#this is just a big middle finger to me and my healing path

[ikkan]

of course my mom is trying to guilt me into staying, by using her tears 😑

[zackprincebooks]

Golden Hour Snippets

I did some snippets of Golden Hour, the first in my Messmer-Maedhros transmigration fic series for a challenge on Discord and I decided to share them here!

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@nczaversnick @thatuselesshuman @phoenixofthegreenwood @mushroommanchanterelle

@ilovevewritingfanfic @t0ul0ser @jev-urisk @villain-lover7899 @rivenantiqnerd

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“This, Nelyafinwë, is the forge."

Messmer walks into the forge, briefly closing his eyes as he's hit by a blast of heat. Taking the initiative, Fëanáro stands in front of him to protect him from the blast. "You'll get used to the heat in time. The fire is your friend, Nelyafinwë, and it will drive your creativity just as it drives mine."

Fire is your friend. How long did Messmer fight against the fire that threatened to consume him? How long did he use it to burn and destroy?

And now he was being told to create with it?

……..

The path in Prince Ingwion's garden is made of white stones so highly polished, they gleam under the gentle light of the crystal lanterns hanging from the fence posts. Yellow flowers climb up the walls, made of the same polished stone, and fill the night air with their fragrance. A fountain in the middle sends its water into the air, and the tinkling sound as it splashes into the pool mixes harmoniously with the sounds of the evening.

Sitting in the middle of the garden is Prince Ingwion himself, adorned with the circlet of his station. Confusingly, though his circlet implies a business meeting, his attire suggests an intimate meeting between two close friends: a soft white robe with yellow lace trim and a deep green sash. The emeralds in his ears match the emerald comb holding his golden braid into place.

Messmer has misread his invitation entirely.

........

"I became aware of my existence around the time of my first begetting day, though I know not the reason why," Messmer explains. "The name of my first self was Messmer the Impaler." Even saying his old name makes Messmer shudder, but Nerdanel squeezes his hand. "I was born the son of Queen Marika the Eternal. I died undertaking a crusade under her command. When she no longer needed me, she abandoned me to my fate."

There is silence as Nerdanel absorbs the information that the fëa occupying her son is that of a stranger. But she does not let go of his hand.

"Ever you have been my son, even if I have not always been your mother," she speaks. Messmer dares to lift his head. "And if your mother has abandoned you, then let me be your mother forevermore."

........

"You're holding your breath again. Keep up your breathing rhythm. In and out."

Messmer forces himself to take in a shaky breath as Rog moves his new arm back and forth. He's laying at an angle on a padded bench with Rog behind him, bracing himself with one hand on Messmer's back. Messmer's new arm is stretched behind him, his fingers twined with Rog's free hand.

Part of the healing process, he said. They needed to make sure Messmer's new arm had the same elasticity as the old one, which was always tricky with metal limbs no matter how finely wrought they were. This involved Messmer coming into Rog's workshop multiple times a week to bend and stretch his arm in new positions. He was getting better each day and found himself using his new limb with greater ease. Soon he'll be able to wield a spear again.

But now all Messmer can focus on is Rog's hand, big and firm, pressed between his shoulder blades. He whimpers as Rog presses harder, and Rog's murmured, "you're doing so well" is not helping.

[starryslytherin0]

Here’s a little fanfic snippet because I was shipping Cariad with @rene-hl-trashcan’s baby boy Riz

Ship: Cariad x Riz

warnings: tooth rotting fluff

WELCOME HOME

“Rizy, Rizy, where are you- I’m all sat here waiting for yo-Riz!” Cariad had been swinging her legs childishly on the porch, saying her rhyme in a sing-song voice as she waited for Riz to come home- before she saw his familiar figure coming down the path home. She immediately hopped off the porch and ran up to him, hugging him tightly. He absolutely dwarfed her- him being 6”4 and her being a mere 5”3. “Mmmm, hi there ghost boy!” She said excitedly, tugging at his sleeve to indicate she wanted him to bend down so she could smother him with kisses. The dark haired mans eyes softened at the sight of the sweet girl who was the embodiment of sunshine. He gave her a gentle head pat before bent down with a small chuckle so she could kiss him. Once on his forehead, once on each cheek, once on his nose, his chin, his eyebags and finally his lips. He picked her up like she weighed nothing more than a child and carried her inside.

Once they got inside, she slipped from his arms and helped him take his coat off before she noticed a rip. She ran her finger along the tear and felt something damp. “Riz…” she started, before she noticed the large bleeding gash down his arm. “Ekrizdis Mors! What happened?!” “Cariad Mors, I dunno, some asshole jumped me with a knife, I didn’t think it was a big deal.” He shrugged nonchalantly. Typical Riz. Since he couldn’t feel pain, he often underestimated his injuries. “It is a very big deal, actually!” But Cariad was hogwarts matron so she knew the severity of it. She lead him to the couch and sat him down before getting her wand from the kitchen. She sat on his lap, straddling him, as she took his arm in her hands, murmuring a healing incantation and coaxing some wiggenweld down his throat. “Are these ‘assholes’ still with us?” She asked lightly as she kissed up the scabbing injury. He gave a rare chuckle and rolled his eyes, “of course not.” He started absently playing with her fingers, before taking off his gloves and raising her hand to his lips, trailing sweet kisses along her hand and fingers- starting with her knuckles and trailing down the middle of her fingers, crimson eyes locked on her light green-bordering blue-ones. Cariad was practically swooning, unable to stop her blush. “Ghostie…” she said weakly, before noticing how he payed extra attention to her ring finger and her heart gave a flutter. “What is it, my dear?” He asked without ceasing his assault on her hand. “I love you.” She whispered. His eyes widened a little before softening- they were so hopeless for eachother. Sunshine, and a boy moments from death. He looked so beautiful to her, his pale face illuminated by firelight. His eyes fluttered closed in peace as she pressed her hand to his cheek. Cariad gently caressed it with her thumb. “I love you too…” he murmured back, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Cariad hummed in contentment. She adjusted on his lap and cuddled into him, the moment just peaceful and domestic. She always wore her hair in those little girl pigtails, held together with light green ribbons. Once they’d started dating, Cariad had tied one of her ribbons around his wrist. She was currently tracing the satin around his wrist absently and tenderly. Everything she did for him was tender.

THIS IS ONLY PART 1 DW WE HAVE MORE PLOT BUNNIES

[lovelyteng]

Poppy’s Heal to Help Chapter 4 - Mysterious Masked Magician

[Fade to the secret room of Howdy's Place/Bugdega, Howdy wears black tuxedo, black top hat with blue hat band, red bow tie, yellow gloves on his upper hands, purple gloves on his lower hands, cyan/turquoise shoes, rainbow antennas, and black cape with orange interior. He smiles at the reflection of the mirror.]

Howdy: I'm lookin' good! But something's missing... (Snaps his fingers on his upper hand.) I know! (Takes and puts a magenta mask on his eyes, then takes off top hat as he puts it on hair with green paint as dips and his hair covers his right eye, then puts it back.) Perfect! (Holds up a wand on his upper hand.) I'm the most mysterious and famous magician! I...am... (Echoes in happily; in a middle-high toned voice.) Perry Preston! (Spinning himself to turn a purple cloud flying out of Howdy's Place/Bugdega, then turns into a normal form as covering his cape; in normal voice.) My plan is to take care of Poppy from Wally and Frank while I try to get away from their attention, even Eddie. (Rises up the wand to start loads of magic.) Presto!

[Howdy blasts himself to disappear. Cut to woods in the night as Eight Neighbors walking on the path as led by Wally and Frank while Barnaby, Julie, Poppy, Sally, and Eddie follow them as Eddie looks at Wally and Frank.]

Eddie: Don't worry, guys. We'll make you remember what happened last night.

Julie: Halt! (She and Six Neighbors stop walking as she points at a silhouette person.) There's a mysterious person!

Mysterious Person: (in male middle-high toned voice) Hello, friends.

Poppy: Oh! (Nervously.) Hello, mister. We need your help! We can't find our friend! His name is Howdy Pillar!

Mysterious Person: Howdy Pillar? Ahh! I know him! Let me introduce myself. My name is... (Hold up the wand to blast himself to disappear which Seven Neighbors surprised and look around.)

Barnaby: Where's he going?!

[Big magic explodes in front of Seven Neighbors screaming in surprise, uncovers the purple cloud as Howdy disguises as Perry Preston, he smiles at Seven Neighbors while he is spinning his wand on his upper hand.]

Howdy: (as Perry Preston) Perry Preston!

Sally: (delightfully while clapping) Wow! Amazing magic trick!

Howdy: (bows as holds his cape) Thank you so much, Miss Starlet!

Sally: He knows my name!

Poppy: Did Howdy tell you about us?

Howdy: Yes, he does, Miss Partridge.

Barnaby: Mr. Preston! Howdy went and lost in the woods!

Howdy: Don't worry, friends. Follow me.

[Howdy/Perry walks and Seven Neighbors follow him while Frank starts to get suspicious and worried about him and Eddie looks at Frank.]

Eddie: Oh no! Not again!

Julie: What's wrong, Eddie?

Eddie: Frank's gonna be suspicious... (Worried.) AGAIN!

Julie: What?

Eddie: He's got suspicious of Dr. Grady, then he's getting suspicious of Perry!

Julie: Like he's suspicious of me while I'm disguised as Wally's old girlfriend.

Eddie: Yeah... This is getting weird and horrified now.

[Fade to later at noon, Howdy/Perry and Seven Neighbors still walking while Frank gets trembling in discomfort, then he twitches his eye while looking Howdy/Perry, then he screams in frustration.]

Frank: (uncomfortably) How long walking to find him?! This is getting longer than last time!

Howdy: We're here! Welcome to Faithful Flower Field!

[Cut to colorful flowers and insects in the field as start with a sign that says "Faithful Flower Field" with rainbow texts which Seven Neighbors look at it in amazement.]

Julie: Look at those flowers!

Frank: And bugs! Especially butterflies! Yes! (Paused to surprise his friends who smile at him, clear his throats.) I mean... (Fake sarcastically.) Yeah... we're here in a wonderful field. (Shows up to be amazed.) Okay, okay, guys! I just love the field with butterflies!

Howdy: (smiles while chuckles) I know you like a field where there are butterflies. (Snickering into laughter.)

Frank: Thanks, Perry. I think Howdy likes this place.

Eddie: Good! Guys! Let's find him!

[Howdy/Perry and Seven Neighbors toward Faithful Flower Field as they search Howdy while Frank looks at a butterfly.]

Frank: What? He's not here? (To Howdy/Perry and Six Neighbors.) Guys! He's not here! But he disappeared here!

Eddie: (shocked along with his friends) What?!

Howdy: I know that was a pretty accident by me!

Frank: What? You did what?!

Howdy: Look, I'm trying to spell Howdy reappear!

Barnaby: You're trying?

Howdy: Yes. He's on my stage. Come on. (Walks off.)

Wally: He has his own stage? On a flower field?

Frank: I think he lives here.

Sally: (amazed) Wow! Look at that!

[Cut to amphitheater with style of nature theme along the seats where Howdy/Perry steps on the stage along a magic set while Seven Neighbors sit on the front row of seats to look at Howdy/Perry.]

Howdy: Thank you for coming in.

Sally: Ohh! Can't wait for more magic tricks!

Howdy: Okay, Miss Starlet! Don't get too much excitement!

Sally: Okay!

Howdy: Now... Let's time to-- (Cut off by Poppy whose shortness of breath while Six Neighbors look at her worried, screams in surprise.) Poppy!

Frank: (To Wally, whispers) She's on Stage 4! (Wally nods.)

[Poppy runs onto the stage towards Howdy/Perry, she holds his coat which he starts feeling scared.]

Howdy: Poppy! What are you doing here on my stage?!

Poppy: (in an eerie voice) I'm so worried about Howdy! Please, Mr. Presto! Please!

Barnaby: (runs toward Poppy to hold her) Poppy! You're making him scared!

Howdy: (nervously) It's okay, Mr. Beagle. (Happily.) Thanks to her! Please is...a magic work! As it's a request!

Poppy: Thank you!

Howdy: You're welcome, Miss Partridge. (To Barnaby.) Mr. Beagle, could you go down the stage, please?

Barnaby: Sure, Perry. (Walks down the stage to sit in the seat next to Wally.) You know, I really worried about her.

Wally: Don't worry. She will wear off in 5 minutes.

Barnaby: Thanks goodness!

[Cut back to Howdy/Perry holds the wand on his upper heads while he looks at Poppy who sighs in relief.]

Howdy: So, it is done?

Poppy: (in a normal voice) Yes, it's done.

Howdy: Good! Now, it's showtime! (Turns on the spotlights as it shines to him and Poppy who starts to scare.) Miss Partridge, don't worry about that with a stage fright.

Poppy: O-okay! I'm trying!

Howdy: Great! First trick is... (Hold up the cards.) Card trick!

[Howdy/Perry doing a card trick while dancing; card flourish as either switching upper and lower hands until upper hands in a 4 times, then riffle shuffle, then overhand shuffle, and then pick-a-card to hold it which Seven Neighbors applaud and cheer.]

Poppy: Amazing!

Howdy: Now, you must pick one card, please? (Poppy picks one card as she sees the card is a Four Hearts Card as he picks it.) Okay then... (He shuffles the cards until he stops to fan out the cards on the table.) You remember when you picked one card, right? (Poppy nods.) What is it?

Poppy: Uh... Four Hearts.

Howdy: Nice! (Look at the cards.) Where is it? Where is it?

[Cut to Eddie eating an apple while Frank looks at Howdy/Perry suspiciously.]

Eddie: Wow! Card trick starts to amaze. And also... (Shouts.) STOP SUSPICIOUS TO HIM!!

Frank: Ouch! You're breaking one of my eardrums!

Howdy: (offscreen) Mr. Dear, please, stop shouting at him right in front.

Eddie: Sorry!

[Cut back to Howdy/Perry and Poppy on the stage to continue searching.]

Poppy: Wow, Perry. Please is a magic work to you.

Howdy: (touch cards in lower right hand) Yes. Yes, it does. (Holding up the card to flip as revealed to Poppy.) Ta-da!

Poppy: Woah!

[Howdy/Perry shows Six Neighbors to hold Four Hearts Card as revealed, they applaud and cheer. He does card tricks while dancing until the card flourishing flies up and then down into his top hat, then holds up his wand to charge into top hat.]

Howdy: Presto! (Blasts to top hat as the butterflies and flowers come out from it.) Ta-da!

Seven Neighbors: Wow! (Cheering and applause even Frank looking at butterflies happily.)

Howdy: Thank you for applauses, everyone! (Puts his top hat on his head with a trick.) Now... are you ready for a special trick?!

Seven Neighbors: Yes!

Howdy: Okay! (Points at the trap door open itself to raise the magician box while wand on the hand moving together to raise the magician box until stop.) Ta-da! (Seven Neighbors applaud.) This box is the cause of Howdy's disappearance.

Seven Neighbors: (surprised) What?!

Howdy: You see... I saw Howdy running in the woods and then a flower field. He hid the box when I didn't know what was wrong with him as I was going to tell him, but then...

Poppy: (nervously) Then what?

Howdy: I saw the bag fall onto the table with knives flying into a box...which Howdy inside it! I tried to save him with my wand. Then I opened the box... He's disappeared!

Seven Neighbors: (gasps in horrified) Oh no!

Julie: That's terrible!

Howdy: I tried to spell him in the box. When you guys are here, I need your help.

Poppy: Help? (Happily.) Yes! Someone needs help!

Howdy: Great! Come on! Let's go to your place! (Lifts the magician box and crack sounds of his back which make Seven Neighbors surprised.) Don't worry about me! Just a little back pain.

[Howdy/Perry and Poppy walk off the stage, then they join Five Neighbors to walk away. Cut to the auditorium of Sally's House, Howdy/Perry puts the magician box on the stage, then he stretches his back and then dust off his hands.]

Howdy: There! (Looks at the window as the sun goes down, in a normal voice as quietly.) Oh no! (In the impressive voice of Perry.) It's almost night, guys!

Sally: (To Frank and Eddie) You heard him, guys? Let's start changing you!

[Seven Neighbors runs off the auditorium while Howdy/Perry in a blank expression for a moment. When footsteps faded out, Howdy removed his disguise to his normal clothes and hair except wearing lab coat, cyan gloves, turquoise windsor glasses, bag, and goggles on his forehead as he opened the magician box.]

Howdy: (in a normal voice) Okay then. (Looks around until notices a mannequin of himself, speaker, duct tape and headphone with microphone. Snaps his fingers as he gets an idea.) I got it! (He heads towards four items and then back to his place, he picks a top hat.) I'm speaking out to act while I'm sneaking in to see. (Holds up the remote while laughing maniacally.)

[Cut to dressing room where Seven Neighbors adjust their outfits and put the makeup on themselves even Frank and Eddie as Frank wears hot pink and red butterfly themed outfit and Eddie wears sky blue and blue art and craft themed outfit while they are feeling sad.]

Wally: Hey, don't worry about him. Perry is gonna make the right spell to bring him back.

Frank: Thanks, Walls. I know you are counting on it.

Sally: Okay, guys! It's done! (Six Neighbors muttering in agreement.) Nice! Let's go to the stage!

[Seven Neighbors run off the dressing room, cut to inside of Poppy's Barn in the dark where Howdy wears goggles as night vision to sneak in as he walks into the closet and then press his headphone to hear Seven Neighbors' voices in through it to listen.]

