#who would've thought this would be what made me try to draw again and something other than horses even

[bizarrelittlemew]

i must confess i am a little bit obsessed with the idea of stede in the onesie like idk what is happening in my brain right now but something definitely is

[darlingmisa]

hi! I had this nasty dirty thought about abby for a long time and I-I think.. you would write it perfectly [feel free to ignore me please, don't write it if it's not something you would like to explore, really 💌 and thank you for all the abby works they make me so happy 💌 she's my comfort person and you're such a good writer, it's so beautiful to read about her from you 🫂 but let's go back to the my dirty thoughts

public!sex with abby

like, reader and abby in public and in front of them this homophobic woman who notices their small interaction so she knows they're together ; reader is the only one who noticed the disgusted look on the woman's face so she brings abby's hand near her private parts (abby doesn't know she's doing it to have some nasty session with her and to give that person a full good dirty show)

ending up with them going back to abby's apartment and reader finally telling her what just happened = abby laughing and saying she would've done the same

okay this is too detailed maybe you don't like it but as I said, don't mind me if you don't feel like writing something about this 💌 have a good day/night 🫂 and sorry for bad eng!

Put on a Show...

cw... nsfw, female reader, public sex, a bit of aftercare, homophobia, reader being bold as hell

wc... 854

a/n... It makes me so happy to hear how much you love my writing! I've been trying to figure out how to write this for a while bc I was just so nervous but it was strangely easy and I reallyyy enjoyed writing this one!!

You and Abby were nestled in the corner of the small local coffee shop only a few minutes from your shared apartment. It was a weekly thing, a little evening date where the two of you could just relax and talk, a break between your busy schedules.

Abby had been holding your hand from across the table, gently running her thumb along your smooth skin as you talked. She was too caught up in the way your eyes sparkled and how your silky voice traveled through her ears to notice what had grabbed your attention a few minutes beforehand. The strange woman who had sat perfectly across the cafe, and the way she'd been eyeing you and your girlfriend the moment the two of you entered hand in hand. Sending you dirty looks, knowing you were looking right back.

Usually, you'd ignore the homophobic looks or even comments you'd get towards your relationship, but today felt different, something snapped, and you quickly moved to Abby's side of the booth, barely breaking eye contact with the lady.

Abby seemed a little confused, letting out a small "You okay?" as you pushed yourself against her side, and her confusion only grew when you quickly grabbed her hand and brought it to your thigh. This wasn't abnormal, but it also wasn't something you usually initiated, let alone in a public space. She wasn't one to complain though, as continued drawing small circles with her thumb into the plush of your thigh.

That worked for a bit. The lady seemed to go back to her work, ignoring the slight pda you had started just to piss her off a little. Everything went back to normal until you looked back up a few minutes later to see her staring once again. This time though, her stare held pure hatred, one so strong that made you shiver a little bit under her gaze.

Something in you told you to keep going, to go further with your actions. And so you did, you hushed Abby before she could even say anything as you inched her hand up to gently cup your mound. "What's all this sweetheart?" She mumbled in your ear, sending more heat down to your core. The way her warm breath hit your ear, combined with the risky feeling of doing something so raunchy in public made you wetter than ever.

Whining out a small, "Don't worry about it, Abs. Just touch me," You kept your hand on top of hers, making sure she wouldn't take away that delicious pressure as you slowly ground your hips into her hand. The friction caused you to let out a small moan, that was more of a huff of breath than anything.

"Quiet baby, if we're doing this you can't get us caught." Abby's voice seemed to be lower than before, and it shocked you to see how… into this, she was. Not once did she complain, letting you grind in her hand and get off in the little booth of the coffee shop, all while you continued eye contact with the lady who now looked extremely flustered.

Eventually, the woman had enough of watching you stifle your moans and roll your eyes to the back of your head when Abby rubbed that one spot just right. You watched her pack her things and leave with an aggravated sigh just as the tight coil in your stomach snapped. At this point, she was far forgotten, the only thing on your mind being Abby, Abby, Abby as you felt yourself soak through your jeans and right into the palm of her hand.

You laid your head against her broad shoulder, looking up into her eyes for the first time since you started this whole thing. "Home, please." was all you could get out, still working on catching your breath.

"Of course, princess" Was her only response, as she helped you stand on your, now weak and slightly wobbly, legs and walked you to the car. Abby quickly buckled you in before speeding home to get you cleaned up. and an explanation.

By the time you were back home, sitting on the bathroom counter with Abby gently cleaning between your legs like she always insisted, you were exhausted. Something about it being so public took a lot out of you, and you were fighting sleep at your girlfriend's soft and gentle touches.

"So," Abby began, "wanna tell me what that was about?" She had finished cleaning you up, now just holding your face up to keep your eyes on her. "That wasn't like you at all."

Your words came out in the form of a whine, sleep laced in each breath you took. "She kept staring… Looking so mean because we were together…" You averted your eyes, the ground below you becoming much more interesting. "It was like we were disgusting to her or something… so I showed her." Abby let out a small giggle, exhaustion taking over her features as well.

"So that's what it was about? If I had known I would've put on a little more of a show."

[barefoothighlander]

I love how just. Aesthetic your writing looks and the absolute vibe of it, I was wondering if I could request some form of monster ghost or Konig x innocent reader?

thank you so much, this is my first time writing anything like this, I've never really read any monster fics but I hope this fits what you had in mind, if yall want a pt 2 with smut lmk!

warnings: mention of blood, gn pronouns, not proofread

ghost

It had been a week since he first appeared, looming in the corner of your bedroom, shrouded in darkness, you thought you were dreaming at first, the sight of the tall man watching you a mere figment of your imagination.

You replayed the sight in your mind, the light of the moon outside your window reflecting in his eyes, his dark eyes that made a shiver run down your spine. The weather outside was warm meaning you had to keep your window open to sleep comfortably, the breeze blowing the curtains around every so often.

You would've thought nothing of the shadowy figure if the sight didn't come to you every night, every time you woke to the same scene, his large form lurking in the shadows of your room, it was unsettling, you never addressed him and he never spoke, it felt like even if you wanted to reach out and touch him you couldn't.

This night was different, he was near you, close enough that you could make out the ridges of his form, you could see the rise and fall of his chest, even in the dark you could see the slight gleam in his eyes, his stare pinning you down.

You slowly sat up, your movements hesitant as your eyes stayed focused on him, your pulse thrumming in your ears. He moves closer his scent invading your space you don't dare move again once he stands in front of you, your neck craned upwards to see him.

His hand moves to cup your jaw, his flesh is cold against your warm cheek as you lean into his touch, the room fills with silence, not a word spoken between the two of you as his hands roam your skin.

He pushes your shirt from your shoulders, exposing your collarbone and you flinch,

"Who are you?" The words come out in a whisper as his fingers trace over the veins in your neck, he doesn't answer, simply turning his gaze from your eyes to your skin, his fingers pressing against your pulse point.

"What do you want?"

His hand moves to tilt your jaw toward his face, he kneels in front of you,

"I want you, love"

You shake your head lightly at his words, his hands moving lower on your form as they rise under your shirt, the touch of his cold skin sending a shiver down your spine,

"I lost you many years ago, and you return to me"

Your pulse is rising as you try to catch a glimpse of his face, "I don't understand"

"My love, my beautiful angel, you've come home"

He moves forward, forcing you back from your spot as he leans over your form, his weight pressing you into the mattress as he pushes your shirt from your chest, his eyes roaming over your bare form.

"Please, what do you want from me?" You whimper

His lips ghost over your neck, dragging along your pulse point as he shushes into your skin, "I would never hurt you, my love, just need to taste you, I've missed you so deeply"

You try to talk but your words are forced into your throat as you feel something dig into your neck, you resort to weak sighs and whimpers as his teeth bare into your flesh, his lips sucking at your skin as his hand holds your jaw steady.

Your body feels weightless as the feeling of your warm blood drips down your neck, pooling under you, without thinking your hand moves to settle at the back of his neck, holding him.

He pulls away from you with a groan, the moonlight allowing you to see his face for the first time, his eyes are sunken and bloodshot as your blood stains his chin,

"Taste so heavenly"

He leans over you, his lips pressing against yours, you can taste the metal on his tongue as his teeth bite against your lower lip, drawing more blood. His tongue swirls around yours, a mixture of saliva and iron stinging your tastebuds as he envelops you, he pulls away and you can feel the traces of yourself smeared on your chin, the two of you painted red as his dark eyes bore into you.

You're transfixed by him, everything about him invades your senses, but just as soon as you can touch him he's gone, a wisp through your curtains draws your attention back, your skin tingling with the feeling of him. You feel over your neck for blood, there's no mess but you can feel the two holes that sit at the base of your pulse point, the raised flesh stinging as you run your finger over them, realizing that he wasn't a figment of your imagination.

König

A loud howl breaks your attention from the fire in front of you, the crackling of the wood filling the air, your hair stands on end at the noise. You figured there would be animals in the woods, but not wolves, there were never wolves around these parts.

You assumed you had imagined it, but the silence that followed made your skin crawl, deciding you would be safer in your tent than out in the open, you move from your spot, settling down inside and zipping it closed.

A few minutes of silence pass before you hear some nearby bushes rustle, the sound making your heartbeat race as you pull your blanket higher over your form, the fire outside casts shadows on the tent, your eyes widen at the sight of a tall figure looming outside, holding your breath as it moves around.

You squeeze your eyes shut, muttering words to yourself, praying that you were dreaming as the figure grows closer, it stops in front of the tent, standing there, your pulse is in your ears as you watch it, you see it raise an arm, its hand connecting with the fabric on the tent before it tears s rip down the front.

You're paralyzed as you watch the massive clawed hand push through the opening, it leans over, your eyes locking on it, they're large, staring back at you.

You'd heard stories of werewolves, folktales, but you never believed they were real, not until that moment when an eight-foot-tall wolf standing on its hind legs was staring back at you, your mind doesn't think to fight or run, you simply stare back at it, its deep blue eyes piercing yours.

It was like something in it snapped, in an instant it turned its head, running away, you stand from your spot, following its movement before it disappears. A few moments of silence before you hear yelling and groaning, the sound terrified you, assuming it had found something to kill you chase after it.

You slowly approach a small clearing, hiding behind a tree as you scan the area for any sight of the monster, your eyes dart towards a large man laying in the grass, curled up and groaning in pain.

You make your way over to him, completely ignorant of the fact that he's not wearing clothes you kneel by his side.

"Are you hurt?" Your voice comes out in a panic, your eyes scanning his form for any sign of injury, "I-I can't see, you need to come back to my camp"

The man doesn't respond, your movements are frantic, trying to figure out what to do, your hands move to try and turn him over. He lays flat on his back, his body extended so you can see just how large he is, there's no way for you to carry him, he has to get up.

"Can you walk? Are you alright" You plant a hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat, it pumps fast below your palm, you can feel every beat vibrate through your own chest, he reaches a large hand over yours, keeping you pressed to his skin, he's too warm, his skin searing to the touch as he holds you.

When he finally opens his eyes you stare into them, trying to read his face but all you can focus on is the blue of his iris, the same piercing blue that stood before you moments ago, you try to pull back from him but his grip keeps you planted.

You stumbled backwards, falling against the grass as he just gazes at you, you breathe a sigh of relief as he releases you, his hands falling to his side, his body lays weak against the grass, his skin covered in dirt and scratches as your eyes roam his form, you pull your jacket off to cover his length, blushing slightly as your eyes linger.

You know you should run, should leave him there but something in you keeps you still, your hands apprehensively feel against his stomach, his hot skin a change from the cool weather, you move closer to him and his heat envelops you,

"S'okay" He mumbles, "I won't hurt you kleine maus, you can touch me"

You move to lay beside him, his large arm snaking under you to pull you close, his warmth spreads throughout your skin, your arms settling over his chest as you rest against his shoulder.

