” in it (in English it’s a “skrot”).

We couldn’t see what it looked like but it clearly scared the shit out of that sadida woman. So I took the time to search up what a “Kougnard” was and it turns out it was actually a very ugly bat creature.

A “kougnard” is an animal you can use for transportation or a companion you can bring around while adventuring. Their main use is transportation though so they carry you from point A to point B if you can’t find a zaap gate near you.

They originally came from Ecaflipus, the Ecaflip God’s dimension. The kougnard that Aurora has is a newborn one which would explain why it could fit into a chest.

For a visual example, this is what a kougnard looks like in its adult form 👇

So yeah, pretty ugly.

Like ew wtf no wonder the sadida woman shit her leaves. Sorry for any player who uses these things but I don’t see how you can even touch one of them, let alone look at them for more than fifteen seconds. They look like ugly crusty bats that are fighting for their lives just to breathe.

Also what’s up with Aurora keeping familials in chests?? Wtf?? Isn’t she pro-animal or whatever?? Literally what’s up with that?? What’s so special about a living baby kougnard that she has to keep it in a chest???

That thing is even ugly as a baby, just look at how that sadida woman reacted when she saw it. Literally freaked her the hell out.

Apparently, Aurora wears the animal on her head in the next chapter according to what the next chapter’s cover entails. She seems to have something in her head and @geekgirles deduced that if we focus our attention on the top of her head, we can see claws.

I swear if that blue cow is actually looking down on people in that panel while having an ugly crusty-ass bat on her head, I’ll be laughing my ass off at this goofy behavior.

[honeybeezgobzzzzz]

🗡️ Something Dread, Something Red: Chapter Three

Something Dread, Something Red: Stuck in a proposal to a Marine Commodore, you escape minutes before your wedding in one last ditch effort to avoid getting married to a tyrant. Barely making it to the port of your town, you stumble across a ship just starting to leave and beg for passage off the island. You fail to notice that the people you beg for help, are pirates.

Warnings: Domestic Violence.

To Note: “Red Haired” Shanks x FemReader

Word Count: ~2.8k

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5 years prior

The lilac dress you wore flowed around your carefully crafted body in effortless waves. It was made from a chiffon fabric you had begged your mother for nearly six months to have. Your usual attire consisted of heavy satin and lace and for your eighteenth birthday, you just wanted to be happy and light for once. It had taken much convincing, but eventually your mother had caved. She needed you to be happy and was willing to give you this one. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t gone all out on you chiffon lavender dress.

The color matched your hair perfectly, the stitching was made from the best silver thread Berry could buy, and the ribbon wrapping your waist came from a silk farm known to be the best in all the Blues. You thought it was too much for just a simple birthday, but your mother did what she wanted. Events like this gave you time to yourself because she was far too busy to monitor your every move.

So you were currently sneaking off to the library to get some reading time in. Your mother always berated you on your habit of keeping your nose in a book, telling you that ladies don’t read, they play music and host tea parties and other social events. While you had been trained in such things, you didn’t find the same pleasure in them as you did with reading. There was something about hosting tea parties and socials with the older noble population whom you were not friends with. You didn’t have any friends became your mother didn’t allow you any.

“So controlling,” You muttered to yourself, pushing the door to the great Bonn family library. There was every kind of book you could want in this library, your father was a collector of sorts. With his connections in the merchant guild he often made trade deals involving rare books and encyclopedias. Venturing to the nearest aisle, you ran your fingers over leather-bound book spines. “What should I read this time? It is my birthday so maybe something special…”

You further wandered, heading in the direction of the books that your mother disapproved of you reading. It was mostly books on sea navigation, sailing, and ship building. All information your mother deemed irrelevant in your education. Reaching a section that held a multitude of maps your father was fond of reviewing to find more ports to add to the Bonn empire, you picked up a few scrolls and curiously looked at them.

One of the maps was of the Gecko Islands, Syrup Village was circled and the familiar scrawls of your father’s handwriting dotted the area around it. From the brief glances you had gotten of documents and the conversations you’d overheard, Syrup Village was where all the ships in the Bonn Chestnut Trade Company came from. The ships were well built and lasted through the weather of every Blue they crossed. Abandoning the maps, you picked up a random book and opened it. You were greeted with  words and depictions of the construction of a lace factory. You closed that book while making a face and returned it to its place on the shelf.

“Rather not,” You commented, moving on in hopes of a more interesting book to read. A few more minutes of wandering and you found a book that certainly piqued your interest. It was a book on the politics of the marines, and more specifically, pirates. Your eyebrows rose in interest and you plucked it from the shelf.

You’d never really been informed about pirates, your mother called them scum and your father claimed that they were bad for business and nothing but conniving scoundrels. So you grew up knowing next to nothing about pirates. Walking towards the sitting area within the library, you opened the book to a random page which held a long list of pirates the marines were keeping track of at the time of the print. The main name that stood out, and that was at the top of the list, was Gol D. Rodger. But the little symbol next to his name was clearly a mark of death.

“He certainly appears to be important,” You murmured to yourself, looking further down the list of names. You didn’t recognize any of them, not that you were well informed, but still, your mother got the paper every morning and tutted over the news. You occasionally picked up the same names repeated over and over throughout the years. Pausing in step, you turned the page and just caught the words ‘Warlords’ and Emperor’s’, when footsteps had you on high alert. You snapped the book shut and held it behind you as your father appeared, a parchment in hand. He paused in step upon seeing you.

“Linaria, your mother is looking for you,” He spoke before eyeing the hands you held behind your back. The book now seemed like it was made of lead. “Can I presume that the book you were hiding is not one your mother would approve of?”

“It’s just a book,” You argued, arms dropping to your sides. “How exactly is that dangerous to me?”

“Your mother’s decision is your mother’s decision, Linaria,” Your father said, not question his wife’s authority when it came to your upbringing. “Hand it over, your mother is expecting you in the tea room.” With a grudging sigh, you did as he asked and headed for the exit. Your mother was waiting for you in the tea room? Last you knew, there weren’t any events on this day that involved the tea room. Perhaps she had added an extra item to the agenda. At least you could have your favorite tea since it was your birthday.

Walking swiftly towards the tea parlor, you breezed by several maids and butlers that curtsied and bowed to you as you passed. Before entering the tea parlor, you paused to collect yourself. Then, taking a deep breath and straitening your posture, you entered the room. Your mother was sitting on one of the couches, tea cup in hand.

“Father said you were looking for me, mother?” You softly spoke, for ladies never raised their voices. She didn’t turn her head to look at you.

“We have a guest, Linaria,” A guest? Your eyes followed your mother’s gaze to see a marine sitting on the couch opposite to your mother. What was a marine doing at the manor? And one so high ranking! “Greet our guest,” Your mother hissed to you. You cleared your throat and turned to the marine.

“Forgive me for not doing so earlier, I am Linaria, welcome to the manor,” you greeted like the perfect daughter your mother wanted you to be.

“Thomas Collins, my fair lady, Commodore of the Marines on Kuri Island.” The man, Thomas, answered. “May I offer you a happy birthday? Your mother has sang praises of you and is very excited of this cornerstone in your life.”  Your mother was telling praises of you? A shocking thought as she had been nothing but critical of you as of late, but this wasn’t a time you could question her motives. Thomas rose from his seat and strode over to you, his figure towering over your small frame.

“Oh, thank you, I am very excited to see where my life takes me,” You told him, your fingers coming together in front of you and winding together in a nervous habit.

“It would be rude of me to drop by without a gift for such a lovely young woman, and took it upon myself to prepare something I thought would be fitting for a woman as beautiful as you.” Thomas continued, reaching into his coat and pulling out a slim box.

“Oh, sir, you didn’t need to prepare such a thing,” You said, almost stuttering over your words in surprise. You could feel your mother’s eyes glaring daggers into you for even thinking of refusing such a thing. Nonetheless you took the slim box from gloved fingers.

“You are to be the next Lady of the Bonn Chestnut Trade Company, I think you are deserving of your first piece of jewelry.” You opened the box to reveal a delicate bracelet with flowers and gems that sparkled. It really was a lovely piece, if the flowers hadn’t been roses. You forced your face into one of happiness and thanked him.

“It is absolutely beautiful, thank you for picking such a wondrous piece,” You replied in faux happiness, fluttering your eyelashes and plastering a smile you’d perfected over the years. He looked pleased, very pleased by your reaction and gestured towards the bracelet.

“May I?” He pressed, you of course relented, allowing the strange Commodore to carefully wrap the beautiful bracelet around your wrist. Not much was said after that, as the Thomas indicated that he had to return to duty and bid his farewell. You didn’t dare speak until you were sure that he was long gone.

“Mother, who was that and why was he here?” You questioned, turning to your mother still sipping tea. She sighed and lowered the tea to the table in front of her before rising from her seat. Striding over to you, her cold eyes scanned you.

“That was Commodore Thomas Collins, he is in charge of the marine base on Kuri Island and the surrounding archipelago.” She informed you, mouth pressed in a tight line. “And you are to be his bride.”

“Bride,” You repeated incredulously, thinking for a moment that you had misheard her. “Mother what are you speaking of, I do not remember him proposing to me!”

“Of course not you silly girl, it is an arranged marriage to ensure the success and power of our family and business.” Your jaw nearly dropped open.

“You can’t just make decisions about my life like that,” You exclaimed, your voice raised and eyes flashing in anger. “I’m not going to marry a man I don’t know and certainly not because you tell me to!”

Your head was whipping to the side and you were taking a stumbling step backwards before you even knew what happened. Rising a hand to your stinging cheek, you let out gasp at the sharp pain radiating across your face. You looked at your mother, eyes filled with hurt and anger. She pointed her finger at you.

“You are to do exactly as I tell you Linaria.” Your mother growled to you, seizing your chin and forcing you to look in her cold eyes. “And that means you will marry.”

Present Day

Sitting on one of the stacked crates, you stared at the little bracelet hanging from your wrist while feeling sick from just looking at it. Your other hand reached for the delicate chain and you harshly pulled on what felt like a shackle until it snapped. Then you threw it as hard as you could over the side of the ship you had escaped Kuri Island on. Your wrist hurt from the metal digging into your skin, but at the same time you felt like a huge weight had been lifted from your shoulders.

The ship gently rocked as it sailed, but you found the sway almost comforting while you held yourself and looked out across the water. This was the farthest you’d ever been from your home and the salt air was an entirely new experience. Turning your head away from the pristine waters, you found several of the men staring at you. Right, you begged your way onto this ship, might as well compensate them for the trouble. So you reached back and undid the clasp to your neck, and held it out.

“Compensation,” You spoke, offering the glimmering jewelry piece to them. “It’s worth a lot, that I know.”

“We don’t want your jewelry, madam,” The red haired captain, the one who’d effortlessly tossed over his shoulder and carried you away, spoke. You were pretty sure the others had been calling him Shanks. “But we would like to know what had you fleeing from your own wedding.”

“It was arranged,” You answered, chewing on your lip and twisting your hands together. “I didn’t get a say in it, mother organized the whole thing to ensure the family business would remain successful and in power.”

“You must be a Bonn then,” Shanks commented, thinking over who had the most power on Kuri Island. The Bonn’s. “Who’d she want you to marry?”

“The Commodore,” Several of the pirates let out whistles and shook their heads.

“Don’t blame ya’ for runnin’,” One even commented. “That is one crooked marine.” You rubbed your tired eyes and sighed.

“I do not wish for you to get wrapped up in my personal business, you can drop me off at the next island. I don’t want to be a burden to you.”

“You are hardly a burden,” Shanks corrected you, eyes scanning your figure more thoroughly now that you weren’t trembling violently from fear. It was clear that you’d been running for a while when you approach him, but now he could see little nicks and cuts on your skin and smell the metallic tang of blood clinging to your body. “I think you’ve had a long day, you could do for some rest.”

“It’s not even half past ten,” His eyebrow rose at you and he nodded his chin.

“And you might look the picture of perfection, but even I can tell that you are exhausted. We shall talk more of this tonight, in the mean time you should get some rest and get out of that dress, it’s very…” Shanks struggled to come up with a word to describe someone as beautiful as you, ye so out of place.

“Ostentatious?” You offered lightly. “You should have seen me with the train. My mother tried to drown me in lace.” Your light jab at your own outfit brought out a couple chuckles and the men were glad to see the brief smile upon your face. It was much preferred to your distress.

Shanks had directed you to his own room, for it was the best furnished for a lady such as yourself and you could have privacy there. After changing out of your dress you could get some much needed sleep and then finally the full picture of the woman he’d helped could be rendered. So as you clutched your arms to your chest and looked around the cabin in curiosity, Shanks dug through a chest of spare clothing to find something your size.

You knew he was the captain, but he didn’t stand up to the stereotype you had pictured in your head about what a captain was supposed to be like. The space was sparsely furnished but was homely. Maps, artworks, and a few weapons you had never seen before dotted the walls, and the quilt thrown over the hanging bed in the corner looked handmade and well used. For some reason, the sight of a threadbare and well used homemade quilt comforted you.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much but spare tunics and pants,” Shanks spoke, taking the clothes from his trunk and turning around. He paused in place, staring at the dirt riddled and crusty wound on your shoulder. He’d been so shocked by your appearance and beauty he’d overlooked something so critical. “We need to take care of that,”

“Take care of what?” You questioned, half turning in place with a quizzical look on your face. Shanks set the clothes on a nearby table and nodded to your shoulder.

“You have quite the nasty wound on your shoulder, madam,” Shanks spoke while inspecting torn skin littered with dirt, rocks, and grass. “You must have been running on adrenaline to not be feeling this.”

“I was in a hurry,” You meekly spoke, trying not to shiver as soft and gentle fingers prodded broken skin.

“I can imagine,” He replied, brows scrunching together. “I don’t think you need stitches, it’s not to deep. But you are going to need it cleaned before it get’s infected.”

“Very well,” You sighed. “Thank you for informing me I will take care of that.” Shanks couldn’t help but snort at your words.

“And how do you plan on tending to it yourself?” The scathing look you shot over your shoulder made Shanks smile widen for he doubted you even realized you were giving him such a look.

“I am already intruding as it were,” You snipped out, crossing your arms.

“And you are my guest,” Shanks enunciated. “As long as you are on my ship you shall be treated as such. Now please, take a seat this won’t take long.”

You really didn’t want to, for you already felt like you were intruding enough just by asking for passage off Kuri Island… but gentle brown eyes were insistent. But not in a bad way. So your protest died down on your tongue and did as he so gently asked.

Date Published: 11/19/23

Last Edit: 11/19/23

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[rossellini-tyrell]

Nothing's Gonna Change My World

Ch. 8 - i sat on a rug (biding my time, drinking her wine)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Word Count: ~7500 Pairing: Pavitr x F!Reader

Warnings:

THIS IS SMUT. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE SMUT, OR NOT BETWEEN THESE CHARACTERS, DO NOT TOUCH THAT KEEP READING LINK. Under 18? Please click out of this post! All characters here are in their early-mid 20s. things that happen: reader receives oral and it's cash money. Pav aesops a lot about healthy experiences. Gwen gets a little (or a lot OOC). also found on AO3 and Wattpad.

"I swear, I could have put the damn ring on Miles's finger myself after that!" gushes Gwen from her spot on your couch. She's tipsy, you're each on either your second or third hard seltzer, and your living room is starting to wobble and melt before your very eyes. "I would wholly support that," you agree. Gwen giggles in that overly familiar way, the one that tells you she's cooking up something wicked in that brain of hers. She leans in closer, slings an arm around your shoulder and peers at you through conspiratorially-squinted eyes. "So, (You), how's Pav?" she asks, a lilt in her voice that tells you there's definitely an ulterior motive to this seemingly innocent question. "Oh, he's great!" you reply, ducking out of wherever this is going. "He just raised another round of funding, so he's going to be able to expand his company more!" "That's great, but that doesn't answer my question," she says. "How. Is. Pav?" she enunciates. Her top two teeth peek out, pressing into her lower lip. You start to sweat, remembering the topic of conversation you'd been on. Gwen had given you the New York Times review of all the wild shit her and Miles had gotten up to since you last talked to her. You'd immediately learned that drunk Gwen has zero concept of propriety. "He is...the best, honestly," you deflect, but voice still deeply earnest. "I mean, can I ask for more than a handsome man with great hair who takes care of me when I'm sick, he even cleaned me up and—" "zzzzz, BORING!" Gwen shouts. She gives you a good-natured but maybe a tad too aggressive shove on the shoulder. "Skip to the good part, I want details!" "Gwen, I don't know if I should be—" you try to dissuade her. "Back when he was with Gayatri, we got trashed and she told me he was eating good, is that still true?" she whisper-growls with a saucy wink, in no way trying to lower the volume of her voice.

"Gwen!" you chide. Blood rushes piping hot to your face, heart absolutely banging off the walls of your chest. Gwen cackles maniacally and nearly spills her drink on your nice sofa. "Christ on a crutch, (You), your fucking face right now is precious! It's just a lil' girl talk, nothing here leaves this room, you get me?" she rambles. "Well, I mean, I wouldn't even know what to say about...about—" you stammer. "Oh come on! It's not like you're some kind of virgin or somethi—wait, holy shit, are you a virgin?" Gwen's eyes widen. You think she looks like a fish staring like that. "Oh my god, you're a virgin! That's so sweet!" she cooes at you. She reaches to pinch one of your cheeks. "No! No no no no, it's not like that! I'm not a virgin, definitely not, we just haven't—" you race to clarify, hands waving in front of your face. "Well what's the holdup, then? Are you guys trying to up the sexual tension? Are you saving yourselves for some special occasion or..." Gwen wonders aloud, before tapping her fingers together while her face morphs into a faux-dismayed expression. "You're not scared to be with him, are you?" "No way!" your rejection of the idea is immediate, emphatic. Gwen doesn't seem to have heard that, however, with the way she keeps on prattling.

"Like, I totally get it, he's Spider-Man, he's loaded, he's got some experience, he's really fucking attractive, that's intimidating and all for, like ninety-nine percent of everybody, but I promise he really wants to be with you too, you don't have to just fantasize when you—" "Gwennnnn, for Christ's sake, I do not fantasize about my boyfriend and—" you interrupt that very, very salacious thought. "What?! Why on Earth would you not? Who are you fantasizing to?? Is it Tom Holland??" Gwen questions in rapid-fire, face clearly scandalized. "What the fuck, Gwen. No," you deny. "I'm not fantasizing about any of these people, I'm not fantasizing, period." Gwen seems awfully confused by that statement. "But, how else is a girl supposed to get off by herself? I don't get it." You shrug your shoulders. "I don't know, I must be broken or something. I've never had an orgasm," you deadpan. "You what??" Gwen sits up ramrod straight, flabbergasted. "What?" a shocked third voice sounds outside the apartment. Followed immediately by a blur of red and blue at the window near your fire escape, and then a heavy crash. You and Gwen share an alarmed look for a moment. You can almost see the steam coming out of Gwen's ears, she marches over to the window, pulls it open, and with a terrifying force, yanks the eavesdropper into the apartment by the hair. "Ow, ow, shit!" the voice yelps. It's very familiar, you realize. Because it's your boyfriend. "Pavitr Prabhakar, you have five seconds to explain to me why in the fuck you were spying on our private conversation—" Gwen starts reading him the riot act. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to..." Pavitr's groveling, apologies awkwardly spilling from his lips like a leaky P-trap. You don't stick around to hear them. You about-face and beeline to your room to curl up and die of mortification, only briefly stopping to consider that you just watched your seemingly-normal human friend drag a superhero into the apartment by the hair, like she might bring in a small bag of groceries. How much did he hear? Would he think worse of you? Did he hear Gwen talking about his— Nope, we're not doing this today.