Howdy: Nice! They're on stage! (Clear throats as speaking to the microphone; in the impressive voice of Perry.) Hello, friends! Thank you for coming in here!

[Cut back to the auditorium of Sally's House, Seven Neighbors look at the magician box as inside of it is a masked magician outfit on a mannequin of Howdy and a speaker on the back of a mannequin with duct tape.]

Howdy: (through the speaker) Reason of why I'm in the box is because I am trying to focus on myself with a spell.

[Cut to green filter view on Seven Neighbors as revealed is view of Howdy in his goggles.]

Barnaby: (onscreen) That's good to know!

[While Howdy speaking, cut back to the inside of Poppy's Barn as the kitchen where Cookie of Poppy on a Silver Serving Tray which Cookie of Poppy starts to glow with green. Cut back to the auditorium of Sally's House, Wally and Frank are surprised with eyes winking in their theme color as they look at Poppy who starts to get nervous.]

Howdy: (through the speaker) Tonight as before the party, I finally made a right spell to bring him back on time!

Wally: Poppy, are you okay?

Poppy: Oh no! I forgot!

[Poppy runs away while Six Neighbors start to be surprised.]

Julie: What's going on?

Wally: Poppy, wait!

[Cut to view of Howdy in goggles when Wally and Frank run to follow Poppy which Barnaby, Julie, Sally and Eddie muttering among themselves in surprise and confusion, cut to Howdy in the closet as he holds up the remote on his lower right hand while he start to be scared.]

Howdy: Wait! If you don't want to see it, you'll be-- (Cut off as surprised by the sound of the door and then footsteps as he covers the microphone in his upper left hand, in a normal voice as whispers.) Oh no! They're coming in!

Eddie: (in Howdy's headphone) Perry? Perry! What's happening! I'm coming to you! (Sounds of footsteps get louder when he gets closer while Howdy grows whimper to loud.) Say something!

Howdy: (whispers) I'm so sorry, Eddie!

[Howdy presses a big red button on the remote in his lower right hand. Cut to the auditorium of Sally's House where the magician box explodes inside with purple gas coming out as surrounding at the auditorium which Barnaby, Julie, Sally and Eddie cough and try to cover their mouth. Cut to the view of Howdy in goggles, Barnaby, Julie, Sally and Eddie started to dizzy and then passed out as unconscious. Cut to Howdy who starts to feel guilty as a remote and headphones are put into his bag.]

Howdy: (whispers as tears come out) I'm so sorry... But you will forget it. (Wipes his tears with his lower right arm, then sighs and presses the goggles.) There. It's in night vision.

[Meanwhile to the kitchen of Poppy's Barn where Poppy looks at Cookie of Poppy on a Silver Serving Tray in worry as Cookie of Poppy in glowing green gets brighter while Wally and Frank run to her and Howdy sneak out of the closet and behind the piles of boxes to peek at them.]

Poppy: Guys! We've got a problem!

Wally: We've heard the explosion from Sally's House!

Poppy: I know! But this! (Points at Cookie of Poppy.) I'm getting so worried about-- (Start crying as anxiety; in an eerie voice) HOWDY!!

[Poppy's eyes turn into red eyes and black sclera as glowing brighter while Howdy starts to run out Poppy's Barn as looking through the window, Wally and Frank stay back and start to smile as their eyes turn into glowing red which Poppy screams.]

Wally and Frank: (in an eerie voice) Welcome to The Watchers, Poppy!

Poppy: (shocked) WHAT?! (Clouds move away to reveal the full moon shining through the window on him which starts screaming as falls down.) What's you mean...?

[Howdy gasps in horror and runs away while Poppy glowing green himself which starts to transform while Wally and Frank transform into The Watchers. Cut to Howdy running into Howdy's Place/Bugdega in the dark, then going up the floor on the stairs to his bedroom as he locked the door and windows, blocked the door with drawers and bed and covered the windows with blinds. He's breathing heavily and wipes his sweat as walk away from the door.]

Howdy: I'm so scared of that! Likes an incident in the dark! (Three unknown people with glowing red eyes behind him slowly walk away while he speaks.) I'm so guilty about that! Like I did it to my friends...

Wally: (offscreen) You really think you did to them?

Howdy: Huh?! (Turns to Wally and Frank in The Watcher Forms as they glow to their clothes, eyes, and dips of hair in the dark, he screams.) Wally?! Frank?! How did you know I was h-- (Realized as snaps his fingers.) Oh, right! (Facepalms in upper right hand.) Chrono Vision!

Frank: Now, you know as you're figured that out!

Howdy: (walks away from Wally and Frank as they walk to him) Look! I'm trying to keep away from you and never concentrate on you two and Eddie! (Bump into someone behind him and start to shock.) Oh no! Poppy! (Start to run but Wally and Frank holding him as Wally hold lower arms and Frank hold upper arms which he starts to struggle.) Let me go!

Frank: Poppy! Now it's chance!

[Poppy plugs Howdy's neck with green liquid on a syringe which makes him scream, then pulls it out as Howdy starts dizzy.]

Howdy: (dizzying) Guys... What did you do to me? (Passed out as unconscious.)

Wally: Okay, he's passed out. Let's go to Home.

[Cut to inside of Home in the dark where Wally, Frank, and Poppy in silhouette with glowing to their clothes, eyes, and dips of hair even Poppy as her theme color is green while they're holding Howdy as walking to bedroom where Barnaby, Julie, Sally and Eddie laying on the floor with bed sheet, they put him on the bed as Frank takes goggles from Howdy.]

Frank: His goggles have a night vision, which means he's never afraid of the dark while he's alone.

Home: I see... Howdy has... afraid of the dark, known as Nyctophobia.

Frank: Yes. Caused by an incident when he was a child.

Home: Wow... That's horrifying to him. But don't worry, he'll wake up to heal him as you help him.

Poppy: Thank you, Home.

[Wally, Frank, and Poppy walk off the bedroom as light shines on them, even Poppy to reveal her The Watcher Form is a rainbow beak and tongue, wearing black modern cooking/nurse outfit with rainbow scarf, and green gloves and shoes. They're all walking to the kitchen as Frank holds up Howdy's bag and puts it on the hook, then Wally holds his paintbrush to paint Howdy's bag as it camouflages to match color on the walls.]

Wally: There! He'll never find it! For a while...

[Wally, Frank, and Poppy laughing, cut to Howdy start to despair in sleep as tears come out while laughing echo in the background. Fade out as a pitched black screen.]

About Dark Phobia AU Select of Stories Previous Next

[3001spacedisco]

power & control, x0

hello. this is the first of a series of posts exploring patterns of power and control in domestic situations. this is an open discussion, so if you read this post, i want to hear your thoughts. i decided to discuss it at a lower level than in the workplace, or governments etc. because i think it's important to realise that though we can talk about the patriarchy as the big bad thing that's a parasite throughout society, men need to realise how much it affects everyday life, not just my paycheck or sentencing of crimes. prefacing this by saying these are my personal experiences, so may not be generalisable to everyone.

trigger warning, this series of posts will be discussing eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal ideation and SA as well as anecdotes. please be wary about this post and do not read if you are triggered by discussions of this subject. i wish you light and love through your journey of recovery and healing.

i want to start by talking about the control men have in domestic environments and how the effect of it has led to a cascade of events that have altered my life path. man number one, F, my biggest critic. my body was belittled and made fun of, and i would constantly be told to go on a diet. i felt miserable. i was conditioned into thinking my body had to be a certain way for people to respect me as if i it was my only redeemable trait. men perpetuate the notion that a woman's body is her only asset, even if she is family. F manipulated my child-self into believing i was not worthy of being perceived as an equal. 

at such a young age, why did i believe that my body had to look a certain way for people to listen to what i had to say? no praise for my smarts but constantly reminded that my body wasn't good enough had sparked so much internal hatred. i wouldn't eat for days. i spent months of my life delirious and lost. i have a massive gap in my memory, yet when i listen to certain songs i feel as though i can still smell my stomach acid on my index and middle finger. 

knowing i would always be smaller than a man, i realised that i was not in control. i would value the male opinion more than my own. i would search for male validation in all of my actions, believing that if i wasn't seen as desirable, what was the point of living? these negative spirits took over my teenage body. i would put myself in risky positions online, hoping to appeal to men twice my age just because i wanted to impress them. i wanted to know that i was someone's dream. i wanted to be something.

a man had control over the way i saw myself, a man i was never particularly close with, a man that i didn't have any emotional connections to. men dare to spill their opinions without worry of consequences. why did i sit quietly? why is it that after every critique i would go to my room to cry or cut myself or binge and purge but i wouldn't just tell him to fuck off? why was i okay with being quiet? why did i let him walk all over me? 

my life had been altered in such a way that still affects me negatively today. i never opened up about how he had wronged me, i just let it fizzle away over time. patience is a trait interweaved into women's minds. F still bothers me, acting as the head of the house demanding my full attention. i still submit to it. i am still patient with him. an impatient and outburstful man is a powerful one, that is everything that F is. he is larger than life, vital, the light of so many people's lives, yet still, he feels the need to size me down to a spec of dust. i remember in my childhood home, at an age no older than 6, saying aloud "i am the smallest person here, even smaller than a mouse". it is true, i am the youngest out of 3, however, i knew there was something different about me. for some reason, i was lesser than everyone around me. i was unimportant, i am the essence of nothingness. 

the funny thing is, i sit here writing badly about F, as if i have always felt this way. but i haven't. F was my idol, i would try to impress him (up until i really saw everything he is). it's as if i laid on the ground for him to stroll over and i would be excited that he made contact with me. i haven't got a way to solve this issue, though it is as simple as men needing to decrease themselves. no one owes them anything. they are raised entitled, believing the world must serve them and listen to them. i guess this is a way to connect the dots in my life, not necessarily me trying to devise a plan to uproot the patriarchy.

[tigorrrr]

𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲 || prompt::pulling their partner on their lap

Ship(?): Nejteri x Shao

Rated: mature/fluff

Warnings: domestic nakenedness?🤷‍♀️

           "I told you; you'd be running late. But did you listen?"

           Shao couldn't hold back from lifting his eyes at the ceiling. "You said we would oversleep."

           Nejteri whipped her head in his direction from her cluttery bathroom, she was just in the middle of brushing out the knots in her hair. "It's the same."

           With a grunt, he finally lifted himself from his propped elbow and sat the bed's edge. One foot landed on his boxers and he was glad he doesn't have to search for it around the house like yesterday and the day before...

           "You said we. Not just me." Shao grunted when he bent over for the piece of cotton cloth. "You were just as irresponsible."

           "But I'm not a general. I can afford going late to work." Nejteri huffed through her nose to mask her amused snort while raking her fingers through her unrully, curly hair in an attempt to not look like she just woke up - although that is the truth.

           Shao put his boxers on and sat down again, his body was aching, the trainings have been intensified for his soldiers and he has to join them not to keep up appeariances but because of his health.

           He would love to stay in bed all day today, but she must be with him or he won't stay put and it would be far from relaxing.

           But it's not like he would tell her that.

           Nejteri returned to bed and retrieved her silver eardrops from the nightstand's wardrobe when Shao bagan to crack his joints, knuckles, and neck vertebrae. She made her way around the bed, not hiding her grimace, disapproving of his 'relieving'.

           "Sh'o, come on..." she exhaled longly, finishing hooking her eardrops into her ears and stopped right by his feet, her thigh brushed against his knee.

           His gaze swept over her naked figure, it's something he's used to for years now but will never have enough of.

           Shao rolled his shoulder and sighed with relief as soon as it popped, to her dismay. Before she could scold him again, his big hands grabbed a handfull of her plush sides, claws gently dug into the flesh, and he manhandled Nejteri across his meaty thighs. She didn't make a fuss about that, only perfectly seated her buttocks on his lap, his rough-ish reptilian skin rubbing against hers pleasantly.

           "I will be fine. I always am." his voice rumbled, with her palms on his chest she felt the vibration perfectly.

           Nejteri arched her thick brow in question. "You're hangover and you're sparring today with the rookies."

           "I just woke up from the best amorous congress, the wine had already left my system." Shao's lips curled into a devious smile, flashing his fangs.

           Heat flushed her face red almost like the color of the bush that is hair. "For the love of--- Just say sex. Or making love. Anything but that!" she grumbled and wrapped her muscular arms around his neck as her upper body leaned in, her chin nested in the crook of his neck. "Your odd choice of words will be the death of me, Shao."

           "Hah! I know you like it..." he barked a guttural laugh, his thick digits mapping the paths of healing scratches from yesterday night before drawing her naked body nearer to his. Not liking even the smallest gap between them.

           Nejteri's response was childish; her teeth nibbled at the dark scales on his nape and the mix of pain and pleasure jolted a bolt down his spine.

           Both were two hours late to work that day.

[tennessoui]

You kind of already did 31 but pleaseeeeeeee

these ficlets keep getting longer ffs this is 2k

31. One is a sex worker, the other is a client AU

anakin's had his turn as a sex worker in my writing so it's Obi-Wan this time, paired with Vaderkin and i made it more dark than I thought would happen whoops but. warnings are: probably bordering extremely dubious consent even though no sex happens and this is just the lead up. a brief reference to underage sex work, though absolutely nothing comes of it. and vaderkin being a bit creepy.

There is a saying among the workers at the Establishment: if the imperial palace calls for you, you should hope the person that is displayed next to you is prettier.

Obi-Wan has never bought into prayers of any kind and this saying is only ever said with something akin to a worshipful dread. Still, when Ahsoka drapes a cloak of red around his shoulders and whispers those words to him—“May the others be your betters”—he thinks for a second about the nature of prayer and of hope and the futility of both in this galaxy.

“Don’t worry, little ‘Soka,” he smiles from under the cloak’s hood. “I’m sure it’s just a mistake.” He is, after all, one of the oldest workers here, makes most of his money these days tending bar and running the front desk, called in to serve mostly for virgin customers who want a gentler and more experienced hand to guide them in the art of pleasure. He doesn’t think any of the words could be used to describe the Emperor Vader, can’t see the imposing black-suited man interested in the art of pleasure.

Ahsoka can’t look him in the eye, but she hugs him tightly as he boards the shuttle that will take him to the Palace.

The ride there is quiet. Obi-Wan tries to avoid as many glances from the other people as he gives to them. Most of them are young, human. He seems to be the only male above 40. His chances are good.

Maybe he hadn’t been lying to Ahsoka. Maybe, truly, his name being included on the list had been a mistake

Something inside him hesitates though. He’d been out in the Upper levels a week ago, making his way home after one of his rare appointments with an old client turned friend. A child had fallen into the path of a small parade of speeders. A correctional officer had raised a whip. Obi-Wan had reacted on instinct, catching its lash with his forearm. The child had run off. Obi-Wan had stayed. He’d raised his head just enough, eons later, to see the durasteel outside of the largest speeder pass by his prone form, just enough to see the Imperial crest on its hull. Just for long enough to see a glint of a yellow eye from the window.

Bacta had treated his wounds, but his mind had not allowed him to rest easily, caught up in the memory of that eye--had he imagined the interest? Had he imagined it all?

And so to hear his name called tonight--the first calling since The Incident--had felt like the confirmation of all of his most unfounded fears.

Would tonight be the night he died? He had lived a long life. A rough one. Perhaps it is time.

Still, in the back of his head, a selfish, utterly human part of him whispered, may the others be your betters.

---

Those chosen do, often, come back. Sometimes they do not. Mostly they do. Obi-Wan has never truly decided which of these fates is the worse one. Those who survive don’t say anything for days on end, their eyes blank as they stare forward. Their bruises, if they are there, are easy to heal. But something is always wrong with their minds afterwards. And those who don’t come back...well. It’s hard to say what happens to them, where they go. Far away or down below.

Obi-Wan is forced to his knees in between a moderately aged female Togruta and a fairly young teenager. The boy is shaking. He can’t be more than sixteen.

They’re in the Entrance Hall. Obi-Wan has never been here before, but he supposes it makes sense. There will be one person who ventures further into the Palace. The rest will be dismissed out the doors that just shut. No need to bring the scum further in than they have to.

Distantly, like a funeral drum, Obi-Wan can hear the sound of feet falling, making their way closer. Just a single pair. He wants to look up, to watch the Emperor--because it has to be the Emperor--approach, but there’s a Guard behind him, holding his head down.

The footsteps are close now. There’s only ten of them--sometimes, Obi-Wan has heard that there can be as many as twenty or thirty--so the line is short. Vader paces quietly from the first to the last person, before stopping in the middle. Obi-Wan can just see the black of his boots if he flicks his eyes as far as they can go to the left. The boy next to him lets out a muffled sob. Obi-Wan wishes he could offer the kid some sort of comfort, some sort of reassurance that the Emperor will choose one of the other workers, a body more desirable than either of theirs, but there are no words to describe the guilty relief of a suffering passed onto someone else.

On some sort of invisible signal, the Guard behind Obi-Wan wrenches his head back by the hold he has on both the silken hood and his own hair. It’s far from comfortable, tilted so far back. The message is obvious. Submission is not optional. Respect will be shown through any means necessary.

Obi-Wan tries to keep the hulking form of Vader in his eyesight, even though to see ahead of him he has to close his eyes almost completely because of the angle. It’s impossible to see anything from the chest up, but he can still hear. Loud, mechanical breathing fills the halls. Vader stops at each person for no longer than five seconds before he continues down the line. Obi-Wan holds his breath, waiting for his turn. Does he turn his head as much as he can, to try and accentuate the gray at his temples? Does he lower his eyes?