"You should stay warm" His arms pull you against him, keeping you moulded to his form as you seek his warmth, his now steady heartbeat lulling you to sleep.

"I will keep you safe"

[saltysplayt00ns]

Page 849 Reworked

I've been waiting a long time to show this one, and had to adjust some stuff cause the author thought rushing to place an out of place fog would make things better, but just adds on the confusion of a fog only showing around their and not around the area. Also would've had a scene of them going through the fog and we seen the Two tribes coming in through the fog. This would've been a better battle and advantage CAUSE LET ME REMIND YA. There are two tribes band together to take down Meteor tribe and a few of Whispervale members. THIS IS A NO WIN BATTLE, Meteor has to be strategic and improvise from a no win scenario. Ronja and other would've taken advantage of the fog and fought them there and not up the freaking mountains. taken advantage when the elements plus the rain coming down would make it more thick in mist. THE BATTLE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!!!.

Close-up shots;

I did adjustment of the whole scene cause this is an action scene;

Panel adjustments and add-ons

Added lighting and shadows

Added SFX

Reworked the BG

Added armor

Added tribal paint

Worked Dialogue bubble cause yikes Ronja.

KARGO HAS PAINT ON BOTH SIDES!!!

He also has the other half of his body.

Adjust to make the dogs more like fur.

Diarko had him more primitive and connect the dark markings.

Also quote from the author themselves; " No paint on any of them for this, it's tedious enough to have to draw all this armor X)" SO BASICALLY YOU, an author that is drawing a Raiding battle of tribes that is between life and death, doesn't want to do paint nor any detailed important stuff, so we don't know who's fighting who. It's not even battle armor cause None of them ARE WEARING ANYTHING TO PROTECT THEMSELVESM, Meteortribe is more equipped with clothes then the tribes that are experienced not wearing any, they're the one's that say burning bodies is ' primitive '. let me tell ya after 2-3 pages its laughable on him trying to make this the final boss type BS when they. How these dogs advanced again? ya got literally spirits giving out free loot XD This is what I mean by ' changing plot to fit the story ' and ' inconsistencies ' like this an annoying blemish, instead of a competent tribes that are more experienced and trained to handle such things, you are NOT given armor nor paint nor anything of an build-up, because you was lazy and don't know how to find an easy way to do said battle armor - PLUS don't know how to have meteor tribe not lose members. Like, why the heck are the two tribes waited MONTHS to start invading them now why not then?? because kiq. doesn't know how to fix the plot holes, since basically would've been wiped out regardless of the extra protection. why meteor waited so long to fix their defenses?

why Keirr is not with them, isn't he a family oriented dog.?

Why Rhovanion and Feaf are not their isn't Rhov and family oriented dog?

Why meteor didn't leave around winter and waited many months to move at all? , this is not a vacation, its an evacuation.

why Tribes waited years to actually start something now then 30 years ago.?

Why Roamer wants to take the idea from Kargo which was meant for Kargo, roamer, Ferah to make their ' new life? ' why not just have it where its an idea you made on your own???!!!! really putting salt on that wound ain't ya?

When did Kargo know about Rogio, more then Roamer who is literally his boyfriend?

Why Rogio dumping all the chores on Roamer to do? he's been doing it a lot and somehow Roamer have to agree, cause remember those scenes when Roamer put OUT HIS OPINION??!!! and tried to help? he gotten gaslighted and a upper cut of emotional manipulations.

Why Rogio wants a Polycule now? especially after we SAW Rogio snooping AGAIN on other dogs conversations. and Kargo so far is focused on other things then having a threesome. and all these glaring and many more glaring questions. Again the question is why?? why, why and more WHY'S. This stuff usually is dealt with after doing drafts, concepts and revisions.

-----

Ps.

The quick placement of the Fog was laughable, cause think about it like, why kiq. going to do a dues ex Machina on the mountains and not in the fogs. Think about it in a tactical planning for Ronja and writers. The Fog is more an advantage to hide in the thick mist in dark shades of the trees, then being exposer on plan sight on top of a mountain. Meteor ( Nordguard ) 1. does not know how to wield a sword, 2. they're outnumbered, 3. lack experiences and 4. have children. They needed to think strategically and fast. The fog would've been a perfect scene for them to hide in and cover their scents, Rain and thunder is coming, so more thick fog and cover up from the tribes, they would use that to their advantage and scatter the raid them around. It's a risky maneuver but Ronja can't be hesitant nor meek on this, is all or nothing. THIS STUFF IS GOOD TENSION AND CHARACTER BUILD-UP.

---- This creating armor and concepts is like whip cream on an ice cream cake for me. But hey it's not my Comic to stress over, be a pump and dump for all I bloody know . .....

Side Goodies:

Quick Armored concept for Dragonsfall

Dragonsfall Paint marks

The Dragonsfall tribe is a group of Canines who have forged a strong alliance with Fire-breathing lizards, believing themselves to be descendants of these majestic creatures. They are known for crafting a unique bronze metal, believed to be hardened and melted with metal from the scales of dragons. This bronze shines like fire, is harder than regular metal, and exhibits weird translucent colors like the scales. The tribe also molds bits of leather to create softer but sturdier materials. While they may have lost some of the fierce traits associated with dragons over time, certain traits like their scales, reproduction and facials still show hints of their connection to these mythical beings.

---

HAPPY EATING YA BLOGGERS ♥

[atlasscrumpit]

Tony Stark's daughter/Reader insert

(apologises if it's a bit rushed, I'm just writing in the car while my parents drive. They're visiting and I feel like I'm bloody 15 again lol) 

Tony sat at his desk, staring down at a photo of his daughter as he drank away his grief.

It had been ten years since he had lost you to Hydra, he prayed every day that they had killed you the moment they got you.

Knowing death was better than what Hydra would do to you.

Steve entered and looked at Tony sadly.

"Get out, Steve." He grumbled in a drunken state.

"No, because I know you'll make a mistake if I leave you alone. We both need each other today, don't act like you can do this alone." Steve said as Tony covered his face and began to cry softly.

Steve sighed and walked over to Tony and rested his hand on his shoulder.

"It's my fault." Tony whispered as Steve's hand squeezed his shoulder gently.

"No... It isn't your fault at all. We all would've protected Y/N with our lives, this was something we couldn't control." He muttered as Tony nodded his head.

"I hate this world, I hate this fucking job... I should never have become Ironman." He grumbled, regretting every choice he had ever made.

Steve squeezed his shoulder gently.

"There's no use questioning the what ifs, you'll drive yourself insane like that." Steve replied as Tony looked up and wiped away his tears.

"I'll find her..."

--

You stared into the mirror as your reflection stared back at you.

"You know what we have to do?" You whispered as your reflection nodded.

"Act like we're going to kill him before slipping him the note." Your reflection replied as you smiled and nodded.

Hydra had turned you into a perfect weapon since the day you had come here.

They thought they had a mindless puppet, but after all they had taken Tony Starks daughter.

You weren't going to let them control you that easy.

So, you had created different parts of yourself.

Parts that would listen, parts that would remember the past, parts that could fight, anything you needed.

And now was the time, Hydra thought you were going to kill Ironman but you had planned this for a while.

You had a small device with information about Hydra on it, recordings, and everything the team would need to take them down.

You would slip it to Tony and he would know who you were and exactly how to break you out.

"We're going to get out of this shit hole."

--

Your handler debriefed you as you sat in the jet, your face stone cold and emotionless while you listened.

You were good at hiding how nervous you were to see your father, you would have to stop yourself from running into his arms.

Eventually you made it to the base you had set up to lure the team into.

You stood in an empty room as you gripped the drive in your hand, the doors burst open and you leapt out of the way, looking up to see Ironman.

"Nice try, nice trap too." He grumbled pointing his blaster at you, before you had a chance to think he shot you, causing you to fly back.

The drive dropped out and you landed straight on top of it, crushing it.

"No... No!" You screamed, holding your burnt side as you looked down at the broken pieces.

Fuck, new plan.

You grabbed your knife and slit the skin at the back of your neck.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" He shouted as you dug the chip out of your neck.

You then took the ear piece out and smashed it under your foot before ripping the mask off your face.

"It's me... Dad." You said, slowly standing up, wincing in pain.

"That fucking usb drive was going to show you how to take down Hydra because I can't do it alone!" You shouted as he stared at you.

"This is a trick." He grumbled as you sighed.

"It isn't! Okay? Please, it's me. It's Y/N!" You shouted stumbling forward as his mask retracted and he stared at you.

"I know I look different... But, I promise it's me. Remember when you would read me the fox and the hound? And I would get the book and draw all over it to make a new story? Or the times we would try to cook pancakes and Steve would get really angry because we made such a big mess?" You said with a smile as he stared at you in shock.

You rushed forward and hugged him tightly.

His arms slowly wrapped around you as you began to cry.

"I fucked up! I had this whole fucking plan! It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." You cried out as he held you.

"Y/N... Promise me this is real, please." He whispered, his voice shaky.

"It's me, I promise. I don't care how many times they tortured me, I was always Tony Starks daughter." You replied as he held you tightly.

"It's okay, it's alright I've got you. We can get you out of here, the team is here." He said as you pulled away and nodded.

"How do you remember...?" He asked as you chuckled softly.

"I spent a lot of time with Uncle Buck... I knew how to survive. I'll tell you everything once we get the fuck out of here." You said making him chuckle and nod his head.

"Yeah, good idea. Stya close." He said, his mask going back over his head.

You ran back out into the base to see your handler standing waiting for you.

"Should've known you would play us." He grumbled as you smirked and pulled out your gun.

"Aww, did you think I was actually listening that whole time? You forget who raised me, fat fuck!" You shouted shooting at him before he quickly dodged him.

"Go take care of the rest, I'm killing this cunt." You growled as Tony looked at you in shock.

You weren't exactly the innocent little girl he used to know.

"No, I'm not leaving." He said making you smiled a little.

You both leapt into action, your old handler didn't stand a chance against the both of you.

Weak, bloodied and close to death you stood above him, your gun aimed at his head.

"We can't kill him." Tony said taking the gun out of your hand.

"He fucking deserves it!" You shouted as Tony looked into your crazed eyes.

"We don't kill, Y/N." He growled as you glared at him.

"He fucking raped me." You replied, your voice wavering.

Tony shot the gun without a thought, a bullet going straight through your old handlers skull.

"Oops, I slipped." Tony said as you cried and laughed softly, rushing forward to hug him tightly.

He hugged you back tightly and sighed.

"I've got you, baby girl." He whispered before Steve ran in.

"Y/N?" He muttered in shock as you turned around and smiled.

"Hey, uncle Steve."

--

You sat in front of Tony and the rest of the team, a blanket wrapped around you.

"When they captured me... I remembered what Bucky had told me. That he became two people, the winter soldier and Bucky. So, I split myself up. There was one who would remember my family, one to fight and be tortured and one who as a ruthless killer." You explained as they nodded.

"I can't imagine what they did." Bucky muttered as you smiled.

"Well, thanks to what you told me I don't remember. The others remember." You said as he nodded.

"We just have to be careful that those other sides don't come out and hurt you or us." Tony said, moving to sit next to you and holding onto your hand.

"We'll get through this, okay?" He said as you smiled and looked at him.

"I missed you, dad." You whispered, hugging him tightly.

"I missed you too, baby."

[13eyond13]

hi, not too long ago, i read death note one-shot 2020. i really enjoyed it, but i have a question. What would have happened if Minoru never died. Do you think Minoru and Near will have met each other. I hope you have a headcanons about them.