You belly-flop onto the bed. Your pillow makes a great set of earmuffs, and doubles nicely as a dark cave to stick your head into while you hear Gwen and Pavitr arguing (more accurately, Gwen winning the argument in a one-sided fashion while your boyfriend tries and fails to form a coherent sentence) in the kitchen. Your head is spinning, dust kicking up from discussions put to the side for far too long that is now filling your lungs. You're not sure why you and him haven't talked about this, whether it was fear, nerves—

Was he scared of you?

You're not sure how long you're hiding there for, but there's one, two, three soft knocks, the squeal of your door-hinge, then, a dip in your mattress. You know it's Pavitr right away when you feel the soothing stroke of a hand on your upper arm.

"Can I hide under there too?" he softly asks.

The idea of your big, strong, superhero boyfriend being scared of Gwen Stacy makes you giggle (although it's not hard to be scare of Gwen Stacy, if you're honest with yourself). You lift the pillow up and make some room on the bed, he lays down on his side to face you, suit and all, save for his mask.

"I'm sorry if I said anything that was—" you begin.

"I'm sorry I was listening to your—" he talks across you.

You both pause. Pavitr sighs heavily and rubs his sore scalp.

"I deserved that," he admits.

"I'm not so sure you did. The direction that conversation was going was..." you trail off, you gesture vaguely in front of you, trying to communicate something to the effect of "cringe".

"You aren't broken," he says suddenly, determined.

You snap your head up to meet his eyes. They're serious and shine with resolve.

"I'm...I don't get it," you say.

"You're not broken for never having an orgasm. And I'm not convinced you can't," he explains.

You chew on the thought for a bit.

"I mean...I've tried on my own, until I just gave up. That sounds like a 'me' problem," you mumble.

"Look, I know you might not believe me, and I know you might not even be interested but..." Pavitr hesitates, runs his hand through his thick, black hair. "I'll give you one. Or as many as you want, I don't know. And I don't want you to worry about doing anything for me, or for anything to hurt, I just want...fuck, (You), my heart broke when I heard that," he admits. His mouth is wilted into a pained frown.

Your face droops, you hate the idea of sweet, sensitive Pavitr being sad on your account.

"Pav, I don't want to get your hopes up though, I feel bad already that with all of the—the bullshit in our lives I haven't taken the time to think about your own needs and—"

"No. You're the one who had three boyfriends that couldn't be assed with your needs, and were put in a situation where your choice was taken away from you, even though it didn't get anywhere," he cuts you off immediately with an open hand below your collarbone. "The only 'need' I have is the need to show you it can be so, so good when you're with someone who loves you. But only on your terms, only ever when you feel the time is right."

You feel the urge to turn away, but you can't resist Pavitr's puppy-dog eyes, the kind he gets when he sees a stray animal that he wants to adopt on the spot.

"You seem very invested in this," you tell him, like it's a strange idea. Should it be?

"I just wanna make my girl feel good" he cooes. He pulls your face against the hollow of his throat. "Hobie told you once that you could ask for whatever you damn-well wanted, and I wouldn't say no. He's not wrong, you know."

"So you are an eavesdropper!" you accuse him.

"Okay, the Amazing Spider-Man has a minor personality flaw, sue me," he snarks, but is sure to drop a kiss in your hair after the words leave his lips. "My point stands, though. If there's anything you ever wanted to try, I'd love to do it for you. That includes giving you your first orgasm. And your second, your third, your forty-eighth—"

"Forty-eight?" you gasp.

"That's really not that many!" he protests, which earns him a well-deserved flick to the forehead from you. "But, in any case, it's up to you. Like I told you when we first got together, all at your pace, sweet girl. If the thought strikes your fancy, just say the word."

"I'll think about it," you agree.

"That's all I can ask of you," he says, and brings your hand to his lips to kiss your palm.

---- The heat in Pavitr's room is stifling. The air conditioner isn't cutting it, you're in a tee and sleep shorts while he's shirtless in jeans, you only have the energy to watch an old sitcom on the bedroom TV while Pavitr works out the fatigue from your sore feet. You lay with your legs across his lap, hissing when the pad of his thumb digs in to your arch. "Darling, you have to start wearing actual shoes when doing big chores," he gently chastises you. "A slipper is a shoe," you argue back. Pavitr's thumb arcs up towards of the ball of your foot and you wince when he lands on a tender spot. "Your poor, abused feet don't seem to think so," he retorts. "Well, then you can make it better later with those magic hands of yours, mister 'I'm so good at everything'", you declare. Pavitr snickers, his thumbs find their way to the lower end of your calf, just above your ankle. "I'm good at a lot of things, dove, but not everything," he says in dulcet tones, one corner of his mouth quirked up just so. Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's the perfect amount of pressure his hands are putting on your leg. Maybe it's the silky feel of his voice when it resonates in your ears. But today, you start to notice a difference. You feel...aware, like a deep itch, well below the layers of skin, muscle, fat. A thirst, yet, your mouth feels full and cottony from the humid air of the room. "You're very good with your hands," you praise. The knot in your leg dissipates, and he moves on, this time pressing at the outer side, halfway up near the heart of the muscle. You exhale as he draws slow, deep circles into the tension there, it's achy, but it's pleasant, too. Pleasant in a way that makes your legs twitch, something that Pavitr doesn't miss under his thumb. "So I've been told. Among some other things," he purrs. This tone has always brought you to your knees when he used it, and he knows it. Today, however, the shiver you feel isn't the same as the others, instead of a nervous, delighted tickle, it curves lower, warmer, lingers a bit beneath your ribcage in a thick haze.

Pavitr lifts your leg by the calf, places an open-mouthed kiss over the imprint his thumb left there. Then, a second one next to it, intentional, calculated. The stuffiness of the room is so much you think you could scoop it into a glass and drink. "Pav..." you murmur. It's a little bit questioning, a little bit commanding, a little bit hesitant. The show's laugh track rings obnoxious in the background. "Sonu...you should take me up on that offer," he suggests. Or is it pleading? "...Right now?" you gulp. You can feel your pulse in your voicebox. "If you wanna," he affirms. "You don't need to do anything, just relax and...enjoy." The juncture of your thighs starts to feel uncomfortably sticky against the fabric of your shorts, you fight the urge to press them together. "What did you have in mind?" you inquire. Pavitr rolls over to kiss at your shin, then the inside of your knee before crawling up your body to level with your ear, you can feel his breath tickling the shell. "I think Gwen mentioned to you that I'm happiest when I'm eating well," he husks directly into it, and then traces the inner rim of it with the very point of his tongue. You shiver from the contact, from his words, the way they felt so close to your skin, or the teasing of his tongue, you're not sure which. You're definitely pressing your thighs together now. "Good luck with that. It's been tried, and hasn't worked," you warn him. You hate the idea of him doing all that hard work for no reward. Pavitr is nonplussed, he takes your face in hand to kiss you slow, beginning the dance you know well by now. "Did whoever was trying give you head for its own sake? Or were they trying to butter you up with oral so they could say they did before doing what they wanted?" he asks pointedly, one eyebrow quirked. You don't have to think about it for very long, you've never been given this on its own. Only before sex, and it'd be difficult to argue they were into it, or trying particularly hard to please you. "You're probably right. I don't think they were trying too hard at all. But I should have felt...something, right?" you wonder. Pavitr sighs and sadly shakes his head. "There's a world of difference if someone really wants take their time and make you feel good, instead of just half-assing it so you'll give in. It also helps to have...skill, which I can promise you, I have plenty of," he slips you a wink and licks his lips, and the subsequent jolt of thrill makes your core twitch. "All you need to know is that this is for you. I wanna give you oral because I love you, dammit. No strings, no bullshit, just very, very good head. I'll give you the best orgasm of your life, and it's going to be amazing. Sound good?" You worry your lip with your canine, thighs squeezing together at the image he's planted in your head. Pavitr waits for your reply patiently, he's not leering, his expression is fond, gentle. He's never led you astray before, so he wouldn't now, right? Right? "But...if I can't?" you trail off, leaving Pavitr to fill in the blank. He does, with ease, one hand takes yours and gives it a soft squeeze. "If something's not working for you, we can change it. If it doesn't happen today, then no hard feelings, we'll go back to what we were doing. Even if you don't orgasm, sex can still feel really good in and of itself," two of his long, elegant fingers walk along your arm while he talks, voice even and mellow. "And when you feel done, we'll be done. It's like a conversation, we go down a line, and change the topic when it feels right to," he explains, kisses your knuckles on the back of your hand. "I think I can get you there, I think you just weren't given a fair shake and need someone to actually try. But if it doesn't happen, we can try again another time. Or never, you're wonderful all the same." You exhale through pursed lips. "Okay, I'd like to try at least," you acquiesce. Pavitr nudges your chin with his hand. "Do you want to try? Or do you just feel like you should because I asked?"

You understand immediately what he's asking. His eyes are soft, but stern, he scans your face for any sign you are simply appeasing him, rather than agreeing of your own enthusiasm. He's searching for fear and apprehension where there should be desire, curiosity. You don't think you've ever been asked this, and while you can't say your past experiences were ever coerced, save for the circumstances under which you and Pavitr met, you're grateful that he's thinking of this.

"I do want to," you confirm. "I'm...nervous that I'll be disappointed again, but what you're offering feels different from what it's been like...before. You've never given me any reason not to trust you, and I'm ready to try if it's with you."

You smile up at your boyfriend, and Pavitr seems satisfied with this answer. His eyes darken further than the rich cocoa they already are, and he leans in to kiss your mouth deeply, explores every ridge, every surface of it with his tongue, a little preview of his repertoire.

"I am going to eat you up so well, for hours," he rasps directly into your ear, leaving you shuddering, getting even wetter at the seam of your shorts. "On my bed, on the kitchen counter, in my car, on my desk at work after everyone's gone home, every damn day if I have to until you come on my tongue. You deserve that much, dove." His lips ghost on the shell, then along the hollow of your throat, where he leaves gentle, slow little nips and sucks while he crawls back down your body.

You have enough sense to turn off the television before he's back over your legs, kisses and suckles getting closer and closer to the hem of your sleep shorts. Your breaths catch and stutter, each little contact a sweet torture that leaves you jumping under his mouth, your center grows slicker and you'd think he could smell you from here.

And then, to your surprise, he stops. He reaches behind you for one of the pillows.

"Lift your hips a bit for me, darling," he instructs, the tone of his voice honey-sweet.

You comply, confused, and he slides the pillow beneath them.

"What's this for?" you ask.

Pavitr grins brightly and plops a smooch on one kneecap.

"So my girlfriend is comfy, of course!" he says in a voice almost inappropriately upbeat for the situation.

Your heart melts at this thoughtfulness, never has anyone you know associated the word "comfy" with sex, but with someone as attentive as Pavitr, you're learning things can be different. Maybe those words should go together, you think.

Pavitr's nails catch on the waistband of your sleep shorts, they pause there.

"Yes?" he asks, looks to you for your assent through the dark curtain of his fringe.

You're frozen in time when you meet his eyes. It's not a particularly hard choice. It's easy enough to say no, sorry you're not ready for that. Or even ask if you can reschedule to next Wednesday, maybe work it in between the gym and your dentist appointment. He'd be happy to drop it and continue doing what you were doing, wait a hundred years if he had to. What sways you is when you meet his rich, coffee-colored eyes and there's no

want I want gimme give it lemme grab tug squeeze grab take have

You're so used to that by now. No, these eyes are soft, round, curious, even. Curious to know this part of you, to share this with you, a whispered secret on the breath of butterfly wings. To give you something that was always denied, see the way your face would light up when you got there. By the look on his face, you knew Pavitr wasn't lusting after you and what was under the shorts, no, he wanted to try, and you knew that he'd only ever try if it was for you.

"Yes," you affirm. There's no warble in the note of your voice.

Pavitr grins, lazily and closed-mouthed, hooks his fingers around the elastic and starts working the whole thing down in one shot, shorts and underwear all. Warm lips press to the bony cradle just above your mound, your hips twitch under their smack.

"Thank you for trusting me with your body, sweet girl," he says. "I promise you, you will not regret this."

The shorts are worked over your knees, your ankles, and then they're off. Your knees drop off to the sides, you ponder closing them for a moment, covering yourself up like the shy virgin you once were all that time ago. That thought doesn't get a chance to linger, as sloppy, sucking kisses are quickly alternating up your inner thighs, firm enough not to tickle, but enough for the muscle to tense beneath Pavitr's mouth with a yelp, the sensitive spot a direct line to your exposed core.

"Aanhh—" you whine as Pavitr gets closer and closer to where you'd really like him to be. He does get awfully close, the rounded point of his nose bumping against the juncture of your hip and thigh, the corner of his mouth brushing the curve of your vulva as he inhales, smiles. Suddenly, the really nice pressure is sadly gone, Pavitr's propped up on his elbows and gazing down between your legs, while you're slack-jawed huffing and puffing from arousal.

"You're really pretty here," he husks. He mouths at the soft swell just below your navel with deep mauve-colored lips, lets warmth curl up there.

"Why are you staring?" you whinge, averting your eyes.

"Why not? This part of you is divine," Pavitr waxes poetic. "And you deserve to be told as much, because it doesn't sound like you've been hearing it."

"Umm...thanks? I guess?" you sputter, incredulously. You want to shrink away from the compliment, but your boyfriend (your insufferable sap of a boyfriend) isn't having it.

"Shush, you," he jokingly chides, his breath hot against your delicate flesh. "Go away. Let me explain to my girlfriend that her pussy is perfect in peace."

"Pavitr, you're obnoxio—oh FUCK!" your words are cut off with a cry as your entire cunt is swallowed up in a sucking kiss, like the ones Pavitr had dotted along your thighs. There's nothing lazy or perfunctory about this, the suction is just right and there's nothing like the way his soft lips feel sliding against your intimate skin. He pops off with a wet, lewd smack that rebounds around the bedroom.

Pavitr snickers lowly at your reaction, and turns his head to take each of your lower lips between his, run his tongue along and beside the soft, fatty parts before delicately suckling the inner lips betwixt them. His next kiss finishes with a deep lick, one that parts your lower lips at the seam and makes you jump when a wet tongue brushes past your clit.

"Good?" he asks, an inquisitive arch on his brow as he attempts to get a glimpse of your face. His mouth doesn't leave your pussy, simply ghosts against it when he speaks. It's a hint of a touch that makes you prickle, teeny frissons along your spine from your core that sprout behind your ears.

"Very," you tell him, nodding furiously, hoping that will spur him to get on with it.

Pavitr smears a messy, affectionate kiss to the inside of your left thigh before securing his hands on the crests of your hips.

"Love you," he purrs. He nuzzles against the inner thigh with his cheek before returning to his work.

Pavitr treats you to a make-out session with your lower lips, his tongue and lips exploring every dip and curve he can find. Every flick, kiss, suck, even gentle tugs between his teeth carries intention, you can feel the weight of it in each stroke. This is not the same halfhearted attempts at the pretense of 'doing his part' you're used to, he's losing himself to the task, eyes fluttered shut behind the ebony drape of his hair as he drinks you down. It's the same way he moves his mouth when he takes a bite out of a ripe mango, your wetness dripping down his chin when he slurps on your sex. "Pavi....Pav...hah..." you wheeze. Your chest heaves in harsh breaths as a delicious, gentle heat stretches out low in your belly and finds a home there. Your boyfriend steadily continues to make love to you with his mouth, you can't resist locking your ankles together atop his upper back, he responds in turn by scooching your hips just that little bit closer, wanting as close to zero space between his tongue and your intimate flesh as possible. "Your taste, it's sofuckengood, fuck," Pavitr slurs into your cunt. You notice him shifting around just out of your field of vision. Is he...rutting his hips into the bed? Pavitr licks straight up your seam on the flat of his tongue, ends with a suck on your clit that's enough to pull it out of its hood. A sharp bolt of pleasure triggers your cunt to clench around nothing. "Holyshitholyshitdontstop" you babble to the room. Your feet kick out behind him, your hand that was bunching up the flat sheet flies to his shade-colored waves, tangles in the dense mop of hair to hold his face against your pussy. "That's the plan, dove," Pavitr rasps. He gets right back to it, delivering the same treatment to every part of your pussy. The two-o'-clock sunlight streams in rich sheafs through the window, it leaves amber dapples on his back that bend and stretch with every flex of his well-developed back muscles, they collect in the valley of his spine, the two little dimples that sit above his waistband.

This? This is nice. It's nice like this, the both of you laying here, embraced by the mid-day sun. Pleasure laps at you like waves at low tide, it's warm, warm like the sand between your toes. Your boyfriend is taking your pussy apart with his mouth, the touch of his tongue isn't teasing, neither harsh, nor lazy. It's earnest, steady, and oh is it affectionate, too. He's not here to pay some sort of toll or fee to access your body, he's basking in how wet you're getting for him, the plush of your skin against his lips, your heady scent, the sharpness of your flavor on his tongue. Pavitr's mouth cherishes this entire part of you the same way he does to the rest of you with his words. He's in no hurry, but he has no intention of making you beg or plead for your first release, he simply wishes to take you by the hand and lead you there, walk you to the door and kiss you goodnight at the threshold of a place you didn't believe existed. He knows the way, has learned the road well, and guides you there with no fuss. Yes, you think, this is nice. It starts out as a fullness, a pressure on the inside that makes you want to tighten up, squeeze around it and keep it from getting out. The pleasure sitting heavy in your belly becomes urgent, it sinks low, low, lower. The sensation is strangely familiar to you, but it's off. You feel like you're about to burst, about to— "Pavitr, stop, I'm gonna—I have to—" you reach with your free hand to stop him. Pavitr finds your hand with one of his, takes it and laces your fingers together.

"Hey. No, sweet girl, this is good. You're supposed to feel that. It means you're here," he explains, gives his head a shake so you can meet his eyes without his hair in the way. A thumb strums back and forth along the dorsum of your hand. "All you have to do is let it ride. I'll catch you, I always have," he reassures. Your head feels like it's full of bees, it feels like there's a water balloon sitting low in the cradle of your pelvis, it's scary, it's intimate, but you want more. "You promise?" you ask timidly. It seems silly to ask this of him, but you do anyway. Pavitr responds with a kiss, the softest one yet, to your lower lips. "Baby girl, I'd promise you everything," he almost growls into your pussy.

Pavitr renews his focus onto your clit, taking it between his lips and tracing upon it the outlines of flower petals with his tongue. He sups on you, over and over again, batters your pearl about with the point of his tongue, coaxing it out from its protective cloak with a please please oh please pretty please. He does not demand, he waits, arms outstretched. The fullness and urgency quickly returns, you clench down, breath held instinctively. You can't hold it anymore, you yank on his hair, and he moans into your vulva when he feels the sharp twinge on his scalp. You feel like you're going to pop and his face is right there eating you and he said he'd catch you and he's holding your hand when you pav pav pav please oh please pav i have to It's warm here The molten heat nested below your navel loses its shape, pours like molasses down your legs, between your ribs, to the points of your fingers and burbles at your throat. Warm, sticky, wet, spilling out of your core in a steady trickle. Your voice catches in a sigh, the floor of your ribcage drops as the tension eases away in a steady throb, you feel it in your cunt as Pavitr keeps on drawing mindless doodles over your clit with his mouth. It's not fireworks, it's not an explosion, it's sunrise on the roof, three o' clock on the beach in July, it's hot chocolate in December, sticky sweet affection poured into you through your sex and spilling out over the edges. It's a safe place, a joyful place, bubbly, bright, and warm. A place, a home he built for you beneath your skin, in a grove you've been too wary, too exhausted to claim as your own. He presses the key into your palm, at long last, and you are all too happy to invite him inside, in that space between your ribs. Your eyes flutter shut as a gentle tongue laps slowly, soothingly at your swollen flesh, cleans up your release as you give yourself over to the ebb of the tide. Lips tenderly trail up your mound, your navel, your sternum, your nose. Hands cup your face as the lips find purchase on your forehead, your unfocused eyes open to fuzzy strokes of bronze, charcoal, ivory. "Yes, Ahava, hello. Hi," Pavitr purrs. Your eyes adjust, the blotches of color wend into a familiar form, and there he is. He's positively glowing, both with a fondness and pride, not of himself, but for you, like he's swallowed down the sun itself. His chin and mouth bear a fine gloss from your wetness. "Whazzat? Pav?" you burble, your tongue fumbling with the words. You find that you've been curiously transformed into a pile of mush, your corporeal form broken free of its solid container.

