#even if I don't actually have very much proper story laid out for her yet

[tiny-cloud-of-flowers]

Tell me a little (or a lot) about one of your newest OCs, and one of your oldest! ^w^ (dragonsmooch)

Oh!! I can certainly do that for you, dear Dragon!! Thank you so much for this!!

(source: this post (technically?))

Alright, so, for one of my newest OCs I'm going to pick Tsutsuji. She is an OC I created for the world of Final Fantasy XIV, and I've recently managed to figure out some more story I can give her, so now is as good a time as ever to talk about her, hopefully!

First of all, here are some screenshots I took to show you what she looks like. And from there, I can give you some facts about her!

Tsutsuji is approximately in her late twenties, and is exceptionally tall for a female Au Ra - though this may not be saying too much considering said exceptional height is only 158.5cm. For context, that's about 5'2.4", which makes her shorter than Lorenza. The fact she wears raised sandals does very little to actually help her in this regard.

Her pale-coloured scales and cranial projections identify her as a Raen Au Ra, and she is originally from somewhere in the Yanxian kingdom of Doma. However, she came to Eorzea some years ago, ostensibly on a whim in pursuit of further magical discoveries; the impending umbral calamity about to hit the region at the time, in the form of the moon turning red and falling out of the sky, did little to dissuade her.

On the note of story, Tsutsuji currently fits into it by being a potential Warrior of Light; she wouldn't really fit that mantle if there were other (more archetypal) adventurers in the vicinity, but she does at least have the Echo, which would probably make her a Scion (or at least quite associated with them). Given that she fights as a summoner, the fact she has faced down primals directly without much risk makes summoning egi forms of them a lot easier for her. She's also generally very magically capable, so she's definitely not someone you want to be up against in battle, lest you get ruined by three different types of elemental attacks in rapid succession.

More concretely, Tsutsuji is part of the alliances that raid the Crystal Tower, having joined NOAH's expedition in search of the Allagan knowledge within it. She uses some of the information she reads about on the way up, plus the convenient monumentally-enormous voidgate at the top of the tower, to successfully summon a certain voidsent to the Source in her entirety - this of course being Lorenza. The two of them do make a pact - Lorenza's knowledge in return for Tsutsuji's aether - but Tsutsuji is fairly happy with the information she gets from Lorenza, and basically just.. lets her go and do her own thing in the Source pretty quickly. It's a very unconventional dynamic for a voidsent and the mage that summoned them, and Lorenza is very baffled by it.

In terms of personality, Tsutsuji is.. chaotic, to sum it up succinctly. As you may have gathered from how I've described her thus far. Incredibly spontaneous and theatrical in her ideas, appearing and disappearing on any given scene quite without warning, never seeming to take a bad situation seriously or let it affect her emotions in the slightest.. this one-of-a-kind demeanour would be remarkable enough in its own right, but it's compounded by her incredible arcane knowledge and magical capabilities, so she manages to strike fear into just about every villainous soul you could come across. I'm trying to think of a good comparison, but I'm falling short. Maybe like.. Elena from Pokémon Reborn but with extra "super chaotic/energetic nerdy scientist" vibes.

The name "Tsutsuji" is actually an alias of sorts - it's the Doman word for azalea flowers, which she is always seen wearing in her hair (I know that's a chrysanthemum in the screenshots but it was as close as i could get in-game okay), so over time people started referring to her by them. She'll never introduce herself by this name (or any name at all, honestly), but she does answer to it if you call her by it.

While she doesn't tend to speak much of her family (or any of her past, really), Tsutsuji does have a younger sister called Ajisai (which translates to "hydrangea"). She has also made the arduous journey to Eorzea, but much later in the story, arriving by boat alongside Yugiri and many other Doman refugees during the main story. She wants to find her sister, but the way Tsutsuji conducts herself doesn't exactly make that very easy for her (the fact she isn't using her actual name, for example).

My current voice claim for Tsutsuji is Xingchen (Stardust), the Synth V vocal. Which technically doesn't quite fit, considering that Xingchen is a Mandarin Chinese vocal whereas Tsutsuji (being Doman) is supposed to be Japanese, but it's more about tone of voice than accent. It's specifically how she sounds in this song, particularly the higher parts in the choruses. However, if she ever sounds as low and subdued as the song's verses sound, You Have Done Something Very Wrong. Her voice is usually a lot more light-hearted and all-over-the-place in terms of its tone! ..The song still does kind of fit as like a boss fight theme of sorts for her, though, honestly.

..Oh, crumbs, this is long. Sorry. Let me make another, separate, post for the older OC (I'll tag you in it when I'm done with it)

Thank you very much for this opportunity, friend ;w;

#heart of the void #friend: thorned azalea (tsutsuji) #platonic F/Os #OC F/Os #though not in the romantic sense #she's just a very fun character and that is why I enjoy talking about her so much #even if I don't actually have very much proper story laid out for her yet #she's just having a fun time! doing her own thing! saving the world if she feels like it! who knows!! #of shards and crystal (FFXIV) #self‑insert: wings of the void (lorenza) #I did mention her a little bit so I suppose it counts #so yes TLDR tsutsuji is the reason lorenza comes to the source in what I call the ''solo lorenza'' version of events #(as opposed to my friend simon's crystal verse which is what I think of as lorenza's ''default version of events'') #out of the inbox #dragon tag! #info posts #oh crumbs how is it two o'clock in the morning

[twstyuna]

A ramble mostly about details and writing. Some mild spoilers and what-ifs. I accidentally hit publish on this when it was half-written.

The funny thing about writing a fanfic or any sort of story for me is that I both want to share its details to the whole wide world and also tell no one absolutely none of them.

I want to share it because I want the validation, naturally, for people to think "oh that's clever" or "that's very galaxy-brained of you" so I can stroke this writer's ego of mine and think "yes I am clever, yes I do have a very big brain (which can hold endless story details but forget if the singular term for the spinal bone is vertebra or vertebrae).

But I also don't want to share any details because part of the point of writing for me is to put it out there so the world can see. If someone else knows, I could lose the motivation. The plot-worms that don't writhe about in my brain alone anymore, that have already spread, only to only a handful of people maybe, or even just a singular person, but that spread of my brainrot may be enough to sate that itch to get the story out.

There's also the matter of things changing, and I don't want to promise things I can't keep.

Of course I want to write the story properly. I want to look at a fic and now I've Finished It, but I also know that I am lazy and so the urge to spill the secrets in proper time is part of what keeps me going.

I have shared my notes of Blood and Bone to no one, but if someone asks straightforwardly or dms I cannot be certain that I one day I will not spew all my thoughts and spoilers immediately.

When I started the fic with my bare skeleton of a plan, I laid some bones out and left myself to add the meat and muscle however I pleased. Even so, I find myself performing transplants and switching organs because they make more sense or look interesting another way.

Until I read the manga, I thought the chandelier falling down in the Prologue was a Must. Apparently not.

Yuu wasn't supposed to trap themselves alone in the mines, sealing themselves with the dwarf OB. Yuu was supposed to get very injured but be dragged out, and be more stressed, and offer (something something plot stuff redacted). Mercy killing the Overblot wasn't in the original plans.

Yuu was supposed to learn about the Great Seven ages ago yet they haven't talked to Riddle or Cater or Trey and they still don't know the story of the statues on Main Street.

Things happen in the spur of the moment big or small- Yuu carrying Ace, Deuce being as much of a caretaker as he is, Yuu doing what they do chapter (17) instead- those weren't in the initial plans.

I don't want to share what I consider a neat idea only to replace it with what I think is a better one later on after I've promised something. They should have met Malleus. They should have met Ruggie. Still nothing on that front.

I actually keep a buffer of 1 chapter for Blood and Bone. I need to make sure that chapter 19 is done before chapter 18 can be published so I can correct things if need be. Even so I go back and have to fix things here and there, like changing Yuu deeming Leona "the man with lion ears" into " the man with green eyes" because I remembered that Leona's robes don't have those little holes for ears and bevause I decided that Yuu wouldn't know what a lion is.

I have Plans.

I've known what Riddle will do to Yuu for a while, but the way getting there has changed several times. Their meeting has changed several times in my head, and sure we're on a different path now what with Yuu being unable to do the lunch scene because they're stuck cleaning up after the ch 17 fight, but I can't say the current route's even locked in yet.

I know who the mistress is. I have their backstory, both hers and Yuu's. I've had it for months, around the time I made this. (On Yuu's side is my substitute alphabet which I made in junior and high because I could think of nothing else. I forgot a letter then, but Yuu's actual name is Kyurous Melode because nine and kirous and curious and Mellos) I have their ages at the important events of their life. I have the mistress's appearance down.

Also go read Lost in Translation it's great!

Anyway, the mistress won't be involved until much, much later perhaps not until Pomefiore maybe if nothing changes. I also want to share another thing about her very badly but I also want this unknown unrevealed thing to ferment in reader's brains and age into a fine wine of OH after years (time estimate given by my slow pace.)

I have the terrible story about Yuu's knives.

I have ideas for the Shrouds but I've yet to catch up on Ignihyde so those may shift.

My brain is a scrambled mess of bundled yarn and what chapters of Blood and Bone are up at this time is twine I've managed to pluck out and straighten and weave into the dainty starting strands of a story shawl that I am trying not to turn into a ball of staticky fuzz by the end.

This isn't really a rant. I just have thoughts marinating in my brain. I have plans and I am trying and that is all.

#writing #fanfic #blood and bone and heart of stone #twst fanfic #story notes #story side notes #spoilers #i accidentally posted it unfinished whoope de do

[kitkatpancakestack]

Good morning, friend. So that was weird, huh? I keep thinking about Breaking Point and how we didn't like it (to put it mildly) at the time, but how it ended up being important. How liking it was entirely beside the point. How maybe Breaking Point and Peer Pressure are...evil twins of sorts. Or maybe underappreciated work-horses? How they both had work to do, things to reveal, character development to set in motion, messy emotions to unpack and leave unresolved, wounds to lay bare...

I'm thinking about Breaking Point and the running themes of Buck and Eddie just missing each other, which continues apace in Season 5. How they are orbiting closer and closer, how their emotional intimacy is so fascinating right now — so very close and yet...How now instead of just missing each other — which they are absolutely still doing — there are the things they are actively (if subconsciously) avoiding. The big, terrifying things.

What's bouncing around your head this morning? 

good (now evening) @yramesoruniverse, nice to see you in my inbox!

Honestly, I was surprised to log onto Tumblr and see so much dislike for the episode. I actually really enjoyed it. As far as this season is concerned, it seems to be a culmination of unresolved trauma being forced to the forefront of every character's mind. It's a messy, nonlinear, and complicated process dealing with that, and I don't know if it's intentional or not, but this season (and 5.05 especially) makes it feel that way. Everything is two steps to the left of the way it should be. Maddie is gone. Chimney is gone. Buck and Eddie are temporarily not partners. Hen lost her partner. Athena is in survival mode. Harry is on the verge of losing his fucking mind, I think.

And yes, I know 9-1-1 is not perfect and sometimes I give more credit than credit is due but for the most part, they can carry a plotline and appropriately revisit previous arcs and stories. For a primetime procedural show that has to cater to the casual viewer who is not nearly as invested as the galaxy brains on this site, I think they fair better than a lot of other shows on the same slate.

I am still of the firm belief that 4.08 laid the entire fucking roadmap for us. My buddie goggles are on but even if they weren't, I don't care what anyone says, Breaking Point was entirely about Buck and Eddie. Down to the individual emergencies. Buck and Eddie's scenes were spliced consecutively with the other. Transitions connected their scenes together. Their struggles and plotlines paralleled. in that episode like this one, there was a solid undercurrent of domesticity and understanding between the two that undermined the focused couple (eddieana in 4.08, BT in 5.05).

I have no hindsight to work with so I can't say what function 5.05 will serve in the long run, but in terms of where we are right now with the characters, a disjointed episode with them feeling like they're struggling to play a role, to fit into a skin that is not their own, and with Buck revealing how much he Has Not Coped with his abandonment issues, it is all very in line with the themes of this season.

In terms of Buck and Eddie . . . . I think hindsight will show this to be a doozy for them, just as 4.08 was. I am going to operate via giving the show the full benefit of the doubt on their direction/writing choices, and it is interesting that 1.) this ep with heavy BT focus follows the ep that had a heavy buddie scene, 2.) they were not subtle with the parallel between how Taylor and how Eddie handle Buck's insecurities, and 3.) the overall vibe of the episode was literally about asynchronous communication and feeling pressured to pursue things for some perceived benefit that actually ends up being a detriment.

Idk. Maybe I'm just a twentysomething with too much burnout for proper critical thinking, but I enjoyed the episode! I'm excited to see the uhinged plot threads that will spin out from the roots laid in these first 5 eps.

(Sorry this got so fucking long *throws back vodka shot*)

#yramesoruniverse #buddie #s5 #911onfox #ask #it's answering asks hours #meta #i suppose

[cherryblossomtease]

Chapter 14

18 + only

warnings and summary - Masterlist

Warnings: 18+only for explicit sexual content: depictions of sub/dom lifestyle and m/m sexual relationship. If it’s not your thing please keep scrolling. Thank you!

Authors notes: Have I mentioned how confused I was when I first discovered WinterBaron, not because of some boring silly ideas that these men aren't in love, because of course they are. But because everyone apparently thought felt Bucky would be the dominant one? I mean of course to each their own, if that's what gets you there, no shame! But have you ever looked into Helmut Zemo's eyes? Half way through episode three of FATWS (strut to the helicopter anyone?) and I was all "yes daddy" That man is not to be taken lightly. Bucky however is soft and sweet and wants to be held; after you teach him a lesson of course... All that aside I promise I'm working on the conclusion to this story with --shocker-- yet another chapter already brewing. I swear I thought this was over but it looks like I've gotten a taste of their love and I'm not letting go any time soon. I've grown very attached to this trio and I won't be saying goodbye quite yet, segue into saying hi to my new followers! Love you and thanks for taking the time to read! I really do appreciate it. Now, like I said, don't read this trash in public, it ain't proper *wink*

Sorry that I had to edit so much for tumblr reasons lol

~

At first you hadn’t been sure it was going to be this way again. Zemo seemed so gentle and different which you didn’t mind, but the second he looked at you from the water, you knew and you were so glad for it. You would be his no matter what, but you did so love it when he made you beg.

After drying off and tossing on his cream button down, not bothering with said buttons thank the stars, Zemo started to lead the way through the lounge towards the dinner table but stopped and turned to look at you both with a little smile hinting at his dark intentions.

“What is it?” Bucky asked. He’d taken his wet things off and was in nothing but a towel waiting on Oeznik to bring up dry clothes. Both you and Zemo kept looking him over.

“I was gone for a year James. I’m well aware of how it was between you two.” Zemo says with a dismissive snicker.

Bucky steps back squaring his shoulders ready to defend himself. No one is hiding anything, but of course there is always the worry that feelings have changed now that Zemo is out.

The Baron holds up a hand laughing a little as he shakes his head. “No, I’m not mad, I’m happy you had one another, it is— exactly what I wanted.” Zemo assures you both and Bucky exhales. Zemo looks at you. “I would assume it was different from what we had?”

“Yes, sometimes similar but never the exact same” You answer honestly.

He nods glancing at Bucky sizing him up.

He knows this man could never stand dominating you the way he does, he’s not the sort. Bucky is a physical force of nature, but that’s just it. He's the sort who takes commands not gives them. Still it seems Zemo wants to be sure so he looks at you again. “If this is more to your liking, or if your wants have changed, please. You know I will never force you to do anything. People’s taste change and maybe yours have as well. This life can lose its appeal over time.”

You stop him by stepping forward and take his hand while looking into his eyes and smile sweetly. Slowly, so that he may see just how much you want this, you go down onto your knees, lift his hand, part your lips and suck his thumb into your mouth. The familiar way his fingers cradle your chin make you moan a little as you think about having another part of him. You look up knowing how you must look from this position and Zemo’s jaw muscles flex as he comes closer gazing down on you. His fingers press into your face and when you swirl your tongue around his thumb he shuts his eyes for just a few seconds with a deep sigh at the feel of being reunited with you in this way.

The weight of his other hand on your head tells you to stop and he pulls his thumb free, the wet finger stroking your cheek as he stares down at you, so pleased and relieved to know that you’re still committed to be being his so completely.

“You will need new rules” He says faintly. His voice is tight and you know he wants you here and now, though you can’t see his face anymore because your head is bowed to the man you belong to. The man you obey.

“Yes Baron.” You say, your wide smile hidden from both of them.

“James?” He says stepping away from you, his fingers lingering just a second longer. “I know you enjoyed our times together with her, but…”

“I have to say yes or else it can’t happen.” Bucky finishes for him.

“Exactly.”

“Do I have to get on my knees right now?”

Zemo laughs. “No, not right now. But you will have to learn to listen if this is what you want.”

You want to look so badly. Bucky is going to struggle with it at first. “Yeah well, it’s not like you have’t told me what to do before.” His snark is playful but you know Zemo won’t like it.

“James.”

“I’m kidding.”

“And I’m serious.”

“I know,” He says letting the jokes fade. “And I actually appreciate it. I’m just. Well, it’s new. Maybe I’m a little nervous.” He admits quietly and its so cute you smile wanting to hug him, but Zemo has it covered.

You hear his smile as he speaks and imagine the way he must be standing close, brown eyes gazing into blue. “That's perfectly natural. But you don’t need to fear me, just obey me and everything will be fine.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You’ll find out.”

“What if it’s too much.”

“You already know, I will never go beyond what you can handle. That’s why I need to know now James. Yes— or no.”

Their voices are so low, they are just above a whisper. When you glance up you feel your heart flutter at the sight of Bucky in his arms just as you’d imagined, Zemo waiting patiently, Bucky already looking so soft under his gaze.

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes” He says with confidence. You look back down and hear the muffled sound of their colliding kiss.

*

Now what is it they always say? Rules are meant to be broken? You certainly had fun testing the limits at the start of your relationship with Zemo. Well, the Baron must really love a challenge because it seems you and Bucky are cut from the same cloth. Two little shit starters who like to push the limits.

No sooner had Zemo laid out the rules and quite clearly over a lovely plate of hors d’oeuvres and a newly opened bottle of vintage red at the dinner table did Bucky get himself in trouble.

Maybe it's because you only have two rules aboard the ship, but you thought they were fairly simple to follow to be honest.

Never say no to the Baron —safe word, colors and song being the only exception and, don’t fuck James without Helmut’s permission. Simple, somewhat annoying, but that was part of the fun.

