#they seem to be taking a lot of what made their predecessors stand out and turning it into their own thing

[pisoprano]

Another Loveybug AU concept, this time with amnesia!

Ladybug’s identity gets exposed to Monarch. She manages to get away, but she knows that she can’t remain as Ladybug or the Guardian anymore. She contacts Su-Han and tells him she has to give up the miracle box.

But before relinquishing anything, Marinette starts playing with her transformation. She finds out that if she focuses on her romantic feelings, it manifests as a different suit, one that she is completely unrecognizable in.

Marinette convinces Su-Han that they can’t afford to get someone else to be the new ladybug, not when Scarabella and Kitty Noire were so easily discovered. She’ll keep the earrings. She just won’t be able to remember her time as Ladybug.

Ladybug goes out in public to face Monarch one last time, this time following in Master Fu’s footsteps to sacrifice her memories to pass on the miracle box (now, returning it back to Su-Han).

A disoriented Marinette finds herself standing before a purple man who wails about losing something. But before she can ask what’s going on, a boy in cat ears takes her in his arms and carries her home. There’s something in his eyes, something she can’t quite place. Sadness? Love? Whatever it is, he doesn’t say. He merely kisses her forehead and says, “Thank you for everything.” And then he’s gone.

Alone in her bedroom, Marinette finds a box with a pair of earrings inside. As she tries them on, she is accosted by a bug-mouse who can talk. ‘Tikki,’ this being calls herself, tells Marinette that she was chosen to inherit the Ladybug mantle. Tikki also says that if Marinette channels her feelings of love, she can become a hero who can protect Paris. Marinette thinks of her love for her boyfriend Adrien (who could ever forget him?), then proclaims “Hearts on!” And suddenly, she’s pink.

She encounters the boy with cat ears again. He tells her that he’ll protect her as she gets used to her powers. She finds herself acclimating far more easily than she thought possible for a clumsy girl like her. (It’s probably a side effect of the super suit.)

She looks up information about her predecessor—apparently Alya was obsessed with cataloging every detail she knew about ‘Ladybug.’ Marinette isn’t entirely sure why she doesn’t remember much about all the months of attacks that have plagued Paris. Maybe that purple man acquired mind erasing powers and Ladybug hadn’t been able to fix it with her miracle cure before she passed on the miraculous?

Tikki tries to inspire her with her own stories of Ladybug. How she’d always try to stand up against the cruelty of the world and fight for kindness. Marinette wasn’t sure how she was supposed to fill the shoes of someone like that. Though apparently Ladybug had been a klutz with a stutter too, so maybe Marinette might not be entirely a hopeless cause.

Alya’s been sad ever since Ladybug went away. Alya had dedicated so much of her life to Ladybug, it made sense she’d miss the superheroine when she’d gone. Marinette tries to get Alya to get invested in reporting about Loveybug, but she doesn’t bite. Alya’s far more interested in making sure Marinette knows how amazing Ladybug was. Even if it makes her sad, Alya clearly needs to reminisce, and Marinette is happy to be there for her.

Adrien’s been sad too, though he seems to cheer up a lot when he’s around her. He’s also gotten really protective. Practically every time an akuma alert goes off, Adrien is sticking Marinette in a closet for her to hide in before running off to his own hiding place. She doesn’t point out that she’d feel more protected if he stayed in the closet with her—she needs to use the time alone to transform. But it’s always nice that she can use the moments where Adrien kisses her goodbye as fuel to use for ‘channeling love’ when transforming into Loveybug.

The boy in the cat ears is different too, at least from how he acted in all those videos. It was incredibly obvious that he was head over heels for Ladybug from the beginning. Marinette doesn’t understand why Ladybug had apparently rejected his advances. He was sweet. And he is still sweet, but when he’s around Loveybug… the light leaves his eyes. She probably reminds him of the partner he lost. She tries to give him space, but that only seems to make him look even more lonely. She tries to cheer him up instead. Make him laugh. It turns out he had a magical laugh. (If she wasn’t already with Adrien, she could see herself falling for the boy in cat ears too.)

Gabriel Agreste sends Adrien away to London. Marinette tries to keep the boy she loves home, but only manages one final kiss goodbye before he is taken away. She doesn’t think she can channel that kiss to becoming Loveybug. Her heart hurts too much.

As Marinette mourns, Tikki finds a box of rainbow cookies somewhere in Marinette’s room. In an attempt to cheer her up, she eats a purple macaron and tells Marinette she’ll provide a cool new power the next time she transforms. Marinette, heart still heavy, says, “Tikki, power up.” Suddenly, she’s weightless. Realizing this power has opened up the entire world to her, she immediately takes to the skies. Adrien. She could now find Adrien!

She searches London for the boy she loves, serendipitously finding him standing on a balcony of a secluded apartment. Adrien stares at her, eyes impossibly wide. “Cosmobug?” he asks, his voice hesitant.

She looks down at the suit she’s wearing for the first time. There aren’t any hearts anywhere. Only spots. She thinks she’s seen a picture of Ladybug wearing a suit very much like this. Maybe this was how all powered-up suits looked?

“I’m Loveybug,” she explains. “I’m here to rescue you!”

Adrien stands there unmoving, like he’s calculating a tough math problem in his head. Finally, he asks, “Marinette?”

She squeaks. “How did you figure me out? I’ve been so careful! Oh no, it’s because I forgot to ‘channel love’ before transforming, isn’t it? It messed with the mask magic, didn’t it? I knew I was going to mess up eventually…”

Adrien put his arms around her. “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m really happy I found out your identity.”

Marinette curls in on herself. “Ladybug would be so disappointed in me if she knew…”

Adrien blinks. “You don’t know who Ladybug is?”

“Tikki can’t tell me things like that. She can only talk about how great her old holder was and how much she misses her.” She realizes Adrien probably has no idea what she’s talking about. “Oh! Tikki is—“

“I know who Tikki is,” he says, smiling. “And I think she left out some things. Come inside, I want to show you something.”

Adrien leads her to a mirror. “Try powering down. But this time, don’t do the ‘channeling love’ thing you do to become Loveybug.”

“What do I channel instead?”

“Nothing. Don’t think about it, just let whatever happen happen.”

She closes her eyes takes a deep breath. She tries to forget that Adrien was here with her. She tries to think of nothing, but her mind won’t let her stay on nothing. Instead, it turns towards the boy with the cat ears. The boy she has no business loving. She thinks about how she doesn’t need to be in love with him to want to be his friend. His partner, something inside her whispers. Aloud, she says, “Power down.”

She opens her eyes and sees her reflection. The hearts are still gone. The face, though… “Why do I look like Ladybug?” she whispers.

“Because you are Ladybug,” Adrien tells her.

“That’s not possible.”

“It is. Ladybug gave up her memories to protect the miraculous. But she—you—found a way to stay by Chat Noir’s side anyway.”

By becoming Loveybug. By channeling her love. “Was I in love with him before? Chat Noir?”

“I think so.”

She bites her lip. “Do you think I should return to him?”

“Are you in love with him now?” he asks.

“I… maybe,” she admits. Somehow, even when suppressing her feelings, the boy in cat ears tugged at her heart. But she could also feel a strong tug in another direction. “But I’m in love with you too, Adrien. I don’t want to give us up.”

He smiled, nodding like it was the ‘right’ answer. “You don’t have to, my lady.”

‘My lady.’ She knew those words. Not just from the Ladyblog videos. The term of endearment passing through his lips thrums against her very soul.

“Chat Noir?” she asks, unsure this could be real.

She looks into his eyes. His green eyes. Not quite like a cat’s, but there was a familiarity in the way they moved. In the way those eyes looked at her like she was his entire world.

“Yes. It’s me.”

She has so many questions. But the one that ends up leaving her mouth is, “Why are you still here? You could transform, leave here with no one to stop you.”

Adrien’s mouth falls agape once, then twice as he searches for words. Finally, he shrugs. “I guess I was waiting for someone to rescue me. If you still want to do the honors?”

Well, she hadn’t come all this way for nothing. She lifts him in her arms, every fiber of her straining with the desire to keep this precious boy safe. She still isn’t entirely sure how she’s going to protect him when his father finds out. Maybe Chat Noir could be a more permanent fixture around Paris? And, to make sure he didn’t feel so alone, Loveybug would spend as much time as possible there by his side.

Two of the biggest romantics in Paris, falling for each other… Alya might finally get invested in covering Loveybug now there was juicy relationship gossip to invest in. But Marinette should probably give Alya some closure about what really happened to Ladybug first, even if Alya couldn’t share that information with the rest of the world. Marinette couldn’t wait to see the look on her BFF’s face when she learned that Marinette Dupain Cheng of all people wielded the ladybug miraculous!

Until then, she holds on tight to Adrien Agreste as she flies him home.

At some point, he starts to get cold and she suggests that he transform to get protection from the suit.

His mouth pulls into a cheeky grin. “Plagg, claws out.” His hair turns green.

Wrong catboy! her mind screams, dropping him in a burst of horrifying clumsiness.

He calls up a power-up transformation before he falls into the sea, then flies up beside her. This time, he looks how she knows Chat Noir looks when given the gift of flight, not a green hair in sight. “Did I mention I can also transform into Catwalker?” he asks, feigning innocence (badly).

“No you did not!” she hisses.

“Just thought you should know I’ve got a backup identity too. In case we need it.”

“Do you plan on erasing your memories?”

“No…?”

“Then we don’t need another backup,” she declares. “Adrien and Chat Noir are plenty for me.”

[ashoss]

I have some ideas regards PJO x DC

Steph and Tim:

I love the idea of Tim or Steph being mortal and struggling to feel of any value when their predecessors were the kids of gods.

But like it only works if one of them is Mortal because I feel like Tim won’t feel out of place for long enough before Steph comes around to maximise angst potential (if my understanding of the timeline is correct) And Steph probs wouldn’t feel inferior mortality wise if Tim is also Mortal.

Like it’s gottta be one or the other if you get what I’m saying.

Duke:

I love the idea that Duke is mortal but still a Meta so he doesn’t feel as out of place with his powers because it’s normal in the world of Gods and maybe as a result the kids know how to help him. But he has to adjust to the idea that they exist and some of the bad guys they fight that may look like mob members aren’t they’re monsters and at first he can’t see that but then eventually he learns to see through the mist using his powers somehow.

Babs:

I love mortal Babs who just stubborns her way into the family business. I think it really helps to establish her determination.

Bruce:

I have the idea that Bruce is a legacy and thus clear sighted and that’s part of why he became Batman. Because he saw all these horrible monsters that most people don’t know are there and he couldn’t stand the thought of demigod children being forced to fight against them before some of them even have any training. Thus the Batman deals with his regular real world threats like the joker and the mob while also killing what monsters he can to make the world just a little bit safer for the demigod children out there

yeah i was thinking abt mortal tim and steph- it would absolutely be fantastic for the angst angle- tim feeling as if hes not as good as dick and jason who are demigods. mortal steph would also be interesting and i was also considering it just because i cant really find a parent that fits her. her being mortal would also add to her angst aspect, feeling like shes not good enough for the batfam because theyre all powerful, etc etc…

duke i do want to not be involved in the greek world at first. him as just a regular meta would also play into how different he is from the other bats normally- the only meta, the daytime bat, yknow. it would be really interesting to see how his powers could also affect his understanding of the greek stuff, how he could potentially see through the mist a bit, even if not a lot. i made a post on how he might be more affected by the godly aspects of them, how he may see their eyes as being a bit too… inhuman and how their veins seem to be a bit too gold (also how if he ever were to run into a god he might see them brighter than anyone else does.) just a lot of good stuff to consider with duke.

babs i def want to be mortal. she starts off as mortal- clearsighted or not, and then learns about everything via dick or bruce. im thinking post TKJ, after she takes on oracle she might get a visit from apollo who gives her something, unsure what. so yeah mortal babs with a blessing from apollo.

and yeah, bruce is either a clearsighted mortal, a mortal who learned abt the greek world (whether it be thru diana or somewhere else) and made himself see thru the mist, or a legacy. and yes should deal with both the regular criminals and monsters. im thinking wayne manor could be a safeplace for some demigods in gotham. idk bruce is a demigod magnet.

(it could also be interesting to explore alfreds role in this- ive seen some stuff for hestie son/devotee alfred, or satyr alfred- and i think having him be some sort of magic could be intriguing. he could potentially set of the same kind of forcefield around wayne manor to keep monsters out. might be worth looking into hecate kid alfred?)

[ultragift]

FROM: @zerosocialskillz TO: @vicesario A Gift For The Security Bot

A/N: V1 goes by it/they, V2 goes by he/they.

Also this takes place in an AU I made but it ain’t really that important.

It’s Christmas right now.

A red robot sat underneath the Christmas tree, making a replacement for their left arm after someone stole his original arm.

It is going to be a replica for his original arm after it is made clear that his predecessor is not going to give it back, as it has taken a liking to that bulky thing. That bastard.

V2 thought as he soldered a couple of wires in place. It’s going well so far, his predecessor not entering the room he is in, which is somewhere in the lust layer, where everyone is staying. For some reason.

He didn’t really care for the history of this place.

A knock on the door.

V2 stopped soldering. He got up, then opened the door.

It’s his predecessor, V1. It’s carrying a present, lovingly wrapped in red with yellow ribbons. Knowing them, Gabriel helped with that too.

V2 pointed at himself while tilting his head. V1 nodded gleefully. Remembering that one prank that has something to do with a box (and a lot of glitter, courtesy of that angel), V2 glared at them. V1 shook its head.

The security robot doesn’t believe them, but he lets the war machine in anyway.

...when the heck did they get along, after they tried to fight each other to the death?

Well, V2 did die, but that’s in an alternate timeline only V1 remembers anymore. Long story.

(Perhaps that previous timeline turned V1 into a magnet for enemies to friends—and even lovers—scenarios.)

Setting the present on another table separate from the knuckleblaster replica, the two V units unwrapped the box. It’s rectangular, very much so. It’s long, but it is a little wide. Long enough to fit a...!

Once the present is unwrapped, the two V units saw a brown box. Both of them are very hyped for what is inside, although V2 is pretty sure V1 already knows.

V1 and V2 grabbed the lid simultaneously, much to the two machines’ shock. They decided to do a little countdown and open the present together.

V1 brought up three fingers on one of their free arms, making sure V2 saw them. It then counted down from three.

Two fingers.

One finger.

A fist.

The two Vs opened the cardboard box that seemed to be custom made for whatever is inside, and wow was it gorgeous.

It’s V1’s standard left arm, the feedbacker. But... V1 already has one. Unless...

It’s a replica, isn’t it?

Oh, there seems to be a letter alongside the blue arm.

“I asked the angels (read: Gabe) if they could make a copy of my feedbacker! They agreed, even though I killed some of their inhabitants in both timelines.

Odd, isn’t it? I am a war machine and you two tried to kill me both times, and yet I chose to save and befriend you all.

And you know what? I prefer this over dying alone after running out of fuel! -V1”

V2 looked at the blue robot. He then mimicked a laugh, gently moving his shoulders up and down. They then gently pushed the war machine.

“Did the winged crybaby make it for me?” V2 asked through sign language with a smug look on his face.

V1 fell to the floor, ‘laughing’ very hard by the nickname V2 had assigned to poor little Gabriel.

While V1 was busy rolling on the floor laughing, V2 plugged the feedbacker on his left alongside his whiplash. Apparently, in the original timeline, V1 stole that too. After he died by falling off that pyramid. That bastard.

(To be fair, the knuckleblaster fell from his arm after the first fight, a fight it participated in after it was clear to V1 that it had no other choice but to, lest it die once more.)

(He’s still pissed that V1 decided to keep it, still.)

Moving the joints on the feedbacker replica, V2 tested the blue arm out. It seems to be well-made. Gabriel can seriously do that? Or did he actually get help from someone else?

Preferably not their creators. They suck. V2 and V1 can agree that much. V2 stood up, beckoning V1 to stand up. They seemed to know exactly what V2 was thinking. “Spar?” V2 asked through sign language. V1 excitedly nodded. They can’t wait to see how V2 does with the blue arm.

[theflyindutchwoman]

Tim in Metro was quite a sight - and I'm not just talking about how good he looked in his new uniform. What I found interesting is how every scene about Metro had a slight edge to it… It was like standing at crossroads and not knowing which direction to take : will Tim enjoy staying there? Or is he going to leave?