Your boyfriend chuckles above you, and brushes a few downy hairs off your forehead where sweat holds them down.

"How's that orgasm treating you?" he smugly inquires. "...S'nice," you slur, not quite realizing how dopey your face must look. "Kinda feels like I have to pee." Pavitr covers his mouth with his hands to hide his laughter. "Alright, well, you hang tight and enjoy the afterglow, beautiful. I just need two seconds to take care of something real quick," he says. You watch as he reaches over the side of the bed and fishes around for something. "Where are you going?" you ask, a wave of sadness and worry coming over you, remembering past partners who would never stay when the act was said and done, leaving you to your feelings. "Nowhere, silly," he teases, tongue stuck out. "Just gotta make a wardrobe adjustment, then all the snuggles you can handle, I promise." You find yourself unable to reply when he works his jeans off of his hips, and the boxer-briefs with them. The tips of your ears heat up like a gas grill when you're given a generous glimpse of prominent hip bones, lithe, defined quads, and an absolutely sumptuous ass that makes your mouth water, you resist the urge to sink your teeth into it. "Hey, Pavitr, I can, 'yanno, return the favor," you offer. "Oh, that won't be necessary," he quickly replies as he skips the boxer briefs and pulls on a pair of sweats he'd left on the floor. A hint of something you can't put your finger on tinges the timbre of his voice, and that's when you notice the flush in his cheeks. Oh.

"Pav...did you...?" you hesitate to say it out loud, your brain refusing to form the words. Pavitr crawls up the bed next to you, immediately rewarding you with the tightest, most perfect snuggle he's ever given you. You're face to face, noses but a hair's breadth apart. "As a matter of fact, I did," he admits, turning his cheek into the pillow. "Knowing I was giving you this experience and seeing how much you were enjoying it, it was so damn erotic and I couldn't help but go off the edge with you. Imagine that, being the woman that made Spider-Man come in his pants by just being." "Well, I'm glad I could do that for you," you jape. Your head feels less foggy, the afterglow abating to something cozy and secure, nicely contained in Pavitr's hold. "I'm glad I could do this for you," he counters with a tap of a finger to your nose. "This was all for you, anyway, you owe me nothing. I knew you could do it, and I'm so proud of you. You just needed a patient hand. Or tongue," he winks. "You're insufferable," you groan, burying your head against his bare chest. Pavitr chortles and kisses the top of your head. "I'm talented. And I have many, many orgasms to make up for," he rebukes. His voice feels like silk, it's dripping with ego and it makes your mouth go dry. "Hopefully they're all like this one was. I keep hearing that it's supposed to be...erm...explosive, but this one was just...nice," you comment. Pavitr considers this a moment, and then you know you fucked up when you see his lips quirk into a wicked grin, a devilish gleam in his eye as one hand tightens its grip around your bare hip. "I see...say, I don't think I ever returned the favor for that upside down kiss you gave me when we met," he muses aloud. "No, I don't believe you did," you confirm, wondering where he's going with this. "Oh..." he rises to a kneel on the bed, the covers falling away to expose your calves. "Then I guess now might be a good time to do just that," he proposes.

"What do you mean by tha—ohgod!" you yip, as Pavitr uses his enhanced strength to pull you down the bed by your ankles, and then hoist your thighs all the way up to his ears, his hands settling on your hips. You're nearly suspended entirely upside-down and he's immediately ravaging your sensitive cunt with this mouth, lewd smacks rebound around the room as the blade of his tongue digs deep between your lower lips. "Jesus fuck, Pav, why are you so good at everything?" you whine, your heels thumping against his back, an expression of the pleasure rapidly coursing through your body. Pavitr doesn't reply to this, only hums an acknowledgement into your pussy. At this angle, the extra pressure from his face on your clit does a lot of work, and being manhandled by your superhero boyfriend like a ragdoll...yes please. His fingers curl into the flesh of your thighs, his lips lathe aggressively at your inner lips and clit, you can only watch as he pulls his head up just enough to tug at them with a firm suck that makes something deep in your core light up like Christmas, and then releases them with a salacious pop before going right back in to swallow, to consume, to lap you up until there's nothing left to. Pavitr's playing for keeps this time, he's not looking for a gentle release, he wants to give you the orgasm you've only heard about in stories, one that knocks you on your ass that you'll still feel the next morning. He's nothing if not a show-off, and that trait of his is on full display.

"Pavitr Prabhak—ah!" you moan, your legs flailing behind him. "You smug jackass! It's not faaaaaaair!"

Your kicking and screaming (literally) does nothing. Pavitr doesn't let up, his lips and tongue devour and his face smashes into your pussy in relentless pursuit of your climax. You squirm, but his mouth chases, and with you upside down in what you would have never expected the Spider-Man kiss to entail, you're helpless to stop it, vulnerable and ripe for the taking. But you're safe. Cared for. Loved. You can feel it in how his grip on you is gentle enough to leave no marks, the way his thumbs stroke over the skin there. The way he bends forward just enough to keep your head and shoulders on the pillow so you won't hit them on anything, or get dizzy. This scene is filthy, pornographic even with his athleticism, but as your second peak of the night comes hurtling at you, neither of you have ever felt more in love than you do right now. You have trusted him with your body in all ways like you rarely have before, and he's more than shown you he's worthy.

You come with a shout, you clench hard on empty space until you can't, it feels like a sneeze, an insane blossom of pure ecstasy from your center that blooms in a riot of red, pink, yellow, orange behind your eyelids. You feel your cunt gushing, squirting even, followed by an immense relief. Your heart pounds in your ears, your ribcage struggles to expand and contract with your breathing, it feels like you're flying, soaring in the wind. There's a fizzling, tickling feeling creeping along your arms and legs and worming its way into your brain, your pussy feels aflame, overtaxed despite the calming strokes Pavitr is now using to soak up your juices. Your abs feel sore, and you feel physically and emotionally drained, the overstimulation hits all at once, and—are you crying?

"Awww little love, it's okay. Come here, darling, I've gotcha, shhhh," Pavitr's voice breaks through the swell of emotions frothing in your chest, he sets your legs down and bundles you close beneath the blankets. "You've been through a lot of new things today, sonu. You're overwhelmed, it's completely normal and your mind just needs a minute to sort itself out," he explains, you turn your head to see all traces of mischief gone from it, only soft features remain. The flat of a hand drags up and down your spine, warm lips dot squishy kisses along your cheek and temple. "I—I thought I was broken," you blubber. "I've been trying for years." "Not broken at all, no ma'am, I even double checked," he quips with a wink. It makes you snort and you can't stop yourself from swatting his chest. "You simply hadn't been shown how sex is supposed to be: none of it works if you're not feeling safe or secure first," he says more seriously. The blunt edges of his nails slowly drag along your back, scratching carefully, it's deeply satisfying and it makes you feel calm.

"So you're saying I couldn't for so long because...I wasn't feeling safe?" you ask, past memories starting to click into place.

"Mmm, precisely so," Pavitr hums. An unhurried kiss is fluttered against your lips, the flavor a bit different than the ones before, you wonder if it's you that you're tasting. "Sex is art, dove. It doesn't just come down to technique, if your mind is worried or not feeling cared for, you're not going to be able to be vulnerable with yourself enough to feel good, or your partner, for that matter. Your partner needs to be invested in your experience, and not as a means to an end for them," he explains, his nose nuzzling yours now. "That means taking the time to make you comfortable, listening to you and instead of rushing you through, and for fuck's sake, they need to give proper aftercare, Jesus," he finishes his rant with a grumble. The protective hold around you tightens, cuing you to snuggle closer into your boyfriend.

"Aftercare...is that why I got upset when an ex went to play video games when we were done?" you ask, everything suddenly making so much more sense.

Pavitr shudders and pulls you even closer, if that were possible, you burrow into his chest. Your legs tangle together under the blanket as he kisses the space between your eyebrows.

"Oh my God, why are men like this," he mumbles under his breath. "Yes, aftercare is making sure your partner is feeling okay and safe after you're done. Sex is intense, physically and emotionally, and if they weren't making the effort to take care of you like this after, it's no wonder you didn't have any fond memories of it. I hate that those were your first experiences, but that will never happen again, I can promise you that."

"Oh...so right now, this...this is aftercare?" you ask shyly. You think it sounds silly at your big age to be asking this, but since you're both putting everything on the table, you might as well learn for the future.

Pavitr senses the discomfort and tips your chin up to meet his eyes. They're still sparkling, but carry a stern edge to them.

"Hey, there are no dumb questions with me," he firmly reassures, his eyes softening further. "Yes, this is one way aftercare can look. It can also mean things like...like rubbing their back, or watching a movie they like together. Maybe even taking a bath with them or giving them a massage, just little things to reassure them and help them come down gently from an intense moment. It's the best part, in my book," he purrs.

You're inclined to agree. You're all tuckered out, your limbs have definitely turned to jelly with no chance of reconstitution, you feel buzzy on the inside in the best way, and it's warm and toasty here under the blankets, tangled up together, his bare skin on your cheek. You're basking in each other's afterglow and he's lavishing as much affection on you as he's got to offer, there's nothing closer, nothing better than this. Well, except maybe one thing...

"Can we...can we take a bath too?" you suggest, uncertainly.

Pavitr scrunches up his round nose as his eyes wrinkle at the corners.

"You act like I'd say no to that. Of course we can, dove!" he exclaims. "You're the one who had her first two orgasms in a row, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't let you pick?" he's already hefting himself off the bed to carry you there himself.

"Together with me?" you kiss at the juncture of his shoulder and neck, all you can reach from his hold, your feet dangle limply in the bridal carry. Pavitr looks down on you with a besotted expression.

"I like the sound of that," he cooes in your ear as you cross the room. "And I wanna wash your hair with my shampoo again, I loved smelling it on you the next morning."

"But Pav, your shampoo is expensive!" you protest.

"You just had a screaming orgasm, like, ten minutes ago, let me spoil you at least a little," he counters. He nudges the door open where it's ajar with a hip check, being sure not to jostle you.

"That's already spoiling me!" you argue.

Pavitr laughs, deeply kisses your mouth like he did your center, and closes the bathroom door behind him with his heel.

[ccbb2222]

You Know I Hate it When You Cry: Part 9

Catch up on Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

Bradley Bradshaw x Reader pairing

Summary: Reader tells Bradley how she feels and later, receives an unexpected visitor. ******Extra warning for this chapter — mentions of domestic violence, blood.

Warnings: *** This story contains Mentions of Abuse (physical, emotional, sexual)*** Please be advised this could be triggering. Angst, Protective and adorable Rooster.

18+ Minors DNI.

"Just like that, fuck baby." Bradley breathes in your ear as you ride him hard and fast.

You found Bradley to be a helpful distraction from the stress of the past few days. And now, as you grip his shoulders and tilt your head back, his mouth wraps around your right nipple, and you lose yourself in the pleasure he provides for you.

His mouth releases your nipple and grabs your ass in his large palm, "Gonna come for me?" He grunts, his hips drilling up into you.

"Yes," You groan, moving his hand from your ass and guiding his fingers towards your clit.

He smirks at you as his fingers find your clit, circling it expertly, "Good girl, telling me what you want."

The pressure builds up inside of you as the coil in your stomach tightens. "Bradley, I'm gonna come, baby, please." You moan as your vision starts to blacken and you tighten around him.

"Fuuuuck, angel," He practically whines as he feels you tightening around him. He finishes with a few sloppy thrusts, resting his forehead against yours, and catching his breath. After a few moments, he pulls out of you, and you roll off of him to get cleaned up in the bathroom. You return to see Rooster propped up in his bed, arm behind his head and a small smirk on his face. "You've been pretty insatiable the past few days."

You smile, crawling into bed next to him and resting your head on his chest. "You're a great distraction," You tell him, "My psychotic ex may be trying to stalk me, but I get to have mind-blowing sex with you every day."

Bradley lets out a low chuckle, "Mind-blowing, huh?" His arms grasp you tighter to his chest, "That's a pretty great review."

You laugh, hugging him tight. While he was an excellent distraction, you knew your reality was a dangerous one. If Grant's past persistence taught you anything, it was that he was determined to get what he wanted.

"Bradley?" You say, looking up into his eyes.

"What is it, baby?" He asks, hand stroking your arm gently.

"I," You clam up. Were you really going to drop this on him? Now? Your brain races, and you can't fathom something happening to you and Bradley not knowing how you really felt about him.

"I, um," You take a deep breath, "I think I'm falling in love with you."

Silence.

Another beat, Bradley breathes in and you feel your heart slam against your chest.

"What?" He says finally, his eyebrows raised.

"Please don't make me repeat it," You whisper, looking down and already feeling the regret hit you like a tidal wave. You start to pull away from him, embarrassment taking over.

"Hey, hey," He says, reaching for you, and grabbing your chin. "Baby I'm sorry I hesitated." He sighs, returning his hand to run through his hair anxiously. "It's just that I've never been in love. It just...never got that serious with anyone. I'm not sure I even know what it is. But the way you make me feel every day is something I've never felt before either." His eyebrows furrow, "Being with you makes me feel like the luckiest guy in the world." You nod, trying to follow him.

He sighs, smiling softly at you, "Baby, I think I'm falling in love with you too," He says with a gentle shrug of his shoulders, and you knew he meant it. He had that look in his eyes.

You reach for his face, running your fingers gently along his scars and you watch as his eyes flutter shut. Kissing each eyelid you pull him into an embrace. Warm, gentle, safe.

______________

"Baby, you sure you're okay here for a few hours?" Bradley checks, looking at you carefully.

You nod, placing a pot of water on the stove and turning it on. "Bradley of course, I'm ok, I promise."

He sighs, running an uneasy hand through his hair. "I don't know, I just feel anxious about leaving you here by yourself." "Roos, don't worry. Plus, I don't want to be the reason Hangman doesn't have enough guys for the tee time." Bradley had plans with the dagger crew for Hangman's birthday. The guys had gotten a tee time at the local golf course to play a round of golf (which, according to Bradley, would mainly entail drinking beers and making fun of the way Coyote swings a golf club).

He chuckles, pulling you into a hug. "I'm going to have my phone on in case you need me. I don't care if you call during Hangman's backswing...on second thought — maybe you can call during his backswing just to piss him off."

You laugh, "It's his birthday, let's be nice. Plus, I'll be at the Hard Deck with you all tonight to celebrate. Penny told me to work a half shift so I can spend the second half of the night with my favorite guys."

"You mean your favorite guy." Bradley says pointing to himself.

"You're so cheesy." You laugh, "Now hurry up! You're going to be late."

"Aye, ma'am." He says, kissing you hungrily before pulling away. "Text or call if you need anything. Please." He says holding your gaze.

"Of course. Now, scoot!" You slap his butt with the wooden spoon you'd taken out to prepare your boxed mac and cheese.

"She's kinky," He winks and you scowl, "Okay okay! I'm leaving!"

You give him a final smile when he heads down the hallway to the front door, and you hear him lock it behind him.

Fifteen minutes later, you're sat on the couch in Bradley's apartment eating Annie's mac and cheese and flipping through the channels. It was definitely a trash tv kind of day.

You hear the door knob jiggle and you wonder if Bradley forgot his wallet. He was always forgetting things.

With a sigh you walk towards the door and open it swiftly, "Okay what did you forget this time?" Your heart lurches as you look at the person standing across from you.

"Grant." Your voice comes out in a whisper. Why hadn't you checked the peep hole? What a dumb mistake.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. You chastise yourself and your eyes are wide in panic.

"Hey baby," He says ,and you hate the way it sounds leaving his mouth.

"You shouldn't be here." You say firmly and turning to slam the door.

His foot catches the door and he places his hand on the outside of it, "Please, can we just talk?"

You shake your head. "No, Grant."

You watch his nice-guy routine start to fade as his forehead creases. "After all we've been through and you won't talk to me?"

You want to scream, but the words are frozen in your throat.

In the blink of an eye, he pushes past you into Bradley's apartment and shuts the door behind him.

"I can't believe you're with him." He spits out, shaking his head, "Some pilot who's probably fucking plenty of other women on the side. You think you're enough to keep a guy like that entertained?"

You try not to let his words affect you, but you'd be lying if you hadn't thought the same thing. You didn't know why Bradley wanted you, it also didn't make sense to you.

"Trust me baby, he'll get sick of you. Use you all up and leave you for a hotter girl. We both know it. I'd never do that to you baby. I'd make you my whole world. Just like before."

"You hurt me Grant." You say, tears springing to your eyes as you absorb the words he spews at you, "I told you to stop and you kept hurting me." "I never wanted to hurt you," He says, stepping toward you and your body tenses. "You know I didn't want to do it."

You dodge his hand as it comes up to wipe your tears away, and you watch his eyes darken.

"Please go, Grant." You plead, hoping somehow this wouldn't end the way you knew it would.

The hand that rose to wipe your tear dips down to grip your chin, hard.

"You need to stop this shit." He spits at you, "You had your fun. Got to be a whore and fuck another guy, but it's over now. You're coming home."

Your tears are flowing freely and you shake your head, "I'm not coming home, Grant."

He drops your chin and and his hand comes to slap across your cheek. Crying out in shock you grasp your face as he pushes you to the floor. Your head hits the corner of the entryway table on the way down and you feel the pain shoot across your temple.

"Please stop, please Grant!" You're shouting now. And his hand comes down to wrap around your neck.

Gasping for air you look up at him, his face contorted in anger. "I can't believe you're making me do this. Why are you acting like this?" He grits out.

Writhing on the floor you attempt to escape his grasp, only to be shoved harder into the floorboards.

"You think I want to do this?" He's yelling now too, "You think I want to be the bad guy here? If you just listened to me, I wouldn't have to do this. But you never listen."

Your breaths are coming in short gasps as you continue to fight against his stinging grip, and blood trickles into your hairline from where your head bashed against the table.

"I love you." You gasp out, "I love you. I'll go with you, please just stop." his grip loosens and you gasp for air.

"You'll come home?" He whispers.

"Yes baby, I'll come home. I'm so sorry." You whisper.

He places his lips on yours and you tense your shoulders. His lips are cold and chapped, and you feel like you're suffocating all over again.

A loud bang on the other side of the apartment door stalls you both. Grant pulls away to look at the door and you immediately feel a wave of relief come over you.

Shoving his chest off of you, you scrambled to the door. Grant grabs at your waist as you barrel towards the front door, fighting dizziness.

By some miracle, you make it to the front door and throw it open, leaning forward on the door frame to catch your balance.

A frazzled couple, one you recognized as Bradley's neighbors, stands on the opposite side of the door. They take in your appearance and stare back at you in shock.

"We heard screaming," the woman explains, looking over your shoulder at Grant.

You feel your vision turning black as you whisper to her, "Please help me."

_________________________________________

We're winding down - just a few parts left! Thank you all for coming along on this ride with me!

Part 9.5

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[blueberryshelves]

_______________________________________________

Book Review

Title: The Ivies Author: Alexa Donne

Series: stand-alone

No. of Pages: 336

ISBN:  9780593303733 (paperback) 9780593303702 (hardcover) 9780593303726 (ebook)

Synopsis:

Enroll in this boarding school thriller about a group of prep school elites who would kill to get into the college of their dreams...literally."