And for Bucky;

Rule one; Never question what I do to her.

Rule two; Never say no to me— safe words, colors and song being the only exception

Rule three; Do not fuck her unless I say that you may.

Rule four: Do not come without my permission

He’d said them while pacing calmly behind Bucky who was sitting at the table acting a little too nonchalant about it all.

Zemo could sense his nervous bravado and leaned over Bucky sliding his hand into that thick head of hair, slowly pulling the soldier’s head back. “Shall we see how good you are at following the rules?” He’d hissed in his ear.

You’d watched feeling your own body tense. Please dear god Bucky break at least one you thought hiding your grin.

Of course he broken a rule. How could he not, it was all too tempting. The sad thing is you’re not sure if he really meant to.

It was over dinner— desert actually.

Chocolate mousse, your favorite which the Baron knew. He loves to toy with you, and always has, making you do little things before you’re allowed to indulge. Not out of any need to deny you food, it wasn’t the food, it was the control and your lack of it. He’ll probably do the same with the tv or books whatever it is you want you’ll have to earn it playing his little games.

Tonight to ease back into the life you’d both been forced to set aside, he’d made you sit on your hands like a shamed school girl until he and Bucky had finished their desert first.

Bucky however thought this was a little unnecessarily sexist and cruel and said as much which broke rule number one. Never question what I do to her.

“Oh come on, don’t be an ass” He’d grumbled spooning another bite into his mouth while you sat peeking up though your head stayed down. He will pay for that, you thought feeling the warm breeze stir as the yacht pressed on towards the setting sun.

Helmut said nothing. In fact, he sat in silence just waiting, letting Bucky finish. When he was all done, Zemo smiled. “Good?” He asks.

Finally you think. Let it start.

“The mousse?”

He nods.

“Yeah, great actually.”

“Good. Why don’t you go and feed it to her.” He says “Since you're so concerned.”

Bucky glances at you sitting there waiting patiently, trying to ignore the throbbing between your legs. “All right?”

He gets up, rounds the table and grabs a chair.

“No. On your knees.” Comes the voice of authority.

Bucky pauses, but he does in fact let go of the chair, turns yours around with you in it and gets down in front of you. You glance up at him and he gives you a quick smile.

Opening your mouth you let him spoon the first bite in and it tastes even better than you’d expected.

“Open your legs.” Helmut tells you. Of course you do. “Pull the suit away and look at her.” He says to Bucky.

You see Bucky hesitate, but he does and the air brushes your exposed skin. You take a deep breath in knowing they both see the way you pulse under their lustful gaze. “Do you see how wet this makes her?” Helmut asks, his voice is low.

Bucky’s pupils dilate, his fingers grip your thigh. “Yes.”

“Look at her and remember that this is what she likes, what she wants, what she has been waiting to have. Stop trying to save a woman who doesn’t want to be saved James.”

You watch his eyes and see him wrestling with the truth of that lovely slick and sticky sweetness that you know he wants to touch. This had been exclusively his for a year. He knows exactly what it feels like to dip his fingers in; what it tastes like, what it smells like and how it feels when he bottoms out inside of you and you say his name, not his silly nickname. His real name. Now he knows that he will have to wait until another man tells him when he can have that again-- and that you like it.

When he exhales slowly, daring to run his thumb across your now throbbing clit, you know that he likes it too.

“Finish.”

Bucky glances up at you one last time and sees how you’re trying not to make a sound. He lets go and the bathing suit covers you again. You relax and slowly open your mouth, hoping he does truly understand. You still love him. You’re still his as much as you are Zemo’s but you were Zemo’s first. You will always be Zemo's and you will always play by his rules.

Bucky tips the cool spoon into your mouth and you pull the chocolate from the silver.

“Did you like it?” Helmut asks.

You open your eyes and nod.

“Answer me.”

“Yes Barron.” You say around the bite.

He comes up behind Bucky and smooths his hand over the mans head, and down along the back of his neck gripping. He holds him as leans down to speak in his ear. “I know it’s your first time, so I will make allowances tonight, and tonight only. But I can not have you pushing back, thinking you can break rules when we’ve not even started, yes?”

You’re practically on the edge of your seat wondering what he’ll say. He’s still looking at you and for a second you think it might be too much for him.

“Yes.” He says quietly.

“Yes, what?” Helmut asks moving around to his side.

Bucky looks up, and you see it, the moment he looks into Helmut’s soft brown eyes which are no more than a lure to draw his willing victims in and says, “Yes Baron.”

“Good.” He knows now and so do you. Bucky is truly his. Helmut savors this as much as you did that spoon fed chocolate. You can see the hairs on his arms rise with a chill and his eyelids lower as he stares at this man you’re sure he’s spent as much time thinking of as he has you, possibly more. “Go downstairs to our bedroom.” He tells Bucky who seems surprisingly meek when Helmut hold his face this way; clutched tight in his grasp like an angry headmaster “Strip down to your underwear, place your hands behind your back, and wait in the center of the room.”

Zemo’s eyes scan the striking face of the soldier he once controlled against his will, so happy to know that this time he’s given himself to the Baron of his own volition.

*

You don’t look at him when you are led into the room, you keep your head down and let Zemo guide you straight to the bed where he sits you down and turns his attention to the man waiting.

Only then do you dare to peek over at Bucky still standing like a silent guard. He’s got his hands behind his back and has undressed, just as he was told to do. You can see that his cock is as hard as stone beneath his black boxer briefs; and with him unable to do anything about it.

All you can do is smile. After Zemo is done with him you’re sure he’ll learn his lesson, or exactly how to break the rules again and again.

Looking from one pet to the other, Zemo gives a little sigh. It’s the sound of man spoiled by too many toys. “Come here.” He says.

Obediently, Bucky walks over, the look on his face somewhat serious but it’s clear his defenses are all but forgotten.

“Have you decided how this will play out yet?” Zemo asks once he’s standing in front of you both. Bucky looks Zemo over and for a split second you remember that he could easily overpower the Baron and you worry, but when he lowers his head and drops his shoulders, nodding just a little you smile remembering that he did not come here for that. You saw the way his heart broke when they took Zemo off to prison. You saw the way he smiled when he didn’t know you where looking as he held his phone and stared down at that text, it was the same way he looked at Zemo when he first showed his face this morning and you saw that beautiful kiss between them. He’s all in. He wants to belong to the Baron just as you do.

“I’m sorry.” He says quietly and Zemo smiles.

“Thank you for the apology. But you broke a rule James. That can not go unpunished.”

Bucky glances up looking slightly worried.

“There is a way to go about this so that you will learn.” Zemo says smiling down at the high peak of Bucky’s underwear. “Your impatient cock will have to wait. Blame your eager mouth,” He shrugs causally “You see, if you insist on opening it, you will learn to do so for a good reason instead of breaking my rules,” He says and quickly grabs Bucky's throat surpassing him as he leans in just an inch. “Tonight James, you will learn your lesson on your knees, beneath me where you belong. Kneel.”

*

“What is your safe word?” Zemo asks looking down into Bucky’s wide blue eyes.

“Streusel.”

Zemo nods and takes Bucky’s face in hand holding his chin, their eyes fixed on one another. “And what are the colors?”

“Green is go, yellow is slow down and red is stop.”

“And if you can’t speak?”

“I— hum Penny’s from heaven.” He says it feeling silly but knows he might need it tonight.

Stroking his face with the side of his index finger while loosening his shorts with the other, the Baron sighs. “You know that I care for you very much?” He asks slipping his hand beneath the waistband.

“I do.” Bucky says and the way he looks at the Baron shows that he feels the same.

“You know that I care for you both. That is why this works. That is the only way that any of this works. Without it and without the trust this ends.”

“I understand.” Bucky answers softly and turns his face just a little to let his lips brush Zemo’s palm with a kiss.

Helmut’s eyes flit shut with the delicate display of intimacy. His fingers massage Bucky’s temple inching up into his hair and for a moment he just lets the affection between them be enough.

“Good.” He finally answers, his voice low and bends to kiss Bucky’s forehead. When he stands again, the warmth has drained from his touch and his eyes. “Now, open your mouth."

*

Bucky’s shoulder is hot beneath your ear as you lean against him. You can’t reach wide enough to hold him in your arms but you try. The sound of him choking makes you shut you eyes focusing on the shared experience of knowing what it’s like to try and swallow the relentless thrusting of that damned cock and you moan softly in harmony with him. You lift your gaze, thrilled by the sight of his shining black hand veined in gold, braced against Zemo’s flexed thigh.

The pumping into his mouth slows letting him breathe some and you watch wanting to see the way his cheeks hollow when he slides his mouth back and forth.

His closed eyes open, looking up, wanting approval. Helmut gives it by closing his own hands to fists in Bucky’s hair. He shoves in slowly, going as deep as Bucky will take him in, fucking his throat until you hear the faint sound of gagging and a strangled attempt to hum his song. The notes are ragged and you worry Zemo won’t hear. You lay your hand on the Baron’s stomach tapping.

Ever the trustful dominant, Zemo stops and pulls his shining, solid member free, breathing hard, a little sad that he has to, but never one to cross that line.

Bucky drops his head gasping for air, his hands on his thighs as he shakes his head like he thought he knew what he was in for and is realizing how mistaken he was. You look up rubbing the small of his back.

Zemo is assessing as he always does with you. Checking to make sure he hasn’t gone too far because he longs to go farther. But he knows this is the first time his soldier has ever been used so relentlessly. And then you see a smile twitch at the corner of Zemo’s lips and the look of concern melts away.

Bucky has recovered and seems more than willing to take the rest of his “punishment.” He drags the back of his hand across his mouth tilts his head and opens up letting his tongue hang out to make way for the large occupant; the sight is so pretty you think if you had a cock you’d probably shove it in there too which makes you giggle quietly.

Zemo sighs and grabs him, guiding himself into the waiting mouth of the man so eager and ready to satisfy that you think it will not be long now. You know the Baron well and while he’s a master of restraint, this is too much for anyone.

You go up onto your knees kissing Bucky’s face as he sucks, stroking his hair, moaning softly into his ear, biting, licking, teasing him to give him some pleasure too. But you don’t dare touch his stone hard erection though for fear he’ll come and you will be in a world of trouble for breaking Zemo’s rules; so instead you rub your hand up the solid muscle of his thigh smiling when he makes the sweet sounds of someone overwhelmed and loving every second of it.

Zemo’s pace quickens and you back away a little watching, awed and damn near dripping wet. You wince for Bucky and wonder how you’ve ever managed to do this. It looks so intense when you’re on the outside looking in. Still, your hand slips down between your legs. Watching Helmut have his way with a man as strong as this one has you unable to resist, and you aren't the one unable to come when you want.

Zemo notices how you've got your hand under your suit and his moan is loud enough to get your attention. He suddenly grabs Bucky’s head holding him steady, making him give a muffled shout and you go back up onto your knees forgetting about your own pleasure, laying your hand on his chest, feeling his heart pound under your palm, your lips grazing the warmth of his skin as he tries to pull way from the Baron just once in some reflexive attempt to escape this inevitable moment, but it’s too late and he digs the fingers of his natural hand into Helmut’s thigh with a sound, something like a shout of surprise but he can not move.

The absent stroking of Bucky’s hair is some half hearted attempt to quiet him but it actually helps and he relaxes, moaning long and low as Zemo draws in a ragged breath between his teeth and holds it in as every muscle in his body flexes.

Bucky starts to swallow and you watch the way he accepts every warm shot so willingly now, all fight in him gone, even the way he holds onto the Baron has changed. He seems to be urging him to —go on —give me more.

You feel the fluttering in your stomach in this quiet moment even though your heart is pounding and your hand quickly slips back down. You won’t be able to finish but it still feels incredible.

They both tense with the last of it, Bucky grabbing Zemo’s ass holding him close now that it’s over and the Baron relaxes with a light laugh as he slowly pulls himself free.“Well done James,” He exhales closing his eyes. “That was— perfect.” He smiles opening them and steps back catching his breath “On your feet” He finally says.

Bucky pushes up to standing.

“You too,” He tells you.

Bucky holds out his hand which you take and he pulls you up easily. You stand in silence together.

“Continue like this, and perhaps I’ll let you come tomorrow.” Zemo says to Bucky.

He kisses your cheek, smiles at you both, knowing that he’s left his new sub confused and sexually frustrated, turns and finds his drink on the table and his robe hanging on the master bath door before going off to take a shower.

*

“Did you think I’d forgotten about you?” He asks, his breath warm in your ear.

You shake your head no even though it’s hard with his hand so tight around your neck.

“No, never, I will always satisfy you.” He says and kisses you deeply.

“Are you going to come?” Helmut asks looking down to see his hand at work rubbing your pussy. Your knees part and your hips raise in response to the light smacks he gives your hot divide.

Bucky sighs, lost in his own agony of only being allowed to watch.

You’re a moaning, whimpering mess gasping and crying out the second Helmut thumbs your clit again. He smacks and your legs close reflexively “Open” He says and you do. He gives two more and your thighs are shaking as the pressure mounts.

“That’s it, come, come for me, and for him. Come for him because he can’t” Helmut says smiling cruelly at Bucky.

You’re too close to feel sympathy, you feel only your Baron’s skilled hand and the way he circles your hard clit with his middle finger with the perfect amount of pressure until the dam gives way and you come with a scream and deep pulsing burst wetting his fingers and the sheet, your entire body flexing in rhythm with the orgasm until you shiver and sink down still gasping.

Helmut kisses you lightly smiling. “I have missed doing that to you.”

You give a breathy smile with your eyes closed feeling your breast shake as you do with the residual quakes of pleasure. You can not remember the last time you've come that hard.

“A reminder of what satisfaction tastes like” Helmut says and you open your eyes to find him reaching towards Bucky.

You don’t think he’ll do it, but he is learning submission from you. He opens his mouth and sucks Zemo’s middle finger, his moan soft but slightly pained.

“Soon James.” Helmut says, his expression alternating between arousal and empathy. “Soon.”

*

Late in the night well after the three of you have cleaned up and gone to bed, you wake up between them feeling so thirsty you have to go up for a bottle of water from the small fridge and come back to find the bed you share empty.

Confused at first, you hear their voices out on the balcony and quietly make your way over.

“I won’t ever hurt you more than you want me to.” You hear Zemo say with the sleepy smile in his voice.

“I know.” Bucky says sounding relaxed. It’s the same way he sounds with you, and you are relieved that there seem to be no true hard feelings after his first taste of submission tonight.

“I am happy you decided to come, you know that, right? There were times I didn’t think you would.” Zemo says.

“There were times that I didn’t know what I would do if you got out. I think it came down to those last few seconds.”

“Are you sure about that?” Zemo asks, clearly not believing him.

There is a long pause and you smile at the door. He knew he was going to come the second he turned you over, You think standing in the shadows.

Helmut is laying back on the low, wide sofa, one arm resting on the back, the other across Bucky’s chest, one leg bent at the knee, the other over the edge. You like the way he sort of absently strokes the vibranium shoulder. You do the same thing, You both know Bucky can’t feel it but you both like the way the cool metal calms you, and Bucky… he’s so relaxed. His back to Zemo’s chest, that powerful limb wrapped around the Barons leg, the other resting across his own stomach. They look so peaceful that you hate they’ve spotted you before you can sneak back into bed.

Bucky calls for you to join them which you do now that they both insist so you come out. You hop onto the sofa with all the enthusiasm of a joining a sleepover.

Bucky’s chest offers a solid, familiar warmth and you sigh happily as he strokes your hair while you watch the stars slowly floating by.

They shift the conversation now and start talking about the mechanics of ships of all things and you think how lovely it is that they have one another to be boring with, and how lucky you are to have two men with such beautifully relaxing voices.

Sleep takes you easily, and when you wake again you’re being carried into the room by one metal arm and one flesh and laid down in the bed— the comfort of their bodies surrounding you with safety and love.

To be continued...

#winterbaron #winterbaron x you #helmut zemo x reader #zemo x reader #bucky barnes x you #baron zemo fanfiction #zemo fanfic #helmut zemo #james buchanan barnes #buckybarnes/zemo #zemo/bucky/reader #this is only the beginning

[alj4890]

Angst Prompt

Dawn’s Early Light

(Part Three to One Fateful Night)

As requested by many of you.

(Liam x OC) in a one shot continuation of the angsty One Fateful Night.

A/N Here's some happiness to the angst so many sent messages about. I know it is still bittersweet in a way, with Riley being dead and all, but I think it gives our favorite prince a chance to find true love after all. On another note, I had at one time considered Liam meeting someone in Washington D.C. in another story where Riley died the night of the Homecoming Ball in Book 2. I guess this makes up for deleting it and never posting, LOL.

Part 2 The Dark Before the Dawn

 @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @yourmajesty09   @gkittylove99 @krsnlove   @mom2000aggie @twinkleallnight @lodberg @sweatyrysconnoisseur ​ @motorcitymademadame ​

Masterlist

Dawn’s Early Light

Somewhere in Maryland...

"Sir?"

Liam grimaced at the voice coming through loud and clear from his cell phone. The one time he convinced Bastien that he could travel on his own and the man still made certain to call every hour.

"Yes?" He huffed.

"Your current location?"

"That at the moment is a little difficult to pinpoint." Liam squinted through the pouring rain. "One of the roads was flooded and the numerous detours have sent me further east of D.C."

He could hear frantic mutterings in the background, papers shifting and clicks from computers.

"Pull over and we will try to locate you." Bastien ordered.

Liam looked about at the flour lane highway, barely able to see five feet ahead of him. "There isn't a spot to do so. I'll call once I find a safe place."

"Your majesty," he could hear the frustration in his Head of the King's Guards' voice, "this is why I insisted we fly down together."

"And I knew this was my last chance to take a road trip of sorts." Liam countered. "You worry too much, Bastien."

"And you don't worry enough." Bastien muttered. "If you haven't found a place within the next hour, I am coming to find you."

"Make sure to bring a rowboat." Liam teased. "That's probably the best way to travel here."

His jest was met with silence.

"Bastien?" Liam glanced down at his phone and saw the call had dropped. Tossing it back in the passenger seat, he continued on down the road.

*****************

Outside of Annapolis...

"No!" Autumn pleaded when her tire burst. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Pulling over onto the shoulder of the highway, she tried to call her parents.

"Gee, thanks for no bars." She grumbled, chucking her phone back into her purse.

Reaching for her coat she prepared herself mentally to change her own tire.

Why did Dad have to make it so boring? He knew I wouldn't pay attention!

It had been ten years since she had sat through that lesson, day dreaming of the cute guy who sat next to her in chemistry class.