Hi! Thanks for the ask, it was fun to think about the 2020 one-shot again. I hadn't revisited it since it first came out, so I reread it again just now to have it fresh in my mind.

So I don't really think Minoru and Near likely would've met even if Minoru never died, because Minoru asked Ryuk to erase his memories and also made it really hard to trace everything back to him with how he planned the selling of the notebook. He didn't WANT to be tracked down by anybody, nor to remember what he had done, and Near said himself that it would be basically impossible for them to find him now after the transaction had taken place. The only clue L's team really had to go on after the auction finished was that A-Kira was probably one of the many hundreds of thousands of people under 60 years old who had a bank account with Yotsuba.

HOWEVER! I also do like the idea of Minoru and Near meeting each other, especially because Near expressed interest in meeting him due to his obvious intelligence and due to coming up with that kind of a plan with the notebook. And think it might have been fun to see how they got along.

("read more" cut because it's a bit long)

I also liked Minoru as a character quite a bit. He came off pretty chill and patient and peaceful and non-egotistical, but still pretty scheming and clever as a character as well. I also liked how he found a way to try to use it to benefit himself and his own country (I guess - it's up for interpretation, but that much money going to Japan would be "greasing the wheels" of the economy, as they said?). And to me he also seemed to be trying to entertain and placate Ryuk while also getting the notebook away from him and not actually using it himself to kill anybody. After all, Minoru really had no choice in the matter initially when Ryuk selected him for his next notebook owner, so he didn't ask to be put in that position, and he had all the history of what had happened before when Kira had the notebook to draw on. And Near points out that now that the world knows about Kira's power and its whereabouts that it will be a lot harder for it to be used sneakily by anybody, and perhaps that was something that Minoru had been anticipating too (I assume he had thought of many things like this before he chose this plan, seeing as he for some reason spends 2 entire years coming up with it).

Near in this one-shot is a bit of a question mark to me characterization-wise. He doesn't act a ton like Near did in the manga in my eyes, and comes off a bit more cynical and listless and self-centered than I thought he actually was back in the manga. He seems a bit less idealistic and less caring about the others around him to me in this one-shot, too; and I thought that the part where he says that he wants to meet A-Kira because he's smart sounds a lot more like something the original L would say than something Near would say. Much of the stuff that made his personality refreshing and unique to me in comparison to L just wasn't really that present in this one-shot for me. And I'm just not sure if that's because Ohba is intentionally writing him to have been changed by the Kira case and differently characterized now to how he wrote him in the manga, or what? Perhaps he is trying to show Near slowly becoming more like L over the years as he spends more time doing L's job? Or maybe I just interpreted Near's personality in the manga differently to how Ohba was actually conceptualizing him and writing him in the first place.

Anyway, whenever I imagine Near and Minoru meeting and interacting I tend to picture Minoru having a bit of a calming effect on Near for some reason, as Near comes off a bit depressed and cranky and lonely to me in the later one-shots. They're so far apart in age in canon and when Near first learns about A-Kira that I don't ship it, but I can imagine them getting along well as friends if they met (and if someone came up with an AU where they are closer together in age and/or both first met as adults that'd be fine for me shipping-wise as well). Maybe Near would do well to have a friend like Minoru who came off smart and relatable to him in an interesting way, and who also immediately understood that something like having the power of Kira handed to him wasn't automatic good news and didn't want to use it to kill anybody. Minoru could maybe be Near’s chill voice of reason when he gets a little too cynical and stubborn about things and get him out of the house a bit more, introduce him to some of the things the kids are into these days and see what he thinks about them. I feel like Near would maybe do well to not be so caught up in his role as L anymore as well, as it doesn't really seem to be agreeing with him that much later in life. I can picture them doing something fun and low stakes and nerdy together like hanging out at a board game cafe. Or maybe it'd even be nice to see them working together on L stuff, and maybe Near would be a happier person with an actual pal to hang out with.

[timextoxhajima]

Kill Shot: Niki Nishimura

member: enhypen niki

genre: mafia! enhypen

synopsis: you're an fbi agent working for the nishimura cartel as an undercover spy. your cover is blown in the presence of the boss' youngest son.

a/n: it has been a hot minute since i've written something. my writing style has definitely changed, and this fic will not focus on any romance whatsoever. based on the new song by itzy.

w/c: probably like 400

the nishimura cartel is not one for the weak - of course, that's what everybody says about any mafia system or any cartel. but when you're knee-deep in it, involved with their transactions and being a person of importance to their routines, danger becomes a thin line you can cross without even knowing.

japanese mafias and cartels very seldom include the likes of anybody below the age of 16, so when jung dayoon was very carefully sifted into the system, she was very surprised to meet the youngest member - niki nishimura - the middle child of three and the only son of his father.

her focus became keeping an eye on him, as well as his sisters. His older sister is the pride of the family. despite being just one year older than him, her missions and tasks started way before he did. she was 15 when she first held a gun to a man's head, and jung dayoon was there to watch the inherited cold-bloodedness she had.

but it was too much effort to have jung dayoon sifted into the system, so blowing her cover now, at six months, would be too fast. one of the reasons for her reluctance to bust them is that she wouldn't know what would happen to the three children. they may have been in a cartel but nobody could deny that they were living a life most people would've wanted.

they never starved. they always got the newest toys. always sat in expensive cars and always ate the best things. as ironic as it seemed, these children were in a bubble - if the bubble was covered in spikes and poison and killed anybody who touched it.

click.

she clicks the magazine into the gun and sets it down. turning around, she meets eye to eye with niki, who closes the door behind him.

they don't knock here. all the nishimuras never have to knock. dayoon has lost count the number of times she's tried to use her pager and gotten a heart attack.

"i was just looking for you."

dayoon almost feels emotional - the first time she met him, his voice was still that of a boy's. she was also taller than him. now, his voice is low enough to go unnnoticed if he doesn't bother to speak up, and during conversations, she remains a foot away from him to save her neck the ache.

"what is it?" she passes off rubbing the barrel of the sniper with her sleeve to push her pager up her arm.

"you know how my first task's probably coming soon? i just was... just wondering... how did you get in? i mean, if my father trusted you, then you must be good at something."

his words sting. it's been difficult trying to hide the hurt, the sorrow, the anger and every other emotion on the drawing board while working here. dayoon sometimes wonders if she was the right person to be made an undercover agent, but by the time she realised who she was dealing with, it was too late.

she scoffs. "'good at something'? i hope that hasn't been your impression of me the entire time i've been working here."

niki shrugs and shoves his hands into his pockets, finding a chair nearby to sit in. dayoon remains standing. it's necessary that nobody sits in a nishimura's presence.

dayoon notices the lack of response - he's not going to ask again.

"i have never missed a shot in my life. 100% fatality. thought you would've already known," she composes herself and places her hands infront of her abdomen.

niki fiddles with the pistol on the table he's at. then, he pauses and tilts his head to look at her, eyes dark through his blonde hair which he hasn't gotten past ever since he got it bleached.

she remembers that day - he looks like he aged two or three years. sometimes, she thinks about how terrifying he is, that if a child can be capable of doing certain things, then what will he be capable of when he's an adult?

niki is one of those people who gets more intimidating as he grows older, for he's following in his father's footsteps more and more each day. and dayoon knew for a fact that if she slipped up, the chances of niki catching her would be much higher than her father or his sisters. he's not the heir to the cartel for nothing.

"my father can find a sniper anywhere. why you?"

dayoon takes a deep breath. because the police force planted me in a spot where your father will see me as the best of the best in his circumstance.

"i don't know, you tell me," dayoon returns a shrug. she knows better than to speak to him in this tone - but niki is sharp. he is ruthless. he can tell when you're lying, and right now, she's already in danger. it's better for her to disguise it with courage, nonchalance.

niki sighs, lacking patience. he drags a finger down his left temple, then adjusts his arm to reach for the pistol again.

"sometimes, just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it's not there."

his voice is just loud enough for her to hear - but she's having trouble processing his words.

dayoon cocks her head, slightly anxious. "i'm afraid i don't understand."

"i'm telling you... to not be arrogant. arrogance is enough to make a mistake. a fatal one."

she finally frowns, reaching behind her for the gun.

"i'm not here to kill you."

"then why are you telling me all this?"

"because i'd hate to have to blow your guts out tomorrow for my first assignment," niki stands, hand grabbing the pistol and raising it to eye level.

dayoon's heart is in her mouth, and her fingers begin to tremble upon the realisation. there are no thoughts in her head, for she's simply preparing herself for death.

but instead, niki releasing the pistol and lets it swing around his index finger, allowing her to take it.

"your life or the safety of the cartel."

dayoon knows how fast he is with guns, so she doesn't bother taking it out of his hands.

"the cartel is the reason why the city isn't safe."

"and yet half of the cartel have families to feed. you may not see it our way, but why should you ruin those... when i'm letting you go?"

"your father will know."

"my father already knows."

she pauses.

"he was just reserving you. for me. so you can either accept my proposal and keep your mouth shut... or come tomorrow and let me put a bullet through your eyes. your choice."

[vampiremeerkat]

not sure if you've caught up much to Vivziepop's work lately, but got any thoughts regarding her Helluva Boss show, or her upcoming Amazon Prime version of Hazbin Hotel?

Said this: https://vampiremeerkat.tumblr.com/post/188696192708/hazbin-hotel-came-out-thoughts-aye-watched-it https://vampiremeerkat.tumblr.com/post/665027239768899584/since-youve-seen-hazbin-hotel-what-do-you

But I've still not watched Helluva Boss, only about two or three few second snippets out of curiosity for the animation quality. My knowledge on it is based on a review from Just Stop, and if the show is like he describes, I won't be turning on episode 1 soon. It appears to me like Helluva Boss just does things to look or sound exciting in the moment, without caring about previously established rules or how stupid these decisions make a character look in the face of past or upcoming episodes. Then again, my mind has been poisoned by anime, and I like Cars, so I can also imagine none of it would keep me up at night. But even before Just Stop's video, I've not felt particularly interested. If I had to give a reason, perhaps I just don't enjoy Vivziepop's interpretation of Hell enough to want to know about its residents. Just Stop gives a sensible list of reasons what's wrong with her Hell, but like I said in one of the linked messages above: I find many of the characters too approachable/aesthetically pleasing and already don't think that's what Hell should be like. I want disfigured gremlins no one wants to draw porn of. Hell should be Hell, not a (slightly) less bearable version of some big city you can find on Earth. A good example of Vivziepop's work is the character "Beelzebub". I happened to come across an image of her not long ago, which is a fluffy neon-rainbow fox with insect wings, instead of an actual bee with beastly features, which would've made more sense. Why is someone who's called "(queen) bee" a fox? We know why, and I cry for all the sexy bees in the world. You don't always have to cater to the furries, my friends, please, just try something else for once, leave the canines, felines, and dragons alone! There are so many different kinds of animals walking the planet to sexualize! And you.. furries.. You're all conveniently inhabited by the soul of a wolf -an animal that so happens to appeal to most humans in terms of appearance- while there's infinite times more sea life and insects that existed throughout time and in present day, that died and could've reincarnated into what is now you! That's right loser, you are a literal worm! Anyway, the characters draw the attention of teenagers, but at the same time, the show mishandles the use of swear words and throws them around like it's all good, which I also can't stand. I think the latter is what initially turned me off from sitting on stand-by for the upcoming Hazbin Hotel show, because why should I care about anything you have to say if you're always going "fuck" and "shit" in my face? A sliver of positivity in this rant: I think the owl looks cool. Again, he does not look like anything Hell would produce, I'd design something like him if my intention was a "mysterious, forest fairy tale creature", but still cool. I contemplated looking up his scenes under the belief there's a complicated, emotional story attached, but if you're telling me they did this hooty boy wrong by making him a sexually dissatisfied whore, with Blitzo's only aim being his magic book, and yet further episodes proclaim there's an actual connection between the two without the writers having put in the work, then never mind. I'll find myself a different hooty boy. 💔🦉

[clqveris]

stock dancing but it's all the fandoms i've ever been in

despite tumblr's accounts being called blogs, this is probably going to be the only "blog post" that I'll ever post. at least in the near future.

it's going to be a long one. disclaimer, it will contain some talk of things like fandom discourse, as well of mentions of Dead Dove topics, so scroll away if you need.

it will also be pretty personal, so I'm not adding all the tags for the fandoms and characters. this is mostly to those who know me.

