#which I feel like explains pretty much my entire approach to life and how I glean information tbh

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for being honest about what I would change about my boyfriend?

🥊🥊

I’m a cis guy (22m) and I have a boyfriend that’s transgender (20m). We’ve been together for 2 years.

My boyfriend is a very cute guy and he gets hit on a lot in queer spaces tbh. even by lesbians, and they fully see him as a guy. He’s just very sweet and approachable I guess. A lot of people tell him he’s super attractive and I agree, but there are just certain things about his body that don’t appeal to me.

We were at a friend’s birthday party. People got drunk, I was tipsy. We played this game that was like cards with questions about relationships/love/intimacy on them and the whole group would discuss.

One of the questions was something along the lines of "If you could change anything about your partner, what would it be?" Or whatever.

Now, I went first and said I’d probably make him less hairy and get rid of the dark spots in his crotch area and his acne scars. He has some discoloration around his private areas from a rash he got when he was like 13 and some faint scarring from pimples I guess. It’s not an issue, but definitely not my preference. Plus he can’t really shave clean down there because he has thick hair and it always makes him get those razor burn bumps or whatever. Fine by me, he’s hot as hell either way.

Plus, he has a lot of discoloration around his shoulders, back, chest and face from severe acne outbreaks from his puberty and then later again when he started taking testosterone. It’s calmed down a lot, but the scarring is still very prominent. It’s not an issue, just not very pretty to look at.

Please don’t get me wrong. He’s an incredibly attractive person, I just wish his skin was a little prettier. It’s a bit of a turnoff, that’s all. It never stopped me from being absolutely enamored with him.

But when I explained this, a little less explicitly than this of course, the group went dead silent. Everyone was staring at me, some of the girls even clasped their hands over their mouths etc.

When I looked at my boyfriend he was completely pale and was just blankly staring at me before getting up and saying he needs to pee. I just said okay and then gave the card to the person next to me. She very quietly said she’d take away her girlfriend’s anxiety because it hurts her to see the person she loves like that. That’s when it sort of dawned on me that I messed up and that I was way out of line for saying these things in front of our friends.

He apparently left soon after that, which I only found out through a friend. I was a little confused but figured he was just a little embarrassed. We don’t live together, so it isn’t unusual for one of us to leave before the other. But then I found out that his best friend left with him because he was sobbing and couldn’t stop.

I tried calling him and texting him for multiple hours and didn’t want to overstep any boundaries by just popping up at his home, so I gave up and eventually went home. That was two days ago and I still haven’t heard from him. He’s usually a very clingy and noisy person and always sends me small updates throughout the day, but I haven’t heard anything from him the entire time.

I’m so scared. I love this guy so much, he’s the sweetest and the single most interesting person I’ve ever met in my life. I know he has a lot of severe insecurity issues around his body, especially regarding his scarring. But it’s all gotten a lot better in recent months and he even began to love how hairy he is because it makes him feel euphoric.

Now I can’t help but feel like I took that away from him because of some stupid game. But at the same time, I don’t think it was fair for him to just up and leave without talking to me. We could’ve talked it out and I just wish he would communicate with me.

I already know I was a bit out of line for this, but I just tend to be uncomfortably honest. He knows this and loves me for it, so I’m confused why he’s THIS upset about this one. He’s never gone this long without talking to me.

Am I the asshole? I was just playing the game. I don’t think it’s fair to call me cruel for this just because other people are scared to be honest and say shit like they’d take away their partner’s mental illness. It’s so fake and that shit just pisses me off. Everyone has something they would change about their partner’s appearance.

[ecrivainalene]

Leviathan Panel at Otakon 2024

I was OVERJOYED to be at the Leviathan panel during Otakon 2024! I'll do my best to recap it below, but if you want a more coherent play by play, this Twitter user did an excellent job.

I've got a handful of photos, recap of Sharp Gender Discussion, plus misc. things I remember.

Not everyone was up for the entire time, but I snapped this photo near the end when everyone was on stage! From left to right: Waki Kiyotaka (Studio Orange), Yoshihiro Watanabe (Studio Orange), Scott Westerfeld, Christophe Ferreira (Quibic Pictures), Justin Leach (Quibic Pictures), Katrina Minett (Quibic Pictures), and Diana Garnet (ending theme vocalist).

New concept art! Looks like Dr. Barlow, Klopp, Alek, and Sharp, right before the Germans attack the Leviathan.

More under the cut!

Alternative shot of that art bc I couldn't get my lighting right:

Clanker and Darwinist technology designs. Watanave explained that Studio Orange's early days were spent doing contract work on Gundam anime, so I can't wait to see how that translates to the Clanker machines.

Some more concept art:

By the way, the entire series is being adapted at once - so we'll get the complete story at once! That in mind, the second image here makes me think of that maneuver near the beginning of Goliath to pick up the cargo.

Sharp!!! Look at them!!!

I don't have much to say about these but I'm fairly sure I hadn't seen them before. I am wondering if they downsized Alek's crew for the sake of the story, or perhaps we just haven't seem Bauer and Hoffman yet.

We got some new character art! The panel was very cryptic about who the character designer is. Apparently they're pretty well known, but they can't share it yet!

Volger I am so sorry your photo was unfocused. Forgive me.

The panel jokingly described him as "Alek's dad," which feels accurate. And maybe I misunderstood, but it sounds like he plays an even more important role in the anime than he does in the books. I've always considered Volger to be a pretty important character, so I wonder what else he'll do in this new series.

Klopp looks exactly like how I pictured him in my mind!! They said if Volger is Alek's dad, then Klopp is like his mom. Which is very fair but also made me laugh a lot.

Dr. Barlow!! She looks amazing. There was a lot of talk about the dynamic between her and Volger and how they're often playing mental chess games with each other. I'm really glad they're leaning into that dynamic.

And one more concept art:

This looks like the visit to Istanbul, which I'm desperately hoping means we'll see my favorite chaotic bisexual, Lilit.

That's all of the photos I have! They also showed us a preview of the show plus a live performance of the ending song with Diana Garnet. No video recording was allowed and I don't break rules, but believe me when I tell you it was stunning. The world feels so full of life and adventure and I can't wait to see the final show.

Tbh I was too busy holding back tears of joy but one thing I remember distinctly is there's a shot of Sharp getting ready for the day, and we see a sheet of paper with a bunch of names written and crossed out before finally (I think) "Dylan" is circled.

Which actually brings me to the Q&A part. TLDR, between the use of "Sharp" for Deryn's name, Scott referring to Sharp as "she/he/they" during the panel, and the scene I mentioned earlier, I feel really hopeful about how they're approaching Deryn's gender and identity in this adaptation.

I asked a question about this at the Q&A and voice recorded it, so I'll try to transcribe it here as best I can because the audio is not great lol. I stumbled through my question so I trimmed it down here but I'll transcribe the response as clearly as I can!

Me: I just finished re-reading [the series] for the first time since I was probably in high school, and one of the things that interests me about this adaptation is the approach to Sharp's character... I guess I'm just interested, like, was there a lot of thought put behind, or what kind of thought was put behind how to approach their character in the anime, I guess as a chance to re-approach the story however many years after it was originally written.

Scott Westerfeld: Yeah, there's a lot to that. The "girl dressing as a boy" as a trope was something completely different in 2007 when I started writing this than it is now. And so we really approached Deryn's identity as what was at stake rather than just... rather than just her being in disguise, it's about their recreating themselves and becoming a different person and transitioning and, and so... but it's always been interesting to me that the words that I wrote back in 2009, 10, 11, y'know, as an old guy who grew up in Texas in the 70s - who was David Bowie fan! - but otherwise didn't have a lot of access into issues of gender, I'm amazed at how many people have been [able to?] adopt Deryn/Dylan as one of their own. I just got an email a week ago from a trans boy whose chosen name is Dylan. So it is amazing to me how whatever imperfections or whatever problematics there are in the text, people still find their way into what they need from a character. And as a writer, I can say that I always respected that character, I always respected their choices, I always respected who they were. I never tried to stick them into a dress and have everyone go "Ooh now you're pretty 'because 'cause you're in dress!" We didn't do that, and I think that what may be important for people and I think that's why it's still what's gonna work here, but it's been fun to be able to update it and everybody on the team's been really great about understanding that.

TLDR I don't want to get anyone's hopes up too high, but I'm really appreciative of the care that's being taken with Sharp's story and identity in this adaptation. It seems like Scott and the others on the team are taking that into account, and I'm excited to see how it plays out.

Other random things I remember:

THERE WAS AN ALEK COSPLAYER. I took a photo with them but I won't post it without their consent. Just trust that they looked fantastic.

Scott said one of the first things he was told was that Alek can't actually kill Nikola Tesla because he's too well loved by people in Japan, which I think is the funniest possible reason for a change to be made in an adaptation.

Diana Garnet (they/any) mentioned how much they love Sharp (don't we all) and also how they used to work at a Barnes and Noble and remembers selling lots of Westerfeld books!

Scott said his approach in writing Leviathan was taking everything he'd always wanted to write about and basically throwing it together, because he was just coming off of the success of Uglies and figured he could get away with it.

If I remember anything else I'll add on to this post! Overall, it was a wonderful panel and I'm incredibly excited for this project.

[literaryavenger]

Heartbroken

Summary: Tony helps you through your first heartbreak.

Pairing: Dad!Tony Stark x Daughter!female!reader

Warnings: Fluff. Language cause why not. Reader is hurting. Tony is an angel. My poor attempts at being funny.

Word Count: 1.4K

A/N: I wanted some soft dad Tony and this came out. The end is a little rushed, I didn't know where I wanted it to go but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I hope you like it!

Masterlist

You exited the elevator and made your way through the living room, not sparing anybody a second glance.

You went straight to your room and slammed the door behind you, leaving all of the avengers that were currently in the living room in a shocked silence.

That wasn’t like you.

You're a cheery and positive teenager that never misses a chance to hang out with your favorite group of superheroes.

Even during your bad days, you at least said hi and chat a bit before going to your room, so your behavior today as you came home from school leaves everyone worried.

They all know high school isn't easy, but it somehow never affected you much.

Maybe because you grew up in the spotlight, being a Stark.

You were the perfect combination of Pepper and Tony, smart and driven, sarcastic and confident, sweet and supportive. Really just a ray of sunshine in everyone’s life.

Everybody at Midtown High knows who you are and every student you meet gets surprised by how nice you are to anyone that approaches you, everyone expecting you to be a stuck up bitch.

You talk to and befriend anybody who’s nice to you, but you spend most of your time with Peter, Ned and MJ.

Speaking of which, while everybody stares at the door you just disappeared through, Peter enters the room through the window, a feat that not everyone is used to yet.

"Damn it, bug boy, stop doing that!" Sam almost yells, never failing to get startled by his abrupt entrances.

"Sorry, Mr. Falcon, sir." he says sheepishly while Bucky snickers like every other time, but before they can start bickering like always, Tony addresses Peter.

"What’s wrong with my daughter, Spider-ling?" he says in a serious tone, despite the nickname he can’t seem to get tired of.

"I don’t know, Mr. Stark. She was fine during lunch, but when school ended she was nowhere to be seen. We were suppose to meet at the exit like always but she rushed home alone. That’s why I’m here, I was worried." the more Peter talks the more Tony gets worried.

It wasn’t like you to not show up to do something you planned to do with someone else, let alone without giving a reason or at least a warning first.

Tony has heard enough so he gets up from his seat and walks towards your room, knocking twice, then once and then three times fast, a secret knock you came up with when you were little designed just for him.

He hears a faint ‘come in’ and, with furrowed eyebrows, he enters your room, finding you sitting on the bed hugging your knees to your chest.

Without saying a word he comes in, shuts the door and sits next to you, putting an arm around your shoulders. You shift to put your head in his chest and, when hug him as tightly as you can, Tony can actually feel his own heart breaking at the sight.

His little ray of sunshine, crying her heart and soul out and there's nothing more he can do but hold you. So he holds onto you just as tight as you are, willing himself not to let his own tears fall at seeing you so broken, needing to be strong for you.

After you calm down a bit, he can’t help himself as he asks "who do I have to kill?"

He feel a little better when he hears your little giggle against his chest, but he's still very worried and you both know he wasn’t entirely kidding.

He doesn’t rush you into talking, giving you time to put together your thoughts before starting to explain.

"I’ve been seeing someone..." you start, sitting up straight, sniffling, and he already doesn't like where this is going. "I’m sorry I haven’t said anything, mom knows though…"

"Of course she does." he mumbles, a little offended you would tell her and not him, and Tony Stark was never one to not voice his thoughts. "Why didn’t you tell me?" he was clearly hurt, pouting a bit just to amuse you. You giggle again as you answer.

"I’m sorry, but I know what you would’ve said: ‘You’re not allowed to date until you’re 65’" you try to imitate him with a deep voice that makes him chuckle.

"Damn right you can’t!" He says and you lighten up a little at his laughter and keep talking.