He doesn’t, in the end, do either. Vader is wearing a mask, completely covering his face. He doesn’t even look human, except for the way he cocks his head slightly as he stares down at Obi-Wan. He feels flayed, just under the single look, but he can’t turn away either. He glowers up at him. Five seconds pass. Vader should be moving on by now. The fact that he hasn’t fills Obi-Wan with the sort of fear he’s only felt a handful of times in his life.

“This one,” Vader says through a voice modulator. Obi-Wan closes his eyes in defeat, thinks of Little Ahsoka back at the Establishment, thinks of what she’ll think if he doesn’t make it home.

But the boy next to him bursts into sobs and Obi-Wan opens his eyes to see that Vader’s hand isn’t pointing to him at all, but instead just to his right.

But Vader’s face is still pointed directly at Obi-Wan though, head still cocked. The question is as clear as if he actually spoke the words aloud. What will you do about this?

What will he do? What can he do? It’s the street from a week ago all over. A child is in danger. How can Obi-Wan ever live with himself if he doesn’t at least try to throw himself on the blade?

“No!” he says before he can think it through. The Guard behind him jerks his hair back roughly in punishment, but the monster in front of him runs two gloved fingers down his cheek, the pantomime of a lover’s caress. “Me instead. Choose me.”

“Quiet,” the Guard hisses to him, making him wince with the ferocity of the yank he gives his hair. Obi-Wan pants open-mouthed as he tries to think of an argument, of a single reason why the Emperor should not get what he wants, should settle for a washed up whore instead of a younger model. All he can think of is the moral justifications of it, and he’s not sure Vader would care for that line of reasoning.

“I’m asking,” he blurts out. The fingers pause from where they’ve been absent-mindedly touching his beard. “When has anyone ever asked?”

The Emperor takes a step back and seems to consider Obi-Wan, what he has to offer. He tries to preen, to throw his shoulders back and sit back on his heels to show off his body, but it’s hard when the Guard hasn’t let up on his hair. In fact the grip gets even tighter as the man behind him snorts a common insult.

A second later, the hand and the pressure disappear. Obi-Wan falls forward automatically at his sudden release. He scrambles away instinctively, even if that means closer to Vader. Vader who has his hand raised out in front of him clenching his gloved fist tight. Obi-Wan looks behind him at the guard who had held him. The man is scrabbling at his throat. Obi-Wan knows already it will be a futile effort. With Vader distracted by his execution, he turns to check on the boy. He’s looking down, refusing to make eye contact.

Probably for the better.

The Guard falls to the floor. The other nine Guards don’t move at all. Obi-Wan supposes there’s no room for loyalty in a galaxy like this.

“Come,” Vader says, running a hand through his hair. It’s a surprisingly gentle touch, seeing as that hand just took someone else’s life.

Slowly, Obi-Wan rises to his feet and follows behind him, through the twisting halls of the Imperial Palace. He thinks anyone could get lonely here if they have no one to keep them company. It’s so big. Obi-Wan shares his room with three other people, and he frets if one of them is still gone by the time he falls asleep.

This much space would drive anyone mad for another’s touch.

He blinks at himself, incredulous. Is he actually trying to feel compassion for the Emperor? Is it actually working?

The Emperor flings open a pair of elaborate doors without touching them, and suddenly Obi-Wan’s in the bedchambers of the most powerful man on the planet. And to think, he’s wearing mismatched and terribly darned socks.

He resolves to not ask Vader for permission to do anything with his own body for the entire night. He sits on the edge of the bed and watches as Vader takes off his cape and his gloves.

“Would you like to know my prices before or after?” He asks as cooly as possible.

“Your price is that it’s you here and not the boy.”

“Would you have wanted the boy?” Obi-Wan can’t hide the disgust in his tone.

“No,” the Emperor says succinctly. “But I did want to know what you would do. If you really were the same man as the one in the street.”

Obi-Wan’s breath catches in his throat. “Why would you want to know that?”

“There’s so little good left in the galaxy. It’s fascinating that so much is concentrated in you.” Vader reaches up to unlatch his mask. A cascade of golden curls falls out.

He huffs. The Emperor of the Galactic Empire thinks there’s not enough good in the galaxy. It’s at the very least ironic. “It’s a greedy galaxy, your Imperial Majesty--”

The Emperor turns around to face him, helmet still held in his hands. Obi-Wan is surprised to learn he’s just a man. An attractive man, certainly, young and almost pretty with a perfect arch to his lips and a roguish scar cutting through a thick eyebrow. If he had been one of Obi-Wan’s workers, he’d have taken him under his wing, tried to protect him from the clients who would have paid extra to rough up that face.

He was saying something. Obi-Wan had meant to say something else. Oh. Right. “Good cannot be bought.”

The man in front of him--was it really Vader?--smiles, but it doesn’t reach his yellow eyes. “No,” he purrs, discarding his helmet and stalking forward. “But you can.”

[lepusrufus]

A cold day and a death wish

Aka, that time Esteria saved Daniela's ass, earning Alcina's respect. Warning for gore!

---

January 20th 1983

Romanian winters sure were frigid in the mountains, so unlike the seaside climate she had grown accustomed to during her lifetime. A lifetime of being stuck in an unwanted family who fiercely shoved their ideas down her throat from the moment she had opened her wide blue eyes into the world.

Esteria shook her head to chase away the past's blurry memories and wrapped the blanket she had taken from her bed more tightly around her shoulders. Of course, the new state her body found itself in did not aid with keeping her warm, blood circulation all but becoming progressively useless since her infection, leaving her extremities perpetually cold. You win some you lose some, she thought with a chuckle.

It was the middle of the day, not that it mattered given the gloomy skies above. Esteria preferred to keep any activities she did in the afternoons, when Lady Dimitrescu was sure to be asleep in her chambers. It was best for the both of them really, as the woman was obviously displeased with what she saw as an invasion of her home in Esteria's presence at the castle. And in all fairness, she wasn't completely in the wrong. Mother Miranda had taken a particular interest in observing the development of her infection and, when she had to go away for a few months, she had apparently shoved that task onto the Lady's shoulders. And that, of course, included Esteria staying at the castle for the time being.

The three daughters would occasionally get up and roam around at any and all hours, doing god knows what, but Lady Dimitrescu was always a woman that stuck to her routine. And besides, the daughters could be quite pleasant company at times, happy to make conversation over a cup of tea, or blood nowadays, or showing her whatever project they were working on at the moment. Sometimes it was a painting while other times it was a new torture device. At least they kept things interesting, right?

The cold marble of the main hall's floor came in contact with skin and she mentally cursed herself for not putting on any shoes, or even socks, before leaving her bedroom. This place was so damn big and had her occasionally stopping to check her surroundings and make sure she had taken the right path, even after over a month of being there, and that only prolonged her walk in the uncomfortable temperature. She just wanted a cup of water and to return to her warm bed.

She was shuffling her way past the stairwell and towards the kitchen when the deafening blast of a gun, echoing ominously through ancient hallways, made her freeze in place. It was close, much too close for comfort.

Her head turned slowly, in an effort to locate the source of the sound but a second shot made her jump in place, eyes snapping to the hall leading to the entrance. Surely no staff member was instructed to shoot something inside the castle, and the daughters seemed to prefer more archaic weapons, so to speak.

Blanket promptly forgotten and left to limply slide off her shoulders and onto the floor, quick steps were taken towards what she hoped was nothing but a misstep. Quick and deliberate, moving close to the wall and keeping to the shadows, hiding as much as possible given her rather tall frame and stark white hair. She passed by grand paintings hanging against the beautifully patterned wallpaper and maneuvered around antique vases, all with precise footsteps, like a predator stalking its prey.

Up until a third shot, this time accompanied by an enraged scream, broke the silence.

"Filthy man-thing!"

Daniela's voice reached her with an unusual high pitch to it, although the growl that came after was no less fierce. There was an odd strain to it too, something that Esteria realized must be caused by pain.

No.

She hastily reached the entrance hall, cool air from the door left wide open hitting her in the face like the world's coldest slap across her features. It made her lips twist into a snarl at the sensation.

Snarl that turned into a growl when her eyes fell upon the scene unfolding there.

Daniela, the ever so sweet youngest daughter, slumped against one of the marble pillars surrounding the portrait of her and her sisters and trying to stop her knees from buckling and giving way to what could only be immense pain. Her sickle was held tightly in one hand, knuckles turning white from the effort, while her eyes sparked like angry mismatched embers towards the man in front of her. A man, who she did not recognize, with a shotgun pointed directly at her, face contorted with anger.

Upon noticing Esteria, he took a handful of stumbling steps back, the barrel now moving between the two women frantically.

"Stay back!" She did. Esteria did not have Alcina's healing abilities and was not particularly keen on getting a bullet to the face. For now. "You wretched witches! Y- You took my wife from me. She came here for work and never came back!"

Daniela groaned for a moment, apparently gathering her strength to reply. "Maybe she doesn't want to go back." Her voice, despite coming out raspy, was sickly sweet, the same tone she used so many times before when toying with her prey, but now the dripping malice behind her words was on full display.

The hunter stomped forward, aiming for another shot, and that's when Esteria's body finally reacted, jumping forward.

Transformations were never painful, no, it felt more like a really good stretch. A stretch of bone and skin down to the very cells, that made her body tingle for a meager moment until a gangly beast with wide eyes like the deepest caverns full of water and silt took her place. The one thing that required some getting used to however, was the mild disorienting sensation that came with her normal vision being completely replaced by black and white and all the grayscale in between, forming fuzzy silhouettes that were brighter or dimmer according to heat signatures.

Long talons screeched against the smooth floor when she pounced, crashing into his body within the blink of an eye.

The shot was fired, however not at its intended target but ending up embedded somewhere in a wall behind them. It broke something priceless for sure, but no matter. There was something more important to deal with at the moment.

The man thrashed under the weight of her claws, his hands trying in vain to push or cause any form of damage. His voice mixed terror and rage in screams that all but scratched against her eardrums.

And he was an intruder.

Not in her home, no, this was not her home to begin with. But if nothing else, she respected Lady Dimitrescu deeply and her daughters had grown on her more than she would like to admit. Hurting Daniela certainly warranted punishment. And punishment she delivered.

Her mouth opened in a fraction of a second, elongated jaws forming an unnaturally wide angle and sharp fangs glistening in the low light. Without another moment of hesitation, she dipped her head, maw clamped shut around his face and those same fangs digging their way through scalp and skin and bone and everything that lay beneath. Sickening cracks, that were more felt than heard with the irking scraping of bone against bone, were accompanied by pained screeches. Esteria shook her head slightly, the movements dislodging some fragments from her mouth and tongue, and then she jerked her head back. Still shut jaws took with them a good portion of the cranium, that was promptly spat out and sent rolling on the marble floor smearing it in crimson, finally putting a stop to any sound or movement from the man.

There was no time to dwell around the corpse however, as a small whimper made its way to her ears. In a moment she was back to her normal self, although her robes were hanging rather loosely and were now soaked in blood on the front, and taking long steps towards the source of the noise.

She kneeled in front of Daniela, who was now also on the floor. "Hey. Hey darling, I'm here, what's wrong?"

One hand came to gently caress a pallid cheek, making sure to use the back of her hand to avoid her talons causing any further pain. She almost recoiled at how frigid the skin was. Frigid and cracking, feeling almost crystalline under her fingers.

Surprisingly enough, Daniela clung to her, shaky hands grabbing fistfuls of her robes and slumping forward with a couple choked sobs.

"P- please. Take me-... take me out of h- here."

Esteria did just that, scooping the girl into her arms and quickly walking down the same hallway she had come from. A few servants were starting to gather around, wide eyed, having heard the commotion and coming to check on what was going on.

"Shut that damned door," Esteria all but barked while stepping around them, although everyone quickly jumped out of her way.

She did not wait for an answer, as she started to make her way up the stairs, when her eyes landed on none other than Alcina Dimitrescu, coming down and freezing for a moment upon noticing the shaking form of her youngest daughter in her arms. The Lady's face contorted with anger, but before any accusations could be made, Esteria spoke up, voice coming in a rushed breath.

"A hunter came in. Please just-... where should I put her?"

Alcina did not answer her however, opting to bend down and take her daughter into her own arms, features immediately softening upon hearing a small whimper from Daniela caused by being shifted around. She cooed at the girl for a moment, whispering words of reassurance that were far too quiet for anyone else to hear.

She turned around, heading back up without another word, and any sensible person would take it as their cue to get lost and mind their own business. But growing up in the woods like some Peter Pan wannabe didn't make sensible people now did it. Esteria followed along, quick steps barely keeping up with the Lady's long determined strides. She followed until they reached a bedroom unfamiliar to her, though by the furniture and decorations, she could assume it was the youngest's chambers. She stepped inside and watched as she placed her daughter on a small couch placed right in front of the fireplace, soft furs covering the patterned cushions.

Not wanting to simply sit by, she helped by gathering a few extra blankets, gears finally turning in her brain, and handing them to Alcina, who by now was gently stroking red locks as Daniela all but glued herself to her mother's lap. Golden eyes snapped at her but the blankets were accepted, unfolded and quickly wrapped around the shivering girl.

Esteria couldn't help placing a hand on Daniela's shoulder and giving it a gentle reassuring squeeze, although she was unsure whether or not it was felt through the multiple layers.

She didn't look at the other woman when she spoke, eyes fixated on her hand, seemingly finding her talons of interest at the moment. "Are they… weak to the cold?"

It was barely a whisper and the reply took so long to arrive that Esteria started to think she had only imagined asking in the first place.

"Were it not for the fact that you're Mother Miranda's pet project, I would kill you for knowing that." Alcina's tone was flat, but the conviction it carried left no room for interpretation on the truthfulness of her words.

Esteria chuckled. That sure was a way to thank someone for saving her daughter.

She decided to take that as her cue to leave, raising slowly and making her way to the door left ajar. A mental note to change her robes and take a bath before returning to bed was also made, the sticky sensation on her skin quite unpleasant. Before she could get a hold on the door handle and exit the room however, the Lady's voice called out for her, uncharacteristic tenderness making its way where sharp pointy edges were mere moments ago.

"Thank you. I'm glad you were there to intervene before any real damage was done."

Esteria managed to hold back a grimace and a snort, remembering that some damage had definitely been done, although most likely to an antique decoration or painting hit by a stray bullet. Keeping her expression under control, she half turned her head, fond smile adorning her lips.

"Of course my Lady."

"Just call me Alcina."

[baku-bowl]

broke 1,000 followers (the fuck? I don't even make content people), so decided to write up a list of some (but not all, I'll make other lists later) of my favorite Bakugou-centric fic recs. my tastes run towards hurt/comfort, as you'll probably figure from the list. if there are some Baku-centric fics that you've enjoyed that aren't on here, please add them - this is definitely not a complete list of the ones I've read and love, but I'm always up for some recs. <3

fair warning, most of these are wips.

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

Social Media 101 by WindsChild8178

Part 1: Survival Guide to Fucking Up

[Solely Bakugou’s point of view]

Katsuki Bakugou doesn’t have a gentle bone in his body. He’s aggressive in everything he does and does everything with 100% of his heart in it. After the Sport’s Festival, Katsuki starts to get harassed by strangers for his unheroic demeanor. It starts with letters but it doesn’t end there. The moment Katsuki realizes the harassment has entered dangerous territory and he needs to tell someone, it’s already too late.

Part 2: Post Traumatic Life Disorder

[Point of View opens up to Bakugou, teachers and classmates]

When the Dorms are finally built, everyone is settling in well, but things become tense as people begin to realize something isn’t right with the recently rescued Bakugou.

[Cannon compliant right up to after the License Exam]

hands down my favorite fic in the fandom right now. it’s the one that converted me into a Bakugou lover. if you have any fondness for Bakugou as a character then it’s likely you’ve read this one already, but if not, I can’t recommend it enough. incredibly depressing, but with the hope that comfort is coming soon in the next few chapters.

The Kids Will Be Alright, Eventually by NotWithThatAttitude

Bakugou is spiraling in the aftermath of Kamino and his friends are starting to notice. He's stubborn, aggressively independent, and less than willing to dig into his past, but after a breakdown that ends with a painful secret revealed, he starts to get help.

Whether he likes it or not.

Meanwhile, a new kind of villain threatens an uneasy peace following the loss of Allmight. Whispers build as a new narrative slowly takes shape:

Hero society needs to change.

Feat. Therapy, Dadzawa, best boy Kirishima, dysfunctional families, healing, growing up, and the mortifying ordeal of being known

guys.. the medical accuracy of this fic is just... *chef’s kiss*

I rarely see mental health genuinely handled well in fics, but this one goes above and beyond. kudos to the author for doing such excellent research into psychology, and making the application of it in here not-boring. also, while this one does have abusive!Mitsuki, it’s done in a way that feels realistic, and how I usually will see it occur in real life, rather than just for the hurt/comfort feels.

fair warning, the fic can be incredibly triggering (themes of severe depression, PTSD, panic attacks, rape survival, abuse survival, suicidal ideation/attempted suicide, among other things), so be safe and heed the tw’s if you decide to read. legitimately one of my Top Favorite fics in this fandom.

Lock and Key by autochorystalize

Bakugou made a choked, gravelly noise before croaking out a low, “You can’t be serious.” His fingers ached to blow up everything in the room.

“I’m sorry, young man, but you can’t change reality! This sometimes happens.” Recovery Girl clicked through his file, adding a new symbol in a previously empty slot.