I'll start at the beginning, in the best chronological order that I can remember. Not by order of appearance in the video, because I kept forgetting what came first when drawing the frames.

My Little Pony (Rarity) and Warrior Cats (Firestar)

These were my very first "fandoms." Before I even went to school, I discovered MLP on the television. I then proceeded to draw those stupid little ponies on the desk and some plastic containers. Thankfully it was with pencil, and not on any important containers and whatnot. Very glad I'm not a brony now, and very glad there was a human version so I didn't have to make a pony awkwardly dance.

Warrior cats was a series I read for a long time. I don't remember when I dropped it, but I just ended up losing interest. It has been stretched out by a lot by now, I believe. Warrior cats was also the first fandom that I "participated" in, by using Amino. Somehow, miraculously, I got out unscathed. By that, I mean no "safe adults" or suspicious people approached me. Not that I would've fallen for it after listening to internet safety week. Firestar is at the end of the animation because, well, it's difficult to make a non-anthro cat dance the same way as people do.

It's funny, because these two are most associated with people becoming furries later on in life, and somehow I am the only one who doesn't take much of an interest in furries within my friend group.

LittleBigPlanet (Sackboy) and Vocaloid (Miku)

LBP wasn't something that I was really "in a fandom" for, but I definitely really enjoyed playing it with my best friend and even made my own username based on it. I remember playing LBP, LBP2, and LBP3, and the disaster that was LBP3 because after finishing the story, none of it would load properly. Tons of surfaces and props would just be missing. Still, it's a nice game to look back on.

I will be honest, this is probably the first Miku I've drawn. Vocaloid has just been a thing in my life since discovering it back... I don't remember when, but the first music that went in playlists of music I liked to listen to was generally made with vocaloid or other voice synthesizers. Miku has always been there, somehow.

*not to be mistaken with AI voice generators, as people actually agree to provide their voice for the voice synthesizers

Marvel (Winter Soldier), Pokemon (Misty), Yandere Simulator (stand in- Vera)

I never drew anything for Marvel, except for the above frame. My family watched it when I was younger, everyone watched it before it started falling off after the infinity stones thing got resolved. The only reason I put it here was because I definitely read fanfiction for it, and definitely thought there was something fruity about america and his best friend. I mean, you find yourself in the future and everyone you've ever known is dead except wait, your best friend isn't, but he's brainwashed and now you have to kill him, so you betray the government and all your new friends instead to try and reach him. Shame that kind of story was stuck in the mcu.

Pokemon was an interesting phase. I drew Pokemon in ms paint, but never any of the humans. I had (still have some) Pokemon plushes and watched the first Pokemon anime on Netflix when it was still on there. I also watched the one with Serena. This was also the fandom that I first discovered porn. And tentacles. So if you ask me why, it's because of Pokemon. It's rather funny, because once again, I seem to be the only one in the friend group who doesn't take an interest in Pokemon anymore.

Yandere Simulator was discovered in elementary school. Because it's been shown that the dev was found to be interacting inappropriately with minors, I have not drawn the protagonist of the game and instead used an OC of mine as a stand in. All you need to know about Vera is that he is not a good person. I used to draw for this fandom back in my Amino days, just a bit, but ended up dropping it because of more and more people pointing out his incompetency. Plus, the complaint that to do anything in game you would have to watch the videos on YouTube, thus making a blind playthrough impossible. As well as his "sex license" comment, which was more than enough to turn me away from that game.

That aside, YanSim was my first exposure to the "yandere" trope- the obsessive, possessive type characters. In the game, it was done in a very bland way, but I like the general idea of the trope. Its influence still drives me towards certain preferences of mine in other fandoms, but I'd rather attribute that to Araki, who apparently popularized the trope with Yukako. I guess this is probably where my interest in "bad things happening in fiction" started.

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (Sketchbook), Don't Starve (Willow), Cookie Run (Roguefort Cookie)

Initially, DHMIS was going to be my second or third fandom on the list, but I realized that I got into it when I was old enough to have an email address, and not before. Hence, now it's down here. I ended up using that popular design of the human sketchbook to be recognizable. It was an interesting fandom, and also another from my Amino days. I don't know who came up with the idea of the sketchbook and the clock having a love-hate relationship, but looking back on it, they might've been cooking. I remember joining a discord server for it, having my phone get taken away, and then coming back and the server was about the grinch. I also remember that this was the first time I actually interacted with the community and talking to the others within the fandom, since the Amino community was pretty small. I look back at it and cringe, because there are so many things I did for attention. Instead of linking back to a person, I would put emojis around the link with sunglasses and pointing hands saying "This idea came from 😎 👉 this person." All that aside, this is probably where my interest in horror started.

The only reason I remembered that I was technically in the Don't Starve fandom was because I went looking in my folder of drawings and found some there. Then I remembered that yes, I had also read fanfiction for it. Mostly, though, it was a videogame that I played with my family. I ended up using the charcoal pencil brush here for Willow, instead of the pen, to mimic the artstyle just a bit.

Cookie Run is a fandom that I was in, and only get back in briefly whenever Roguefort is in an event. I also first discovered it due to an artist on tumblr who I followed for DHMIS. No idea where they are now because I can't remember the correct spelling of the username. Other than that, I just play the game, which I have been playing since before high school. Now I am out of high school. It was also the fandom that I believe was probably responsible for a good amount of my early art improvement, due to some art challenge where you drew every cookie. Overall, fond memories, but I'd rather not return to the fandom. Too much drama, too many people making big fusses over dumb shit. The Valentine's Day video being an especially dumb one, especially when you consider that maybe, putting in offensive stereotypes contributes to bad perceptions of real life people vs some ship between biscuits. I even remember asking, when I was younger, "Should I ship Pink Choco cookie with White Choco cookie or Hero cookie? I can't decide." Poor little me didn't know about multishipping, and the answer I got was that "Some people headcanon the Choco cookies as siblings, so it's safer to ship her with Hero." Well, now that I'm older, I have decided that I don't have the energy to act like fictional ships anywhere near the same level as real relationships and problems, and would probably ship both were I still interested in the fandom.

Team Fortress 2 (Sniper), Doki Doki Literature Club (Monika), Jojo's Bizzare Adventure (Kakyoin)

Yes, I was in the TF2 fandom. I barely played the game but I usually played as Medic when I did. I also realize that as I type this out, this might have been the original old men thing. Or at least, some of the oldest. I drew them a lot, and I wrote a fic that I orphaned some years later out of shame. It had a werewolf in it for some reason, and was multiple chapters. Although each chapter was only about 1000 words, compared to my current long-term multichapter fic which easily have 2000+ a chapter. Well, aside from that, I don't know why I liked Sniper the most. He throws piss in bottle and I will say, piss is something I avoid if I can. It's in my muted words somewhere.

I never personally played DDLC. I did watch playthrough of it, and seeing people's reactions to some of the stuff was always enjoyable. Yes, Monika was my favorite, and still is. I can't say with certainty why she is, but maybe I just found her the most interesting out of all the characters. This fandom I remember drawing for because this is where one of my OCs originated from, although that character I am only really remembering as I type this out, despite repurposing her.

JJBA. I cannot say that I look back at my time here happily. This is probably where I first started learning about the current state of fandom (ie, Not Good) and getting a bit of personal experience with it. At the time, I did enjoy it. I enjoyed talking in a ship server (A) about it, and another general server (B) about it. It was great and all, until A started blowing up. Which wouldn't be a problem if it didn't have a blacklist of topics that anyone could add to. They're useful in smaller circles, yes, but in large public servers, most things are going to end up being blacklisted. I remember dresses and "positive talk about mothers" being blacklisted, and eventually I got too anxious that I would say something on the blacklist to speak at all. B was okay, and I even tried to get over my fear of talking to strangers in voice chat by joining one during a whiteboard or something similar where everyone draws on the same canvas. I later ended up deleting all 200+ of my messages there and leaving. Why? Because the members of the server did not know the concept of "block and move on." "Scroll away." "Ignore things that you don't like online." A popular artist in the fandom was brought up and the people started trashing on them because of their wedding, which was apparently themed with the favorite JoJo ship. (But honestly, if someone wanted to theme their wedding to a ship I would respect the hell out of them.) The reason I ended up leaving that server was because they started saying stuff like, "It's creepy and weird, because the characters are minors so there's probably something wrong with that person," and implying such things over a JoJo ship of all things. (And, it gets into the territory of the "violent videogames are the cause of vioence" argument. Do you think that because I particularly enjoy using shotguns in videogames because I find them satisfying means that I want to go out and shoot real people with a shotgun? The state of gun control in the US is awful, and if anything, I want less guns.) And, generally, judging things by how "weird" they are rather than whether it harms or helps people is too arbitrary of a measure. Unfortunately, this was far from the last time that I would see serious accusations made on the basis of dumb shit, and now I am doubtful of most callout posts.

Other than that, at least I know all the Jojo references people complain about seeing all the time. Although, now that I'm not into JoJo, I don't actually see that many jokes about it.

Helltaker (Malina) and Weak Hero (Alex)

Malina gets two frames because she unluckily got the one that did not show her face. I can't say I remember much about the Helltaker community, but this was the community that I posted on Reddit to. Since then I have not used Reddit, but it was a good game and people seemed nice, at least from what I remember. Azazel was the one I drew the most, but Malina is a gamer girl, so I chose her for this.

I only remember Weak Hero because I saw that I drew a total of two images for this fandom. I discovered it on Webtoon, and joined a server which I have long since left, and that's all I can remember. Other than that, it was a webtoon with fighting and that's all I can say.

Omori (Omori) and Genshin Impact (Xinyan)

Omori was the first rpgmaker game I actually drew things for, although most of these drawings consisted of Sweetheart. Although I do like Ib and The Witch's House and Corpse Party, I never really went into the fandom. There wasn't much else to it, but the plot of Omori was good and it led me to discover one of my favorite artists, who, unfortunately, has left the internet. I wish them well.

Xinyan is here because she was and still is one of my favorites from the game. I wish she got better treatment from the game, especially gameplay-wise. I haven't drawn much for this game, due to the level of detail on outfits, but I did still play it for two years and read fanfiction for it. Lately I've just been watching videos for the story quest, though. Uninstalling it gave me 50+ GB back of space on my computer. About the Genshin fandom... JoJo may have been my first real bad experience with how online communities are, but this was my first time seeing how widespread it was. Lots of baseless accusations, fighting over headcanons, telling people awful things because they dislike a character... Well, the post that says the best way to enjoy fandom is to enjoy it with a small circle becomes more and more correct.

OC era (Left to Right- Aster @/sepialkali, Lucy @/hattiestgal, Alason @/moonlightguardianmoon, Zion @/sweet-pattycakes, Bisu/Sparrow @/monarch-orien, and Danaus)

For this one I realized that I had leftover blank frames at the end of the animation, and asked my friends for their ocs to fill in. This era lasted a very long time, and started because I discovered Tupperbox. Since then, my characters have become a lot less watered down as I drifted away from roleplay, and most of the things I do with them is just art now. Two of them are getting a sort of visual novel story thing made of them though, if that counts for anything.