Let's start with the training sessions. They were a really nice touch to highlight the difference between patrol and Metro. Which isn't necessarily a knock on patrol by the way. They after all started there as well. But they're right to emphasise that Metro is a complete different beast. They're a tactical response team, specialised in very specific situations (like hostage rescue mission). Think of SWAT… Not everyone makes the cut. And Tim has some extra challenges here. He's not just starting a new job and joining a new team. He's also replacing their team leader : he's in charge of them. So it's imperative that he gets up to speed. Add the fact that Tim is a creature of habit and likes his comfort zone. He spent more than 12 years on patrol, doing things a certain way, with people he got to know and trust along the way. Now he has to practically start over. That's a lot of things to process at the moment. It feels off because he is off-balance. He has to find his new equilibrium. That may take some time. And maybe he won't find it. Nevertheless, they all worked effortlessly once they were on the mission, so they're at least off to a good start.

And as harsh and critical as they may have sounded, the team seemed to be rather encouraging towards Tim. There was no real friction or hard feelings. They didn't openly resent him for Hicks leaving or anything of the sort. They were challenging him but they all congratulated him when he succeeded a training exercise and they made him part of the team with the unicorn stickers prank. Again there was a slight edge : at this point, Tim doesn't know them and they don't know him… They're practically observing each other. And while his leadership was questioned when they were staging the rescue mission, it was actually for a valid reason : Angela is a detective, so not exactly the first person one would choose as a spotter. And as a leader, choosing an outsider to do the job one of your teammates can do might send a message that you don't trust them. But once Tim explained his reasoning, his teammate had no problem with apologising and giving Angela credit and following orders. Even Pine, who may not be all warm and fuzzy, seemed quite supportive. When Tim was frustrated after his first training round, she was quick to remind him that they all went through the same period of adjustment. And when he was on the outside, she didn't hesitate to mend the bridge and invite him to join them for drinks. Baby steps…

I know some people are worried that this new team won't be supportive of Chenford… But so far there's nothing to really indicate that. To be fair, only two people have really talked in the team, so it's hard to say what they think. And that's IF they even find out about them or make a deal out of it… But for what it's worth, Nyla told Lucy that Tim's predecessor, Hicks, had a wife who worked for the department and he seemed to get along with the rest of them…

So I honestly could see it go either way… The next episodes should clue us in further on whether Tim is going to embrace this new position or not. I will just say that adding more recurring characters at this point is a challenge of its own, as the cast is already quite large, so we might never get to really know the rest of the Metro team. The same way we barely see Caradine when Angela and Nyla are concerned, we might just end up following Tim (and maybe Lt. Pine), with the rest of the team in the background.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Rustic pumpkins, poppy honey tea leaves, and wild talismans in the Baozhou Forest

The Baoshou Forest is said to be home to many lost and wandering spirits who need a place to stay while they figure things out before finally crossing over into the afterlife. Since her family has been performing rituals for the deceased for generations, Tao pretty much knows the forest like the back of her hand. She always keeps some items in hand to help a wandering spirit out, either by helping them sort out affairs, perform a ceremony to give them closure, or just be there for them when they need to get a lot off their chest.

Like her predecessors, she too is a regular visitor in the forest, someone a wayward spirit can turn to when they need guidance. Although she doesn’t always have an answer, Tao does her best to help out. Sure, she may seem quirky in a morbid and creepy lighthearted way that often rubs people the wrong way, but I think you kinda have to be like that when your family’s line of work is dealing with death. It’s not like she’s desensitized or is like “tee-hee, death and coffins, lol we’re all gonna die someday,” - more like her “normal” is clearly different, so her openly talking and even joking about death isn’t unusual, but to others, they see it as weird, and maybe even insensitive.

She’s used to it though, so it’s not a big deal since it’s usually coming from those who don’t know her well. However, she does try to be tactful, and she takes her duties seriously when it comes to burying the dead and sending them off to the afterlife. Some find her a walking contradiction, she says she doesn’t get it because people are complex and fascinating creatures. I agree, some people just don’t get it - or maybe they just prefer thinking in terms of black and white.

Before coming up here, we actually stopped by Meishui Village to meet up with some of Sophea’s clients. Shuyi and Lifeng live up there, which is considered unusual since it’s the countryside, and Lifeng’s family are in Yuexing Harbor - so that’s a bit of a commute. Somehow, Lifeng’s sister is able to go back and forth a couple times a week, though now that the engagement’s official, she’s making arrangements to move closer by.

We didn’t get to meet her unfortunately, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about her, like how she’s taken Shuyi under her wing and giving her the love and support her own family never gave her. She was the one who recommended Sophea when Shuyi found out that her father forged her mother’s will, taking away what little she had left behind that was supposed to be rightfully hers and keeping that for himself. Her father had resented his first wife and eldest daughter, and because Shuyi also happens to be disabled, he used that to justify his abuse towards her, which is really fucked up. His second wife and daughter treated her the same way, with absolutely no compassion or kindness towards her.

So her parents made a fool of themselves in court, failing to convince the public why people like Shuyi should be hidden away from the world for not being useful enough for society and a bunch of other bullshit. By then, Shuyi had been living with Lifeng for several months and was learning how to stand up for herself, so she surprised everyone by telling her father off when he threw a temper tantrum over the final verdict. That turned out to be the last time she ever saw her parents as they committed suicide that night, refusing to take responsibility and cursing Shuyi until the very end.

As for Shuyi’s younger sister from her father’s second marriage, she had disappeared when her parents were found dead. Months earlier, she attempted to sabotage Shuyi and Lifeng in some last ditch attempt to elevate her family’s failing status. It failed, and the consequences were dire as the Yulin clan fell even further. Those events actually led to Shuyi meeting her mother’s family and discovering the will as she was finally able to freely contact them. Around that time, Yan had been exiled somewhere in the mountains for a community service type of thing such as cleaning up litter and tending to the plants. She remained there until a few days before the final verdict, presumably taken away by her parents.

When her parents were found, a search was conducted, though it was believed that Shuyi’s sister was likely dead too. But with no body, it was all circumstantial, and the authorities kinda left it at that because it seemed kinda straightforward. Not to mention that by then, Shuyi just wanted to sever her ties with her family completely, which is totally understandable.

Then a few weeks ago, her sister suddenly showed up out of nowhere when Shuyi and Lifeng’s sister went to the forest to pick poppy honey leaves. Shuyi wandered off near the river to pick some lotuses when her sister confronted her. She almost didn’t recognize her, describing her as a once beautiful girl with an extravagant fashion sense - so basically, a superficial rich girl who likes to show off by flaunting her looks - to looking disheveled and wearing old, worn clothes while having a look of pure anger in her eyes that gave her chills.

Next thing she knew, her sister grabbed her by the shoulders to the point that she woke up the next day with her left side bruised and sore. Shuyi wasn’t sure if she was trying to push her in the river or if her sister’s hands were gonna move to her throat. Part of the reason why Shuyi wears a somewhat elaborate necklace is to cover the scars from when her sister strangled her - that same incident that got her banished to the mountains.

Like her parents, Shuyi’s sister also screamed curses at her, blaming her for her current predicament and the sorry state of their family’s name. Shuyi somehow managed to break away from her sister’s grip and told her to leave. She didn’t listen and started pulling at Shuyi, who fought back for the first time, which probably threw her sister off guard. So she got angrier and even more violent, forcing Shuyi to act in self defense by pushing her into the water where they both went down just as Lifeng’s sister was about to intervene.

Shuyi wound up with a mild concussion from hitting her head when she fell. Her sister wasn’t as lucky and died from her injuries when she landed on a bunch of sharp rocks. The whole thing wound up being anticlimactic, which is probably for the best. Shuyi can’t help but wonder if her sister was trying to get a rise out of her on purpose because she felt it was different from all the other times she taunted and bullied her. After all, when you have nothing left to lose, some people just flip out and say or do whatever because they know they’re going down and refuse to accept that. Basically like throwing a tantrum, except it’s a grown ass person who can’t take no for an answer and makes that everyone’s problem.

Well, what’s done is done and Shuyi can finally leave her past behind for good. She’s a lot happier now that she’s no longer in their shadows and instead surrounded by people who genuinely love and accept her, shortcomings and all. And not only that, they also treat her like an actual, living human being with feelings and thoughts rather than some object to be ridiculed or talked down at. I’d say good riddance - the world doesn’t need anymore people like them.

Through Sophea, Shuyi and Cerise became good friends as they have a lot in common, especially in terms of growing up with a shitty family who saw them as nothing but a burden because of their disabilities. They’ve both taken a couple pages from each other’s books in terms of gathering up the courage how to stand up for themselves and live life on their own terms. They can’t help being who they are and if some people can’t accept that, seeing them as a burden on society and whatnot - well, like it or not, disabled people exist and they are a part of society, just like any other human being.

Along with Cerise, Saff and Nikolai stopped by to meet up with Shuyi, Sophea, and Lifeng too. Sophea was a great help to the three of them when people from their past started digging up skeletons in order to discredit their accomplishments. Although the three of them came from different walks of life, they wound up being an adventurer team thanks to a chance meeting at a bar on a crowded night that somehow turned into a drunken therapy session - the one common thread bringing them together was the fact that they were tired of being constantly fucked over by close ones who they thought they could trust.

Tao has also become well acquainted with the adventuring trio during her excursions to the Baozhou Forest. In fact, the four of them made a trip up there last week to hang up some talismans after hearing complaints from locals about a spike in unusual supernatural activity in a certain area. Stuff like that happens once in a while, so if it starts to become a concern, the adventurer’s guild usually finds someone to take care of it.

At first, Tao picked that commission out of boredom, only to find out that it wasn’t just talismans, but some restless spirits who needed guidance as well - and monsters lurking in the darkness acting strange for unknown reasons. A quick visit to check out the situation told her to bring some extra hands because there’s no way she’d be able to fight a bunch of agitated monsters, set up talismans, and perform rites all by herself. Yeah, there’s no way anyone can get all that done in a day - even someone as energetic as her.

Then on the way home, she stopped by Meishui, where she ran into Nikolai, Saff, and Cerise. They talked, she told them about the situation in the forest, and they offered to accompany her. The three of them happen to be well versed with the supernatural - Nikolai and Saff being seasoned adventurers while most of Cerise’s knowledge comes from a mentor when she was in school, someone who hailed from a family of exorcists and taught her the basics on that. So Nikolai and Saff did most of the monster fighting while Tao and Cerise dealt with the restless spirits. Together, they were able to find the source that was causing the unrest and put a stop to that. Finally, once all of that was done, Tao performed a ceremony, and they put talismans around the area. All in a good day’s work.

About a week has gone by, and so they went back up there to check and make sure that there were no further disturbances or anything else that would be concerning. So far, so good - nothing out of the ordinary has happened and the talismans are still in good condition. Since they made the trip up here, why not take it easy and hang around for a bit? Along with poppy honey flowers, rustic pumpkins are in season too, so aside from visiting some friends, we also wanted to visit the forest for that.

Rustic pumpkins are kinda like a hybrid between kabocha and butternut squash. They’re known as rustic pumpkins because they’re popular outside of Yuexing. It’s mostly the elders that call them their actual name, which is hard to pronounce, and with English being the common language, it just somehow became known as rustic pumpkins.

I’m no linguist but I do find languages in general to be fascinating. Somehow that doesn’t translate well into motivating me to actually get down and really learn a language (Khmer, ahem). And in the Celestine Onyx, which is a sort of jurisdiction of seven different countries with their own languages, cultures, and customs, it’s interesting getting to know the people there and how they’re all kinda interconnected with each other.

In terms of languages, English is the common language because that’s how they’re able to communicate with each other. Then there’s also their second language, which to simply things I’ll just call it their native tongue, and that’s widely spoken, usually among locals, and that too has its own regional differences. So in Yuexing, it’s Mandarin, Sango -Japanese, Marippe - French, Adrikha - Arabic, Sazona - Spanish, Melovka - Russian. Then in Bonsai, it’s kinda a mix of everything. And usually, in the bigger cities or places where you’d generally find more travelers, they mainly speak English. Then in places like Meishui, it’s kinda like 50/50, so you’d hear conversations in English - usually among the younger folk - and Mandarin - usually between family or the elders.

Anyway, so rustic pumpkins have many uses, though they’re more for dishes outside of Yuexing culture. Rustic pumpkin and salmon pie is well known in Marippe, which is to the northeast, and that takes elements from the cuisine of both cultures. They’re both known for seafood, though they obviously prepare and serve it in different ways. A while ago, I heard a funny story about Ruby getting caught off guard by the amount of chilis in a shrimp dish she tried in Yuexing while on a mission with Connie and her brothers. Thanks to her experience, Aurelie was careful to avoid a similar incident as she too can’t take spice too well either - Yuexing cuisine really goes hard on the heat! Also, Xiang making mods to her own spin on various dishes she grew up eating or else most of us - myself included - wouldn’t be able to enjoy her country’s food.

Then there’s poppy honey flowers, which are mainly used for tea. And like with Marippe, tea’s big here in Yuexing, which they also have their own spin on. Me being Asian, I kinda have a bias for Asian teas, like the kinds that don’t need milk or sugar added in. Not that I’m a purist or anything, I just grew up drinking tea like that and I prefer drinking it that way - with exceptions being like boba tea, or if maybe the tea has no flavor or is way too strong, aka not good. Marippe has good teas too, and it’s made me appreciate tea with milk, cream, sugar, and other sweet add ons that can elevate a tea, but overall, I think I tend to gravitate towards teas that don’t need anything added to it.

Poppy honey tea is a black tea with a natural sweetness to it, so no need to add anything to that. Soy milk may be added if the black tea flavor’s a bit too strong - again, down to personal preferences. For me, I don’t think it’s necessary. I’m a black tea girlie, so I’m a bit biased towards Yuexing, Sango, and Adrikha. Green tea’s good too, but I think I’m more into matcha. White, I think it depends, I just kinda find the flavor lacking in general. And fruity or floral teas, I’m kinda picky about them as they can be a hit or miss. Strong floral flavors aren’t my jam while fruit teas I find taste better iced and with some sweetener.

We kinda had a debate on whether we’re team black tea or green tea, and we ended up in the middle. I’d say why pit these two bad bitches against each other? (Ignore my black tea bias earlier). Poppy honey is used mainly for black tea, though it’s popular with green tea too, though that’s mainly outside of Yuexing. Both are good, though, and I like having options because sometimes your preferences depend on what you’re in the mood for.

Right now, I’m in the mood for black tea because, I don’t know, something about being out here in the countryside makes it feel suitable for the occasion.

Read on AO3

[littlegaypeopleinmyphone]

My Thoughts on the new NATM film 'Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again'

You can imagine my surprise, when after 8 years of virtual radio silence we received a trailer and subsequent animated movie all within the span of several weeks. Unfortunately, I think the new movie is not as compelling as it's predecessors.

Animation: The film was beautifully animated, but the character designs left a LOT to be desired. They could have stuck more to the live action designs especially with Jedediah and Octavius. (although I only think that because I'm such a huge fan of them.) The redisgns feel really uncalled for, I'm wondering why they made that choice, and who decided a redesign was needed at all. I also feel like there were a lot of style inconsistencies, especially between the original characters and historical ones. This feels like a movie that could have been live action.

Plot: the movie was pretty short, and thus had a pretty surface level plot. I don't like the addition of Joan of Arc. She functions only as a plot device. I would have appreciated a little more from her. I thought that the setting of the movie was weird? It seems to take place before the third movie?? Why? I thought that the foreshadowing was pretty cheap. I also hated Nick's DJ plot arc. It felt super shoehorned in, and when he saves the day with his musical prowess it feels SUPER forced. Not a huge fan of the plot overall, but it seems pretty comparable to the NATM sequels so I can't complain too much.

Comedy: this is where it gets heinous. This movie is painfully unfunny. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that the originals were super hilarious, but I didn't think this was funny at all. This film feels dumbed down for a child audience, which makes no sense because the original films were for a child audience?? Also the first fans of the franchise are all adults or teenagers now.

Stuff I liked: I LOVED the historical and cultural accuracies that this film brought to the table. It's clear that the makers of the film put a genuine effort in. This movie has a ton of real historical references in it. It's awesome! I also want to shout out Steve Zahn for his voice acting because he sounds SO similar to Owen Wilson in this movie. Again, fabulous animation quality, and the backgrounds are beautifully painted.

Random comments:

God is cannon now?? What the fuck??

Where the HELL is Ahkmenrah?? WHY ISN'T HE IN THIS MOVIE WHEN HIS BROTHER IS??? HIS TABLET GETS STOLEN!

If this movie takes place before the 3rd movie how is Laa still there? Also, Laa isn't a real historical figure. He wouldn't have a backstory like they try to give him.