"I was going to introduce you soon, I swear! But then…" your smile falls and you can’t stop the few tears that escape. "Today, while I was waiting on Peter, I saw him…"

You trail off and he holds your hand giving you an encouraging squeeze but still not pushing you. Then, in the smallest voice he’d ever heard you use, you finish your sentence. "He was kissing another girl…"

He wished you hadn’t finished the sentence. You start crying again, quieter than before, but it still broke Tony’s heart.

"Oh, honey…" He wraps his arms around you again, mentally planning how to kill and dispose of the body of the little prick, when he hears you again, your voice barely a whisper.

"It hurts, dad… why does it hurt so much?" you still couldn’t stop crying, barely able to finish the sentence.

"I know, Tinkerbell." The use of your childhood nickname made you smile against the tears, the memory of how it came to be coming to the forefront of your mind.

You were about 6 years old, watching Peter Pan for the first time with your parents, when you started giggling uncontrollably.

Your parents gave you a funny look, expecting you to be sad at the part where Tinkerbell was dying and worried they were raising a little psychopath.

"What are you laughing at, Junior?" much to Pepper’s displeasure Tony had started calling you that, sustaining that you were turning out to be just like a little version of him.

Your mom disagreed, but was slowly changing her mind, especially after what little six year old you said next.

"Daddy’s just like Tinkerbell: if she doesn’t get attention he dies!" you got out between giggles, making Pepper almost double over laughing as Tony started a tickle attack, a fake offended look on his face.

After that your dad started calling you Tinkerbell, not able to let go of your first sarcastic comment, against him of all people, but secretly very proud.

You were brought back to the present by your dad’s words as he started rubbing your back. 

"I know it hurts now, but it’s gonna get better, I promise. Your first heartbreak is never easy, but the good news is you have your whole life ahead of you to find a guy smart enough to understand how lucky he is to be loved by you and never let you go."

Now, Tony Stark is many things.

He’s a genius, billionaire, former playboy and philanthropist. He’s an entrepreneur, a superhero, a savior. He’s a role model, a caring friend and doting husband.

But, at this very moment, you can’t help but be proud to call him your father.

You wish you could tell him that at the moment, but you can’t find the voice to speak so you make a mental note to tell him later. Right now all you can do is hug him so tight you’re not entirely sure he’s able to breathe, but he doesn’t make any attempts to make you let go.

The next couple of hours are spent between hugs, words of encouragement and Tony trying everything he can to make you laugh.

When he succeeds in lifting your spirits, you both make your way to the living room where all of the Avengers are now, Pepper included. You sit next to her and she wraps her arm around you, having already been updated on the situation, of course.

Everyone else seemed to have come to a mutual understanding of not pressing the matter, knowing you’ll open up when you’re ready and not wanting to upset you again now that you’re back to your cheery self.

You’re glad nobody’s asking any questions, acting like nothing happened, exactly what you need right now.

You spend the rest of the day with your family, forgetting all about your broken heart, realizing you’re better off without him.

At one point your dad whispers to you "I still need the name of the little jerk, so I can fuck him up" and you can’t help but laugh, more glad than ever to be lucky enough to be a Stark.

[xmissrogersx]

“Shit, i love this skirt” | Joel Miller

tags: Post-Outbreak. Fluff. +18. Period issues.

a note from pris: i write this during my period, and all i want to say is I NEED A JOEL IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW.

my writing is entirely my own. Any adaptation and/or copy is forbidden.

i hope you are enjoying my stories! U help me a lot if you give me a ♡! All the love.

priscila’ masterlist

-Do you have the same one but in another color?

“Count to 10, Paris" I said softly, otherwise I'm going to kill the stupid girl in front of me. One, two, three...

-It's a blanket they picked up on patrol, not a pair of Manolo Blahnik.

-What's that? -said the one next to her. You're kidding me, they must be in their 40's and have no idea what i just told them.

-Are you going to take it or not? -they looked at each other, causing me to take a breath and pick up my mental count and avoid exploding.

-Are you sure there isn't another color?

I could swear my eye twitched the moment I got up from my chair, which caused the others in the room to turn their gazes towards me.

-Hey…why don't we go outside, okay? -Maria approached me and pulled me out, preventing something worse from breaking out.

-Sorry, but i couldn't stand those two assholes anymore —I explained, putting my hand on my belly as I suddenly felt a cramp, making it obvious what was happening to me. I hated it when my period came. She put my hand on my lower back for support.

-Why didn't you tell me and stay home? I know it sucks when it happens, honey.

I nodded slightly, not ignoring the truth, although deep down I wanted to keep my job at Jackson.

-Does Joel know?

-No, no. I didn't want to worry him, he had the patrol with Tommy and if I told him he'd probably chain me to the bed and not let me out.

-As if you don't like it when he do that —she said, raising her eyebrow, provoking a laugh from both of them.

-Don't make me laugh, I feel like I'm going to fall over.

-Speaking of Rome —she nodded his head at the entrance.

Getting off his horse and cleaning his shotgun, he was wearing a T-shirt that clung to his body due to the heat of the incipient summer that was already approaching, along with pants that molded his strong legs. Even if they had shouted that they were attacking us this damn moment, I couldn't take my eyes off him.

-All mine...—Maria laughed softly when she saw my expression.

-You're so horny, girl —walking over to the Millers, but not before approaching Joel, who quickly raised his gaze to me. He walked away from them, and in big strides was already lifting me up in his arms.

-Joel...

-Why didn't you tell me, baby? —He locked his beautiful brown eyes in mine.

-I love you... very, very much —I smiled innocently.

-That's not going to work,pretty girl.

-I'm sorry, daddy —I whispered the latter in his ear and kissed his lobe, getting a growl from him and a little giggle from me.

We walked through the front door, where he deposited me on the living room couch and then kissed my forehead and went upstairs to prepare the bathtub, since the book I had read and under Mary's advice, the hot water helped the cramps in my belly.

Just for one second imagine for a minute this man with glasses on reading a manual about the female period. When I thought Joel couldn't be more attentive and gentle, I caught him in that situation.

-Hi, Paris —Ellie walk inside and set his backpack aside.

-Hi,cutie, how was school?

-I hate fractions, seriously, why the fuck do I want to know how to divide a cake, I just split it and that's it.

-First of all, language. Second, it's important that you know it, even if you don't believe it, it's useful for everyday life.

-Like what? -He frowned and I opened my mouth to answer, but no word could come out of my lexicon.

-You're right, they're not good for shit —I answered with a laugh from her.-Well, I'm going upstairs…

-¡Paris, your skirt! -she suddenly exclaimed. I turned my head to literally see the fabric covering my ass with a small red stain.

-¡La puta madre! ¡Shit, i love this skirt! it's my favorite, i was going to wear this for your presentation.

-We can wash it, Maria must have something or some weird substance to fix it.

My eyes glazed over at how worried she was about me. Just like her father. I wrapped my arms around her body, to which she reacted in kind. On the outside many times Ellie appeared to be a tough and somewhat coarse girl, but it was only because of the constant struggle she had gone through for the longest and shortest part of her life. She's just a kid.

-I know how bad it is when it happens to you, and you don't deserve it —she said with her face in my chest, her voice distressed.

-Relax, I'm fine —I whispered, stroking her hair —I couldn't be better, I have my family and that's all I need.

-Being a woman sucks, I wish I was half as brave as you —she looked up at me, to which I laughed to hug her tighter as I quickly denied.

-I don't agree, ¿you know why? Because we are intelligent, fearful, brave. You faced unimaginable things, Ellie, and every time you came out of it, you got stronger.

-She’s right.

We both turned around when we heard him. He walked towards us and wrapped us in his arms to lift us off the ground laughing in unison.

-Let go of me, I have to go, old man —she pulled out of his grip to run away.

-So...we have about, what, ¿2 hours for Ellie's play? —I frowned uncomprehendingly, to which he once again pulled me back to my feet —I brought chocolate almonds, just the way you like it.

Damn crazy hormones. Tears began to fall down my cheeks as if a waterfall was flowing down my face. He tried to calm me down but I put my hand on his lips, silencing him.

-Joel, please, you don't want to take me like that after you see me from behind —I said embarrased.

-You have nothing to be ashamed of, sweetheart. Actually, I like the way you looked at me when I came in from the raid —I opened my mouth wide.-You made me feel attractive —he said softly, to which I immediately brought our lips together.

God, I'd been holding back since this morning, points for holding back.

-Joel Miller, did you ever look in the mirror? —I stroked his mustache and beard.-Because I can assure you that Jackson's women do.

-I don't care, darlin'. The only one who can bring me to my knees is you. And I should also say that I've seen you get looks from more than one idiot at the bar.

I sighed and kissed his cheek. We went into the bedroom, and he put me down on the bed to bend down and start taking off my shoes.

-You're mine —he said kissing my thigh as he began to undress me, making me hold my breath. He wanted to etch into my skin that I belonged to him, now and always.

[nostromo13]

Marry the Sea

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Pairing: Nalu

Rating: Gen

Summary: Usually Natsu felt like he knew everything when it came to Lucy. He knows she loves him but now it's come time to propose and he's not so sure if marriage is something she wants.

This was written for @fleuve-des-etoiles for the @allaboutnalu 2023 Gift Exchange. Sorry it took so long to get out. Life has me busy but I loved writing this.

I owe a big thank you to Tokkias for being my beta for this fic. She put so much work into this, so smooches for her

AO3 Link

Lucy didn’t like surprises. Her friends knew her birthdays weren’t to be made a fuss of and any special achievements such as her book award required no more than a personal, close-circle dinner at a budget-friendly restaurant. No splashing out on her account.

If she took the care to analyse this feeling properly she could probably identify the source as some unspecifiable upset from the hundreds of surprises that came from having wealth. There were the low-effort, entirely symbolic trinkets that counted as birthday presents from her father – usually bought by the house staff – which didn’t make for a great foundation of trust in gift giving. And there were the bountiful gifts from potential courters, all with a transparent intention behind them wrapped up in crepe paper and finished with professionally tied bows. She had had enough of gifts by the time she left the Heartfilia mansion.

As such, a dilemma arose upon the start of her relationship with Natsu. Her love language was quality time, either by themselves or with Happy. It didn’t matter where, as long as she could enjoy her time with her new boyfriend. Natsu's, however, was gift giving.

Lucy had explained to him after the third little trinket that he had given her for no particular reason other than he liked it and thought it would look pretty on her that she simply wasn’t interested in that sort of thing. It set off something in her that made her want to cry that she wasn’t his dress-up doll and she hated feeling like someone else was trying to make her pretty or put her on display.

She knew it wasn’t like that, though. Natsu, for all his dragon tendencies, wanted to make her smile with his giving. She wasn’t his hoard – although wherever that was hidden away it did have a lot of similar jewellery to the sort she wore. She wished she could make more room for his love language and as such she let him go all out for birthdays and Christmas. She tried to meet his gusto when she could.

After four years of resigning gifts as a solely birthday affair, Natsu now had to figure out how to propose to her without touching the nerve that led straight to the ‘gift’ trigger portion of Lucy’s brain. He had even pulled in the big guns to help him plan the right approach.

“I don’t see how it’s the same thing as a gift. I think she’ll be fine with it, Natsu.” Levy was offering her insight, albeit unhelpfully so far.

They had gathered along with Gray, excluding the rest of their team because Erza had the tact of a pinwheel and would blow the operation in her next conversation with Lucy and the guilt of keeping a secret would eat away at Wendy from the inside out. The Exceeds had never really gotten the hang of human dating rituals. Case and point Happy understanding his finally winning Carla over as the result of his continued fish offerings.

“If it feels like the natural time for you both, I don’t see why you shouldn’t.” Levy continued as Natsu shook his head.

“What if it’s the right time for me but it isn’t for her? I don’t want to push her.”

“You don’t want it to be a repeat of Joe. That’s what you’re worried about.” Gray interjected. As much as they grated on each other, Gray was good at being his back up when Natsu truly needed it. It was a once in a blue moon occurrence but Natsu couldn’t help but be glad for his long-term nemesis right now.

Joe had been Lucy’s boyfriend prior to Natsu at 22 and things had gotten pretty serious. They had done all but move in together when Joe popped the question and it had sent Lucy running in the other direction. She had loved him and she had loved his family, but for whatever reason that Natsu hadn’t deciphered in the three years since then that he and Lucy had been dating, she hadn’t been ready to get married.

“It won’t be another Joe.” Levy spoke rather sternly. The script mage was convinced that just because he was Natsu and he was Lucy’s partner, that they were eternally bonded and Lucy wouldn’t dream of turning down his proposal. All he had to do, in her eyes, was gather the balls to ask.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t be nervous.” Levy shifted her tone when she realised she was erring on the side of unsympathetic. “Of course you’re going to be nervous. She’s the love of your life.”

Gray made a nauseous face at that, earning a playful elbow from Natsu. “Maybe a ring isn’t the right move.” He added, trying to be at least somewhat helpful.