- - -

A pair of eyes discreetly locked on to an explosive blond plowing his way forward, parting people in his path. He recognized the kid, of course. Anyone in the underbelly of society would recognize him, after the publicity of both UA’s Sports Festival and the events leading up to All Might’s fall. The uniform he was wearing cast away any doubts about the young man’s identity.

It was a bit of a surprise that the little firecracker presented as an omega.

- - - - - - - - -

Or: there are certain types of evil that seemed too distant, archaic violations and perversions that would never actually threaten bright-eyed heroes-in-training in the clean, modern world...but sometimes those evils aren't as distant as one might think.

remember when I said that I love a/b/o fics that are full of plot and world-building and gender-induced tension? that’s this one. the OC’s are fabulous and you love to hate ‘em. also, it’s the fic that made me fall head-over-heels for the TodoBaku dynamic, so it’s got a special place in my cold, dead heart. 

be warned, there are rather explicit non-con scenes between an adult (OC) and a minor (Bakugou) in this one, but the author warns for them in advance, and you could likely skip those parts without missing too much if you need to.

Never and Always, Eventually by Wawa_Boonliang

"Katsuki can remember the exact moment that he and Deku…that he and Midoriya Izuku became friends. He can also remember the moment he and Izuku became fierce rivals, a time when they were almost enemies.

However, what he remembers most clearly about their relationship is the moment that they moved passed rivals and became something more close than mere friends. Something more like brotherhood, something forged in fire and secured in the middle of a battlefield or in the midst of natural disaster where the number of the dead was climbing ever higher. And then it was torn from him."

Katsuki is given a second chance. A chance to save everyone. A chance to change everything.

But should he?

y’all. I’m a slutty, slutty whore for time travel fics. a time travel fic with autistic!coded Bakugou? it was love at first read.

Lessons Learned by Sif (Rosae)

Rather than the police station, Katsuki's friends bring him to a hospital after rescuing him from the villains. His wounds were minor, but it didn't make having them treated any less important. As it would so happen, Best Jeanist was also brought to this hospital after the attack.

Sometimes, small choices have a big impact on how a story plays out.

classic Bakugou hurt/comfort. this fic opened me up to the potential that could be a genuinely good Best Jeanist & Katsuki mentor-mentee relationship, and I kind of dig it and search ravenously for it in other fics now. I’m also a huge fan of the behind-the-scences Pro Hero Chat group.

Slope by sunfleurmoon

“I’m not a hero. Or a good person,” Katsuki says, giving Aizawa a pointed look, “So leave me alone. I don’t care about the League or UA, or you—” The two years he’s been away have been fine, more than fine, fucking fantastic actually if you ignore the bi-monthly near-death experiences. He doesn’t need this place. He doesn’t miss this place.

And yet, longing, a childish desire to tear up, or maybe blow something to bits, they all twist in his chest like a band of traitors regardless. “—I just want to go home.”

Or: the one where Katsuki and Izuku fail the first term exam, Aizawa discovers their pasts, and Katsuki is booted from UA. Featuring questionable descriptions of villain organizations, a slightly illegal moving shop, and your favorite emotionally constipated badass in distress with a newly discovered penchant for collecting strays.

paaaaaaiiiiiiiin. the hurt is ALIVE in this one. lots of tortured, angsty exploding child goodness. the OC’s are excellently crafted, and the Bakugou & Eri relationship? beautiful. definitely deserves a read.

Ground Zero by WindsChild8178

In the wake of Kamino, Katsuki is tested more than anyone could imagine. Bound by a villain’s quirk to keep his silence or die, he lives each day knowing it might very well be his last. He continues to work towards becoming a hero, keeping his secret from his classmates and teachers, focusing on making it through each day and trying not to allow the panic or depression to get the best of him. When the villain finally corners him with demands in exchange for his life, there is really only one answer Katsuki Bakugou can give.

honestly don't know which I want updated more - social media 101 or ground zero. this author's fics are amazing, and I really wasn't expecting the twist in this one. can't wait for windschild to come back to this fic some day.

The Defect by LadyGreenFrisbee

"Why do you want to win the Sports Festival so badly?" 

Because I want to see if the defect could usurp the masterpiece.

(In which Endeavor holds a terrible secret and Bakugo has to suffer since childhood for it.)

a great concept, and I adore the shouto and Katsuki sibling interaction here. hoping the author will come back to this one some day.

A Name That You'll Remember by Heronfem

Kirishima Eijirou is a Hero. Bakugou Katsuki... is not. Trapped in his toxic workplace and increasingly desperate to get out, Red Riot's days are only brightened by a new villain known as Caution, who's not exactly villainous and keeps accidentally doing good deeds. But when a real villain appears, a threat from the past that demands that Red Riot make the ultimate sacrifice to keep the public safe, Bakugou is forced into saving the day... and eventually, Red Riot himself.

sob story good guy villains are my weakness, this fic is a gem, and I'd kill for the sequel.

Our Hero by AnonymousTwit

He felt everything jerk to the side and throw his balance off before he saw anything, dust clouding his vision and irritating his lungs as the earth itself opened up to swallow them whole. For a single moment, in a millisecond's time, his wild eyes locked with Raccoon Eyes', hers alight with fear and adrenaline-fueled desperation. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that it was the first time she'd looked at him with something other than long-deserved hatred in days.

And then he was free falling.

Or

After a particularly nasty encounter between childhood friends, the class learns about Bakugou and Midoriya's dark history and practically ostracizes Bakugou while trying to defend Midoriya. An earthquake during an outing has all sides regretting their decisions.

just fucking tear apart my self-sacrificing faves in every way imaginable while their loved ones watch on in terror. 💖🥰💖 this one is heavy on the Bakusquad and Class-1A feels, and VERY heavy on the Mina & Bakugou relationship (platonic).

Running back the tape, watching it replay by Faralyne

For someone ripped from their time, ripped from the few but strong relationships built by time and personal development, by self-reflection and swallowed pride, ripped from the one thing that made him feel worthwhile and needed and put-together, and forced to forge everything over again—Katsuki thinks he is handling it pretty fucking well.

Or

A villain’s quirk sends a 29-year-old Bakugou back in time to his middle school days.

am I a sucker for time travel? yes. am I a sucker for vigilante!bakugou? also yes. am I a sucker for this fic? literally refreshing the page in wait for an update as we speak.

Liability by sandelf

After All-Might dies rescuing Bakugou from the League, Bakugou is determined to prove it wasn't for nothing.

But the world is against him, his grief is overwhelming, and his stability is splitting at the edges.

very self-indulgent bakugou angst. tw for harassment, severe depression, and suicidality.

Special Mentions:

How To Win The Sport Festival: A Step By Step Guide by mhwright

Short re-imagining of the Sports Festival Arc if Shinso had planned a little better and worked a little harder to win the Sports Festival and if the match-ups had been slightly different. Self-indulgent fic of watching him succeed.

this is completely Shinsou-centric, not Bakugou-centric, but I love and adore it and am dying for a sequel. Shinsou is Best Boy here and you'll be rooting for him the whole time.

[zafirosreverie]

Can I request a Agatha x reader where there in west view and its the final battle (but let’s pretend there having it on the ground) and Agatha gets distracted by something and isn’t ready so human reader stands in front of Agatha and takes the blast so then Agatha goes full on witch and like almost kills Wanda and then goes a takes reader home and heals her. Happy ending please.

Sorry it took me so long dear! But here it is! Hope you like it <3

Harkness or Y/L/N? (Agatha x Fem!reader)

Where the fuck were they?

One second you were having breakfast and the next one hell exploded in front of your face. Agatha and Wanda broke out of the floor and quickly disappeared in the sky. Red and purple magic wrapping them. You blinked and looked at the giant hole in your house. You could see your basement from there. Oh no. Agatha must have revealed herself to Wanda. 

Oh shit.

You ran out of the house, looking at the sky, but you couldn’t see any of them. This was bad, really bad. 

“Y/N!” you turned to see Tommy running to you. 

“Tommy! What happened?” 

“Mom and aunt Agnes are fighting! There are soldiers and dad is fighting another dad but white” he quickly said and you frowned

“What the-”

“Billy said to come for you” he said, taking your hand and not giving you time to process it all. 

A second later you were in the park. You gasped. People were running away, soldiers were entering Westview, Vision flew away with White Vision, Geraldine Monica had Billy against herself, protecting him, and Wanda and Agatha were in the middle of everything, throwing magic balls at each other. 

Chaos.

You ran to Monica, holding Tommy’s hand. She sighed in relief when she saw you. She thought something had happened to you for a moment. 

“What’s going on?” she asked 

“The hell i know?” you said and turned to look at the two witches. “They’re going to destroy everything if we don’t stop them”

“How?” 

“Why is aunt Agnes attacking mom?” Billy asked and you frowned.

“She’s not. Mom’s the one attacking her” Tommy said before you could answer. See? This is why he was your favorite.

“It doesn’t matter” you said “We need to stop them. Now” 

“How?!” Monica asked again. 

You looked around, trying to come up with a plan. You knew that you could calm Agatha, convince her to take this fight to another place, somewhere with no people around. 

“Ok, here’s the plan. Do you think you could stop the soldiers?” They nodded “Good, I’ll try to talk with Agatha, maybe i can make them stop at least for a moment. That should give you enough time to take everyone out of here”

They nodded again and ran to fight. You took a deep breath and turned to the witches. Agatha was powerful, but Wanda was furious. You didn’t know what the hell happened between them in the basement, but it wasn’t good. 

“At least they’re not flying” you thought. It would have been harder to stop them if they were.

One of Wanda’s power balls made a building fall and you gasped. There were people under it! They could die! But a purple smoke stopped the concrete pieces in midair, giving people time to run and escape unscathed. You smiled to yourself. At least your girlfriend wasn't completely evil after all (Not that it mattered, you'd follow her to the end of the world even if she was). 

But it seemed that the other witch didn’t care, using the distraction to attack Agatha.

It all happened too fast. You saw Wanda’s angry expression and the giant ball of red energy forming between her hands. Agatha wasn’t paying attention. You ran to her instinctively, yelling her name. 

You screamed in pain as the red ball mercilessly struck your body, sending a wave of electricity through your veins and raising your body temperature significantly.

In other words, you were burning alive from the inside out. And hell it was painful.

Wanda gasped as you fell unconscious on the floor. Where the hell did you come from?! But she wasn’t the only one staring at you in disbelief. Agatha not only heard you yelling her name, she also felt your pain when you took Wanda’s attack. 

“Y/N!” She ran to you, kneeled beside you and tried to wake you up “Please, love, don’t do this to me” she begged you. 

Wanda was still in shock. She didn't want to hurt you! You weren’t supposed to appear out of nowhere just to help Agatha of all people! She knew you were her girlfriend, but she assumed you would change your mind when you discovered Agatha’s real colors. Little she knew, you were a huge fan of that color palette.  

“Ags” you whispered and the witch sighed in relief, hugging you close to her chest. You felt her heart racing. 

“Why did you do it? You shouldn’t have done it. I could have lost you” she was almost crying.

“Because I love you, silly” you smiled. You were too weak, but you managed to caress her cheek “Aggs..”

“Yes, love?” She asked, confused at the smirk that was slowly appearing on your face.

“Unleash hell” you said before closing your eyes again. 

The witch gasped and you knew she thought you were unconscious again, but you weren’t. You waited until she let you on the floor carefully, and heard her steps getting away from you, to open your eyes again. 

Wanda took a step back when Agatha turned to her. Her eyes weren’t blue anymore, not even purple like the first time she used her magic in front of her. They were completely black. There was no trait of white in her eyes, as if she didn’t have eyeballs at all. And then there was the purple glow again, coming out from the darkness. 

“What-”

“You shouldn’t have done that, little witch” Agatha interumped Wanda “You Really. Shouldn’t. Have.”

Before Wanda could do anything, a purple smoke swallowed her. It was strange, because she didn’t feel much power coming from it, but looking at Agatha’s lifeless eyes, she knew she was in trouble.

Vision, Monica, Billy and Tommy turned to the women when Wanda screamed of pain. Agatha was just standing there, your body lying on the floor behind her. Wanda was trying to attack her, but every time she threw a spell, it would hit the purple dome Agatha put around her and then hit her back with more strength. 

Monica took the twins away while Vision flew to the witches. She knew what was happening. 

Wanda was slowly killing herself.

You smirked. Damn your girl was hot. You felt bad for Wanda for crossing paths with an angry Agatha, but well, she tried to kill her, and that’s something you wouldn’t forgive. Nobody touches your witch.

When the younger witch fell to her knees, too tired and injured from her own spells, Agatha smirked. She felt Vision floating to them, but she didn’t even turn to him while she put a dome around him too. At least the android knew better and didn’t try to attack. He knew it would just come back to him.

“When your little wife wakes up” she said to Vision, but kept staring at Wanda “be sure she understands how lucky she is. Tell her how thankful she must be. Thankful that my precious Y/N has a bigger heart than any of us together and that she loves those children of yours. Because that, dear Vision, is the only reason i won’t kill her.” 

With that, she released the android. He just nodded and watched as Agatha made the dome around Wanda get smaller and smaller until the purple smoke was wrapped around her. She threw one last ball to Wanda’s head and the witch fell unconscious on her husband’s arms.

“If she ever places a single finger on my girlfriend, ever again, i’ll kill her without a second thought” she warned Vision, her eyes still black. The man nodded again and flew away with his wife. 

You smiled as Agatha approached you and took you in her arms. Her eyes slowly turned back to normal when she noticed you were awake. She couldn't believe you. You knew! You knew the power you had over her.

______________

Three days after that, you were still in bed. Agatha had taken you back home, your real home, and quickly healed you. It didn’t take much time and almost all your physical wounds were gone. But your head was still hurting like hell. So, of course you would make a drama out of it. Currently, you both were lying in bed.

“I love you” you whispered and took Agatha’s hand “Please remember that”

The witch smiled and kissed your temple. “I love you too”.

“Please take care of our beloved son. He might be a bunny, but he can take over the world, Aggie. He can”

“I have no doubt of it, Y/N” she giggled and rolled her eyes.

“You know what’s my biggest regret?” you asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer to you

“What?” she asked, trying so hard not to laugh.

“that my gravestone is going to say Y/N Y/L/N and that’s unfair” you pouted.

Agatha lost it and laughed. God, you were so cute. 

“That’s your name, love” she chuckled and kissed you softly. You smiled against her lips. 

“Yeah, but it shouldn’t be” you argued. 

“First of all, stop being so dramatic, you’re perfectly fine, you’re not going to die” she said “second, what in the world should your name be then?”

“Y/N Harkness” you answered without hesitation. 

That made her freeze and you laughed as her cheeks slowly turned pink 

“Or maybe yours should be Agatha Y/L/N, haven’t decided yet. It’s hard to take such big decisions on your deathbed”

“S-shut up” she mumbled and you laughed again, kissing her head. “Aren’t you supposed to be dead by now?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be grateful I'm not?” you said, loving her grumpy face “besides, I’m not leaving this world until i make sure my gravestone will say Y/N Harkness” 

“Your name won’t change until i make sure you’ll stay with me forever” she said, taking your head on her hands.

“Deal” you said, kissing her again. 

__________

“Which one do you think he’ll like better? Señor Scratchy Harkness or Señor Scratchy Y/L/N?”

“Y/N, I love you, but it's 2 a.m, go to sleep, I’m begging you”

“Señor Scratchy Y/L/N is it then”

“The hell it is!”

[arts-and-drafts]

Minecraft Championships

(Another fic for my Hermit Tommy AU, set when Tommy finally joins MCC again! Enjoy :)c)

-

Tommy stared at the white portal buzzing in front of him. It was time for Minecraft Championships, an event he hadn't attended since before his exile.

Familiar fear tingled in the back of his mind. He almost certainly would run into the old members of the Dream SMP on the other side of the portal. He spent so long trying to heal from the scars the SMP ripped into him, both physically and mentally. He didn't want to dig up old memories after he tried so hard to move past them.

But his hand was clenched over his compass, something he'd only recently felt safe enough to carry with him outside of his ender chest.

Tubbo could be on the other side. His Tubbo.

But if he was, what would Tommy say? What would he do? Tubbo threw him out, but he was still the most important person in the universe to Tommy. That was one thing from his past he refused to leave behind.

Did Tubbo even feel the same? Would he be glad to see him again?

Did he even care?

Grian's hand touching his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts.

"...You don't have to go if you don't want to." Grian offered, a knowing but gentle look in his eyes. Tommy took a breath.

"No, I--it's okay. I'll come." Tommy replied, tucking his compass back under his shirt. "You all suck without me anyway." He grinned at Grian, who glared mockingly in response. "Oh, I'm sure you bring so much to the table." He commented dryly.

"MCC is my bitch." Tommy declared confidently, dodging Grian's swipe at him with a high pitched laugh. "Watch it, or I'll tell Scar to make you restock Scara again." Grian smiled.

The hermit offered his hand, and Tommy took it. They stepped through the white portal together.

-

Tommy downed his glass bottle of water in one big swig, wiping his forehead with his other arm. They were halfway through MCC, and finally got a chance to break and reconvene with their teams.

Grian, Ren, Tommy and False were chosen to represent Hermitcraft in MCC, and they were killing it, scoring 2nd place as a team so far in the games. On top of that, Tommy hadn't seen anyone from the SMP. He was just having a good time, winning a championship with his friends.

Tommy listened to the hypnotizing chatter of the hundreds of contestants in the lobby, his group having fanned out during the break. Grian had left to socialize with a multitude of outer-server friends, while Ren and False were talking with a green skinned player on another team that Tommy didn't recognize.