Nick is just not a very good DJ tbh. The song he made gets grating.

WHY DOES DEXTER LOOK LIKE A DIFFERENT MONKEY?

Why are the Huns designed so differently?? It's weird. It makes me feel weird.

Overall? I think it is a pleasant stand alone film, but it isn't something I will be rewatching a lot. It works fine for what it is, but it is very disappointing for long time fans like me. I think some of the magic is lost in animated format, and that some of the creative choices that were made kind of ruin it as an extension of the universe. It is best to approach this film not as a sequel, but as an AU. I have literally read fan fiction more compelling.

5/10 ⭐

[kittystargen3]

Story Summary: A time traveling Grandmaster, to the Prequel Era, trying to fix the mistakes the Jedi made, and get rid of a certain Sith too. Only Time Travel is not that easy, as Yoda will soon learn.

Hi all,

Today I published a new chapter to Time Travel: To the Past Yoda Goes. Below is a small selection. Please use the links above to read more.

Chapter 68- Darkness

30 Years ago:

Yoda looked up at the time-piece against the wall and sighed.  

“Master, I won’t say I didn’t tell you this…” Dooku growled from the other side of the chamber.  “In fact, the whole council warned you about his fit as a padawan.”

Yoda tuned out his previous Padawan’s lectures, and he turned around the room to pace again.  

Suddenly the door opened and a teenaged boy with dark skin, and long brown hair, fastened back in dreads, timidly walked in.  Unsurprisingly, he seemed to immediately sense the judgment from the masters in the room.

“Well, there you go then.  I’d love to stay for the grilling, but Qui-Gon will be taking his trials next week, and I promised him to help him prepare for it.”  Dooku made his excuses and quickly skedaddled from the room, making sure to glare at the boy before he left.

The other Masters soon did the same, and Yoda was alone with a youngling that refused to look up and give him eye contact.  

“You’re angry, Master.  I know it was a risk, but if I'd had a few seconds more time, I could have made it work.  And then…”

“Angry, I am not… Disappointed, I am.”  Yoda corrected.  The boy’s face fell.  “Recovering from severe burns, two other Padawans are.  Included in their number you almost were.”

“But if Master Rancisis hadn't pulled me away, it wouldn't have exploded.” He sighed.  “I know everyone thinks I’ve fallen to the dark side, or that I’m flirting with it, or something.  But I haven’t.  I'm just tired of everyone waiting for me to fail.” 

“Padawan Windu. With me, come.”  Yoda said, and the youngling looked up in surprise.  

He followed Yoda down a seldom used lift to a part of the temple few Padawans had ever been to.  Technically it was a part of the Jedi Archives, if anyone looked at a temple floor plan.  But those who knew what it contained simply called it, ‘The Dark Vault.’

“Sense what, do you?”  Yoda asked.  

“Power, there’s a lot of it down here.”  Mace answered.  “Hey, if we have all this, why don’t we ever use it?”  

Yoda glared at his Padawan, and subtly used their new forcebond to remind him why they were having this conversation in the first place.

Mace shuffled a step back and corrected his wording, “I mean the Masters, of course.  The criminals wouldn't stand up to this being used against them.”

“Of the start of the Jedi-Sith Conflict, how much do you know?”  Yoda asked.

“Ancient history now,”  Yoda responded with a glare before the youngling could make a comment about his age.  “Uh, The Jedi were the original Force-users.  They used to use the whole force, light and dark, and…”

“What?”  Yoda asked.  

“Huh?” Mace responded with.

“Original Force-users our predecessors were.  Distinguish between light and dark, they did not.   Because Dark yet, the force was not.”  Yoda paused to look up at his Padawan.  Mace looked even more confused than he usually did during a Force-Physics class when his instructor started ranting in Rybese.  “A time for living, all things have.  And a time to die and rejoin the Force, all things do as well.  Both, a part of the Living Force, it originally was.”

“So then what changed?” Mace wisely asked....

[littlecactiguy]

Waking Up

So, I saw this post by @cosmokyrin comparing Ruby and Penny to Salem and Ozma, and then started really thinking about it, and now this fic exists

(I'm @im-the-king-of-the-ocean btw, I've just migrated here to my main blog)

(also, after 2 years of not really writing anything for this otp, I RISE!)

.

Penny exhales when she feels the maiden powers depart. She doesn’t need to, but she wants to. It feels oddly nice to be free of their burden, though she is sorry that Winter must bear their weight now. Hopefully, she’ll be a better maiden than Penny was.

Looking around at the expanse of endless light around her, Penny concludes the afterlife is definitely not what she thought it would be. She had some inkling, given since becoming a maiden, she’s felt Fria’s and all the others before her’s presence in her. Penny honestly assumed, upon her death, that she would take such a role for Winter, reside in her head maybe.

It hadn’t been such a bad thought, in those last few moments, when everything hurt in ways she’d never experienced before. Penny had certainly faced damage numerous times before Cinder’s final strike. She just…human pain was a lot more physical. Her body screaming at her, except she can do nothing for it. No emergency diagnostics to run. No power to divert to or from the problem areas. Nothing. Even in the arena at the Vytal Tournament, she’d known that, as long as she retreated into her core, there was a chance she’d eventually be alright. This time, she had no core.

Human death, Penny decided, was very scary. The idea of being with Winter made it a little less scary.

Except, she doesn’t feel Winter. Like she’s in her presence. Or Fria or any of their other predecessors, for that matter. Penny is alone. There’s nothing. Well, nothing but light.

Penny looks down, wondering how she can be standing with nothing to stand on. Upon seeing her bare toes, she wiggles them. She giggles. She would have liked to have had human toes for longer. They seem very fun.

“You,” a voice speaks from somewhere, calm but quizzical, “are not supposed to be here.”

Penny jerks her head up. “Hello? Is someone there?”

There’s a sound, like echoing water droplets. The light gets bright, brighter. Penny squeezes her eyelids shut, but she can still feel its intensity. After a minute, it lessens and she dares open one eye.

Before her, stands a figure that seems masculine. The figure is tall and smooth, golden, but blurry around the edges, like she’s looking at them through the heat of a desert. Elegant antlers rise from their head. A Faunus? Is Penny’s first thought.

“You are…” the figure pause contemplatively “…unusual.”

“So are you,” Penny retorts, before she can help it. Both her hands fly to cover her mouth. “Sorry,” she mumbles. The figure seems like they belongs here more than she does. Even if their comment was slightly annoying, best not to insult them.

The figure chuckles, then falls silent. “What to do with you? There is no purpose in sending you back. You haven’t gone forward on your own. I could send you on, but…” they pause again, their nondescript face somehow displaying deep thought. “Where would you like to go?”

An answer immediately appears in Penny’s mind. She shakes it loose. It’s impossible. Ruby’s gone.

“I see,” the figure states as if her thoughts were spoken out loud. “Interesting. You are not the first whose wish is to be with the one they loved.” Another pause. This time, the figure’s gaze seems to be intensely studying her. “She is not the same as you remember. Do you still wish to go?”

“Yes,” Penny doesn’t hesitate in answering. She knows she should fulfill her duty as a maiden and go to Winter, but, if this is to be her afterlife, how selfish could it truly be to spend it how she wants? With who she wants to see again, even one last time, more than anything.

“Yes, I do.”

There’s a bright flash again.

Then, nothing.

.

It takes Penny quite some time to recognize herself as existing again, which is a very odd way of putting it, but she doesn’t know how else to put it. She simply wasn’t. Then, she was. Here, she is. Except, she also isn’t. She doesn’t feel ‘operational’ nor does she feel ‘alive’. She’s just cognizant of the fact she exists as an entity, and that entity has to be existing somewhere, because nothing can exist nowhere.

It takes a lot of time to figure out how to digest that thought and, only when she does, can Penny start trying to sort out the specifics of her new situation. Penny has no body, no limbs mechanical or organic. She doesn’t really have any senses—wait!

An image flashes before her. Something small. Glinting green. Familiar. Instinctively, she reaches for it.

A lot happens then, but it’s like Penny’s a potato being shook around in a sack while it’s happening so she doesn’t quite come to understand any of it.

When things settle, Penny sees again. A reflective surface. Deep green. One of her swords? Not Floating Array, but one of the ones she created with the maiden powers. How can it exist if she—

A tidal wave of grief that’s not her own drowns out Penny’s thoughts. It crashes against her. She struggles to keep her head above its surface until it, on its own, slowly subsides. The weight of it remains, sinking into her, threatening to pull her down. Penny doesn’t let it, refuses to let it.

She knows where she is now. She doesn’t know how, but she feels it. When the emotion slammed her, Penny recognized who it belongs to.

Ruby’s all-encompassing pain eclipses Penny’s relief that her friend is somehow, miraculously, still alive. It hurts. Penny wants to reach out, to vanquish the storm of anguish, but she has no idea where to even start.

She’s never had to communicate with someone from inside their own head before.

[cina-full-moon-xanadium]

This is a genuine question as I haven't watched Ex-Aid or 01, but in what way is Yuya Takahashi writing women that they're somehow notably badly written in his shows despite him giving us a decent chunk of our female riders? Geats is my first brush with his work and I feel like they're alright here. I really can't stand certain brands of misogyny and I want to know what I'd be getting into if I watched his other work.

Hmmm thinking about it it has been a LOT less present in Geats than his other works. Perhaps he's been put through the Inoue Re-educator...

I feel his brand of misogyny is similar to what you'll usually see in Rider but like to an even further extent. Major female characters frequently find themselves without any of their own agency without the aid and guidance - or, often, the command - of a man and are very often turned away from very obvious plot beats that would capstone their story (which would have been special one-episode things so it's not even like Bandai's need to sell toys to boys would likely get in the way of it).

He also tends to just never let them transform (I think you can like count on one hand how many times Poppy actually used her belt after her evil arc), or flesh them out in the same way as male characters (it took until the post-series V-Cins for Valkyrie to get even the slightest hint of a backstory), or even just write them in a way that's natural? Like, just, he seems to have this thing of not recognising women as people who have just as much autonomy and complexities as men, and constantly they get shoehorned into having no personality or very one-note tropes? Not like Kamen Rider has a track record of perfectly-written women or anything, but even looking at adjacent examples like Ghost's Akari, or Saber's Mei, or Build's Sawa and Misora; there's absolutely criticisms you can have of their treatment and how they don't get to transform but they're all very well-realised characters with their own personalities and ambitions and have their own journeys and interesting character dynamics in the show and their place in the themes and... and I just look at someone like Izu or Yaiba and I despair? Or maybe that's just a Takahashi problem in general actually, I don't think he ever figured out a second character trait for guys like Tycoon or Snipe

I'm trying to describe things in more general terms here but I think taking basically any of his female characters under a microscope is much more telling because they all have their own specific issues. For me and a fair few others Izu's treatment in 01 (from being a subservient robot secretary who wants for nothing more than to be Aruto's subservient robot secretary, has no more character development or even really character interactions beyond that, gets fridged for easy character drama, and then in the finale Aruto just builds a new Humagear from scratch with the intent of molding it into Izu) was the breaking point that made us realise he has a pattern of how he treats women in these shows. Na-Go scared me at first because, wow, he sure is characterising a woman purely by how she wants to fall in love with a man... and actually some of that is starting to come back now with how Weird her supporter feels. But she has certainly been a marked improvement over her predecessors so maybe the guy's learned something

[adamwatchesmovies]

Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)

Although I recognize the appeal of 2001’s Jeepers Creepers, I can’t call it a good movie. I watched the second one anyway and was surprised by how enjoyable it was. Jeepers Creepers 2 is the rare sequel that's better than the original.

Set shortly after the events of the first film, young Billy Taggart (Shaun Fleming) is abducted by The Creeper (Jonathan Breck), prompting his older brother, Jack Jr. (Luke Edwards) and father, Jack Sr. (Ray Wise), to go after it. Meanwhile, a school bus carrying a high school basketball team breaks down. After Minxie (Nicki Aycox), has a vision of some of the Creeper’s past victims, she warns the others the blown tire was a deliberate attack by the creature.

While this film does not have the same big shocking reveal as the first - that scene where we realize The Creeper isn’t human - it makes the wise decision to jettison some of the clumsier aspects of the story. The song Jeepers Creepers is nowhere to be heard. The easily-recognizable vehicle with the custom license plate The Creeper drives is nowhere to be seen. Neither is this idea that the monster takes his victims for anything other than food - for the most part. It does use shuriken made out of bone and human skin, but those are practical weapons; the man-eater isn't turning people into arts and crafts projects for no reason. The psychic element of the story is still there and still little more than a way for writer/director Victor Salva (whom I still have mixed feelings about) to clumsily explain things to the audience, but it’s kept to a minimum. I'm also less critical of it now, since it's building upon the predecessor's mythology.

Though this film's budget is nearly double that of its predecessor, the money feels like it’s been more wisely spent. Most of the picture is set in or around the bus that breaks down. The adults are quickly picked off, leaving the teens inside to figure out what to do next. Do they stay inside, where it’s safe? Seems like a good plan, until they realize The Creeper is strong enough to smash through the vehicle’s metal frame with its bare hands. Maybe they can appease it, then? The creature seems to have its eyes set on certain people. Scotty (Eric Nenninger), a real piece of work who has a chip on his shoulder that he really needs to deal with, thinks they should sacrifice the few for the benefit of the many… but is he just using this scenario as a way to get rid of people he’s holding an irrational grudge against? Probably not. He seems genuinely frightened. More likely, the terror in the air is bringing out the worst in him - and others.

You won't really like anyone on the bus, but you’ll be intrigued by what’s happening. Outside of the monster business, I mean. The team won their game. They’re champions… but more than a few of them are not happy. There’s a lot of tension, enough that it makes you think something would’ve gone wrong on this trip one way or another. How is it all going to play out? At the very least, you’re looking forward to some of these brats getting their comeuppance.

A good chunk of Jeepers Creepers 2 concerns the basketball team, the coaches, the cheerleaders and the monster terrorizing them but there’s the Taggart family story on the side too. They’re the fun part of the movie. The father-son duo is coming in with a plan and is determined to take the monster down. Without them, this movie would’ve been little more than what we’d seen before. Their inclusion means we get something new, notably a way for the Creeper to show off some of its unnatural abilities. You see how big of an uphill battle this conflict is, which makes you even more excited to see the protagonists triumph.

Aside from a cameo by Justin Long as Darry Jenner, Jeepers Creepers 2 stands mostly on its own, which is good news. If you didn’t care for the first but thought the ideas within were promising, I say give this one a watch anyway. It may be from the same team of people, but it’s a better movie. If you like the original fine, definitely check it out. Jeepers Creepers 2 ends on a strong note and gives me hope for what's next. (November 12, 2023)

[funkyfreshb]

Review - Street Fighter 6 - Hit the Streets!

Review – Street Fighter 6 – Hit the Streets! | The Funky Hut (neocities.org)

Fighting games is a difficult topic for me in many ways. I like the concept of many unique characters in a fighting game way, each character being memorable in a way and where they each play totally different. At the same time, it's really annoying when a character you want to play as plays in a way you don't like. I like playing fighting games, and I like inputting all these weird commands to perform cool actions. I suck at them though, in a way where I need to have a relatively low difficulty set when playing them. I play a lot of fighting games, but really only Killer Instinct, Smash Bros, and Capcom. Now that you have some background info on me and fighting games, let's get started.

This is a review of Street Fighter 6, Capcom's latest fighting game. However, this review only takes into account what has been made available during the first month, which is the base game, the first Fighting Pass (Early Summer Vibes), and a few other tidbits. The game is divided into three components (Fighting Grounds, Battle Hub, and World Tour), so I'll go over each of these separately. Before I do that, let's go over what you'll generally experience in the game: the stages, the roster, and the gameplay.

The stages are varied, as they usually are. Fête Foraine is visually distinct from Thunderfoot Settlement, which is visually distinct from Dhalsimer Temple, etc. The stages come in a variety of colors, though each one look a bit washed out. The focal point of the stage's background seems to be a bit foggy and therefore out of focus, making them lose a bit of clarity. Not a huge complaint, not one easily noticed during gameplay, and likely intentional to make the characters stand out more, but a nitpick if you will.