And just like her lack of luck with Mr. Chemistry, she was about to fail miserably with her tire.

She pulled the flashlight and tools out her father insisted she keep in her vehicle at all times and stepped out into the rainstorm.

"Any creepy serial killers out there," she yelled towards the darkened woods that lined the highway, "now is NOT the time to mess with me!"

She paused in removing the jack from her trunk. "That goes for any wild animals unless you're the helpful kind from fairy tales."

She snorted at her own joke as she set reflectors along the road. "And if you know of any princes, do send them my way."

"Alright car, you and I have been through it." She patted it's side. "All the snow storms in Pennsylvania. New jobs. New apartments. Ex boyfriends." She knelt by the flat tire. "Let's get through this and I'll treat you to a tank of premium gas."

She removed the hubcap and blinked when a pair of bright headlights pulled up behind her.

"Didn't I specifically demand no serial killers?" She muttered to herself as she saw the silhouette of a man start walking her way.

"Pardon me?" A cultured voice called out. "Are you in need of any assistance?"

She lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the light. "I wouldn't say no to some help."

Her mystery person stopped a couple of feet away from her and studied her tire.

"Where's the jack?"

She handed it to him and watched as he expertly began to raise the back end up.

"Here's the tool kit." She handed it over, discreetly keeping a screwdriver in her hand in case he was a psycho.

"I hate to keep you out in the rain, but could you shine your flashlight here so I can remove the lug nuts?"

"Right. Of course." She dutifully lifted it where he directed.

"Perfect." He turned to smile at her. "Thank you."

She blinked at how handsome he was. "I, no problem. I should be thanking you."

"My pleasure." He looked around. "I don't suppose you know where we are, do you?"

Oh no. A hot psycho. Just my luck.

"Um, don't you know?" She took a cautious step back.

"I've never been in this part of America before." He explained, unaware of her trepidation. "I lost GPS about two hours ago."

"Oh." She relaxed and stepped closer. "We're about forty-five minutes from Annapolis.

"How far is that from D.C.?" He asked.

"About forty minutes or so depending on traffic." She tilted her head. "Let me guess. You're a politician or aide of some sort."

He chuckled. "Not really."

"You certainly don't sound like the men in Washington."

"Oh? And how do they sound?"

"Arrogant jerks. Every last one of them. Even the mailroom guys act like they rule the world." Her nose wrinkled.

"Ah." Her handsome stranger removed her flat tire and placed the spare on. "Not fond of men in power, I take it."

"Not really." She squatted next to him, hoping she would remember his actions in case she had another flat tire some time in the future. "I guess there's bound to be one man out there who actually wants to serve the people instead of having them serve him."

"I see." He glanced over at her. "I like to think there are honest rulers out there."

Her brow furrowed. "Rulers?" She studied his profile. "You're not American, are you?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Where are you from?" Her eyes narrowed in thought. "Your accent is hard to place."

"Cordonia" he grunted as he tightened the lug nuts. "Have you heard of it?"

"It sounds familiar." She muttered.

"It is a tiny but beautiful country in Europe." He explained.

"Isn’t every European nation?” She teased. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of of one that I would turn down a vacation to.”

He began to lower her car back down with the jack. "All done."

"I don't know how to thank you." She pushed her wet hair back, wondering how horrible she must look as she picked up the safety reflectors

"No need." He smiled warmly. "Have a good evening, my lady." With an instinctive bow, he turned and walked back to his own car.

"My lady?" Her lips quirked with humor. Perhaps the fairy tale animals had sent her a prince. "Hey! Wait!"

He paused with his car door open. "Yes?"

"There's an all night diner a few miles ahead." She took a deep breath. "Would you like to follow me there? We could dry off and I could buy you a piece of pie as a thank you."

Her hero's smile grew brighter. "I'd like that. Lead the way."

********************

"I'm Autumn." She held her hand out as they waited to be seated.

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Liam." He took her hand and bowed over it.

"Is that how people greet one another in Cordonia?" She asked.

"It is the norm from where I grew up." He responded with a sheepish grin.

He shook her hand. "Is that better?"

"Your way was fine." She glanced down at their clasped hands. "I just feel a little under dressed for such a proper greeting."

"Nonsense." Liam continued to hold her hand. "A little water logged perhaps, but lovely nonetheless."

Her lips parted in surprise.

"Just the two of you?"

The pair turned toward a waitress.

"Yes." Autumn replied. "Just us."

"Follow me." She sat them at a table and handed over some menus. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Coffee, please." Autumn replied.

"I'll have the same." Liam added.

"Coming right up."

*********************

"Autumn?" Liam tested her name. "Were you given that name due to being born in the fall?"

She shook her head. "My parents have a warped sense of humor. I was born in April."

He laughed causing her to smile once more.

She thought his laughter had such a warm encompassing sound that made her want to hear it often as she could.

"They also wanted to have their kids' initials for Pennsylvania." She rolled her eyes. "My older brother, Patrick, took care of the P while I completed it with an A." Her own laughter bubbled out. "Then my unplanned younger brother was born and threw those initials out the door."

"What did they name him?" Liam asked.

"August, since he was born in January. Being that he was a surprise, they went with another A name to have an, aaahhh, moment at the end of P.A.."

Liam shook with his laughter over her parents. "They sound delightful."

"They sound that way," she teased, "but when you live with them..." Her smile softened. "They really are great parents and my brothers aren't too bad either."

"I have an older brother." He told her. "Leo and I were never as close as I wished we could have been. He spends so much time traveling and exploring the world that I don't have the heart to pressure him into coming home more often." A sadness came over him. "I've never seen him so happy as when he sends me pictures from his latest adventure."

"He's a wandering soul." She added.

"Precisely." Liam refocused on her. "And a wanderer withers and dies if tied down."

"What about your parents?" She asked.

"My mother died when I was very young and my father passed away about five years ago." He explained. "I'm close to my stepmother, Regina. She and Leo are all I have left for family."

"I'm sorry." Autumn mumbled. "I didn't mean to dredge up painful--"

Her breath caught when he laid his hand over hers. She thought she could actually feel herself getting lost in his blue eyes...which was something she teased her friends over every time they mentioned something like that. Yet here she was, finding herself falling for a man who changed her tire in the rain.

He gently squeezed her fingers. "Nothing to apologize for. I miss them but I am done grieving."

As their waitress brought them a fresh pot of coffee, Liam realized how true that statement was. He was done grieving for all of his lost loved ones.

******************

"Now then." Liam looked up from his menu. "Do you work in Washington?"

"I do." She replied. "Not in a political aspect though."

"What do you do?" He asked.

"I'm an archivist at the National Air and Space Museum."

His expression brightened with interest. "I've always wanted to visit the Smithsonian. To work and preserve the very fabric of your nation's history must be fascinating."

"It is!" She leaned forward as she became more animated about her work.

Deciding to prolong this conversation, the two ordered a meal before indulging in pie.

Liam listened, asking questions that only made her more excited in sharing this piece of her life.

It was rare for Autumn to find anyone interested in what she did.

"Right now, my team is working on digitizing everything we have on rocket tests during the 1950's." She explained. "Reading through the vast paperwork, various film and photographs, all audio recordings; I get to sift through every bit of it for our records."

"I once assisted an archivist at the palace library." Liam told her. "I discovered long ago manuscripts and journals in a hidden nook." His smile softened at the memory. "It was all by accident. My best friend and I were playing in one of the ballrooms when the soccer ball we were kicking around struck a piece of the baseboards, causing a hidden door to open."

Autumn's eyes widened. "It's a wonder you didn't get in trouble with the palace curators. They do not appreciate anyone playing around the exhibits."

Liam chuckled. "I was lucky the curators were fond of me."

"You knew them?" She asked. "Were they family members?"

"They aren't family, but I did know them." He replied, being deliberately mysterious about who he was.

He hadn't had a normal conversation in years. When she didn't recognize him, he felt a lightness he had felt on that long ago night in New York. He had forgotten how it was, how it made him feel. So often, people said the things they thought he wanted to hear. He missed the back and forth of sharing personal tidbits.

Autumn grimaced when she realized she had basically dominated the conversation for nearly an hour.

"Enough about my work," she smiled at him, "what do you do? Did you come here for business or to finally see the Smithsonian?"

He chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee. "As much as I would prefer spending my days wandering through museums, I am here to meet with government officials."

Her nose wrinkled. "I’m sorry. I do not envy you for that." Her eyebrow lifted. "What's the government like in Cordonia? Do you have a prime minister or something similar to our president?"

"We are a constitutional monarchy with the king as the Head of State." He explained.

"I see. Then you work in some capacity for him?" She continued. "You must to be here for meetings."

Liam lowered his eyes. "I suppose you could say that."

"So what's your job title?" She persisted. "Are you a member of the house of lords or whatever you have? Aide to the king?"

"I have a higher position than anything like that." He hedged. "Which is why I'm the only one to attend these meeting the next couple of weeks."

Her brow furrowed. "The king doesn't handle stuff like that?"

"He does which is why I'm here." He focused on her eyes. "The king is the only one to handle the approval for trade agreements and maintaining friendly relations with other countries."

"Then why isn’t he..." She burst into laughter. "You really had me going there for a moment." She shook her head at him. "Nice try, but no king travels alone on highways in a Nissan Altima."

"I do when I want to appear a regular man." He explained.

"Because isn't that royalty is all about?" She giggled some more. "Living life as a middle class man."

"I'm sincere." He argued. "I really am the King of Cordonia."

Her laughter died. "And just when I thought you weren't mentally unhinged." She sighed while picking at her piece of blueberry pie. "I knew you were too good to be true. No man can be both selfless and handsome without a few screws loose."

Liam's elation she found him attractive caught him by surprise. It wasn't that other women had not said similar to him at various functions. It was that he actually felt attracted to her too.

"I can prove I'm the king."

"How long have you believed you were king?" She asked. "Any chance you've thought you were someone else at one time? Napoleon Bonaparte? King Tut?"

He snorted on his laughter. "I've been king for over six years now. The rest of my life was spent as a prince."

"Uh huh." She poured them each another cup of coffee. "Guess that explains why you weren't banned from the palace for playing soccer."

"It is my home." He pointed out.

"Sure it is." She patted his hand. "And I'm sure you're the best king out there who knows how to change a tire."

"I only know because my best friend taught me." Liam explained. "He was one of the few people in my life who did not allow me to become a spoiled prince."

"Right." She smiled at him. "It's been great and all." She reached into her purse for her wallet. "And I do thank you so much for your help with the flat tire, but I should go."

"You don't believe me?" He asked.

"I believe you believe it." She said cautiously.

Liam quickly pulled his phone out and handed it to her. "Look up Cordonia."

"Just because you think you're a king doesn't mean you can order me around." Her eyes narrowed in warning. "Besides, I wouldn't use your phone. You'd probably have me looking at some doctored photos of yourself."

"Forgive me I didn’t mean to make it sound like a command." Liam ran a hand through his hair. "I've never met anyone who didn't believe I am who I say."

"First time for e everything, huh?" She hesitated when she saw his disappointment. "Fine." She searched for her phone. "I'll play along if you find our waitress. I'm going to need more pie as I research you."

He grinned while doing as she asked.

Autumn wandered of it was because it was the middle of the night that made her sit here with some guy claiming to be--

"No!" Her eyes darted from the images of King Liam of Cordonia to the Liam sitting at her table. "You're really a king?!"

"Would you care for another slice of blueberry or a different type of pie?" He asked with a bright smile.

"Blueberry." Her jaw was still dropped.

"Another slice of blueberry please for the lady and I'll have a slice of apple."

"Why on earth are you traveling lone highways in Maryland?" She asked when their waitress left.

"I flew in to New York for a few meetings with U.N. representatives. Our representative is new to her job and I wanted to encourage her." He explained. "Then I suppose I caught a bit of wanderlust from my brother and wanted to drive down to D.C." He took a bite of his new slice of pie. "It's rare I am able to convince my security team to let me out of their sight, but there are times when I like to be alone with my thoughts."

"I guess you have a lot of people demanding your time." She conceded.

"I do, which is why I make time for the people and activities that are important to me." He looked up at her. "Experience has taught me how fleeting time can be and we should make the most of every moment we are given."

"I like that." She cut into her slice with her fork while scrolling through images of Cordonia. "A lot of people get so easily wrapped up in their work and don't realize that they are missing out on so much more."

"Are you one of those people?"

Autumn paused chewing to consider his question. "Sometimes. I can get so wrapped up in a project and shut out the world going on around me." She shrugged. "Then something happens to shake me back to reality."

Liam grinned when it hit him that his being confirmed king had not changed the way she spoke to him.

As if reading his thoughts, her fork clattered on her plate. "I can't believe you really are a king." Her head tilted as she studied him. "You really don't act like how I imagine one would."

Liam folded his arms on the table and leaned forward. His bright blue eyes held her gray ones. "How should I act?"

She snorted. "For one thing you wouldn't have stood out in the pouring rain to change a tire."

"Aren't fairy tales filled with princes rescuing damsel in distress?" He countered.

She rolled her eyes playfully. "It isn't like you slayed a dragon."

"According to your imagination, what should I have done in that situation?" He countered, delighted with her not putting him on a pedestal.

"First off, if you were on a," she made quotation marks with her fingers, "road trip, you'd probably be in a limo since your private jet is tucked away in a hangar somewhere."

"But then I would have a driver and thus not able to be alone." He reminded her.

"True." She propped her chin on her hand and smiled. "We'll forget the car then since you are chivalrous and in need of a break." She gestured with her free hand around the diner. "A king wouldn't come her, happily order food, nor be willing to sit here for hours listening to some girl talk about museums."

"Why not?" Liam asked. "He could have been hungry since he had been lost for a while."

"I guess that's a reasonable possibility." Autumn muttered.

"And if he wanted to know more about the damsel he rescued, then shouldn't he be at least willing to remain here with her?"

"Maybe." She forced herself to look away from him. "Then again, maybe this is a night for things out to the ordinary to happen." She asked their waitress for their check.

Autumn shushed his arguments, insisting on paying for his meal.

At that moment, Bastien and some guards walked in.

Liam's eyes widened. "Bastien? How did you find me?"

"We have a tracker on your phone, your majesty." He explained. "We really need to get you to Washington. You have an early morning of..."

Liam tuned him out and focused once more on the lady he had met tonight.

"It's my fault." Autumn spoke up. "I wanted to thank Liam with some pie for his help earlier."

She stood up and held her hand out. “Thank you again for helping me.”

Liam pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Autumn."

"I..." She could feel her entire body blush with that simple touch. "I'm happy to have met you too, Liam." She grimaced. "I mean, your majesty. Should I curtsy?"

He chuckled. "Just Liam with no curtsey is fine."

"Liam no curtsey." She winked at him. "Nice name for a king." Nodding farewell toward his guards, she slipped out of the restaurant.

Liam watched her drive off from one of the windows.

He wondered if he had just met the one.

#Liam x OC #choices the royal romance #choices stories you play #trr liam #king liam

[kittybellestark]

Hi ! I don't know if this is where you send requests, but maybe a fic where peter gets all jealous of Morgan and Harley, and its fathers day, but he feels like he shouldn't be there and stays in the room the Stark's have for him- (Tony lives) OH! and maybe Mays dead idk whatever ya want thank you ! <3 Oh! and can I be on the taglist?

hi milove sorry for taking literal months to do your request i recognize you requesting this on nov 18th and it is now February so i hope this is smth that was worth the wait !! 

So I played with the timelines a lil bit bc i suck and i also just kinda took this to a place i don’t think you were asking me to do whoops, it’s not just some cute sibling jealously

also not very irondad based, like sprinkle amounts. also no comfort. my bad 

Post-endgame, Tony lives, Harley & Peter are the same age, Peter got snapped Harley didn’t 

TW: Grief, implication of suicide(minor character), suicidal thoughts,  

-

There wasn’t many things Peter liked. He remembers liking a lot of things, life, school, home, himself. But that was years ago, and yet it was only a few months for Peter. The world was different now, older.

Those who survived held grief in their eyes, they moved slow and while they have grown since the loss of their world, they also had survived the return. They mourned and grew older, making new family and friends. But some who survived couldn’t hold the weight of their loss, and in the 5 years their family was gone, they went to be with them.

The returned came back, and lived in denial. Their eyes were empty, and every movement was carefully thought through. They were left behind, monuments in their place. Those who returned saw how the survived struggled to cope, and in turn they struggled as well. There was no place for them anymore. Especially when they didn’t have a family to go to.

Like Peter.

Peter returned to the world five years later to find May was gone. She was one of those who survived the initial snap, only to not be able to carry the grief. He hated that he came back to life and had no home, no family. Peter was alone.

Tony was nice enough to offer Peter a place to live with his own family. But they couldn’t relate to him, they didn’t know what it felt like to be left behind like this, to be dropped in the future and expected to be okay. Tony had a family now. A child born in an empty world, and another kid, Harley. He was barely a teenager before the snap and now he was 17, just as old as Peter.

He couldn’t help but hate living with them. Harley’s family had returned, but he wasn’t going home. Morgan was a child who was scared by Peter. Tony and Pepper sometimes forgot Peter was there, after spending so long without him they would act as if they’ve seen a ghost when Peter rounds the corner and into whatever room they’re occupying.

Peter missed May. He wished that he could still be in Queens, living in their apartment. Peter missed Ben and he missed the idea of his parents. He should have never returned. There’s no room for him in this world.

He hated how Harley took advantage of their situation. He hated that Harley had a family, a mother and a sister who returned and are alone and he didn’t go back to them. His family returned to him and yet he’s here with Tony. And he hated how Morgan took her family- her full, completed family for granted.

If Peter’s family came back to life there wouldn’t be anything stopping him from being with them. He would cherish every single nano-second if they were alive again.

And yet they all expected Peter to be okay. Adapted. Used to the future like he didn’t just blink and find himself lost and alone. He brings up that he misses May and someone frowns and tells him how long ago she died. How was that supposed to help him? No one even brought him to the cemetery. How is Peter meant to move on from a life that was stolen from him?

It’s not like any of them were okay. Tony and Pepper and Harley all crumbled as whenever there was a reminder of everything that they lost. Peter, unfortunately happened to be one of those reminders.

Tony and Pepper tried their best. They involved Peter in family bonding time and they tried their best not to flinch when Peter is unexpectedly there. Because they survived, they didn’t understand and talking to them led to dead ends.

He tried communicating with them. Cried over May’s death, had been confused about these new things that are actually years old. For them it was so long ago, a literal lifetime ago, so they never really saw the point in talking about these things. It wasn’t that they thought Peter would figure this out, they just assumed he already knew.