The Plastics meet the Heathers in this murder mystery about ruthless Ivy League ambition." -Kirkus Reviews Everyone knows the Ivies: the most coveted universities in the United States. Far more important are the Ivies. The Ivies at Claflin Academy, that is. Five girls with the same mission: to get into the Ivy League by any means necessary. I would know. I'm one of them. We disrupt class ranks, club leaderships, and academic competitions...among other things. We improve our own odds by decreasing the fortunes of others. Because hyper-elite competitive college admissions is serious business. And in some cases, it's deadly. Alexa Donne delivers a nail-biting and timely thriller about teens who will stop at nothing to get into the college of their dreams. Too bad no one told them murder isn't an extracurricular.

_______________________________________________

What did I think of the book?

The Ivies by Alexa Donne My rating: ⭐ 1 of 5 stars (1.5 really) *Disclaimer: Spoilers.* So far, my experience with author youtubers who give advice on writing hasn't been great. The advice is usually solid, and in Alexa Donne's case, I found many of her videos really helpful for figuring out what was wrong with my own writing practices. However, I'm starting to realize why best selling authors with strong prose, plot, and characters, tend to NOT be youtubers. Author youtubers seem to excel at teaching, and giving information, but their actual writing doesn't tend to reflect their apparent knowledge (speaking from my own experiences). So, here lands The Ivies. This is the first of Alex Donne's work that I've read, and I'm totally confused. Despite the fact that the book had me finishing it in two days, rapidly going through page after page on the edge of my seat with it's insane rabbit hole; it left me feeling that the story just wasn't finished. I don't mean "finished" as in, there needs to be a second book; I mean, in the end, no one really solved anything, and there was no closure on the murder. No one changed or grew or improved, if anything, the characters just became even more unhinged as the book went on until it lead to a deflating reveal of the actual killer with a horrifically ridiculous motive. The story was drowned in red herrings and misleads to the point of suffocating the fun out of the book. They were so frequent, and so many that it became downright frustrating and exhausting to read. There were more loose ends that were never tied up than a torn knitted jumper. The "false" reveal was a lot more tense and interesting to read, and the book honestly could have cut out the entirety of act 3 for me, and skipped to the end. The pacing was good in the first half of the book, but suffered in the second half, and dragged on. By the end, I began to suspect Olivia, the MC. Maybe this wasn't the intention, but her choices at the end of the book made me seriously consider if I just got mind-fucked by what she was narrating to herself for the entire story, and she really was the killer all along. Might explain why she never got anywhere in her "investigation" or withholding information from authority for her so-called friends, and we're just being lied to as the readers (she did, after all, have access to everything apparently). While the writing style was easy to get into, it had one issue: Too. Much. Telling. (and swearing…). At the end of almost every chapter, whatever big revelation occurred in the chapter is just told to you in black and white, rather than letting you ride the wave of the realization in your own head. Much of the natural tension of having the realizations on my own as the reader were completely lost, and ruined every tension bubble attempted to be created. It worked great for the end of the first chapter, but it just didn't for the rest. The same can be said for all the schemes the Ivies apparently did. We're just told they happened, but we never get to see these girls actually in action from their PoV. Favorite character/s: Well, not many of the characters are "likeable". It's almost laughable how unlikeable the characters are to the point of 'okay, I kind of hate you all, but I want to know how far the rabbit hole goes, so…'. What drew me to the book? I wanted a thriller to study that wouldn't give me nightmares, and finally check out Alexa Donne's work. Stars: 1.5/5, pretty interesting concept, but too many problems with the execution of it. View all my reviews

[ippid]

Finding passion

Chapter – 3

Standing at the train station with my parents, I can barely keep my eyes open. When my dad said we’ll leave early on Friday, I thought he meant 11 am or something.

Not 5 in the morning.

I haven’t had a great sleeping schedule for the past few weeks, and I went to sleep pretty late again yesterday, staying up to read. So you can imagine how exhausted I am right now.

After getting our tickets checked, we proceed to board the train and find our seats. I was planning to use this journey to look up some tips and tricks that I could try to use when I take some pictures. But that idea flew out the window along with my consciousness because as soon as I settled down in a seat across from my parents I was out like a light.

After what felt like 2 minutes but was actually around 3 hours, I felt someone gently shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see my mom smiling at me and telling me we’ve arrived. I get up with them, and we get off the train along with everyone else. Damn, I can already hear all the French surrounding me, this is sweet. I look up at my parents and come to a sudden realization.

Oh my god, how did I not think about this before?!

My last name may be French, but my parents most certainly do not speak it. And guess what else, they don’t speak? That’s right.

English.

Why in the hell did I not notice that sooner? They’ll make me interact with so many people now! They’re social people, and something as silly as a language barrier won’t stop them from communicating.

With their hands, and weird sounds, and oh my god.

This was a setup.

Either I communicate with these people in English and all the French I know, or I suffer the embarrassment of watching them trying to get others to understand what their waving hands and odd sounds mean.

They know I would never allow that.

It’s not as if I’m afraid to talk to others, but I just don’t like to talk much. I have infinite thoughts, but nothing comes out of my mouth. I like to be quiet and a lot of people mistake that for me being either shy, embarrassed, awkward or all three.

I heave a big sigh and walk in front of them, telling them to follow me, so I could lead us to a cab. I hear them laughing a bit behind me and turn around to throw them a mock glare. ‘’Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You guys got me.’’ I say pretending to be angry.

They continue laughing, and my dad comes over to sling his arm around my shoulder. He’s a bit taller than me, standing at 6’0 and has dark brown wavy hair with streaks of gray through it. A defined face with a sharp jawline and the warmest hazel brown eyes you’ll ever see. His tan skin brings even more attention to his white teeth, and he’s overall very handsome still, for someone as old as him. I can see why my mom got together with him.

‘’Come on kiddo, this way you can practice your French, and we will feel better knowing you can take care of yourself in an unfamiliar environment.’’ I look at him weirdly. Why would he need to worry about that? It’s not like I will be going to many of those anyway. He looks back at me and doesn’t say anything. He just gives me one of those annoying all knowing smiles like he knows something I don’t.

I huff and give him a small smile back before he releases me and drops back next to my mother. I continue leading them outside and over to a cab, where I quickly ask if they can take us to our hotel. The cab ride wasn’t all that eventful. We sat in a companionable silence, and we all just enjoyed the surrounding scenery.

My parents had definitely splurged on this trip. We were headed to the Chouchou Hotel and I read only nice reviews about that place. After arriving and checking in, we decided to head down and have some breakfast here in the hotel before we would go sightseeing. Our first stop was of course the Louvre, where we joined a tour in English that I had to translate for my parents. It took roughly 2 hours. Then we went on to check out the art ourselves, and we decided after that to head over to a café to eat a late lunch.

After having eaten one of the best lunches I had in a while, we decided to walk back through the streets to the hotel. My parents wanted to go up to their room to unwind a bit and relax before going out later tonight to eat dinner. I wasn’t feeling all that tired yet, so I decided to explore a bit more. I wanted to visit this cute coffee shop/study lounge that I saw tucked away between two large buildings earlier. In my experience, it’s always the underrated and less frequented spaces that are the best.

While I was on my way there, I noticed a lot of things around me. I’ve always liked to people watch. It just fascinates me how you can learn so much from somebody without them ever opening their mouth. I noticed how the people around me seemed pretty happy and carefree. Nobody had an unhappy look on their face. Maybe because of the good weather or it’s just the French, I don’t know. All I know is that it makes me feel good to see other people feeling good. Positive energy all around.

After walking for a bit, I finally reach the street I have to turn in to, to reach the café. At that moment, a car drives by and honks their horn. It was pretty close and loud, so I turn my head to see what’s up while turning the corner and run straight into a wall. It startled me so much, I stumbled back and fell on my ass. ‘’Fuck! Who puts a wall next to a wall?!’’ I say while quickly trying to get up off the floor before someone off the main street notices my embarrassing fall.

More importantly, why did I keep walking when I turned my head the other way? It’s not like I couldn’t stop before this to just check the places I put my feet.

Damn.

A chuckle distracts me from my thoughts and I look up, noticing for the first time there was someone standing right in front of me looking at me with a smile on his handsome face. ‘’Not a wall.’’ He says with his French accent.

Damn, why is this guy so beautiful? He’s around 5’11 and has light brown skin with the darkest eyes I have ever seen in my life. I’ve always preferred it when guys had longer hair, but his short hair suits him so incredibly well. He looks fit and muscular, and he’s looking so good while only wearing simple sweatpants and a t shirt with some air forces. Perfect lips that stretch into that beautiful smile that turns amused while he’s looking at me.

Wait. Amused?

It’s only then that I realize I’ve been shamelessly staring just now. I can feel myself flushing a little bit. Wait, what did he say? Not a wall? Oh! Shit, I bumped into him? Well damn he is built, built huh.

‘’Are you fine?’’ He asked. And me still being a bit flustered about being caught cursing out a supposed wall and then staring at said wall, just had to open my mouth and say something stupid. ‘’I’m fine, are you fine?’’ Like I could hurt him if I tried. And then unconsciously mumbled, ‘’You’re definitely fine.’’ Under my breath while looking him up and down again.

He chuckled again, and I widened my eyes while quickly looking up at his eyes. Fuck! He heard that? What is wrong with me? Why did I say that out loud?! He was definitely laughing at me now, and I could feel that flush becoming a bit more prominent. I don’t get embarrassed easily, but this certainly was not how I wanted my mouth to be working today. So maybe I was a bit more tired than I initially thought. Sue me. He was so beautiful, though I couldn’t help but agree with my earlier statement.

This man is fine.

He took a step closer to me and held out his hand for a handshake, ‘’I’m Kylian, but you can call me Ky.’’ He said while looking me dead in the eyes and giving me a smirk that suggested he undoubtedly heard what I just said. Not a single doubt about it. The smile was bad enough already, but a smirk like this? Sir is trying to kill me, isn’t he?

So really this time I couldn’t even get mad about my mouth not cooperating with my brain because the next thing I know I’m reaching out and shaking his hand saying ‘’Nice to meet you. I’m Riri, but you can call me your girlfriend.’’

I can see his eyes sparkle and his lips twitching, while my hand goes slack in his, along with my jaw falling to the floor. Since when was I this goddamn smooth?! It’s only smooth when my body can keep up, and obviously my treacherous body cannot. My eyes are wide, and my mouth is wide open. I can’t believe I just said that. I’m never this bold. I don’t even want to date?! What is wrong with me.

My expression must have set him off because he couldn’t hold back the loud laugh that escaped him after seeing my reaction to my own words. Watching him laugh, I forget all about my embarrassment because it’s honestly a sight to see.

Damn Riri, snap out of it. I can’t be daydreaming for the third time while he’s standing right there!

His hand tightens around mine while his laugh dies down. I totally forgot he was still holding my hand. I am so out of it, what is even the date today? He bends down and leaves a kiss on my knuckles while looking me in the eyes, ‘’Enchanté’’ He says.

See, I knew this man was bad news. Who just does that? Who tries to kill a random person on the street like that, huh? Being all attractive and shit. It’s me dying here, please call an ambulance or something. Why is this so attractive? And how is this even happening to me right now?

‘’Kylian!’’ I hear from behind me. Kylian glances over my shoulder and lets go of my hand. I turn to look and see a guy standing there telling him to hurry up, or they’ll be late. We turn back to each other, and he looks apologetic while opening his mouth ‘’I have to go, I’m sorry. Maybe we will meet again.’’ He says ‘’If it’s fate.’’ He adds and gives me another beautiful smile and quickly rushes past me to join up with the other guy before they both get in a black SUV and drive off.

I stand there blankly staring at the wall for who knows how long before I regain my senses. I don’t even bother going to the café anymore. I just head straight back to the hotel and find my room.

Jumping on the bed, I bury my head in my pillow and groan loudly. This was NOT what I had in mind when I told Jess I would tell her about the hot guys I would see. I thought I would only see. Not actually interact?! What even is my life right now? I have weird butterflies in my stomach that I definitely don’t want to feel, and I’m buzzing in my skin as if that man has given me the goddamn moon.

I try to calm down a bit. Okay, he obviously just caught me at a bad time. A time when my brain to mouth systems seemed to be malfunctioning. There’s no way we will meet each other again, though. And even if we did. I would absolutely not react in that same way. Oh my god. I groan again. That was so out of character for me. This is crazy.

After laying in bed for a couple more minutes, I decide to take a shower and a quick nap before heading out to dinner with my dad. This should relax me enough not to think about it anymore, hopefully.

Around fifteen minutes later, I’m all fresh and ready to take a nap. The warm water really helped me relax. I set my alarm for a couple of hours later and fall asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.

.

.

.

A/N

Word count: 2166 Words.

Just to clear things up a bit. Like i mentioned earlier in the story, Riri and her parents are from the Netherlands so they speak Dutch. whenever she is speaking with her parents please assume she is speaking in Dutch. It would get a bit tiring if i have to write that too and then translate it for you guys. I made the express dicision not to put those conversations in Italics because I prefer writing it this way. I hope you can still follow the story without any confusion!

Also, finally the Kylian debut. I'm a bit nervous about how I did. Let me know your thoughts!

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, October 18

CORDELIA: Buffy. You're really campaigning for bitch-of-the-year, aren't you? BUFFY: As defending champion, you nervous? CORDELIA: I can hold my own. You know, we've never really been close, which is nice, 'cause I don't really like you that much, but... you have on occasion saved the world and stuff, so I'm gonna... do you a favor. BUFFY: And this great favor is... CORDELIA: I'm gonna give you some advice. Get over it.

~~BtVS 2x01 “When She Was Bad”~~

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I found this buffy boxset in a charity shop but lots of it is missing so would anyone happen to know which version of the boxset this is? requested by mistyintherivers

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I wish we got an episode where either the Scoobies + their love interests dressed up as each other for Halloween or switches bodies with them by hermyohkneegranger

I wrote an essay on BtVS in my college English class and one of my points was about Tara and Willow starting their lesbian relation in Hush by nestaenthusiast

I feel like Buffy and Angel would be way more interesting and fun as a friend duo than a couple by hermyohkneegranger

I think every sad and depressed 20 something should watch the BtVS musical episode by diasphoriaaa

[About the Slayer/Watcher dynamic the council wants there to be] by raisedbythetv89

“Spike and Buffy” this and “Angel and Buffy” that [neither was good for Buffy] by chubbie-bunnie-96

Watching Angel and Buffy back to back is like by mikadolightsaber

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one weird thing to me about buffy the vampire slayer is how the treatment of demons changes over time by raginrayguns (ask), st-just (answer)

Indira is entirely right. The Council chose Giles [spoilers for Slayers: A Buffyverse Story] by girl4music

What the f*ck? What the f*ck happened to Giles? [spoilers for Slayers: A Buffyverse Story] by girl4music

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Angel could no longer enter the home he shared with his family without an invite once he became a Vampire but presumably Spike could because he surprises his mother INSIDE the house by raisedbythetv89

[About Tara in Slayers: A Buffyverse Story - Major SPOILERS] by girl4music

4 more episodes to go before I finish Slayers. I’m actually really enjoying it. I love [Redacted - spoilers] by girl4music

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My god… Cordelia is literally Buffy in this audible [contains spoilers] by girl4music

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[ionlyseeu]

Submerged (Namor x F reader)

Chapter 5

Final chapter

@lilikan ily for all your support and comments and wish you the best always in your life you kind, kind human 😭❤️

@forevermoremagcon tagged 🤭🥰

For previous chapter 4 see here

Hi guys, thanks for all your support, likes and comments. It’s time for a little romance. We want our main character to be happy right? We want her to be successful. Just like I want myself and you to be successful.

Time jump, to 5 years later.

———/—— 5 years later, USA

I flew back in my seat as the new stats came in. I’d started my business 3 years ago, it was small at first but thanks to the power of the internet it soon became very, very popular and I had quit my main corporate job a year ago to manage my stocks from home. I was busy for the last few years, hiring near a hundred people to help me and finally, after giving over operating control to my trusted hire Matt who had been with me from the start, I could relax. I only really had to look over the reviews, see everything was running smoothly and I relaxed into a comfort I’d only dreamt of achieving.

I’d changed during the last 5 years, I’d seen new people, changed my hair multiple times. Being insanely rich was something I not so humbly had always wanted for myself. Within the moments of success, I’d found a peace within my soul, a calm, a rest. I no longer felt as if I wasn’t a whole being, a forgotten factor, a jigsaw piece with no picture to fit into, instead I trusted myself. I was ready for anything, I’d learnt how to swim as well, I practiced intensely nearly everyday of the week. But, I never swam in the ocean, NYC was not exactly ideal for an ocean side swim. I hadn’t been to the beach since I was on the island back then when it all happened.

I picked out my bagel, topped with cream cheese and salmon, a classic I couldn’t go without, when a brightly coloured postcard popped into my peripheral. Mia had constantly been sending me these throughout the years keeping me up to date on any news. She never mentioned him out of respect for me. She didn’t want to intrude on anything between us. She’d been pretty busy anyway with the baby and all. That’s right, she had given birth to a beautiful girl called Nazim who was spoilt rotten by Attuma. I’d gone to visit them at her birth but hadn’t seen Namor.

Attuma and Mia never tried to preen in or offer advice to me on the case of Namor. Not that I would have turned it down, in fact, on the inside I was begging for someone to shake me and tell me to see just him, to just swallow whatever was holding me back. The thing is, every person I met, every guy I dated, any sex I had with them, any conversation, any joke I pretended to laugh at, nothing compared to him. I didn’t mind admitting it to myself, I was at the top of my game, so young and yet so achieved, I allowed myself to examine the feelings I had filtered out of my periphery back then. How long could I pretend he wasn’t the one for me?

I picked up the postcard, the photo of the waves of the beach in front of the house, I flipped it over.

Hey baby girl!

You did so well for yourself and I’m so proud of you! Attuma too, he’s just learnt the word ‘Boss’ bitch and wants to extend the congrats - but he wants to mention that he doesn’t support the use of the second part of the phrase. Lol.

Nazim has grown up so much since the last time you were here.

We miss you.

You know who else is missing you, always - I’m sorry to bring it up.

Come back home.

Don’t you think it’s time to return?

Love you always,

Mia x

A heavy sigh left my lips and my shoulders relaxed, the only burden I’d faced over the last 5 years was starting to shake away from my shoulders.

It was time, Mia was right as always. I had to go home.

I messaged Matt at lunch to meet at our head office. He greeted me with a large green juice and a pack of sushi which I accepted gratefully. Matt was the best, a great looking guy with an excellent personality who I’d have been crushing on if I had never met Namor.

‘Fancy seeing you here’ Matt started sitting in the seat opposite mine.

‘Don’t worry I’m not here to fire you today’ I smiled joking, ‘I have to go away for a while and need you to take care of everything for me’

He raised an eyebrow at this, ‘How long is a while?’

‘An indefinite amount of time right now but… I won’t be able to answer calls or anything like that- basically no access’

‘Is something going on?’ He sounded worried.

I laughed lightly with a genuine smile spreading across my face as I assured him, ‘No, no need to be worried, I’m just doing something I’ve been putting off for 5 years’

Matt looked a me quizzically, ‘Don’t tell me you’re dying’

I laughed harder, ‘Don’t be ridiculous, I’m going back to my home country! But hey listen, I really need you to do this, I’ll throw in an increase in salary and a bonus on top I swear’

‘Will you make it a good one?’ He asked with mock excitement.

‘Don’t act like I don’t pay you big bills Matt, I know you’re rolling in it right now.’ He beamed at me as I shook my head laughing.

‘But anyway, are you going to tell me what you’re up to?’