The launch roster is fairly small, coming in at 18 fighters. Including the 4 characters from the Year 1 pass, there will be at least 22 fighters in the game, which is equal to that of Street Fighter V and its first year of characters (16 + 6). However, the characters are more fleshed out than in V, plus all the other content available in game makes this roster much more bearable than it was for its predecessor. The roster at launch contains the 8 classic World Warriors, 2 New Challengers, Juri from Street Fighter IV, and 7-ish newcomers (the -ish is for Luke). The World Warriors are already a varied bunch, and the same can be said for the newcomers. Each returning character also received a redesign, each one looking great, especially Dee Jay. Overall, I would say there is not a single bad character, just some I'm less excited about. Throw in a few more for launch and it would've been perfect.

As for the gameplay, it's great. It mixes aspects from each game of the series and combines them into a sort of all-star game in terms of gameplay mechanics. You've got Supers from II, parries from III, Focus Attacks from IV, and character specific abilities from V's V-Triggers. Characters have a huge amount of depth, with tons of specials and unique attacks. EX moves have been split away from the Super meter (which is now only used for Supers), now instead being part of the Drive Gauge. With the Drive Gauge, you can perform Drive Parries where you continuously parry by holding down the buttons, Drive Impacts which stun or knock away your opponent, Drive Reversals done after blocking an enemy's attack, Drive Rush which is essentially a better dash, and Overdrive Arts which act as the game's EX moves. Every action you perform with the Drive Gauge drains it, but it can be refilled. Using all of these mechanics feels good, and it also keeps you on your toes as completely draining the Gauge will put you in a Burnout state where you cant perform these mechanics, plus you can be stunned and take more damage. A very well realized system that works very well with the rest of the gameplay, which feels like a typical if not more fluid Street Fighter otherwise, my only problem being that I keep mistaking Drive Parries for Killer Instinct 2013's Combo Breakers. I also need to mention Modern Controls, which seem great for new players, but I haven't tried them much.

Now that we've gone over the basics, let's delve into the aforementioned components, starting with Fighting Grounds. This is basically where to go for your typical Street Fighter activities, and they're each very typical in execution. From here you can access Arcade, Local VS, Online VS (Ranked, Casual, Custom), Practice, and Extreme Battles. Arcade is either 5 or 12 stages long, you can select 5 difficulties ranging from Easiest to Hardest, you can have Bonus Rounds active (destroy truck, parry basketballs (12 stages only)), and you can also have the character's story active, which consists of a few storyboard-cutscenes. Local VS is you VS a player or CPU, and you can also choose from a variety of team options (e.g 5v5, where only 1v1 is played for each). Online VS is probably the same as Local VS but online only (I haven't played this yet, not much of an online guy). Practice this time around is very fleshed out from what I've seen, with tons of character guides, combo trials, and options for frame data and the like (haven't played this either, actually). For Extreme Battles, there are several options to choose from, and you select what you want by combining an Objective with a Stage Hazard. These are just fun, if a little restricted as there are just 5 or 6 options for each category (5x5 = 25 unique combinations, but if you've played with e.g. one Objective you know what it is regardless of Stage Hazard), so I'm hoping more gets added in the future. All-in-all, Fighting Grounds offer a large selection of things to do, but maybe there's one or two things that could've been added to provide more value for the typical fighting game fan, what do I know.

Moving on to the Battle Hub, this is not too different from the Fighting Grounds in all honesty. You enter one of many servers, and here you see a ton of player created fighters, known as Avatars (more on them later) running around, and there's a chatbox so you can talk to everyone. In the middle of the Hub there is an area where you can fight with your Avatar against other players' Avatars, each one retaining their stats from World Tour (again, more later). There are various arcade cabinets placed around a large Hub, and depending on where you choose to sit, what happens is different. Sit by one inside the central circular area and you'll fight Casual matches against the other opponent who sits by that specific cabinet. On the other side of the Hub from the entrance and to the <b>right</b>, there are cabinets for Extreme Battles, which rotate their settings in some way. On the other side of the Hub from the entrance and to the <b>left</b>, there are cabinets where you can play classic Capcom games, such as Street Fighter I, II, or Alpha 2, Final Fight, Magic Sword, Puzzle Fighter II, and more, on a daily, weekly, or monthly rotation. There are other activities as well, like DJ booths, photo booths, Avatar clothing store, and Tournaments (which I haven't partaken in yet). In other words, the Battle Hub is a good component for players who enjoy interacting with others.

I'll use this portion to briefly discuss the microtransactions found in the game. You can purchase Fighter Coins, with which you can purchase colors for your characters (each character only has color 1 and 2 unlocked for their starting outfit), new Outfits, stickers to use in the BH chat, and clothes found in the BH outfit store. I haven't looked at their pricing that much, but it seems okay in comparison to other games. Not too much, but maybe could've been cheaper. Anyway, the game also contains the Fighting Pass, and you can purchase a Premium version of it with Fighter Coins. The Free version basically gives you nothing, which is typical of Battle Passes' free versions. However, by purchasing the Premium version, you can get permanent access to one of the arcade games available in the Battle Hub. That's neat, and for 250 fighter coins ($5 or so), it could be worth it, especially when factoring in whatever else you get (Avatar clothes, titles, stickers) plus the refund of 250 coins (likely to be used on the next Fighting Pass) if you complete all 30 tiers. At 15000 Kudos (bascially character EXP, used to unlock character titles or progress in Fighting Passes) required for all 30 tiers (around 10000 for the free tiers), it doesn't feel like it's too much of a time investment either, at least if you always play online. So, pretty ok so far, all things considered.

Now, it's time to discuss the elephant in the room... or demon, Gollum, or whatever else you created... World Tour. Or, well, let's go over the character creator first. In World Tour you play as your own custom Avatar. Your Avatar can be customized in basically every way. Character height, width, and depth, skin color, arm length, head size, sitting height, and more. People have created a ton of characters using this, from other Street Fighter characters like Rainbow Mika, to random ones like Hank Hill, Slenderman, Avatar (the blue guys), you name it. However your character is created, its appearance affects its gameplay. Longer arms providing longer reach and things to that effect. From playing World Tour, your Avatar can gain levels after which you gain skill points you can use to gain more stats, accessory slots, and more. You can also customize your characters clothes, with some affecting stats and/or giving various affects, some not. Finally, you can customize your Avatars fighting style in a number of different ways.

By meeting Masters in World Tour (Masters are the same characters as the main roster, like Cammy and Marisa), you unlock their style that you can apply whatever special moves you want to, if you have them unlocked and their inputs (think charge back, quarter circle, etc) don't collide (think Ryu's normals and unique attacks with Dee Jay's Air Slasher, Guile's Flash Kick, Zangief's Double Lariat, etc). Specials are unlocked from leveling a Master's style, which you do by using that style or fighting others on the street who use it. To round out this tangent on Master's before diving into World Tour, you can increase your bond with any given Master by giving them stuff. Each item gives a different amount of bond. Increasing the bond will increase their Master Assist level, where they'll come in and help you during a fight for a period of time. You also get to know them a bit. Also, if you reach 100 bond you unlock their Outfit 2. It's neat that these can be earned.

So, World Tour. It's the game's main Story Mode. You are your Avatar and you just enrolled as Luke's student, and so did this Bosch guy. After a brief introduction, you and Bosch explore the town a bit. Afterwards you two reunite with Luke, after which Bosch leaves you two behind. The rest of the story is basically finding Bosch again and finding out why he left. A very basic plot for what is essentially little more than a huge tutorial. In World Tour, you can travel to either Metro City or Nayshall, both of which act as the main hubs of the mode. You can also travel to any of the stages (they aren't much larger than their regular stage counterparts), which act as small areas to hold certain Masters and little else. In the main hubs, you can find mini-games that basically teach you timing of attacks or something similar but also earn you money, and you can also find side-quests that grant you rewards. These are also very tutorial-y, many hosted by the tutorial characters of Alice and her brothers, with only a handful of side-quests of actual substance. Seeing and getting to know Retsu was a highlight, but other than that I'd call it a Yakuza-lite. Lite A Dragon? Something along those lines. It's got the same ingredients, but they're not as fleshed out as a Like A Dragon game. The mini-games aren't that interesting and neither are the side-quests. I will say that I think fighting random thugs is about on par, of course being tailored more for traditional fighting games as opposed to a 3D beat 'em up, but it has more problems in scenarios where there are 2 or more enemies to fight against, such as getting stuck in infinite loops or getting attacked from both sides at the same time. World Tour is a good starting point, I just hope it will be updated alongside the game for the next 5 or so years SF6 will be Capcom's main fighting game. Add more side-quests, some more minigames, and maybe a proper post-game area as well (for enemies level 60+), and it might be able to stand together with some of the LAD games. As it is, it's a fun romp for however long it lasts, and I enjoyed the cameos. More of those, please.

Let's wrap this up. Street Fighter 6 is a great fighting game that can be enjoyed by basically everyone with the new Modern controls. It's got a ton of help for beginners to get into the game, such as Character Guides and World Tour. Pros can also enjoy a very complex fighting game, thanks to the depth of the Drive Gauge. Is it the best Street Fighter? Maybe. I could definitely see it lasting for the next 10 years as opposed to the 5 or so years each of IV and V lasted, especially if they update World Tour with new stuff as well (in addition to the Masters). My final message... pick up Street Fighter 6, and hit the streets!

[dandaelions]

aespa’s “savage” album thoughts! 🐍😈

from debuting in controversy to rivaling established groups in the span of a year, the meteoric rise of this group has been veeeeeery interesting to witness. though I was initially one of those people with serious doubts about their concept, there’s no denying the powerhouse talent and energy these ladies are bringing to the scene - and the gobs of $$$ SM is throwing at this social experiment. they've definitely got some of the best visual designers working on this and it shows! going into this mini. I'm not quite sure what to expect - everything they've put out has looked GORGEOUS but do they deliver on the music? let's find out...

aenergy - can't quite understand what they're saying (edit: looking at the lyrics...I'm think I'm gonna need a glossary lol) but this is a pretty epic intro...in case you had any doubt what this group is about, now you know! I've never been a huge fan of chant-y verses so not quite digging the "everydaaAAAYYY we get better" but that beat HITS. oh gosh what does this rhythm remind me of?? I swear there's another song with this beat but I can't remember...

savage - intro really reminds me of super m's one (monster & infinity), that's a great build-up going into the chorus which then...goes nowhere...ok...I'm a little confused tbh. I wish the chorus was stronger to match the fierce energy from the verses. man these girls are KILLING it though! YAS THIS INSTRUMENTAL BREAK THOUGH!!! oh wait ok was that a key change? hold on whoa ningning is blasting off and then...it ends?

i feel under- and overwhelmed at the same time with this...like there are elements that are really great but that chorus totally kills the vibe, and don't quite understand the decision to add a key change at the end. everything ends up sounding quite disjointed when put together :/ mv looks AMAZING though so this is where dftf budget went lol jk jk corporation is gonna do what corporations do also props to the members for bringing their all, this is def very unconventional and honestly they sell it. we'll see how this does in the long-term...

I'll make you cry - oh fck. hold up. there's something going on here. the skitzy synth with those staccato verses and drum machine...

ok but that empty beat drop then that EXPLOSION at 1:15!!! THIS HITS!!! YAS I'M JUST!!! love this trap/hip-hop interpretation of a cyberpunk-y video game! I WANNA RACE A CAR TO THIS!!! the girls sound positively dangerous and I can totally imagine them as the protagonists of a futuristic action movie! OH BUT THE BRIDGE!! oh it's so sparkling and WOW they sound so amazing with their lower registers. the mixing actually sounds really incredible in this song, there's a lot going on but it's all balanced really well and all the vocal flourishes and harmonies!! despite the intensity, there's plenty of space for all of the members to shine. OKAY DOKEY I was not expecting that but MAN I was vibing!!

edit: QUEEN KENZIE THANK YOU

yeppi yeppi - the beat is PRESENT. sounds almost like they took a red velvet song and synth-ified it...oh WHOA the section that starts at 1:20 the drum machine!! the beats!! wooooo what a roller coaster ride! actually you know what, this almost seems like something that might've been slated for f(x), this song just gets weirder and weirder the more it goes on...holy SHIZ how much did they cram in here?? I'm just sitting here like 😧 producers really had fun with this one lol. def not for everyone's taste but I think I like it! might have to give this a few more listens...

iconic - ohh all right spy movie-action sequence vibes...heavy rap verses with this one, I'm glad they get to show so many different sides. nice contrast with the pre-chorus there, letting the space expand for a bit before packing the beats right back in. I am half expecting taeyong to drop in for a few lines here lol, sounds very much in nct's alley. lyrically the chorus feels a bit juvenille but I can vibe to it, the chromatic descents add enough movement to keep it going. ahhh the bridge sounds so refreshing! hmm yeah I feel this one!

lucid dreams - just based off the title I'm expecting something a bit more laid-back, and it seems like I'm right! the sustained synths add more mood and atmosphere here...really like the background noise, that's a nice touch! oh it's so nice to hear their voices a little bit more stripped back :) the trap beats are back at it again, except a bit more relaxed here. tempo is still pretty fast though. OOOOHHHH YESSSSS THE CHORUS. YES. sometimes doing less is more, and that's exactly what's working out here. the harmonies really get a chance to shine and they're able to convey so much emotion, paradoxically, by not conveying much at all. nice transition from the layered chorus to the singular vocal line, sonically a very interesting moment. love the shooting star effects and little touches going on in the background! OH THIS BRIDGE! oh wow what a way to close out the album

overall - I AM SO PLEASANTLY SURPRISED!! wow this really delivered some amazing stuff and I am so happy that a lot of this is in the vein of what I like listening to, like trap, synthwave, and electronica. sm back at it again with the weak title tracks, but I am honestly so glad the ladies got some b-sides to show what they're really about. clearly they're got the vocals and the musicality to tackle whatever is thrown at them, and I've really been impressed by them so far. even in the saturated landscape of kpop, this sounds fresh and interesting and PROPS to the producing team!! they brought it!! my playlists grew a bit today, yayyyy :)

[nohrenvia]

this faint voice of mine.....

ー Synopsis : Arising out of thousands of voices, you've heard words upon words. However, their voice, could you hear it caressing your ears? Could you please spare this modest declaration of a humble, tainted soul, just a fragment of your audience? Just a moment, it would be enough.

ー Characters : La Squadra Esecuzioni

a/n. Valentine's day has passed but that won't stop me! Here's another piece which I wrote since a lot of you love its predecessors. Please enjoy!

♤ Nohr ♤

Formaggio

This person...is cruel. Dark humor and all, not the type to be favored by most people. Therefore, why did you remain by his side? Did you see something in him? A glint of interest, perhaps? Formaggio is all smiley and relaxed, yet sadism quietly flows in his blood. Mind you, he is a friendly fellow, but, it seems the line stops there. The days he spent with you was filled with ease, he doesn't feel burdened by your side, in fact, Formaggio relished in your banters. He'd hate to see you in pain, the image of your screams doesn't bring amusement if he or whoever in this earth inflicts it. Truthfully, he does had a sense of schadenfreude in other's suffering. But when you are involved, It is suddenly not fun anymore. He, instead, feared to lose you. Formaggio got attached to you, it seems.

As the color of orange blazes in the sky, both you and Formaggio halted on the stony steps of Italy, admiring the setting sun. In his cold and no-good life, Formaggio found a sense of earnest delight in your company. What is this? It's differs from his experience. The laid-back, sleazy life he went through without any regrets all led to this? Is someone pulling a prank on him? Formaggio himself is a scumbag not my words who possessed nothing meaningful, even his own stand. And now, something good is coming his way. It's free, it's pure, and it's feels pleasant.....positive. Can he stay with you? Even if the life he led was nothing short of depraved and disgusting, can he still come back to you? The warmth of your palm as it wrapped around his arm shrinks his doubt until it disappeared.

'Well, it can't be helped. Since ya' gonna be stuck with a guy like me, might as well enjoy the ride!'

Illuso

This arrogant little-- why on earth did you stay with him? Illuso is always confident in what he does, his confident is overflowing to the point you might see him as a pompous peacock. Nevertheless, his pride is his most valuable asset. But then, he came into your life. You didn't know where he'd came from, but you found yourself drawn to him more and more by his wry smile and unexpected gentleness. You probably knew that there's more to see behind Illuso's outer layer, he boasted about a lot of things which often unintentionally made him to be seen as condescending, it turns out, he was just being clumsy in his efforts to impress you. Illuso fell for you because you treated him genuinely. When you give praise, you truly mean it. His ego inflates, meanwhile his heart melts. Deep down inside his prideful heart, there are secrets that he would take to the grave, for example; If he has to cry for you to forgive him, so be it. If he has to grovel for your praise, so be it. If he has to lay down his life for you, so be it. If he has to abandon his pride along with his dignity for you..... so be it.