Talking to Harley didn’t really work that well either. He didn’t want to talk about the things Peter missed out on and when asked about his family he would shrug and say that he’s moved on.

And, well, Morgan was a kid. She was born in an empty world, told stories of people that she never should have met and now faced with the world doubling and not understanding any of it. Peter Parker was just a character is bedtime stories and now he’s a ghost who wants her home. She used to cry whenever Peter is around and still tries to hide behind people’s legs. 

God, he hated being this kid. Never wanted to be the one who envied others. Before- when it was still just May and Peter, he didn’t feel this gnawing inside him, while they didn’t have much Peter still had someone who fit all the rolls he needed. He hated being jealous, he didn’t feel this when he used to look at anyone who had two living parents.

He shouldn’t be here. Not in this room, which came decorated with everything Peter had loved before he died- and not alive. He didn’t fit. Not into this family who struggles with the idea he’s alive and not on this planet where the world is still mourning the people who came back. 

“Are you coming downstairs?” Harley asked.

Peter can’t be here. He had no right.

“I have a taxi coming to get me.” 

That wasn’t a lie. Something he scheduled last night at some point, between the tears and holding his breath. Peter didn’t think anyone would be awake at this time, Sunday’s were always the day that everyone slept in and Peter could just be alone outside of his room.  Sometimes he would just sit in the living room and other times he’d wander around the property, often ending up by the lake. By the time everyone would start waking up Peter would be back in his room with some breakfast and try not to bother anyone. 

“Okay, well it’s fathers day, so I think they might be expecting your presence in some form. We have plans and all that.” 

Of course they do. They always make plans where Peter only finds out the day before or day of. Maybe Peter has plans. They could consider that. Okay, maybe Peter never really has any plans, nothing more than trying to understand this new world. And maybe he didn’t make the active effort to find where he fit in this home, but he is the child and it shouldn’t really be up to him. Harley probably didn’t have to engage with the adults first. Tony and Pepper more than likely got input from Harley on their plans. 

With a sigh Peter nodded. “I’ll cancel the taxi.”

“Cool! I’ll tell everyone you’ll be down soon.”

Harley made sure to give a big smile, before heading downstairs, a bounce in each step he took. Peter really hated Harley for his happiness. 

Taking a moment after canceling the taxi, Peter tried to pull himself together. He forced a smile and pulled his shoulders back. All that needs to be done is sit and nod, occasionally laugh. Pay no mind to the way Morgan looks at him in fear, and don’t see the look of mourning on Tony and Pepper’s face. He needs to not remember Harley’s family alone in Tennessee. 

He went down the stairs and followed the noise to the kitchen. There was laughter and the sounds of dishes clinking against one another. It smelt of pancakes and cinnamon and hash browns and coffee. Standing here Peter could close his eyes and pretend this was seven years in the past, with him and May and Ben. He could imagine Ben making the food and singing along to the radio with May dancing along as she sets the table. But this wasn’t 2016, this was 2023. Instead it was a finished family forced to bring him in, a harsh reminder that he doesn’t belong.

Peter stepped into the kitchen, Pepper was just finishing up breakfast and Harley was setting the table. Morgan was sitting on Tony’s lap whispering into her fathers ear. Food was laid out ready to be served, with orange juice, iced tea and coffee all in their own pitchers waiting to be poured. He moved through the room, trying to not to intrude before sitting down at the table. It didn’t take much longer for Pepper and Harley to sit down as well, Tony moving Morgan into her proper chair. 

Everyone around Peter fell into easy conversation while he stayed silent, trying to focus on his food instead of the way Morgan was starring daggers at him. They talked about their favourite family vacations and laughed at their own jokes. Peter couldn’t help but feel like he was actually sitting out on the porch. This family had five years together, five years of memories and laughter, of love and pain, and Peter wasn’t apart of any of it. He wasn’t a part of any family, his own buried and far too dead.

“Peter, what about you? Did you have any Father’s Day traditions?” 

Hearing Harley address Peter pulled him back to this world, and welcomed in his deep rooted desire to have his family back. Harley had two families now and he left one completely. Abandoned them when they came back to life. And Morgan was sitting here glaring at Peter completely oblivious to the fact that she has her entire family and how privileged she was for it.

“Well I don’t have any memories of my parents, so I don’t think there were any traditions with them. The only people I could ask about that are now dead. Unless you consider going to the cemetery to go visit your dead father you can’t remember a father’s day tradition, then no.”

The entire table stopped eating, all sounds coming to a complete end. Everyone stayed still as if Peter was some volatile bomb that would explode if anyone nearby breathed too hard. He could feel his jaw clench, as he tried to breathe in and out. It wasn’t working.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Should I not bring up my very dead family? Was that inappropriate to say that my father is dead I have no memories? My absolute bad! Next time I’ll consider how uncomfortable it makes everyone here. I mean jeez, Harley has a whole family in Tennessee he hasn’t seen since they reappeared. You’ve got two whole families to choose from, Harls! What an accomplishment. And Morgan, well she’s older than I was when my parents died, so she’s definitely on the right track. And wow, I got a whole second set of parents out of May and Ben. Which was great until I watched Ben die. Until I die and find out while my death was temporary, May’s wasn’t. Whenever I want to be with my family I have to go all the way back to Queens and visit the cemetery. But you all just live in the same house. So genuinely, I’m sorry for not considering your emotions about my dead family.”

“Peter...” Tony whispered, reaching his one hand out to Peter.

Peter shook his head, pulling away, he didn’t want to see the empty eyes starring back at him. He didn’t want to acknowledge the way Tony looks at him with regret and how Pepper looks at him like he’s lost. He didn’t want to see how the three that lived through both snaps always held pain in their eyes. And Peter most certainly didn’t want to see Morgan, who had no idea how lucky she is, that she was born never knowing loss.

Peter didn’t want to see a family who was pulled together in a time of pain. He wanted to see his family. Peter wanted to look across the table and see Ben and May throwing little balls of napkins at each other. He wanted to be Harley and be able to go home and see his family whenever he wants. He wanted to be Morgan and do science experiments with his parents. Peter wanted the one thing he didn’t have, something that Harley and Morgan had an abundance of.

“I don’t have a family anymore. I never got to say goodbye to May. I would give up the rest of my life to see them again. And you guys just can’t understand that. You have you family. You get to see them whenever you want. I can’t ever see mine again. I can never go home. They’re gone.”

After all, Peter was just a ghost, another person who returned, who had been dead for too long. He didn’t belong in a world of survivors. Peter was just another person long gone who no longer fits into the world around him.

-

Taglist: Ask/DM to be added

@peter-is-a-bean @jean-and-diet-coke @dead-inside-pt2 @they-were-cloudsinmycoffee @parkersjiggle @7peternotparker7 @thatonecrackheadshipper @kevinthewoman @faline4you @lynxshinon @narutoyaoifan @pastelwheeler @thecrazymarvelfan @bonjour-gays @thebestqueenoftheworld

#irondad #peter parker #tony stark #marvel #spiderman #spiderson #avengers #harley keener #mcu #morgan stark #pepper potts #post endgame #Tony lives #request #peter and harley #angst #no comfort #i’m so sorry #irondad and spiderson #iron man #everybody lives au #Peter is grieving #peter deserves better #hurt peter

[ghoulishhusband]

I just realized I can actually talk here. Like this is my account fuck u

Fucking uhhhhhh, hi ig lemme ramble abt my God ocs yea?

Ignore this part if you don't wanna hear (likely) unedited rambles lol it doesn't matter

CW: neglect/abuse, assholery/narcissism, manipulation, tread lightly!

read the under cut owo

Also don't steal my art I'll fucking?? Fight you????

So

I have three main gods that I wanna talk abt especially bc they've been on my mind lately.. Less get it, side notes are in (parentheses) and are bolded cause I have perception issues whoo I don't want it to jumble together is my point lol

First up is my asshole,

Giodine

they/them (preferred)

god/godself (i like pronouns that fit my characters, so I'm giving a bunch away for one night only at--)

ID : Giodine is colored with gold-ish yellow skin and ginger hair. Their eyes are a muted purple and they have tiny eyebrows. Their lips are a muted brown and are full looking, their nose is sharp and points down. They have wings for ears and is wearing a blazer with a long-sleeved, collared shirt underneath it. The background is beige with a yellow square and a dark purple square partially encompassing it. It is signed GH (for ghoulish husband), Spork, 21.

(lemme know if that helps at all! I'm sure I can do better so lemme know!)

If they look weird here it's bc I accidentally made their face too long but believe it or not this is in fact just a doodle Ik I'm so fuckin talented babes.

Anyways, they're basically the first God to ever exist on my version of earth (though even that is fickle rn, world-building is hard unless I hyper-focus on it, and haha Guess What I Haven't Been Thinking About) and they're very egotistical and selfish. As I'll probably yap about later is how they're manipulative as well, especially to another God I'll mention, and very neglectful to the other... other one.

Their partner(professionally), or fiend as they call him, is sam who for the first few eons was, unsurprisingly, absolutely terrible to him. A few tender moments are few and far in between in what could only be described as a completely rancid relationship. I'll describe giodine's side and in sam's lil ramble, I'll describe his :]

I have to explain this because it's a big part of the lore and how they can't work together, even when one of them is very much near The Void (technical death for gods) BUT basically, with Sam, giodine created purgatory. The issue here is that they basically seduced sam into doing it. Well, even if they hadn't, sam was in lesbians(happy pride month lmao) with giodine and would've done it anyway. But the ISSUE is that with the creation of purgatory came complications. See, my gods have to take time to develop into their power, and considering giodine was first and sam was around 666th.. you see the issue. Sam wasn't into his complete power yet and thus lost a giant part of it that went into purg.

See, giodine saw no problem with this (until much later, they do get a VERY SLOW BURN redemption arc cause this ain't even the worst of it), they got what they were aching for out of them and thusly had no need for..sam. They laid him in the spot where she was made (fwi it isn't inherently sexual, it can be, but literally, they just merged together-- taking bits and pieces of each other (which sam did not have enough of) and earth and light yadda, yadda I'll post the story I wrote for that later if I'm up to it) and left him there in the grass.

Again, they saw no problem with that, the deed was done, they didn't care anymore. A common issue in their qualms, sam and Giodine. They did find an issue in Sam finding an issue in the lack of aftercare, which resorted to any message going to or coming from sam going straight to his assistant and going back through them for a couple of thousand years. They found that infuriating-- how could he not face them over something so small! and for years?! it was ridiculous. After forcing a face-to-face meeting, a heated proclaim of hurt from sam, and a bitter agreement to meet up every now and again, they got what they wanted from him. Again. It was a business after all, there was no point in making it harder than it needed to be. 

Giodine doesn't necessarily like boundaries and tends to overstep sam's frequently. They also don't like his reaction to his boundaries being long jumped over, which thusly ends up in disgruntled messages being sent back and forth between them and his assistant for a month or three. It slowly gets through to them, but they tend to say some stupid shit and if they want sam to stay, they have to try and avoid mentioning how "overly sensitive" he is to something that happened eons ago.

(quick mention, there isn't like. time. here. so in all honesty, giodine probably counted earth days instead of Heaven 'days' to get that) Soon into their arrangements to meet, they seem to get on at least tolerable terms, obviously, a few meetings where neither of them feels like going apeshit and taking proper shapeless (or in sams case, he's got a newfound form for ANGER OO just for giodine 🤗) forms isn't going to fix a grudge that has yet to be apologized for by the way. But it's a start to a very long process down the road. Tolerance.

Giodine as an entity is very fickle and rude and demanding. They tend to have a short temper that no one else is allowed to have or comment on-- They were the first therefore they were the most important!

This is very obviously an issue. But it's mostly directed to purgatory. Almost all of their seething rage is pointed towards the poor entity, she's barely been alive yet and they already seem to hate her for things she doesn't know how to do. Honestly, I don't think Purg will ever fully forgive them for the unnecessary abuse of her character, but just as Sam and Giodine get on better terms, they had barely just begun fixing the hole in their relationship. As of now, Sam/Giodine don't have any minor plot points with purgatory other than the major one so I don't have a lot to say about their relationship right now. Maybe one day.

I'd go into details, seriously, but I just wanna ramble about their relationships with each other and their impact on each other's existence. Hope you don't mind a few secrets 😉

But, now, it's time for a new God, one I think most people take a liking to...

Sam (Samuel)

He/him

ID: Sam is surrounded by clouds in the light blue, fading to a darker blue sky and the yellow sun. His horns are a darker beige, which is being highlighted by the sun shining down on him, he also has pointed ears. His skin is red which is very prominent in the sun. His eyes are completely yellow, his hair, beard and mustache are also black. He has an orange scar crawling up to his Adams apple. His wings are a darker grey which is also being highlighted by the sun. His nails are painted black and his hand is holding up the black fabric barely covering his shoulders. Around the painting is a gold and red shaded frame with swirls complimenting each side and a crystal at the bottom of it. It is lightly signed GH, for ghoulish husband.

Sam, Sam, Samuel.

If you don't realize right away, Sam is basically Satan, he's the ruler of hell

Like how giodine was the first to appear on earth, as mentioned before sam was 666th for funnie reasons. Sam was made from bugs, dried blood, and sunlight which sounds pretty gross, but he's far from it. He's a silly, yet neat, guy. He wears Hawaiian shirts and khakis (not around giodine lmao) for cryin' out loud! how bad of a person can he be? Apparently to giodine (for a while obviously) he was the most retched entity to exist. This very much hurt him considering the amount of fake care they showed him before. With a mixture of confusing feelings (which wasn't supposed to be a thing but Univerce went "lmao you'll be fine" and left... short explanation, Univerce is the Universe and is the entity who simply builds these planets and gods that'll appear there and leave them to their own devices, xyr not extremely important in this story. Nor would they care.) and feeling used, he decided that no he wasn't going to take that.

If there is one thing Sam knows how to do is to self preserve himself, even if that means getting passive-aggressive notes sent to him every once in a while. While this period, Sam was surprisingly the least productive (unfortunately giodine knew this and eventually mentioned it in one of their meetings which made him hide away cause like hell giodine was going to be critical of /him/) but he managed. It wasn't terrible, but unfortunately, Sam being able to talk it out with someone who does practically the same work as he does and gets newer, more helpful ideas was better in the long run.

Unsurprisingly, Sam was the first to initiate the healing of his and giodine's relationship but it wasn't reciprocated. Who would've figured, aye? Giodine kept pushing it back onto him and ignoring any progress that could've been made before. Which was frustrating.

The painting above was 'painted' by giodine, which is sorta where their relationship gets somewhat on an understanding of each other. Giodine gets to take a deep long look into who Sam is and tries to express it but it never fit him, it makes them realize that they never really-- truly got to know him. And all it does for Sam is make him even more confused about his place in giodine’s mind. He figured it's another fluke to get him to do something, so he ends up distancing himself when they start actually reciprocating his friendship advancements.

Suddenly, like a flash, Sam was forced to stay with giodine which is where the majority. I'll explain.

Sam...isn't actually the ruler of hell. Anymore, anyways depending on the timeline. His and purgatory's relationship has always been complicated, she always avoided him, and when they talked she always seemed scared of him. So in the end, they've never been close. Distant. Sam always wanted to talk to her, he made her, but if she didn't want to talk to him he wouldn't force it. But imagine his surprise as Purg singlehandedly took over hell in a hazed frenzy.

And not only that, had a personal vendetta against him!

Well, that would be the only explanation to Sam considering how he ended up broken and barely 'alive' at the hands of her. Horns broken and in tatters, pain and almost obliterated it felt like a hate crime. He didn't know what to do when he made it to the office, Purgatory was creating chaos outside his door and barely being able to breathe he felt like it was the end. So he called giodine. 

Purgatory

She/her

ID: Purgatory is surrounded by flowers that are dark grey and white. The light fades down into a dark green. The light shines down on top of her straight, white hair that has yellow flowers tucked into it.  Her skin is a dark brown and has a orange-ish yellow scar on her shoulder trailing up to her neck. Her skin is also highlighted by the sun. In one of her eyes, her sclera is black with an orangey, glowing iris. As for the other eye it it has a white sclera and the same, glowing orange iris. She has wings for ears, one dark grey and one white along with beige horns. She has a white fabric covering her chest. The frame is gold with white accents, but also has vines and moss crawling up the side. 

(may have goofed a bit and forgot to color the sclera of her other eye white but ignore that pls)

Purgatory was made by Sam and Giodine, but to her it felt like a mistake. Why make someone that you’re going to be terrible to, she believed. Giodine seemed to hate her and eventually made her section almost obsolete because she simply wasn’t able to keep up with the backlog that she wasn’t taught to deal with. Not only that, she didn’t have any help with any of it, it was almost like she was expected to just do it on her own. Until Death came along to help, but that’s not what we’re going to be talking about right now. 

And also, Purgatory is Purgatory yadda, yadda, I wont insult your intelligence.

Giodine’s thought process (other than wanting to be Real Close to Sam and once that thought filtered out, promptly ignored it) was that all the extras that don’t fit in either category of their thought of good and evil they’d go to her. (doesn’t matter cause in Sam's system it filters through ‘levels of assholery’ and depending on how bad you are you either just vibe in the upper city under rule of capitalism and possibly many under paying jobs or being actually tortured for his amusement if you’re just evil. Morally grey. Anyway, it could work p well in heaven if giodine wasn’t such a damn stickler.) But in the end, every day, less and less people ended up in purgatory, leaving her with barely any people and more verbal abuse from giodine who ‘HAS to take them or they would be more dead than they already are’. You see the pain she has to go through, right? 

~Idea section, this is probably not canon anyways so dont take it serious~ 

My thought is that another oc (BA, you may have heard of him idk) takes over simply because Purg took multiple hims from alternative timelines (which isn’t allowed but what’re they gonna do, undead a dead clown? multiple times from multiple timelines???)) because she adored him and they figured ‘well we gotta redo purgatory may as well do it like this’ and make him a demi-dead-god. i think thats a cool idea right? anyhoo

~Idea section over uwu~

Purgatory overall is a fairly timid character, she doesn’t like conflict, is easily overwhelmed, and generally keeps to herself. She doesn’t see the point in being in any drama if she’s just going to be yelled at and scolded even if it’s not about her. The only way i could describe her taking over hell is this: 

She was tired. She was angry and after feeling like nothing was in control or in her hands, she snapped. Why doesn’t she get anything or get to be ‘all powerful’ but they do? She knew if she took on Giodine she’d likely get thrown to the void, but sam? He felt fair game. Considering her fear of both of these gods, she planned and got her courage up to take him over. She had considered negotiations but in the end, she ended up going into a haze and ruining everything in sight. She was more powerful than she thought and once she started, she didn't stop until Death restrained her and Sam was already in pieces at God’s doorstep. 