Nu:Carnival (Kuya), Stardew Valley (Elliott), Wildfrost (Tusk)

Despite playing this game for a sizeable amount of time, the most I've done for this fandom was read fics and draw an event character once. Somehow, despite the bland gameplay, I have made a habit of continuing to play the game. I used Kuya because he's the only character I consistently roll for.

I first played Stardew Valley a long time ago without mods, and then forgot about it for a few years. When I came back to it earlier this year, I thought it would be funny to install mods that makes characters into crazy yanderes. It was definitely entertaining, although most of them were pretty standard. I will give massive props to whoever made the Elliott one, because they added events and schedule changes and a lot more than just dialogue changes. Anyways, the reason this is here is because I decided, on a whim one day, to start writing a very long fic for Stardew. This was at the beginning of the year, and it is not even halfway through right now. Then I lost interest in the game while retaining an interest in writing the fic, somehow.

Wildfrost I picked up near the beginning of the year. It doesn't have much of a story, and there's little fanart because of that, but the character designs are pretty good. I still play it daily, and Tusk is still a good unit, because it's basically free damage.

Honkai Star Rail (Peepaw Welt), The Greatest Estate Developer (Lloyd), The Coffin of Andy and Leyley (Ashley)

Honkai Star Rail remains on my computer, but I cannot find the energy to open and play it. Each new character becomes its own meta, and the gameplay loop isn't that enjoyable anymore. During the time that I did, however, I had my 50/50s ruined twice by Welt, which is why he is here. Otherwise I would've chosen Tingyun or Yanqing instead. Gameplay aside, I am lucky to have found a good community for this fandom through a ship server, as an almost complete mirror of the previous servers I was in for JoJo. They are what keeps me in the fandom.

TGED was a very short era that lasted for less than a month. During that time, however, I was afflicted by the demons, and drew and even wrote a decent amount (at least for my standards.) Funnily enough, what drove me away from it was the server I was in for it. This fandom is a very small one, and so the server had probably the majority of active fandom members that could speak English. What made me leave was the poor moderation and some immaturity from some members. Links to NSFW fanart was allowed in the same channel as SFW fanart, NSFW conversations wouldn't always be in the NSFW channel... Which, if it was an adults only server, would've been fine, but it is not, and I feel that this server is a genuine safety concern with the NSFW problem.

TCOAAL was a game I watched a playthrough of when it first came out, and then I saw the chaos that happened when it blew up with the release of the second chapter. I personally found it very entertaining, with the way people didn't have a problem with cannibalism and murder and cults until they found out there was an ending with incest, and suddenly the game was a bad game you shouldn't play. Although if you look at the Steam reviews most people don't care because, well, it's only a game. This game also served as a bit of a precursor. I find codependency in ships interesting, but I am only slightly interested in the game. I don't think about it that much, for some reason. Maybe that'll change when more chapters are released.

The S-Classes That I Raised (Han Yoojin)

If you take a quick scroll through my account, you can probably tell that this is my current fandom. Funnily enough, the server that brought me into this was one I joined while trying to get out of TGED. I suppose it only worked because I read it on Webtoon awhile ago. This server is a lot better kept, although maybe it's because it's strictly an 18+ server. As well as that, it's a smaller community within the fandom, because the server's subject is inherently tied to one of the Big Dead Dove topics, so there's a lot less worrying about drama starting over that sort of stuff. To my mutuals, I will not talk about weird dead dove stuff that I'm into unless asked to, so don't worry about it. Some sort of codependency just makes me go crazy. Unfortunately, I was not able to fit him next to another image to make Tumblr make him smaller, and had to remove one of Malina's frames to fit the 30 image limit.

If any of my friends are reading all the way down to here, thanks! I'm very lucky to have you guys as friends, and I hope we can stay friends for a long time.

[patchdotexe]

HEEEEYY OKAY SO (YOU TOTALLY DONT HAVE TO ANSWER THIS) BUT. If there was a hypothetical reconciliation between Swears & Friend, how do you think it would go?

(No I am NOT brainrotting over ur little shapes again) (and no I am NOT trying to find new, potential drawing material with them)

HWHUGHWUGHGGHUGH . ok i definitely had stuff planned out for this at one point but my brain is swiss cheese so im gonna fuck it we ball

friend at one point kinda stumbled into the mindset of "if i want to be a hero i need to be like swears" bc trying to be Themself uhhhh. got them fuckin Blasted in annihilate. among other things. except trying to copy swears / fill in for them when they got shattered did Basically Nothing bc sovereign just kinda Ignored Them and they feel like they made things worse instead

(what friend is good at is. being literally friend-shaped. theyre just a little guy and they try to connect with people and are more emotional rather than physical. this is something i didnt get to explore much but that i would love to riff on more if i ever redid ja&b)

so yknow. eventually in a story arc we didnt do, friend manages to save the day through the power of love ([swears voice] and this really big triangle i found) but still feels like they arent doing anything Right. and it takes swears, who is more action than thought, a bit to finally catch on to What The Issue Is bc even though stuff should be fine now For Some Reason It Isn't

swears is really, really bad at any sort of emotional conversation. their go-to is snarky jabs and irreverent quips and distancing themself from Feelings as much as possible. this is why the duet Get Along Shirt situation was such a nightmare for them bc they kinda Couldnt, or at least not for long. so it would be awkward, and clumsy, but they eventually fumble their way into telling friend that theyre proud of them and never thought any less of them, even with all of the blunders along the way. because friend's got their back! so theyll have friend's in return. and its literally been that way Since They Were Made. theyre a package deal do not separate etc etc.

CIRCLE: ...you mean it? SQUARE: 'Course I do. Why wouldn't I? It's been you and me since forever, and there's no way I would've gotten this far without you. CIRCLE: But I thought... I... I keep getting in the way. SQUARE: Dude, I get in the way of myself, you're not special. --Uh, I mean. SQUARE: Look, even if you mess up sometimes, we always pull it back in the end. (And I think we've established nothing can kill me in a way that matters?) CIRCLE: Only because you fix what I mess up. SQUARE: And you make it so I can be here to fix. Someone's gotta remind me what I'm doing all this for.

IM. VERY RUSTY AT WRITING THEM BUT YOU GET THE POINT I THINK

[whumpshaped]

Saddest trope ever for me is Whumpee not knowing how to read/write. Caretaker mindlessly asks them to pick out a book or something like that and Whumpee panics because they can't complete the task Caretaker gave them.

I can make it better with a whumpee who can't read/write but also can't communicate verbally so for some times the only way they can communicate with Caretaker is through crude/ childish drawings.

tw whumpee ashamed of not being able to communicate and read, implied past trauma

A book. Why did it have to be a book? Whumpee looked at the wide selection on Caretaker's shelves and felt themself beginning to panic. They didn't know what to go off of. The size? The cover? Were they supposed to pick something that looked complicated, or something that looked like it was meant for a child? What did Caretaker expect them to do?

"You don't like any of them?" Caretaker asked casually. "We can go pick up something else for you at a library, if you want."

Whumpee shook their head frantically. No. Not even more books for someone so incompetent and stupid and-

"Whumpee?" They looked concerned now. "Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry. I'm... not very good at guessing what, uh... guessing what you'd like. Without... you know."

The fact was, Whumpee either couldn't or didn't want to talk. It made the attempted recovery way harder on both of them, and Caretaker kept stepping into traps they didn't know were there. Clearly, this was another one of those times.

"I'm gonna ask you a couple questions, okay? Yes or no questions. You can just nod or shake your head. I would like to try and understand what's wrong. Is that okay with you?"

Whumpee nodded, taking a deep breath to try and calm down. It was just Caretaker. They were a friend. They could do this thing, they could answer some questions for a friend.

"Okay. Let's see... Do you like books at all?"

Whumpee hesitantly shook their head.

"Do they remind you of something bad?"

Whumpee shook their head again.

Caretaker hummed. "So you just don't like to read?"

Whumpee shook their head once more. That wasn't it. They would've loved to read the books. They would've loved to do well for Caretaker.

Caretaker thought some more, then finally arrived at the right question. "Can you read?"

Whumpee shook their head one last time, relieved that Caretaker knew they weren't purposely being bad, but ashamed that now there was one more thing Caretaker knew they were incapable of doing. But instead of a disappointed sigh or straight up yelling, they just seemed... relieved as well.

"Ah, I see. I'm sorry, I didn't think of that. Then, new question: would you like me to read for you?" Whumpee perked up immediately, nodding and making Caretaker chuckle. "Great. I'll just grab something I think you'll like, then. Make yourself comfy on the couch."

~

@ashh-ed @whumpsday @whump-queen @dustbunnywhump @the-scrapegoat @hidden-dreamland

[sugarsnappeases]

HI BABY do you want to maybe share a bit about rita skeeter post first war…. maybe talk about her stay at the janus thickey ward … i want to hear your every thought… oh quillkiller i am SO back..

hi darling there is NOTHING i would love more!!! okay first of all, links to the mood boards we've made around the topic. obsessed w us always and forever but anyway . to business .

i think rita starts to spiral almost immediately after the quillkiller break up bc it's a loss of control (<- core rita characteristic, desperate need for control at all times, which. to me is a part of the reason for her writing the article, bc she can feel everything she's built w bella starting to slip out of her grasp and she's trying to reassert her control over things. obvs this doesn't work. bc, coupled w bella getting the dark mark, it only serves to fully knock them both of their axes)

and her words (her articles) are the main way she knows to try and regain this control, having power over the narrative, the way events are portrayed, the way people are viewed. so she throws herself into her work post break up. it's also the only thing she really has, if she no longer has bella.

but the thing is, she's obsessive, and her and bella have always orbited around each other, and rita still loves her (but she's too proud to ever admit it, even to herself <- pride is another big rita trait, bella too) so she just can't let bella go. she makes it her self-assigned mission to report on every single thing that bella does in the war, keeping track of her, trying to maintain some power over her and over the memory of bella that still wields an unacceptable amount of power over her - and it's painful bc bella's also spinning out of control and doing horrible, horrible things but rita has to know and she has to do it and she can't stop

and this kinda unhealthy behaviour comes to a head as the war draws to a close. before, throughout the war, there was only the occasional, more general thing to report on, being as one of the central features of the first war was it's secrecy. the death eaters moved in the shadows, and also at that point it wouldn't have been commonly known that bella was a death eater (i don't think the dp would ever allow rita to print that, the blacks had too much power at that point... this maybe calls into question exactly what The Article discloses... but shhhhh don't worry about it baby) so rita's articles would've been like 'Death Eaters Did This' and 'Death Eaters Did That' and rita would recognise that it was bella who had done certain things but she couldn't report on that

that changes w the end of the war. it all becomes very very Very public and also much more centred (for rita at least) specifically on bella. she can report that it's Bella who tortured the longbottoms. can report that it's Bella who's going on trial as a death eater etc etc. bc it's public now, she's sort of face to face w bella and what bella has done and what she's become in a way that she hasn't been since they stopped seeing each other. and. like i've said before. she spins out of control. and also refuses to face that.

she's obsessively reporting on bella, sneaking into the court room in animagus form, going round and interviewing anyone that might have even a sliver of an opinion. barely sleeping, barely eating, barely doing anything except writing article after article after article and chain-smoking until she crashes at her desk, head on her papers, waking up a couple hours later, downing five coffees and doing it over again. and she's not just reporting on the trial, she's digging into everything to do with the end of the war, maybe hoping to find some trace of bella there, the bella that she used to know, but mostly just desperately trying to fill her mind with something, anything, to keep herself busy, trying not to think about how that bella doesn't really exist anymore, or how the bella that's left is on her way to azkaban for life and that she might never see her again....