“Lucy’s never responded well to jewellery.” Natsu agreed, getting an immediate objection from Levy.

“She liked that last necklace you got her. She wears it all the time.”

“And she helped me find the ring I proposed to Juvia with.” Gray added.

Natsu gave it a hard thought. “Did she give any indication of whether she would want one? From me?”

“We didn’t talk about it. She was dating him at the time and it didn’t really seem relevant. She was always going to end up with you anyway.”

That seemed to calm him a little. His nerves were racing even through the planning stage but if everyone else saw what he had from way before the war with the Alvarez empire that maybe, just maybe, Lucy loved him as much as he did her.

Or very possibly it wasn’t about love and marriage just wasn’t something she wanted, in which case they would work around it.

Having given all the advice she could reasonably give, Levy called over her husband, currently arrested himself in the demand of two four year olds gripping onto his arms and dangling off the floor.

“Did Salamander decide whether he was gonna do it or not?” He asked, directing his question to his wife as if the other two weren’t sitting across from her.

“Yeah, I think I will.” Natsu replied. “It’s all I want right now and I want to at least have the conversation with her.”

“That’s the right spirit, Natsu.” Levy agreed.

Gajeel guffawed in his gravelly voice, the sharpest of his teeth showing in his amusement. “Make sure ya get a return receipt on that ring.”

Yeah, that didn’t help.

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

When the day finally came, Natsu had everything planned down to the minute. He had put more effort into this than anything else in his life – including the trials in which he had succeeded at gaining S-Class mage status.

He was intent on at least talking to Lucy about it even if she didn’t end up saying yes right there. The worst-case scenario was her doing the same thing she did to her ex and bolting after the smallest explanation she could muster. Only this time Natsu wasn’t an outsider to the guild and it would affect their whole social lives and work.

They had just finished a mission together when they were off on their date. Casual clothing – nothing that could tip her off or make it so big a deal that she would feel pressured. They’d gathered a few foods from her kitchen, put them in a basket so they would be easier to carry and set off for the park for an afternoon lunch.

“I love Jason but I sometimes wish he wasn’t so pushy with getting me to ask my friends if they will do shoots for him.” Natsu listened as Lucy described her recent run in with their favourite reporter. He and Lucy really were good friends from her time as a journalist with Sorcerer Weekly but since then Jason, feeling the pressure from his bosses to churn out more content of Fiore’s top guild, had been trying to use his connection with Lucy to influence Mira and the other Fairy Tail girls to model for him. While they were happy to, on occasion, the weekly permanent contracts that Jason was pushing for weren’t conducive to the busy life of a Fairy Tail Mage.

“What did he say when you asked him to stop?”

“He just got all sad.” Lucy shrugged. “I know it’s none of my responsibility and he’s not trying to make it so it is but I feel kind of bad.”

“Eh, it’s his job, and it sounds more like his bosses are screwing up.”

Her boyfriend, ever the blunt one. Lucy chuckled to herself. “It’s not like that in that world of work. He can’t just drop a client like us because he doesn’t like the way they speak. You can’t just change your bosses.”

“Sounds dumb.” He shook his head. It took a second for him to realise how dismissive he might have sounded. “I’m glad you came back with me instead of staying at that job.” He added softly. 

“Me too.” She smiled at him.

They had known generally what area they would sit in when they entered the park. Picnics weren’t out of place for them and Lucy particularly loved sitting near the duck pond so they aimed for about there. They managed to find a nice shady spot that got enough of the Spring breeze but also the summer warmth that May was beginning to invite in.

Lucy waited for Natsu to finish spreading out the blanket before placing their items down and unpacking their basket. Some fruits, some sweeter snacks for later and Marmalade sandwiches, a quirk Lucy had brought with her from her hometown that, when she had introduced it to Natsu, it had become a firm favourite. Now, whenever they passed through Acalypha on the way back from a mission, she always made sure to pick up a fresh jar.

Natsu reached for the Tupperware of cakes, stopping himself just as his fingers met the rim of the plastic. He wanted to be on his best behaviour today and going for dessert first didn’t fall under that. Unless doing just that would tip her off. And surely he should act like his usual self today.

As if answering his question, his fingers were moved out the way by more dainty ones. He watched as Lucy removed the lid for him, taking a slice of Battenberg from the options and raising it to her lips, taking a big bite.

He watched almost in awe. Lucy never broke social etiquette, especially not around food. He was pretty sure such a thing went against her coding.

“Go on Natsu.” She smiled widely at her sputtering boyfriend. She brushed a few crumbs from the corner of her mouth where her unusual haste had spread some.

He didn’t need to be told twice. He took the plate she offered, filling his plate so full that the weight of the mini cakes and the structure of the plate made it look like a paper plate taco in his grip.

Eventually they got through the deserts and onto the sandwiches, Lucy admittedly feeling a little sickly after so much sugar. That was never a hazard for her partner. They had struck up in that time a conversation debating which of their guildmates would win a Ninja obstacle course – whatever one of those was.

The debate had reached the point where Natsu had stood up, waving his arms about, animatedly presenting his argument as to why Laxus could not win at the inflatable obstacle course section.

“He would blow up the course because of the static electricity or something. He couldn’t touch the thing without it exploding beneath him because his electricity would fuck everything up, right?”

“I thought magic was banned from this.” Lucy asked, taking another bite of a sandwich. “I think he would just run around, anyway.”

“No, that would be banned.”

“But the Exceeds flying isn’t?”

“Yeah, well, the floor is Lava or something, I don’t know.” He grinned, not deflated at all by her pragmatism. This was how their conversations usually went on dates like this. She would propose some stupid idea – the Guild Obstacle Course coming from her mind and not his– and Natsu would take it and run with it while she offered a more practical perspective on things.

He sat himself down beside her, arms outstretched on the grass as she leaned into his shoulder. “I think Erza would win.”

“Yeah, she would.” He agreed, more occupied with the feel of her hair against his cheek than expanding on their argument.

“Although.” Lucy began to add, popping her head up suddenly from their rest, “Sabertooth could give us a good run for our money.”

“But they’re not in the guild.”

“So, we’d open it up to other guilds. We could make a rival Grand Magic Games.”

“With no magic?” 

“Oh, yeah.” She seemed to sink back into thinking. Before she could think up a new line of enquiry, Natsu thought it best to try and steer her onto a more affectionate type of conversation. Hopefully that would calm the thrumming in his chest that had taken route there the night before. 

“Cana’s been talking about proposing to Abigail.” Smooth, dragon slayer.  He chastised himself for showing his talent for bluntness.

Lucy smiled, though showing no suggestion that she had caught onto his internal anxiety. “I like Abi. I think she’s been really good for Cana and Cana’s been good for her.”

“The guild’s income has been suffering from it.”

“More alcohol for Macao’s lot, I guess.”

They shared a laugh. Opening his eyes, Natsu looked at her as she giggled. Her eyes were on the duck pond where a small cluster of the ducks of Magnolia South Gate Park were gathered, picking their lunch out of a soggy white bread loaf that some teenagers had chucked into the pond whole. Sometimes she smiled as if she was so entirely content with life. Ducks made her content, Wednesday evenings with him made her content, as did birthday parties and nights out with their friends. He hoped it didn’t mean there wasn’t room for more in their relationship. That maybe she was too content with her life as it was now for things to change.

The weight of the box in his pocket felt heavier as he watched, requiring a quick shake of the head to reset the feeling. He could only talk to her.

“Lucy.” Natsu spoke, thanking his voice for not giving out on him when it counted. She gave him her attention, smiling because there was no way she could see the anxiety bubbling inside his gut. At least that settled him a little. “If I proposed, what would you say? I already have the ring. I just need to know if that is something you would want.”

Lucy’s smile dropped into surprise. Her stare was stuck on his, and for a moment the cogs seemed to slow. But not into a stressed jutting, more into a peaceful, steady clicking.

 Her smile bloomed.

“I would say yes.”

If she expected the conversation to end there, she didn’t stop him as he moved onto one knee. His hand tugged the box from the pocket of his trousers, presenting its black velvet exterior before effortlessly prizing it open. Her eyes widened as if she hadn’t realised that he had meant now, but she easily found herself settling into the pull of it.

“Lucy. You’re my best friend.” Natsu felt his cheeks ache with his broad grin. “I think you might be the best thing that ever happened to me and Happy. Even if you’re not always happy with us and we insult you sometimes. You let me take you on adventures and you make me feel comfortable because that is just what you do. You make everyone feel okay with being themselves around you. I think you’re so strong and kind and I love watching you practice your magic because you just care about your spirits, without anyone asking you to. I think it’s incredible. I love you and I want to marry you. Will you marry me?”

“Yes.” Lucy half-whispered. “Yes, I will.” 

She met him on his knees, her hands clutching onto his shoulders as she kissed him over and over. “Can I put the ring on you?” He asked between pecks. 

She nodded, leaning into his shoulder as he tugged the ring from its hold in the velvet. The kiss had made her breathless but the feel and sight of him slipping the ring on her left hand had the sort of butterflies she had only felt with him making her skin tingle. “Natsu, it’s beautiful.”

The ring itself was simple but vintage – not that he could spell the word – and had a round garnet set in the middle. He had chosen it by himself but at Levy’s instruction he had taken one of Lucy’s rings with him for the sizing. It was still loose by a small bit but they could get it resized no problem. Right now he was just happy it was a hit. “Gods, I would’ve been okay if you had just wanted to date instead of getting married but I’m so glad I won’t have to return the ring. The shop man was super weird.” 

“Was it that shop just off the marketplace? Levy says that guy is super intense about green engagement rings and thinks everyone should have one.”

He chuckled, unaware that such a guy had existed. “No, I got it in Hargeon.”

“Oh,” She felt her blush blossom more.

“Shit, I love you.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “I was so worried you’d say no.” 

“Why would I?” She had to take a second to think. “I sort of knew you were going to propose. I would have said something sooner if I didn’t want you to.” 

“You knew?”

“I– yeah. I’ve been nervously rambling all afternoon. Could you not tell?” She laughed. An hour ago she was barely making it through a conversation without blurting whatever she could think about, work, and modelling and whatever. Natsu had never been one to ignore her when she felt like she was being boring but she wouldn’t have blamed him for a disinterested sound.

“Why were you nervous?” His brow had softened and he’d taken to stroking her fingers between his own wanting to listen.

“I didn’t want to accidentally ruin whatever you had planned. I don’t know, really. You can always sort of tell when a guy’s about to propose but you never know when it’ll happen.”

“Did you know with Joe?”

Lucy swallowed, nodding. “He sort of got happy whenever he was around me. And since I didn’t really want that with him I just ignored it until I couldn’t any longer.”

“But you do want this with me?”

“Yes.” She nodded harder. “I didn’t know it at the time but I broke things off with him because of you. I think you’ve always been in my heart even if it took me a while to realise it.” She didn’t let him speak. “I love you and I want this with you, more than anything.”

Natsu kissed her again, hands pressed to her cheeks to pull her in and she smiled into it. His fingers tangled into her hair and he sighed, finally content. He had everything he wanted right here and he could spend his lifetime making her happy.

[meiliarotten]

Team Fortress 2 Kinktober Time

Day 29: Overcome (Edging)

🔞MINORS DNI🔞

Pairings: Spy x Male!Reader

Summary: Five thousand words of Spy just wrecking the reader.

Tags: Edging, dirty talk, degradation, lube, dom/sub, teasing, oral

Word Count: 5.1k

The Masterlist

You couldn’t quell the sense of apprehension that you felt as you approached Spy’s private quarters. You knew he probably wanted to go over the day's battle- which inevitably devolved into listing each and every misstep you had made. You would be lying if you said it wasn’t a bit discouraging, especially since this had become a near weekly routine.

Perhaps it would be easier if he wasn’t so damn attractive. Spy was a handsome man, even with the mask, you could tell. You wanted to impress him. Unfortunately your attempts to do so often led to the previously mentioned missteps. In your opinion, he could probably be qualified as a workplace hazard with how often he distracted you on the job. Then again, as a mercenary, workplace hazards were pretty much in the job description.

Today you were especially distracted, most likely because your little infatuation was getting worse. You had practically walked right into enemy fire. The fact that Spy had seen it all made you want to die, but then again, respawn would probably just bring you back to face your embarrassment head on.

Well, there was no point in stalling. With a resigned sigh, you entered the room. It was always more organized than you expected. It was definitely tidier than yours, and probably cleaner and more well furnished than any of the other mercenaries’ rooms. The scent of smoke was evident, but not suffocating. Spy was seated on the edge of his bed, and you startled a bit when his eyes met yours.

He wasn’t wearing his mask. You had seen glimpses of Spy without the balaclava before, but they were few and far between. More often than not it was with stolen glances in the showers, which you tried to keep as subtle as possible. You had certainly never had the chance to see him up close like this before. You shook your head, trying to regain some focus.