The aftermath was fuzzy for her and for everyone really. Godine was planning a take back hell while actually worrying for sam, sam was planning for a retirement, and she was being consoled while trying to get in contact with sam to apologize. Giodine wouldn’t dare let her talk to him, until she just showed up in their office. She didn’t have a problem with Sam, honest, she just was going to take shit over, but it got out of control. 

Spoiler, Sam took her apology and they actually became.. somewhat closer after reaching an understanding. 

I wanna say that giodine took them being okay and sam retiring as good as sam did about purg running hell, but they didn’t. Giodine and purgatory actually barely got along in the first place, and only begun ‘working’ on their bitterness toward each other because they both had sam to encourage it. I can’t say for certain if they’ll get better, as theyre both undying and have time, but I’ll just say for now its uncertain. 

Also, Death is Purgatory’s girlfriend after all of that lmao.

And.. yeah, i hope this makes sense and that you like my drawings and ramblings about my lil story in my head, i guess this is my way to develop it without just keeping it to myself cause god forbid i keep things to myself hshsh. If you made it to the end, thank you for taking the time to read and attempting to process everything, and even if you didnt read and just looked to look at my art thank you to!!

I may post some art over on @ghoulishhusbandart cause.. it was my art account before i completely forgot about it but i might reboot it! But if you wan art NEOWWW follow me on insta (ik cringe lmaoo) by the same name as this account @ghoulishhusband​ or just click that insta link! also ignore the fact that giodine is the only one without a portrait, maybe I’ll replace it the next time i draw but im graduating on monday and my dad’s coming TOMORROW?? so i won’t have too much time to do it... but i hope you like my art anyways :]

ok!! ty!! ily!!

#ghoulishrambles #ghoulishsporkocs #man this is weird lmaoooooo #THE CUT DIDNT CUT IM SORRY #Man I should've edited this before ppl could see it I'm so sorry if it's a mess shshhs #I keep adding tags bc I have more to say but I wanna pin this but I don't wanna remove that Palestine post just for my ramble so #I'll just reblog it every once in a while

[crimsonrae]

Across the Road, At the Brothel

Chapter One

Summary: Jaskier fell in love any day that the sun rose in the East. It was a trifling, pleasurable experience for him. Even when he was jumping out a window to avoid cuckolded husbands. So what happens when his trifles start to become more significant? Jaskier/OC. Some Yennefer/Geralt

A/N: Jaskier is just too adorable not to write about. This is a relationship development story with an OC. There will be smut in later chapters and plenty of angst.

Rating: Mature

The Rose and Pine

O' Valley of Plenty

Valley of Plenty...

The crowd of the Rose and Pine belted loudly as the Bard's lyrical strumming underscored the lighthearted air of the tavern. Lyrra shook her head and bit back a smile as she set down steins of ale and cups of wine before a few new arrivals. It was the largest crowd she had seen in weeks and she knew that it was in no small part due to the man currently entertaining Glynedol's lower masses and his conspicuously missing travel companion.

Glynedol was no stranger to road-weary travelers. The small town laid on the northern rim of Toussaint and generally acted as a respite for those heading into or out of the city proper. Most had barely batted an eye at the sight of the bard, it was the Witcher he traveled with that was the anomaly. There wasn't much call for his type in wine country. Especially not in the late summer months when the sky was clear and towns bustled with traders for the harvest season. Lately, those travelers and traders had been few and far between despite the late summer harvests Toussaint was undergoing for the last wines of the year. The Rose and Pine should have been raucous and crowded long before the bard and Witcher had arrived.

Biting back a frown, Lyrra flipped her tray from under her arm and gathered empty dishes left on the tables. She didn't have time to ponder the strangeness of late – work beckoned. Quite literally. She sighed quietly as she spied a hand raised for her attention. Turning, she slipped seamlessly between bodies and carried on the same routine she had been conducting for over two years. She took orders, served food and drink, bussed tables, and collected coin while returning flirtatious smiles with a polite quirk of her mouth or an offhand comment to those with whom she was more familiar. The routine settled her and it wasn't long before she managed to drown out the offkey singing or her customers.

It was perhaps because she had made herself selectively deaf that she didn't notice the boisterous choir return to a low roaring murmur. Or it could have been the hand latched tightly to her wrist that had distracted her from the general atmosphere.

"How much?"

Putrid breath made her eyes water as Lyrra took in the greasy man holding her captive. His leer left no vagueness to his question, still, she raised a brow and resisted the urge to yank her arm back, "For what?"

"You."

When his gripped tightened to pull her down onto his lap, she stiffened her legs and leaned back. Her foot rested on the leg of his stool and the sudden pressure downward made his seat wobble. He quickly lost his grip as he fought to keep his seat. To anyone looking it would merely seem as if a drunk too far into his cups lost his balance for a moment.

Lyrra took that moment to step away from his reach and smiled benignly at his scowl, "The brothel is across the road."

She stepped between tables before the letch had a chance to respond, intent on reaching the bar. Hillard was already placing her next order on a new tray.

"Now, that was clever." A dimly amused voice caught her ear.

Lyrra glanced over her shoulder to see the bard watching her with a curious smile. A faint flush painted his cheeks from his earlier performance, but it was the way his blue eyes seemed to twinkle that had her stomach suddenly twisting in knots. Oh no...

Lyrra blinked, "Sorry?"

"Your dismissal of the gentleman back there. Well, if one were to call him a gentleman, bit of a stretch if I may say so." The bard carried on as he leaned his lute against his thigh.

" ' Suppose..." Lyrra murmured quietly as she kept her gaze indifferent. She found her polite smile again as she asked, "Somethin' you need, dove?"

The bard's smile seemed to flicker as he tilted his head confusedly, "Uh ah, yes. A cup of wine when you have a moment."

"Course." She nodded already turning to gather her loaded tray.

"... And perhaps another for yourself. I'd appreciate the company." He smiled hopefully as she turned back to him abruptly, "Just conversation, I assure you."

Lyrra's found her mouth moving, but no sound emitting as she stared awkwardly at him. It wasn't often she was caught by surprise and even less often that she received such a civil offer from a man. He seemed to delight in her floundering as his smile quirked into a grin. It was the grin that kicked her brain back into gear even as she felt a blush crawling up her neck, "I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding companionship tonight. You have a room full of admirers after your performance."

She firmly clenched her drink laden tray and moved to go about him, but the bard had other ideas as he quickly stepped into her path, "And were you one of them?... My admirer, that is?"

She eyed him cautiously as she tried to quell the vivacious butterflies his attention was giving her. He didn't seem dangerous...but still, "Look, sir."

"Jaskier." the Bard blurted with what she supposed was a roguish grin, though it appeared almost nervous, "My name is Jaskier...or dove. I didn't mind when you called me that."

A smile unwilling twitched at the corners of her lips, "Jaskier -"

"And your name?" He cut her off, attempting to look innocent for the crime.

She licked her lip and shook her head amused despite herself, "Lyrra."

"Lyrra." Jaskier uttered softly, his eyes dancing merrily, "Lovely...when you get a break Lyrra, please come sit with me."

She was so very tempted to say yes to him, if only to find out why he was doggedly interested in her, but still, she hesitated, "You've drawn quite a crowd tonight, sir bard. I'll be busy for a while yet. Should I have a spare moment... I may say hello."

"You will." A grin lit his features in triumph, he sounded so certain.

Lyrra sighed exasperated, "I might."

"Oh see, you're playing hard to get, but you can't fool me. You will."

She shouldn't find his smugness as attractive as she did. Lyrra huffed a quiet laugh and passed him a wine goblet from her tray, "I won't if I don't get back to work now."

Jaskier gracefully accepted the cup, his fingers lightly brushing hers as he stepped out of her way, "I'll wait for you with bated breath."

Lyrra merely shook her head at him again as she moved back to her customers. From time to time she could feel his eyes watching her as she worked, but she refused to let herself look back. He was rather attractive, but it was easy to become bewitched by pretty smiles and even prettier words and she was sure he knew them all...bards were supposed to. Still, she wasn't looking for a mere dalliance with a man who could sing about it from here to the Dragon Mountains. Unbidden, she glanced thoughtfully over to Jaskier and found him chatting amiably with a few of the town's folk. Her regulars actually... As if sensing her gaze, he turned in time to catch her eyes. A puckish smirk pulled at his lips at having caught her in observation and she blushed heavily as she quickly returned to work.

She did not flirt well.

Willing the color in her cheeks down, she glided back to the bar to drop off the last of the dishes she had collected. Hillard was waiting for her, an appraising gleam in his chocolate eyes, "You've the minstrel unda' yer spell, Lyrra."

Again, the blush rose to her cheeks, "Stop it."

"He speaks fancy...like you." Hillard smiled slyly as he watched her squirm and glared balefully at him, "Chased the kipper out that was a botherin' ya too."

Lyrra's brow arched incredulously, "Wha..?"

The bartender snorted, "Kept knockin' into and spillin' drinks on the sod till he left in a huff. Was a laugh. For a singa, he's crafty in 'is antics, but I saw 'im."

"Does he have your seal of approval, then?" Lyrra asked somewhat sarcastically as she snuck a glance at the bard from her periphery.

"Ehh, I dunno about tha...He does travel wit a witcha." Hillard replied with a shrug, "He doesn't seem ta bad though."

Lyrra rolled her eyes and handed over the coin she had collected. She was surprised when Hillard took the coin and her tray. He smirked at her before handing her a goblet of wine, "Go on. Go sit wit yer bard."

"Hillard!" Lyrra whispered in a scolding manner, feeling her cheeks burning again. "I still have tables."

Hillard waved her off, "Mirel can do 'em. She's been sittin' on her bum most o' ta night anyway. Go, his cup 'as already been topped off."

It didn't feel right to socialize with a customer when there was work to be done. Hesitantly, she wrapped her fingers around the metal goblet and willed herself to move. Panic momentarily fluttered in her chest at the thought of approaching Jaskier like this...even if he was waiting for her to do so. Instead, she slipped onto a stool not even a foot from the bar to sip at the wine. She'd freely admit she was a coward at that moment, but there was no force on earth that would get her to move. Hillard shook his head at her before taking the dishes back to the washer and she breathed a sigh of relief at having his silent judgment disappear.

"You know," Jaskier drawled lowly behind her, making her tense, "This looks suspiciously like a break, but that can't be right." He moved around to stand before her, a goblet dangling from his hand as his eyes danced with muted amusement, "I'm rather sure we agreed that you'd be sitting, and hopefully conversing with me on your break. So, tell me, lovely Lyrra, are you blatantly standing me up?"

There was a brief silence as Lyrra fought to find her voice again, "I don't recall actually agreeing to anything. I said I might say hello... Hello."

"Oh, come on!" Jaskier goaded lightly as he slid into the stool across from her, "Am I really so horrid that you won't have a simple conversation with me? Do I have horns growing out of my head? Or oh, worse is there a smell I'm emitting?" He cringed to her bemusement as he pulled the collar of his doublet towards his nose, "I knew I shouldn't have trusted that laundress not to put my clothes in the same tub as Geralt's. The stuff he comes cover back in is truly appalling."

An amused smile twitched at her lips as she watched his antics, "You don't smell...or if you do, I can't smell it from here."

Jaskier dropped his collar and tilted his head curiously at her, "Then why won't you sit with me?"

"We're sitting now." Lyrra pointed out, "Besides why do you want my company so badly?"

"The company of a beautiful lady? What kind of man would I be not to want that?" Jaskier murmured charmingly with a soft smile.

It was a very practiced line to Lyrra's ears, however. She smiled ruefully at him, "You know, you can easily find that company - "

"Across the road, at the brothel." Jaskier said with her.

Lyrra blinked and he grinned, "How'd I know you were going to say that? There's more than one way for a man to enjoy a woman's company, you know?"

She shook her head at him, "You're very strange."

"And you're intriguing." He shot back with a sip of his wine, only to sit up in alarm as she moved to stand, "Wha - wait, where are you going?"

Lyrra turned her goblet upside down to show him an empty glass. Her stomach was in butterflies again as his suddenly indecipherable gaze fell heavy on her, "Wine's gone. Which means my break is over. Goodnight, Jaskier."

"You don't play fair, Lyrra." Jaskier intoned sulkily and she bit back a smile as she realized he was pouting.

"I have no reason to play fair." Lyrra murmured back, "No, woman does."

An impish spark lit his azure orbs, "That's true. Can I walk you home? Once you're done that is."

She shook her head in answer and stepped away to find her tray again, his eyes burned into her back as she did so. Almost unwillingly she caught his gaze over her shoulder and sent him an impish smile of her own. Somehow, she didn't think the bard would be giving up on his conversation so easily

Next Chapter

#the witcher #jaskier #jaskier fanfiction #witcher fanfiction #Geralt #yennefer #jaskier x oc #joey batey #henry cavill #fanfiction #fanfic

[whats-the-story-tc]

18th of March, 2020

"The One with the Family Feud"

First days of school are always a lot, in every regard. It was no different with online school, either. Lemme tell you, the whole thing was a shitshow. But let's review it all from the beginning, shall we?

After that whole thing, I wasn't at all surprised about her showing up in my dreams. What did happen, on the other hand, was rather the more surprising. We were sharing a walk together on the bridge at school, as we have done so many times before (7 since I have this blog, I counted), but something happened, that never has before during these walks. V broke down crying. After long seconds of not knowing if it was appropriate or not, I laid a hand on her shoulder, just very lightly at first not to startle her. The tearful glance I got from her, just checking up on what I was doing, is still burnt into the back of my mind. She didn't say anything, not even when I eased more into it. The second time she cried, we were sitting on the couch just outside the teachers' lounge, me stroking her back. I woke up feeling very confused, seeing my dreams usually connect to things in one way or another. And whatever strange history we may have with comforting each other while crying (1, 2), I knew that this one could never happen. I'm just a student of hers, no colleague or friend. No equal. This is not my job to do.

V popped up — in real life this time — in the general chatroom a little after 10 AM, sending us a pic she probably fished off the internet with tips on how to learn from home. My dearest, ever so caring.

Shit hit the fan sometime around 11 AM, when the other class started spamming the chatroom with how they can't open dips for nachos or how one of them is "going fucking insane", and Pocketwatch Friend had enough. We encouraged her and she told them off for talking about irrelevant things, my cousin immediately taking up arms and saying it's a chatroom, meant for chatting, and how he sees no problem with it. Introvert vs. Extrovert.

Maybe half a minute after I said it's a chatroom, not a spam group, so we don't have to get acclimatised to them, V showed up, telling us to mute the chat, obligatory :) added. The fight didn't stop there, so she went further:

V: "At the same time, yes. There are other social platforms as well: this is technically the digital flooding of the classroom."

I was the last one to comment on the fight, after that, everything went quiet in the general chat. V showed up a couple minutes later in our class chat, still on The Platform That Shall Not Be Named, doing what she does best: consolation.

V: "Calm down, everybody, and turn off the notifications for the general chat. I did the same. 🙂"

V: "And you can freely talk with your classmates here."

Little did I know, that the quiet didn't mean the end yet. My dearly beloved cousin went and added me and Pocketwatch Friend to this group chat we weren't in, only to kick us out half a second later for his own amusement. I was trying to keep my cool — then Bandana Friend sent a screenshot of it into our class chat on The Platform That Shall Not Be Named, saying it was "beyond pathetic". Which, it was. But anyway. Pocketwatch Friend and I weren't the only ones to reply. That very same minute, this message popped up:

V: "oh"

Oh? Oh. Oh what? The actual word used is just as ambiguous in our native tongue as well, and, to this day, I still have trouble figuring out just what the fuck that was. But anyway.

Some two hours after all this, Pocketwatch Friend and another friend I will henceforth call Paris Friend, are freaking out over some kind of magical, amazing computer. I don't understand how this came to them until Pocketwatch Friend informs me of the texts I immediately rush over to the muted general classroom to read. As I mentioned in an earlier post, V sent a photo of her shared desk with someone (we'll return to this person a couple posts later), on which there just so happened to be a fully professional, expensive ass gaming setup, with nerd decoration all around the desk and on the bookshelf next to it.

V: "So this is the classroom (and the office)"

- she writes. Naturally, all the boys were having a proper geek fit as well as my friends, meanwhile I blinked and tried to get a grasp of what was going not, not at all on board the hype train. One of the boys points out V's keyboard, this thing that lights up and all and is probably worth more than my life, and she just responds:

V: "😉"

That's where the fun bit ended. By the time I got to my cousin's comment on how they should stop talking here before the "butthurts send us away", I was too overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things I didn't understand or didn't know how to react to that I promptly broke down crying over it, even a good couple hours later. I essentially lashed out at everything and everyone just because I wasn't feeling well, which was very immature of me. I was cross with my friends, those in the other class, even V at one point.

Successful first day of school, eh? Wouldn't say so. Going online brings out the worst in me. It's much easier to live in a world where I can look people in the eye if I already have to talk to them. But I'm getting myself together... somewhat. Let's just say I'm getting there.

~ S ♡

[Every story I share here, no matter how specific I get with my wording, depicts actual events from my own life.]

#tc #tcc #teacher crush community #female tc #female teacher crush

[unordinary-analysis]

Hey, I was just rereading, and, Elaine is a bad person?!? I don't think I'll be able to finish rereading, but was there any point where we started liking her? She literally called john gross for being powerless wth

Elaine: Is She a Bad Person and Why People Like Her

Know that I probably forgot all I wanted to say over the course of writing this so if it feels incomplete or off topic, i did my best lmao ok?

This is a hard topic to address because something being classified as inherently good or bad cannot be proven or measured. It’s all a matter of perspective, of where your morals, as the reader, lie. I don’t think anything that I’m going to say is going to strongly disagree with any of your ethics, but it’s good to know that going into this.

I decided to answer this question, yes, but also ask another. Along with asking if Elaine is a bad person, I also want to address why people like her character, because I know a lot of people do. People feel all different types of ways towards Elaine’s character and I want to explore why that’s the case.

Elaine, after reexamination, is actually one of the most morally intriguing characters to read. She’s still annoying as hell, but even when you hate what she’s saying, what she’s thinking, it really adds to your own perspective and makes you think.

I feel a lot of people that love her say that she’s one of the nicest and most caring characters in Unordinary. I’m sure a lot of people who don’t like her think this too. It’s easy to view Elaine as one of the nice, preppy girls.