everyone is worried about her, she's snapping at anyone who tries to ask if she's okay or tries to stand in the way of her job, she's pushing herself so so hard and no one understands how she's still alive and functioning and still turning in articles (even if it gets to a point where the dp are like, we can't print these articles, they're getting somewhat nonsensical and people are trying to move on from the war, not drown themselves in it like rita seems to be doing) but she convinces herself she's fine and she's in control and everything's fine and maybe it would be if that lifestyle was at all sustainable or if the end of the war dragged on further but obvs that's not the case

we know that the whole end of the first war was fairly rushed through, trying to quickly bring everything back to normal and forget about the whole Ordeal, so there reaches a point, once the trials are concluded wherein the workload starts to thin out again, there's less pressure, everything is Back To Normal and that's when rita has a complete mental breakdown. bc she needed to work and to have that distraction and also that semblance of control but now there's not enough to do anymore and her thoughts and emotions can start to creep in around the cogs of the machinery that she'd tried to turn herself into and this is when we get to the janus thickey ward <3

rita just completely crashes to the point of hospitalisation bc she can't cope without her work and without bella and without anything to hold her together or give her a purpose. she has to like pause for one moment and everything just catches up to her and she can't cope with it. she's been repressing and repressing and locking everything away for YEARS until at the end she's just a shell of herself and then that starts to crumble and everything starts coming out and she JUST! CAN'T! COPE!

i think she's there for quite a while, like a year or so maybe, and she's fighting it for so long, still insisting that there's nothing wrong w her, literally attacking the healers and refusing to face things and i think maybe the thing that makes her finally realise that there's something wrong w her and that she's there for a reason is seeing alice and frank. like they've been in the same ward for months but rita has just been flat-out refusing to look over in their direction

and then maybe one day alice or frank is just like wandering around and approaches rita and she turns to look at them and it just hits her that this is Real. like when she was writing articles about what bella did to them she wasn't really thinking of them as people if that makes sense, they were just a part of the story. but looking at them and seeing them makes her realise more fully what bella had done and the fact that there was a whole fucking war and so many awful, terrible things happened and they Actually Happened. they weren't just thing for her to write about. and it's like a Pivotal moment for her

when she comes out of the ward she's like a completely different person, like she's the same, but a part of her is gone. she's trying her hardest to maintain a healthy balance, and be actually in control of herself rather than just clinging to the illusion of control that her articles gave her. i think she goes and visits alice and frank sometimes, to see them bc they're important to her now, but also to remind herself. and she spends the interim period between the wars building herself into something stable and better and actively forcing herself not to think about bella.... obvs this all crashes down around her when bella breaks out of azkaban and even before then bella is still on her mind alllll the time. like in the act of forcing herself not to think about her she's intrinsically thinking about her. i was reading our old discord chats about this while writing and you said "like a second shadow rita would refuse to look at" <- ur insane, jen, what the fuck!!!!!!!!

anyway. there's always more to say but i'm gonna leave it here!!! mwah mwah mwah!!!!

[blackjackkent]

Oop, Halsin wants to talk during our long rest.

"I never quite realized how burdened I was, until I met you. The threat of the shadow curse, the politics of the Grove... I was forgetting who I was, but you lifted the fog. Thank you."

Aw. Hector is always glad to hear that he's helped someone, especially to relieve any kind of spiritual burden like that.

"You're welcome," he says with a smile.

Halsin looks at him with sudden intensity; Hector feels himself gripped suddenly by the elf's piercing brown eyes.

"You're too modest. I wager you don't even know how extraordinary you truly are. But I do." He takes a slight step towards Hector, then stops. "I have lived a very long time. I have taken many lovers. My heart does not stir lightly. But it does now."

Hector's eyebrows lift and he blinks rapidly.

"What... are you saying, exactly?" he asks awkwardly. Even he, terrible at conversational subtlety as he sometimes is, can't exactly miss the direction Halsin has turned this conversation, and yet... perhaps he is misunderstanding...

He is not.

"I want more than to fight at your side, or sit around the campfire with you. I want to lay with you under the stars and feel your skin against mine," Halsin says, the words coming faster now. "I think you feel the same way - why else would you have been so concerned about whether I had a lover before?"

Hector feels a flush abruptly start to creep up his neck and ears, burning, and he is suddenly acutely aware of Karlach's presence in her tent only twenty feet away. He remembers the conversation Halsin is referencing - a bit of casual chat soon after they arrived at the city environs. He was asking out of curiosity, wondering whether Halsin's work as an Archdruid allowed him time for something such as Hector himself has had with Karlach - but it seems he sent the wrong message entirely.

How do I keep ending up in these conversations? he thinks, feeling more awkward than he has almost ever felt in his life, which is saying something.

Halsin seems to recognize his discomfort, because he draws back a little and goes on, "But tell me I'm wrong, and the matter can rest. I do not wish to sour our friendship, but I have to know if it can be something more."

Hector swallows nervously. He would not lose Halsin's friendship for the world - any more than he would have lost Wyll's, or Gale's, or Lae'zel's when they made their interest clear. But his heart is Karlach's now. And she will take it with her when she's gone...

"I'm... afraid I just don't see you that way," he says softly, apology in his eyes, in every line of his face.

Disappointment and regret flash across Halsin's face - and then they are gone, controlled. Hector is grateful for that. It was terribly painful seeing the pain in Wyll's eyes when they had a similar conversation; he does not want to see it again in Halsin's.

"I understand, and I still cherish our relationship," he says gravely. "Still... I could not have forgiven myself, had I not taken the plunge. Better to have tried and failed."

Hector can respect that. And he is deeply grateful that Halsin does not push the subject any further.

------

"I feel I should tell you," he mentions to Karlach later, as they begin preparing for bed, "that... ah. Halsin propositioned me, earlier." Compulsively honest as he is, he would have felt more than a little uncomfortable trying to keep this from her.

"Did he?" She looks amused. "That scamp. I thought I'd caught him eyeing you."

"You're not bothered?"

She's quiet a moment. "Never really thought of myself as the sort of person who would be bothered," she says slowly after a little while. "Never was when I lived back in the city. Fast and loose, that was us, and how we liked it. These days, with you..." She looks at him sideways. "OK, maybe a bit bothered. Not at him, or you. Just...harder to think of sharing than I would've expected. Not that I blame him for looking, though."

He nods. "I told him I wasn't interested."

"Because of me?"

"Because I wasn't interested," he says dryly. "But also because of you, yes. I am very much a one-person kind of man, I'm afraid."

She hesitates. "Hec, you know--" A pause. "You know when I-- when this--" She gestures vaguely at her chest, trails off again for a moment. "I don't want you to be alone, OK?"

He says nothing for a long time. Even if he were considering that sort of thing right now, Halsin wouldn't be his choice, but that's not the point she's trying to make. And she listened to his concerns the other night; he owes it to her to listen to hers now. "I know," he mutters. "And I... I will try to remember that. I promise. But right now... I can't think about it. I can't think about anyone else..."

A pause. "Besides, he'd snap me in half and we both know it."

That gets a soft laugh out of her.

[mylovecardan]

A Jurdan headcanon: Jude and Cardan *kind of* recreate their first kiss

Cardan sat alone in his chambers, reading a mortal book that was given to him by Vivienne. But he could hardy concentrate, his thoughts constantly drifting towards Jude who was currently visiting Vivi and Oak in the mortal world. It's only been a week since she left but he felt as though it's been months since he last saw her. He would've gone with her but as the high king, he had lots of other duties to attend to.

So there he sat, alone, waiting impatiently for his queen to return though he didn't know when she would. He tried to read his book. It was some type of murder mystery which wasn't his usual taste but Vivi insisted him to give it a try atleast.

He was halfway through a chapter where the main lead figures out who killed her sister. Angry, she took a kitchen knife and pressed it against the killer's throat. Reading it unlocked a memory of the time before he was high king when his wife - then nemesis - did something a lot similar to him at the coronation and took him as her prisoner. He remembered the hatred with which she looked at him then, and how far they had come. It seemed like only yesterday when he was tied to a chair in the court of shadows. When they first kissed with Jude's knife against his throat. In that moment, his body was so full of desire that he didn't cared if her dagger pierced through his skin, didn't cared about anything except for the girl he was kissing.

The memory was enough to cause a rush of blood through him to a particular part of his body. He never really admitted to Jude how much it turned him on every time she threatened him, how much it turned him on then with her dagger against his throat, his life completely in her hands. Just thinking about it made him all flustered.

Just then, he heard the door to his chambers open and snapped back into reality. He stood up from the couch just as Jude entered the room and he couldn't help himself as he closed the distance between them and embraced her, smelling her familiar scent. She just chuckled and hugged him back. As she pulled back after a couple of moments she looked at his still flustered face.

''What's got you blushing like a teenager?'' she asked him with a small laugh.

Cardan only turned a deeper shade of red. ''Just thinking about some good old times is all'' he answered with a smirk in hopes of hiding his embarrassment.

''Such as?'', she asked with raised eyebrows.

Cardan hesitated a little and her brows lifted even higher. He sighed softly, since he cannot lie and Jude didn't seemed like she would let it drop, he had no choice but to tell her.

''umm.... I was just.....'' he hesitated for a breath in fear of her reaction then took a deep breath and started. ''I was thinking about how you kissed me for the first time and how much i truly enjoyed it when you had that knife pressed against my throat''

the words rushed out of him and he blushed again refusing to meet her eyes. For a moment Jude didn't say anything, then she burst out into laughter which made him cover his face and groan. After she seemed to calm down enough, she walked over to him sitting on the low couch, amusement still dancing in her eyes and smiling.

''Sorry i shouldn't have laughed like that'' she said with a soft chuckle and he rolled his eyes. ''It's just that i never thought me holding a knife against you throat would be such a turn on for you'' she said smirking.

''well a lot of folks have weird kinks. Mine seems to be you threatening me''.

At that Jude pulled out a knife and pressed it against his throat so fast and swiftly that he barely had time to register. Desire filled him as she leaned her face towards him and whispered softly against his lips.

''Is that so?.'' she said looking deep into his eyes. ''Oh you really are enjoying it quite a lot'' she bit her lower lip and Cardan took a sharp intake of breath and leaned in to close the distance between them but she pushed the blade a little bit harder though not enough to draw blood yet.

''kiss me Jude, please''.

He didn't cared how desperate he sounded, didn't cared about anything. All he could think about was her and those soft lips against his.

''your wish is my command''.

she said before crashing her lips against his and his mind stopped working as he pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. She moved to straddle his legs never once breaking apart, both of them getting out of breath but not wanting to break it just yet.

After minutes passed, he pulled back enough to breath, forehead resting against each other and breathing heavily. she smirked and slammed the dagger on table nearby much like the first time which made him chuckle softly.

''i missed you so much''. She whispered in his ear and pulled him closer.

''Hmmm I'd miss me too. I'm just too awesome of a company and quite hard not to miss'' He said smirking.

''indeed'' She said and kissed him again.

I'm sorry if it came out a bit weird. I've never really wrote before this and please ignore any mistake bcoz english isn't my first language. this was fun to write anyway and i hope you like it.

Artist: @sallteas

[merlot-and-chardonnay]

A Lark Among the Wolves and Dragons: Chapter 42

Chapter 41

Masterlist

"Geralt?" Jaskier looks over to see his friend standing by, covered in blood as a result from the fighting that took place earlier.

Upon seeing the man, knowing exactly who he was after seeing him in the throne room years ago, Criston was quick to draw his sword and get in front of Aemma and Aemond. Ivan did the same out of sheer reflex. Swords pointed at the witcher as he attempted to approach. Geralt stood back, confused.