‘No, mind your own business’ I taunted as I hit him arm lightly and went to grab my coat and bag.

‘I can drop you at the airport’ he offered.

‘Matt I have a driver for that’ I scoffed.

‘Fine’ he rolled his eyes throwing his arms in the air, ‘See you when I see you boss’

I was on the flight in the next few hours.

—————

When I got to the mainland of my home town I didn’t immediately go to the beach and start begging like a part of me wanted to do. I had more self respect than that now but the thought still wafted through my mind. Instead, I dropped my bags off at the house. I hadn’t hit up Mia or Attuma who were always halfway between the land and water and didn’t even live at my grandma’s house anymore but instead in a Talokanis outhouse which Attuma had engineered.

I regretted that I hadn’t contacted them now that I took in the state of the house covered in dust. I should’ve called someone in to clean it. I groaned into myself. Taking out the mainline phone, I ordered some takeaway then pulled my suitcase up the stairs and started unpacking and setting up my desktop.

Pulling my hair into a bun I even dusted the entire house before the doorbell rang. Running to get it, I caught my foot on the staircase foot and fell to the floor. There was certainly a scream let’s just say and I clutched my ankle which panged. I still lifted myself up and trudged to the door to collect my takeaway because the call to eat was more demanding than the pain.

I ate in silence as I thought over my next plan of action. Should I go now? Would he still have me? Should I wear makeup?

I sighed as the stream of thoughts became more shallow and materialistic running into deeper anxieties that seemed inevitable for me to face.

I thought of this as I pulled ice from the freezer and put it over my ankle to get into bed. The exhaustion from the day soon cast a restful sleep over me.

I knew what I was doing, I just had to be confident in myself.

I was asleep for two hours at least when I heard a disturbance.

I shot up in bed immediately and reached for the bedside lamp.

Just as I reached for it, a cool dark arm reached out to steady me and the scent, the scent, the one etched into my mind of something so masculine, sea foam, mint and salted lemons engulfed me.

‘You came back’ Namor stated staring at me as I took in the outline of his form in the darkness with the help of the moonlight shining through the balcony.

I reached out to him and grasped his arm pulling him in as he obliged me, sinking over me in the bed as I pressed a deep kiss to his lips and felt his face, breathing in his scent. I pulled away, saying ‘I missed you’ over and over as I kissed over his face and neck and felt through his thick hair which felt just as wavy as I had remembered it to be. He pulled me up and into his arms as he hugged me tightly, afraid I wasn’t real, afraid I’d disappear.

‘5 years’ he gasped sounding exhausted, ‘don’t do that to me again’

I giggled as I made a promise not to then proceeded to rub his shoulder and kiss his neck as he melted into me.

‘What happened here?’ He said as the ice pack now half melted sludged to the side.

‘Oh I fell- hurt my ankle’ he gently pressed over my ankle and felt it’s swollen surface. Embarrassed I tried to pull it away, ‘don’t look at that!’

He ignored my complaints and continued investigating the site as if it were the most important matter to be looked over.

‘Don’t try to pull away’ he stated shooting me a quick glanceand then returned to massage my ankle.

I tried to relax my stiff body. Out of all the reunions I had imagined over the last 5 years, surely he had more in mind just as I did.

‘Wouldn’t you rather be kissing me than doing that?’ I asked.

He simply smiled as he continued his activities working along my leg.

‘I missed you’ I repeated again, he didn’t stop what he was doing, ‘I wanted to come back’, he focused intensely on the ankle and not me, ‘I just had so much to do-‘

‘I know’ he admitted softly looking back at me with eyes full of hope, ‘I wanted you to take your time’.

I sighed, ‘What’s wrong Namor?’ I reached over and felt his face, ‘I’m back now and I’m not exactly planning to leave anytime soon’.

It was his turn to sigh as he lowered his head, leaning forward and falling into my lap.

Immediately my hands combed through his waves as he clung to me, ‘I have lived for longer than a man should, I have seen many come and many go, 5 years was nothing before I met you.’

I allowed him to rest on me. His entire body, all muscle, sinew and dark skin sinking into me in the moonlight.

‘Are you real?’ I whispered. He wasn’t asleep as I thought he’d been, instead his face looked up at me, ‘You are so beautiful’ I said to him, then pressed my lips to his, he pulled back and grinned, ‘I think that’s my line’.

I prodded his nose drew my fingers across his eyebrows and lips as he watched me intensely.

‘You are beautiful.’ He spoke slowly, taking me in, ‘you’ve changed much and your hair’ he pulled his fingers through the length, ‘It’s very pretty on you my love’.

‘Oh you like my hair?’ I laughed, ‘Years of not seeing me and my hair is what’s making you so excited about my appearance’.

I mock prodded my finger against his forehead as he beamed at me.

‘Yeah well there could be some improvements…’ he drawled staring at my lips.

I clutched my chest in fake insult, ‘Like what exactly and don’t say anything dirty’.

He laughed at this, ‘Well you could be wearing pink’ he pointed out.

‘What is with you and this pink obsession, back then you’d only pick pink dresses for me as well! If you like it so much you should wear it’ i nagged him, shaking his chin as he looked up at me.

‘I like seeing you in pink because it’s complimentary to my green’ he stated.

‘What?’

‘Complimentary colours, the colour wheel, yeah we have books in Talokan’ he shrugged his shoulders.

‘Wait this entire time you wanted me in pink to match what you were wearing?’ I asked incredulously and taken aback.

‘Also you look real fucking pretty in pink’ he groaned as he pulled me in for a kiss. I giggled into it, I liked that shit, I liked how he considered things like that. It made me feel special, cared for.

He flipped me so he was lying on his back and I was straddling his hips on top.

‘If I remember correctly, you like having me like this right?’ He spoke smugly.

‘Oh you want me to fuck you? Right now? Is that it?’ I jokingly slapped his chest. He steadied my hands against him.

‘Honestly’ he drawled, ‘Yes’. Then he dragged my hands down his torso slowly.

I gulped in excitement. I loved that his chest was nearly always bare. His toned body, in my bed, I was definitely squashing my self respect tonight. This was something that ran through my mind for the last 5 years and lord I was happy to do his bidding.

I edged on his green shorts, fingers dipping beneath the top of the brief, looking up into his hooded eyes, his lips were parted in anticipation.

‘Have you been with anyone?’ I asked teasing as I pulled his cloth off.

‘No’, his dick, fully erect bounced up, ‘not since I’ve known you’, I slid off his cloth completely, mouth lowering to his tip.

‘I only want you’ he whispered unable to look away as I whipped my tongue out and swirled around his pink nub. He groaned as if pained, pleasure racked through him and his hands reached for my hair.

But I pulled back, ‘I’m only gonna kiss it’, I laughed then and he groaned back and I did as I said I would.

He grew impatient and pulled me up onto him again. I giggled with the movements and jolted up when his hard on pressed into my crotch by my shorts.

My fingers played with his pearls, the blue adornments and all the jade at his neck.

‘Take them off me’ he grunted under me.

‘No, I want you to wear them while you do me’. He pulled me into a kiss then, his hands around my hips as he ground me into him.

‘Then take off your shorts’ he demanded.

I wanted to look sexy but I slid them off awkwardly and clumsily, he grinned at this.

‘Don’t laugh at me’ I groaned.

‘I’m not’ he swore as his face scrunched and he put his hand over to cover his laughter.

‘I can see you laughing!’ I moaned.

He wiped his face and attempted to look more serious, ‘Come here’

I followed his command coming to sit over his lap again, my pussy rubbing over him. We both sighed in pleasure at the closeness of our being.

‘Sit on my face’ he said, ‘take off your top too’.

Pulling it over my head I looked at him below me nervously, I didn’t want to crush him, I’d never done this before.

Noticing my worry, he pulled me into a comforting kiss them mumbled in a passioned haze, ‘You’ll love it, I wanna taste you’

‘I don’t want to crush you’ I responded in worry.

He laughed, ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about that’

He pulled me up higher as I settled on his face with a moan. He gripped both my thighs and I melted into the feeling of his lips and nose under my pussy. He started eating me out, slowly circling my clit. I moaned more as he quickened the laps his tongue made, sliding down and edging my entrance. I gasped as it entered me, his tongue fucking into me then slowly sliding out as pleasure racked through my being. My back arched as his hands moved me to grind over his face, I’d never experienced such a feeling of euphoria.

‘Namor’ I screamed his name as I orgasmed, my wetness spreading over and out of my pussy as he licked, tasted and savoured every last drop.

I fell to my side and off him as a thin sheen of sweat erupted over my body. Namor however seemed to have different plans, ‘I’m not done with you yet’ was heard as he reached over and pushed on top of me pulling me onto my back on the bed. I looked up at him and was met back with a mixture of love, lust and adoration in his eyes. He kissed me fully, deeply and his kisses travelled to my neck as my head pulled back in response allowing access as he bit down on my pleasure points pulling lewd sounds from me.

I pushed him near my breasts and he grinned at this, ‘Relax my love’ he looked down at them, ‘I was just about to get there’. He eyed me for a moment and my breath caught as he lunged down to take one of my nipples between his teeth.

‘Fuck Namor..’ I groaned.

His tongue moved expertly over as he massaged feeling over the skin, the nub, squeezing and it had me pressing my legs together. He parted them with his own, kneeing my groin as he continued on my breasts gruffly professing, ‘I want you’ between kisses against my skin.

He rose up to my face and settled himself between my legs. I positioned a pillow behind me and half propped myself up to lower myself into him but he paused.

I looked up at him and saw the expression on his face was now serious.

‘What is it Namor?’ I asked.

‘I don’t think I can have sex with you’ he stated.

I laughed incredulously, ‘Why?’

The look of loneliness entered his eyes then and a longing so deep I felt myself being sucked into the black of his eyes.

‘Because if I do….’ He sounded, ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to let you go’

A beat passed

‘I don’t want you to let me go.’ I leaned forward and rubbed his arm, ‘I have everything I’ve always wanted, worked for, but I never thought I’d be saying there’s something, someone missing in my life. Then you came around, the thought of you had driven me crazy, do you know how often I compare others I meet to you? They always fall short. No one can be you. What you mean to me….You saved my life when you found me drowning. I want to spend my life with you.’

Hearing my words with eyes focused on my face he sighed, looked down at his hands and pressed between his joints, ‘Tell me more’

I grinned watching him as a small smile threatened to slip onto his lips, ‘Well, you’re really making me work for it this time aren’t you?’

His slow smile spread into a grin, ‘It’s only fair after the madness you put me through these year waiting for you’

I reached up and ruffled his hair, ‘I’m sorry, I should have come back sooner’

He stopped my hand and pulled it so I came to sit onto his lap. The cold metal of his adornments hitting my bare chest.

‘Damn right you should have’ he said pressing a kiss to my shoulder, ‘We could have been doing this a long while ago’.

I was aware of his hard on poking at me underneath.

‘I’m gonna cut to the chase if you don’t mind’ I pressed as I reached my hand down and took his length in my hand then lowered myself onto him.

The pain was immediately felt as only the tip entered, thick and long. I whimpered as he hushed me stroking my hair.

‘It’s okay’ he comforted easing in more as I winced and grabbed his shoulders for support, ‘You can take it’.

‘Easy for you to say’ I spat out as I attempted to pull together my resolve, ‘Put it in, please’

He pushed his entire member in me then in one swift motion and I huffed as the pain erupted through me, ‘Fuck, Namor!’.

He met my gaze, ‘For such a freak in the bed you really are tight’ he groaned as his dick twitched in me. I felt myself easing to his size. I mean I was wet as ever between my legs and I’d had plenty of these experiences before but I hadn’t exactly had someone of Namor’s size in my life.

‘Be quiet and just fucking move’ I groaned as tinge of pleasure pulsed through spreading goose flesh across my skin.

‘Anything for you’ he grunted as he lifted my hips and slammed me down on his dick, pleasure erupted over me and I yelped in surprise. Namor looking in my eyes, again lifted me and fucked me over and over.

I leaned back writhing in the feeling of him filling me, he took the chance to steady me, holding my neck in his hands and continuously fucked me.

‘You feel so good mi preciousa’ his gruff voice filled my ears, ‘Say my name’

‘Namor’

He pushed himself into me harder and faster quickening his pace.

‘Namor’

He laid me on the bed and raised my legs over his shoulders as he did me with more access. His dick reached another level of my pleasure point.

The bundle of nerves burst and I screamed his name again.

‘Namor’ I groaned.

He quickened his pace and pumped into me, I screamed as I orgasmed hard.

He continued fucking into me groaning and grunting as he came, his seed filled me.

I made no moves to get him off, instead choosing to run my hands through his hair and over his back. He pressed into my neck and smelled me deeply.

‘Don’t leave again’ Namor voiced.

‘I know you wouldn’t let me’ I laughed.

He was serious though, ‘No, I’d let you do what you wanted always’ he moved himself up to look at me seriously, his member was still in me, ‘I just don’t know what I’d become if you were to leave’

I ran my fingers across his cheek and pulled him into a kiss whispering my promise, ‘I won’t leave’

He pulled out and his seed seeped from me. He pulled back and stared at my naked being in this state as if imprinting it into memory.

We later fell asleep in each-others’ arms but between the embers of sleep I whispered to him, ‘I love you’.

He pulled me tighter to his chest, ‘I love you more’.

I breathed him in. Ocean, salt, lemongrass and the masculine scent of his being permeated through me. I’d never been more sure of something in my life.

🙂 hope you enjoyed that guys PLEASE like my little story 🥺

I was in a silly goofy mood and decided to write a 30k Namor fanfiction but your feedback and interactions mean the most 🤗😥

[srorgana1]

Into the Reverb (Kylo Ren/Reader)

Chapter Eight

You yawn as you reach for your coffee thermos. D’Acy has been prattling on about something or another for the last 5 minutes or so. Probably budget or finance based. You shift in your seat, trying to get more comfortable, willing yourself to not go there. Do not think about it, you have already overanalyzed it to death.

He kissed you. He initiated. But why? Was it a heat of the moment thing or something more? You weren't sure. You wanted to text him on Sunday but you lost the nerve to. Now you will be forced to see the agent of your thoughts in all his muscled glory in two hours.

You jump at the sound of your name. “Sorry I missed that” you spit out quickly, embarrassed you missed what was being spoken about you. You look up with flushed cheeks to D’Acy. Her shoulders shake with silent laughter. “What I was saying Y/N, is that we are very impressed with your work with Ochi. We know he’s difficult to work with. But your hard work paid off, girlfriend. The EP is great and has been cleared for release at the end of the month" she says, smiling at you.

Your month drops in shock. You weren't expecting this type of praise. “Y/N, you have been doing really well” Chewie piped up “Your work with the Knights has been exceptional. They all say they love working with you.” Your whole body flushes as you stammer for words. “T-Thank you, wow, um thank you for that”. You cringe inside at your lack of words. You receive a warm smile from D’Acy as the conversation of the meeting shifts to other release dates.

—

Kylo runs a hand through his sweaty hair. It’s at that irritating stage, plenty long enough to hide his ears easily without trying but the front is in his eyes constantly. He huffs, wishing he had something to tie it up with. He and the Knights have been recording the final version of Never Giving Up. You are at the board behind the glass looking determined. You had them record the chorus a couple of times, each time using different vocal techniques and distortions. Kylo personally liked the version with the elongated fry scream at the end.

“Good job guys, I think we got it” you say through the speakers “Come on back and I’ll let you review them.” There’s a chorus of yeah and cools from the men around him. As he unhooks his Fender from the amp, he shifts his eyes to you. So beautiful. He wonders what you thought about what happened on Saturday. He wants to know if this isn’t just one sided.

As he walks in, he notices the only spot available is the chair next to you. How convenient. Smirking to himself, he settles in, placing one leg over the other and turns to you. You don’t meet his eyes. Something is wrong. Your normally expressive face seems impassive. His eyebrows crinkle as he stares.

“Ky? Ky!” Shit. “What?” he says, shaking his head as he meets five other sets of eyes. “Sorry” he grumbles “what did you say?” Kuruk smirked as Vic cleared his throat. “I said of the three choruses I liked the third one the most when we were in there. What do you think?”

Kylo rubs his hands down his face, annoyed and embarrassed. “I agree but let's listen to them, so we can make a combined decision?” Vic nods with a sly smile as he tosses him a water bottle. Damn he needs to pull it together.

They agree quickly and record the whole song in less than an hour. Ushar whoops at the end due to the adrenaline and they decide to keep it on the recording. The band chatters happily as they pack up the space deciding on dinner at the local cantina. “You coming, Kylo?” Kuruk says, slapping his shoulder. “No. Didn’t sleep well last night so I'm gonna crash” he says, not meeting his eyes. “Sure you are” Kuruk show-whispers with a wink. Kylo groans as he swats Kuruk’s hand away.

As he waves the guys off, he grabs his guitar case and steps into the room with you. “That went really well today” you say as you stare at the screen. He watches as your fingers move over the mouse and keyboard, saving and filing all their hard work safely away. “All thanks to you though” he says as he sits next to you.

A surprised expression crosses your face. “I’m serious Y/N, this shit is kickass because of you, we didn’t have this type of support at the First Order” he says, giving you a warm smile. You turn to him slightly in your chair as you take off your headphones. “Thanks Ky” you mumble, your eyes avoiding his. He moves his hand to your thigh to keep you steady.

He sees confusion swirling in your eyes. “What’s wrong?” he whispers. “I... you kissed me” you say softly. “Yeah, yeah I did. Is that a problem?” he says leaning in slightly. “I don’t know, but I…why me? I’m nothing special.” His eyes widened at that. He has the overwhelming need to settle your doubts and show how special you are.

He leans all the way and places a soft kiss on your lips, pulling back slowly to assess your response. Your cheeks are beautifully warm and your full lips slightly parted. “Lemme tell you how you are special” he mumbles as he cups your cheek and pulls you forward. He meets your lips with a strangled groan. Your lips are so soft and your taste is exquisite.

His grip on your thigh tightens as he feels your hands go to his chest. He feels himself harden as your fingers explore his wide shoulders. “You are amazing” He growls, kissing you harder. “Wickedly talented” Kiss “Sexy as hell." Moving quickly, he pulls you out of your chair and onto his lap. Your legs straddle him naturally as your arms lock around his neck, gasping softly. “It’s okay baby girl I got you” he whispers at your lips as he claims yours once again.

He continues his assault on your lips and neck. He loves the feeling on your soft skin under his tongue. You let out a low groan as he kisses you, your hips rotating slightly over him. His hands lock onto your hips, eyes flutter with pleasure.

He relishes the friction. He feels your fingers move into his hair as you rock your hips again. He nuzzles his nose to the side of your face. “Hmmm, baby girl you feel so good,” he groans, placing a kiss behind your ear.

“Kylo” you sigh, apparently just as affected as he is. “Yes baby?” he breathes, lips still at your neck. “What is this?” “Shh baby girl, it's okay, it's whatever you want it to be” he says as faces you. You move one hand back to his shoulder as you run the other through his hair. He hums as your nails scratch along his scalp. He clears his throat, focusing on your eyes. “Y/N, I really mean that. I like you and I'm interested in whatever you want this to be, if that’s okay with you?”

You don’t say anything for a minute or two. Kylo can literally see the wheels spinning in your head. He squeezes your hip in solitude. “You don't need to decide now, just let me know, okay" he says as he kisses your nose. “I don’t normally do stuff like this” you whisper, placing your forehead against his. His cheeks warm at your brutal honesty. It's another reason he’s attracted to you.

“Neither do I, I’m not like Kuruk” he retorts as he wraps his arms around you. He smiles at your giggle. “Yeah, him and Rae are a bit much.” he says, chuckles as he kisses you softly. “Totally agree with you there.”

