#Into Temptation: Books 7-9 Box Set | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ka-za-ri · 4 years

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Descent Pt. 3

Oh hai. I finally managed to get this chapter out and I hate every word of it. I’m so so sorry if it’s not great or what you’re looking for. Feel free to let me know if you liked it or if it’s as garbage as I think it is. Chapter Index and Obey Me! Masterlist: here Ao3 Mirror: Here Part [1] Part [2] Part [3] Part 4: [4] Part [5] Part [6] Part [7] Part [8] Part [9] Part [10]

Pairing: Simeon x Reader Genre: Smut Wordcount: 6,300 ish Tags: Sex toys, smut, awkward conversations about sex Summary: Simeon is running out of ways to ask you over. In a last ditch attempt, he puts his pride on the line to have the conversation he's been dreading.

Slip

Simeon was running out of excuses to call you over for help. The first time was a serendipitous discovery. The second happened out of necessity. But now that he had the video recording, he was convinced that you would think he didn’t need your help anymore. At least, that was what he told himself. Still, he kept coming up with reasons why he might need you to help him again. If his book was to be successful, he needed all the inspiration he could get.

He couldn’t sleep, he stopped eating proper meals in his mad search for the right materials to work off of. It was all a distraction from the truth. He was willingly falling into your trap of temptation and was doing nothing about it. No matter how many times he wrote it off what he was doing as research or investigation for the sake of his book; there was no denying the fact that he was slipping down into a darkness that he couldn’t save himself from.

The first time he had a taste of you was all it took for him to spiral down a rabbit hole of finding more ways to get you to moan in his presence. He wanted to feel your heat again, he wanted to see you come undone; but he needed to hide behind some reason. He needed more time with you; and he wracked his brain on the daily to figure out how. Of course, seeing you wasn’t the hard part, the most difficult issue was convincing you to keep ‘helping’ his cause. That step would come soon enough; but first, he had to find reason to see you again.

Luckily for him, he kept track of the most arbitrary reasons to celebrate and called for you once more. Perhaps this time, he could persuade you to make it a regular thing. An author was always in need of a muse; and no one else was more suited to the job than you were.

[SMS: COME SPEND THE WEEKEND HERE???! WE CAN CELEBRATE YOUR WORK ANNIVERSARY!!!??]

You laughed when you received the message in the morning. With how busy he kept you with all his drafts and proposals, it was rather shocking just how much time had passed since he was assigned to you. Years had passed and you figured he would have forgotten about the first day you sat down with him to discuss the direction of his work. However, he always made it a big deal about celebrating your tenure with him. It was endearing and you could never pass up the chance to spend some time with him that didn’t involve work.

[SMS: Okay! Let me pack an overnight bag!]

You contemplated what to bring. Part of you eyed the cutest sets of lingerie you owned. Oh come on, like he’d think about you like that. You chided yourself while stuffing some pajamas into your bag. However, the subject matter of his new book came to your mind and you ended up carefully tucking them into the corner of your overnight bag. Just in case… it’ll be good for research.

Even if it was just for a weekend getaway, your overnight bag ended up being crammed full of all sorts of things you thought would be good ‘just in case.’ Why you thought it would be necessary to bring an extra pair of shoes was beyond you. The two of you were most likely going to just spend the whole weekend indoors watching terrible movies and tearing apart the scripts and critiquing the dialog.

A small part of you hoped he would use the weekend for ‘research’ purposes. Just thinking about how intense his eyes were when he ‘helped’ you out the last time you were over had you feeling uncomfortably warm from head to toe. On the off chance that he requested something else from you, you needed to at least be prepared to oblige. Even if his intentions for the weekend were innocent, you needed to be ready for a change of plans. He had been throwing you off guard quite a bit; first with his new book ideas, and now his research methods, he was as unpredictable as the first day you met him all those years ago.

Throwing caution to the wind, you crammed in the tallest pair of platform heels you owned into the bag. At least they were black and would match with anything, especially the lingerie you had chosen. Double checking to make sure you had gotten all the essentials, you threw the bag over your shoulder and made your way over to Simeon’s place.

If there was one thing Simeon couldn’t stand was not being able to convey what he imagined in his head onto a page. With all the literary experience he had; it shouldn’t have been so hard to write something salacious and naughty. He knew the importance of proper research and threw himself head first into finding out all he could. He lost track of the number of times he watched the video of you on his phone. At this point, he practically had it memorized; he knew the exact moment in the recording that you came, calling his name. Every time he thought about it, it sent shivers down his spine. Any other videos he sought didn’t have the same effect as your pretty voice lilting and echoing in his room. No other sources worked in helping him write outside of what you provided him.