"Whoa, whoa, what's going on?" Jaskier gets in front of the two knights. "What the fuck is this?" Roche runs to the side. "Stay back!" Criston warns Geralt. "Ser Criston!" Aemma tries to call out. "You didn't think I'd forget the likes of you, did you now...White Wolf?"

Upon hearing those words, Aemond drew his own sword, ready to slay the witcher himself for Aemma's sake.

"Aemond, stop! Criston, Ivan! Stop this!" Aemma runs in front of the trio next to Jaskier. "Princess, stand aside," Criston insists, "this man is dangerous." "I know," Aemma nods, "he is. But he is no danger to us, Ser. Sheathe your sword."

"White Wolf?" Ivan realized, turning to Criston, "Ser, I know exactly who this man is. This is Geralt of Rivia. The witcher." Criston gave Ivan a somewhat incredulous look, "how do you know him?" "He is well known throughout the Continent, everyone knows the white haired witcher. He saved my village once from a pack of monsters many years ago. Before I was born that is, but the elders would tell this tale many a time when I was a child." 

"Sir Criston, put your blade away," Roche orders, "the witcher is under my protection. Whatever grievance you have with him must be put aside." "Is this not the same man who is wanted for regicide?" Criston scoffs, "the same man who assassinated your king?" "It was a different man, a different witcher," Aemma speaks up, realizing what Criston was implying, "Geralt never slayed any kings. If anything he tried to prevent it, tried to stop the same man from taking me to the Scoia'tel, but it was too late."

"There see? A trustworthy eyewitness here to affirm Geralt's innocence," Jaskier exasperates.

"Didn't you want this man dead before, Aemma?" Aemond brings up, "for taking your mother away? You had plans, if I recall. To make him confess his crime before stabbing him in the heart and feeding his body to your dragon."

Jaskier looked to Aemma, shocked, "Aemma? What-" "That was my desire once before," Aemma admits, "but new information has come to light, information that...greatly contradicts what was told to me as a child. I...I don't know what to think," she turns to face the witcher, "I don't know what to think of this man. But I don't wish that anymore. Now sheathe your swords," she turns to Ivan and Criston, to which Ivan quickly obeys, though Criston waited, "...by order of your princess," Aemma narrows her gaze, and Criston reluctantly does as he was commanded.

Sensing her determination, Aemond also put his own sword away; it was unwise, after all, to anger Aemma any further then she was already was with him. 

Seeing he wasn't in any immediate danger, Geralt turns to Aemma, taking out a sword. Criston was about to draw his own again, as was Aemond, but Geralt turned it over, presenting Aemma the hilt, "I believe this is yours," he tells her. Attached to the hilt was also the silver medallion Vesemir had made for her.

Eyes wide in surprise, Aemma took both items, clutching them close, "I didn't think I would see these things again. I thought the Scoia'tel would've destroyed them or sold them or something along those lines. How did you get these back?"

"One of the Scoia'tel was using them during the fight," Geralt explains, "I took it back." Aemma looked to Geralt, surprised he would've done something like that for her. She nods in understanding, "thank you."

Aemond tilted his head a little at this interaction trying to get a better understanding of this man. He didn't know much about witchers, specifically this witcher, save for what little he heard from Aemma as a child, and none of it had been good. He did hear stories of Geralt's kind from Continentals who came to visit back in King's Landing, when he and Aemma snuck to the docks that one night. Mutant freaks. Unholy, demonic spawn stripped of their emotions like the monsters they slay for coin. Another thing Aemond had also picked up concerning witchers was their unrestrained proclivities towards women, the likes which could make Aegon look like a prudish saint in comparison. 

Geralt, however, didn't strike him as such an individual as the witcher stood there in his stoic demeanor. He did, after all, selflessly return Aemma's possessions, surely someone deprived of their emotions would not have acted in this way. 

The white hair witcher was definitely something of an enigma.

The contemplation was rudely interrupted when a certain individual started yelling various curses both in Elven and the Common Tongue.

The Woodland Fox himself, who had been captured during the battle, was struggling against his bonds as two of the Blue Stripes kept him restraint.

"Is that the one?" Aemond whispers to Aemma, to which Aemma nods in response. "Iorveth the Scoia'tel commander, the one who wanted justice," Aemma confirms. "He is quite a fighter I will give him that," Criston speaks up, "these Scoia'tel don't play fair, that much is certain."

"What exactly happened?" Aemma inquires.

Criston gave the prince and princess a summarized version of the fight. 

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

After the two knights along with the Blue Stripes snuck out of Flotsam, while Jaskier was giving his distraction, the group ran into the forest. Roche apparently had an informant somewhere in the woods that gave him the bandit's whereabouts, though neither Criston nor Ivan knew it had been the witcher. Upon finding the Scoia'tel, the Blue Stripes soldiers did not hesitate to ambush the bandits and a fight ensued.

Unknown to Criston or the any of the Blue Stripes, Geralt had been in the middle of enacting his own plan with Iorveth. With the information from the captured second in command Kieran, knowing that the witcher Letho had double crossed the Scoia'tel, Geralt had Zoltan take him into the woods to meet with the Scoia'tel Commander to deliver him this grim news. Naturally, Iorveth did not believe the white hair witcher's claim, and so had plot a ruse to pretend Geralt had captured Iorveth so as to deliver him to Letho at the old ruins. The moment Letho confirmed for himself that he had betrayed the elves, Iorveth did not hesitate to have his men appear from the trees with the intention to execute Letho.

Before that could happen, however, Roche and the Blue Stripes came onto the scene. A fight broke out as a result. At least Geralt had been kind enough to give Iorveth his sword so as to give the elf a sporting chance against his enemies. Geralt meanwhile had took after Letho, but not before swiping Aemma's sword and medallion away from one of the elves.

Iorveth struck down every Blue Stripe he could get his hands on until he finally came up against Roche himself, a moment Iorveth has been waiting years for. The two clashed swords, seemingly at a stalemate at first, until Iorveth got the upper hand and disarmed Roche. Before Iorveth had a chance to deliver the final blow, Criston stepped in and parried the elf's sword. The two engaged in a one-on-one fight. This felt familiar to Criston in certain ways; it brought the man back to days past, from before joining the Kingsguard, before coming to King's Landing, when Criston had been sent to fight off the Dornish incursions. Like the Dornish soldiers, the Scoia'tel had a habit of engaging in asymmetrical warfare, albeit in a different landscape.  There was also something else, in the way the elven commander fought; Iorveth was fast, light on his feet, not quite unlike the way Ivan fought when he and Criston would spar.

Alas, Criston was outmatched and quickly disarmed by Iorveth, who kicked back the knight. Once more, Iorveth was prepared to deliver the final blow, but then Ivan pushed some Scoia'tel elves aside to jump front and block Iorveth's sword.

Ivan pointed his sword at the older elf, panting from his earlier exertions; the young half elf did his best to steel his expressions, feeling rather intimidated from the hard stare Iorveth was giving him. There was little doubt in Ivan's mind that the older elf knew exactly what he was, despite keeping his ear concealed behind a scarf. That suspicion had been confirmed when the elven commander addressed Ivan in his native tongue,

"You take their side, In'hied?" Iorveth questioned, tilting his head in curiosity, "you keep your elf blood well hidden, do they even know what you are?" "I am a knight of Westeros," Ivan answered back in the same language, "I have sworn to protect the blood of the king and his family, that includes the princess you have stolen away. It would be in your best interest to return her to us so we may go and leave your comrades be." Iorveth only made a small mirthless smile at that, "you refuse to answer me question, boy. Very well..." Iorveth then made a fighting stance, "you wish to side with those who soon see you dead should your true blood be revealed, than so be it...I shall treat you as I would any other d'hoine."

The two clashed swords. Being light on his own feet, Ivan was able to match Iorveth step for step and steel for steel. While Ivan had youth on his side, Iorveth was the more experienced fighter, having centuries of fighting on his side compared to what he saw as a small boy in his eyes who was barely past two decades of age at most.

Being occupied with fighting Ivan, Iorveth didn't see Criston sneak around and hilt the elf in the back by the hilt of his sword, and then sucker punched Iorveth across the jaw. Ivan then kicked Iorveth's dropped sword away from him, leaving the elf defenseless. Iorveth faced Criston, contempt in his eye, which became more intense when Roche joined in and apprehended Iorveth. "What is your name?" Iorveth had inquired of the knight. "Ser Criston Cole," was what Criston answered. "Huh..." Iorveth said back, "Ser...and here I thought you Westerosi knights prided yourselves in being honorable...even in battle."

Criston ignored that insult and turned to address Ivan, "what was it, he said to you?" he asked. Ivan wasn't sure how to answer that truthfully, so he offered this as a response, "he thought me at a disadvantage due in part...to my age."

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

"Once the battle was all but concluded Commander Roche deigned to search for the two of you amongst the ruins," Criston finished his telling of the story.

"Your efforts are to be commended then, Ser Cole," Aemond praises, "Same as you, Ser Ivan." 

Ivan looked over to where Iorveth was being held by the Blue Stripes, only to quickly averting his gaze when he saw the look of seething hatred and contempt in the elf's green eye. 

"Considering these two were instrumental in the capture of Iorveth, I am inclined to agree," Roche quips in. "The kingslayer is still out there," Geralt speaks up, "he escaped during the battle." "We'll have another chance," Roche assures.

Aemma tried not to react to that news, tried not to let it get to her that the same man who kidnapped her and then tried to drag her back to the Scoia'tel camp was still on the run, and was still possibly holding a grudge against her- no not her, her father- and still wanted justice of his own.

Aemond turned his gaze to the Woodland Fox, trying to form an opinion of him now that he was captured and not likely to cause harm. This was the elf who called for justice from Aemond's arrogant uncle, the who apparently orchestrated the assassination of the Temerian king and the kidnapping of Aemma to hold as a hostage.  From Aemond had heard back in Flotsam, Iorveth had a reputation- putting it mildly- for his seething hatred of humankind and what they did to him and his people, and having more human kills to his record than any other elf still alive. Aemond had to wonder if part that hatred stemmed from whoever took the elf's missing eye- something Aemond could disturbingly relate too as he still held a similar grudge albeit on a subconscious level. From what he heard from Cole, Iorveth was also a very skilled fighter, fast and light on his feet, making Aemond think of the way Ivan fights.

Must be an elf thing, the prince thinks.

Iorveth brought his attention to aforementioned prince, "you..." he sneers, "Mine eyesight must be getting old, or the dragon lords had thought to send someone else in place of the one we asked for." "Your plans have failed Iorveth," Roche states with a certain air of triumph, "your own calls for justice will be awaiting you at the capital." "...that remains to be seen," Iorveth says in a low tone, standing straight to remind the Blue Stripes Commander of their height difference, before turning his head to address Ivan in his native language, "no matter how close you are to their family, the dragons will come for you eventually...especially when they begin to notice how slowly you age as the years go by. Did that ever occur to you, boy?" Ivan turned away to face Criston, refusing to make eye contact with the older elf. Of course, he has thought about that, though not necessarily at the time he took the Kingsguard oath; Ivan knew half-elves do have a longer life span compared to humans, but he was never told how long those lives can last.

Iorveth then turned his attention over to the princess, shocking everyone by addressing her in High Valyrian of all things, "Gaomagon ivestragon aōha kepa ziry owes nykeā gēlȳn naejot se Aen Siedhe. Daor matter skorkydoso olvie jēda emagon rēbagon, nyke nykeēdrosa intend naejot gūrogon zȳhon egros hae issa trophy tolī nyke behead zirȳla rūsīr ziry." (Do tell your father he owes a debt to the Aen Siedhe. No matter how much time has passed, I still intend to take his sword as my trophy after I behead him with it)

Aemond moved in front of Aemma in response, "do not speak to her, bandit" he warns, "especially in the Valyrian tongue." Iorveth only made a small, mirthless smile in response, clearly proud he was able to rattle the young Targaryen prince. The elf stood straight once again, reverting back to his native tongue, not seeming to address anyone specific,

"And to think the Virgin of Aedirn wanted to meet you. She was certain you were the one."