Illuso is a prick-- I mean, an unpleasant individual. He has enemies left and right thanks to that. And he treated you no different. He's really cold to you, he doesn't hesitate to threaten or mock you. It's normal for you to hate him, but in some way, both of you fell in love. Illuso is conflicted because he is a goddamn hitman for god's sake! He has no time to be soft. If necessary he would kill you to avoid getting attached. But that went out of the window as time passed and his heart undeniably yield to you . Still, his smug, mocking, and prideful attitude doesn't change even if you are added to the equation. Illuso doesn't want to admit that he loves you but he doesn't want to be without you either.

'Don't think for a moment that I, Illuso of the mirror, would abandon you.'

Prosciutto

Ah yes, the truest gangster of them all. The one with a lot of conviction and a solid principle. But, beneath his calm and composed demeanor, there lies certain worries and doubts. And you, as his lover, probably wouldn't notice it at first glance upon his serious attitude. The time when he was at his lowest, you are there beside him. Not to scorn or belittle, but giving him support. From that moment on, Prosciutto began to regard you the most valuable thing in his life. The gangster worked hard to give you only the best, whether it was food or clothes or any other things you need. This is Prosciutto's love language. By giving you gifts and services, he projected his desire for you to be his, and by extension, it reflects how afraid he is to lose you. Rather, he can't afford to lose the one he loves the most, the one who would held his hand through thick or thin. You are you, there is only one you in this rotten world, therefore Prosciutto would fight with tooth and nail, until all his bones are broken just to keep you by his side.

Prosciutto is not the perfect man others thought him to be. He tried, and by God, he really tried to hide his fears and shortcomings from you in order not to make you worry about him and his problems. But in a way, you found out anyways. He is disgusted at the way he has shown his weakness, his tears, to you. But you reassured him, it isn't true. All he knew is to stand tall against all odds without a chance to breathe or rest, hiding all of his human emotions with only objective goals in mind. His vulnerability and weakness won't make him less of a man and, for heaven's sake, it won't make you stop loving him, rigid gender roles be damned. The voices of his heart flooded through the gates he built inside, you listened... sincerely listened to it as if it was a song or a prayer. But the last one seems to be not of anguish, anxiety, frustration, nor fear, but this one is uttered out of hope. It is a testament to his will, his determination dedicated to you, and once dear old Prosciutto has decided to protect and cherish you, he would do so until the bitter end, until his life perished.

'It's decided then. From now on, you're my woman/man/lover!'

Pesci

Hmm... how do we explain the love of an indecisive and cowardly man?

Pesci is a not strong, not determined, not skilled, not brave, and... there's a lot of things that he is not. He loathes his uselessness, he hates it when the world reminded him time and time again that he is a weakling. He drowns in fear as he thought that you'll leave him due to his incompetence and flaws. Is it true? No. But will you stand and do nothing? Also no. In your own way, you sent a message to Pesci, a reminder saying that you won't leave despite of what he thinks of himself. Your love did actually stimulate Pesci's desire to strive and be better. It is not perfect however, in some days a twisted way of thinking grew inside Pesci, fertilized by his insecurity and inferiority, it's toxic strength.

Pesci thought it was empowering, but it only resulted in tears or sorrow, from you and him. No, this isn't what you want Pesci to become. Though he gains confidence after Prosciutto's sheer willpower inspired him, the incident bashed some sense into Pesci. He doesn't need to be cruel for the sake of strength, he just need to learn to rely on himself, put aside his doubt and anxiety, not for your sake but for the good of himself. Pesci doesn't like it to be called a mammoni, but for your and his sake, he'll try to encourage himself, believe in himself even though it sounds foolish. While it is a grueling quest, he'll do it step by step, just for you, his beloved who wouldn't abandon him. A small whisper, a wish he knew all too well, landed lightly on his mind. That whisper was Pesci's first stride toward a better outcome.

'I don't want you to think of me as a mammoni!'

Melone

Oh dear lord high up above in the heavens...

If you ask me, Melone is disgusting. Depraved, I tell you! No, I am not talking about his sexual tastes and perverted tendencies, I am referring to his head... his mind! Absolutely shoddy... he views humans as experiments, to him, they are his materials, his to use and to discard, and he doesn't even find any remorse, that is what I call disgusting.

Forgive me, I couldn't sugarcoat it. The first time Melone saw your face, your whole body, he deemed you as another useful tool. But, of course, the wheel of fate has other plans. Melone got another chance to know you... not your flesh and organs, but you as you are. Safe to say, he wasn't interested... at first. But, oh, how even the mightiest fall. Melone is surprisingly enamored by your whole being. Who knew this sociopath could feel and experience love. Maybe he wasn't mad at all? Melone saw his will crumbling before his eyes. You, who he thought is just a tool, became human in his eyes. Your voice is engraved to his memories and your eyes are the shades he won't forget anytime soon. 'No, no, no, no! This is not how it is supposed to be!' He thought. You were just another object... another breeding cattle. But how... how did you manage to ensnare him without even trying to? Melone, finally, had a taste of what true love is. To him, it was warm, so comforting that he forgot love is just a mixture of chemical reactions which ends in intercourse. So it was no surprise, at the end of the line, the thick-skinned, pitiless, depraved Melone broke down in front of you. As much as he hates to admit it, he has fallen for you. He is willing to give you his heart. How did it came to be? Who knows, you are the one who made him like that. Soon, that denial turned into excitement. A smidge of happiness is gifted to Babyface's user when you gave him true affection, then a laughable question flown from his mouth and into your bewildered, blushing face.

'Di molto! Would you like to make a non-stand baby with me?'

Ghiaccio

Oh, dear Ghiaccio. So cold and so hot-headed at the same time. But where did that self-assured Ghiaccio went when you came into his life?

Love is out of the question for White Album's user. He knew love was going to bring trouble in his role as a gangster and a hitman. But then, he is too focused on his ambitions and goals that he forgot to nurture himself. Well, not necessarily physical sustenance, but emotional sustenance. Ghiaccio is secretly more touch-starved than you thought. As you stroke his cheek, as a sign of your affection, you found Ghiaccio leaning into your touch. And you know what's the funny thing is? He won't admit it!

Poor Ghiaccio, when he felt such tenderness he could only be silent as he processed what was going on with his heart, which was beating faster than his stand. It started out as an occasional event, you gave Ghiaccio the attention and affection that you harbor, and he sensed his body becoming hotter due to the butterflies in his stomach. He felt as if the room's temperature has risen, to the point where he brought out his stand to cool it. And honestly it made you laugh. When you're by his side, his world has turned mellow, at times, he found himself giving you help, he also desired to drench you in his own affection. Mind you, Ghiaccio means well, but his way of showing it often comes as standoffish or harsh. But, know this, you're the only one who could keep Ghiaccio's level-headedness going, and staving off his outburst mostly about idioms. However, all in all, your presence within Ghiaccio's life made him question a lot of things. How impressive! You also have the ability to make the confident Ghiaccio doubts his thoughts, involving his skills, strength, determination, and many more. At the edge of it, Ghiaccio thought of one thing, about his stand, as he embraced you close, fingers combing through your hair as you both laid together in bed. He gazed upon your slumbering form, feeling his heart aching with yearning for you.

'What's the point of having superb stand powers if I can't protect you?'

Risotto Nero

Life is unfair but Risotto Nero is used to it. But who said Risotto Nero was heartless? From the start, he was someone who owned a loving heart. The proof? Oh, you might as well ask his dead cousin. After all, they were the first to know Risotto's loving heart. Well then, how far does Risotto loves you? Far enough that he is willing to kill for you, far enough that he is willing to die for you. He has lost someone he cherished in the past, he won't be a fool and let that happen to you.

Stoic and emotionless as he may be, what you don't realize is how heavy is his love is. You admit, there's a lot of hatred beneath his calm. Despite that, you chose to love him anyways, you love him and his damaged heart. And due to that, Risotto's true colors began to emerge once again. It's really surprising to find a cold-blooded assassin providing you warmth. No one expects that his bloodstained hands are gentle when it comes to you. For you and only you, Risotto Nero doesn't care of what life throws at him, because he found someone who he wishes to love and cherish for the rest of his life. To hell if all of Passione hates him and his team. As long as he has you, it's fine. And Risotto's not foolish enough to let you go. He'll fight the whole organization if it means you'll stay by his side. And even though you don't mind the whirlpool of violence, desperation, corruption, and death that resides in the mafia, Risotto has a different opinion.

'Blood doesn't suit you.'

[ace42-72]

So, I had a thought-

What if MK could continue to talk with LBD? I'm sure someone else has done something similar already, but I said to hell with it and wrote anyway.

Granted, this fandom has given me more inspiration than I've had in *years*. Hence, the writing is likely less than stellar.

ooc, pacing problems, etc.

(I will gladly take constructive criticism if anyone is willing)

This just happens to be one of the conversations between the two that came to mind. There's really no other "context" other than the concept itself.

____________________________________

"Dealing With The Devil"

___________________________

"Tell me,"

The boy is torn from his trance as his head whips forwards the voice, instantly regretting his decision with a wince. He rubs the nape of his neck sheepishly before allowing his hands to fall back into his lap.

"Why do you continue to speak with me, child?"

MK shifts his stare from the demon to his palms in contemplation. His eyes become clouded, distant as if recalling a memory lost to time. A prolonged silence stretches between the two beings; the quiet is louder than any bellow one could muster. In the stillness of it all, the demon almost renounces her inquiry when-

"I think everyone deserves a second chance." His voice is quiet, more akin to a murmur than regular speech; yet not unsure. Regardless, his words easily pierced through the silence of the void they currently inhabited. His eyes remain unfocused as his voice continued to ring out.

The demon only gazes at the boy.

"We... I've met a lot of people these past few months. More often than not we had different views and opinions and- well, we were enemies." His voice slowly grew in strength as he spoke. All the while, his mind supplied thoughts of Red Son and his parents. He was all but unsurprised when Macaque too, came to mind. "But at some point, we put our differences aside. We worked together as a team." MK felt the corners of his mouth quirk up and let himself smile. "We've all grown as people, and we've grown closer together! All because we gave each other a chance." His words were firm, absolute. An unapologetic grin tugged at his lips, hazel orbs alight.

"And I haven't regretted it for a second."

The Lady Bone Demon seems to consider the boy's words before he begins to speak once more.

"And if you want an honest answer..." He pauses for a moment, shortly pondering his words. "I think everyone is capable of change," he finally lifts his head, eyes shining with unadulterated mirth, "even you."

Not that he'd admit it, but MK lets himself bask, just a smidge, in the demon's look of absolute bewilderment. Having never seen such a genuine reaction from her before, he committed it to memory. Unfortunately, though expectedly, the moment is short-lived and her expression briskly turns sour.

She lets out a sigh before her gaze hardened once more.

"Then you are truly a fool, much like that mentor of yours." Though her words were cold, her tone was one of factuality Rather than scorn. If MK didn't know better, he'd almost say she sounded...sad.

"That naivety of yours will surely lead to your ruin."

A humorless laugh escapes the boy, "Maybe," his voice steady, maintaining a hopeful quality, "but I stand by what I said."

The Lady hums in response, considering the boy before her. Headstrong just like his predecessor, but much more compassionate than Sun Wukong when he first embarked on his journey. Naive the child may be, but there's undeniable potential to be had. Perhaps he's not as ignorant as she had been led to believe. If destiny was as malleable as this boy suggested...

Well, only time will tell.

Against her better judgement, a fleeting smile made its way onto her lips.

"I see."

[donutloverxo]

A Royal Scandal 3

Modern Royal King!Steve au

(Image from Pinterest)

cowritten with @lizzygal​

Note - There will be no taglists for this. You can subscribe to the  ao3 story to receive updates!

Please note that my stories are not to be stolen or reposted on any other site. Reblogs are welcome. This blog and this story is 18+. Do not read, follow or interact if you are not 18+.

Summary - Modern ruler, His Majesty King Steven G Rogers, is on a quest to make his long term secret relationship the real thing. He is a man in love and wants his lover and partner to be his queen.

Warnings - Smut (m/f), dub con/non con, sex tape, scandals, mentions of past domestic abuse, soft dark Steve, possessive Steve, spanking, power imbalance, mentions of previous domestic abuse, somnophilia.

Pairing - King!Steve x reader

Word count - 7k

Story masterlist

Sometimes Steven forgot that you weren’t that much younger than him. He forgot about a lot of things when it was only the two of you. You did that to him. You made him forget things that everyone else reminded him of constantly, intentional and not.

Early that morning was no different.

Long before his alarm went off, Steve found himself on his side watching you sleep. Feeling in every way equal to you, like there was not this huge ocean of things that he did not have in common with you, opposed to what the two of you shared.

Obviously, he was the son of kings and tyrants while you were the daughter of immigrants and a blue-collar family. You’d grown up in a house full of love and kindness and acceptance, he had not. You’d ended your teenage years going to college and then travelling and ending up here, where you chose to stay and work and travel and live a life that Steve could only dream of, his own had never been his own and never would be.

You had dreams and hopes, little things like aspirations. He didn’t.

Steve’s life was dictated by things like duty and obligations, expectations. Yours was not.

Maybe that was why he’d been so drawn to you?

Compared to all the royals around Europe and titled individuals, politicians, even old families, none of them interested him even a fraction of the amount that you interested him. To Steve you were exotic. You were a fascinating creature who might as well have come from Mars.

He couldn’t even say what it was or why.

For so long it had felt right to be alone. Considering the blood of monsters ran through his veins, Steve had been uninterested in any sort of companionship more than a brief encounter at a private location.

For Christ’s sake, he refused to sleep in the bedroom that his father had slept in.

Upon assuming the throne, he’d selected to take up older quarters in an unused part of the palace living complex. As if to ensure he was as far away from the rooms that his father and grandfather and great-grandfather had slept. Choosing to sleep in a bed untainted by any of those men, stored from when his land was ruled by an emperor. Hoping with the hopes of a young king that it would save him from their madness.

Beside him, you slept so peacefully, trustingly.

Steve had never brought anyone into his private apartment. Nor had his bed seen any carnal action since it’d gone into storage. Until you. He’d simply never been so inclined.

A rough sound from the growth on his cheek rubbing against his pillow. A pleasant reminder of that night that felt so long ago, yet also like only yesterday.

He’d had a beard back then he remembered.

A full bushy one.

One that had made you laugh softly at, roll your eyes and still manage to pull off an acceptable bow when you greeted him that late night.

“They beat Canada then Your Majesty?” You had inquired with good nature, setting down a whole stack of papers and folders onto the very modern conference table in a big room that could fit two dozen, more if the people were standing.

He’d beamed.

Steve remembered he’d been in a particularly good mood that night. Even if he was working late on the education push into the outer regions of his kingdom. A good amount was still very rural, many simple villages that lived as they had fifty or more years ago. Many parts of his kingdom were still deeply rooted in the past.

“Indeed. Eleven to four.”

He was beaming. Beaming! You were pretty sure you could see molars. It made you shake your head and begin to sort out all your work into piles to go over. Not that you’d ever admit to secretly being caught up in the hype of the team being so close to gold at the Winter Olympics. “So then the beard stays?”

“You of all people,” he admonished, coming over to help you. Picking up the well-marked up maps you’d spent hours annotating.

Making you roll your eyes.

On he went though, obviously needing to drive home the seriousness of this matter. “The beard stays until we win gold. Next we play Norway. I don’t think it needs to be said that we cannot risk it.”

He was serious. Really serious. If that full glorious beard was any indication.

More focused on the organizing task yourself.

Sorting your work by region, pile by pile, each had taken much work and effort and negotiation, endless phone calls and trips and emails to each area to get them to work not only with you, but one another. It was like herding cats. It had taken you months to get this all sorted out for Steve to see. His ideas weren’t even ready to be implemented. This was just the pre-gaming, the leadup, the work in preparation. You weren’t even on Step One. You were on Step Zero.

“Now that I know, I’ll be sure to grow a beard next Winter Olympics.”

And then you were rewarded with a rich hearty laugh from your king.

Well not your king, as you weren’t a citizen of this country. But you still liked to think of him as your king.

Watching you sleep was something he’d never tire of. Never get enough of. It was a luxury that he didn’t realize he wanted day in out.

The ability to wake up with you tangled up in blankets. Curled back against his front. Hogging pillows as you did. Allowing Steve to run his fingers up and down your bare thigh, along the curves of your body. Letting him lean forward to press his lips to your shoulder and see the peaceful rest of your face in his slowly lightening bedroom. Every last inch of you here for him.