If he was going to be truthful to himself, he knew there was no return from the dark path he was going down. But he deluded himself into thinking he was safe. As long as he could upkeep his promise to keep you unsullied, he would come out of this trial unscathed. As it was so far, things progressed easily enough but, he knew he would need your help again. There was an intimacy that was missing in his words. Something just didn’t flow properly and he wouldn’t be able to figure it out what it was until he got to experience things first hand. The only problem was saving himself from falling in the process.

He could only ask for forgiveness if he went too far.

Though the tone of his message had been innocent, he had plans to turn the weekend into a productive one. The only problem was trying to figure out how to tell you what he needed out of you. He felt filthy no matter how many times he showered, his mind marred by the image of your shuddering body. His fingers could still feel your walls clenching around him and the warmth of your body surrounding him. He wanted it. He wanted to experience it all for himself; but to keep both you and him safe, he had to find a way around the most sinful act according to the Celestial doctrines.

The knock at his door brought him out of his reverie and he was faced with reality. For the time being, it was easy to play the host and let you relax. “Rush hour wasn’t too bad?” He asked as you took off your shoes and stepped into the guest slippers at the front door.

“It’s a Friday and everyone is eager to go home after a work week, you tell me how crowded the trains were.” You teased.

He took your bag from you to stow away and he was surprised at how heavy it was. “I said it was just for the weekend, it feels like you packed for a month here.”

You cleared your throat, feeling your cheeks heat up a bit. “Well, I just wanted to make sure I was prepared for anything that might happen.” You shrugged, leaving the interpretation of your words up in the air.

Simeon distracted himself from the lewd thoughts your words brought on while he put your bag to the side. “I already ordered some pizza for dinner. It should be here in a little bit so make yourself comfortable.”

You lost no time in making your way over to his living room, flopping on the spacious couch there and sprawling out. “Comfort achieved.” You announced, which earned you a soft chuckle from Simeon. Even though the basis of your relationship with him was work; it didn’t stop the two of you from becoming friends. He simply had such a soothing aura around him, it was easy to let your guard down and be yourself. Without having to worry about work for the weekend, it was even easier for you to just pretend it was a sleepover with a friend.

He came over and joined you on the couch, a mug of tea in his hand and part of his manuscript in another hand. You perked up when you saw the pages with your notes on them. “Hey, I thought this was supposed to be a weekend to celebrate a work anniversary. I didn’t plan on partying by watching you rewrite the first half of your book for the seventh time.”

He chuckled, putting down the stack of papers on the coffee table in front and leaned back to regard you. “So, what do you suggest we do to celebrate then?”

“Anything but work.” You determined. “I don’t know, board games? Movie? Arts and crafts?”

Simeon laughed; it was a sound you could never get enough of. It was so melodic and soothing, you wanted to keep him entertained for the rest of your life. But you had to remember to remain professional. There was no way he thought of you as anything more than a friend or a close co-worker. You were in charge of caring for him and making sure his work got to the publishing house on time; outside of that, things needed to remain casual.

“Well, dinner comes first.” He said, getting up as the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of food. He disappeared briefly before returning with a small stack of pizza boxes. It was way more than two people could eat in one sitting; but that was par for the course on how Simeon tended to order whenever you were asked to stay over.

While dining upon the finest pizza the city had to offer and sipping on soda, you thought over the years you had spent with Simeon and how much he had grown on you. At first, he was exactly what you expected a high profile author to be like. He was cool, aloof and distant. His work was impeccable, but even the best in the field made mistakes and you made sure he knew about them prior to publication. He always held you at arms length, with respect and appreciation, but made sure to never step past the boundaries of professionalism.

Over time, he warmed up to you more, inviting you over to work on editing while he continued to write his manuscripts. Something about having real-time feedback seemed to help get his creative juices flowing. You also ended up benefiting from it as you were able to edit and get changes back faster than waiting for replies to your email. With how technologically challenged Simeon could be, you often had to wait days, if not weeks, to get a small update. Still, the barrier of professionalism never changed. The two of you simply worked well together and created a sturdy friendship based on work.