Tommy quickly averted his eyes. That guy looked too much like-

Without warning, something grabbed Tommy's arm and violently pulled him off the bench he was resting at, his yell of surprise quickly drowned out by the crowd. Tommy tried to swing at his assailant, but went rigid as soon as he looked up.

"You shouldn't have run." Dream hissed, dragging Tommy to his feet by the arm. Tommy's blood turned to ice as he was suddenly flung back to Logstedshire, to exile, to bitter loneliness, turning out his pitiful supply of resources to his warden for fear of being killed.

Tommy couldn't do anything to defend himself as Dream started to pull him to the portal back to the SMP.

"They don't need you. I've told you I'm your only friend. I'm the only one that cares." Dream growled, his voice dangerously low with fury. "Friends don't abandon friends. I thought Tubbo already taught you that."

Tommy flinched. His breath was trapped in his lungs, paralyzed as Dream dragged him closer and closer to the past he tried so hard to escape.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been looking?!" Dream continued, his tone scalding. "A YEAR, Tommy!! You ran away for a fucking YEAR!!"

Dream's voice had a layer of desperation lying underneath. It was then that Tommy clicked.

Dream needed him.

He needed Tommy to be broken, to be hateful, to be ostracized and abandoned by everyone he loved. Dream needed the conflict, the chaos, the malice.

But Tommy did not need him. Tommy was not alone like Dream was.

"HELP!!" Tommy's cry exploded from his chest, fueled by all the fear and resentment he'd kept pent up for so long. "GRIAN!! HELP ME!!"

Dream halted his unwavering path to his SMP to snap back to Tommy, instantly clapping his gloved hand over the boy's mouth before he could scream anything else, but the damage was already done. Tommy struggled against Dream's arms, punching and kicking and squirming to escape, continuing to scream despite Dream's hand muffling his voice.

For the first time since L'manburg, Tommy fought back with the same ferocity that burned inside him all those years ago.

Tommy saw a flash of enchanted blue, and suddenly Dream's grip on his arm and face was released. He was immediately pulled into the arms of Ren with a gasp, safe and warm and secure. Tommy clung to the hermit for dear life, daring to open his eyes to see what had become of Dream.

Dream was on the ground, carefully still. His mask lay sliced clean in half beside him, a razor-thin cut bleeding down the middle of his face. Tommy's eyes widened.

False and Grian stood between Dream and Tommy, False with her diamond sword poised to Dream's throat with deadly accuracy. Grian's wings were extended to their full wingspan, an intimidating wall of gray feathers trembling with fury.

"Get out." False ordered, low and dangerous. A violent expression crossed Dream's face, Tommy could see his face, he could see the look in his eyes, but he said nothing. False flicked her sword up, wordlessly repeating her demand.

Dream slowly got to his feet, his eyes moving to the crowd of people who were now silent, watching. Dream pulled his hood tighter around his head in a pitiful attempt to hide his naked face as he backed up to the SMP portal.

Dream locked eyes with Tommy before he stepped through, and Tommy was turned to stone by the sheer amount of hatred that was visible in his former captor's expression.

The connection was broken by Grian storming towards Dream, his fists balled so tightly that Tommy could see his white knuckles. For the first time in Tommy's life, he saw real terror in Dream's eyes.

Dream stepped through the portal quicker than he'd ever moved before right as Grian cleared the distance.

"DON'T COME BACK!" Grian roared, reeling back his fist to bring it clean through the portal.

The doorway shattered on impact, breaking the SMP's connection to the MCC lobby with the force of a ghast's fireball. Stunned silence followed, broken only by Grian's heaving breaths as he tried to calm himself.

Tommy didn't realize how tightly he was holding Ren until the werewolf shifted uncomfortably under his grip. He quickly released his friend's shirt.

Then Grian and False turned back to Tommy, their anger dissipating into concern as quickly as it came. They ran to him and pulled each other into a shaking embrace, Tommy at the center of his three saviors.

"Gods, oh Tommy--" Grian stammered, squeezing Tommy tighter and burying his face into his hair. "I'm so sorry, we didn't know he would--"

"Are you okay?" False asked feverishly, her fingers flitting nervously over the arm where Dream grabbed him. "Did he hurt you? Do you need a medic?"

"No, no--" Tommy tried to say, but he was interrupted by Ren. "What did he want from you? Is he dangerous?"

"Guys," Tommy said, raising his voice to silence their questions. "I'm--I'm okay now. Thank you for saving me," he assured, his voice catching on the last word. He tried to wipe away tears that he just noticed were flowing down his face.

"I-I want to go. Please." Tommy begged, his voice very small. The crowd of contestants watching them were now suffocating instead of comfortable.

Tommy expected his friends to hesitate, but he was surprised by how quickly they unanimously nodded. "Of course, no problem." Ren affirmed, helping Tommy to his feet. "Let's get out of here."

"But--" Tommy tried to oppose, looking at the scoreboard.

"Don't worry about MCC." False cut him off. "There's always next year."

Tommy's words lodged in his throat, gratitude and relief swelling in his soul. He let himself be guided back to the portal to Hermitcraft, his bandaged hands gripping Ren and False's arms like a lifeline as Grian's wing laid a comforting weight on his back.

As the group disappeared into the white tear in reality, a figure watches in silent shock from the other side of the lobby, a finally still compass gripped in shaking hands.

END.

[gamerwoo]

[Tales from the Pack] Joshua: Second Chance (Part Four)

Characters: Joshua x female reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, fantasy, fluff, fluffy angst, Josh being a grumpy old man lmao

Word count: 2,042

Summary: After his mate died, Joshua always blamed himself and never wanted to imprint again. However, fate has other ideas when he meets you: a young, energetic werecoyote that’s quite the opposite of him. He insists he doesn’t want a new mate – nobody’s even sure if he’s ready for a new one – but he can’t ignore his instincts.

Previous | Next | Second Chance Masterlist

Because of how exhausted he was, Joshua was in and out of consciousness for a while. He couldn’t even keep track of days because he was sleeping at weird hours -- but it had really only been two days. He never stayed awake for very long -- the longest was always just to eat and go to the bathroom if he had to, and then go back to sleep -- but the first thing his eyes always found when he opened them was you.

You, however, weren’t asleep for nearly as long. You woke up again in the morning to see Joshua was still asleep -- you didn’t know he’d ever woken up. You still had a million questions bouncing around your head about who he was, what happened next, and the like, but you decided to just go with it until you found out. No point in panicking, right?

“You should be all set to go home today,” Minjee reported.

The wolfsbane was cleansed from your system -- mostly thanks to Joshua, otherwise your recovery would’ve been slower since you didn’t heal as quickly as the werewolves -- so all you really had to do was rest until your body fully recovered. But that was the same for Joshua, so it worked out. 

However, Minjee wasn’t sure what was happening when you were discharged. Would you go home with Joshua and his pack mates? Would he turn you away and have you go off on your own? Even Hansol and Kyung said they weren’t sure when Minjee had asked.

But you just nodded, not even having those thoughts cross your mind, “Okay.”

Minjee sat down on the edge of your bed and studied you, “Do you mind if I ask a few questions first?”

“Sure,” you shrugged without hesitation.

“What’s your name?”

“_____ _____.”

“And where are you from, _____?”

“The Capitol.”

Minjee’s eyebrows raised, “So you’re not too far from here, then. We’re in the Capitol -- southeast of the castle.”

Huh. You didn’t know that. That was at least convenient to be close to a familiar place. But the Capitol was huge.

“Do you have a pack or family?” Minjee continued.

You shook your head. You’d been on your own for a few years now.

“You’re alone?” she asked.

In the other room, Kyung and Hansol looked at each other. 

“So then why were you running around the forest at night, _____?” Minjee continued.

You shrugged, “Got bored.”

Minjee definitely thought you were...interesting. You were all by yourself, you were running through the woods in the dark for fun, and you still somehow didn’t seem fazed by any of it. And to top it all off, you still kept glancing over at Joshua and rubbing one thumb over his knuckles like you were already comfortable with him. He was a complete stranger to you, you hadn’t even spoken to him or seen him awake, but you didn’t seem to care. You weren’t even asking her questions like she expected. It was like you didn’t care about anything, you were just rolling with whatever came.

“Hey, Jee?” a girl opened the curtain and popped her head in. She had loose springy curls that were tied into two buns on her head, brown skin, dark freckles dotted over her cheeks and nose, and golden eyes that shifted over to you. Her eyes widened slightly for some reason before returning to Minjee. “Two of our other alphas are here. They want to know what’s happening with Joshua.”

“He’ll be good to go home when he wakes up,” she replied warmly with a nod. “He’ll definitely need the help home, though.”

The foreign girl turned her head, listening to what someone else was saying to her before turning back again, “Jihoon wants to talk to you.”

“Send them right in.”

The girl stepped aside to let two men through the white curtain -- you wondered if it was actually a bedsheet. One was short with light brown hair, and the other was taller with silver hair. The shorter one had an undercut with the rest of his hair looking a little wavy, while the taller one’s hair was fluffier and parted to the side. Like the girl, they both had golden eyes that seemed to study you curiously.

Jihoon and Seungcheol assumed you must’ve been the girl they’d heard about considering your cot was still beside Joshua’s, and your hand was wrapped around his. You didn’t react to their staring, just blinking back at them. But they took note of one physical difference that Soomin either forgot to mention or simply was unaware of: instead of gold eyes, your eyes were an icy blue. 

The taller one’s eyes moved over to the doctor, while the shorter one continued to blatantly stare at you. Of course, you stared back.

“Is he really well enough to come home already?” the taller boy wondered. “It’s only been two days.”

Minjee nodded, “Hansol has medicine he’ll have to take three times a day to help with pain and healing, and Joshua will have medicine to take every twelve hours. ______ will need medicine as well, but... Um, other than that, the two just need a lot of rest -- especially Joshua.”

“What about her?” the shorter one asked, nodding his head toward you.

Before Minjee could say anything, you opened your mouth, “What about me?”

Jihoon’s eyebrows raised in surprise, almost like he didn’t think you could or would talk, “...Sorry.”

“Can you guys keep it down?” a groggy, raspy voice asked beside you.

Your head whipped to the right as you felt Joshua’s fingers squeeze yours. He was rubbing one eye with his free hand and letting out a yawn before he blinked his eyes open and looked between the two alphas.

“He lives,” Seungcheol chuckled. “How do you feel, Shua?”

“Like shit,” he replied, draping his arm over his eyes.

The two alphas noticed Josh was keeping his hand in yours despite being awake. Their eyes flickered from your hands, to each other.

“What’re we talking about?” Josh asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Uh...well…” Seungcheol tried desperately to find the right words to ask what he planned to do about you, but he was too scared to bring you up to Josh. He didn’t want to upset him already.

Thankfully, Minjee spoke up, “I need to know what’s happening with _____.”

Hearing your name, you broke out of your trance of staring at Joshua now that he was finally awake, and looked at the doctor.

Joshua tore his arm away from his eyes and lifted his head slightly to narrow his eyes at Minjee, “Who?”

She gestured to you, “Your mate.”

Hearing the title made him growl lowly in his chest as he slowly turned to look at you. Despite the aggressive noise, you could hear his heartbeat pick up when his eyes landed on you. It was also the first time he was seeing you awake, and deep down, it felt amazing to see you actually alive and well.

However, he still managed to tear his hand away from yours.

“She’s not coming home with us,” he scoffed. “She’s not my problem.”

“Josh--”

“Jihoon, you can’t tell me what to do,” he cut off the alpha. “I’ll do perfectly fine on my own, thank you. I don’t want or need another mate.”

However, everyone was surprised to see that you weren’t speaking up. They looked at you and found that you didn’t even seem bothered by Joshua’s words or actions. You had lifted your now empty hand closer to your face, looking at it as if you’d see traces of Joshua or something. But your expression was neutral before you looked up at Josh and shrugged.

“Alright.”

Seungcheol blinked, “A-- Alright?”

“Yeah,” you shrugged again. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It kind of is…” Jihoon said like you were stupid.

Hey, maybe you were. You didn’t know how any of this worked. You didn’t even fully grasp what was going on.

“It’s a good thing you’re braindead, I guess,” Joshua snorted under his breath before laying his head back down. 

“We’ll just...take him home now,” Seungcheol told Minjee awkwardly, bowing his head slightly in a silent apology.

“I’ll go get their medications,” the doctor replied as she stood. “You can get Hansol and Joshua ready to be discharged.”

The curtain was pushed aside so the two patients could now interact. Seungcheol and Kyung were going to have to help support Joshua as he walked at least to the edge of the forest so Seungcheol could properly carry him without getting odd looks. But Hansol was good enough to walk home on his own, and you were, too. So you got out of bed and changed back into the clothes you were in when they found you -- but now they were washed and clean.

“So..._____,” the taller alpha began just to make some sort of conversation in the awkward silence, “where are you going to go now?”

“Uh…” you trailed off before shrugging. “I don’t know, probably back to the cave.”

“Cave?” the girl repeated as the group looked at you with varying looks of surprise. “I thought you were from here?”

“I am,” you nodded, “but I don’t live here.”

“You live in a cave?” the shorter alpha checked.

You shook your head, “Well, no. Recently, I’ve been staying in a cave because I found it. Before it was just...wherever there was some sort of shelter.”

“So you don’t live anywhere?” the wolf you had yet to meet asked. He had shaggy strawberry blonde hair and stayed close to the other girl.

“I guess not.”

You were too busy going back to putting your shirt on that you didn’t notice the way the pack pointedly looked at Joshua.

-

As the pack was leaving and walking down the few steps -- going slowly as to be accommodating for Josh -- you followed behind them. You weren’t really sure what to do with yourself for the rest of the day since you still weren’t feeling 100%. Maybe you could just go find a place to nap or something.

The pack continued onto the path, but Joshua turned his head. He saw you still standing on the middle step, looking this way and that with a thoughtful look on your face as you held a small paper bag with your medication in it. He stopped walking, causing the two who were helping support his weight stop. So the two behind him stopped, as well. They all turned to look where he was looking, which was at you.

Joshua very loudly cleared his throat, catching your attention. He was looking at you in annoyance, and his eyes rolled when you continued to just stand there and stare at him.

“Well come on,” he snapped.

“...Huh?”

“Let’s go,” he said with more force. “I’m tired and wanna go home. If you trail behind and get caught in another net or get attacked by wild animals, that’s not my problem.”

He turned back and continued walking again, the two beside him moving with him despite them continuing to glance back at you.

Was he...inviting you home with them? But didn’t he say you weren’t going with them? So--

“You should probably hurry,” the short one -- you realized his name was Jihoon -- told you, though he had traces of a smile on his face. “He’s pretty irritable.”

“Shut up, Hoon,” Joshua called behind him.

Jihoon chuckled but continued walking.

Hansol, however, stayed back to wait for you. He understood you must’ve been a little confused. You were dying, only to wake up to a mate, members of his pack, and now you were being told one thing and then something completely opposite. So he waved you over.

“C’mon, _____,” he called with a warm smile. “We’re gonna take you home.”

Home. That sounded nice to you. It was a word you hadn’t heard or thought of in a while now. So you bounded down the steps and walked beside Hansol as he began telling you about their pack and the house.

Ahead of you, Joshua was grumbling to himself in annoyance about the whole situation.

[theboredwritertm]

"Oh, darling, everybody sees how you look at him" fic request with Din/reader! (Please and thank you :3)

Everyone Knows

A/N: Another request done and dusted. I’ve been getting some new prompt lists ready for when I open requests back up again (not sure what tumblr etiquette is for compiling a masterlist using other people’s prompt-lists, but I’m considering doing something like that), but I still have about 4 or 5 fics to finish off before then!

Rating: PG?

Pairing: Din Djarin x ForceSensitive!Reader

Warnings: Mentions of death, a bit of alcohol, that’s about it. 

Word Count:  4500 (Me, failing to keep a story under 2k words? It’s more likely than you think)

Summary: After taking on the krayt dragon together, you’re forced to confront your feelings for Din (with a little help from everyone’s favorite marshal).   

***

The monster was unlike anything you’d ever seen before.

There’d been times aboard the Crest, when there were still thousands of miles to go between stops, that you’d sit by Din, giving him your rapt attention as he’d recount one of his many stories about a particularly terrifying beast he’d encountered. Not that he would ever call them terrifying – the man had a will of steel when it came to facing these kinds of things. And on this occasion, in the middle of the Tatooine desert, things would prove no different. 

Only this time he had you.

You were still coming into your abilities, not really sure what they meant or the true extent of what you were capable of, and amazingly enough you found you were learning a lot from watching the Child. For instance, before he came along, you had never known you could heal people. A simple experiment with Din had proven this to be true enough – the man was prone to injury in his line of work – and though it had taken a lot of concentration, enough that you were sweating by the end, it got you wondering just what other miracles your hands could perform.

Now, standing beside Din and the man who had introduced himself to you both as Cobb Vanth, you stared down into the dragon’s lair and found yourself hoping those powers might come in handy.

“So, how’re we drawin’ this thing out?” Cobb asks.

You glance back at the dozens of townsfolk and Tuskens around you, sensing their uneasiness as they shuffle from foot to foot and cast occasional apprehensive glances in the direction of the danger and you’re surprised to see a couple of the Raiders step forward. Considering how well their peoples’ last attempt to draw out the beast had gone, you hadn’t expected any of them to be so willing to approach the pit again. 