Hungry.

That was what it was, he was hungry for you. Like a big bear that woke from hibernation after a long winter. At times he felt such a way. Never having felt this way about anyone prior.

In his own time, he slipped his fingers down along the round of your ass underneath the flesh of your hip. Warm. Soft. Smooth. Neither of you had left the bed since the late night bath in his tub.

Further down Steve allowed his fingers to trail.

Memorizing every last second to get him through his day. From how you felt pressed against the front of him, how your back moved against his chest with every steady breath you took. The way your legs tangled in his buttery sheets with his own, how the soft cheeks of your bottom pressed against his alert groin.

Most definitely though, how your skin tasted and felt beneath his mouth. Smelling like yourself from all your favorite bath products kept in his bathroom.

You’d smelled so good that night too.

You always smelled good.

It was something that he had noticed but hadn’t given any real thought to.

It seemed to be a mix of perfume and body lotion or cream. Cause Steve found the flowery smell would linger after you walked by in the way that perfume did, infusing the air and making his brain scream out that you were near. But also, when you shook his hand, it always had that sweet fresh clean smell afterwards.

Now, whenever Steve smelled it, all he could think about was you.

Those smells danced around him. Making the late hour bearable. Making the fact that the offices were empty but for the two of you, when you both should have been home in bed, not matter.

“Ok…” you were talking to him, pointing out places on the massive map that was his nation. Arms crossed. Legs spread. Standing beside you as you informed him with tones that indicated your happiness, your displeasure as well as your utter irritation. “…so I managed to get in touch with every Education Department in all nine of your territories.”

Though you were not looking at him, Steve nodded, laser focused on this project he’d tasked you with months ago.

“All of the department heads are on board with your desired overhaul to completely modernize the entire system. Unfortunately, they told me that I had to call all the district heads for all forty-six provinces to get their agreed participation too.”

Your tone went from pleased with yourself then skeptical and then annoyed.

You turned your head to look at him. “Which is what I spent the last three months doing. It was something of a thing.”

Steve could only imagine.

He was quiet though so you could go on. More than pleased with how well you worked in this position. He’d originally been skeptical with your being a foreigner. How dedicated would you be to a job in a country that was not your own? One hundred percent as it turned out.

Your hands flattened out dramatically on the table. Outrage surged from you. “I’m still waiting on two appointees because their predecessors apparently died during harvest season and no one could be bothered to replace the position. I literally had to fly out to the outer reaches of civilization to find this out. Cause all the government offices are closed during harvest season, fyi. But they’re literally filling the positions now.”

Such was the challenge of having a large kingdom with one foot in the future and one in the past. Such things led to the difficultly of keeping a Chief of Staff.

Steve’s previous Chief of Staff had come highly recommended and lasted a little over a month.

Whether it was from a lack of dedication, the obvious frustrations of the job or maybe he simply had not wanted to jump on a plane and fly six hours then ride by car five hours to remote areas in order to complete his work. Steve could not be sure. All he knew for sure was he’d keep you as long as humanly possible.

In his eyes, you were a saint.

“What’s with the question mark?”

Making you look to see which question mark you’d marked on the map full of stickers and marks and tabs. Hours had been spent working on the damn thing.

Seeing which question mark in question made your nose scrunch. “Oh…them, they refuse to even answer my calls until they are allowed to take their traditional name for their province. Which is way above my pay grade. Someone else is going to have to deal with them. I tried.”

Ah, Steve nodded, that was far from surprising. The far outer regions were notoriously independent or rebellious, depending on your stance.

He would deal with them accordingly. Not how his father did, but in his own way.

Steve’s attention was drawn to two nearby provinces. Each had a frowny face sticker. Without asking, he merely pointed.

A noise of pure disgusted frustration came from deep in your throat. Making you stand and look to him, brandishing your hands in all directions. “I tried my best with them. I really did. Both of those provinces absolutely refuse to take part in anything if the other is involved. Apparently, they’re still salty at one another over something that happened in fourteen-seventy-three and refer to me as the foreign she-devil. So…good luck with them Your Majesty.”

Soundly you slept.

Comfortable. Safe. At peace.

Making him feel like a true man. A provider able to care for you, protect you, satisfy you. As if he were stripped down to what nature intended. Instead of what society had dictated for you both.

Reaching down to that heavenly place between the V in your thighs, Steve pushed his fingers further to find your softness slippery, your skin slick with viscous arousal. In pushing his finger up further, running it around the edge of your slit to where the gateway to your body was hidden, he found you heavily aroused. Coating his fingers with a thick fluid that promised you would be able to take him now. Oozing into the cervices between his fingers and smearing thickly down his palm and over the back of his hand.

Unable to help himself, he brought his hand out from between your legs in order to look at your arousal. Merely the sight made his balls clench in eager anticipation. Tasting the bodily excretions had his hips moving against yours on their own.

A noise came from you. Though you were far from waking. Always one to enjoy your sleep.

On his tongue you were heady, ripe. Tasting like sin. Steve licked his fingers. Eyes closed so he could savor the taste, how you clung to his tongue and were thick, like a burst of brandy swirling with his saliva.

Awakened now from his deep sleep. Ravenous like a beast of the forest. He pressed a lingering kiss to your shoulder. Making you mumble. Making you wiggle in your sleep, causing you to reach your arm out for a pillow to pull close. Hooking your leg up higher too. Becoming more comfortable in the bed in addition to opening yourself up more to your king. As if your body had connected to his on a level your mind was unaware and encouraged him to take you.

Down he peered. Strands of hair fell across his forehead at the harsh angle. A soft lightening of the sun through drapes he never closed last night allowed the sight of moisture. Folds of bare skin sheened up at him. Tempting him with that webbing of goo that promised him you were ready.

Taking himself in hand, he caught sight of your name curled over his side. Reminding him of your absolute possession over him. Sending his hand low to pull his foreskin back in order to feed this hunger of you that consumed him.

Your signature was all swoops and swirls.

Recognizable above anyone else’s writing he came across on a daily basis.

All over paper and on the maps. In little corners. Highlighted. In different color pens. On stickie notes. Written on napkins or on the back of random pieces of paper.

At the time, he’d had no idea how far gone he really was.

Not even when he watched you take note after note with a purple inked pen, your hand flowing across paper like a swimmer cutting through the water. Taking down his every word, every command.

A incredibly distinctive feeling of being full woke you up from your glorious sleep, in a very singular sort of way that could be from only one thing. Only one thing on earth felt like that when waking you up.

Pulling you out of a warm blissful sleep only to wake you with the exquisite feeling of being stretched open, pushed into, filled up. Making your fingers clench bedding or pillows or whatever they could grab.

A low breathy moan came from you in the time between you were woken and awake, your face burrowing in a pillow was followed by a soft profanity. Weight slowly covered you. Weight pinned you down to the bed a little at a time. Skin and sheets and soft dustings of hair rubbed against you.

Only when you had fully woken did you feel pubes brush against your cheeks. A light tap of scrotum bumped you too.

Long arms wrapped around you. Wet lips mouthed along the curve of your neck.

This was a far superior way to wake up. Compared to your apartment, in bed alone, to your neighbors loud shrilling alarm clock through your paper-thin wall.

Groaning out at the feel of His Majesty’s cock stuffed safely up in your secret garden. You found yourself whining at Steve at whatever time it was in the early morning. “…fuuuuck…what’d I say about doing that…” A swivel, nay, a swivel with a pop of his pelvis followed, making you see stars, gasp deeply as if you’d been stabbed in the lungs and then add on for God and Country. “…My King…shit, My King…oh shit, My King.”

Though it may have been said in jest, his tone was hot enough to scald. “If memory serves me correctly…” another deep push of thick hips shoved you forward into the pillows. “…you say, not in my ass unless I’m awake.”

Stars.

So many bright and colorful stars.

Mmm.

Yes, that was something you had told him on many occasions and it still held very true. If Steve was going to put anything in your ass, forget that thing he claimed was a dick, you needed to be fully awake so you could both physically and emotionally prepare yourself.

Nothing at all could have prepared you for the drastic turn your life was about to take that night.

Nothing.

Everything had been so normal. It was so regular. Like many a long night working late hours at the palace before. Hours had been spent going over all your hard work contacting each and every head in each education department per province, as well as per territory. In addition to the national department of education, preparing to prep them for what the king wanted.

Like any other late night, Steve helped you put all of your paperwork back in the correct order you had it in. Like every other time, he requested a palace car take you to your apartment. Granted the apartment you shared with your best friend was walking distance away. It was late and simply not safe and you found were touched that Steve would think about your well-being.

For a king, he wasn’t that bad. When it was the two of you anyway.

Looks aside, which he had in spades, he could be very funny in a sarcastic sort of way. He was very well read and intelligent, quick on his feet. Although people seemed to think of him a certain type of way based on his father and his own kingship at a young age, when he really was his own person.

You’d noticed he had a definite interest in the classical masters and had on rare occasion seen him sketch out something on a flight or during a less than stimulating event. He had an artistic ability that would never come to anything due to his role.

His strong sense of duty paired with a disgusting moral obligation pretty much guaranteed his life would be spent in service to his country. Period.

You could see why people thought he was hot. The man had been blessed by the genetic gods. Plus he was a king. Who didn’t grow up dreaming about being a princess? Or think about a literal Prince Charming from fairy tales?

Having now had the benefit of working in a real life palace. You knew the realities of that fantasy.

You had two pages of notes that could attest to the reality of your childhood Disney Princess movies.

Reality was always so different.

Not for the first time, you found yourself repeating yourself. “…and let me say one more time. Thank you so much for talking with my parents. I know it was only ten minutes, but, I know how busy you are and it just completely topped off their visit. My mother has been telling everyone about how she met the king. You even have my father cheering for the hockey team.”

A smile came over Steve’s face that was real.

It wasn’t one of his practiced smiles. It was an actual smile. You could tell because it reached his eyes.

“Well,” Steve answered you with a shrug, sounding genuinely pleased even if he also sounded tired and like he wanted nothing more than to go off to his living quarters in the palace and crash into bed, before he had to get up to start a new day. Helping you stack the last of your papers up. “Anything to convert a soul to hockey. Technically, it is his team too.” And because he could not help himself, Steve added on, “Even if his grandparents fled from here for a cushy life in the west.”

Up your hand flew to your chest.

Your jaw dropped in mock pain. “Ouch, Sir! That one was painful.”

His smile grew at your over-the-top reaction.

Still though, he dipped his head and you noticed there was a little blush on his cheeks above where that magnificent beard grew. Chagrined, he quickly followed up with, “I apologize. That was a cheap shot.”

In a physical sort of way that his people were known to interact, personal space be damned, Steve reached over to touch your arm apologetically. Not something he did frequently. Although he had done it a handful of times. The press of his mouth to your cheek was new. The little kiss was brand new. Steve’s lips were gentle on your skin. His beard tickled your face.

Never in your life had your heart pounded as violently in your chest as it did at that gesture. Quickly, your head turned. Though you did not move back or say anything. Instead, you found yourself staring at Steve. Looking into those pools of blue that were looking at you with the same amount of surprise that you felt. His lips were right there, right there.

Blood roared in your ears, your heart pounded faster and faster and faster.

He kissed you.

Did he really though?

Was it a kiss or was it a kiss?

For a moment in time, you leaned in. Leaned closer. Leaned till you almost touched him because that was what your body wanted to do. Until you remembered that Steve was a king. A KING. Remembering that made your head command your body to lean backwards a bit. Allowing you to see that he had leant in to meet you.

He’d leaned closer to kiss you.

What were you doing? What in the hell were you doing? You had no business doing this, no business at all messing around with Steve.

Fingers moved along your arm, tracing up the back of it softly. That simple touch made goosebumps break out over your skin. It made your breath hitch. Your hands began to shake so you grabbed the fabric of your skirt.

However, you made no move to step away from Steve. Nor did he make any sort of move to step away from you.

Another attempt at a kiss was not made.

Fingers touched your face instead. Steve was close enough to you that you felt his legs brush yours. You felt his breath against your face. Fingertips ran across the swell of your cheekbone, down over your lips, tracing the bridge of your nose in what felt like a desire to memorize your face.

Steve was gentle. His fingertips felt like feathers on your skin. He made you shake like a leaf in terror because you wanted him to touch you more. You wanted to be touched. You wanted to feel his hands on you and the soft glide of his thumb along the line of your jaw was painfully insufficient.

Without thinking, you reached up with your hands until you remembered that he was the king.

Were you allowed to touch the king? You weren’t sure. He was touching you and it was fabulous but were you allowed to do the same? You wanted to. You so deeply wanted to. You just were not sure what was allowed in this situation. It had not exactly been covered in the Royal Protocol Guidebook you had.

Then came Steve’s voice. Harsh. Gravelly. Desperate.

“Touch me. It’s ok. I want you to.”

For only a heartbeat or two you remained still, observing him, making sure. Only after that did you reach up with your hands to cover his wrists. Rub along the fabric of his button-up shirt. In doing so, you not only felt the strength in his well-muscled wrists, or how warm the silky fabric was, but, you could feel him tremble. He was shaking about as much as you were.

A rush of air surged from his lungs as if you had burnt him.

Curious, you turned your head so you could place a single kiss on the inside of his hand touching your face, right at the base of his thumb. In doing so, you ripped a noise from deep within him. A noise that was both pained while also infused with wanting.

“This is ok?”

“Yes,” he croaked out, as if he were terrified you would stop.

Never would you have ever imagined he would be so responsive. Almost touch starved it felt.

Sometimes, Steve still felt as if he were a little touch starved to you. Sometimes it felt like he’d gone his entire life without having that physical connection between two people. As complicated of a man as he was with as complicated of a life as he had, you at times forgot that he was still a human being with human being needs that were essential to thriving.

And it wasn’t like you were complaining.

Far from it.

Not after the orgasm you just had, not from on top of him either. Lounged across the front of him. Loose limbed. Languid down to your marrow. Peppering the damp skin of his neck with slow wet kisses and scrapes of teeth. Long drags of your tongue collected drops of salt that tasted of him. Lazily. Heart to heart. Stomach to stomach.

There really were worse ways to wake up.

Like, for instance, in your apartment taking cold showers cause the building’s water heater was ancient. That wasn’t fun at all and usually had you shivering and hurrying through an icy shower. Straight up not a good time.

This? This was soooo much better.

Feeling Steve’s long legs wrapped up in your own, paired with his softening member filling you by virtue of sheer size not letting himself just pop out…this was a much better way to wake up. Far superior in every way.

Not that you were willing to waste precious time like this luxuriating in post-coital bliss. No, no. A burning question was hot on your mind that kept popping up after last night. After all, you were a modern woman and this was a serious relationship. You had every right to ask this question at any time you wanted. Even now. As your boyfriend, the king, fondled your breasts in his hands with such intensity that you would have thought he’d just broken out of Alcatraz after a decade of no nookie. Not that you were in the least bit complaining. Not one bit.

“Am I going to have to quit my job?”

It was something of a concern.

You loved your job. You loved working with Steve. You loved your life as it was and a big part of you suspected becoming queen would mean big changes.

Not that you lifted your head from his neck, or ceased your trek down towards his collarbone. Trail of your kisses never slowing or stopping. No hint of any sort of disruption came. Not for a moment or two. Not till your ravenous boyfriend squeezed your breasts possessively. Thumbed your nipples and finally opened his eyes, as if it were the biggest chore on earth.

His voice was rough. His tone felt like hot gooey honey that just got everywhere. “No…not yet…”

Leading you to make a noise. A pop followed when your mouth left the dark spot you’d been sucking on nearly at his collarbone. What with your name already etched on him. What else could you leave in a display of ownership over him? “Nothing else to add My King?” For added emphasis, perhaps you gave you vaginal muscles a clench knowing what that did to him.

A grunt came from beneath you.

Wrapped up in yours, Steve’s legs clenched in response to what you did. White teeth sank into his upper lip and you absolutely thrived at the sight and feel of him arching up against you, shifting around beneath you at the way your body squeezed him.

Those hands left your breasts only to reach down, run over your waist as they had so many times before, leading you to grab them. Snatch then right up. Press them down into the mattress over Steve’s head. Since the man was far larger than you, this sent you leaning downwards and ever closer to his face. “Steve? I asked you a question.”

How easy it would have been for him to get free. Yet, he seemed content where he found himself. Still wedged within you. Warm in bed. Body a sea of a complex cocktail of chemicals after physically releasing into you. A far better way to wake up than alone in a massive bed. Or worse, to his mother jabbing at him to urgently tell him something that was not urgent at all.