Aemma stopped in her tracks upon hearing those words, something that didn't go unnoticed by Aemond. He gave the elf a hard stare, wondering what he was he said that Aemma picked up on (worth noting that while Aemond does know Aemma knows some rudimentary elven, he doesn't know she's fully fluent in it thanks to Vesemir). Ivan and Geralt, both also fluent in Elven, did a better job hiding their surprise at that cryptic statement.

"...back to Flotsam with you," Roche states, shoving Iorveth forward, "there's a place in the prison barge just for you, you whoreson."

"Are they going to execute him?" Aemma asks. "...it is a possibility," Jaskier admits, "the question is if they will even bother with a trial beforehand."

Aemma had mixed feelings about that. She may not care about Iorveth or the Scoia'tel considering what they put her through personally, but that didn't mean their grievances were not legitimate, she understood that now. And part of her was curious to Iorveth's cryptic message.

"Well we better follow," Jaskier states, placing a hand on Aemma's shoulder, "As I said before, we have much to discuss."

Aemond took another look at Geralt who followed Roche before addressing his cousin, "what made you change your mind about him?" "I don't think I have fully," Aemma admits before giving a brief description of Geralt's amnesia, hence her hesitancy to carry out any justice she believed was due, "it wouldn't seem right to do something like that right now," she concludes, "especially when it turns out I don't even know the full story. I only know what my father had told me when I was a child."

"Hmm," was all Aemond said.

-------------Flotsam Tavern------------

Back in Flotsam, there was a celebration it seemed amongst the locals, especially when they saw Roche walking into town having the Scoia'tel commander held captive. Despite Commandant Laredo's initial anger at the Blue Stripes and Jaskier for their deception, he decided to let that insolence slide in favor of commending the group for the removing the threat to the village. Roche took Iorveth to the prison barge and Geralt had disappeared to wherever most likely for some unfinished business.

At the tavern, Zoltan had ordered a mug of ale when he the Westerosi trio walk and behind was a woman he had not seen before, but could see right away this was the long lost princess the trio had been searching for. He smiled, thankful to Melite that the daughter of the Lady of Larks was safe and unharmed. Having remembered the Lady Lark, the dwarf could see the resemblance in Aemma as well.

Jaskier had gone off shortly once they arrived to remove the frock and put back on his usual ensemble before the lot at the tavern with hopes of making up lost time with his niece. Aemond insisted he, Criston, and Ivan move to another spot in the tavern so as to grant Jaskier and Aemma that space to bond with conversation.

It started with some small talk over a meal, to which Aemma was quick to devour given how long it's been since she a decent meal to fill her belly. Once satiated, this soon led into Jaskier regaling Aemma of his own adventures as well as her mother's adventures as well. "She did not!" Aemma laughs at one tale, finding it difficult her mother could've found herself in such a situation. "Oh but she did," Jaskier insisted, taking a sip of vodka he ordered, "those soldiers wouldn't leave those two she-elves alone, so she took upon herself to give them a taste of their own medicine. Obviously it pissed them off, and rather than acknowledge their hypocrisy, they saw fit to chase her out of town. Not that she minded, she was more often than used to the road life." 

"...nobody ever told those kind of stories before," Aemma realizes, "whenever anybody told me about my mother it was always either about how beautiful her singing was...or her approximation to my father...it's almost like she wasn't even a person half the time, just a wisp of what she really was. She had a life before me, before her time in court, a crazy, complex beautiful life." 

"It really is a shame about that," Jaskier says in a low tone, "...what did your father ever say about her?" "she was someone he loved dearly," Aemma tells him, "someone who was taken away from him by...by a bad person, and he never saw her again after that." "That person being Geralt, the one you wanted to feed to your dragon at first," Jaskier realized to which Aemma nods.

"Gods, that man really did brainwash you," Jaskier mutters, though Aemma didn't notice. "I know the witcher doesn't have any memories of me or my mother," Aemma says, "the sorceress Tris said she was trying to work on that." "She is," Jaskier nods.

"I told Geralt if he can regain those memories he would tell me what he knew of the nature of my parent's relationship," Aemma explains, "but now that I found you, my mother's brother, maybe you could tell me something about it."

The joyful demeanor on Jaskier's face disappeared at that request. 

He remembered that time when he was reunited with his sister once again when she was taken by the sorceress Yennefer to save her when she was at death's door. He remembered when they were on the road to Nilfgaard, how (y/n) how fought hard to make it appear she was well and that her time in King's Landing had not effected her, tried to deny both to others and to herself that the abuse Daemon had put her through hadn't damaged her in any way. The reality was the opposite, and he remembered the times (y/n) would thrash in her sleep at night, only to wake up screaming in terror, and still thinking she was in danger, only to calm down when she realized she was safe and away from King's Landing and from the Rogue Prince. This had also led to (y/n) crying upon realizing that not being there also meant she didn't her daughter in her arms anymore. There were even times during the day when (y/n) would experience full blown panic attacks on the road seemingly out of nowhere, and not even his nor Geralt's soothing assurance could dissuade her during those times.

It had taken a great deal of time and patience along with some wise counseling from their vampire friend Regis for (y/n) to finally admit that her captivity and the abuse she endured along with having Aemma snatched out of her arms had caused significant intrinsic damage to her psyche.

It had taken some time longer for her to process the trauma, and come to terms that even though she wouldn't be the same person, even though she would still get upset about it at times, she was not damaged beyond repair.

Jaskier wanted to tell her all, and yet...

"It's not a happy story, Aemma," he tells her, "and even if I could, it is not my story to tell." "What do you mean?" Aemma frowned a bit. "your father...he did things to your mother. Bad things," Jaskier explains in a somber tone, "your mother kept those things to herself at first, especially when I came to see her in King's Landing, but I could tell something was wrong. Those bad things had a way of bubbling up to the surface at times. She had nightmares, both during her sleep...and when she was awake."

Aemma put her hand over her mouth to contain the shock. She knew her father could be scary at times, but he was never cruel, not to her, her stepmother, or her sisters. What were those horrible things her father inflicted upon her mother?

"But how- I mean...no, he couldn't have hurt my mother. He loved her, why would he hurt someone he loved? He tried to protect my mother, he tried to protect me from the White Wolf."

"He really did drum that into you, didn't he," Jaskier realized, "Aemma, your mother wasn't taken away from you that night, she wanted to leave. Geralt and myself, we did everything we could to get the both of you out of there, but then your father ripped you from your mother's arms before the two of you could get past the portal-" "my father took me from my mother?" "He didn't- of course he wouldn't have," Jaskier exasperates, "he would have conveniently left that part out."

"But why would-" Before Aemma could finish her question, she looked in Jaskier's eyes and saw flashes of memories past to that night in King's Landing, where Jaskier along with Geralt and (y/n) and some strange woman Aemma did not know were crossing through a portal. It looked like they were in a hurry. She saw Jaskier cross and eagerly await the rest of the party, only to see Geralt and (y/n) go through and the portal close without Aemma in her mother's arms.

She saw her mother cry out at that moment,

"AEMMA!"

The flashback ended and Aemma had no words to say at this point.

"Aemma?" Jaskier gives his niece a confused look at her newfound state of shock.

Aemma quickly gets on her feet and runs out of the tavern past her cousin and the two knights, who were now wondering what the Bard had said to upset the princess.

Chapter 43

[coachbeards]

okay now for a tl question: as someone who also dislikes season three, i'm curious to know how you would have liked season 3 to end? i'm pretty sure you've talked abt it before but i'd love to hear your thoughts.

well, i think there are a lot of things that could've happened....but i'm not entirely sure, as i haven't seen the season since it aired. that means i can't give the biggest in depth answer to it regarding every single tl character, so i'll just give my thoughts on what i think should've happened............................................for beard

first of all, he should've broken up with jane after mom city. i've talked a lot about that, and how i believe that beard's forgiveness of nate should've been shown as a forgiveness of himself as well, and by extension beard finally beginning his journey of self-healing. because, no. forgiving nate didn't Heal beard, not by a long shot, but it helped fix a little bit within himself that would've paved the road to his breaking up with jane. realizing he didn't need to be punished anymore.

so, if there was no jane involved in the finale, there would be no wedding or beard choosing jane over ted.

HOWEVER. i think it would've been amazing to see beard choose richmond anyways.........finally making a choice for himself. he came to richmond in the first place because ted asked him to, and he was willing to leave richmond all because ted asked him to. ignoring the jane of it all, beard choosing to stay in richmond because he wants to....he wants to continue coaching the team, he wants to complete their mission of winning the whole fucking thing, he wants to nurture those relationships he made and be .,,,, well. his own independent person, something we never really saw considering he was either following ted or following jane. never on his own.

regarding the other characters,

JAMES DIDN'T DESERVE TO BE FORGIVEN. i am all for james's recovery arc, showcasing him in rehab and actively trying to get better. but just because a character is in recovery doesn't automatically erase all the harm they've done, nor does it mean their victims need to forgive them for anything. i think jamie should've been shown to grapple with what he wanted to do, forgive him or not, and come to the conclusion that he doesn't need to do anything. he doesn't need to care what james thinks of him anymore, he doesn't deserve to have that weighing on him. i think jamie should've been shown to be ... idk not Happy or Supportive, but be okay with james in recovery, but draw boundaries that he doesn't need to do anything past that. he should've had someone tell him it was his choice, rather than being told to forgive him.

roy should've been in therapy earlier on in the season than last second. i'm glad that roy is seeking help, obviously, but i think it would've bettered his arc if we saw more of it starting like,,,, 3x08 onwards. maybe. idk. again, i haven't seen s3 since it aired.

not sure about rebecca, since i didn't really pay attention to her arc that much in s3 (sorry to all) because i disliked the psychic aspect so much. i like her ending up with the dutch man! wish we got more of them between 3x06 and the finale, but i understand the romcom aspect of reuniting with someone you thought you'd never see again. i don't hate her ending !!!!

ted needed to go back to kansas, sorry. it wasn't dottie "forcing" him to go back, even though i will admit she's a pretty shit parent lmao. but it wasn't like that wasn't the plan from the very start. could it have been handled better? absolutely! should've jason played ted with way more emotion in 3x12? YES. but,,, come on. ted is a father first and foremost. before a coach, friend, romantic interest, etc. he's a father. and that's actually been a really big part of his character, so i never understood when people said that it "came out of nowhere" or it was so "out of character" for him.........to....be with his son? DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE HENRY LASSO HATE. i swear some of y'all forget the message of being curious, not judgemental lmao. ted was always supposed to go back to henry. i don't agree with the idea of uprooting a literal child to a whole other country, though i can picture there being a time where they do move back to richmond together! the door is left open, not closed! i could picture him going there as a teenager and going to school there, but again. he's like.....12 lmao. ted's arc always circled around his son...and he needed to go back.

also keeley just deserved better. i'm perfectly okay with her remaining single at the end of the show, as i do think that that could've helped her heal herself and her relationships with other people and her career. no, giving her a romantic ending wouldn't have impacted her career, but i think i like where she ended up. on her own, with her new friend of barbara and their company, her and rebecca, and even her and roy and jamie!!!!!!! i think there's chances for their to be romance, but like. i think considering how much of keeley's arc has revolved around romance, it's nice that she didn't end up with anyone. idk.