But, like I said, after reexamination and a bit of rereading, I was reminded that her character isn’t so one dimensional. The UnOrdinary wikia (unordinary.fandom.com/wiki/Elaine) has a section labeled “personality” that is dedicated to describing Elaine’s personality. I think that the first two lines sum up Elaine very well: “Elaine seems to be one of the more friendly students at Wellston due to her outgoing and hospitable personality. However, like many students of Wellston, she's shown only enmity towards those with no abilities, and paid no attention to what lower tiers go through.” I say that this is true, but to an even more intense extent.

In what I think is the very first scene we meet Elaine (episode 7) she approaches John with kindness. She is friendly, smiles at him a lot, and welcomes him to Wellston. Then: she asks him about his power.

Instantly, the whole mood of the scene shifts. In previous panels, there were hearts and flowers drawn around Elaine. Then she asks, “So, John. What kind of ability do you have?” and suddenly this dark gloom wraps itself around the comic. Elaine is drawn with pointed eyebrows narrowed down her face. She is also sporting an impressive smirk for a character who most people classify as the naive, nice girl. The whole scene is so close from being taken straight out of mean girls it’s insane. Elaine is nice at first, but soon you realize she’s a predator.

So what really is Elaine’s true character?

Because Elaine’s true character has been somewhat elusive recently, I’ve laid out a nice list for you so you can easily see what traits of hers I will be proving and using to prove other points:

Elaine’s “good” moral traits:

Friendly

Caring

Kind

Thoughtful

Generally more aware of feelings and situations than a lot of other UnOrdinary characters.

Elaine’s “bad” moral traits:

Judgemental

Selective kindness

Unintentionally (?) biased

Doesn’t think for herself

Usually only shows her ‘good’ moral traits when interacting with her friends or with high-tiers

Elaine’s bad and good traits are surprisingly well-balanced. She’s not the perfect nice girl everyone currently seems to view her as. She has one of the most strategically used mindsets in UnOrdinary, but sometimes I feel it can be a little too subtle to actually notice. Because of the circumstances the storyline puts her in, we don’t really get to see as many of Elaine’s darker traits as there actual are.

It feels strange to write this about Elaine, one of the characters that seems to be the most recognized for her soft personality. And, I get it. Hell, I’ve hated her because she was so plain and nice and boring, but above all, actually, I disliked the way that her character was being used. God, Elaine has so much potential to just make the world of UnOrdinary so much more complex, but I feel like at this point of the story, it would be redundant to show Elaine’s worse traits because of what’s already been established, and it upsets me because I know that forcing Elaine’s less than admirable personality traits now in the story would take away from it, probably even backtracking the story, but seeing a character’s diversity is so important, especially for a main character. I support what uru-chan is doing with her right now because the loss of half of Elaine’s character does not outweigh the quality of the storytelling. But: All of Elaine’s flaws were shown in the beginning of the story, and I worry it’s been so long that most people have forgotten them.

So, I’m here now to give you reasons to hate Elaine, ok? Yeah, this is going to be fun.

I personally believe Elaine someone who thinks she’s nice, but really is selective with whom she’s nice to, if you understand what I’m saying. Elaine is that one popular girl who is apparently shy and acts all sweet around other popular kids, but is the type of person to also yell at some loner in the bathroom for being a loser or something.

She acts kind, but only to those that she considers worthy of attention. If she doesn’t care about you because you’re irrelevant, I’m sorry. You’re going to be treated like shit.

Liking Elaine as a character is actually so confusing, though. Because the first scene we ever see of her, she acts all friendly, but turns on John the instant he reveals that he is a weak low-tier, a cripple even. In other words, a waste of Elaine’s time.

Because of how that scene went down, its surprising how people think of her as this people pleaser, which she is, just only when she has something to gain. I think that the second part of her second scene in the comic (which I’ll show later) kind of overpowered anyone’s initial reaction to Elaine, whether they forgot who she was or whether they just hadn’t seen enough to label her as a total bitch.

Elaine’s second scene. At first, is also pretty bitchy. At the very end of episode 12, Elaine is waiting for Seraphina to come home from John’s house where she spent the night. Elaine says to Sera, “Why didn’t you answer and of my texts? Where were you last night? You had me worried sick.” On its own, it doesn’t sound too bad, but the panel also has a picture of Elaine glaring and with crossed arms. Also, when the scene continues into the next episode (episode 13), Elaine says, “Were you hanging out with that loser cripple again?! I DON’T GET WHY YOU’RE ALWAYS WITH HIM! YOU’RE MAKING YOURSELF LOOK BAD.” (Caps are proper quotes, I didn’t change them). It’s obvious at this point of the comic that Elaine is a character that you’re supposed to hate.

So… why is she widely known as this innocent and kind person?

Because of her like split fking personality that’s why skdfhigiuisrdughsk.

Elaine’s character experiences such drastic changes so quickly from scene to scene, it’s hard to peg her personality at first because it seems like she has every generic personality stuffed into her brain and they just take turns controlling her. In the same episode as Elaine insults John in front of Seraphina (episode 13), she literally gets a phone call, answers it, and turns into this stuttering, soft, bubbly mess, like what? (Second part of Elaine’s second scene).

Literally five lines after she acts all bitchy towards Seraphina, Elaine has this conversation with Arlo:

Elaine: “Ah, h-hello!”

Arlo: “Hey, I’m about to head out. Is Seraphina back yet?”

E: “Y-yea, she just got back!”

A: “Alright, I’m on my way.”

… What? In one of the earliest scenes Elaine is in, she goes completely 180º and turns into the basic, shy, adorable girl. This being such a contrast from literally everything we’ve seen from her character so far has to confuse the readers. Not in a bad way like the writing itself is confusing, but like the interesting and intriguing kind of confusing. The switch-up grabs the reader’s attention because suddenly the annoying, popular bitch (because, let’s be honest, that’s how her character reads up to this point) has suddenly revealed that she’s not like that all the time. Her character had been such a cliche that readers must have been pleasantly surprised to see that her character isn’t so black and white. Similar to the end of a movie or when you learn some secret about a character in a story, Elaine’s personality change makes it seem like you finally understand her, if that makes sense. It’s a storytelling cliche for something to be revealed about a mean character that makes them so much more understandable. Like Draco Malfoy when you learned how he just wanted to please Voldemort and make his family proud. That kind of thing.

This, I feel, is one reason why so many UnOrdinary fans like Elaine so much. It feels like they’ve skipped ahead in the story, makes them feel like they’ve been shown into Elaine’s life. Whenever this happens in other stories, the mean girl almost always gains redemption. Without realizing, some readers must associate Elaine’s supposed hidden, kind personality with some sort of atonement without Elaine ever actually doing anything or revealing anything. Because of widespread storytelling styles, our brains can easily connect this to patterns we see in most types of literature or media. We just skip over the middle part of, you know, the actual redemption. This trope being shown at the very beginning of the comic doesn’t give readers time to get used to Elaine before it happens, so they’re left pretty early on feeling that Elaine is being redeemed as a mean girl, but haven’t even seen the full extent of her morally bad traits. So, basically what I keep repeating: from the get go, Elaine’s appearances from scene to scene give the impression of someone who is trying to redeem themselves or has already redeemed themselves, without any of that actually ever happening.

I do not, however, think this is true for many fans. After this relatively clear switch near the beginning, Elaine’s character stays pretty consistently kind. When you see her being friendly more than you see her insulting some low-tier, it’s easy to associate her more with that. Maybe at the beginning of the story, this fake redemption would have drawn people to Elaine, but not this deep into the story. Because, let’s be honest, nobody even remembers her character from the beginning. It’s so easy to believe that Elaine’s character has always been portrayed the way it is being now because that’s all we’ve been shown for the past like 100 episodes. Elaine never really gets redeemed for what she did or how she acted towards the low-tiers. There’s not even evidence that her morals have changed at all or that she is more open-minded. It’s just, as the story progresses, Elaine is shown more and more exclusively talking to high-tiers or well-respected people at Wellston. As the story drags on, her negative traits are still there (we can assume this because we never see anything that clashes with this), they’re just not being shown. Elaine’s less desirable traits are being forgotten. All anyone really remembers or knows now is that Elaine is shy and kind. With or without the fake redemption I was talking about, she’s been acting like this for so long, it doesn’t even occur to most people that she didn’t used to be so nice.

This doesn’t fully explain why people like Elaine so much, but it’s a start to our investigation. This might explain why people don’t hate her as much as they should, based on canon events. They’re never actually shown her worst traits as much as they were in the beginning and the memory of those beginning events are fading.

I’m here to remind you: Elaine acts horribly to anyone that she doesn’t consider her level and she determines that mostly by tier. There’s loads of examples in like the first fourth of the comic, but not in recent chapters. Be aware of this.

I do believe I know the reason why she thinks and acts like this, though.

I’ve brought up this same thing in a post where I talked about Seraphina, but I think it was used differently than how I’m going to use it here, and, obviously, because of the reason, the circumstances are going to be different. I believe that Elaine has her mindset as it is because of her parents, how she was raised, and what she learned from the adults that surrounded her when she was younger.

Like I said, I’ve brought this up when talking about Seraphina once. I can’t find the post, but I basically said that Sera tended to be intensely self-involved because her parents always told her to watch herself, that she had to be number one, that she was in the spotlight because of her power. Elaine is different, though. I mean, obviously, we’re dealing with different issues here, so yeah.

Elaine inherited her tier discrimination mindset from her parents.

We know that Elaine’s parents have a good relationship with her (they send her oranges), so they probably talk a lot, so obviously Elaine would be influenced by their ideals. Also, I can’t think of any example out of any story ever or even in real life where someone discriminated against certain people or things when their parents didn’t. Ever. The kids are never that much more judgmental than their parents, kids usually even breaking the cycle. That’s how it’s been in real life for the last few years, and it’s great. Back on topic: I don’t believe Elaine gained these beliefs on her own. I believe her parents probably drilled it into her that she had to only associate with higher-tiers because not only is she not actually ambitious, which you would expect from someone who only acts decently to those who have more power than she, but she herself isn’t a high-tier. I don’t think she would learn to discriminate against those in her own tier (though she is a 3.5, not shabby) if not told by someone that she should because like…? Who’s like that?

So that’s why I’ve come to the conclusion that Elaine has been raised to believe that higher-tiers are more respectable and the only people deserving of total respect, based solely off of their ability, not their personality. Not something that I think is necessarily important to the questions I’m answering, so I didn’t really try to further my investigation into this, but I wanted to say what I think about this because I think it kind of impacts how I classify her as a person (good or bad)... god that sounds wrong to say.

This theory doesn’t excuse Elaine however. I didn’t excuse Seraphina for what I believed her parents were responsible for and I won’t let Elaine slide either. I hold her to this. She still does believe that low-tiers are inferior. That’s still an issue.

Most people that like Elaine like her because of her kind personality. She’s cute and shy, and that’s usually an instant recipe for success, right? But despite that obviously being the stereotype uru-chan was going for, she also managed to weave some character complexity into Elaine. It makes me sad that nobody notices, but I suppose it isn't super obvious.

I don’t think there is a definitive point that made Elaine into an understandable and likeable character, but her character detail is much more complex than I thought. I personally like characters for having diverse and different thoughts, so I like her concept. But to the people who like Elaine because she is nice and friendly… Move on to Remi. Elaine is not that person.

Liking Elaine is just a matter of what you enjoy in a character. I don’t like her personality, but I do think her character as a whole gives the UnOrdinary world such a diverseness.

Elaine is not a good person. I’m answering the question right here, right now. She’s, what word can I use here, tierist (?). She discriminates against people she doesn’t deem worthy of attention (bit too extremely worded but eh) and she decides who’s worthy based almost purely on ability, as we’ve seen so many times in this comic. Yes, she’s kind to her friends or people she wants to get closer with, but that should be a given. So I’m not exactly counting that as a good trait about her because it’s such a basic and fundamental thing, it would stand out a lot more if she wasn’t nice to her friends. It would be a lot more noticeable because how Elaine acts right now with her friends is honestly a societal expectation.

So: Elaine is a bad person, a diverse character, and someone that I’m overall happy to have in the story because of how her character impacts other characters and the plot around her. As with so many characters, in UnOrdinary especially, losing her presence in the story would drastically change the events of UnOrdinary. Without Elaine being who she is, UnOrdinary wouldn’t be what it is.

She’s still a dumb bitch tho.

#webtoon #unordinary #unordinary webtoon #uruchan #uru-chan #line webtoon #webcomic #elaine #elaine from unordinary #Elaine: Is She a Bad Person and Why People Like Her #official

[ducklingdraws]

My Idea for a Scooby-Doo! Reboot

So a while back, after noticing that Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated was on Spectrum On Demand, I decided, "Hey, I'm gonna rewatch this show." I don't know why I did it, because I rarely ever rewatch shows. I'll watch reruns, but never have I actually decided to rewatch a television series. But, I did it for Scooby-Doo.

And frankly, I had forgotten how good the show was. It's honestly really dark, while also being absolutely hilarious; and in its humor, the show actually does really unique things with the Scooby-Doo gang, with the biggest example being this show's version of Fred Jones. It's wild. But in my opinion, the thing that really makes this show what it is...

...is its story. I feel like the story and characters are fuel for this show in a way that feels different from other shows, somehow. I don't really get it, but that's the way I see it.

So, seeing as there's all these serialized cartoon series nowadays, and Scooby-Doo is always getting rebooted in one way or another, I figured... what if I rebooted Scooby? If I had the opportunity to reboot Scooby-Doo and the only Warner Bros requirement was "just make it," what would I do with it?

Without further ado, this is To the Future, Scooby-Doo!

First up: The Premise

To kick things off, I'll discuss how the show is set up. This version of Scooby-Doo is set in the future. Technology has become more holographic and stuff like in the movies, but fashion hasn't evolved to be nothing but latex bodysuits yet. Flying cars are real but not very widely used, and clothes can tell the time.

On the biological side of things, prosthetics are holographic as well, and incredibly easy to attach. It's almost like having your original limb. Food is healthier while also being more environmentally friendly, and animals have been genetically modified for a very long time. They have been allowed to mate, which has eventually lead to many domesticated animals being able to speak!

The main setting is a large port town known as Port Intrigue, where all sorts of goods are traded, and many people lead peaceful lives. It's a nice place, and a lot of the economy is structured around it. There are other important trade cities like it, but Port Intrigue may be the most powerful.

It's also probably the weirdest, because in true Scooby-Doo fashion, no one can just "be a criminal." Heck no! Where's the fun in that?? If you're gonna try and get money through illegal fear tactics, you've gotta do it in style!!

And for some reason or another, the police get a little help with solving a lot of the more, uh... colorful mysteries. Help from a group of kids attending Intrigue High...

Next up: The Scooby Gang!

So here's the big part! All of my redesigns of the classic gang! Let's kick it off with:

FRED JONES

So this version of Fred is definitely toned back from various recent versions of Scooby-Doo, particularly the DVD movies and Mystery Incorporated. He's a lot more laid back, and has a sort of "cool guy" persona.

One day a long time ago, his parents, 2 great scientists, didn't pick him up from school, and apparently they mysteriously disappeared. So since then he's been living with Shaggy. At Intrigue High, he is in the theater program as a Tech, so he's good with pulleys and ropes and other various behind-the-scenes theater things, which makes him really good at making weird Rube Goldbergs - and traps, whenever the need arises. But when would Fred ever need to build a trap?

NORVILLE "SHAGGY" ROGERS

...Y'all can excuse the scribbles in the lower corner, right?

Anyway, this version of Shaggy is just as uptight as he always is, but instead of that only being attributed to mystery solving and creepy ghoulies, it's evolved into some much, much greater!!!

He's the mom friend now.

Y'know, telling everyone to watch their eating habits and be careful of opening soda cans because so help me if you scratch yourself...!

Long time ago he lost his arm so now he has one of those cool prosthetics. The trauma of losing it though has made him extra cautious, and a bit of a scaredy cat. Of course, he's willing to do whatever it takes for his friends, just like the Shaggy we all know!

He still likes to eat and is a bit of an amateur chef, participating in the culinary club at Intrigue High.

VELMA DINKLEY

This is my rendition of Velma Dinkley. She's still the smartest one of the group, and good at technology, but is also a boxer! She's not just strong, but also strong willed!

The Dinkley's have a long, long history of scientific endeavors, and Velma's father is a great scientist as well! Though really, it's more of a hobby for him.

Velma lives with her younger sister Madelyn (who some of you might remember from Abracadabra-Doo) and her father, Victor.

This Velma is snarky, yet quirky. She's got a real go-getter mentality, which everyone can't help but to respect.

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne Blake is a bit of a softie. She was never very forward with making friends, but developed a clique of her own with Fred, Shaggy, Scooby and Velma.

Her house used to be the gang's main hang out spot, but after the kids moved on to high school, they haven't been over to her house at all.

Daphne likes to draw, and really wants to be a fashion designer. In fact, she's a part of Intrigue High's costume design team for the theater program!

SCOOBY-DOO

Scooby-Doo has been part of the Rogers family ever since he was a puppy, and Shaggy was a little kid. The two have been basically inseparable their whole lives, with Scooby even attending school with everyone else.

He likes belly rubs, scratches behind the ear, and food. So in other words, he's the same Scooby we all know and love! Still fearful, but dedicated to his friends, including...

MEASLES

Shaggy and Scooby may have been buds since they were little kids, but before Shaggy, Scooby had Measles.

Since they're both GMO animals, they both have the ability to speak human language, which they would use to try and get food. Eventually, Measles was able to get Scooby into a good home with the Rogers family. Unfortunately, Mr and Mrs Rogers couldn't afford to take care of Shaggy, Fred, a dog, and a cat, but Measles promised to visit Scooby whenever she could, or that they'd at least see each other around. And she's kept that promise! Even to this day, the gang will sometimes find her in random locations, like... the Theater Program's costume box?

Measles has a lackadaisical, yet somewhat snarky personality, but definitely cares for her friends. It just may take a while to show it.

Last up: Everything Else

Uh, hm. I guess this is the generalization of the show.

Well, it's a giant celebration of Scooby-Doo. The gang wears different outfits, rarely wearing the same one in consecutive episodes. And each outfit would be pulled from a previous Scooby series (yes, including *shivers*... Get a Clue).

Also, other characters from previous series and Scooby media are not only in the show, but play decently sized rolls. For example, I already mentioned Madelyn Dinkley, but there's also Red Herring from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, or Mayor Nettles and Sherriff Bronson Stone from Mystery Incorporated (they're married from the start this time!). Even the dreaded Scrappy Doo makes his return at (what I imagine to be) the start of Season 2, hopefully to redeem himself and not be relegated to a tired joke about "lol Scrappee sux XD"

Flim-Flam is back too, but is rebranded as Frida McScam, the fast talking troublemaking free spirited girl who takes everybody's crap and spins it in her favor (and also might be psychic).