“You wanted to see me?” You asked, trying not to make it obvious that you were staring. He had the faintest bit of stubble on his face, and you couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to feel it, to simply brush your hand against his cheek. “Look, I know I was really off my game today. I promise I’ll do better next time-”

“That is not what I wanted to discuss, my dear.” Spy cut you off. You were actually thankful to be interrupted, as you knew you would just start rambling if you went on.

“It’s not?” You asked, tilting your head to the side curiously.

“Non, at least, not entirely,” he explained. “It is obvious that you’re quite distracted on the battlefield as of late. I know you have potential. You can improve, yet you make foolish mistakes and take unnecessary risks, and I think I know why.”

“Oh? And why is that?” You asked, feigning interest. It almost sounded as if he was about to give you some half-assed inspirational speech. You couldn’t suppress a smile at the thought of that, almost laughing at the idea of Spy of all people giving a pep talk.

“You have been trying to impress me.”

Your smile dropped as soon as it appeared. Oh. Oh fuck.

“Excuse me?” You tried to stay nonchalant. You must have heard him wrong. You couldn’t possibly be that easy to read, could you?

“You have been trying to impress me,” he repeated, just as clearly as the first time. “You’ve wanted my attention for some time now.”

Your mind was racing as you tried to find a way out of this. Maybe you could still play dumb? You tried to maintain a poker face- which may have worked if it weren’t for the fact that you had never won a poker game in your life.

“It’s not what you think-”

“And before you try to deny it, I’ll have you know that I keep a close eye on everyone in the base.” Spy said, cutting off what would have been a futile attempt at damage control. “I’ve seen you sneaking glances in the showers and the way your face glows red when you notice me watching you on the battlefield. It would be ineffective to lie to me.”

You clenched your jaw in defeat. He was right, and you were irritated that you hadn’t hidden it better. Then again, he was a spy. You should have known you would be figured out eventually. It was frustrating to be read like an open book. But the most frustrating thing by far was that even now, as he called you out like this, you still found him so damn hot.

You were also quite preoccupied with the imminent hard on you were trying not to think about. That was a concern for later, when you were by yourself.

“So what are you trying to say, Spy?” You asked, defeat evident in your voice. “What is this about? Did you just want to humiliate me?”

“I would never, chéri.” Spy looked offended, hurt even, at the idea that you would ask such a question. “What I’m trying to say is, I know what you want, and I am more than willing to give it to you. That is, if you are willing to listen and obey.”

The sense of vulnerability you had been feeling since you entered Spy’s room threatened to boil over. You felt seen. Spy knew that he could have you shuddering beneath his gaze and going weak at the sound of his voice if he tried hard enough. Even now, your head spun at the prospect of what you were being offered, breath quickening and inhaling an intoxicating blend of expensive cigarettes and cologne which permeated the air.

“What would you like me to do?” You asked, cautious, perhaps even a bit hesitant, but willing.

Spy paused, thinking for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected you to submit with such ease. The way he looked at you made you shiver. His eyes were narrowed and focused, like an animal stalking prey.

“I would like you to undress,” he said, finally breaking the silence. You breathed a shaky sigh. You knew that this would likely end with you naked, but you hadn’t expected it to be so immediate, nor did you expect to be commanded to strip in such a matter-of-fact way.

Steeling your nerves, you pulled off your shirt and pants, trying to look as alluring as possible as you did so. Based on the way Spy chuckled, you guessed that your efforts came off as more cute than handsome, but at least it was endearing anyway.

“All the way, darling,” he said when you were nearly done, motioning towards the briefs you had neglected to remove.

You hesitated, realizing for a moment how much power you had given Spy, and even though you could revoke that power at any moment, it still made you nervous. Perhaps that was part of the appeal. You put on a brave face, hooking your fingers into the waistband and dropping the final garment to the floor along with your other clothes.

The way Spy looked you up and down made you feel like some kind of exotic animal, paraded around for his viewing pleasure. It should have felt demeaning, but under his gaze all you felt was excitement. And of course, now that you were naked, there was no way for you to hide the physical evidence of that excitement, save for holding your hands strategically in front of yourself, which was exactly what you opted to do.

“Very nice. Now come here,” Spy finally spoke after what felt like an eternity of simply staring at you. In reality, it had probably lasted for only a few moments, but you were still happy to finally be proceeding. You approached Spy, and he stood for the first time since you entered his room. Still, he looked perfectly relaxed. It was the posture of someone who knew they were in control, who knew they were perfectly capable of drawing you in and bending you to their will.

You gasped softly when he took hold of your wrists, pulling your hands away from where they futilely tried to hide your arousal. You were fully hard at this point, and you hoped that the smirk that spread across Spy’s lips was a sign that he was impressed with what he saw. Silence fell over the two of you again, and again it felt like forever before he finally responded.

“You are quite a sight, mon ange,” he said, barely above a whisper. “I want to touch every inch of you.”

You let him do just that, shuddering as he ran his hands down your sides. The unmistakable texture of leather gloves traced the curvature and edges of your body. His gaze seemed to burn, intense and focused, as if he was looking through you, seeing your every layer, perceiving the deepest details of your being. It took every bit of will you had not to cover yourself again.

For a while you watched his hands to distract yourself from your nervousness. As they traveled over your flesh your eyes followed them. That worked until he brought one of those wandering hands to your chin, tilting your head upward so that you met his eyes. They were alight with lust and something you couldn’t quite place. You didn’t have time to ponder it though, as he leaned in and caught you in a kiss.

You wasted no time kissing back, but it was clumsy, especially compared to Spy’s more experienced movements. His tongue slid against your lips in a silent request for entrance that you gladly gave in to. He explored your mouth skillfully, gradually deepening the kiss. The two of you parted for breath in intervals of only a few seconds before setting upon each other again, rough, needy, and hungry for more.

You didn’t even notice that you were being carefully guided to the bed. Only when Spy pulled away fully did you realize that you were seated on the mattress, gently being pushed backwards.

“Lay back, darling. Relax,” Spy said, grinning as he climbed atop you. Before you could say a word he was pressing his lips against you, from your mouth to your neck and then lower still. You arched up against him, shivering at the feeling of the expensive fabric of his suit against your bare skin.

“Spy, please! Fuck me!” You begged, reaching up and pulling at the lapels in an attempt to get his attention.

“Not yet.” Spy calmly removed your hands, freeing himself from your grasp, which had managed to wrinkle his suit slightly.

He didn't seem to mind, as he immediately proceeded to make his way down your body, kissing over every inch of your skin. You shivered when his touch ghosted over your chest and stomach, growing impatient with the slow pace Spy was taking.

“What are you doing?” You asked, slightly annoyed, although most of that annoyance was smothered by the breathy sound of your voice which you just couldn’t keep steady. You didn’t get an answer, instead feeling the sensation of Spy’s hand gripping your cock without warning. A gasp tore from your throat and looked down, meeting his gaze. He simply glanced back up at you, eyes narrowed deviously.

“I want to taste you.” It was a simple enough statement, and Spy’s desire was evident in the lowering of his voice, an almost growl-like sound permeating his words. It made your breath quicken, and the sensation of his tongue lapping along the underside of your cock certainly didn’t help. You shuddered and tried to hold back any embarrassing sounds with little success. Of course, Spy commented on the strength of your reactions. “So sensitive…”

That was the last thing you heard him say before he took you completely into his mouth. You had to struggle not to immediately buck into that wet warmth. Luckily, Spy held a surprisingly strong grip on your hips to help keep you still. Brief moments of eye contact passed between the two of you as he watched your every response to his actions. You were sure he would be grinning if his mouth wasn’t otherwise occupied.

Seeing Spy perform such debaucherous acts while still dressed to the nines added a certain charm to the experience. Even his gloves were still on, and you felt the leather against your skin every time Spy squeezed your hips in warning, keeping you from thrusting into his mouth. The feeling of the material made you curse under your breath. You had always had a thing for gloves, and it figured that your little kink would rear its head mid-blow job with the man you had been not-so-subtly lusting after since the first day you joined this team.

Your train of thought was cut short as Spy’s tongue slid over the head, lapping at the precum beading there. He was surprisingly skilled with that mouth of his, better than you had expected, and you were already embarrassingly close to coming.

“Spy! Fuck, I’m close!” You moaned, just barely able to warn him before the point of no return. Spy stopped sucking, as you expected, but to your dismay, he didn’t proceed to stroke you to completion. It was especially unfortunate given that the thought of those gloves on such a sensitive area was something you very much wanted to make a reality.

Spy was kissing you again before you had the chance to complain. You gasped in surprise and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Your thoughts went foggy as you tasted yourself on his tongue. His hands started wandering again, eventually running over your chest, brushing against your nipples as they went. You pulled away with a moan, breaking the kiss and causing Spy to look down at you curiously. He ran a thumb over one of your nipples, placing focus on that area briefly before sliding his hand down your side again. This was met with a similar reaction, and a devious grin spread across Spy’s face.

“You like these, don’t you?” Spy asked, raising a gloved hand and flexing his fingers.

“Maybe…” you whispered, not willing to raise your voice any more than you absolutely had to. The way Spy was looking at you was wolf-like, and it made you feel small, like you were completely at his mercy.

“You like the feeling of my gloves against your skin.” This time it was spoken as a statement, clear and precise. “You like it when the leather brushes against you, when I caress you, when I stroke you like this .”

You jolted when you felt Spy’s hand wrap around your cock. The moan you let out was embarrassingly loud, and he hadn’t even moved yet. Spy stifled a laugh, albeit not very well. Of course, you didn't exactly have the time to be self-conscious once he began stroking you.

“Oh fuck,” you moaned as he settled into an agonizingly slow pace.

“That feels quite nice doesn’t it? The leather rubbing against your most sensitive areas, bringing you closer and closer to climax.” Spy’s breath tickled your ear as he leaned in to whisper to you. “Tell me when you’re about to come. I don’t want this to end just yet.”

Honestly, you were lucky you didn’t come right then and there. Somehow you held back, managing to save yourself from even more humiliation. You tried to get ahold of yourself, taking deep breaths and trying to focus on anything other than how good Spy was making you feel.

The leather added an extra element of friction that you found immensely gratifying. The gradual pace at which Spy stroked you kept you right on edge, seeming to extend the pleasure indefinitely. It was when he began to stroke his thumb over the head that you began to lose control.

“Spy!” You stammered, unable to choke out any further warning. Luckily, Spy seemed to get the message, recognizing how your voice shifted in tone and volume when you were about to finish. He ceased his movements, leaving you trembling, any sense of satisfaction having been delayed once again.

“Hands up, against the headboard,” Spy ordered. You obeyed, and before you could get a word out, he had removed his tie and used it to bind your wrists to the bed frame. You glared at him, rapidly losing your patience being teased.

“Oh, don’t pout, mon chéri. We can’t have you touching yourself, can we?” He said, dragging a finger along the underside of your cock.

“Please, get on with it!” You sounded ruder than you meant to, but Spy was pushing you to your limit. If your mind wasn’t so clouded with lust, you might have been a bit embarrassed at the fact that a little edging was all it took to make you come undone. Spy simply shook his head, looking at you the way one might look at a disobedient pet.

“So impatient. Have you still not learned who is in charge here?” Spy asked. You continued to glare at him, and he met your eyes with an equally intense look. “And such a willful expression. Perhaps I haven’t broken you enough. I could always keep you like this, darling.”

You tried to suppress a shudder as his fingers traced down your stomach, down to the base of your cock, before abruptly changing their course to stroke over your thighs. They remained there, so very close to where you longed to be touched. It left you quivering with need.

“I could repeat this pattern of teasing you to the brink for as long as I need too. I am a very patient man,” Spy continued. “And when I finally let you come, what makes you think I’ll stop there? I could keep going, stroking you, working you up again, watching you cry out from the overstimulation, reducing you to a sensitive, writhing little whore. I could have you screaming for me if I wanted to. So tell me, are we going to do this the hard way, or are you going to be a good boy for me?”

Spy’s words had you suddenly much more hesitant to misbehave.“I will,” you said, realizing that submitting was the only way to get what you wanted.

“You will what, mon cher?” Spy pressed on. Your face flushed, and through gritted teeth, you conceded.

“I’ll be a good boy.”

“There, that wasn’t so difficult, now was it?” Spy said, cupping one of your reddened cheeks. The embarrassment was almost worth it to see the way Spy smiled at you. “Now, just sit back and relax, my love.”

You did as you were told, leaning back on the pillows as best as you could with your hands still bound above your head. Spy stood up from the bed, only to begin stripping for you. He hit the perfect balance between teasing and nonchalant as he shucked off his jacket and pants. ‘Sitting back and relaxing’ became especially difficult when he decided to unbutton his dress shirt at a snail’s pace, but eventually that too fell to the floor along with the rest of his discarded clothing. Finally, in contrast to everything else, the briefs were removed relatively quickly.