Cobb glances over at them and cocks his head in immediate acceptance. Given his past troubles with their people, he can’t say he’s overly concerned over the prospect of losing a few more of them.

But you’ve never been one to stand by and watch people get hurt.

“No, wait.” The words leave your mouth automatically. Up until this point, you’d been feeling completely useless. Din had been keeping an even closer watch on you than usual since a stunt you had pulled back on Nevarro; one that had involved your unpredictable powers and the dozens of stormtroopers who’d had him cornered. Though he had come out of the situation a lot worse for wear than you had, he’d been hovering over you, keeping you a safe distance from any action ever since. You were starting to get sick of being kept on the sidelines. “I can do it,” you say. 

The Tuskens turn to look back at you, not able to understand what you’ve said, but sensing a potential change of plans, then their attention is drawn to the Mandalorian beside you as he quickly dashes their hopes. 

“No,” comes Din’s clear, expected response.

You turn to him. “I can handle this.”

“No. You’re staying where you are.”

You gaze at him for just a moment, anger starting to bubble in the pit of your stomach, before turning around and striding down the tall dune, towards the gaping mouth of the empty saarlac pit. You know better than to argue – you don’t have the time right now, but every time you did, he managed to use it as a way to distract you. You wouldn’t give him that opportunity now. You’d already made up your mind.

You feel the air stir as his hand shoots out to grab you, but you’re too quick; one of the things that’s managed to keep you alive this long, but now maybe the very thing that’s going to get you killed. 

“Dank Farrik!”

Cobb glances between the man beside him and your retreating form, attempting to hold back a smirk. In the short couple of days that he’s known you both, he’s already witnessed at least three separate arguments, none of which seemed to get either of you anywhere. He didn’t see this one going the big guy’s way, either.  

The modulator seems to amplify the frustration in Din’s voice, but you ignore it. You were more than capable of looking out for yourself, as you had proven to him numerous times now, and whatever problem he had with that was his own – you weren’t about to let his fears hold you back. Yet, as you draw closer to the yawning darkness, your heart begins to thud in your chest. For the first time, you feel the enormity of this creature, and you’ve never felt so small in your life. 

You sense him approach before you hear him. That was one advantage you’d always had over Din; he could never sneak up on you.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m tired of watching everyone else do everything,” you say, finally coming to a stop, your gaze still trained forward, “I want to play my part. I need to play my part.”

“No, you need to stay safe.” His words sound threatening despite their context, but you ignore him once more. This time he does grab you, catching you around the forearm as you raise your hands in the direction of the cave. “Stop!”You’re tempted to use your powers to throw him off, but you can feel how much he means it and you’re struck with a sudden guilt. He cares. That’s all there is to it. 

“Please, let me do this.” You stare up into his helmet and feel him gazing back, considering things. His fingers loosen from your wrist. 

“Fine. But I’m staying with you.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” you reply, not bothering to hide your bitterness at the constant babysitting – though, if you’re being honest, you do feel better with him by your side.

You raise your hands again and close your eyes, focusing on the low hum of energy around you. You don’t feel it at first, but then its as if you’ve suddenly locked onto a connection – plugged yourself into an electric charge – and everything suddenly feels heightened. Everything feels more. You draw on from that, concentrating on the pit of darkness before you, then you push forward with your mind, reaching out. In the darkness, something stirs.

“What is it?” Din asks, as if he’s sensed the sudden change.

“I feel it,” you reply, eyes still closed, your brow now marked with a frown. 

He stares down at you and you finally open your eyes to meet his gaze (as much as you can through the helmet) but before either of you can say anything, a low rumbling begins to emit from the ground.

It had worked. 

And it was heading right for you. 

You’ll admit that, as much you’d wanted to play your part in this, you hadn’t really considered what came next once you did manage to draw the thing out. So now, as you watch the sand shift and begin to rise a hundred or so feet in front of you, you find yourself rooted to the spot. 

It’s Din who moves first.

Your hands had come up again, all you can think to do to hold the beast off, then suddenly a strong arm is wrapping around your waist and you’re being propelled into the air. You glance down just in time to see the enormous mouth erupt from the ground where you had just been standing.

This time, you don’t argue. You clutch onto him, air whipping through your hair, thankful that he’s just as stubborn as you are.

When you finally land, he sets you on your feet and quickly glances down to make sure you’re alright. You give him a quick nod, sensing the question in his gaze, and then he takes off again to rejoin the action. It takes you a moment to regain your balance, and you still feel the ghost of his arm around your waist, but when you glance back you find that he’s set you down by the landspeeder, with the Child. He’s put you back at the kids’ table. 

You give a frustrated growl and the baby blinks curiously at you, eyes full of wonder. He’s just happy to be here, close to someone he likes. You offer a reassuring stroke over his little head, then turn to stalk back down the dunes; back towards the rest of the group whose lives apparently don’t mean as much to Din, since he’s more them happy for them to join in despite them having little-to-no fighting experience. You’re not about to sit back and watch them all die. 

As the dragon bursts out of the sand once more, the Tuskens and townsfolk begin firing harpoons into its side – a desperate attempt to keep it in place – and you watch as it wrenches itself free with a simple shake of its body. There’s no way this plan is going to work.

When you arrive back by Din’s side, he simply looks at you, not even bothering to admonish you, knowing it’s not going to get him anywhere at this point anyway. But as you look at him, a silent warning to not push you aside again, he sees you’ve got that same look in your eyes now as you had back on Nevarro. And it worries him. 

You move off together as a unit as the dragon begins its assault, firing with everything you’ve got to get its attention – in your case, your trusty blaster pistol – stopping only when it opens its jaws wide and proceeds to spit boiling acid down onto anyone within its reach. You watch in horror as people are disintegrated before your eyes.

A massive explosion beneath it distracts it long enough for any survivors to get clear of its path, and the creature suddenly dives.

You wait, watching for any sign that it’s coming back up, but the smoking landscape is silent and still. Yet, something doesn’t feel right.

“I don’t think it’s dead,” Cobb says, voicing your concern, and you exchange worried glances.

“Me neither,” Din replies. His grip tightens on his blaster, waiting.

Then suddenly, up on the mountain, the creature bursts forth once more. It opens its mouth wide and you glance down at the people in its path about to be annihilated. You can’t watch this happen again. Moving as fast as your feet can carry you, you rush down towards them, shoving them aside with a powerful force-push seconds before the acid hits the sand, clearing them of its path just in time – leaving you in a tricky predicament. You’ve caught its attention now – and you have nowhere to go.

You catch the sound of jetpacks as Cobb and Din land either side of you, weapons raised and ready to come to your defense.

“Get back!” Din barks at you, and you find you have no choice but to listen to him. Failing to do so now, even just to prove a point, and you’re certain you’d be the dragon’s next meal. You’d pick your hill to die on one day, but this just wasn’t it. 

Din and Cobb take off into the air again, firing their weapons to draw the dragon’s attention away and give you time to escape. It works. The dragon, furious from the sudden new assault, turns and comes after them, spraying up sand as it whips its massive body in the new direction.  

As you watch them draw it further away, you can’t help but wonder what the plan is, since the original one has long fallen apart. They can’t keep drawing it away forever. Now that you have minute to breath, you look around for a way to help, and spot the explosives-laden bantha that had been led down as bait. It looks like it would rather be anywhere else and, hell, you don’t blame it, but glancing between it and the massive monster that currently has its sights set on the one man who never failed to put himself in the path of danger for you, you think maybe it was time to return the favor and finish this once and for all.

So, you grab the bellowing, hairy animal by its halter and do something stupid.

You start yelling. And waving your arms. And when that fails to grab the dragon’s attention, you start firing your weapon. Taking your odd behavior as some kind of cue, the townsfolk closest to you begin firing, too, and finally the dragon turns to face this latest assault, drawn to the movement of your waving arms and the scent wafting from the bantha. 

You spot the two armored men, now free of the dragon’s attention, flying up from the mountain before one in particular makes a sudden beeline in your direction. You can practically feel Din’s wrath radiating off of him before he even gets close, and it’s like the bantha can, too, as it begins to protest and pull against its rope. Or maybe it’s the giant monster coming to swallow it whole that has it so skittish.  Either way, you feel like an ass as you try to calm it down, knowing the only reason you’re doing so is to keep it in place long enough to be eaten.

You’re grateful to have the marshal land behind you first as Din drops down in front, poised to lose his absolute mind at you for your reckless behavior, but finding the situation momentarily put on-hold as Cobb asks to no one in particular, “Now what?”

Din’s staring at you, gaze heavy, burning, and humiliating all in one, but he doesn’t have time to berate you as the dragon breaks from a nearby dune. “I have an idea,” he says, and before either you or Cobb can ask what that is, he shoves you into the marshal’s arms and sets off the man’s jetpack, sending you both careening up and away from the dragon’s path – and leaving him right in the middle of it. 

You had come to suspect that you were in pretty deep with Din Djarin, ever since he had first rescued you many years ago, but watching him disappear into the enormous jaws of the krayt dragon was a lesson you had never asked for in how you really felt about him. Even as everyone around you falls into a stunned silence, your ears begin to buzz and you have to fight to keep your footing, absently leaning against Cobb for support as the energy drains from your legs. Cobb reaches for you but misses as you collapse down onto the sand by his feet. Your throat starts to tighten. Everything feels hazy. 

This can’t be it. This can’t be the way it happens. 

Then the beast erupts from the sand once more and you spot a familiar shape fly out of its roaring mouth. 

Your heart leaps into your throat. Suddenly, you can breathe again. Then you’re back on your feet and racing towards him.

The huge blast that follows knocks you back and you hold an arm across your eyes to protect them from the cloud of sand billowing from the site of the explosion, but even that’s not enough to stop you as you keep your sights trained on the metal armor glistening in the hot sun. 

When you finally reach Din, you stand for a moment looking at him, then a sound escapes you halfway between a sob and shout, and you shove him – hard. He stumbles backwards but remains on his feet.

“What the hell were you thinking?” You don’t think you’ve ever been this angry in your life. Fury radiates from every cell in your body, and still Din just stares at you. Then you hug him. Neither of you are expecting it, and his body stiffens immediately in surprise, but when you feel him relax and one of his arms comes up to wrap around you in return, everything suddenly feels right again. You couldn’t care less that he’s covered in gross dragon goo and that it’s probably getting all over your clothes, or that there’s a crowd of onlookers witnessing this moment between you – all you care about is the fact that he’s here, that he’s still alive. 

A cheer erupts behind you as you part, and it’s not for you and Din, but for the smoking remains of the dragon nearby, and it’s soon joined by the howls of the Tuskens as they raise their weapons in victory. 

It’s over. It’s done. And as you look up at Din, you can think of many things worth celebrating.

***

And celebrate, you do. 

As much as he had wanted to make a quiet exit once he had collected his promised armor from Cobb, you had managed to convince Din to stay in Mos Pelgo just a little longer for the revelries. It had been a long time since you’d stayed anywhere close to civilization, let alone had a good reason to celebrate; and though you’d grown used to the comfortable silence of the Razor Crest, there’s some comfort in being surrounded by happy, chattering people for once, instead of the lonely vacuum of space.

Cobb had asked you back personally for a couple of drinks at the bar, and though the invitation had been extended to both of you, Din had failed to take it that way. In hindsight, you suppose your initial run-in with Cobb is to blame for this sudden standoffish behavior, since your contribution to convincing the man to hand over the beskar had involved you telling him that the helmet was ‘a waste on a face like his’. You guess that comment hadn’t sat too well with Din, but it had just sort of slipped out. What could you say? The guy was a looker. Yet even now, as Cobb glances over at your table from the bar, offering a warm, friendly smile in your direction, you find yourself distracted. 

You look around and finally spot Din. He’d been radiating quiet irritation since arriving back, and stands now in the furthest corner of the room, watching the festivities with what you imagined was a sulky expression beneath the helmet. The Child sits by his feet, on the sandy floor, playing with something round and shiny, completely absorbed in his own little world.

“I take it Mandalorian’s aren’t much for parties,” Cobb comments as he finally reaches your side with drinks, breaking you from you trance. He sits down beside you and slides one of the glasses of bright-blue liquid your way.

“What do you mean?” you ask.

He nods over towards Din whose gaze is currently burning into you, and you shift uncomfortably trying to find somewhere else to direct your attention, unsure why you don’t just look at Cobb. You realize why when your eyes shift back to him and the feeling of being watched intensifies. 

“Him?” you reply, trying to sound casual, now hyperaware that Din is currently reading every detail of this interaction, “Oh, he usually just prefers the quiet, you know? Not really the social type. He’s only here because I asked.”

“Just watching over his girl, huh?” Cobb teases, taking a swig of his spotchka.

“His gir—What are talking about?”

He frowns before giving you a knowing look, then risks a quick, pointed glance towards Din, who he’s noticed hasn’t turned his gaze away from you for longer than a few seconds the entire evening. 

“We’re just friends,” you tell him, even if that label doesn’t feel quite right to you. “It’s not like that.” You take a mouthful of drink just to give yourself something to do, and wince at the unexpected bitterness. When you glance back over at Din, your cheeks heat up a little when you realize he’s still looking back. You finally drop your gaze away, reassuring yourself that the weird feeling you’ve suddenly gotten in your stomach is just the alcohol taking affect, but when you look back at Cobb you catch him smirking at you. 

“We’re friends,” you repeat, wondering who you’re trying to convince now, since Cobb seems pretty damn decided on the matter. “Colleagues, you know. We’ve just been through a lot together.” You frown as he chuckles. “What?”

“I did not just spend two days listening to the two of you bicker like an old married couple, to hear you say that you two are ‘just friends’.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I guess I just don’t look at him that way.”

“Oh, darlin’, everybody sees how you look at him.”

You think back to the desert, to your arms wrapping around him like he might disappear again at any moment; to the arm that had pulled you closer and squeezed you in return. 

You take another gulp of spotchka to calm the fluttering feeling in your belly, and shoot a quick glance over to see if he’s still looking at you.

But he’s gone.

Panic floods over you.

You look around the room, hoping you don’t look as desperate as you suddenly feel, when Cobb nudges you. You look back at him and he nods to the door, where you just manage to catch a flash of cape and armor and Din disappears through it into the night.

Cobb smiles. “Go on. Go talk to the guy. I’ll still be here if you want another drink. If not, I hope we meet again someday.” He tips his glass towards you and you nod, managing a brief smile of appreciation as you stand. 

Your legs feel heavy as you walk towards the exit. It’s dark outside – almost pitch black aside from a scattering of light coming through a few windows, and the few fires burning outside to keep people warm on the cold desert night – and you breathe a sigh of relief as you spot Din still standing out on the road. It looks like the kid is giving him some trouble, his fussy cries reaching your ears easily in the quiet. He settles as soon as he sees you, though, and Din turns to see what has the ability to calm him so quickly. 

Of course, it’s you, he thinks. He should have known – you have the same effect on him.

“Hey,” you greet, still fighting back these unexplained nerves as you approach him. You’d known him for years, spent a lot of time in his company, and been through a lot together, but it’s the first time you feel nervous around him.

“Hey,” he replies simply, “I was just heading to take him back to the ship.” He pauses like he’s weighing up what he wants to say next, then adds, “When should I expect you back?”

“Back?”

“I can meet you there in the morning if that’s more suitable.” 

He’s acting weird, and though you know exactly why, you can’t help but frown at the bitterness in his tone. He’s trying to keep it cool and calm around the kid. You wonder what he’d be saying instead if it was just the two of you. 

“Why would you do that? Why would—” You hate what he’s implying, but you need him to say it, to admit why it’s a problem for him – to know if Cobb’s right. “Where am I supposed to be in all of this?”

You stare at him, the question written on your furrowed brow, wondering if he has the guts to admit the accusation outright. 

He looks back towards the bar and then back at you, cocking his helmet as if he’s expecting you to be the one to make the confession, even if there is a low rage bubbling away inside of him at the thought of it. He thinks back to the desert, to the feeling of your arms wrapped around him, to the way his own arm had come up instinctually to hold you closer, and he thinks of how much he wants that again.

“I’m coming back to the ship,” you tell him.

“Don’t do that on my account,” he replies, and you swear he says things like that just to piss you off. 

Before you can formulate a response, he turns away and starts walking towards his borrowed landspeeder. The Child looks back at you over his shoulder and stretches his little arms towards you with a cry, but Din ignores it.

You almost shout his name, forgetting for a moment where you are, and instead splutter out an awkward ‘Mando!’, which you haven’t called him in over a year; not since he entrusted you with his true name. He stops and slowly turns back. By now the kid is wriggling and fussing so much in his arms that he has to put him down, and the little one immediately heads towards you, reaching up to be held. You scoop him up and Din watches as the kid coos happily and buries his face in your hair. He’d thought they were leaving without you, Din realizes, and he can’t help but wonder if the kid’s picked up on his own emotions too – at his own distress at the thought of leaving you behind. 

He watches you for a moment as you soothe the Child, observing the tender way you fuss over him, and feels guilt start to creep over him.

“I am doing it on your account,” you tell him firmly, after a moment, finally looking back at him again, and his helmet tilts slightly as he stares back at you. You screw up your face like you hate the idea of having to say the next words out loud, but you do anyway for his sake. “I’m not interested in the marshal.”

He makes a non-committal noise like he either doesn’t believe you or he’s pretending it’s not a big deal, and you roll your eyes, turning your attention back to the kid. 