Big thanks to my girls @asnackdriver @punk-in-docs @the-wayward-rose @thepilotanon @ladyzimmerman for their amazing support.

[asksuccubussides]

What if you were an asexual succubus, wouldn't that be fucked up or what Chapter 3

Masterpost of chapters

(Cw: There's a short Remus section towards the end with imagined violence and references to sex)

Etymology, psychology, Hauntology. These were all topics that Janus adored and he'd managed to fit them all into a single essay assignment. He should be bursting with the urge to write about it, But he wasn't.

He was sitting in bed with an empty word document open in front of him. Even though it was nearing noon he still hadn't changed from his night time clothes and a headache was building at his temples from staring at the screen for so long.

The thing was that he could clearly see in his mind each sentence he wanted to write to the point that he could vizualise every word one after the other. It was only when it came to actually moving his fingers to type it out that he froze. All his teachers had always-

"Dude! I think I just found even more proof that def proves that the occult is real!" Virgil exclaimed while barging in through the door.

Virgil's voice was constantly hoarse and he always smelled slightly of coffee and cigarettes even though Janus had never actually seen him smoke. While he carefully closed the door behind him his black bangs hung down in front of his eyes, like if the monster from the ring had short hair, and his overly big hoodie loosely clutched around his shouldero like usual. He always looked like he'd either sprinted away from a tornado just now or hidden away like a mouse for 5 hours.

He was a man who desperately wanted to slouch until he was invisible stuck in the body of a tall, boney and annoyingly noticeable man.

"Ough...I wasn't uhh interrupting you was I?" he asked when he noticed Janus sitting with the word document open.

Janus immediately closed the laptop and threw it aside "most definitely not! In fact I have done absolutely nothing today except for wait for someone to disrupt me"

"Great. Okay so dude I was checking up on some of my normal paranormal sites yeah? And I found this video. Definitive proof I'm telling you"

While Virgil took out his phone to show him Janus moved the blanket on the bed aside to make room for the other man to crawl under. (Like they always had done when they were kids). Though Viv just took an awkward look at Jan before sitting down on the floor with his back leant against the bed so Jan had to lean over his shoulder to see the video.

It was some grainy cctv footage taken of a parking lot during a late night. A seemingly normal person walked past but stopped by a random part of wall far away in the distance. After a few seconds it sort of looked like the person walked through the wall and disappeared.

"See? Ghosts!"

"Oh please, I could manually count the amount of pixels in that video. It's just a trick of the light. Besides Virge your source evaluation is horrible, it could be an edited youtube video for all you know"

"Right. let me just get a peer reviewed paper out about this 20 second video out real quick"

"I'd be one of the peer reviewers if you asked me to" Janus replied with a smile.

"Duh dude. I know you would be. Not like you have anything better to do"

Jan fake gasped "A daring accusation! A proper rude one as well! For your information my schedule is incredibly packed!"

"Yeah yeah" He waved his hand around while rolling his eyes "Anyway, I got an update on that ufo sighting as well"

--

The morning after Remus had fed he woke up in a groggy haze with his eyes all in blur and with his head feeling like it had been stuffed with cotton. Roman had been sitting beside his bed but as soon as she saw that her brother had woken up she left without even giving him a chance to say anything.

Instead Remy had stayed by his side for the rest of the morning, or the equivalent to morning that hell had. They hadn't asked about the feeding or what had happened afterwards. They had just laid down next to him in bed and started telling him about the latest gossip and drama between the various succubi.

Eventually Remus put on some background music, (an experimental band from the rage circle that used stuff like bones and bottles of piss as instruments), and started making paper-war machines while listening to them talk. He only butted in with a comment or dirty joke every now and then, the important thing was that they knew he was listening.

"Soo like yeah girlie. That's the tea. Their breakup was so messy they both got sent to heaven. Fucking rough. Think that's all for now. Wanna switch?"

"Yayayay! Ranting time"

The friends swiftly changed positions so Remy chose the music (they put their hand against the speaker so they could feel the bass) and Remus set aside his paper makings to focus on rambling and stimming. He began to tell them about the latest torture methods he'd come up with which included showing them the paper models he'd made of the torture devices.

'But like who you torturing?

'Humans! Oh and angels!"

'Not angeeelllss' Remy pouted a little 'They're so cute'

'Your whole brain is a tumor dude'

'Even with a tumor brain i would still be hotter than you.....Also what's a like tumor?'

Remus shone up at the chance to explain 'Well to make a long story longer it was discovered in-'

'Great girl just keep talking just like that' Remy laid down with their head against his chest and closed their eyes with a relaxed smile playing on their lips.

"You can't even read my lips from the- Eh whatever. Imma just keep ranting" He laid his arms around their back and kept talking.

Remy could still remember the sound of Emile's voice but by the time the twins appeared they had long since been deaf. If they focused really hard they could sort of make out an idea of what Remus' voice should be like. The way his chest heaved in for heavy breaths bretween quick and jumbled sentences. They way his neck and throat moved when he spoke. The amount of lip movement he did.

They liked to think of his voice as shrill and annoying in the best way. His voice should be quite high in constrast to Roman's deeper though just as expressive voice.

It took Remus poking at them several times for them to actually open their eyes again and to their happy surprise they saw that Emile had come back. They could read on his lips that he said "The new puppy hell hounds were so precious! You two really have to go see them later"

"Sup slut" Remy greeted while wrapping their hand around their partner's tie to bring him closer.

"Hi honey" He gave them a quick kiss before letting himself be pulled down beside them. Remus immediately showed him the war machines he'd made out of paper and Emile complimented the creativity of it all.

Emile laid his hand against the speaker and felt the bass of the music his lover had choosen. He knew one of Remy's favorite things still was music (no matter how many times demons made snarky jokes about how ironic it was) so whenever his lover put something on he at least tried to 'listen' to it in the same way they did. He let himself feel the instruments pump up from his hand into the rest of his body and let the words being sung melt into melodies of the bass.

'I like this song'

'Yeah duh babe. It's Carly Rae Jepsen, you always like love her....As should everyone'

'I think I saw some demons in the uhmm....whichever ring it was, it sounded similar to hers'.

Remus started to smack his tail against the ground out of boredom as he noticed the couple zoning out into their own little conversations.

It was like watching an old married couple that had slowly grown entangled into each other. Lungs and bones slowly morphing together over the years. Sometimes Remus caught Remy humming on cartoon intros even though they couldn't name the cartoon if asked and even though Emile prefered not to eat or drink he still argued that decaf was the worst kind of coffee one could ever drink whenever it was brought up.

Unlike the succubi Emile didn't have a tail nor the ability to conjure wings. His horns were shiningly light pink and frayed at the ends as if small thorns were protuding out. His skin was so dark it made his smile look like stars in the night sky while his clothes were always in light shades of orange, brown and pink making him look like he was stuck in an outwashed version of the 60s.

He was "Like sooo much man. A lot of man" as Remy put it and when asked said he'd worked as an earth observer some half century and a bit ago which was why he knew so much about humans....Well knew and knew. He'd spent most of his time observing the rise of Disney, Hanna Barbera and animated films and had gotten really into psychology and medicine after having a nasty walk in with Sigmund Freud at a party. He still argued that Remy had been the inspiration for the Sleepy dwarf in Snow white.

"Hi Ro-Ro!" Emile waved as he saw Roman come into the sleeping quarters.

She gave the tiniest of waves back to him before adverting her eyes as far away from her brother as she could. The other three demons watched as she basically jogged past to get to her bed.

"There he comes"

Roman quickly grabbed a change of clothes and jogged out of the room again without even passing another glance to them.

"Aaaand there she goes"

'silent treatment huh' Remy signed to Remus.

'Perfect time to annoy him'

'Pretty sure it's objectivly not' Emile added in.

'What does he know. He goes on and on bla bla bla about how much he enjoys humans' Remus mimicked barfing 'But he's never even eaten enough food to take a shit! I have! I am basically connected to humanity now! The shit is what brings us toge-'.

'Okay gross. Too gross. Go girl. Get outa here'.

There was a mischevious grin on Remus' face as he jumped from the bed and skidadadled out of the room. The couple looked at each other, Emile sighed to which Remy shrugged.

"HeY! Hey! HEY! HEY!" Remus repeated as he ran up alongisde his brother. He kept shouting into her ear even though she did her best to not give any reaction. "Whatcha doing? Where you going? Why you such a pisshat?"

"Can I just get like one day without you" Roman finally replied.

".....Hmmm...Lemme think.....No! Why are you even pissed at me? I didn't even put any bugs in your clothes this time"

Roman stopped midstep and turned to him "I was having a really nice time you know, until I felt you being all miserable and had to come get you because you can't do the job we are literally created for"

"I didn't ask you to come get me??? Dude?? You're blaming me for your own shit"

"Was I just supposed to-" Roman took a deep breathe and looked away again. His hands started to fix the ends of his shirt to have something to distract himself "I'm not gonna do this today! I'm not! I have a really nice dinner with a historian planned and he will listen to me when I gush about historic eras and it will be good and nice and then we're going to see a broadway show and I won't let you destroy that for me!....Bitch!"

"A date with a human" Remus let up into a toothy grin "Sounds a bit patton-ish to me"

"Don't! I am not breaking any rules! I love human culture! I've never loved a single specific human and you know that! Don't you compare me that- that traitor!"

"It's more fun if I do though"

Roman kept walking towards the door to earth "I'm not letting you do this today!"

"You're no fun!" Remus yelled back as his brother slammed the door shut behind him.

--

"I think it should be ethically okay for me to shoot people with an eye laser if they stare at me for too long" Janus muttered out.

He and Virgil were sitting in the corner of the college classroom as hidden away as possible while listening to a lecture on philosophy. Viv had managed to pull Jan out of bed with the threat that he would definitely get failed at this class if he didn't at least show up physically every now and then.

If Virgil wasn't taking notes he either got anxious about forgetting anything important later, or worse, the teacher getting mad at him. Even though he was an adult man who shouldn't get anxious about not meeting the expectations of authority figures. Honestly Viv's obsessive note taking was probably half the reason Janus was still getting through his classes.

An essay should have been turned in to this class a week ago which Janus hadn't even though he could recite it nearly perfectly in his brain.

"A simply lie would do don't you think. College professors are usually nice like that. Not like our middle school teachers" Janus continued to mutter.

"Dude you were just taking the piss to see how far your lying could get you"

"And it got me some very nice stars in my margin! Thank you very much!"

Janus sent his friend a leering smile to which Virgil just rolled his eyes in return.

"Maybe I should have just let you fail this class as well" Viv teased.

"Aw but you loooove me" He made kissy noises while moving to lean his head against his friend's arm but Virgil scooted further away before he could.

The class ended and Virgil sat back and begrudingly watched as Janus hurried to the front of class to talk to the professor. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop Jan even if he tried.

After just a minute or so Janus returned "I got an extension time of two weeks. I told him my poor mum had caught a bad case of tubercolous and I had been faaar too busy taking care of her to have time to finish the essay"

"Your mum is rolling in her grave"

"If we have the same genetics I am quite sure she is cheering me on actually. I'm just the most innocent man there ever was"

"You wanna go to the library and work on it with me? I have thought of the perfect path of getting from here to the library while still stopping by a shop to get coffee While being seen by the least people AND the coffee shop allows app orders. It's a lifesaver"

"Would love to because there is certaintly no chance in the slightest that I will keep procrastinating"

"Obviously dude. Procrastination are what libraries are for"

--

Remus thought once again what humans flesh must taste like. The only time he'd taken a step into a library or ever used a human phone were both times to try and look up what it would taste like.

He thought about the blood spilling out and the veins bursting. He thought about the skin ripping open and giving way to fat and bone. He thought about if that could feed him instead of having to do this stupid fucking succubus shit.

The human had requested oral sex and he'd obliged even though he vastly prefered doing as little as possible because then he could zone out and think about something more pleasant. He had his mouth around the human's genitalia and the image of him twisting his teeth and ripping their genitalia away filled his mind.

He hated the feeling of the human's hands grabbing him. He hated their stupid hotel rooms and their stupid cars constantly making noise and the stupid fan in the background and the stupid overly bright lights and the stupid fuzzy carpets and the stupid perfume they wore and he hated it he hated it hated it. He didn't understand how Roman could love any of this. Any of them.

Bile filled his throat before the human filled it. He choked and sputtered and pushed away to spit it out on the fuzzy carpet. The human requested something else and he followed along. Selfish selfish beings always wanting more. It made their job too easy.

The human was wearing a cross necklace and when it touched his skin it burned. He gnarled like a wounded animal but the human didn't notice. He wished he could hurt them, even just a little. Like how they always pulled his hair and dragged their nails across his skin and spat and slapped and choked. God, sometimes he thought maybe being sent to heaven would be worth it if he just got to mutilate one of them.

-

The human was long gone when Roman entered the hotel room. He looked around for his brother but all he saw was a messy bed and an emptied out mini fridge. His brother must have forged himself on everything, including the plastic wrappers containing the candy. He nearly stepped on a piece of broken glass and groaned as he realized Remus had attempted to crush and eat a bottle again.

"Dukey I already told you that it isn't safe to eat glass or plastic!" She called out to the empty room before deciding to look in the bathroom.

She pushed the door aside and it gave way so easily it nearly fell from it's hinges. Her brother was sitting slumped over in the bathtub with the water up to his ankles and only his socks on. He was repeatedly lighting matches before throwing them in the water to see them fizzle out. Dozens upon dozens of matches were floating like dead fish in the bathtub.

"..Hey" Roman's voice softened if just a little.

Remus turned to her and his eyes were glassy and his face red. A piece of his hair was missing, probably burnt away by one of the matches. She knew what kind of night this would be.

"Let's get you cleaned up" Ro said before putting his arms under his brother's armpits to try and pull him up from the bathtub. Even though he got grossed out by angels he conjured just the tiniest of wings to help give him the strenght needed to pull Remus to a half stand at least. "I would prefer if I didn't have to be your knight in shitty armor all the time you know"

Remus slurred something out about flesh and Roman tried not to reel at the heavy scent of alcohol. He really had emptied the full fridge. She also did her best to not gag at how greasy and sweaty his hair was even when it got pressed against her nice historically accurate corset.

She tried to make him put on his clothes again but gave up as he slumped over like a ragdoll every time she didn't activly hold him up with all her strenght. She settled on putting her coat around him and hoped he wouldn't get too cold.

There was a wound on his hand that blistered and bubbled. Roman got the urge to hug him but reminded himself that Remus was an adult who had to learn his actions had consequenses and that he couldn't be coddled all the time.

"How many times are you going to burn yourself you stUPID-" She stopped herself when her speech turned into a yell and took a deep breathe "You know what happens! You don't have to experiment about it anymore! It's just the same wound every time! I'm going to have to drag you to Emile to get you patched up now! Are you happy!? Do you just want to give me another headache!? Why can you never make yourself sober once you're drunk! You neVER-"

She got close to yelling again and decided it was best to just not speak too much. She held her arm around his shoulders while muttering the phrase to open the door to hell.

".....Even if I don't always like you....I still love you.....You're aware of that right?" She mumbled out while helping him forward.

He just let out another slurred sentence about flesh.

--

"I get worried someone has put a hex on me late at night when I can't sleep y'know? I know it's illogical but it still gives me the hibbie jibbies" Virgil said.

"'Hibbie jibbies' huh? If I had the chance to hex someone I would do it. No hesitation" Janus replied.

It was close to 3 am and they were using one of the college's shared bathrooms as a make-do hair salon. Viv was standing leant over with his head in the sink. At the top of his head his naturally golden blonde hairhad started to peak through so he had to destroy it as quick as possible. Janus was sitting on the sink counter and had plastic gloves on to help massage the black hair dye into Virgil's hair.

"Who would you hex if you could?"

Janus without any second to think immediately said "Billionares. World leaders. Those sorts of people"

"Fair. Fair"

"Dear you're gonna get black dye on your hoodie if you don't-"

Virgil flinched away as Janus moved to lower his hoodie. He backed off so quickly black dye dripped down from his wet hair onto the entire sink.

His hair hung in thick bangs over his eyes as he spat out "It's fine! I got like 20 of these hoodies" He let out a yawn to seem nonchalant "Can you help me out with that" He waved at the now stained sink "I have to shower this out"

"...Sure"

Janus watched as his friend went into one of the showers and drew the sickly blue curtain between them. His bare ankles could still be seen with his light blonde leg hair peeking through. His veins were so noticeable through his pale skin and Janus got stuck watching the way the muscles in his feet moved and how the skin stretched over the bones as he undressed. He stuck his arm out from the curtain and held out his hoodie and boxers.

"Could you ta-"

"No problem" Janus interrupted while taking the clothes.

He folded the hoodie before using all of the paper left in the paper dispenser to try and clean the hair dye stains away. The sound of the shower running filled the room.

Correlation does not imply causation. Janus knew that very well and yet in moments like these he couldn't help but think that a distance had started growing between him and Virgil ever since he came out as gay. The last thing Jan wanted was his straight (and only) friend to get all paranoid over him making a move. The last thing he wanted was to lose him.

Janus and the notoriously straight Virgil are now open for asks!

[tanenigiri]

Review #11: Seaside Stranger (Volume 1: Umibe no Etranger)

Japanese title: 海辺のエトランゼ (Umibe no Etranger)

Story and art: Kii Kanna

English publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment

Number of volumes: 4 in English, 5 in Japanese (ongoing)

A tidal wave of emotions.

(This review contains story spoilers.)

This is the third of three series in this project where I first watched the anime before reading the manga, the other two being Given and Sasaki and Miyano. This is a lot closer to the former in terms of what it aims to do, but even if I found Given’s tragedy to be heavier, I thought Umibe no Etranger was sadder? I don’t know if it’s because there’s a lot less humor and light-hearted scenes to go with the main plot - though those are definitely still there - but there was something about the movie that leaves you feeling emotionally drained by the end (in a good way, of course).

I got the same feeling while reading the first volume of Seaside Stranger, which encompasses almost everything that the movie covers. But more than anything, the manga filled in so many blanks about the movie that I ended up appreciating the story a lot more. There were some parts of the movie where I thought I didn’t have enough context to fully understand what was happening, and each of them made more sense here - and on that merit alone I already think this was worth the read for me.

But even without that, this is still a really great story about two characters who have different ways of dealing with their inner turmoil and how that ultimately affects their relationship. And we get this right from the very first pages, where we’re hit with the doozy of a reveal that Mio, a high school student, has already lost both of his parents. Since he doesn’t seem to be getting along well with his adoptive family, this leads him to spend a significant part of his day alone in a bench and staring out in the ocean, which catches the attention of a number of people in the island. Most notable of these people is Shun, a novelist who’s revealed to have moved to the island to live with his aunt after a falling out with his parents, which involved a discontinued marriage and his coming out to them as gay.

It’s with those inner demons where the two of them meet and develop feelings for each other, but it’s very telling that all of this happens within the story’s first chapter - when they both have these new feelings to contend with while still in the middle of dealing with their respective conflicts. While the rest of the series focuses more on Shun’s internal conflict, this first volume gives just as big of a spotlight to Mio’s own struggles. And while he’s implied to have made significant progress with his own battles in the three years he spends away from the island, I think the manga does a better job than the movie in reminding us that his conflict is far from resolved.

One of the reasons why I think that’s so is a manga-only scene that shows Mio actually fulfilling his promise of calling Shun once he’s settled in the new orphanage, but is instead seen talking to Eri, Shun’s close friend who has lived with him and his aunt for quite some time. As she is shown to be in a relationship with another woman, Eri and Shun share a solid connection even if they get on each other’s nerves, and it’s this friendship that leads Eri to warn Mio not to be hasty with his feelings, especially since Mio isn’t really sure with how to feel about being in a relationship with another man.