Your breathing hastened as you drank in the sight of him. There was no shame in staring for as long as you wanted here, unlike in the showers, where you were limited to sneaking quick glances. He was gorgeous, and despite his slim build, he managed to make you feel small in comparison to him. This wasn’t helped by the fact that he immediately returned to the bed by climbing on top of you and taking his sweet time looming over your shivering, restrained body with a look of immense satisfaction.

“You look quite nice beneath me like this,” he said, smirking at how you squirmed for him. Spy had clearly received the reaction he was looking for from you. You were right where he wanted you, and you prayed that now that he had his fun, he would finally have mercy on you.

“Please…” you muttered, growing more impatient by the moment. You pulled against the tie, but it held up surprisingly well against your struggles.

”Je sais, you’re desperate to come, aren’t you?” Spy teased, cupping your cheek and pressing his lips against yours in a brief kiss. “Do you want me to take you here and now, my dear?”

“Yes yes yes, please! Please fuck me!” Any shame you had left was abandoned. You were positively aching to be fucked, and you threw all of your effort into begging for it without hesitation.

Your pleas were met with a low chuckle from Spy, who proceeded to roll off of you, ignoring the way you whined as he did so. For a brief moment, you thought he was going to leave you desperate once again, but you quickly fell silent as you watched him retrieve a bottle of lube from the drawer of his bedside table. It figured that he would have something like that handy at a moment’s notice. He returned to you, kneeling between your legs.

“Have you done this before?” He asked, his gaze softening as he looked you over.

“Not like this,” you admitted hesitantly, trying to suppress the nervousness that was beginning to build. “But I do want it, I want it so badly, Spy.”

“I don’t doubt that, but you will need to show just a little more patience,” Spy said with a small, genuine laugh, the sound of which helped to dissipate your anxiety. Still, you gasped when you felt his fingers begin to circle your entrance. “Soon, I’ll make you feel good. I’ll make you come, mon amour.”

He paused to apply some of the lube to his fingers, and you whimpered softly as he pushed a single digit into you. You tried to relax for him, focusing on how good it felt to finally have something within you. Spy hummed in approval, being able to thrust a second finger into you just a few minutes later.

You took to the sensation quite nicely. By the time he added a third, he was starting to curl his fingers within you. You moaned aloud, all apprehension gone as you begged him to fuck you already.

“You’re doing very well, darling,” Spy said, removing his fingers. You couldn’t help but squirm at the feeling of emptiness, even though you knew you would soon be getting exactly what you had been pleading for.

Spy poured some more lube into his palm and you watched eagerly as he stroked his cock with it. He leaned over you, meeting your eyes for a moment, silently asking for permission to proceed. You nodded, and his gaze became more intense as he entered you slowly.

Despite all the preparation, you instinctively tensed up. You knew it would feel good eventually, but in the moment it was more than a little awkward. Spy paused, allowing you to adjust at your own pace. The moment he saw any signs of discomfort he leaned down to kiss along your neck. His hands ran down your sides, feather light touches allowing you to relax into his surprisingly gentle touch.

“Mon dieu, you feel amazing,” Spy moaned, beginning to thrust into you shallowly and cautiously, giving you time to get used to the strange new feeling. You shuddered beneath him, hands clenched in tight fists against the headboard. However, you soon found yourself easing into the sensation, moaning freely as pleasure began to replace any discomfort.

“Such a noisy little thing, aren’t you?” Spy chuckled.

“I can’t help it, it feels so good,” you gasped, trying in vain to be quieter. Spy looked down at you with a devious smirk, clearly intent on making you moan even louder by the time he was done with you.

“We’ve barely begun, mon cher.” He leaned down to catch you in a kiss, going slowly and passionately in contrast to the rough and hungry kisses you had shared at the start of this little tryst. “I am going to go faster now, is that alright?”

“Yes, please! ”

“Perfect. Let me show you just how good I can make you feel.” Spy sped up, and you immediately found that you weren’t prepared for what he had to offer you. Of course, you enjoyed it all the same. Being fucked like this was so new, so overwhelming, and it made your head spin. Yet it was all so intoxicating at the same time, almost addictive.

As for Spy, he certainly wasn’t quiet either. He moaned as he thrust into you, clutching the bedsheets in tight fists, panting, groaning. He made no secret of just how good he was feeling. Even so, you were quite a bit louder. Right when you thought it couldn’t possibly get better, a change of angle had you reeling, mouth agape in a silent scream until you managed to regain the ability to make noise with a gasp and a full body shudder. Spy took note of your reaction immediately.

“Right there?” He asked, grinding against your prostate and seeming very pleased when he got an even stronger response from you. “Oh yes, that is a very good spot, isn’t it?”

You nodded, feeling as if you had gone completely boneless. Spy thrust into you again, this time stopping just short of your sweet spot. You squirmed and tried to buck your hips, but he held you still.

“Spy, I’m so close!” You cried, squirming futilely against his deceptively strong hold.

“Beg.”

It was a short yet clear command. You were so aroused it was almost painful, and you certainly weren’t about to risk another round of denial.

“Please, please fuck me!” You pleaded. “I need you to fuck me!”

“Is that the best you can do, mon amour?” Spy clearly wasn’t impressed with your efforts. You writhed and tried to thrust yourself onto his cock, but the hold on your hips was unyielding, and the tie around your wrists didn’t help your lack of mobility. That left you with no other choice but to throw away the last bit of dignity you had. Not that you had a problem with that.

“I need to come! I need you to let me, please Spy, please make me come!” You threw yourself wholeheartedly into begging. Most of your efforts became strangled groans, but the few coherent words you managed seemed to satisfy Spy. He had successfully made a pitiful, moaning mess of you, and more importantly, you had enjoyed every moment of it.

You heard him chuckle and begin to pull away, and for a bewildering moment, you thought you were being denied once again- and then he slammed back into you, much more roughly than you were expecting. Your mouth fell agape as Spy set a breakneck pace that you didn’t know he was capable of. You were vaguely aware of him whispering to you, praising you, muttering sweet nothings as you chased after the pleasure pooling low in your abdomen, threatening to overwhelm you at any moment.

Of course, you didn’t stand a chance the moment Spy located that especially sensitive spot within you once again. All it took was a few more well placed thrusts to have you coming undone on your own stomach and chest, your climax hitting you harder than you could have predicted. You jerked against the tie around your wrists, hips bucking upward as you practically screamed.

“Oui darling, that’s it, keep making those beautiful sounds for me!” Spy’s movements grew uneven, and his voice became strained as he chased his own orgasm, thrusting into you and sending sparks of overstimulation up your body until he went still and finished with a low groan.

With a heavy sigh, he fell to the side, and both of you were left panting like animals for several moments. You tugged against your restraints weakly, and with shaky hands, Spy reached up and untied you. You massaged your wrists and clenched your fists repeatedly to bring feeling back into them. The rush of blood back to your extremities left you with the sensation of pins and needles on your palms.

You laid on the bed for several moments, simply waiting until you caught your breath. Your heart was still racing. Unwittingly, you leaned your head against Spy’s shoulder. When he didn’t pull away, you elected to stay there.

“You did very well for your first time.” Spy brought a hand up to run through your hair. He didn’t sound nearly as out of breath as you were. You would have been a bit jealous of how composed he was compared to you, but the haze of euphoria hadn’t quite disappeared enough for you to feel anything more than mild annoyance. Plus, you couldn’t deny that the praise made your cheeks flush a little.

“That was really good,” you muttered, half to yourself, unsure of how to reply to Spy’s compliment. That bit of awkwardness was all it took for your mind to start racing. What happened now? Were you expected to leave? If not, then how long were you expected to stay?

Thankfully, before your train of thought could completely devolve, Spy answered several of those questions for you, by pulling you into his arms and tossing a blanket over the two of you. Apparently you were expected to stay for a while longer.

“Spy, the others will get suspicious if we’re missing for too long,” you warned, even though you weren’t really in a hurry to leave his embrace.

“Let them. I’m perfectly fine with letting everyone know that you’re mine. If they don’t already know, that is. You were quite loud,” he said with a smirk. You, on the other hand, went red and hid your face in your hands at the thought of anyone overhearing what had just occurred.

Spy chuckled, and you heard it as much as felt it, as you rested your head upon his chest. Even though he was teasing you, you found the soft vibration of his laughter comforting, closing your eyes with a soft smile.

You knew that eventually the two of you would have to get dressed and face the other mercenaries at dinner, but that was a problem for future you. Right now, you were content to stay beneath the covers, pressed against Spy’s body, basking in the afterglow. The only care you really had was how you would hide the telltale limp you would no doubt be walking with later.

[lina-lovebug]

Bleeding Hearts

Part 10

Taglist: @silverhowe @happycupcakeenthusiast @vampire-hunter @simpforavillain @dumb-fawkin-bitch @mushroomlover13 @kimqueenofhell @vane28282 @namor-is-the-way @daaiissyyyyy @anyzandy @pturnersblog @cherrychupachup

I had refused food.

Again.

What they called ‘food’ was nowhere near anything enough to nourish my body. It smelled awful and looked like it would make me sick.

I ignored the growling in my stomach as I heard the familiar click of the door and Miles Quaritch came in with cuffs at his side.

“Still ain’t eating?” He questioned, seeing the untouched food.

“Your food is not nourishing for the body,” I said, and approached him. His eyes watched me as I had my hands reached outwards, and looked up at him.

“May I?” 

“Go right ahead, sweetheart,” I glared at him but continued.

“Your body is Na’vi now. We are stronger, faster and much larger compared to humans,” I said, feeling his stomach and upper chest. 

“You need to nourish it like a Na’vi now, not this shit you call food. You may be strong, but this physique will wear off if you do not eat properly,” I explained, feeling his waistline and up to his back. He’s stronger than most Na’vi males I have met, but it will not last.

“Pretty sure your husband wouldn’t take a liking to his lady touching me,” He said, and I looked up at him.

“I am not mated.”

“But the little one on your back-”

“She is Tuktirey, Jake and Neytiris’ youngest,” I interrupted, “I have not found myself a male I have connected with. Any males I did know died during the battle.”

“How does that work?” His question seemed genuine, so I answered. I gently grabbed his queue and held it up to him.

“When you have found someone whom you cherish and love, you connect your queues together. Then, you are mated for life. That is a big difference I have found in our cultures.”

“How do you know that you will always love them?” He asked, staring at me.

“That is a concept you humans can never understand. You use eachother for pleasure. We bond through life experiences and conversation. We cherish life, and we cherish one another. It is a bond most treasured, and something I hope to have for myself. . .when the time is right,” I finished.

"Which is why your mission is futile. You will kill our home, just like you did yours," I moved away from him, my touch no longer on his warm body.

"You just don't want us here."

"I wonder why," I mused.

"Why are you here? You brought me nothing and you have no restraints," I asked, as if I was busy with anything else.

"It's your lucky day because you get to go outside," He said, pulling out a round device, "but you'll need to wear this."

No.

"I am not wearing such a thing," My ears folded back.

He sighed, "you gotta cooperate or the General will have me shackle you."

I stared at the device, knowing that if I put it on, I could be forever tracked and have no way of taking it off. They could use it to hurt me, and do unspeakable things.

"Only if I can hunt."

Wearing a collar was humiliating. I could feel the demons smiling at me as I passed, knowing that I was now under their grasp. They wish to bind me and chain me. They are disgusting and do horrible things, and yet call us savages? 

"Ninat'ia!"

My ears sprang up, finally bringing myself back to reality.

"What?" I said, having been on my own little island in my mind the entire way here.

"You gonna show us how to hunt or what?" 

"We can't give her a gun, Colonel," His Corporal said, and I scoffed.

"We do not use primitive weapons to kill. If you wish to think like Na'vi, the first lesson is that all energy is borrowed. Once you die, that energy returns back to Eywa," I explained, walking towards a fallen tree.

"The moss on it, the cracks, the holes - it is now a home and shelter to the animals. Even after death, you bring balance."

"After you have incapacitated the animal, you put it to rest with a dagger to the heart so it doesn't suffer," Spider finished, having learned this lesson when he was only seven. 

As my eyes traveled over them, their spirits were elsewhere. They were not even listening.

They were bored.

And they were pissing me off.

With a huff, I grabbed my dagger from Miles Quaritch vest and threw it into a tree. It was a bird, small enough for a teenager to fill up on, and it fell right in front of us.

"Less boring now?!" I snapped before marching off, ignoring the calls for me. 

Tears welled up in my eyes as I started to run. I didn't want this. I just wanted to be home. I wanted to be with mother and Spider and my sister. I want to be free.

"Ninat'ia!"

Miles Quaritch is quick on his feet. He manages to grab me but I quickly whip around with a slap to his face.

"Why?! Why are you even trying?!" I screamed, "you will destroy us! You will kill Eywa!"

"Hey, hey. I need you to-"

"It is not our fault you destroyed your home!" I didn't care if he could kill me. 

I was tired.

I wanted this to stop.

"And now you will destroy ours. You will kill Eywa!" I cried, hitting his chest and he did nothing. He let me hit him, let me scream and cry.