You wonder what you can say, how you’re going to make him understand what you’re feeling, because you can’t go back to the ship like this – things can’t just keep on going how they have been, with the arguments and all these unspoken words that are causing them. So, you step forward, closing the gap between the two of you as you rest a hand against his chest plate to get his attention. 

Din stares down at you, heart thumping as he tries to read your expression and figure out what you’re going to say before you say it, hoping he’ll be less caught off guard this way.

You reach up to the back of his helmet, guiding him down towards you, muttering, “Come here, you idiot.” Then you press your forehead to the cold beskar of his helmet and find a way to tell him.

“Where you go, I go.”

He seems to understand that well enough. 

[worldserasingandcreatinginmymind]

Unfaithful | Part Three

Series Summary: After dreaming of your perfect wedding since you were a little girl the big day is almost here. But after meeting the priest you start to question your relationship.

Pairing: Hot Priest x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2828

Warnings: abusive behaviour, a lot of angsty stuff, drunken behaviour and a pinch of fluff

A/N: Please be warned there will be some themes of toxic/abusive relationship in this series. Also, spelling and grammar is not my strongest skill so please be kind :)

Part Two | Masterlist

- - - - -

I sit alone on the bench outside the church, looking out at the empty graveyard in front of me. 

The miserable grey clouds above part and bright sunlight beams down to earth, shining on the Priest who is now walking up the path toward me. The light seems to be following him and as he moves closer I realise he’s dressed in a magnificent purple and gold gown. 

“Why are you wearing that?” I ask

“This is what I’m going to wear when I marry you” 

“Wow, I love it! Not sure Daniel will-”

“Who’s Daniel?” He asks and I laugh, but his serious face tells me he’s not joking.

“Daniel? My fiancé, the man I’m getting married to…”

“What are you talking about? You're marrying me remember?” He sits on the bench next to me, taking my hand and showing me the engagement ring on my finger, a ring I’ve never seen before.

“I- I don't understand. We’re engaged?”

“Are you feeling okay? Yes, we’re engaged and in a few weeks we’ll be husband and wife!” He holds my face gently in his hands and looks deeply into my eyes “I love you Y/N!”

He leans in and kisses me passionately.

— — — — 

My eyes shoot open and I realise I’m in bed. It was just a dream. Why do I feel slightly disappointed? 

Every night since that night at the church the Priest has been in my dreams, and every night the theme has been the same; the Priest and I are in love. 

I shake the thought out of my mind and roll over, reaching over to hug my real life fiancé but my arm falls straight down on the mattress. He isn’t there. 

I sit up and reach over to grab my phone off the bedside table. 9:30am! I must have needed that lie in. I roll out of bed, wrap my dressing gown around myself and head down stairs to the kitchen. I need coffee. 

Walking into the kitchen I find Daniel sat at the table waiting for me. 

“Morning!” I greet him cheerfully as I fill up the kettle “coffee?”

“No thanks.” He responds dismissively, changing the subject. “The other day, when I came home from the pub and you stormed out… where did you go?"

“I just went for a walk” I answer honestly

“Where?” 

“I don't know, I just wondered around for a bit and found a bench to sit on” 

“Alone?” 

“Yeah” I lie

“So you sat on a bench in the dark and drank all alone” He places an empty silver and green can on the table and looks at me accusingly, waiting for a response. 

“You went through my bag?” I silently curse myself for not throwing the can away yet.

“I was looking for something”

“What?”

“IT DOESN’T MATTER!” He slams his hand down on the can, crushing it against the table “You met him didn’t you? Father whatever his name is. I saw the same can of G&T in his office”

“Okay fine, yes I saw him. I didn’t plan to. I just went to the church to think. I thought it was empty but he was there and we talked for a bit”

“And drank”

“I was upset so he offered me a drink.”

“And then you lied to me about it” he says, getting up and slowly walking over to me.

“Because I knew you’d overreact!” I respond, poring the boiling water into my cup and stirring the coffee.

“Oh I’m overreacting am I? Tell me, how am I supposed to react when another man flirts with my fiancé in front of my face?”

“He hasn’t flirted with me Daniel, he’s our priest! He’s just trying to get to know us, but you won’t let him!” 

“I don’t want to get to know that creep!” 

“You know what? I can’t be bothered with this right now” I roll my eyes before saying three words I would instantly regret “You're being pathetic” 

I can almost see the red mist in Daniel’s eyes as he grabs my coffee cup and throws the boiling hot contents straight in my face. I suppress a scream as I wipe the coffee from my eyes, the liquid burning my skin. I run upstairs as fast as I can and lock myself in the bathroom, immediately  splashing cold water over myself. I soak a flannel in water and hold it over my face for a few minutes, trying to cool my burning skin. Daniel starts banging on the door, begging me to open up so he can apologise. When he starts to mention his dad I shut out the sound of his voice, choosing to ignore his excuses. I’ve heard them all before. 

When my skin finally starts to feel a little less on fire I remove the flannel and examine my blotchy red face in the mirror. A few small blisters have already started to form on my cheek and down the side of my neck. I bring my hand up to gently touch them, and hiss with pain as eyes instantly fill with tears. I cover my face with the flannel again and sit on the floor, leaning with my back against the door as Daniel continues to talk on the other side. I stay like that for however long it takes for him to finally leave me alone. Once I’m sure he’s gone I go silently to the bedroom, quickly get dressed and go downstairs. As I’m putting my shoes on Daniel comes running to me.

“Where are you going?” 

“To the hospital”

“No no, please- please don’t go. I’m sorry!” He panics.

“I need something to fix this” I argue, gesturing to the blisters and peeling skin.

“I can fix it!”

“Not this time” I walk out the house, slamming the door behind me. I hear it open again and I turn back to glare at Daniel as he’s about to step out. “Leave me alone!” I warn him before walking off, surprised that he actually obeys me for once. I hail a passing taxi and climb in the back. 

“A&E please” I say and he looks at me through the rear view mirror, his eyes widen as he sees the state I’m in but he doesn’t say anything. He just silently drives me where I need to go. 

— — — — 

“And how did this happen?” 

“I was carrying a cup of coffee when I slipped and fell, throwing the whole lot over myself.” I lie as convincingly as possible as the doctor examines my skin “I can be such a clutz sometimes”

I let out a small awkward laugh which the doctor ignores.

“Hm. Well you're lucky, there’s no permanent damage. It will be painful for a few days but it will heal. I’ll prescribe you some cream which will soothe it but in the mean time go home and take it easy. No more ‘accidents’ okay?” 

I can tell by her voice she doesn’t quite believe my story. 

“Thank you doctor” I say, taking the tube of cream off her and walking outside.

As I stand waiting for another taxi I realise, I’m not ready to face going home yet. There’s only one person I really want to see right now. 

— — — — 

Once again I find myself stood outside the big wooden doors of the church, suddenly doubting whether or not I should be here. I know I want to be here but I also know that if Daniel found out it would create yet another drama. I’m so trapped in my own moral dilemma that I don’t hear the footsteps approach behind me. 

“Y/N?”

I spin around to see the Priest walking toward me. His face goes from confusion, to horror as he sees my skin.

“Holy shit! What happened to your face?”

“I don't really wanna talk about it right now”

“Thats okay, you don't have to tell me anything” he smiles a gently smile and my heart flutters.

“I know it’s the middle of the day and you're my priest but… I don't suppose you have any more gin?”

“You’re in luck” his smile turns into a grin as he lifts up the bag in his hand and I hear the sound of cans clattering inside it.

— — — — 

A couple of hours and a few too many drinks later, the Priest and I are ever so slightly drunk and currently laughing about… well I don't actually know what. Everything just seems hilarious after a few cans of G&T. 

“You know, I think I’ve laughed more with you in the past week than I have in the past year with Daniel” I say, as he hands me another can “Maybe if you’d have been the Priest here when I was a teenager I wouldn’t have stopped coming. Teenage Y/N would have loved you. The old Priest just seemed so… judgy. I couldn’t think of anything worse than telling him my sins” 

“Hey that’s reminds me, you’ve never confessed to me! We should it now” 

“Oh no no no, absolutely not”

“Come on! It’ll be fun”

“Fun for you maybe, not for me! You just want to find out all my secrets”

“Of course I do, that’s why I do this job. That and so I can wear the outfits”

“You’re terrible” I laugh, shaking my head at him

“I know! That’s why you can tell me anything and I won’t judge you. I’ve probably done much worse” 

I get an idea. 

“Okay fine. I’ll confess to you. But you have to confess to me in return” 

“That’s not how this works”

“It is now! I’ll tell you my sins and you tell me yours”

“I’m a Priest, I don't sin”

“You're drunk in a church in the middle of the afternoon, pretty sure you're sinning right now”

“Good point” he thinks for a moment before getting up out his chair “okay, deal. Lets do this” 

I follow him out into the main church toward the confession box. He pulls open the curtain and gestures for me to enter. I do and he closes the curtain behind me before getting into the next box. I can just about see him through the holes in the wall. 

“You go first” I say quickly.

“Okay, um… I drink alcohol in my office on a regular basis”

“That’s a boring one!” I wine

“We’ll get to the good stuff eventually. Your turn”

“Fine. When I was 8 I stole a pencil topper from a bitchy girl in school because I liked it and I didn’t think she deserved it”

“A pencil topper? You criminal!” He laughs 

“It was shaped like Mickey Mouse!”

“How are you not in jail yet” he says sarcastically and I can hear the amusement in his voice “My turn. Sometimes when I hear Pam calling for me I hide in here and lie to her about where I am”

“I don't blame you, that woman scares me” 

“Right?! She’s terrifying!” 

We both burst into laughter, and as it dies down I realise it’s my turn again. I take a deep breath and speak again. 

“I lied to my Daniel about being with you the other night because I knew he’d get angry.” 

Without thinking my hand comes up to gently touch the burns on my face as my mind takes me back to the incident this morning. I snap out of it and turn to look at the wall. For a brief second I catch the Priest looking through the hole at me, but he turns to face the front. 

“I broke my vow of celibacy last year”

“I’ve been having inappropriate dreams about another man while laying in the same bed as my fiancé” 

“I’m in love with you” 

“What?” I say, trying to see him through the holes in the wall but he doesn’t look at me. He just stares down at the floor.

“I’m-” he pauses “I love you”

He finally looks up at me, the sudden eye contact almost takes my breath away. I don't know what to say, I’m completely lost for words. The intensity of his dark brown eyes is too much and I’m forced to look away, looking down as I fiddle nervously with the sleeves of my shirt. 

“Y/N?” 

I quickly get up and walk out of the booth, but he stays put. I stand for a moment looking at the curtain, wondering if he’s going to come out. When he doesn’t I realise its up to me to make a choice. 

I could tell the Priest how I feel about him. I could admit that I’ve imagined what it would be like to kiss him, to hold him, to wake up next to him.

Or I could leave right now and pretend none of this happened, go back home to Daniel. The man I’m engaged to marry. The man who I’ve loved since school. The man who, just this morning, threw boiling hot coffee in my face. 

I make a decision. 

I open the curtain to see the priest still sat on the tiny bench, and he looks up at me with wide eyes. He watches as I squeeze into the booth with him, placing my hands on either side of his face. He stands up slowly so our faces are inches apart and slowly moves in. 

“I love you too”

He looks into my eyes one last time before I close the gap, our lips crashing together. I keep expecting to wake up any second now, for this to just be another cruel emotionally confusing dream. 

But this is real. 

I’m kissing a priest. 

Part Four

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_domestic_violence_hotlines

[buckyownsmylife]

was it worth the thrill? - steve rogers/reader/bucky barnes smut

The one where Steve invites Bucky to watch

Warnings: royal au!, forced voyeurism, kind of dubcon because reader is caught by surprise, steve is mean to bucky, lots and lots of sexual acts and dirty talk, taunts against bucky and his desire for the reader, brief breeding kink

A/N: this is a third part to this fic and this fic, but can be read by itself without much problem. If you do want to understand more of the background though, I recommend reading at least that first one. Also, Bucky is only watching in this one. No action for our boy.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

When Steve walked into our shared bedroom with that dark glint in his eyes, my body immediately started trembling in response. In the short span of the five days we’d been married, I’d come to learn that nothing good came out of it - at least, nothing pure. Because the truth of the matter was, I was always left with shaky legs and pools of his cum dripping from me.

I couldn’t pretend that I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t pretend that it didn’t frighten me either. This wasn’t what I had waited for when I prepared myself for fulfilling my obligations as his queen. My mother warned me it would hurt, but she never said the pain would be accompanied by a pleasure so intense it would forever taint me.

I belonged to him, now. There was no doubt in my soul of it. Even if we weren’t soulmates to begin with, he’d forced his way in, like he did between my legs on our wedding night, and made sure to become a part of me. Something I would never be able to shake away - and I didn’t really want to.

He leaned over the bed to kiss me, bringing me up to stand before him as his eyes ran over my body with clear admiration. It made me weak, *he made me weak for him. I didn’t love him before - I barely even knew him - but it was safe to say that if this wasn’t love, growing deep inside of me, warming my lower belly and etching its way around my heart, it was a disease. An addiction, he was making me dependent on his touch and on the way it made me feel.

“I have a surprise for you,” he practically sang, and since the dark edge was still present in his smirk, I couldn’t relax against his body as he ran a single finger over my collarbones, as he had done when he first touched me like this.

“W-what is it?” I managed to ask, despite the gasp that escaped my lips when his fingers went further south and pinched my nipple over the thin fabric of my nightgown. It was hard to keep myself on the edge, expectant of what he had in store, especially since his hands felt so nice running all over my body.

For a second, he didn’t speak, too occupied with littering the exposed part of my chest with its familiar mess of lovebites that never truly healed, but after a particular suck that made me gasp and hold him closer to me, he finally raised his head to smile down at me.“We have a guest.”

For a second, his words didn’t register, my heartbeat remaining safely excited, in the limits of what would happen every time my husband was near me now that I knew him and what he liked to do to me. But then he stepped away and moved towards the door, and I felt that same heartbeat plummet down to my stomach as blue eyes met mine over the threshold.

Bucky.

“Are you happy to see him, my queen?” That was a difficult question in a normal situation, and this was as far from normal as it could possibly get.

“Steve, what is he doing here?” I pulled on my husband’s arm, desperately trying to shield my body from his brother’s vision, but as large as Steve was, not much could be done. And as difficult as it was for me to accept it, it was clear that seeing me in my nightgown would be the most modest view of my body that James would be exposed to tonight.

“Well, I asked him to come watch us as I take you right in that bed, over and over again, my love,” he whispered against my ear as he inverted our positions, standing behind me and holding my arms around his neck so he could freely bury one of his hands between my breasts. “I know he keeps his gaze on you when he thinks I’m not looking. I want to give him something to see, something that he’ll always remember each time he looks your way again.” A soft kiss, much too sweet for what Steve intended to do in our chambers tonight, was pressed against my temple, and I couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped my lips as he simultaneously started to circle one of my nipples. “Maybe this way he will finally learn that you’re mine.”

He wasn’t wrong. I’d seen - even felt - Bucky’s eyes on me ever since my wedding day, weighing heavily as a guilty conscious I wasn’t too sure I should have. As close as we were before I became Steve’s, there was never talk of any commitment - he never even made any advances that let me believe he wanted me to be his. So the gossip that reached me once our engagement was made public left me feeling overwhelmed and confused.

Could it be that his self-doubt really stopped him from going after what he wanted - me?

The thought was much too difficult to bear, so I just buried under the pile of nerves that I had been before the wedding. It was much easier to believe that he never wanted me at all. He was happy for me, of course. He was my best friend and I was now officially a part of his family, forever.

I would have been able to keep blindly believing that if it weren’t for the way he behaved since the engagement. We barely spoke - in fact, he started to actively avoid me at all times. During the wedding, I couldn’t bear to meet his eyes, because they were heavy with an emotion I couldn’t identify, and that made my own heart feel small. And of course, there was my first night with Steve, where *he acknowledged the fact that his own brother had wanted me.

How could I ignore it?

It only got worse since then. The lingering stares, the heavy silences that made my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach. I missed Bucky, but his absence was easier than having him around like this.

Especially like this, the mixture of lust and hurt swirling in his irises as he didn’t dare look away from the path his brother trailed down my body. My nightgown was suddenly no more, reduced to nothing but a pile of scraps by my feet as Steve’s hands tore the fabric right in the middle, exposing me completely to the other man’s eyes.

“No need to be shy, my love,” he whispered as he sat down on the mattress behind us, bringing me with him and spreading my legs open for Bucky’s appreciation. When I tried to close them, a slap resounded around the room, rendering me boneless by surprise. Of course, I wasn’t expecting it, but I was also taken back by how much I *liked it, feeling my neglected little nub tingle from the abrupt contact it had received.  “Spread them wide, darling. Let him see what he’ll never have.”

Steve’s P.O.V.

I wanted to laugh at Bucky’s expression almost as much as I wanted to punch him. Seeing him desire what was mine only made me more desperate to fuck Y/N, give her exactly what only I could, reminder her and him that she was my wife and would never feel another man’s touch on her body.

“Get on your knees,” I ordered, already pushing her away from my lap and down on the floor. She went without any resistance at all, eyes big as she looked up at me when I stood to my full height and took off my pants. “I want your mouth on my cock,” I clarified, fingers combing through her hair to hold her tresses on my grip. “C’mon, darling, open wide. Show him what he’ll never get to experience.”

I watched her little tongue dart out to taste me tentatively at first, and it made me smile as it reminded me of the first time I’d put her in this position. She had been so confused then, but already so eager to please. After that first night of passion that we had shared on our wedding night, I’d helped her understand just how pleasurable our time together as husband and wife could be, and I witnessed her grow more and more comfortable with each moan I managed to pry out of her lips.