This was honestly one of those big “Aha!” moments for me, as it recontextualizes so much of what happens in the movie when I reread them here. While we get from Mio himself later in the story that he wanted to make sure he was ready to live alone and make his own decisions before moving in with Shun, the above conversation with Eri tells me that Mio also spent those three years away from Shun as he needed all that time to think about whether or not he was ready to be in a relationship with him. We actually get a sneak peek in the movie of what he does during this time - and I find out later on that this is taken from a future volume - but what we are revealed in Volume 1 is that Mio has slept with a woman, which I think happens within these three years. So when Mio says in the end that he does like women but finds himself being able to fall in love with Shun anyway, it’s a truth about himself that took him several years to figure out.

It’s also telling that Eri is the one who invites Mio to be Shun’s new roommate after she moves out, as for me, this implies that Eri and Mio have been in contact ever since their first call. I’d like to imagine that Eri’s been helping Mio about his feelings for Shun as well, as they’re shown to become pretty good friends in the few scenes they share together. And her funny reaction about Mio suddenly professing his love for Shun when the former moves in suddenly takes on a whole new meaning, as it also means that Eri now sees Mio as someone who’s ready to be in a relationship with her friend.

Of course, three years of soul-searching might have been good for Mio, but it took a toll on Shun. He is shown to be a lot more hurt about this specific issue in the manga compared to the movie, and I think that’s pretty justifiable. He is, after all, coming from a place where admitting he likes men has only brought him pain, and we even find out later in the story that Mio is the first man that he’s ever admitted his feelings to since he’s always scared of the repercussions that would come out of his confession. Mio ghosting him for three years (apart from a postcard) gives Shun the impression that he’s once again made the wrong decision, so to suddenly be hit with an “I like you too” from Mio after three years is something that Shun isn’t prepared to handle.

We initially see most of this struggle from Mio’s perspective, and while it seems to culminate with their night in the hotel room, it’s given another twist with a visit from Shun’s childhood friend and ex-fiancee, Sakurako. I was slightly dreading that this was gonna go down a “win him back” type of plot, and while we do find out that Sakurako hasn’t moved on from Shun in the same way that he has moved on from her, what she does bring to the table is much more interesting. Shun finds out from Sakurako that his father is gravely ill, and she encourages him to go home before it’s too late. This turns out to be an issue that Shun and Mio see from completely different sides, as while Shun is still very much hurt over his falling out with his parents, Mio knows all too well the pain of losing a parent.

What I didn’t expect to see from the manga, though, is how Mio is actually not as 100% supportive of the idea of Shun leaving to go to his family as I thought. While he still encourages him to accept Sakurako’s decision, the manga adds some dialogue where he does admit that he doesn’t want to be apart from Shun yet again. I think it makes his stand on the issue a lot more realistic, as while he still loves Shun and wants to make up for the three years he spent away from him, he loves him enough to know that this trip is a lot more important for him, even if the novelist doesn’t see it as so.

It makes Shun’s insistence of Mio going with him to the trip in the end a lot more meaningful, as it sees Shun come to terms with quite a lot of things he’s been bottling up at that point. He realizes that he does want to see his family and maybe even get some closure out of it, but he also realizes that he cares for Mio just as much - and, more importantly, he doesn’t want to run away from either of them anymore. So when Shun sees the opportunity to still have both of them by his side, he takes it.

While it may seem like I enjoyed Seaside Stranger more for how the manga executed things when compared to the movie - and I admit that’s a big part of it, specifically for this volume - my initial thoughts of it having a gut-punch of a story still remained, and it’s perhaps even amplified after reading this. It really succeeds in exploring Shun’s and Mio’s internal conflicts and eliciting a lot of emotions out of them, which makes the few moments where things do work out a lot more rewarding.

Random thoughts that I couldn’t fit elsewhere:

I also wanted to point out how Mio being ready for the relationship doesn’t mean that he suddenly has the relevant experiences for it, and I think the story did a good job in portraying that. While it was often played for laughs, I still noted it as something that Mio was actively working on, and this is thankfully a plot point that future volumes continue to address.

I should mention how unique the setting is - this is one of only two series I’m covering for this project that’s primarily set outside of a city, the other being Restart After Coming Back Home. There’s obviously the whole factor that this is somewhere that Shun escapes to after what happens between him and his parents - which can be compared with how this is somewhere that Mio returns to - but I think how quiet and laid back the island is makes for a nice contrast with how the story’s conflicts are anything but those two descriptions. It was also nice to see the whole “everyone sorta knows each other” vibe in the early chapters too.

Where is the Eri x Suzu spinoff??? I really want to know more about them and their domestic life. This is one of the few volumes I’m covering for this project that doesn’t have any bonus chapters, and I 100% believe that if it did, it would focus on the two of them.

Thanks for reading! This is one of those cases that makes me glad that I decided to go through with this project, as there were several points about Seaside Stranger that I only realized as I was writing them down for this review, which only deepened my appreciation for the series even further. While I do have copies of the first three volumes of its sequel, Harukaze no Etranger, I'm still deciding whether or not I should cover them for this project.

[cocogum]

The Great Wave - Chapter 3 Review

‼️ SPOILERS FOR THE CHAPTER ‼️

Warning(s): extreme use of foul language.

Aurora is not pregnant.

I don’t believe it for a second, that cow is lying through her teeth. I already mentioned in the second chapter review that she just couldn’t be pregnant because there are three major reasons that easily disprove her claim.

First, it’s the amount of time that passed by. It has been a few months since Season 4 and the manga, around four months to be exact. And yet, Aurora’s stomach appears to be completely flat. How is this possible? Shouldn't there be a visible bump by now?

Second, season 3’s artbook already confirmed that Aurora was a manipulative woman and wanted to reflect it with her design (by having her hair covering one of her eyes) so who’s to say she’s telling the truth right now??

Third, @kilfeur pointed out in this post that if she was pregnant, Armand would not have allowed her to fly high up in the cloudy sky to gain knowledge about the Eliatrope goddess' eliaculus. Armand was already worried about Aurora when she went up, and the thought of her flying high while carrying their future child would have made him refuse the idea entirely, as he feared it could put their unborn child in danger.

So yeah, this skank is clearly lying her ass off just to manipulate the sadidas so that they could take her side. She’s so fucking petty omg I cannot deal with her. And her father is even worse my god wipe that ugly ass smile off your face you fatass.

This man clearly wants power that’s outside his kingdom. He just wants more even if it doesn’t belong to him and it painfully shows because he won’t stop making this fart face.

But it’s okay because as soon as Amalia opens her mouth, he immediately stops looking like a dumbass and immediately FROWNS because he knows she’s spitting FACTS.

And this is the only reason why I loved this moment. Amalia literally put him in his place and shut him up.

Amalia on the first panel: “What right do you return after you have shamelessly abandoned us? The osamodas kingdom, the nations of Bonta, Brakmar, Amakna, Astrub…”

Amalia on the second panel: “We asked you to come help us!”

Amalia on the third panel: “BUT NO ONE CAME! It was the future of the world that was at stake, not just the Sadida Kingdom!!!”

LIKE YES GIRL YES FUCKING DESTROY THIS OLD WASTE OF SPACE!!!

She literally dragged him on the fucking floor with all these facts omg I can’t she’s such a queen I love her so much. 💖💖

But then, instead of just taking it all like a good boy, this old bag of furry bones only had one thing to say and it was:

Osamodas blue cow king: “You give honor to your egocentrism, Amalia…”

Bruh what.

What are you talking about, you crusty old bat?

She drops so many facts and events that happened and this guy’s only comeback is “you’re being selfish 🥺😡”. Like what the fuck was even that???

Dude if you’ve got nothing to say, then don’t say anything but don’t just blurt out the first thing that comes out of your mouth??? Like what??

This is the equivalent of a detective who presented all the proofs that you committed the crime and the only thing you have to say is “your mama”.

Then, as if things couldn’t get any worse for this guy, he says:

Osamodas blue cow king: “My soldiers would have beat these creatures just as efficiently as yours.”

Oh yeah, where were they then, you fucking liar??? The worst part about this is that you didn’t even try hiding the fact that you would’ve been ‘ready’ but you’re so dumb you have no idea how brain-dead that makes you sound right now. You’re saying you could’ve sent your men BUT YOU DIDN’T DO SHIT. WHAT’S WORSE IS THAT YOU KNEW THE SADIDAS NEEDED HELP CUZ UR STUPID DAUGHTER FLED TO GO BACK TO YOU.

Also didn’t you once claim that Armand’s army was weaker than yours but then all of a sudden you’re now saying that your army could’ve beat the necromes like theirs did???

(oh oop- Armand don’t kill him yet 😭)

Bitch doesn’t even know what he’s talking about anymore. I doubt he even knows wtf he’s saying half the time.

Are you dumb???? Are you actually suffering from constipation????

You’re implying that you were free to help and that you knew they needed help. YOU’RE INDIRECTLY SAYING THAT YOU KNEW AND DIDN’T HELP DESPITE HAVING THE TIME TO DO SO.

While the old fart is yapping, Yugo’s face is just so 🫤😑 I’ve been staring at this panel for 2 minutes now and I love how fucking out of it he looks while listening to the cow 😭 Actually, I’m not even sure if he’s listening, I think he’s just hearing him from one ear but it all goes out on the other side. He looks like a god who’s about to squash an annoying ass ant lol

He’s literally like “is this bitch fr?”

Like Yugo is 100% confident to say that the osamodas king had no idea what the hell he was talking about when he thought his troops and he would’ve been able to fight off the necromes.

Yugo: “You have absolutely no idea what we saved you from!”

Yugo’s making that face cuz he knows the king has no clue what he’s barking about. (Also can’t Yugo just use his wakfu sensing abilities to check if Aurora is actually carrying another twelvian?? Or is he not able to do that because an unborn child does not have wakfu yet?) Little blue bro doesn’t know what necromes even are cuz Yugo never told him about them so how the hell was he supposed to know if his men would’ve stood a chance???? No seriously is this cow okay? Why is he talking? Is he talking just for the sake of talking?? Is he that self-conscious that he’ll make up lies on the spot just to protect his image??? The cow king doesn’t even know that the necromes had a leader. Yugo and Amalia are dealing with a fucking grown-ass child omg.

Osamodas blond cow: “I left because I made the promise to my dear Armand.”

This is a lie. Armand never heard of any promise. An analysis conducted by @geekgirles even indicated otherwise, supporting that the claim made by Aurora was fake. According to the analysis, Aurora was more inclined towards her family than her new life with Armand, and the claim that he made any promises to her was baseless. If you wish to read the detailed analysis conducted by @geekgirles on this matter, you can find all of it in this post.

I’ll now explain to you, in my own words, why her bullshit is hot donkey ass. Keep in mind that the whole reason why she left was to protect “the child” aka “the future heir”. As I said before, Aurora couldn’t have promised Armand anything because he knew she still held a bit too much on her osamodas family. From what we’ve seen, Aurora had the time to go back to the Osamodas kingdom to check up on them because of the eliaculus in the skies, had sided with her osamodas family during the meeting with the eliatrope goddess, had tried to marry off Amalia to one of her brothers and cousin, deliberately brought some of her relatives to Armand’s coronation to….stand around, and even keeps her father around in the Sadida kingdom when he should either be ruling his own kingdom or go back to his cave. Armand is not a moron. He knows that she constantly brings her own family to a place that doesn’t need them. So when he’s about to sacrifice his life unbeknownst to Amalia, he tells her this:

“The future is yours.”

Armand had passed the torch to Amalia.

It's worth noting that this is a crucial moment because he chooses not to pass the leadership to his own wife, Aurora. This decision is based on the fact that Aurora is heavily influenced by her family and is unable to make independent choices. At the same time, he also chooses not to give it to someone else who is just as important.

And that is the imaginary baby that Aurora is carrying.

Remember that the baby doesn't exist, and that's an important fact to keep in mind. Armand, who still loves Aurora, doesn't trust her enough to give her the leading role, or any role for that matter, especially not one that involves a child they could potentially have together. Instead, he gave the role to his sister. Aurora knows this and is fully aware that her promise to him was never even a thing. In Armand’s mind, it wouldn't have mattered if she ran away because he never intended to give her a part of the kingdom’s responsibilities in the first place, even though her getting away like that would have hurt his heart.

And Aurora is over here saying that her dad will help her lead the sadidas while she’s pregnant, girl sit your ass down no one called for you. Hoe thought she was in the same group as freaking warriors, shut up. You clearly want your father to rule for a much longer time literally wtf.

Osamodas blond cow: “During my pregnancy, my father will help me lead the kingdom…and I also count on him to train the future heir.”

It's concerning that her explanation might make sense to the sadidas. I'm not sure how she managed it, but that skank made it sound like her father would automatically assist her in ruling the Sadida Kingdom (despite them being Osamodas) since she would be pregnant and without aid due to Armand's demise. And after her baby would be born, her father would train him under his guidance to make him become strong and successful. She made it sound like a simple plan with no problems attached to it. She hasn’t even mentioned if the “baby” was an osamodas or a sadida. She only mentioned the gender, that the baby was a male (in French, when she calls the unborn child “the heir” she says it by using male pronouns).

Hey, Aurora what happens when your lie doesn’t work anymore because your stomach will still stay flat after eight months? You’re gonna tell the people that you swallowed the baby or something? That it fell down? What happens when you can’t keep up with your lie anymore?? Huh? Ever thought about that, you dumb bitch?

I have an idea, Amalia: how about you throw Aurora to the other side of the world and then try to get yourself pregnant by using Yugo so that you can also have a better reason to stay? Or better yet, you can tell her to prove her pregnancy because again, HER STOMACH IS FLATTER THAN A WASHBOARD AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS. Make her suffer from her lie and try to make her work hard for it.

You know when a dog lifts his tail and head up while he’s walking away from something cuz it shows just how sassy and confident they are? I see no difference with this crappy blue cow ‘family’ except that it ain’t cute when they do it.

They just ignored everything Amalia and Yugo said, looked the other way from every proof and situation that they were currently in, and only brought out Aurora’s pregnancy as a trashy uno reverse card, then decided to dip out before blurting out that they were gonna wait NEXT TO ARMAND’S FUCKING TREE GRAVE SO AMALIA CAN PREPARE HER STUFF TO LEAVE.

Osamodas blonde cow: “We are going to pray at Armand’s grave tree, while you make your arrangements.”

The fucking nerve to say that.

I don’t give a shit if she’s crying while saying it, this bitch is supposed to be a professional manipulator.

She and her family have no shame whatsoever. They genuinely thought they did something there. The only thing they had as “leverage” against Amalia and Yugo was Aurora’s stupid “pregnancy”. And even if she was actually carrying Armand’s kid (for whatever reason), her reason would still be shit cuz Armand already declared in his final hour that Amalia was going to take his role.

Osamodas blond cow: “Your presence here is no longer desired, sister-in-law. Just do what you’ve always done…Go explore the world!”

Like-

Who are you???

Blond cow had the audacity to exist.

Not only do we know that the royal osamodas family are liars and manipulators, but we also now know that they’re complete dumbasses for even wanting to rule the Sadida kingdom of all kingdoms. The Sadida kingdom is not built like theirs. The Sadida culture and its customs are extremely different and very much the opposite of the Osamodas since these two races are polar opposites. The Sadidas care about plant life while the Osamodas care about wildlife. It would be extremely hard for the osamodas to fully accept a culture that preaches everything that opposes what they preach. Not only that, but the Sadida kingdom is the literal embodiment of nature. If anything tries to hit its source no matter how big or small, then there would be dire consequences to the entire ecosystem of the world. The Tree of Life is such a big deal in fact that Armand even nicknames it “the lungs of this world”.

And to protect it, you not only need to be one with nature, but that also means you need a SADIDA to guard it which is a person that can literally SPEAK FOR THE TREES. Aurora you NEED Amalia, not only because she’s a Sadida, but because she’s also a royal AND has the strongest connection to the tree more than any other sadidas. You’re not just ruling a kingdom, you’re taking care of the world’s core.

And Aurora’s father doesn’t seem to understand that very important detail. When Armand reveals to him that the sadida kingdom keeps getting targeted at all times because it represents the lungs of the world, this fucking dumbass cow thinks that it’s because the sadidas are weak and can’t protect their own home which is why it keeps getting attacked.

Aurora’s father is such an idiot that he doesn’t even understand why the kingdom is so precious when he’s just been TOLD THE ANSWER DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HIS FUCKING FACE.

At this point, even a iop would get it. BECAUSE THE PERCEDAL FAMILY ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT-

This is why imagining an osamodas ruling the Sadida kingdom is a literal death sentence. Because an osamodas, someone who only takes care of beasts, shouldn’t be able to properly take care of the sacred tree that links every single living plant in the world. For fuck sake, Aurora, why do you think they call it “the Tree of LIFE”?????

If the Tree of Life doesn’t have a proper guardian (aka A FUCKING SADIDA), then it dies. And if it dies, that means the ecosystem dies. Aurora, you dumb blond, let me explain it in osamodas language: if every green that you see outside disappears, that means that your stupid animals won’t be able to properly eat, shit, reproduce, drink, breathe, and live. And yes, Aurora that last one also means that they won’t have a surface to walk on, aka death.

You don’t have a brain because you keep listening to your egocentric manipulative fat father every time he opens his mouth and you keep making constipated decisions without thinking about the later outcomes because you think you’re in control of the situation.

The only thing you can do, and I’m being generous here by giving you a “talent”, is to shut the fuck up and sit there looking pretty. You did a good job doing that in Season 4 and I want you to do that again. And while you’re at it, go make me a sandwi-

Not only does Aurora need Amalia, the sadida who has the strongest link to the Tree of Life, but the Osamodas king also needs Yugo. I’m not sure why these blue people didn’t catch the fact that there’s a gigantic ass necrome dragon that’s only been PARALYZED and is currently standing in the fucking Sadida Kingdom’s backyard. The dragon is very easy to spot and the only reason why Yugo still keeps the eliatrope dofus on him at all times is to prepare himself for when the dragon gets out of this state. Because yes, Armand did beat him, but he didn’t kill him. Again, you are not able to kill a necrome. If the royal Osamodas family somehow takes hold of the Sadida kingdom, how the fuck are they gonna beat a fucking dragon, one of the most powerful fucking entities of this world who also had been necrofied to NEVER FUCKING DIE??? The osamodas cow king never saw a necrome, never beat a necrome, doesn’t know how it became a necrome, and doesn’t know where it comes from. Since he doesn’t know shit about the necromes, how is he gonna be able to fight a fucking necrome DRAGON?????

Sweeties, do you get it now?

Staying in the Sadida kingdom isn’t for power-hungry clowns. Staying in the Sadida kingdom means that you’ve gambled with your life more than once and you know the taste of adventure and combat. Staying there means knowing that your life can be taken away from you by either the enemies who try to take the literal lungs of the world, or the paralyzed undead dragon who can wake up at any time if he simply wanted to.

You bozos NEED Yugo and Amalia to the point where you can’t even be the ones to stay there, let alone own the place. You can’t stay there because there is so much to keep guard of, to be aware of, and to be ready for. The sadidas have practiced this dance for centuries now and they’ll keep doing it even harder because of an additional menace that is living on their grounds, the dragon being that very threat. Now, not only do the sadidas have to be vigilant of the outside, but they also have to be vigilant of the inside.

So yeah, the royal osamodas are a goofy ass family and I hate the circus.

(i love how the French commentaries on Allskreen and the Krosmoz app are clowning this family lol everyone understood the assignment)

[nerdynatreads]

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book review || Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

video review || Still Riding That Wave -- June Wrap Up || 10 books!

Wow, okay, I can’t decide on my feelings here. This was so slow, so character-driven for a large majority of the book, with a creepy atmosphere and an underlying mystery, but it felt like we really didn’t get ANY development of it after the initial setup until 400 pages in!