His hand reached out for my shoulder, but I pulled back, "you are all demons."

"I know. . ." 

"I do not care what happens to me, but I will kill you. I will not stop until your blood is on my hands," I swore before him, my eyes bleeding into his soul.

He said nothing but moved forward, bringing my head to his chest as I did nothing but cry.

Cry for my family, for my home.

For Eywa.

[1moreff-creator]

Happy birthday to Min Jeung, the Ultimate Student!

As you may have noticed by my blog name and pfp, I relate to this girl more than what is probably considered healthy. I wanted to show appreciation by talking about her a bit in a half-baked character analysis, and explaining why I find her so amazing!

-Despite being the Ultimate Student, and by her own admission having dedicated her entire life to her talent, she isn't just a souless studying machine. She still makes time to participate in various school clubs and even has a procrastination problem. She is outright offended when Xander insinuates she must have no friends because of her talent. In this, she just like me fr.

-Despite excelling in academics, she has grown to dislike and resent the education system for the seemingly endless amount of information it forces its students to memorize without actually learning anything of value. In this, she just like me fr. Additionally, this fuels her surprisingly interesting dynamic with Xander, one which I may have to cover in another post. Wouldn't want you getting distracted from my post about the birthday girl with thoughts of the pretty British boy.

-Her studious nature has developed into an unrelenting curiosity for the most random shit you can imagine. One of her favorite pastimes is, after all, browsing W*******a articles. Because of this, her knowledge seems to know no rhyme or reason, as she is both perfectly capable of explaining the entire process of baking a cake down to the molecular level, while also not knowing anything about milk beyond how good it tastes. Yes, this is mostly based on that one joke, but in case you can't tell, there's not much info we have to analyse her character with and I'm also sort of projecting really hard. In this, she just like me fr.

-One of these peculiar curiosities are insects and other critters. She decorates cookies with centipedes, collects insects, and her character profile states she likes tarantulas (not an insect, but you know). I chose to believe this means she is a Ghost & Pals fan, and yes that's me projecting again. I, too, am obssessed with funky little animals, so in this, she just like me fr.

-She dislikes children. Based.

-She is kind and patient and maybe a little gay, helping Unnamed Classmate study for a test they are clearly not ready for. Although she can get exasperated by the other's laizzes faire approach to studying, she still puts up with it for her friend. In this, she just like me fr.

-She suffers from pretty bad impostor syndrome, not considering herself on the same level as other Ultimates because of the way she was accepted in. She seems comfortable hanging out with them, but deep down doesn't believe she deserves it. In this, she... isn't like me fr, thankfully. Dodged that trauma.

-Her impostor syndrome is only exacerbated by the fact she doesn't believe she was the highest scoring of the Ultimate Contest for Eminent Students, just the one that best fit the ideal of "Ultimate Student". She sees that as a badge of shame, as she considers herself neither the smartest nor the most knowledgeable from those who took the test. Especially if her secret is the one about poisoning the competition, as many believe. This highlights the needless competitiveness of the school system, where even the students doing well can sometimes feel insufficient or dissapointed if they are not the absolute top of their class, or they don't perform perfectly at every opportunity. ...she just like me fr-

-She feels uncertain of her future, as being the Ultimate Student does not seem to guarantee any kind of future success, nor does it help her narrow down what she wants to do in the future. This is a great representation of a common fear and worry of top students, who worry having so much of their life be defined by their excellence in academics will mean they won't know what to do with themselves once they stop studying. Well, I say it's common, but maybe it's just Min and I, because in this she just like me fr. I assure you, I am fine.

-She didn't mean to kill Xander. How tragic, for someone whose entire life was defined by the pressure to never make a mistake, to never fail and especially not fail that Contest for Eminent Students, who was promised a bright future if she only gave up her present and her past to a souless system that does not truly care about her; to have that future ripped out from her, just because of one mistake. She only wanted to save Teruko...

-Fukc Danganronap asdkanej I wil why did this happen why she was so great and smart and I loved her and fuak's sake why why why. She's the first killer death that hurt me the most, by far, and her hug with Teruko actually fucking destroyed me aaaaahhhh-

-I love DRDT so much, and thank it for being able to live up to its name and giving me the despair I crave. Although Min's death made me sad, it made me sad in the good way, and I thoroughly enjoyed her character as long as she lasted. She may be the best written first chapter death I've ever seen! :D

Now please let Veronika live past chapter 3-

Anyways, thanks for reading, and happy birthday to Min Jeung! I will go cry now.

Bonus: Here's just a few songs that remind me of her. You may not be able to tell, but I like Vocaloid.

+Abnormality Dancin' Girl by Guchiry

+Lost One's Weeping by Neru

+Aishite by Kikuo

+Entomologists by Ghost & Pals

+Star of the Show by Ghost & Pals

+Pathological Facade by Ghost & Pals

+Appetite of a People-Pleaser by, guess who, Ghost & Pals

+Marionette by KIRA

+Meltdown by iroha(sasaki)

And of course,

+Happy Birthday!

[capricioussun]

As always thinking lots abt uf but still on a little bit of a swap kick so I wanted to add a little more context for what I'd mentioned in the Stretch post abt his relationship w/ Blue

So, as per my usual baseline, the royal scientist made Sans first, and then Papyrus. Almost exactly the same. Sans came out well (alive), but unfortunately very frail with slightly unstable magic. Instead of pushing it too much (and what leads to how unswapped Sanses typically gaining the judgement ability), that focus shifted gears to Papyrus, as the corrections made "in utero" (very early days of test tube life) proved sufficient, providing a much more stable and sturdy test subject.

Hence, those experiments were then performed on Papyrus, while a much slower and more thought out approach was taken with Sans. Both became very healthy as they grew, gaining tremendous control over their magic and Papyrus seemingly following in his brother's footsteps of being an absolute powerhouse.

At the time, and even after they left the labs, Blue wasn't fully aware of the extent of experiments done on Stretch. Similar to classic Sans, Blue was incredibly smart from an early age, and took it upon himself to be his brother's caretaker and teacher after [REDACTED], but being a couple of homeless kids didn't exactly make that super easy in the beginning.

Still, with the help of a few kind strangers turned new friends, they slowly got back on their feet...and of course, that was when Stretch began presenting and complaining of strange and worrying symptoms.

Blue and Stretch were always very close from an early age, very similar to the Tale brothers. The prime difference was that Blue had significantly more energy and drive than Sans, which made him a better role model and caretaker to Stretch, and so Stretch never felt that pressure to grow up faster to be the caretaker of his brother the way Rus and Edge did.

So when things changed, and Stretch became more dependent on Blue rather than less, like most other kids going into teendom, even though Blue never really outwardly faltered and did his best to help Stretch through everything, there was a crack in the foundation.

Blue, being a caretaker, teacher, and older brother (along with the standard trait of tending towards secrecy), had that pressure to always be more okay than he actually felt. He had to remain strong for Papyrus, doubly so after he got sick. He couldn't slow down or show weakness or do anything that might make Stretch feel like a burden or a tax on him.

Especially not after Stretch had tried explaining symptoms of the judging ability, and the obvious toll that was starting to take on his mental health. Blue was really all Stretch had, and as Stretch's HP slowly ticked away with every downswing, and never ticked back up, he was terrified of how increasingly susceptible his brother was to Falling Down.

I need to clarify and emphasize that Blue was only around 13-15 when this all started, and 17-20 at its peak. He'd been the primary parent figure to his 5 year younger brother since around the time he was 10, so Blue's entirely life pretty much revolved around taking care of Stretch for his entire childhood. It stands to reason the thought of him Falling being beyond Blue's control was one of his biggest nightmares, because even though others didn't alienate him the way they did Stretch, Stretch was the only person who he really felt a strong connection to, especially after everything they went through together as kids.

They knew things about each other they probably couldn't ever tell anyone else, and Blue had been Stretch's only real family since the day he was "born". Watching Stretch decline over his teen years was a special form a torture that he couldn't ever let Stretch know he was going through. He couldn't put that on him.

That didn't stop Stretch from being able to tell though. Brotherly intuition, knowing each other so well, and of course, the judge, the worst his health became, the more stressed Blue became, and the deeper that sinking pit in Stretch's soul sunk knowing he was the cause of it all.

That's why I'd mentioned Blue's joining the guard being the last straw. He joined when he was around 21, because it paid better than the most of the other meager jobs he’d been spreading himself way too thin to work keeping them afloat, which meant more time to take care of Papyrus.

The thought of his incredibly non-confrontational brother forcing himself into a position where he might have to kill capture a human, deal with rowdy drunks stumbling out of Muffet's at all hours, as well as regularly spar with the captain sent Stretch into a very intense guilt and resentment spiral.

Over the years, the more Blue worried the more Stretch tried to hide from him, but now this tipped the scales and Stretch became determined to do whatever it took to become less useless.

(Another aside, Toriel did not know how young Papyrus was when she offered him the Judge position, as the brothers routinely lied about their ages since they'd had to take care of themselves from such a young age. She suspects they're younger than they say certainly, but she didn't realize he was only 15 ish at the time).

The more Stretch pushed himself, the more practice he got, the better he was at lying and keeping up appearances. And now Blue's own schtick was biting him on the tailbone because even though he worried frequently that Stretch was pushing himself too hard (especially after learning he'd accepted the job from Toriel to act as the Judge), all he could do was try his best to be supportive and encouraging, lest Stretch realize just how stressed out and exhausted he really was all the time.

So, basically, both brothers know the other isn't okay, but they won't talk about it ever because Blue is stubborn as hell and Stretch learned from the best. And by that point, Stretch was becoming a young adult, he could certainly make decisions for himself, right?

Just like the vast majority of my skelebros, they locked themselves into this broken carousel dynamic of always interlocking, never actually meeting, and continuously dancing around the gaping hole in the middle of the room because they both know, if one falls in, the other with dive to catch him, and they may both very well be damned if they take that chance. (They're dumb but also this is what happens when incredibly smart children are forced to raise themselves. They have no idea how to function healthily, only to the best of their ability #sigh #childhoodtraumamoment)

Oh, and one more thing. I would like to add that part of the reason Stretch is so hard on himself is because, back during training at the labs, he was constantly compared to Blue, who exceeded at everything. He was scolded and reprimanded for falling short, and it was rarely ever accounted for that he was five years younger than Blue. This made Stretch feel inferior and frequently doubt his own ability, and gave Blue a strong resentment of [REDACTED], along with a fierce protective streak of Stretch.

Unfortunately the years of trying to unteach Stretch those mindsets were mostly undone by the damage the judge and health issues did (they just proved him right, he really was just a useless failure...)

[hanarium]

Bai Yu Reviews #3 : Take Us Home (龙城) - END

Full Review: 36/36 watched

What is it about?

Family trying to figure out their way in life despite the outside and inner troubles . More slice of life than a romance, although romance does appear. Heavy focus on family and obligation to family.

Bai Yu's role?

Main, middle brother Zheng Xijue

Is it worth watching?

Yes, but it's not for everyone. Gets heavy at times. Details and minor spoilers under the cut.

After the review of the first half of the show, I was ready to be disappointed further, and yet, to my great surprise, right after episode 18 the entire drama took off.

Things got progressively worse, especially when it comes to Dongni and her issues, but pretty much everyone from the main cast got a moment to shine and at least try to tackle their problems and hang ups, while the crisises kept on coming.

The focus on parenting, on the role and responsibility of a parent when it comes to a child (and the other way round), is definitely one of the strongest points Take Us Home makes, and discusses at length. Different models of parenthood, different approaches and effects it has on kids, are coordinated well with what was shown in the first part of the show.

Here, a scene from the last two episodes comes to mind, that is the talk between Dongni and Xuebi, regarding the degree to which a parent should sacrifice for their kids and how it affects said kids. The answer is particularly resonant in modern times - an unhappy parent is very likely to make their child unhappy too, despite their best intentions. No one can grow up sane while feeling they are a burden someone has to sacrifice for, day after day.

Zhao Zhao's plotline is probably the most painful one, but it leads to a very mature discussion of hope and the price for it - Zheng Xijue's idealistic belief in shielding people from truth just to sustain their hope and will to live, is constrasted with Doctor Chen's pragmatism and rather realistic belief that it's foolish to waste resources on lies that do not bring any real change.

There is also the prevailing question of - do you want to save her? Or just feel better about yourself because you tried?

This arc doesn't offer any easy answers, although it seems that the script sides more with Xijue here, considering the 'ghost talks' both Xijue and Doctor Chen have at some point, explaining their reasoning and feelings to those who are long gone.

Doctor Chen is an interesting character in his own right - from an idealist and true altruist he changed into a loner, unwilling or unable to let anyone close because of the hurt he suffered. Him and Zheng Xijue are natural foils for each other and each scene with them both present is a personal favourite of mine. Again - patterns that are repeated shape who the characters are, and it's requires them to work on themselves to overcome them. Some manage to, some don't.