Scooby's family tree is mentioned, and his parents even have a major role in Season 1.

Just a whole lot of Scooby-Doo trivia and stuff. Stuff that I imagine the people working on the show would be way, way better at remembering and putting to use than I am!

As for the overarching plot?

Well, what futuristic setting would be complete without aliens? I imagine the aliens would be a race of owl creatures known as the Willawaw (another Scooby reference because I hope this show is FULL OF THEM). Basically, these aliens are the bad guys, both in the show proper, and in a lot of the show's backstory. They're like myth villains, or greater scope villains, or something.

I was even thinking like, when the gang ends up running, rather than using a recyclable run cycle from a side view, everyone could have brand new running animations, like to distinguish them all as unique. Although I guess that's what the running cycles were... but the chase scenes are a lot like Mystery Inc, where they were a lot more action packed. It could be great! And of course, everyone would use the classic running style at some point throughout the show, because that seems to be tradition for Scooby-Doo.

This was a really big post! But if you read all of it, thanks a million! I hope you liked the small amount of art within, or just the idea in general! Maybe I'll even draw my reimagined takes on the other characters some day. But for now, I'll leave at this.

#drawing #art #my art #cartoon #cartoons #character design #my artwork #artists on tumblr #aliens #Scooby-Doo #cartoon network #warner bros #boomerang #velma scooby doo #shaggy and velma #fred scooby doo #fred jones #daphne blake #velma dinkley #shaggy rogers #oc #fan art #fanart #scooby doo fanart #mystery inc

[pbandjesse]

Today was hard but I got a lot of sleep. It wasn't the worst day ever but it wasn't great.

Actually slept okay. I went up to my hammock and I got all comfy. I got woken up a couple times cuz I was a little cold but I never got out of my hammock. Which is very unusual for me. I was actually really really comfortable. I think next weekend I'll bring like one more blanket to lay on top of just because it really does leach out the back of you but I was pretty good. I was surprised.

My alarm went off at 5:30 and I got up. I went upstairs and Connor had not fill the other water yet so I had to get him to go do that. I don't know why he didn't do it because I specifically said to do it last night but it's okay. He's learning. It was his first overnight so I'm not mad at him.

But we hung out and got up. Turned out some kid had thrown up twice. Just like on the ship. One of the parents approached me later and told me that his parents hadn't informed them that he had a food allergy. So he ate the dinner even though he was allergic to something in it. That's insane. I hope he's okay.

It was all dealt with though. We had breakfast. Brandon did a really really good gun drill. He does this thing where he tells a story about the Cumberland and we run through a drill like five or six times with two different teams. And halfway through injuries happened in the Battle. So you tap on a couple kids to tell them that they're out of the line and that they've been injured and so you pull them to the side. And I went to tell our powder monkey that he had been injured but he didn't hear me and he was the littlest one that's what I just picked them up and started yelling the powder monkeys down the powder monkeys down! Which made all the parents and everyone laughed.

But they ran through it a few times and they did a really good job. Brandon's gun drill is always so fun. I wish I could get that pageantry. Maybe I'll try to focus on learning that story a little bit more. Nobody doesn't like him.

We finished up the morning and I decided that I wasn't going to go to breakfast. I just wanted to go home. We cleaned up. James came and I helped him with fixing the lines on the barrel that almost fell off last night. He brought me a cupcake because he's the best boyfriend in the world. And then we were gone. We went over to Taney we caught up with everyone. And then I went to get my bike. And this is where things went downhill.

I don't know why I'm having such terrible luck with my bike the last couple weeks but I get to my bike and I load everything in my basket and I go to unlock it and something's wrong. I dropped the lock on the ground and plastic that is rubberized around the middle is broken. And I'm like what we just bought this falling on the ground like that should not have made the split? And then I realized where my lock was sitting the paint was all messed up. And then I go to try to move the handlebars and I realize that the wheel is completely locked. At this point I thought someone tried to steal my bike. But the marks on the lock or from someone trying to cut it and then maybe they hit my bike. But later on the day looking at it and then having James look at it we think someone was just kicking it. Like a drunk idiot was just beating the shit out of my bike for no reason to try to show off to someone else. Because it doesn't look like a tool hit it it's just incredibly bench. What is bent is bent enough that I couldn't move it.

And I was exhausted as I always am after overnights and I go to try to bend it back and I didn't know what to do and I was getting more and more flustered. And so I called James. Except he doesn't pick up. And I call him again. And then third time. I text him three times during that time as well. And at this point I'm not just upset that he's not picking up. I know he's over at constellation he's being a chief over there. But if he is being chief he needs to have his phone on him because if someone else is working with him and he's on the deck and they're at the desk and something happens and they need to contact him because they need help he can't just not have his phone on him. So I was Furious. I was upset about my bike and I was so angry.

And then I have a 10 minute walk to Constellation just stewing in my anger. Thankfully I tend to get over things very quickly I run through the emotional Gambit. But I had to carry the front half of my bike all the way to Constellation and my bike is heavy. It's not 12 lb like James it's more like 25 or 30. And I think it's full of water I'm not really sure. So I get to Constellation and Stephanie's at the desk and I tell her I'm going to go scream at James. I had no actual intentions of screaming at him I'm not that person. But I was so mad.

And I got up to the deck and it's exactly what I thought was happening. He was distracted talking to guests his phone was over on the lectern. Which is unacceptable. Like I called him multiple times I texted him multiple times if something was going on he should not be away from his phone for 20 minutes. That is not okay. So I go and sit on the yardarm. And I wait for him to finish talking to the guests. And I'm getting more upset because he started bringing up other stuff that they didn't even ask about. And like I understand you want the guests to have a good time but I am visibly upset and I am coming back and you don't know what happened there was no reason for me to come back and you didn't know so why are you still talking to these gas you excuse yourself and you go find out what's wrong. That is the proper thing to do in that situation.

So he comes over and sits down next to me and I tell him that I'm upset. And I tell him why I'm upset and my anger had mostly left at this point and I was just sad. And I tell him that it's unacceptable and that he needs to have his phone on him. Not even just because I called him because Stephanie was down at the desk and you can't not be available to her if she needs help. Period. So he apologized and he said he would have his phone on him and then I told him what happened and I just broke down. I was really upset. I start crying. And he told me that he would take my bike to the bike store on Tuesday and he would try to figure out everything but I'm just so frustrated. I just want my bike and I want things to be normal. The weather is finally nice and it's nice to bike again and on my bike is fucking broken. Because someone had to destroy it for no reason. I feel like I'm going to end up just getting a new bike because there's other things that are wrong with my bike just because it's a couple years old now I don't take very good care of it. I take better care of it now that I'm with James but I still don't take the best care of it because there's not a convenient bike shop for me in general that isn't expensive. James says that he can try to find me a better bike that won't cost so much and we're still going to see if my current bike is fixable but I'm just very annoyed.

But I was also just so tired. So I say goodbye. I left the bike there so he could take it home. And then I went to head over to the bus. I lucked out because the bus came like right as I cross the street and I got home early enough. Much later than I wanted but it's fine.

I fed sweet pea and I took a shower. I unpacked my stuff. It was about noon and I laid down and watch some videos. And then I slept until 2:30. And it was like a really good nap. I had thrown laundry in the machine downstairs before I went to sleep so when I got up I went down to put things in the dryer and I brought up some stuff that doesn't go in the dryer so I can hang it. Midnight my pizza. And I really just spent the day laying in bed and making outfits for the week and putting my laundry away. After work James came over and gave me some hugs and we talked about stuff. But I feel very touchy. And I know it's just cuz I'm exhausted and things haven't been right and I'm at my apartment and I ripped my leggings. And I decided that I'm returning the shoes that I bought online and I'm going to try to find something else. I wore them one day and I just don't like them. but they let you do free returns to the store so hopefully they take them. Because apparently while they have a 60-day return policy there's a whole bunch of like weird rules around it. I repackage them and I don't know I'm not good at returning things. It's not something I do. And if they don't take them back I'll be upset because I have gone And if they don't take them back I'll be upset because I have gone And if they don't take them back I'll be upset because I have gone all And if they don't take them back I'll be upset because I took the bus all the way out to the shopping center. Which is not not far. but they can just become a constellation shoes for the summer necessary. Not the worst thing and not the biggest mistake.

I just accidentally tore my leggings so I think I'm going to just throw those and wash my face and brush my teeth and go to sleep. The plan for the morning is to wake up and go to the bus and go to the shopping center. Try to exchange or replace these shoes. Then get five guys. And then go to work. I am excited to see my students. We're going to talk about some paintings and then tomorrow we're going on a field trip. I am really hoping it's going to be a good day.

I hope you all sleep great tonight. Be safe out there. Good night.

#ootd #work #tired #bike #sunday

[likelyfantasywriterspsychic]

31 Day Angst Challenge

Day 4: Jealousy

So this idea is from my Riverdale fanfic but thanks to re-working some plot points I had to scrap it. But it really works for this challenge therefore I'm gonna use it.

Some backstory. Silver got shot and needed a heart transplant. There wasn't a viable donor, so her boyfriend Xander "Kuja" Maxwell (the nickname is a long story) says that if they can't find someone in time they can use his since he had the proper blood type and a girl getting a man's heart doesn't often cause too many problems, if the size difference isn't overly huge. (I did alot of research for this). A donor does come in but he doesn't tell them so everyone thinks that he died to save her. She is very obviously upset. Six months later she starts hooking up with Harley Sterling. Five months later she stops seeing him because it was becoming too serious. A month later Kuja comes back. Everyone is none to pleased with him. He explains himself and after a while Silver and Kuja are beginning to get close again. This is how Harley reacts.

Some swearing

****

So maybe I was moping. Maybe I deserved it.

Sylvia Nightengale was never someone I ever pictured myself with and not just because she was my little sister's best friend.

She had a boyfriend. She was in a gang. She was four years younger than me. She was loud. She was stubborn. She could take everything I threw at her and fire it all back.

And then she got shot. For a second time. And her boyfriend died so she could keep living. She had been so messed up. And then she went to that stupid party. She had said she needed a change. I wasn't sure that's what she got when she got with me.

We had gotten drunk, both of us. Then somehow we had ended up on a bed upstairs kissing with our clothes all the way off.

She was amazing in bed.

She was smart.

She was funny.

She didn't take any of my crap.

I had been falling in love.

She had been having a distraction.

She realized it. Of course she did. The girl was insane, not an idiot. She knew I had started falling for her and she broke it off. I tried to act cool, after all I wasn't called the king of one nighters for nothing.

But damn it had hurt.

She used me and threw me away and yeah, I saw the damn irony. I had done the same to all the girls I had slept with. Maybe it was Karma. Maybe it was just bad damn luck that I feel in love with the only girl in Riverdale that would never love anyone more than her first boyfriend.

Then the bastard came back from the dead. Maybe I had a shot at winning her back, but now it was hopeless. You could see it. Whenever they were in the same room it was like someone a flipped a switch in her and she'd just start glowing. They didn't even have to look at each other or be touching in anyway. They just had to be in the same room and they glowed.

It set my damn teeth on edge.

And now they were over at the house and they were together again, and she was happy, and smiling in a way that I hadn't seen for a full year. She was happy. And it should have been good. I should have been glad that she was back to herself and that she was content again and not sad and bleeding.

But.

But I wanted her to smile like that for me. I wanted her to look at me with those big adoring eyes.

Every time she brushed her hand against him, every time she leaned into him, every time she touched him, my vision went red. Every time Kuja smiled at her and gave her a little innocent kiss on the cheek or forehead, everytime he looked her way, as if she was the only thing that mattered to him?

I wanted to take one of dad's deadly kitchen knives and slit his throat.

He had no idea what Sylvia had been like after he had "died". He knew her past, he knew all the shit she had been through and he still did it.

And they he came back and expected her to fall back into his arms as if nothing happened?!

My only bright side was that it had taken Sylvia a damn long time to forgive him. And even longer to get back with him. But everyone knew it would happen. They were just so damn obvious. People would have to be completely oblivious, deaf and blind not to realize how much they loved each other.

I never had a chance.

I knew that and yet--

"Harley, you're attacking those potatoes like they killed one of the dogs." Louis said blandly.

"Something on you're mind, oh king of migraines?" Jessie questioned.

"Shut up Queen Jessie or I'll dump all your skin care products down the sink." I snapped at my brother. Jessie and his boyfriend, Luke, I think that was his name, looked at me in horror.

"Come on Harles, don't be a mister frowny pants." Sylvia teased me gently, "everyone knows that's Louis' job."

Come on play like we used too.

That's what she was saying to me. But you know what? I sooo was not up for a verbal sparring match with my ex.

Louis frowned. "You know what kid--"

"Oh my goooood." Frankie rolled her eyes. "You all can't go one dinner without doing this can you?"

"Admit it baby sis," Jessie said giving her a winning smile. "If we didn't you'd think we were dying."

"Can we not say the D-word, please?" Sylvia asked and I just knew that have had grabbed her boyfriends hand under the table.

"Defenestration?" Louis asked.

"Dapocaginous?" Frankie chimed in.

"Dendrochronology?" Luke asked.

"Dentiloquent?" Frankie's boyfriend added.

"Dicks?" Jessie smiled.

Everyone groaned. I looked around the table, with a pit in my stomach. I pushed the plate away. "May I be excused?" I asked.

"You've barely touched your food," my mom said.

"I had a big lunch." I threw my napkin on my plate.

"Well alright I'll package it up for later in case you do get hungry."

Not bloody likely. I thought. I stomped up to my room and slammed the door collapsing onto my bed.

Everyone has some. Frankie has Aaron. Louis has Indiana. Jessie has Luke. Mom has dad. Will's got Bailey. Charlie has Maya. Sylvia has Xander back. Me and Sebastian were the only ones with out someone. And at least Sebastian has Kero, who is an actual good friend. But me?

I'm alone. That used to be fine. It wasn't until Sylvia had crashed into my orbit and thrown everything off kilter that I had realised just how lonely I really was.

I wanted it. I wanted what my brothers had. I wanted Sylvia goddammit!

I sighed and threw an arm over my eyes blocking out the light.

Time to admit it. I was jealous. I was so very jealous.

I picked up my phone and scrolled threw the numbers. I needed a good fuck to clear my head that's all. It had been what? Four months since I'd had a good screw?

God for me that was more like ten years. No wonder I was going insane.

I looked through their pictures. Finally I settled on one with hair so light it was almost white and light blue eyes. Her name was... Cynthia.

Right?

Yes, Cynthia. I remembered now.

She was in my auto tech class, and damn did the girl know her way around a wrench.

I tried not to think too much about why Cynthia appealed to me tonight more than any of my other girls.

It couldn't be because she was a blonde haired, blue eyed, car junkie who just happened to ride a motorcycle and wore a leather jacket most of the time.

Sonofabitch.

I must really have it bad.

I shook my head, trying to clear those thoughts away. The only thing that was important right now was that I was getting laid tonight. Anything else was redundant.

I shrugged on my own leather coat, slicked back my hair and grabbed my keys.

...It was a coincidence.

I shoved my fist through the wall of my room as I walked out.

One big, damn, coincidence.

#writing #writing challenge #snippet #jealousy #jealosy #not a pr0mpt

[obfuscobble]

Passerby here - in regards to Fate/Grand Order, the reason they don't explain stuff in detail is because they kind of already did? The Fuyuki prologue in the actual mobile game is a longer, more in-depth tutorial, while the anime is an hour-long film. They can't do EVERYTHING in the short time slot they have. Also, the "explanation on Servants" thing is something repeated in every adaption and spinoff and just gets very redundant after a while, so it getting cut is understandable.

Also, arguing that they HAVE to explain EVERYTHING for newbies within the short 1 hour time slot for the F/GO anime is nonsensical considering the setting of Fuyuki - everything and everyone in Fuyuki (such as the statue Medusa Lancer destroys) only has significance if you’re familiar with Fate/stay night proper, and explaining EVERYTHING would waste time, especially since the premise of “Chaldea has no idea what originally happened in Fuyuki” makes explanation impossible anyway. Basically, you’re treating the Fate/Grand Order anime like some sort of standalone story, when in reality it’s more like the Rogue One to Fate/stay night’s mainline Star Wars, or the Fantastic Beasts to Harry Potter. Even if it’s a spinoff, demanding that it explain everything all over again is pointless and would detract from the plot given the very limited timespan, especially when the premise IS so heavily based in past installments. I hope you understand my points here.

I perfectly understand your points, but please keep in mind that you are making the exact same points as your predecessor which I have already rebuffed politely by reiterating my points of debate.  I thank you for trying to state this case in more detail again, but my counter points remain solid and admittedly mired in my initial reactions to the material.  The strength of my initial negative reactions is what prompted me to write my post, and upon re-view of the film, my problems with its structure, choreography, and colour design remain.

If I may attempt to restate your points, trying hard not to make a strawman : 1. there’s more info on everything in the game, 2. there’s more explanation of everything in the rest of the Nasuverse media, 3. this is for fans who already know everything and trying to explain too much in a short one hour featurette would be wasteful, 4. this should absolutely not be viewed in a standalone manner.

1. there’s more info on everything in the gameI understand this.  But the movie was, as I was approaching it, supposed to get me pumped to play the game had I not already done so.  It did not.

2. there’s more explanation of everything in the rest of the Nasuverse mediaI understand this.  But it doesn’t defend against bad story structure.

3. this is for fans who already know everything and trying to explain too much in a short one hour featurette would be wastefulI contend this.  Allow me to voice my contention in two manners, one polite, and one rude.Politely: Fans who enjoy this are absolutely deserving of their enjoyment, and as a fan placation vehicle this movie is certainly fantastic.  I do not want to rid anyone of their enjoyment of this featurette.  People should hold on to their joy where they can find it. : )  However, I still believe that a shortened running length was not truly a bar to cut out all explanation.  I’m not expecting someone to dump typemoon.wikia.com onscreen.  I was simply stating that within the world that the movie itself created with a protagonist who knows nothing and a fresh new aspect of the Nasuverse being presented, that a tiiiny bit more explanation would have been completely natural to present within the storytelling framework of the brand new setting.  To fully explain Servant structure and the history of Fuyuki is not necessary.  To explain more about Chaldaea and how it interacts with these structures is highly desirable.  That Fuyuki is a mystery to Chaldaea is absolutely fine and a good mystery to hook the audience.  That Chaldaea remains a complete mystery to the audience, apart from clichés that the audience can place upon it through inference, is unforgivable.Rudely: yeah I get it they made a pretty movie out of your waifus look at your waifus in good animation happy new year nasufans here’s a tv special to sell more nasushit including 5000 yen dvds but it’s worth it because WOW YOUR WAIFU she’s moving and going UGUU this is such a CATHARTIC pandering MOMENT you can’t wait to heal her with YOUR MAGIC RITUAL YA KNOW WHAT IM SAYIN[* “your waifu“ in this case referring to the fandom at large, not you specifically, holdharmonysacred, as I do not wish to make assumptions about you.]