Feeling your breasts press against his chest. Lightly brushing over his skin, your nipples little points that sparked a definite interest in his dick.

God did he want you to be his queen.

“Not yet,” Steve ground out, nearly close to being overwhelmed by you. Each and every word was enunciated to utter perfection, as if it took all of his concentration and effort to get them out. “I’ll have the palace leave your name out of the official statement today. We can go slow. Ease you into things…ease you out of your job…” and to reward him for such a thoughtful statement, you clenched around him once more.

However, it seemed, there was more and even though his eyes rolled up into his head at the feel of your core squeezing his not entirely soft organ, he pushed on with the determination of his ancestors. Grunting. Arching back into the bed as the pillows had all wound up on the floor. Perfect teeth clenched together. “M-my people…will…love you…too.”

So, it was entirely possible, that you were feeling all kinds of powerful watching him writhe beneath you. Knowing exactly what sort of repercussions this could have to your morning. Which was still progressing on time. It was entirely possible that you may have intentionally pushed your own pelvis against his to reseat yourself.

“Oh yeah? How can you be so sure? You saw what happened with those two over in England. And that prince isn’t even next in line to the throne.”

Perhaps it was the seriousness of the direction in which your conversation had taken, Steve remained beneath you. Taking no action, even though you could quite literally feel his dick grow more interested in what your hips were doing.

A panted out, “…fuck…” escaped from him, before he opened his eyes to look at you seriously, if not also a little heatedly. “Quit obsessing over them. The King of Jordan married for love. Queen Rania was a commoner. If you must, focus on them.”

Sudden movement found you falling off Steve and onto the bed, shoved onto your back and in a flash, he was on top of you again. Over you. Hovering. Though he’d escaped out of your body, you could feel the king’s most delicious semi, slick from your previous copulation, squish between you both.

Admitting on an exhale, “Forgot about them.”

“Everyone does.” He agreed, surveying down, taking in the sight of you. “My country appreciates you. They’re fond of you. You’re in all the papers and they’ve given you a nickname.”

And that. That. Nearly killed the mood.

It sent your eyebrows together dubiously so.

Everytime you were in the press it was when your skirt had been blown up on a windy day, or if you’d accidentally gotten food on your shirt. Or that time a baby goat pooped on your shoes. Or when you’d tripped and fallen off a dock into a lake. Who could forget that time you’d accidentally called the Prime Minister of Canada a ‘moose fucking cannibal’ when you’d still been getting the hang of the language, your first year on the job?

You’d been affectionately dubbed, ‘the King’s Foreign Devil’ and it had stuck.

Hell, you still got asked about your thoughts on the Canadian Prime Minister whenever a member of the press was around.

“Most the time, you have a higher approval rating than I do,” he added. Much to the consternation of Maria Hill in PR. “Trust me. There is nothing my country loves more than a hard-working loyal servant of the people who talks shit about western leaders.”

Mood totally killed, you seethed and not for the first time, “That was an accident! I was trying to call him Canada’s Disney Prince.”

***

The note had been hand delivered to the palace and was now crumbled into a ball in the Queen Mother’s bedroom as she stormed off, once more, that early morning in a fury of rose satin and silk. Her perfume clouded around her, drifting behind her, much like the wake of a boat cutting through the water.

Thick carpets silenced her heels. Doors opened for her as she neared them, allowing her to not need to slow her step even for a second. Not a single moment wasted as she made her way through the private living quarters of the palace.

Down hallways and around corners, over to the rooms that her grown son had selected as his own.

It would have been so much easier if he would have just taken the rooms that his father had lived in.

Although, with the horrific memories attached to those rooms, how could she blame him when he elected not to? She had her own private rooms. The dead kings rooms were locked up tight and still not used. Abandoned like so much he’d done, started and accomplished in his life.

Upon coming to her only child’s rooms, those doors were held open for her and on she pressed on. Sailing through his rooms, one after another, until she got closer to his bedroom and could hear his shower which was the direction she headed.

A brief glance was made at the mess that was his bed.

A roll of her eyes was followed by a shake of her head.

Some things males never grew out of it seemed.

“Steven!” She called out in warning, should he be in the bathroom about to come out in the nude. Which was the last thing she wanted to see.

Not only was his bed a mess but his clothes from yesterday were all over the floor.

She had every intention of telling him that he needed to straighten up this mess before the cleaning staff came in his room. The last thing she wanted was for them to think he was messy and then tell their families and friends when they went home that the king had a messy bedroom and word would get out that her son was a slob. Ugh. No. She’d make sure that he straightened up.

Speaking of the devil.

As his shower ran, Steve peered out of the bathroom with a wet head. A midnight blue towel was wrapped around his waist. A toothbrush was in his hand. To Sarah, it was very clear that her grown son had not shaved yet either.

Seeing him in such a state that morning along with his messy room and the fact the shower was going wasting water. It did not make her mood any more agreeable.

Though her son was taller than her and considerably more muscular, she never feared him.

She knew he would never hurt her like his father had so many times. Towards the end, Steve had even defended her from his father’s physical attacks. Those days. They had been dark. Horrible. Terrible. When she noticed that her husband had begun to carry a knife to protect himself from his son. Well. What was she supposed to do?

Attacking her was one thing. Being violent towards her was one thing. There were some things that she learned to tolerate. It was unescapable. Their son though. To take a knife to their son? Her son? Sarah would never allow such a thing.

She was queen at the time.

It was not so difficult to get the drug that she put in her husband’s evening nightcap. She’d used all of it. Thrown the vial away the next day when she went to rouse the king as she did every morning, only to find him dead in his chair. Fireplace having long gone out. Slumped down. Cold. The coroner had said it was a heart attack. Exactly as she’d been told the drug would work. He’d been buried with no one the wiser. Not even Steve.

“Yes mother?”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “You are not growing another beard. Last time you looked like some man that lives up in the mountains in a tiny shack.”

Just as her own father once did, Steve’s eyebrows rose in surprise and question.

No. That was not why she was here.

Sarah had a higher calling that morning and straightening her slim shoulders, she so informed him. “Hope and Janet are here in the city. They’ve come for a surprise visit and will arrive at the palace within the hour.”

Steve’s eyes narrowed at her in response to her information.

It was horrifying. It was outrageous. It was not what he wanted to hear that morning one bit. Not at all. Not one single bit.

Hope and Janet?

Those were two names he never wanted to hear with the additional words being, ‘on their way’. No. Just no.

All he could say that was remotely civil, after what the then Princess Hope van Dyne had done, came out in something of a tone. “I don’t want to see either of them. If you want to see them, that’s your choice. Keep them away from me.”

Considering what the now Duchess Hope had spewed to every reporter, journalist and whomever with a platform…Sarah was a little surprised that Steve was being so kind.

She’d expected a bit more of a reaction from her son.

Could she be holding a bigger grudge against her one-time closest friend’s daughter? After what had happened, Queen Janet van Dyne had become somewhat distant. Which was not surprising. Hope had not broken the engagement gracefully. Nor had she been anything less than opinionated afterwards.

“I suspect she is in trouble,” Sarah confessed. “Why else would they come here? Considering everything that Hope has said over the years.”

Steam continued to seep through the cracked door.

Sarah was about to say something about the shower. Steve was wasting a considerable amount of hot water. She herself was leading the Go Green Initiative in the country and as she stated constantly, it all began at home.

“Mother, don’t take this the wrong way, but, I wouldn’t shit in Hope’s mouth if she was starving.”

Ah.

Perhaps she’d been too quick to judge Steve’s current opinion on the wayward duchess?

Pondering his statement, Sarah found herself looking for any way to come back with a counter when she noticed that the shower turned off. Which was odd. Shower’s didn’t turn themselves off.

What was even more peculiar, Steve reached back behind himself to shut his bathroom door.

It clicked.

Like a light going off.

How could she not have noticed? How could it not have been obvious?

Blue eyes that were a little softer than her son’s narrowed. “You aren’t alone.”

Silence.

Quiet.

Her pink lips opened in surprised. A question hovered on her tongue.

“No mother.”

“But…”

“Mother,” he implored as only a son could. “Not now. She would not want the first time she officially meets you to be when you’re dressed for the day and she is not.”

And though her son’s words were true. They were right. They were exactly what she would have wanted him to say and because she had raised him well, she was even proud that he had made such a quick decision. It wasn’t fair.

Sarah wanted to find out who you were. She wanted to meet the woman that her son was involved with. Was that so wrong? Sarah wanted to meet the woman that her son was considering marrying. There was so much she wanted to say to you, so much to teach you, so much she wanted to learn about you. Perhaps her desperation showed because her son reached out to place a hand on her elbow.

“If you can chase Hope and Janet away, we could have lunch together. The three of us. If not, dinner? Or even tomorrow. I’m not doing anything with Hope under this roof. Not after she referred to our country as a third world plus hellhole full of war criminals and superstitious backwoods heathens.”

Ah, so he did remember.

Those words had been seared into her memory as well. Sometimes Sarah wondered, as Steve had never really given much indication that he cared one way or the other what Hope had said. It was only after she began to speak unflatteringly about their people that he grew irritated, much like herself.

Although, what irritated Sarah more, was the quiet that came from the royal house of van Dyne and Pym a few countries over. Never once had Janet spoke up. Never had Janet said anything about her daughters outrageous remarks or behavior. Nor had she apologized.

Knowing her son, Sarah knew that he would never court anyone who was not kind or compassionate. Steve would never pick a Hope as his queen.

Up came a hand that bore a lovely ring decorated with fresh water pearls from their own waters. “I’ll have them gone before lunch and then we will all sit down together so I can finally meet her.”

[raindancer2004]

“I like a challenge Darling”

Word Count: 5,366 Demetri x reader Oneshot Warnings: Fluff, reader being paddled, NSFW

Marcus and Demetri had a different relationship as Master and Personal Bodyguard when compared to Aro and the Twins and Caius and Felix. Marcus would quite often converse with the tracker when it was just the two of them in his private study, exchanging views of the books they have read, sharing stories from their human lives etc. This is how he came to know that Demetri had become lonely over the years as he had yet to find his mate, unlike his friend Felix who found his mate Mia a few decades back. Marcus had told him to have faith and that when the time is right, he would meet his mate and they would spend an eternity together.

So when Demetri finally met Y/N courtesy of Esme Cullen, although it was totally by accident that the two met, Marcus was happy for him and welcomed Y/N into the family with open arms. He liked her as she was respectful to him and his brothers and being human, she was curious about a lot of things including their world, their laws and this was something Marcus found endearing about her and would give her as much of his time as possible when Demetri was away so she wouldn’t become bored or restless. Even Caius liked her and he hated humans. Marcus surmised this was because of her interest in their laws and how they came to power and she understood that the vampire world and the human world were better off under their rule than that of their predecessors.

Marcus was in his private study working at his desk, Demetri being his personal bodyguard was in the room sitting on the sofa reading. Marcus didn’t see the point of him standing at the back of the office when he could be comfortable on the sofa reading or planning for missions. Sometimes Marcus would hide in his office just to escape the throne room and the bickering of his brothers, he always bought Demetri with him which the tracker appreciated. This was one of those occasions.

They had been in Marcus’ study for about an hour when he surprised Demetri with a request, one that related to Y/N. “Demetri, would you bring Y/N to my office please as I have a proposition for her?” Demetri’s eyebrows rose, a look of shock flashed across his and he knew Marcus saw it “Do not worry my boy, it’s nothing untoward. I promise” Marcus reassured him “Of course Master. When would you like to see her?” He asked “As soon as possible” Marcus replied “I’ll go get her now then. She’s in the garden” “Very well. Thank you Demetri.” Demetri bowed his head and left the room making his way out to the South facing garden where Y/N was reading by the fountain.

“Hello mi amore” He said softly as he approached her, not wanting to spook her “Demetri” She replied with a smile, one that showed she was happy to see him “Have you been let off early?” She asked, a hopeful look crossed her face “No, sorry. I’m here to escort you Marcus’ study as he would like to talk to you” He replied “Oh. Is it bad? Have I done something wrong?” “Not that I am aware off. Maybe he has become bored of my company and wishes for yours instead” He chuckled “We both know that’s a lie. He’d never get bored of talking to you, you have too much in common. I’ll admit he does seem to like my company or should I say he likes to keep me company when you are away on missions” She replied as she slipped her hand in his, their fingers interlacing with one another. Demetri loved how warm she felt against his skin.

“Good afternoon Y/N” Marcus greeted her with a smile as she entered his study, Demetri right behind her “Afternoon Marcus, I trust you are well” She replied with a smile of her own “I am thank you and hope you are too” He gestured for them to sit on the sofa “I’m well too, thank you for asking” She sat beside Demetri and placed her hand in his, Marcus noticed and smiled, seeing the strong bond between them despite the short time they had been together.

“So you may be wondering why I asked to see you?” Y/N nodded and smiled “Well, Gianna is out sick for the week and I was hoping you might fill in for her. I know the two of you get along well and you have helped her out on occasion, when you’ve needed a change of scenery for example” Y/N looked at Demetri and he just smiled back at her “It’s your decision cara mia” She looked back at Marcus and smiled “I’d love too. Be nice to do something different for a week and at least I know I’ll be safe as everyone knows I’m Dem’s mate” She chuckled, Marcus and Demetri doing the same “That’s very true my dear.” Y/N was in for an interesting week and she didn’t even know it.

Later that night Marcus informed Aro and Caius that Y/N was covering reception for the remainder of the week in Gianna’s absence. They were pleased to hear this as the lower guard Louis, who had covered that day did not do a very good job. Caius had threatened to rip his hand off just because he could.

The following morning Demetri escorted Y/N down to reception and ensured she had everything she needed to complete the day’s work “Thank you for helping out mi amore” He said softly and placed a kiss to her temple “It’s no bother really. I’ve helped Gianna before and it’ll be nice to be out of our room and see somewhere other than the library for a few days” She replied “I’ll come by and see you at lunchtime” He kissed her lips before leaving and heading to the throne room for guard duty. “Please gods let this week pass without incident for my beloved” Demetri muttered low, praying to his gods.

The first two days on reception went by without any problems or incidents, something everyone was pleased with. Day three however, there was a small problem when Heidi bought the ‘tour’ group in. Two of the tourists started bickering and Heidi was busy sorting out the disruption and therefore didn’t hear one young lady ask Y/N where the bathroom was “I don’t know why they call it morning sickness when it lasts all day” She said to Y/N as they walked to the female bathroom. Heidi did a final headcount and noticed she was one person short “Y/N I seem to have lost someone” She whispered “She’s in the bathroom being sick. She’s pregnant” Y/N replied and Heidi’s face paled “Wait five minutes, then please escort her out the castle. Make some excuse for me otherwise I’m in big trouble” “Leave it with me Heidi. I had no intention of letting her re-join the ‘tour’ as it would’ve gotten you into trouble” Y/N said with a smile “You are a star Y/N, truly” Heidi gave her a grateful smile “I owe you one” She called over her shoulder and continued on her way with the tour group to the throne room. Y/N was pleased as the young lady got to keep her life and Heidi didn’t get into trouble for bringing a pregnant lady on the tour.

Day six of Y/N covering reception for Gianna was more eventful than anyone could have imagined. Demetri and Felix were in the training room with the lower and transitory guards carrying out the regular training session. Jane, Alec and Santiago were on duty in the throne room with the Kings. Y/N heard a commotion and got up from the front desk to look and saw some of the transitory guards fighting at the entrance to the castle, humans were beginning to pay attention which worried Y/N, especially as it was sunny outside.

Y/N made her way to the throne room and knocked on the door once and they opened from the inside “Sorry to interrupt but…” “Y/N you know you aren’t meant to interrupt” Aro cut her off “Yes Aro, and I apologise but some of the guards are fighting at the castle entrance and humans are gathering to watch and it’s sunny outside” She replied quickly, hoping she wouldn’t be punished as Gianna’s predecessors were. “Santiago, Josh please go and deal with the guards at the entrance. Y/N you can return to reception” Aro said with a smile “Thank you Aro” She smiled and bowed her head before leaving the throne room quickly.

“Y/N needs to be punished” Caius says to his brothers “Really brother? Do you really think it’s necessary?” Aro asked “She did interrupt despite knowing she shouldn’t” Caius replied “She came to warn us of a possible exposure threat and she did knock first” Marcus defended her actions “Still rules are rules brother. If Gianna had interrupted instead of Y/N we would’ve punished her. We cannot play favourites just because she’s Demetri’s mate even if she is helping out this week” Caius reasons “Ok then. I’ll take care of her punishment” Marcus says as he gets up from his throne “You? You’re going to punish her?” Caius asked smirking “Yes, Demetri is my bodyguard and Y/N is his mate. Therefore, I will handle this situation” He replied and left the throne room.