Although most of the attention, especially when it comes to the dramatic and hurtful events, is centred on Zheng Xijue and Dongni, Nanyin's plotline of growing into herself and her relationship is done very well too - it is a nice counterbalance to the stormy lives of her older siblings, but it's not naive or insignifcant. Nanyin, taking strength from the support and love she received from her family, is able to fight back against her in-laws and to decide for her own how her life and future will look like. In the sea of hard choices and inescapable misery, her arc is the shining, hopeful beacon, despite the troubles she faces.

And here is the main reason why this review is so positive while the previous one was less than: the balance. The second half finally shows us moments of respite, shows us the characters smiling, hanging out, having fun, without just the dire circumstances pushing them into each other. Of course, they are still supporting one another throughout all the bad luck, but the also have the time to finally just be.

Gone is also the feeling of stagnation - first things get much worse, the spiral changes into a head-dive, but it only makes watching the Zheng siblings crawl back up, one step at a time, all the more satisfying.

They actually have to put on some work to be better and I must say, it's a joy to see them put in the effort.

However.

The one who changes the least in the end, is Zheng Xijue. Instead of him learning to set some boundaries and learning to give some things and people up, it's his surroundings that come to a conclusion that he is perfect as he is and it's their job to learn how to accept him and support him in his self-sacrificial act, because they all profitted from his sacrifices and were able to be so happy exactly because he was there to be their stepping stone.

It might be a bit of a reach here, but I find it interesting that everyone is at their best when he stops being a person and starts being a concept - with Xijue in jail, his entire family adapts almost a religious 'Xijue wouldn't want you to do that, he wouldn't want you to suffer like that' approach, which benefits them ("Xijue already suffered for it, you can't waste it, so do what you want") but doesn't really address how much this state of things costs him.

Aunt Lin does say at some point that he was bound to blow up and hit someone because he got so used to bottling everything up, yet this idea doesn't come back. Even Jiang Yi, Zheng Xijue's girlfriend who from the very beginning had very good reasons to be unhappy with his choices, finally gets 'converted' into understanding that this is how it should be and that her role in life is to be there for him whenever his goodness breaks him up too much. Local Jesus spotted, everyone.

Joking aside - I am not certain whether the show wanted it that way, or if it's just my reading of it, but I believe that while the drama has a good ending overall, Zheng Xijue is the only character who actually loses in the end. He doesn't leave his pattern after all, he even gets it enforced and encouraged from the outside, and for me? That's a bad ending. I like those, so it's additional plus from me, but for those who find themselves in Xijue's circumstances and want to be inspired by watching how he overcomes them... Well, he doesn't.

Who is it for? Definitely for those who like Bai Yu's acting, he does a marvellous job here, especially in the second part where he has something more to show than sad smiles and tears. This man can suffer, let me tell you that. For the lovers of slice of life, family dramas, flawed characters trying their best to become better, and for those who like to be reminded that no matter how hard the circumstances are, there is always hope for it to get better tomorrow.

Who it isn't for? People who don't like too much suffering, and those who don't enjoy their protagonists display toxic behaviour towards their loved ones. From what I gather, the drama also loses quite a lot of the content when it comes to Longcheng itself and the problems of industrialism that are present in the novels - they are only hinted at in the drama and don't lead anywhere. Also: it's definitely not for those who dislike characters being dramatic and irrational at times - while realistic, it can get sometimes frustrating, because how naive can you get???

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot, even cried a bit in the right moments, so personally, I do recommend it both to Bai Yu fans and to people who enjoy the topics this drama touches upon. It's very well-acted and beautifully shot, the ost also grows on you as you watch (although some songs get repeated so often that making a drinking game out of them would kill some livers)

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

Man i just found your blog and whatever au you got going on looks so interesting i just have no idea what's going on. Do you have like a post or something explaining exactly what it is :')

I had one, but I can’t find it so I’ll just start a sorta. Starter pack/master post for all of my main Mandela Catalogue aus, and will be updating this post with any new ones I make.

This is gonna be long, so. Bear with me.

The Alternate AU

The alt au is, in its simplest terms, a swap au, basically swapping the alternate characters and the human characters. (Making the humans alternates and vice versa.)

The main plot is thus: Mark Heathcliff after the events of TMC Vol 1, comes back from the dead, furious at Cesar for leaving him to die and “causing” his death. Cesar has an encounter with Alt Mark, fleeing Mandela and living in Bythorne, joining the BPS eight years after that incident, meeting Sarah Heathcliff, and Seth Greer. (the leader of the bps and this aus version of six. Though he. May as well be an oc knowing how different they are.)

There are of course other storylines that happen in this au, involving Adam, Jonah, Thatcher, and Ruth. Here are some screenshots of basic character info:

(More info relating to the characters can be found here)

This au also has fan fictions I’ve written portraying the aus main events, and I’ll link them below in recommended reading order:

1. Prologue

2. Wellness Check

3. Winter break 1998

4. New beginnings

5. Fateful reunion

6. Reluctant Allies

Additional ones that have no specific reading order:

Intruder alert — Turning point — Remembrance - Awake

There are fan-made aus of this au you might’ve seen on my blog, that are not canon in the slightest, such as:

return AU: all turned Alts are turned back into humans

Gemini AU: characters are fused together into singular beings

Monster au: everything’s the same but the human characters are monsters. Halloween themed kinda

Additional info can be seen in the #tmc alternate au tag on my blog, or the specific character tags I’ll put on this post. There’s so much to this au that. I can’t put it all here otherwise we’d be here all day. /lh

The Mandela Prophet AU

This au, which is smaller in scale to the one above, is centered on Adam Murray, and takes place directly after the events of vol 2.

After being left behind by Jonah, Adam is approached by alternate Gabriel, and is given an offer that he’ll get all the knowledge he wants, as long as he follows Gabriel. Adam in his desperate want for the truth, accepts Gabriel’s offer, but is betrayed when they instead inflict him with a supernatural alternate parasite, that takes over his body and gives victims M. A. D.

Here is a small sorta medical sheet that kinda explains said parasite, along with the Prophets official design:

Fics:

1. Long walk home

2. Sleepless nights

3. Parasite

4: Intuition (non canon)

5: Buried Memories

6: Confrontation

Any other info on this au is found in the tag #mandela prophet

LabRats AU

The basic premise of this au is thus:

The characters of TMC are put through experiments in a scientific facility (Mandela BioTech), which is owned by Gabriel, a scientist obsessed with "perfection" and Dave Lee, a man that's reluctant, but willingly ignorant to the horrid acts happening under his watch. The main characters are mutated, given sometimes supernatural abilities. More info is in the #tmc Labrats au tag, so I recommend you start there, as this explanation is. pretty short.

Fic(s):

Prologue

Interview fics (can be read in any order): #02: Cesar

#04: Mark

Home Sweet Home au

In this au, it takes the whole. "Cesar's house is an alternate" theory and runs with it. Mark feels. oddly attached to the House, subconsciously always wanting to stay there and. make himself comfortable. While Cesar remains unaware that his Home is alive, and that he's been living in the belly of the beast for his entire life.

This au is still in production, meaning I recommend looking through the tag #tmc Home sweet Home au to get more info. plus, here's a link to the prologue!!

-Home is where the heart is

-Barotrauma

-Encounter

-Leah Heathcliff Interview

-Arthur Heathcliff interview

-Radio silence

I'm always up for questions about my aus, so feel free to send them in if you have any! :)

[nicolesainz]

Pretty cute, if you ask me (LN 4)

Lando Norris x reader

Warnings: extreme fluff

Special dedication @freedaxf1 !! I hope you like it. This one’s for ya! If you have any other requests lmk. Love you!

Summary: Hints everywhere. Cheeks flushed and heart beating. Everyone has picked up on your feelings towards Lando, but do they know the truth yet?

“I sometimes regret having you around. I enjoy my peace and quiet during the weekends” I let out a defeated sigh as I remove my headsets.

“You only enjoy it because you get to be alone with mister McLaren” Fertwell comments as he nudges me playfully.

“Truly wrong judgement here, Max. Try again maybe” i roll my eyes

“Oh no she’s lying. They are both attached to each other, I still don’t understand how he managed to even do a few proper laps during free practices” the former McLaren driver, Daniel Ricciardo, adds, fueling the interest of my other friends.

“We should definitely attend the races more often. We are being excluded from the best moments” Ria smirks lustily at me, making my cheeks flush

“It’s the first time I’ve head a driver sing so much during free practices on the radio to his friend. He’s the only one who’s done it and probably will continue to be” the Australian drops another hint, sparks amongst the group being lighten.

“Since Y/N, refuses to tell us the truth, please Daniel, give us more details. What is my adorable baby sis doing around Norris, when we aren’t in sight” my older sister almost begs ex McLaren driver to be a inside source.

“There’s nothing to say for the love of god!” I shout at the same time as the mechanics work on Oscar’s car, getting it ready for another session.

“It will be the first time I’ll believe anyone else but you sis, sorry!”

“How do you explain the multiple pictures and stories then? Your gallery has more pictures of Lando than anyone else!” Daniel keeps pushing my buttons as if he’s doing it on purpose, which he is

“That’s not true! I just like to share things.” I shrug my shoulders as Max scrolls through his phone and shoves it on my face

“It’s the 5th story you’ve posted with Lando this week. I’m not buying it, Y/N”

“I don’t get why I have to alert you about anything that happens in my life”

that’s wrong! I tell them everything that happens in my life. Everything except one thing.

“Fine! Don’t tell us. I’ll ask Oscar. Rookie will be too much under pressure not to blurt anything.” My sister is almost threatening me to the point it scares

“And what if he doesn’t? You’ll go to Zak? Or his race engineer? They say curiosity killed the cat!”

I’m trying to hide the fact that nervousness runs through my entire body. Oscar is easily persuaded and knowing my sister, he’ll tell her whatever she desires to find.

“Hey Y/N, have you seen that Ma-“ I grab Oscar’s arm and move us somewhere farther away from my friends who were now occupied talking to Daniel.

“No need to be aggressive. Are you alright?” The new Aussie asked me, worried about my anxious presence.

“If my sister asks you anything about Lando, I beg you to not say anything. Even if she bribes you.”

“I wasn’t planning on saying anything but sure! I won’t tell a soul.”

“Thank you! You’re the best” I give him a quick hug before letting him go and running off to the group I left behind

As I was approaching them, I saw Lando moving towards them as well. Oh fuck.

“Hey guys, hey baby” he welcomes everyone and lands a soft kiss on my cheek, while wrapping his arm around my waist. I could feel my whole face turning red

“I KNEW IT!” My sister exclaims loudly

“You’re a very bad liar Y/N” Max continues

“Hey, leave my girlfriend alone. She’s a shy one” Lando bites back playfully and gives me the sweetest look of comfort.

“Now you know why I post about Lando regularly. And why I want my peace.”

“Yeah, I will agree to the second one. Someone had forgotten their mic on and I could hear the whole conversation. Try to be more discreet next time” Lando tries to hold back a laugh, as a look of horror covers my whole face to the idea that everyone could have heard this

“Aww, don’t worry love. I only heard it. No one else. Our little secret is safe. Also I found it pretty cute if you ask me”

[starlightshore]

Thanks for the Measured Response™. Unfortunately the character limit doesn't allow for much nuance in asks. My issue isn't so much with the character's actions as the way their conflict is framed. It always feels like we're supposed to judge Asriel way harsher - for ghosting the person responsible for their trauma - than Chara, who is actively trying to hurt them. I know you don't want to trivialize abuse, but the story still botches the subject pretty badly. Still, good luck with the rewrite.

(sighs) please anon, while I do appreciate the effort to acknowledge the lack of nuance in the previous ask, I would much rather you approach me more reasonably. I don't appreciate you coming to me, a complete stranger to both of us, with this attitude of already guilty. can you please learn to talk to people more reasonably? like, I'm living my life out here and you come and accuse me in a really rude way of promoting abuse or whatever the far-fetched conclusion that ask could come across as.

I am more than happy to accept fault over my writing and do my best to improve, but I want to do so on friendly, acceptable terms. please withhold condemnation and explain how and why you feel the story was mishandled. You do so really nicely in the second ask and I appreciate that.

Ultimately, regardless of my intent, my story didn't convey the message and that's, at the very least, mostly my fault. I can try to explain why I'd argue I didn't fuck up as badly as you paint me as, but I will accept that the story I wrote was not emotionally paced well made it weigh more towards cruelty without the hope and understanding I wanted the story to be read as.

I want to stress that I take abuse deadly seriously. I'm a victim of emotional abuse myself and this is something I am desperate to portray in all of its ugly, dirty detail and I want to do it without hurting people. I obviously failed when I first wrote this and I want to say thank you for coming to me about it, even if I feel there is still some friction here I want to express that gratitude. But also please be aware of how you approach people. (referring to the OG ask here).

Anyway

i wanna defend myself here a little and say I think you're missing the bigger picture of the framing of that scene. I feel you forgot the context of that scene and where it's placed in the story. It's this post.