The character work was great. All of the women were distinct, I never mixed up who was who, they each had their own voices with a tone to match. However, I feel like there were some elements given to each of the women that ended up not really being necessary and just added extra page time. For example, Harper’s mother’s alcoholism or Aubrey’s mother, Caroline’s, fall from fame. These might have added some depth to both Harper and Aubrey in terms of background, but I felt they weren’t especially necessary. I do think that the POV shifts could sometimes be confusing when many of the women were with one another, making it hard to keep straight who’s minds we were in, which did cause issues with consistency. My favorite perspective was definitely Alex in the past. I felt as though I really knew Alex, and understood her motivations and views, but her perspective also was so unsettling and, for quite some time, had the most development of the mystery.

If I’m being honest, I think the entire present-day plot line probably could have been cut and I would have enjoyed this more. I didn’t particularly care for Harper, Aubrey was fine, and I didn’t like Merritt, but all in all, it felt like this entire half of the story was just used to build suspense, further creep you out, and make you more intrigued by the mystery in the past. This could have been successful if the ending reveal was played right, but they had no part in it! The reveal felt very true to the entire story that had been laid out and I quite enjoyed it as a twist, but it felt so rushed and really cemented the present-day timeline feeling unnecessary. The final chapter with Harper, Merritt, and Audrey was, once again, creepy, but it didn’t give me a satisfying ending.

3.5 / 5 stars

[itssolonelyhere]

If your doing a new one why can't you update your jokesaku or madasaku fics too?

Hi, anon. It's not quite that simple. I mean, I definitely should update/finish my older stories before starting new ones. There are eight of them sitting on the back burner... I never intended to be one of those writers that left fics unfinished or on hiatus, yet here we are. Now, I understand some of those writers a bit more since I actually began writing myself. It's not always that easy.

Here's the thing. I'm not the kind of person who can work on multiple projects at one time. God knows I've tried. I told myself and others I can do it. But I've concluded that all it does is stress me out and nothing gets done. I'm someone who can't sit still, is unorganized, can't focus for long periods of time, and is a mess at the end of the day. Yet I still try to write chapters that are between 5-11k because I'm a big dummy that can't reel it in. And dyslexia only makes it more difficult.

I work a full-time and part-time job. I have bills to pay and a place to take care of. A partner, demon children (my cats), family, and friends that need me. So when I do get a little free time, I want to spend it doing something I'm excited about. That tends to be my current fixation at the time. Which is also something I can't necessarily control. Believe me, I've tried. Being in the middle of a project and losing what was once an all-consuming fixation on a ship/piece of media is heartbreaking. I can try to rekindle the flame but unless it happens organically, I'm screwed.

That happened recently. My fixations can last months, even a year or more. The last one was MadaSaku again (HeisenSaku and JokeSaku before that). Then the passion for it whittled away, little by little, until I was left spending months just trying to finish one chapter. It's agonizing. Eventually, it comes back. It's just the time in between that's hard. I'd sit at my table for hours on days off, staring at a single chapter and drawing a blank. I couldn't get anything done. In return, I'd feel embarrassed to the point I didn't even want to go on Discord and talk to my online friends. It might sound silly, but that's how it is...

Right now, I'm sucked into the Eddissy ship for Stranger Things. Seeing the gifs and fanart of those two ignited the feeling I was missing. It motivated and inspired me to write again after another long dry spell. The same way the other ships I write for did previously. I don't know how long it'll last, but I want to ride the wave for as long as I can.

So with the limited free time I have available, I'd rather spend it working on something that I'm excited about and actually putting out content than forcing myself to stare at a blank screen for hours while slowly spiraling into a self-loathing mess. For free, might I add. The only reason I do any of this is because I enjoy writing garbage and love hearing from readers.

This wasn't meant to be so long, but I've been getting quite a few messages like this recently. Especially on FF.net. Like, I spent hours over multiple days working on and editing a 5k+ Eddissy chapter, then get a review/DM saying "Nice so when are you finally going to update your JokeSaku fic, huh?" and it's just so... disheartening. I get it. Some of you are here for JokeSaku, MadaSaku, etc. And it's not fair to leave you hanging on an incomplete fic. It just doesn't feel great to have someone basically say, "if you have time to work on this crap you like, then you should also have spare time to write the things I actually want to read." I don't know... This is just me explaining and rambling about what's going on from my end.

[youreyeslookliketheocean]

chap 5 review i finally have time lets go i hate school:

tommy learning asl just to fuck with wilbur lmao

also when wilbur stepped up for tommy after he couldnt speak was awesoem i love crimeboys

its so interesting the relarionship between tommy and his old coach bc its such a complicated mess that really fucked tommy up but it hurts more relaizing that the entire public saw it (or parts of it) too and nto saying anything until his mom was lkke hey thats gfucked up loike the public knew that old cheif only cared abt racing while phil cares abt tommmy

crimeboys are becoming friends <3

also damn wilburs accident was pretyy severe.

im kinda excited for when the new team figures out abt tomys trauma and insecurites (if they do lol)

also imagine walking into a pillow fight. phil be like "alright then"

also i like all th e side characters too especaillh purpled and aims

chapter 6 too bc yeah:

beach beach beach

also wtf why is wil tht good. he has no right.

toomy stop hating on urself phil cares abt u

give wil false hope lmao ope theere he is right thwre

stop. tommy stop. stop hating on urself being deaf is fine phil isnt gonna hate u anyway how u constanty compare everything to old cheif is very important bc it shows how its different

hes being kidnapped lets go i love beach scene beach (i actually ahve horrible memories from florida beaches we went at the wrong time of year)

george founder is an absolutely badass name good job on that one

dream isnt the old cheif relally???? im genuienly surprised but thats cool. nice to actually see him in a dsmp fic where hes actually chill. also sapnap i forgot he cuased the accident that must be awkward af (tommy stop blaming urself)

yeah no u show his lack of self confidence/esteem perfectly u take so many W

oh my god 🦀 makes an appearance hes such a celebrity

wait fuck all my brain proccessed was crab legs its a hermitcrab

mother of twitch prime. that is a tommy thing to say

yeah take em aids off that must be annoying as hell

is it just me or do i sense that tommy isnt accepting that hes HOH now hmm :/ | yeah losing smth as important as a sense must be scary if u've had it for so long

istg is wil gonna bully him into- and he did (also was it him 🦀? is he in the full throttle?)

hes learning asl im so happy oh shit not them waves i once got rolled by waves its scary af

oh no old cheif angst again ahh. and wil being concerned ahh this will be character development. this is crucial scene alret. oh they laughing awwwww oh he smile a /gen smile !!!!!!!!!1 crimeboys brainrotting full throttle version commence omg he likes wil now- ope nvm

"theyre different from his old crew. all of them are" YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

hes not that worried in sim. anymore abt being good

oh no his left ear but itll be ok

"hen slips away to his room to ruminate on the fact that never—not in his whole racing career—has he felt so loved by his team as he does now. He’s not worth it. He’s a fuck up, a failure, and he’s going to disappoint them.  He doesn’t want it to end." i will live for the moment when he fucks up. its gonna be so great for character development

ok this chap. is very long so im splitting to parts byeeee sorry this took so long school sucks :( but full throttle does not :)

Ahhh thank you!!!!!

Yeah, I don’t think Tommy really realized how much the public knew until that interview with Wilbur, either. The public saw and knew (to a certain extent) that something was wrong or “off” about Tommy and his chief’s partnership for a long time, but no one ever tried to step in and ask about it, or tell him that he should leave him and find a new chief, or say anything at all on Tommy’s behalf… Writing that part hurt.

Idk how far you’ve gotten by the time this response comes (lol sorry it took so long. University stole my soul for a little while), but… the moment he “fucks up” will definitely be coming 👀

Thank you for the message!!! I giggled at the hermit crab😂

[dailyaudiobible]

8/5/2022 DAB Transcript

Ezra 1:1-2:70, 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5, Psalm 27:7-14, Proverbs 20:22-23

Today is the fifth day of August, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. Coming to you from the rolling hills of Tennessee. And I pray all is well with you in the rolling hills of wherever you are and maybe are not in rolling hills maybe you are on flat planes or maybe you are coastal or whatever, wherever you may be, it is wonderful to be here with you now, today. And in the Scriptures yesterday, we began a letter from the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth, otherwise known as first Corinthians. We also concluded the book of second Chronicles in the Old Testament and so that leads us now into some brand-new territory, the book of Ezra.

Introduction into the Book of Ezra:

And basically, we’re…we’re picking up where we left off, at least in terms of…of time, the children of Israel have been carried away into exile. So, just small review, we remember that after a King Solomon, Israel broke apart into two different nations, the kingdom of Israel in the North and the kingdom of Judah in the South and there were 10 tribes in the North, the kingdom of Israel who were eventually carried away into exile by the Assyrian Empire and they were completely conquered and they were assimilated into the Assyrian Empire because they disappeared from history as cohesive tribes after that. The kingdom of Judah, where Jerusalem is, lasted over a century longer but were eventually conquered and carried into exile by the Babylonian Empire. And so, as with the book of, the books of Kings and the books of the Chronicles we move through the different kings of Israel and Judah, but we come to an end. There is a last King and that is because they were conquered and carried away. Eventually, the Babylonian empire was conquered by the Persian Empire and the Persian kings were considerably more favorable to the Hebrew people. So, we’re kind of picking up where second Chronicles leaves off as we start Ezra. And Ezra covers about 80 years and there will be three Kings: Cyrus the Great, Darius, and then Artaxerxes. And generally, they are kind to the Hebrew people and allow them to return to their ancestral homeland. In fact, Cyrus the Great begins this process and we kind of saw that as we we’re ending second Chronicles. He literally wants to rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem for the worship of God. Cyrus wants all of the gods, of all of the lands that he now controls to be happy. And so, he is allowing the Hebrew people, those that want to return to Jerusalem to rebuild, to go there and about 42,000 Israelites are the first wave to return from exile. And they will be under the leadership of a person named Zerubbabel, which we will meet. And you can imagine, 80 years have past, a bunch of people are returning, there are people that are in the land that a been using the land, the exiles want to rebuild the Temple, rebuild Jerusalem and so they're going to face opposition, largely the kind of opposition known as intimidation, but we’ll also see a bunch of political maneuvering. And we’ll also see that the exiles, they stay true to the task and then before Ezra ends, we see a second wave of exiles being allowed to return to their ancestral homeland in Israel. And there is actually an awful lot in Ezra and the book that follows, Nehemiah, that is extraordinarily relevant to our lives today. So, there is a lot for us to learn and a lot for us to consider. And so, let's get to that. We’re reading from the New International Version this week, Ezra chapters 1 and 2.

Commentary:

Okay so, there is a lesson for us in the portion of first Corinthians, the letter the Paul wrote, for us today. So, have you ever thought about what we actually believe as Christians? Like, have you ever tried to, sort of step away from the faith part of it and just look at what we believe? When…when we do that, we can see that, if faith were not in play then it's hard to make sense of it all. It sounds foolish. It sounds like foolishness and that's not a new development. It was considered foolishness in the time of Paul as well. So, I…I quote from first Corinthians, “for since, in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him. God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” So, what Paul is beginning to lay out here, is this lesson that I was talking about. God can't be found in the confines of our personal intellect or experience alone. Paul told us, in our reading today that, in effect, God's weakest thought is still far above humanities greatest thoughts and God's weakness is stronger by far than the greatest human strength. So, no matter how much we can accumulate in our brains and reason out about who God is and what He is like and what He will and will not do, we do not have the capacity to even reach God's weakest thought. Like, He is far above us. And so, through our own human wisdom we can't explain God. Or, let me just put it in Paul's own words, “the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Brothers and sisters, think of what you were like when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God.” So, this really resonates with me, particularly because I have devoted my life to understanding God and knowing God, to understanding the Scriptures, to diving as deep as possible. What I have found very, frustratingly as a person who is a thinker, that faith is required, faith is the way for everything to make sense. Without faith, it doesn't. Which has led me to understand over many, many years, I don't know all that I think that I know. None of us know, all that we think that we know, about anything but we definitely do not know all that we think that we know about God. At the same time, we know what we know and we reason what we reason and what we are invited to when we, when we come into a relationship with Jesus, is to take this leap of faith that supersedes any of our intellect or any of the things that we think we've figured out about God, we have to leap into an unknown. It is our faith that makes it a known. Generally speaking, that would be perceived as foolishness, but it is actually this foolishness that gets us to the end of ourselves, we literally have to take a blind leap of faith and reach beyond ourselves and then we encounter God. And then we realize that the ways of the Lord and following Jesus are rarely ever going to fit into our intellectual framework. And yet at the very same time, those of us who have taken that leap of faith into the arms of Jesus as it were, realize that this is the only way life makes any sense at all. The foolishness, as Paul called it, of our blind leap of faith is what makes life makes sense. So, trying to approach God as an intellectual exercise, so we can figure it all out, gives us all kinds of problems. And yet, as an intellectual exercise, can we figure our own selves out? Do we not do things that we don't understand why we chose to go that route? And so, if we can't perfectly understand and figure our own selves out, and what would make us believe that we are wise enough to figure out the Almighty most-high God? We figure out the most-high God, if we want to call it figuring out, by taking a leap of faith and entering into a relationship with Him and surrendering our control and submitting ourselves to Him, giving up our rights and offering our lives as a living sacrifice. That sounds foolish. In most any other kind of context, we would advise against such behavior. And yet, for those of us, again, who have taken that leap of faith and surrendered ourselves and our destiny to God, this is the only way actually find peace. To actually realize, we don't have anything, about anything, figured out, but we have a Father, who loves us and desires to Father us in this world, teaching us what we need to know, which can only be done through faith. And so, as we ponder this today, may we acknowledge that we don't know all that we think that we know, but faith has led us here. And we don't have anything to brag or boast about, all we really can do is marvel at the unspeakable love that is impossible for us to comprehend, that came to rescue us and revealed to us what life is supposed to look like. And then we get to participate in revealing that to the world.

Prayer:

And so, Father, we love You. We acknowledge that You are most-high. There is none higher, there is no one like You. And we don't really care if it seems foolish to put our faith in You. This is the only thing that has ever made any sense. So, may we live into this and may it spill out of our lives, that we may be an example to everyone in our sphere of influence. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

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If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Thank you, if you find that being around the Global Campfire together is…is a source of light and life and hope and good news, then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

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And that's it for today, I'm Brian, I love you and I'll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hey DAB family, this is Vicky in Texas and I’m asking for prayer for you to sew a blanket of prayer over Owen and all the young women and men, heading to start their careers or moving into college for the first time, including my own sweet son Russel, who we’re taking to the University of North Texas on August 18th. And I am already struggling with the grief of his absence and it’s not even here yet. So, this prayer is also for all the other parents who are sending their children out into the world. It’s a miracle that I had this baby, all babies are a miracle but because of a series of medical problems, it truly was a miracle that I even got pregnant and was able to retain the pregnancy and have this boy. When I found out I was pregnant I remember dropping to my knees and dedicating him to God, just telling God I knew that this baby was more His then mine. That I would raise him to know God and serve God and I hope I’ve done well with that. I have truly been blessed to be his mom. He has been a joy all 18 years that he has been in my life. Never has there been one of those times where I thought, oh my gosh, this is a teenager, I can’t wait for him to leave. But now it’s time to watch him grow into the man God wants him to be. It’s no longer so much that he’ll be under my wings and my teachings but truly just sending him out to be under God’s wings and God’s protection. It’s truly time I gave him over to God, like Jocabed letting go of Moses and Hannah letting go of Samuel. So, God, please grant me the peace and faith that those women had. And please wrap all of our children in your wings. Together with my fellow DABers, I bind the catastrophizing voices of the enemy, who tries to box us and our children in with fear to keep us from faithfully handing ourselves and our children over to You. I ask you please to bless all these children. Bless you Owen, bless my son Russel and bless all of us parents.

Hello Daily Audio Bible, Shawn here from England, UK. I’ve fallen by the wayside lately. Suffering from severe crack and heroin addiction. I’m a binger and when I binge, I’m completely out of control. I’m pushing everybody away from me. I’ve stepped away from the Bible. Today, I’ve come back to the Bible after a couple of weeks away. It’s been 11 days but I spent over $2,000 pounds on drugs. And I’ve hurt some of the people that I love the most in my life. I’m stuck, I don’t know. I wake up depressed every day. I know is from no fault but my own and I need to come off the drugs. I need to get better for myself and I know I could be really well if I wanted to, really well. I don’t know what I don’t do the things that I want to do, you know. I do the things that I don’t want to do. I don’t want to take crack and heroin. I don’t what comes over me, something just come over me and bam, all hell breaks loose. So, I’d appreciate it if people would pray for me. I’m very selfish in the fact that I can just call in like this. I feel selfish asking for prayers cause I need to help myself a little. But I’m always listening guys and I’m always praying for you. Not like that, I’m not saying I should be prayed for just because I pray for other people but I really would appreciate some prayers if you can. Yeah, thanks for listening. God bless you all.

Hello, Daily Audio Bible. I am calling in anonymous today. Some of you recognize my voice. I’ve been on a couple of times. I’m calling in to confess my sins. Because James 5:16 says that we should confess, it’s says confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Lord, I thank You, you know, for just waking me up today. But you all, I ask that you all pray for my strength in God. I decided a year ago that I was going to abstain, you know, from, I was going to wait until marriage. But a lot comes with that and there are, you know, things the enemy uses, you know, to veer us off from that faith. So, I ask that ya’ll pray for my strength in God. Pray for my patience and my faith in the Lord. Cause it’s difficult. It’s difficult waiting on the man that God has for me. However, I know that it’s possible and I know that I just need to stay prayed up and stay in my word. Sometimes I feel this spirit coming over me and just this dark, this darkness coming over me and you know, just darkness of submission to sin and I don’t want to. I don’t want to but I do intentionally every now and then and I just want to be free from that. So, I ask that ya’ll pray for me and continue to pray for me as I continue to pray for you all. God bless you all, I love you all. This is an amazing platform. Brian, thank you so much for Daily Audio Bible. God Bless.

Hey, Daily Audio Bible family, this is Billy from Montgomery with A Trinity Stone. I wanted to put a praise report out there for my Kiros. We have, we go into Stayton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama. We did a Kiros in June and there were 22 guys that accepted crosses on Sunday. And basically, that means there’s 22 more believers in Jesus Christ. So, that’s awesome, I’m very, very happy about that. And also, we go back in once a month to do a reunion group meeting with those same guys and other guys. So, we need prayers for that, going back in to do a reunion group. Also, there is another Bible Study we’re going to create out there. It’s called Every Man a Warrior. It’s a Bible Study that is awesome because you’re actually talking directly with the creator, nobody else. It’s a, it’s an awesome Bible Study. There’s gonna be 15 guys that are gonna sign up and do this Bible Study. It’s gonna be led by one of the prisoners inside. His name is McArthur Duncan and he is leading this Bible Study. So, I would just like prayers for McArthur and these 15 guys that are going through this Every Man a Warrior Bible Study. Anyhow, I will talk to you guys later, love ya’ll, talk to ya’ll later. Bye for now.

Hey DAB family, this is Brian in Florida. I’m reaching out because I need some brothers and sisters to partner in prayer with me. I have, through no fault of my own, been facing a lawsuit that somebody has placed and I have been dealing with this now almost 7 years. And the sum of money is huge and I believe I have a promise from God that this case is gonna be dismissed and it is dragging on and on. And my prayer is that I will stand in faith and keep my eyes focused on Christ because He gives me perfect peace. And that me and my family will be protected and for the promise, case dismissed. If you’ll pray with me, that would be wonderful. God bless you.