“Demetri won’t be happy” Alec muttered low to Jane so only she could hear “My shift has finished so I’ll go tell him. He’ll want to know about Y/N” Jane whispered back.

Marcus went to reception to see Y/N “Hello, my dear. I need you to come with me please” “Of course Marcus, am I in trouble?” She replied “I’ll explain soon enough” He said and held his arm out for her to take. He led her to one of the guest rooms in the South Wing. Once inside he closes the door and explains the situation they are now in. “Caius has asked that you be punished for the interruption” Marcus started softly “But I knocked first and I thought you’d want to know about a possible exposure risk, especially as it involves your guards” She replied “I know my dear and I pointed that out to him but he was adamant a punishment was needed. I told my brothers I would deal with your punishment as Demetri is my bodyguard and you are his mate” “O-ok. Thank you. Does Demetri know?” She asked “Jane has finished her shift and I’m sure she’ll inform him of what has occurred” He replied and she nodded.

“Please can make your way over to the bed?” Marcus asked and she did as he asked. She stood at the end of the bed and felt Marcus come to stand beside her. “Please lean over the bed with your arms out” She did as she was instructed and felt his cold hands wrap something silky around her wrists “I’m tying you to the bed so you don’t move during the punishment you’re going to receive” He said low as he reached over her and gently placed a silk scarf into her mouth and secured it at the back of her head “This is to muffle your cries. Although, I ask that you don’t resist or cry out as Demetri is likely to hear and the punishment will start over if it’s interrupted for anything but an emergency. Also, you must keep your eyes closed throughout. Understand?” “Yes Marcus” Her reply coming out muffled.

There was a knock at the door “I won’t be a minute” He told her and opened the door to see Demetri, a confused and slightly angry Demetri. He stepped into the corridor and shut the door. “Calm yourself, my dear boy. No real harm is to become her” He advised “Jane told me what happened and whilst I agree she shouldn’t have disturbed you, she only did it to save us from being exposed by our guards” Demetri replied, worry clear in his ruby eyes “I know that and that is why I decided on her punishment and not Caius…” “What is her punishment?” Demetri interrupted “She is to be paddled 40 times” Marcus replied “What? Why?” “Well I heard Y/N talking with Gianna recently about certain things and well Gianna’s been spanked by an ex in the past for ‘misbehaving’” Marcus replied and Demetri’s mouth fell open a little “So you thought Y/N should be paddled for interrupting you?” “Yes, I do. Unless you’d prefer I take a leaf out of Caius’ book?” Demetri shook his head and Marcus smiled “Here” Marcus says and hands Demetri the small black paddle “You want me to do it?” He asked surprised “If you’d rather me do it…” He trailed off and held his hand out “No, no I’ll do it” Demetri replied and went to enter the room, only Marcus stopped him “She thinks I am going to hand out the punishment and I didn’t correct her. Also, I never said you had to hit her hard, just that it has to be 40 times” Demetri nodded in understanding “Thank you master” He bowed his head “Of course my boy. Do you really think I would harm her or order you to do so” Demetri shook his head “Exactly, once you’re done take her to your room and spend the afternoon together.” Marcus turned and walked away.

Demetri entered the room and locked the door, he turned and saw Y/N bent over the end of the bed and secured in place by silk scarfs; he felt himself harden a little ‘No, this is punishment not pleasure’ he tells himself as he makes his way over to the bed. He doesn’t say anything just lifts her dress up to her waist so her lacy covered ass is on display ‘Gods this isn’t fair. She’s wearing the blue set I love’ he thought to himself. He counts to three mentally before bringing the paddle into contact with her ass softly.

‘Is that a practice one?’ Y/N thought to herself as the paddle hit her ass softly; the answer came to her rather quickly when the next few paddles to her ass were just as soft ‘Marcus must be being gentle cause I’m human and Dem’s mate’ she thought to herself as the paddle continues to hit her softly. ‘twenty-five’ Demetri counts in his head. ‘wonder what Dem will think when he finds out Marcus paddled my ass’ her thoughts going to her mate and his reaction. Demetri continues to hit her softly as his minds wonders too ‘I think next time I spank her it’ll be a little harder and with my hand, just to see what effect it has on her in a different setting.’ Y/N feels confused as this doesn’t seem like a punishment Caius would approve of but she wasn’t going to complain. ‘forty’ Demetri places the paddle on the bed and unties her wrists and places a kiss to each one; a soft gasp escapes her lips and he smirks “It’s just me darling” He says low in her ear as he removes the scarf from her mouth “Dem” She breathed and he helped her up and held her to him “I’m here” He kisses the top of the head “Did you…” “Marcus let me carry out your punishment” He cut her off “I’m sorry. I only…” “Don’t worry about it. Marcus and I have spoken and agreed your actions were for the right reasons, this was just to satisfy Caius’ request.”

He took her hand in his and they made their back to their shared room, once inside he locked the door “How are you feeling?” “I’m ok but next time the dumbass guards risk exposure, I’m going to ignore it” She replies and he nods as he pulls her into him capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. He pulls away his eyes locked on hers, his burning in his need for her. He kisses her roughly, his hands moving to her ass and he gives it a squeeze before lifting her up, her legs wrapping around his waist. “Good girl” He says low and she gives him a sultry smile.

He placed her gently on the bed, one hand running up her thigh coming to rest on her lace covered hip. He kissed along her jawline making his way to her ear and nipped it gently, before placing a kiss below and leaving a trail of kisses down her neck, his hand stroking her through her lace covered panties “Hey, I’m not that easy Dem, take your time…play me like a violin” She says low in his ear and he growls before replying “Play your cards right and I may snap your G string” He gave a wink and continued to kiss and nip at her skin.

He pulled away long enough to remove her dress and his shirt and trousers before capturing her lips with his. She bit his lip and he opened his mouth allowing her to slip her tongue inside, their tongues moving against each other as soft moans fill the room.

“You’re lucky I love this blue lace set you’re wearing or I’d be ripping it to shreds” He says as removes her bra and panties before settling himself between her thighs, his mouth closing around her clit and sucking harshly, flicking the bud with his tongue. Soft gasps fill the air and she feels his fingers dance against her skin, he growls as the scent of her arousal fills his nose, the sound vibrating against her clit, her arousal building and a soft whimper leaves her lips.

He moves up the bed, placing one hand to her cheek and kisses her lips softly as he enters her slowly, stilling for a moment “So warm and wet just for me” He pulls out of her a little before re-entering her slowly “Ahh Dem” He moves in and out of her over and over filling her deeply with every thrust; hitting that sweet spot and she met him thrust for thrust “Ahh Y/N” He breathed against her skin, she felt his mouth on her breast, kissing and sucking her skin leaving a mark. He continued to move within her as he took a nipple into his mouth sucking it and flicking it with his tongue. Her fingers carded through his hair and she gave it a tug; a growl escaped him before he gently nipped her breast.

He could feel his release was near but held off as he was determined for her to finish first, he needed to claim her, finally mark her as his. He kissed her neck and then sank his fangs into her skin, a light gasp left her lips as she felt him bite her. Her orgasm hit her at that moment, her eyes closing and stars flittered behind her eyelids. He continued to drink her blood, drawing out her orgasm as he released himself deep inside her. He pulled his teeth away from her neck, licking the wound closed; leaving a bite mark on her skin that would show everyone that she belonged to him.

Y/N could feel that Demetri was still hard inside her despite him climaxing moments ago “Dem, you’re still hard” She said low “It’s a vampire thing, we can go for multiple rounds without tiring” He replied and winked at her “So, there’ll be a round two then?” She asked before biting her bottom lip and looking at him through her lashes. “Definitely sweetheart” He replied as he began thrusting in and out of her again “I could stay here and make love to you all day” He said looking into her eyes and gave her a quick kiss “I do have the afternoon off…” He trailed off and let his hand slowly move down her body, his fingers lightly brushing her folds. “As fun as that sounds, I’m human and I don’t think I could keep up with you” She replied low “I like a challenge darling. Let’s see how many rounds you can keep up with me for. Mmm?” He asked, his eyes darkened by lust, before capturing her lips with his, both of them moaning into the kiss.

“Ok, but we have to try different positions. Switch it up a little” She replied, taking her bottom lip between her teeth, she felt him twitch inside her “Deal. Where would you like round two?” “On the bed but I’m on top” He smiled and rolled them over “Do with me as you will” He smiled at her, she smiled back before lifting nearly all the way off of him only to sink back down on him hard “Cazzo” He breathed out and she chuckled “That good huh?” She lifted off of him again “You had a great teacher” He smirked at her as she lowered herself back down on him, his hands going to her hips “Uh uh. You gave me control sweetheart” She circled her hips over his and he growled, his hands moving to grip the bedsheets “Good boy” She praised low and he chuckled. She leant forward to kiss him as she grinded against him and felt him hit a new spot inside her, she repeated this action as she left a trail of open-mouthed kisses along his jaw and down his neck. “Ah Y/N.” She continued to move her hips over his and he felt her teeth graze his skin where his neck meets his shoulder before she sucked on the skin there eliciting a purr from him. He was smiling as he watched her rise and lower herself on his hardened length, her hips grinding against his to get the friction she needs as she nears her orgasm, “I’m so close” He breathed out “Me too” She smiled and sped up her movements, her release followed shortly after; her hips continuing to move over his and she feels him twitch inside her, his cold seed filling her once more. His eyes were closed tight as he came, his mouth open; a soft gasp escaping his lips as his grip on the sheets tightened. “Gods, you’re amazing” He praises her and sits up to hold her close, pressing a kiss to her temple “Like you said, I had a great teacher” She whispered and he smiled against her skin.

“Round three” He breathed against her ear “Your choice” She replied and he thought for a moment “Any chance of a blow job…whilst I think of our next position?” He asked “Only if you say please…Mr Volturi” He growled and thrusted up into her “Dem” She cried out “Any chance of a blow job please?” “Of course Mr Volturi” She climbed off him and moved over to sofa “Coming then?” She beckoned him with a wave of her fingers. He went to sit on the sofa when she placed her hand on his stomach “You stay standing” She sat down on the sofa and wasted no time in taking him into her mouth; his head fell back instantly, loving the way her warm mouth felt around his cock “Oh gods” Her hands moved to his ass and gave it a squeeze as she took him further into her mouth, the tip of his cock hitting the back of her throat. She moaned around his cock; one of his hands moved to the back of her head, his fingers grabbing a hand full of hair. She ran her tongue along the underside of his cock, swirling it around the tip, licking up some of the pre-cum that had leaked out. He growled low as he felt a warm hand cup his balls, massaging them and he tugged on her hair and thrusted his hips forward ensuring he hit the back of her throat and she moaned around him. She hollowed her cheeks as she continued to suck him off and massaging his balls “Such a good girl” He praised her as she run her teeth along him and he twitched inside her mouth. He tugged on her hair and she stopped moving her head up and down his cock, allowing him to fuck her mouth, he moved his hips forward a few times ensuring he hit the back of her throat each time. He felt her tap his thigh and he stopped moving his hips, giving control back to her. She sucked and licked his cock a few more times before she ran her teeth over his length again and he emptied himself down the back of her throat, her swallowing everything he gave her. She licked him clean before pulling away and looking up at him. He knelt down before her and kissed her, tasting himself on her tongue. “I love you Y/N” “I love you too. Next position then?”

He took her hand and led her to his desk and bent her over it; and he entered her easily from behind, one hand wrapping around her throat applying a little pressure “If you don’t like this or you want to me stop, let me know” She nodded in response as the pressure on her throat increased a little. He thrusted in and out her setting a fast and rough pace “Demi” She breathed out and he leant over her burying his head in the crook of her neck, slipping inside her deeper as he continues to thrust inside her, his other hand moving down to play with her clit as he applies a little more pressure to her throat “You’re doing beautifully mi amore” He felt her walls flutter around him and he sped up his pace, edging them closer to their releases; the warmth of her release coaxing his own to follow. He released his hold on her throat and placed a kiss to her neck as he pulled out of her, she turned to face him smiling. One hand going to the back of his head and she pulled down for a passionate kiss.

“Round four is your choice darling” “Well, Mr Volturi before round four I’d like you to get on your knees and return the favour. Please” He smiled wide “Anything for you.” Demetri sat her on his desk and lowered himself to his knees in front of her and buried his head between her thighs, inhaled slightly taking in the scent of her arousal and growled low. He looked up at her to see her looking down at him, his ruby eyes had darkened further due to his continued arousal. He gently lifted one leg over his shoulder before lowering his head and sucking on her clit, flicking the bundle of nerves with his tongue. She leaned back slightly and gripped the edge of his desk as he placed a hand on her stomach keeping her in place before he gently pushed her other leg away from him, giving him better access to where she needed him most. He continuing to suck and flick her clit with his tongue, her soft moans being the only sound in the room. He smiled against her knowing he was the only one who could elicit that reaction from her. He moved his head lower and she felt his tongue enter her, she gasped and one of her hands moved to his head and she threaded her fingers through his hair before tugging on the strands, eliciting a growl from him. She felt his growl vibrate against her “Dem” She breathed out, he growled again and she felt a knot form inside her; she tried moving her hips to get the friction she craved but his hand still held her in place. He withdrew his tongue from inside her and closed his mouth back around her clit, sucking harsher than before; his tongue flicking her bud. She felt him slip two fingers inside her, curling and uncurling them so they brushed her inner walls a few times. He uncurled his fingers and moved them deeper inside her, hitting her sweet spot; his fingers and tongue working together to bring her to climax. “Ahh…Dem” She breathed out as she came hard, her eyelids half closed. He withdrew his fingers and put them into his mouth “Mmm. I love the taste of you baby” He smiled looking up at her through his lashes “I love you Demi” “I love you too.”

He stood up and surprised her when he lifted her over his shoulder and made his way to their walk-in closet and set her down on her feet before he pinned her against the wall. He captured her lips with his in a heated kiss and nipped at her bottom lip and she whimpered allowing him to slip his tongue inside her mouth and dominate the kiss. He lifted her up into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist and she could feel his cold hard length pressing against her entrance and with one slow thrust he entered her easily “Fuck…baby” He growled in her ear, he didn’t give her time to adjust to him, he just began to thrust in and out of her at a steady pace; her legs closed tighter around his waist and she grinded against him; he slid in deeper hitting that sweet spot inside “Oh yes” She cried out, her nails scratching lightly across his back and he growled and thrusted up into her harder. He kissed and sucked his way up and down her neck, nibbling her earlobe and she felt him smile against her neck with each moan of pleasure he coaxed from her. His thrusts sped up chasing his release as he felt her walls flutter around his cock; he bit her neck for the second time that afternoon and took a few gulps of her blood and she screamed out in pleasure as her orgasm hit her hard, stars dancing behind her eyes. The warmth of her release pulled him over the edge and he emptied himself inside her; continuing to move inside her with slow, long stokes as they rode out their highs together. He licked the wound closed and kissed his bite mark, he captured her lips in a slow sensuous kiss, she opened her mouth to him and he slipped his tongue inside, their togues moving in sync with one another.

“I love how you feel inside me” She whispered when he pulled back to allow her to breathe “I love how warm you feel wrapped around me” He replied before kissing her again. He walked backwards to the loveseat in the corner and sat down with her still in his arms, staying buried inside her for a little longer. He wrapped his arms around her holding her to his chest as she wrapped hers around him. She buried her head into his neck as he laid his on her shoulder, both enjoying their after-sex cuddle.  

Y/N was totally exhausted once Demetri had finally finished making love to her and he noticed her heartrate and breathing had slowed. She was supersensitive now and knew she was likely to be a little sore in the morning but didn’t mind as she had enjoyed every minute of being with her mate.

He carried her to the bathroom and set her down on the counter and run a sink full of water using some of her favourite bubble bath and washed her gently with a warm cloth. He then cleaned himself up before carrying her over to their bed, placing her gently beneath the duvet. He crawled in beside her and pulled her into his arms once again and held her as she fell asleep, breathing in her scent. He smiled to himself as he thought about the sexy afternoon they had just spent together, impressed that she had kept up with him for six rounds of amazing sex. ‘my amazing little human’ he thought and tightened his hold her, placing a kiss to her hair “I love you darling” He whispered and closed his eyes, resting beside his mate.