Previously, that entire chapter had Chara idolizing the Asriel they knew as a child. Their timetravel ability being removed meant they longed for that power to control the narrative and live in the past. its like, metaphorical shit for how when growing up its hard to move on from the past and accept that you're aging.

That scene was the point where Chara realized that Asriel wasn't perfect -and has never been. The story is framed by Chara's POV exclusively and navigates Chara's feelings about their separation from Asriel. The "abuse" of that scene is the feeling of an older sibling telling them to "fuck off" and "stop acting like a victim" which are like... like devoid of the context of Asriel's perspective (which we didn't have at this point in the story) is a very hurtful and emotionally damaging thing to say to someone. I can see how someone reading that, who could have been through a similar situation, would react very badly to seeing that in the comic. Thus the content warning. I honestly don't know if "abuse" is the right word here, but what is someone going to have blacklisted for this? Like I said, my goal is to avoid hurting so I'm not going to not tag it. It's an issue of vocabulary vs. accessibility. I still wouldn't know what to tag this tbh.

the overall narrative of the comic is that Chara's perspective of Asriel was holding themself back. they were wallowing over a perfect picture that never existed -which reflected how they hate themselves for not living up to the perfect angelic ideal that they obviously could never have lived up to.

Chara condemning Asriel for being Flowey and being a jerk is the first step towards chara acknowledging their own blame in the equation. pretending the problem doesn't exist and that you're inherently awful doesn't fix things. Immediately after tossing out Flowey, they realize they are a flower as well. (literally becoming the thing they just condemned Asriel)

Once The two reconcile with the help of Actual Adults in the situation, the story changes POV to Asriel. It's then we're given context to Asriel's perspective and to show, that yeah, both of them Suck as people. That both are capable of majorly fucking up. And that's because the tools they're given a life of trauma and being reborn into a world that doesn't understand your damage is in itself traumatizing.

so idk man. the framework here serves a purpose and while I plan on showing a more nuanced and balanced pace -I really need to show the characters having more things going on than their larger conflict + be happier with each other. (the problem with writing for an askblog is that its very reactive and its easier to lean into tension and relationship drama than focus on the lighter but necessary moments. I know for sure the redraw will be better at this)

But yeah the framework, as it stands, feels good to me. Maybe in the details of how it's shown I'll be able to handle the nuances more gracefully but with the larger goal in mind, I'm not sure how I can change that? I would really love to hear your thoughts on that.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ep.24 thoughts

[It's the End of the Show as We Know It]

(Contents: reflection)

And with that, season 1 of Undead Unluck's anime comes to a close

I can't say it was everything I hoped it would be, but I can say it was a lot better than I feared it could have been. Strange usage of recaps, blinding color scheme choices at odd moments, and certain scenes composed in ways that sadly cut down their impact from the source material hampered it from being the next big thing, but unique interpretations and embellishments on the source material mixed with several moments of fantastic animation and great voice acting absolutely prevented it from being a cookie cutter, bland adaptation

And of course, keeping in line with the rest of the series, the final episode made sure to encompass every single one of the above aspects

Now, to its credit, almost all of the recap in this episode was in the manga, it's just very funny that a show that was like 10% recap concluded on a chapter that was, itself, 50% recap. Plus, what recap there was that wasn't originally in the manga was actually handled quite elegantly, being brief moments of establishing information rather than just replaying entire scenes - y'know, the way that a recap is supposed to be!

We still got the garish red gel over the final fight, but I think because we've seen it so many times now, I'm kind of used to it, and the action itself was pretty damn good. The addition of a meteor to the final stroke of Unluck made that final pass at Autumn a lot more visually impactful than it otherwise would have been, and Anno Un's death being an explosion of ink rather than just fading into dust added a nice bit of flair that I think makes their nature as an ink construct much clearer

Overall, a fitting conclusion given the rollercoaster of odd and pleasantly surprising creative choices, and naturally it ended with one final befuddlement. While the beginning of the episode cut the opening theme, we ended up getting it at the end of the episode, which would be pretty standard for a finale, if it wasn't immediately followed by the sequel hook which, itself, was both truncated AND followed by the ending theme! If they'd just cut at least the ending theme, we could have had the full scene of Juiz approaching Billy! Hell, if they'd cut the opening too, we could have gotten the full explanation for how Akira knew the future! Sure, that wasn't entirely necessary, but it could have helped, and getting it recapped at the beginning of season 2 will probably be completely out of place

This was a solid episode, I really enjoyed it, and I feel the same way about the season as a whole, but god damn was this a baffling experience from beginning to end. I will definitely end up looking back on this later as a quirky experience, a fun bit of trivia that we as a community will have a chuckle about and appreciate that it's not Promised Neverland Season 2, but until someone posts a deep dive explaining how those creative decisions came about, I'm probably just going to be obsessing over how it came together so strangely

Definitively, the manga is better; this adaptation does not in any way surpass or in my opinion even match the quality of the manga, but at the very least, it does not do it a total disservice. The goods were good and the bads were weird, and I hope the experience will convince newcomers to check out the manga, if not for the desire to see more, then at least for the curiosity of what spawned this madness

If you were able to stick with it the whole time, I hope you all enjoyed this season as much or more than I did. We're supposedly going to be getting some kind of announcement soon, hopefully for season 2 or a movie. I definitely hope that Yuki Yase won't be at the helm next time, but on some level I think I'd appreciate the consistency if he does return. I'd certainly take that over getting someone worse

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[latenightgasstationwalk]

I’m so Fucking proud of myself for getting to this point with guitar. It’s hard to explain but before I started pursuing music I had no creative hobbies what-so-ever and my father had no trouble reminding me of that every fucking day. Me and my dad pretty much hated each other my entire childhood. It was actually music that turned our relationship around. the second I took an interest in music his approach to me as a person completely changed. So that’s benefit to music #1 for me as it provided an olive branch to my father and made us mend some bridges that I genuinely thought would be charred for life. But lately I’ve been making a lot of strides that I think I’ve been waiting for since I started. I’ve pretty much stopped using tablature all together and started learning everything by ear, which I never thought I’d do, I hear music totally differently now. I hear a new song and if I like it I play it on repeat over and over again so I can preform this kind of mental autopsy of the song one instrument at a time and try to deduce who’s doing what and what chords and scales and progressions and time signatures are being used, paying attention to the “theory” aspect of every song that plays within earshot, which is something I never intended to learn or care about.

Like that Fucking lighthouse song I was talking about yesterday, I looked up some tabs and they were ass, watched a little YouTube tutorial and it sounded right but the guy was playing it in a weirdly complicated and annoying way (dudes in drop D to play a song in the key of E minor with a D Em G progression. Like why) so I said fuck it and played it on my phone and just picked out the chords how I thought they’d sound, I don’t wana brag or speak to soon, but Im very happy with how my versions coming along compared to the others I’ve seen floating around. Im excited to show y’all when it’s done >:)

Anyway. Just a self serving vanity post, glad I got into music, glad I worked hard at it for over a decade, proud of myself for not only sticking with it but trying as hard as I do every day to get better. I have no intention of ever “making music” in any capacity other than what I’m doing now. Just fun little videos that I can look back on years from now and say “damn I killed it, look at how young I was, I was handsome” it’s my version of a family photo album I guess. Looking forward to what comes next for me. I’m currently obsessed with blue grass music which is really Fucking weird considering my musical roots are comprised of bands like nirvana, rage against the machine, tool, queens of the Stone Age ect. Ect. But I’m excited to see where I’ll be in a couple years.

If you find yourself thinking that you have too much free time and want a hobby I seriously can’t recommend guitar enough. I feel like it’s an obvious hobby so most people don’t bother, or convince themselves that they “can’t do it”, but I assure you, you can. You don’t have to practice every day. You don’t even have to practice! I don’t think I’ve ever once in my life sat down with a guitar with the intent of practicing. I just pick it up when I want too and play whatever comes out. It’s never gotten old, it’s never steered me wrong, I come out of a one hour guitar session feeling like a brand new man. Like I got all the poison out. I genuinely feel it’s the thing I was born to do. But I have no intention of ever making a dollar from it, nor do I think I would if I tried, as one of my most influential guitarists once said: “when you expect anything from music, you expect too much, do it for you. Do it because you love it. If it’s meant to be the rest will come”

So that’s what I’m doing. Playing fun stuff every day, paying attention to my improvements, encouraging myself to do a little better every time I pick it up. And forever remaining hopelessly dependent on the 6 strings.

Thank you for reading♥️

[nerendus]

tell us a lil abt ur ocs <3

On it, boss!

I don't know what fandoms little anonling is a part of, but I'm going to use that as an excuse to talk about all of them.

However probably the girlies that I am most obsessed with I can't talk about since they are part of, like, professional projects and I very much do not want this account to be associated with that in any way. But I can say that pretty much all of them are either morally dubious medical practitioners or just really, really sad cyborgs.

I'll start with my D&D characters since those girls are just, so good and tasty.

There's Zia....something. She had a very long name and an even longer italian surname.

She is a Drow multiclassing with wizard and monk, and everything terrible that could happen to her happened to her. The...condensed version is that she had a chronic disease that was quickly killing her, and a god traded her death with her twin brother's soul so she got a get out of jail free card. And during the whole campaign which sadly ended prematurely, her whole entire quest was trying to approach her brother and explain that she is implicit in the murder that has yet to happen. Great lady. She had emotional issues and I spun a wheel at the beginning of each session to see how mentally disturbed she would be.

My other D&D character never got to see action (one day...maybe) and that is my beautiful lass Andlyn. She's a tiefling warlock with a minor degree in Bard. Her whole thing was that she was born into a cult worshiping a devil that forced her hand into killing her fiance. As such, she began her Rebellion Arc and begun killing cultists and she was therefore kicked out of the club :( But luckily for her, the devil she had worshiped didn't like all the attention the cult was giving him, so he turned her into his warlock under the pretense that she would seek out the cultists and kill them. She also liked singing at taverns.

And my last D&D character...is my first one. My lovely half elf blood domain cleric Atheleisia (not sure if that's how its actually spelt, I forgot its been so long). I love her so much, she is so over the top. She is a cult leader that liked to abduct children and make herself their mother while she experimented on their bodies. Specifically, she had this delusion that they were all riddled with sins, and as such, she had to craft them into monsters to remove the sin within them. She was also in love with her god that was a dragon that she deluded herself into thinking they were engaged when I don't think he ever even knew her name. She was great, I definitely need to bring her back in some other project.

So...now on to, like, fandom OCs, feel free to skim around to your own little fandoms.

Given that it's my current obsession, I'll start with my beloved Rogue Trader Alwena von Valancius (not to be confused with my other OC, Alwena EldenRing). Her whole thing in detail in on the RT discord server and that's too many words to copy and paste here, so condensed, she is an Iconoclast pyromancer that forged her sanctioning with the help of her cousin Mianno (not to be confused with Mianno EldenRing, look I use the same characters for every game ever) who she was slightly in love with. Her unsanctioning ended up making her thoroughly fucked up, and after the events of the game, she turned herself into something of a war saint and declared war across the other dynasties that refused her rule. She eventually is assassinated by her son due to her last few years of life barely able to register reality.

For Bloodborne, I have my little girlie Magdalene. She's a Vileblood knight that deserted her post during the Cainhurst massacre and didn't return until the events of the game. There...isn't much to it after that. She had a lesbian thing going on with Fake Iosefka and Amygdalas around the Unseen Village because she has superior taste over us all.

I have a few for the Elder Scrolls, one being my dark elf Nerevarine Arcanea. I don't remember much of her lore since it's been awhile since I played Morrowind, but she was a petty criminal in the Imperial City who came to Vvardenfell and immediately began several different polycules. She probably was really big in the Greater Vivec City Polycule. Despite what Azura wanted from her, she started relationships with both Dagoth Ur and Almalexia but don't worry! She does kill them in the end, just because Azura asked really nicely. IDK, she probably had the hots for Hiricine as well, but I don't think that would've ever worked out.

I have...a lot of dark elf OCs in TES, they're my favourite race, but I do have one Nord OC that I am greatly obsessed with. She's Vahkulass--draconic for Spring Princess--a dragon priestess that escaped the fate of her fellows and lived a life of seclusion in Skyrim while awaiting the return of her lord Alduin. Specifically, she married a dragon priest, and when a rivaling priest killed him, she took his place and declared war on everyone who had tried at some point in overthrowing their rule. But after all that, she stopped being a warlord and just lived a silly life as the weirdo lady in the mountains that didn't seem to age. However, she also worshiped Akatosh, and when she was made Dragonborn, despite her sadness, she did not hesitate in fulfilling her destiny in killing the World Eater. She probably fucked Odahving in the process, but that's something else.

And uh...I think that's it? Yeah probably, my Tarnished OCs have absolutely, no lore. They are just pretty women.

But yeah, thanks king. 🫡 I am not proofreading any of this because this is way too many words.