She seemed to be ignoring my brother’s presence now, and despite wanting to humiliate him - needing him to know and see just how thoroughly I owned each and every part of her - I found that I didn’t mind it at all when her eyes closed and her mouth stretched as far as it could to swallow my hardened member.

If she could pretend he wasn’t there, it meant she probably didn’t want him like she wanted me. And that’s what I needed to know to be able to sleep soundly next to her again, without those terrible nightmares of her and James running away together.

“You look so good on your knees for me, my queen.” A soft smile awaited her when she finally opened her eyes again to look up at me, tongue still swirling around my cock and making me grunt and thrust back on her mouth. I felt her giggle - as best as she could, and a wave of warmth washed through me as I was forced to recognize just how much I loved her.

I could never lose her.

“Just like that, my love, yes. Make sure he’ll never forget this,” I commanded as I started to guide her movements by the grip I held of her hair. “Make him feel sorry for ever even looking your way, for desiring what’s mine.”

My eyes met James’ dark ones, a smirk taking over my face as I recognized the pain in his. Yes. This is what I wanted. I needed to know that he would remember how it looked when I had my cock inside Y/N’s throat every time he looked at her from now on.

As difficult as it was for me, it wasn’t in my plans to cum so soon, so I forced her to part from my member before pulling her to her feet again and throwing her pliant body on the bed behind us.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

I was so overcome with desire that I felt inebriated. It was hard to focus on a specific course of action, even harder to understand what was going on. All I felt was the overwhelming fire inside my body, the wetness that dripped down my thighs as I looked at my husband towering over me.

“Like what you see, brother? Isn’t she beautiful? And mine. *All mine. Forever.” I trembled from head to toe as I realized just how exposed I truly was for Bucky’s gaze, as Steve knelt before me in bed and caressed the soft skin of the inside of my thighs.

“Can you smell her?” He asked as his eyes never strayed from my exposed pussy, thumbs spreading me even more open for him and his brother. “She’s so sweet, even down here.” A thumb met my nub, making me cry out as I struggled to find something to hold onto, before finally settling on the pillows above me. “You can’t imagine just how incredible she tastes like.” 

His voice was barely recognizable as he voiced his final taunt, just before he leaned down and licked a stripe across my entire pussy. “Hmm… Delicious.” Ever since our first night, when Steve knelt before me and buried his face between my legs, I knew he took particular delight in tasting the juices I produced, but there was something different about the way he laved me with his attention this night. It was more animalistic than human, the noises he let out as he ate me out, showing a hunger that seemed to threaten to devour me whole.

Just when I thought I would flood his face with my release, he parted from my lower lips with a sharp inhale, in search of air, but then a single finger penetrated me, searching my insides with knowing ease.

“Don’t you want to be fucking her like this, James?” Steve’s gaze was dark as he stared down at my helpless body, another finger penetrating my hole as the squelching sounds resonated across the room, no doubt filling his brother’s ears as well, along with my cries. “Don’t you wish it was you who got to know what her sweet peach tasted like? But you never will. Do you know why?”

A quick swipe of my husband’s tongue over my little nub and I was clenching around his digits, screaming helplessly into the room as he quickened his movements to make it harder for me to come down from this high - the high only he could provide me with.

If James answered, I wasn’t able to tell. My own heartbeat was the only thing I could hear, until Steve finally took pity on my boneless body and slowed down his movements, eyes suddenly soft as he took in my breathlessness under his power.

“Because she only drips for me, isn’t that right, darling? Only I can make her drench our shared bed.” And just as a finishing statement, he leaned over and licked a long strip up my sensitive pussy, collecting some of the excess moisture, humming appreciatively like he just couldn’t stop himself from doing so.

But then he was kissing me again, forcing his tongue inside my mouth like he forced his fingers inside of me, and I recognized my own taste, but when it was mixed with his own particular one, it was like a completely different love potion, reigniting the ambers of desire and taking away some of the sensibility I could feel in my most private part.

“You already want me inside of you, huh?” Steve knew. Of course he knew, he knew me better than anyone else in this entire world. And as he rubbed his undeniable hardness against my mound, instead of whimpering in oversensitivity, all I could do was clench his shoulders and beg for more.

“Yes, my queen, I’ll give you more. I’ll give you everything, I’ll give you the whole world if you ask me for it.” His words, paired with a possessive bite over the better half of my exposed throat, had me gasping in surprise and lust, and just when I thought he might relent and give me what I so desperately craved, his gaze fell upon the man still staring at the whole scene I was currently partaking in.

“Look at him, my love.” It was an order, I knew it, and there was no way for me to disobey it. So my eyes rose up to find darkened ones, and I was taken back by just how utterly *wrecked James looked, fingers digging into the arms of the chair he was seating on, his body leaning in the direction of the bed like he was one step away from leaping towards us. “Do you see how hard he is?”

After the question was made, it was impossible not to look, my gaze falling on the barely concealed hardness that Bucky was somehow managing to ignore. It looked painful, and my heart ached for him, but another ache was calling out for my attention, and I couldn’t very well divide it between us both. So I just whined, desperately trying to signal to my husband just what I needed from him.

“You need it bad, huh? Almost as badly as him, I bet. Tell him, darling. Tell him how badly you want my cock and I’ll give it to you.” A small part of me, the still sane part of me, didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to add to James’ humiliation, I didn’t want to know I had actively helped contribute to his pain. But that part was no match to the untamed need I felt for the man above me, the only man I had ever had dominate me in such a way. So, without any effort whatsoever, I found myself whining, “Please, Steve, please. I need you inside of me, please.”

I couldn’t do much more than that, but ever the reliable husband, he *knew it. So, with a calming kiss to my forehead, he at last fused our bodies together, making me feel whole for the first time that night.

Bucky’s P.O.V.

There were no words that could describe the pain of seeing them unite as man and wife before me, now in this carnal, primal way. I thought their wedding night was hell. Then, there were no words left for me to describe this torture I was being forced to live through. Every moan, every sweet sound that fell from the lips of the woman that I loved was like a dagger through my heart, and I hated that Steve knew it. He knew exactly what he was doing, breaking me to pieces so I could no longer imagine what kind of man would leave this room tonight. I only knew that right now, I felt reduced to nothing.

His sounds were worse than hers. At least hers I’d once wished to hear. But each word, each grunt that left Steve’s mouth only served to cut me deeper, creating an anger I didn’t even know I was capable of holding before tonight.

Then again, I’d never wanted anyone like I wanted her.

“God, you feel amazing,” Steve commented, and for the first time that night I didn’t actually think he was doing this just to hurt me. No, for the first time tonight, it felt like he had completely forgot about me, too busy appreciating how it felt to be wrapped up in the arms and in the lower lips of his beautiful wife.

What wouldn’t I give to kiss her like that. Not even fuck her. Just kiss her. Know what she tasted like, if she truly was as sweet as she appeared to be. Maybe touch her cheek one more time, caress it like I used to do back when she didn’t belong to him.

If I had known this is where life would take us, would I have found the courage to ask her to be mine? I knew I loved her since I was fifteen, but I never considered myself worthy of being with someone so pure, so perfect. So I diverted my desires to other women, learning how to touch and make love the same way every man my age was expected to. The very same way Steve did, too.

“Fuck, I love being inside of you. So fucking tight, despite how hard I fuck you every single night.” I wanted to not look. I wanted to resist, to oppose myself from this tyrannical torture my king, *my brother was submitting me to. But if this was the only way I’d ever get to experience her like this, even if from afar, I couldn’t find it in myself to force my abstention. A huge part of me wanted to drink in every second of this experience, immortalize it in the depths of my soul, from where I would be relieving it each and every night after this one, until the day I died.

“Can you imagine if I finally breed you tonight? Right in front of him?” My stomach twisted at the realization that what Steve was referring to could very well happen. The next heir, my nephew, could very well be born from this night, and walk around these hallways as just another reminder of what could never be mine.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

My stomach dropped at the realization of the truth behind what Steve was saying. Our child, the future of our kingdom could come from this very night, and I wasn’t too sure how I felt about this. I didn’t know what it would be like, having my son in my arms and James close by, knowing that he was there for the conception.

But there was no time to worry about that now, not when my husband was still brutally pounding me, a hand around my neck as he ordered, “Moan my name. Scream my fucking name. I want him to have it imprinted in his mind for the rest of his life.”

The order, however, felt completely unnecessary - I couldn’t have kept quiet if *that’s what he had ordered me to do. Not when the drag of his member in and out of my pussy felt overwhelming in the most delicious of ways, eliciting the sounds of my wetness mixed with the encounter of our bodies, alongside the ones created by my own lips. It felt delicious in its pain, and it felt like he would never stop fucking me, if only for the satisfaction of leaving a permanent mark on his brother’s soul.

“I bet he wants to help. You know he would give anything to feel you like this, just once, right? To know what it’s like, to own you at such a primal level.” The smell of my juices and our sweat was making my head swirl, only distantly noticing my husband pick up his pace even more, now truly fucking me in a punishing tempo, like he was taking out on my body the stress that James had caused him.

“But he can’t,” he affirmed, almost like he was trying to remind himself of that. “He can’t, he can’t, he never will.” Each sentence was accompanied by a harsher thrust against my sweet spot, so it wasn’t surprising that in a white hot blinding wave I was carried to my final orgasm, just as it wasn’t to hear him groan, “I’m gonna cum. I’m cumming, I’m cumming,” while squeezing my hand to help him ground himself.

It took him a while to recover his senses, and still he never stopped slowly moving in and out of me, like he wanted to make sure every drop of his essence would be properly deposited in my waiting womb.

“You’re mine,” was the first thing he whispered after he managed to catch his breath, eyes glued to my own but the words clearly meant for someone else’s ears. “You’re only mine. This is where you belong, getting filled by my cock again and again.”

There was something to be said about not knowing what was going on through James’ mind, while being sure that the very idea of whatever innocence he considered me to have had been completely and utterly shattered. Weirdly, it felt comforting, in a sense I couldn’t quite understand just yet.

Steve finally managed to gather enough strength to leave the bed, while I remained incapable to move a single muscle. I watched as he located a robe, quickly tying it around his hips before finally addressing his brother.

“Good luck falling asleep tonight. I dare you to look at her again without thinking about her getting impaled on my cock. You should know better than to give her any kind of lustful look now.”

[midearthwritings]

A Fighter With Invisible Scars

Fíli is there to comfort you when you are haunted by memories of the past.

Words Count : 1,518

Pairing : Fíli x Reader (Established)

Warning : Past abusive relationship, PTSD

Author's note : This was requested by @jojo-javabean24 . I hope I included every element of your request, but I believe I did good, so hope you like it :) Also, if anyone reading this is stuck in an abusive relationship, you are not alone, don't be scared to reach out for help. It's never your fault.

Strong hands grabbed both of your wrists and tried to pull you away.

"I'm taking you back home!"

You tried to fight, to scream, to call for Fili's name. But it seemed like he couldn't hear you. Like he couldn't see you either.

Slowly, everything turned black. Blinded, you felt pressure around your throat, and a voice whispering menacingly :

"You belong to me."

You woke up. Burning tears were running down your cheeks. The room wasn't cold and yet, you were shaking. The bedsheets were entangled around your body, and you were covered only below the waist. But when you looked to your side, Fili seemed to be still sound asleep.

So you got out of bed and walked to the balcony. The fresh air came harshly, biting at the skin of your face.

Every night, since Erebor had been retaken, it was the same nightmare that haunted your nights. A ghost, from your past, who was creeping behind you during the day, and attacking full force at night. You sighed and looked up to the sky. The moon was big and bright, and there wasn't any clouds for the stars to hide behind.

"Will it ever stop...?" You asked to no one in particular.

Perhaps, the universe would hear your complaint and help you heal.

A hand gently found its place on your hip, startling you.

"What will stop?"

You turned to face your husband and offered him a smile.

"Fili. Are you not sleeping?"

But he was no fool and you knew he could see through your faked happiness. He always did.

"I woke up to an empty bed." He said. "I was worried."

Guiltily, your eyes fell to observe your feet. No matter how hurt you were, you hated to see Fili worrying about you. Even when you knew it was legitimate.

"I can sense that something is troubling you..." He said quietly. "Won't you tell me what it is? I wish to help."

With tears filling your eyes, you looked up at him, smiling sadly.

"It is nothing, really." You replied, taking his hands in yours. "Just some silly nightmares."

It wasn't. If it had been as simple as just some silly nightmares, everything would have been fine.

But it was more that that. It was the emptiness you felt when hearing innocent words that had been used to hurt you in the past. It was the gut clenching fear to be sent away whenever you and Fili had a disagreement. It was the vivid memories you didn't even know you had, unexpectedly assaulting your mind. And most of all, it was the guilt you felt each time your lover, the one you had married, had to put his own feelings aside to take care of you.

Like now, as he pressed a kiss to your forehead, in the middle of the night when he had duties to attend the next day.

"It is said that dreams reflect how your heart feels." The prince explained. "If you're not at peace, your dreams won't be either."

He was right. It had been a long time since you last felt peace, and therefore, since you had a goodnight sleep.

You trusted Fili. Of course. And if it hadn't been that hard, you would have told him long ago. But everytime you tried to tell him, the words got stuck in the back of your throat, and voices from long ago would convince you not to say anything.

With a desperate sigh, your head fell on his shoulder and you shut your eyes, feeling the prince's arms wrap around your waist protectively.

Are you really going to bother him for a stupid dream? You're nothing but a burden and he stays with you only because he pities you. Did you really think someone could love you? How can you think that you're even worthy of love?

The voice was pounding in your head. It was always there. Not matter how bad you wanted it to go away, it was there. In a weak attempt to keep the tears from falling, you bit your bottom lip.

"I do not want to be parted from you Fili..." You admitted with a broken sob, bringing your arms around his neck.

"Why would you be, ghivashel?" The prince asked, rubbing your back in soothing circles.

It was in these exact moments you wished you would have been able to explain everything.

"What if you grow tired of me?" You mumbled instead. "I know I'm not easy to live with..."

Fili's laugh echoed in the night.

"I could never." He affirmed. "Plus, I'm not the easiest either. We both have flaws that make us imperfect beings. And that's exactly why we're so good for each other. You're my One and I wish for you to stay by my side until my dying day."

His One. A smile crept on your face at the appellation.

"For real?" You asked softly.

"Of course. Why else do you think I married you?"

You let out a happy sigh, thinking back to the day you and Fili had swore to love each other for the rest of your lives. It had been grand, and people from neighborhood realms had been invited, since Fili was royalty. There had been tons of delicious dishes, and festive music that kept everybody dancing all night long.

But this short moment of relief faded away as you thought of your first promised one. If you had stayed back there instead of taking your belongings and running away, all you had built with Fili wouldn't have existed. And deep inside, the idea that your abuser could come back and reclaim you was terrifying.

"What if..." You began, your fingers playing with his blonde hair. "What if someone came and took me away from you? Away from this place?"

The dwarf raised his eyebrow and gently cupped one of your cheeks with his hand. It still surprised you sometimes, how gentle he could be. Fili was a great warrior on the battlefield. And yet, in the privacy of your room, hidden from the world's eyes, he was a delicate and tender being.

"This place, my âzyungel, is your home." He reassured you, his thumb caressing your skin. "And I hope that no one is stupid enough to try and take away the future king's consort."

"But what if someone actually is that stupid?" You pressed, turning your head to kiss his palm.

"Well in that case, I hope they are ready to deal with me. And my brother and uncle. And every single person who lives here. Because you're not going anywhere, unless you decide to leave."

How can he think I would ever want to leave? You thought, unconsciously moving closer to his chest. And where would you go? Erebor was now your home. He had said it, hadn't he?

A strong buzzing resonated in your ears, and all you could feel was confusion.

Did he say that because he wants me to leave?

You felt a lump grow in your throat. Nauseous. You felt nauseous.

"Never. I never wish to leave you. I belong here, I belong with you." You cried out, your tears finally rolling down your face.

Panicked, Fili's eyes widened. It was hard for him, to find the right words without knowing what was hurting you. And he wished you would tell him, but if you weren't ready, then he would wait and do his best to be there for you.

The prince brought your hands to his lips and pressed soft kisses to your knuckles.

"I'm sorry..." He apologized. "I'm so sorry my love. I didn't mean to upset you in any way."

How much time you spent crying in your prince's arms? You wouldn't be able to tell. But he rocked you back and forth gently, whispering in your ear about how much he loved you, how he was happy to have you in his life, and how he would never ever leave you.

When your sobs finally stopped, your eyes were puffy red and painful, and you definitely had one of the biggest headache now. Noticing that you were finally calm, Fili smiled at you sadly.

"I do not know who hurt you so much that you believe I will ever want you to go away..." He whispered. "But I hope that, wherever they are, they pay the price of their actions. And if I ever cross their path, I will personally make sure that they do."

You tiredly nuzzled your face in the crook of his neck and pressed a soft kiss to his skin.

"I am sorry for keeping you awake." You murmured.

"Don't apologise. I would gladly give away my sleep if that means I can make you feel better."

"Fili..." You reprimanded, smiling weakly. "Don't say such things. Let's go back to bed.."

You felt your lover nod in agreement and as you both went back to the comfort of your bed sheets, you knew that you were safe and that no one would ever take you away from him.

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Translation :

Âzyungel → love of loves

Ghivashel → treasure of all treasures