4. this should absolutely not be viewed in a standalone manner.You bring up a comparison of Fate/ Grand Order to Rogue One and Fantastic Beasts.  Here is where I very much would like to make more comparisons, as I have seen those movies and their attendant series as well!  However, first it is important to keep in mind that whether one chooses to view a film as a standalone vehicle or as a chapter of a larger narrative is up to the individual viewer.  Yet, ask any good author or script editor and they will tell you that the internal story of a feature should hold itself as a standalone story with good arc structure.  While it’s true that Grand Order had a proper arc structure (problem, mysterious anomaly; action, fight to stop anomaly; resolution, bad guy temporarily wins, time to steel ourselves to do this again), I feel that it failed to present a story that an outsider could care about.

Honestly, Rogue One also failed to impress me as a standalone vehicle.  It was infinitely more pandering than Grand Order, although at least it didn’t leave too many questions unanswered.  Largely, it had more running time to establish its world, which Grand Order did not have.  What Rogue One had in common with Grand Order was a dearth of likeable protagonists.   At least the motivations of Rogue One’s antagonists are clear though, unlike R.E.O. Lev’s.

Fantastic Beasts actually worked as a standalone film.  Parts of it that connected directly to the Potter storyline [erhem, Grindelwald] were frankly its worst aspects.  Yet apart from that, the movie clearly established through its action and a bit of exposition the stakes of its world.  There are wizards and magical beasts and non-wizards, the wizards try to hide from the non-wizards, never the twin shall meet, and in America magical beasts are not allowed to run free in non-wizard areas.  The audience doesn’t have to know about rulings of the wizengamot or the history of wizarding in America to appreciate these in-story rules.  Magic is shown throughout the movie, and major magical plot points like the obscurial are explained, though not exactly perfectly.  But a bully attempt is made.  One can watch Fantastic Beasts without knowledge of the Potterverse and still follow its structure while appreciating its characters who are presented with definite emotional ties and stakes in the movie.  It’s not an outstanding movie, but it does very well to establish the basics of its world.

On the other hand, I maintain that Fate/ Grand Order failed to firmly establish the very basic internal rules that its world runs by either through exposition or onscreen action, preferring to hint at them, and that its characters were flat, especially the main character who could have been replaced with a soggy cardboard cutout for all it would have mattered. 

I understand that the main character of this movie is supposed to be an audience insert surrogate, and a standin for an in-game protagonist, but that’s honestly no excuse for having him be void of emotional reaction to anything in the world around him except Mash.  Mash is hurt?  Oh noes, she’s pretty and talked to me so I guess we’re dating and now I’m upset.  I’ve been transported to some techno-magic base? Oh well.  Everyone else here has died en masse?  Oh well.  Now I’m in the past and things are attacking me?  Oh well.  That girl just died? Oh well.  The guy who was nice to me turns out to be evil and he has some weird plan to do with wiping out the entire human race?  OH WELL.  I’m not asking for him to scream or anything, but the most proactive action he took in the entire movie to move the plot forward was to hold Mash’s hand in her climactic battle, and even then he did so blandly, not even a “ganbatte” or a “You mean a lot to me so don’t give up.”  Every other scene where he took an action, he had stumbled into that place or been pushed there by other characters or the plot at large.  The guy fell asleep during the one scene that would have explained shit to him and therefore us.  How are we supposed to like him as a protagonist?

In conclusion, I do indeed understand the points you laid out in your asks, but feel that I have previously responded to most of them.  Of the new concerns you bring up, my previous complaints about Fate/ Grand Order still hold sway.  And yet, I do not at all wish to say that people should feel bad for liking Fate/ Grand Order.  My stance is that I did not enjoy it, and it failed the rubric by which I was watching it.  You state that my rubric is flawed, and that is a fair enough criticism.  Please continue to enjoy the Fate/ universe and the Grand Order game.  I hope they all bring you lots of continued enjoyment in the coming year!

#fate grand order #analysis

[bythegraceofcass]

Hey Ladies and Men, and my Non-Binary friends. Bythegraceofcass, here. I decided to share the first chapter of my Stucky fic here. I'm dying for support and readers with this one. It not only keeps me motivated but it means a lot to me when people enjoy my stories, because all I want is to write stories that make people laugh, cry and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So, please, take a moment to read this chapter. If you like it, hop on over to my fic on AO3, the first 3 chapters are up and I am almost done writing chapter 4. ❤ Thank ya'll, and Happy Holidays.

P.S. this is an AU, It is not a canonical story.

Unintended, Chapter 1

Summary:

After surviving a harrowing terrorist attack in New York City, Bucky Barnes finds himself in dire need of a little helping hand. Or, rather, paw. In comes Natasha, Bucky's best friend and much adored professional dog handler in the dog show world. While on a fateful trip to a dog show to search for a breeder to get his service dog prospect from, Bucky lays eyes on someone surprisingly even more beautiful than Natasha Romanoff herself.

Steve Rogers is everything Bucky could possibly dream of, if he could dream.... that is. Plagued with awful nightmares, flashbacks, chronic pain, a metal arm and mental illness, Steve is just what Bucky needed to give him the push he deserved towards finding his self worth. But is Bucky capable of loving and being loved? Or does his traumatic past and pain, both physical and mental, prevent him from finding the happiness he truly deserves? Is Steve Rogers just another pretty fling, or the doorway to Forever?

Chapter One

Bucky sighed as he got out of Natasha’s shiny black Corvette. His neck ached from the weight of his prosthetic metal shoulder, he slid on his black leather glove, a long sleeved red Henley preventing his prosthetic to be seen by the outside world. “Natasha, is this really necessary? Couldn't I just go to the pound, pick out a dog there?” Natasha rolled her eyes as she shut the driver's side door “Bucky, you know very well that isn't how it works. You need a well bred puppy from someone who responsibly breeds healthy dogs if you want to train a dog to be your service dog. Mostly, shelter dogs really don't work.” Bucky glared at her, reverting his gaze to the building which held hundreds of barking dogs of every breed, vying for the most prestigious ribbons to prove their pedigree bloodlines and stellar structure.

Bucky grit his teeth, a dog show is not the place he wanted to be. He had a migraine, and a migraine whilst stuck in a room with a bunch of barking, whining dogs is not the place he wanted to be. But Natasha told him he would be most successful landing a good, responsible breeder to get his puppy from, here. Since she was a professional dog handler, she had some in's and out’s to the best breeders in the nation. Most were friends and clients of hers, and in the dog world, anyone who's a friend of Natasha's is a friend of theirs.

Today, Natasha didn't have a dog to show. But, since she was very well known and many breeders and owners wanted to hire her to get their dog finished, she always came dressed and ready to enter the ring. Bucky secretly envied her. She was beautiful, successful in honestly the hardest and most cut throat industry out there, and married. Here he was crippled, disabled and working at Stark Industries after… well, after. Not to mention, bi and single. He and Natasha had a thing a while back, but it never went anywhere.

They were better off friends.

They got their fold up chairs out of the trunk and walked inside the building. Almost immediately, Bucky was assaulted with people grooming their dogs, blow drying their dog's fur, trimming nails, accentuating muscle groups on their dog's bodies. Most every dog he saw was absolutely beautiful, even the breeds he wasn't fond of. He noticed a long line of people waiting to enter a section circled off with a white fence, about thigh or waist high. Next to them were the most beautiful Golden Retrievers he had ever seen. “Natalia. I think I’m gonna go watch the Goldens.” Bucky sometimes called Natasha by the Russian version of her name, ever since she found out he had a Russian ancestor- Just one- she'd insisted he "tap into his Russian roots". To the dismay of Bucky, who was mostly American on his father's side and Romanian on his mother's, he did. Only because he was forced, and Natasha was scary when she was crossed.

Bucky made his way over to the ring and set his chair up, he took his phone out and set it in the cup holder on the arm. He pushed back his long hair out of his face and sighed, subtly rubbing his temple in attempt to soothe his aching head which was only made worse by the noise in the building. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for. Sure. Nat had told him a thing or two about proper canine structure and what to look for in a dog… but to him, a dog was a dog. As long as they were loyal that’s all he cared about. After the… incident… Bucky was never the same. Plagued by constant pain, nightmares, flashbacks, Anxiety and Depression, that drugs could never cure, despite the fact that he kept taking them, Natasha talked Bucky into getting a Service Dog. He didn't see a problem in getting one. He loved dogs, and had always wanted one. As a kid, he was busy caring for his sisters and his Ma never wanted dogs in the house. She said she had enough to worry about with three kids. However, as a tax-paying adult living in his own place, Bucky could do whatever the hell he wants. And now, Bucky wanted a dog.

He watched as handlers and dogs entered the ring, just as Natasha set her chair up and sat down next to him. Suddenly, his eye caught a tall, muscular, blond haired man jogging into the ring and kneeling down next to his dog to set him up in a stack. The man wore a smart light grey suit with a light blue shirt, which he could visibly see chiseled abs through, and grey paisley tie. It accentuated the dog, not to mention his body, perfectly. “Hey. Who's that?” Bucky nudged at Natasha, pointing subtly at the golden haired man. “Oh, that.. is Steve Roger’s. Fierce competition and… one of the best Golden breeders in New York. He lives over in Brooklyn. I was hoping he'd be here. His dogs are incredible.” Bucky never took his eyes off of him, Natasha smirked. “I also believe he's single. I’m pretty sure he's gay. I’ve never seen him with a girl, nor does he ever hit on any of the female competition here.” Bucky blushed, glaring at her before reverting his eyes back to the gorgeous man with the pretty dog. “I’m not here for that Nat.” Bucky shifted in his seat, his shoulder and head beginning to ache even more. He rubbed at his temple again. “I’m interested in getting a puppy from him.”

In all actuality, Bucky was actually interested in him. Not his puppies. However, he was technically here for one reason. He could go to any random bar and get laid there if he wanted to; but that wasn't how his mama raised him and he knew it. Bucky watched as the handlers exhibited their dogs to show off their strongest attributes, if a dog had a poor topline but gorgeous front, the handler made sure to show that off to the judge. All handlers were knelt down baiting their dogs and holding their tails up, as per standard, and the judge quickly, but efficiently, made her rounds. Stopping at each dog to take in their overall structure and appearance.

When she stopped at Steve's dog he made sure to give the judge eye contact. And, would you believe it, the little shit had the audacity to flash an adorable, albeit charming, smile that made Bucky's heart flutter. The two exchanged words, which made it obvious she thought something highly of him, and moved on to the next. Natasha rolled her eyes and snorted “And that, my friend, is how Rogers just won the entire breed ring, even though it just started.” Bucky looked at her in total confusion. Natasha sighed in slight irritation at his absolute ignorance despite her constant aspirations to convert him and turn him into a dog obsessed fiend like her.

“Okay, notice that cute little smile Steve just gave the judge? The eye contact? Exchange of words? There's really one thing that makes the dog world go round and that is called Politics. As I've mentioned, Steve has phenomenal dogs with beautiful structure and even prettier pedigrees. Every Judge in the country knows that.” She looked from Bucky to Steve “Paired with his own gorgeous looks, he always manages to earn nothing more than Best of Breed.” Bucky reverted his gaze back to Steve, ‘I know how you feel lady. He could punch me in the nuts and I would ask him to do it again', he though to himself.

Once the judge finished making her rounds, she went back to the front of the row. Everyone stood up, making sure their dog stayed in their perfect stances. One by one, a handler walked up to a taped off rectangle in front of the ring and situated their dog. The judge checked the dogs bite and ran her hands along the animals body to check his structure, then she watched as the handler strategically jogged down the ring in a vertical straight line and back to show the dogs movement. Once they returned, the handler would ask the dog to do what was called a “free stack”, which essentially was getting the dog to automatically stack themselves up without help from the handler to prove they were “built right". If a dog cannot do a natural stack, they have poor structure and will not win or be considered for the breed gene pool.

Finally, it was Steve's turn. He did everything so gracefully. From setting his dog up, to jogging down the ring to gait his dog. The golden retriever he showed was the epitome of the breed, himself. Bucky was in absolute awe. Sure, he'd watched Natasha show dogs of almost every breed many times, but he had never seen an exhibition so graceful before.

Man, he was really in deep. And he'd never even spoken to the guy. Yet.

About an hour and a half later, the judge had viewed every male and female dog in her assigned breed. Just like Natasha foresaw, Steve's dog won. For whatever reason, Bucky was happy he did.

After what seemed like an eternity, after pictures were taken of the winning dogs for the day, the handlers who won went back to their grooming area to wait for the group ring. Natasha got up and Bucky followed suit, making sure to food up their chairs and carry them with him. As they made their way to Steve's grooming table, Natasha was constantly stopped for hugs, kisses, hand shakes, greetings from her fellow handlers and breeders. She’d even gained some new clients.

Once they arrived to Steve's area, he had his suit jacket hanging on his chair and was stood at his grooming table, touching up his prized winning dog. Bucky internally swore, he could literally see the man's back muscles ripple through his thin dress shirt. And nothing turned Bucky on more than a well muscled back.

“Hey, Rogers.” Steve turned around and instantly lit up, a broad toothy grin plastered on his face “Natasha.” He pulled the petite redhead into a big bear hug “long time no see,” He said after releasing her. “You showing today?” Natasha shook her head in answer. “No. Actually, I’m here with a friend.” Steve then reverted his gaze to Bucky. “Steve. This is Bucky. Bucky, Steve. “ the two men shook hands, Bucky couldn't help but notice the guy was a tad bit stronger than him. Which wasn't something he frequented in other gay male suitors.

“Steve, Bucky is actually looking for a breeder to bring home a puppy from. This puppy will be rather special. Buck, here, hope’s to train the little fur ball up to be his trusted Service Dog.” Natasha explained. Steve’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He had never had someone approach him for a service prospect before, but he had no doubt his dogs couldn't be great at the job. After all, his motto was versatility, intelligence, health and structure over anything else. “I think I would be more than honored to place a pup with you, Bucky. Normally, people just email or call me and ask for prices of my puppies.” He rolled his eyes, obviously frustrated by the mere mention of the way most people inquired “I like your style. It means a lot that you came here to get a first glance at your choices in breeders.”

Bucky couldn't help but smile in response to Steve's praise. “Well, I have a certain little spiteful redhead in my life. If I didn't come, I knew I would personally have to pay for it later on.” He shuddered in mock fear and Natasha elbowed him in the ribs, to which Bucky yelped slightly. “What he means to say, is, I taught him everything he knows. He knew it would be the obvious responsible choice. Once he gets that puppy, I’m definitely getting gratitude cookies.” Natasha glared at Bucky playfully.

“So, what kind of service do you need from the dog, if you don't mind my asking, Bucky?” Bucky hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with the question. Steve quickly took notice in his discomfort, blushing, he immediately softened the blow. “I-I mean. So I can pair you with the right pup. That way you won't get stuck with something that won't meet your needs and lifestyle. It's totally up to you if you want to share it with me.” Bucky shifted his weight to his other foot and took a slightly shaky breath. He hated talking about the suffering the… incident… brought him. “He really just needs light to medium mobility and psychiatric work. So, maybe an easy going, intelligent, stable, steady dog will do it. A pup who scores a ‘4’ on the Volhard Test will do perfectly.”

Bucky relaxed. He was definitely baking Natasha gratitude cookies.

Steve nodded, obviously slightly deep in thought. “Alright. I think I may have the perfect pairings for you. Do you work?” A much easier question he could answer. “Yes. I’m an engineer at Stark Industries.” Steve once again raised his eyebrows and whistled. “Nice. Tony Stark has a reputation for offering the best pay and benefits a job has to offer.” Steve glanced at his dog laying lazily on the grooming table. “This, here, is Valor. He's a two and a half year old male. He’s one of my best studs right now, and actually one of the males I have in mind to sire your pup.” Steve reached out and lovingly stroked the dog's head. “You can pet him if you’d like. He loves attention, as any Golden worth their salt would. Don’t’cha pal?” the dog thumped his tail on the grooming table in response.

Bucky reached out with his flesh hand and gently stroked the dog's ear. The dog licked his hand briefly, signaling that he was clearly his new bestest friend. Bucky smiled, there was a sense of joy dogs brought him that no other human could. Well.

Except for maybe one human, now.

Steve smiled warmly, Valor had always had a knack for being a good judge of character and rarely gave people kisses. Maybe Bucky was better than he realized. He glanced at his watch and sighed. “Bucky, would you be okay with coming by my house tomorrow? Just so you could better get to know my dogs and we could interview each other.” Bucky's ears perked up. “Sure!” Bucky winced at his response. A little too enthusiastic Barnes, tone it down a notch “ I mean. Sure. What time?” that's better. “2:30 too late?” Bucky shook his head “2:30 is perfect. Whatever is best for you.” Steve pulled out his wallet and grabbed a pen from his grooming bag, scribbled something quickly on the back of the card, and handed it to Bucky. On the front it read

‘Marvel Golden Retrievers

Steve Rogers

Breeder/Owner/Handler’

On the back was Steve's business number.. and-

“My personal number and address. I don't normally give out that information too quickly, but you’re an exception.” Natasha glanced up at him and smirked, to which Bucky flustered and blushed ever so slightly. “Thanks. I, uh… I’ll text you my number when I get home.” Steve offered his hand to shake, which Bucky accepted whole heartedly. “Well. It was nice to meet you Bucky. Good to see you again Natasha.” The two hugged again, before they pulled apart and Steve said “Don't be such a stranger next time.” Natasha smiled “I’ll be at a show next weekend. Maybe I’ll see you there.” Steve winked at her in agreement. Which did nothing to help Bucky's pure and unadulterated lust at the moment. “See ya tomorrow, Bucky.” And the three parted ways.

Natasha didn't say a word until they got back in the car. “You’re totally gonna bone Steve.” Bucky shoved her “Shut up and drive. Do something useful for once in your life.” Natasha smirked “Gratitude cookies.” And the car vibrated to life with a steady purr.

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