Despite that, you couldn’t help but slowly fall for him. It was easy to do so, he was handsome, gentle, considerate; everything you could have asked for in a partner. Being so intimately involved in his career meant you likely knew a lot more about him than many people did. A few years passed and you struggled to hide the feelings you had for him. Every time he asked something of you, it was easy to jump on the chance to see him smile, hear his laugh and maybe receive a bit of praise outside of something related to writing. You managed pretty well, considering how dense Simeon could be; it didn’t seem like he had any idea of what you were hiding from him and the polite respect you gave each other was maintained.

The distinct civility you two had only changed with his new book. After the first time, you had convinced yourself that it was all a fluke. A one time occurrence, never to be repeated. The second time, you prayed that your heart wouldn’t guide your actions and do something you would regret. You could still vividly remember just how bright his eyes were when he was knuckle deep in you and making you cum with no effort at all.

“Are… you alright?” Simeon’s voice cut through your thoughts and you were quickly wrenched back into reality with a half eaten slice of pizza drooping and getting cold in your hand.

“Oh? Yeah. Just thinking about how long I’ve been working for you.” You explained with a bit of a shrug.

“It’s been quite some time, hasn’t it?” He concurred, regarding you over his mug of tea, sipping it carefully and trying to parse out your odd mannerisms. It wasn’t the first time he had asked you to spend the weekend over to celebrate a mundane weekend which held no meaning to anyone but himself and you. It was the first time he had ever hidden his true intentions from you and he wondered if you could feel his guilt from where you sat. When you went back to eating, commenting about the quality of the toppings on the pizza, he relaxed a bit. “I wouldn’t be where I am without your help. So, I really should thank you for the time you’ve been with you.”

There was unfortunately nowhere to hide your face from the blush you felt creeping up your neck from your neck. “Well, I’m always happy to help, back then, now, and in the future.” You reassured him. “Gotta make sure we keep your reputation intact, right?”

There it was, the opening he was hoping for. He took the sliver of a chance you had given him and ran with it. Mulling over his words before he spoke, Simeon took a sip of his tea and let the silence settle between you. “You’d help me? Even with this… project of mine being as unreasonable as it has been?”

You understood his reservations in regards to being helped. He was so cute fumbling over his words and his requests. If he just wants me to come over every week to watch me fuck myself, he can say so. You smiled and sipped your soda, waiting for him to push the issue at hand again. When he didn’t go any further, you decided to step up and bring up the topic for yourself. “I’m serious about helping you in any way I can. You’re working on something you’ve never done before, it only makes sense that you get as much uhm… research in as you can…” Your words trailed off at the end and you wondered if you had said too much.

“Really?” Simeon tried to hide his excitement. “So you wouldn’t mind if I asked you to… You know...” He couldn’t bring himself to finish what he was saying. It was too embarrassing to admit he needed help as it was; to tell you out loud that he required more source material for his work seemed to be too much for his poor brain to handle.

You decided to voice his desires for him. “You need me to come over and give you some scene ideas?” You asked sweetly, batting your eyelashes as if it was the most innocent thing in the world.

“I… Yes. That.” He sighed in resignation. “I already have the scenes planned, it’s just the details I don’t have a feel for, so I need some more, you know, that stuff to get an idea of how it’s supposed to be written.”

You couldn’t help but let out a coo of endearment. He was just so cute being all fidgety in his seat and twiddling his fingers together, it was impossible for you to deny him. “Well, if we want to keep our jobs, then helping you with some scenes should be the easy part. You’re the one who has to write them out.”

“You’re really sure?” He breathed, his eyes wide in shock that it had been so easy to convince you. “I might need you more than once. Maybe… We can make this weekend thing a thing?” He suggested shyly.

“Anything you want.” You confirmed.

It was as if a switch had been turned on him, the excitement and the relief that he had gotten permission to research as much as he wanted changed him into a completely different man. You barely had time to move out of the way before he shoved the coffee table in the middle of the room to the side and pulled out a trunk he had hidden in a corner.

“So, I got a couple of things in the last week that I think might help. You said it would be easier if you used toys, so I looked a few of them up and picked out some things that either seemed interesting or if they’d help you. I don’t know what you like, but hopefully you’ll find something in here that will suit your needs.” He babbled happily, explaining everything he had done since the last time you had been at his home and you were rather taken aback at the sheer amount of things he had acquired in such a short time.

“Oh God,” you breathed, when you looked at the veritable collection he had amassed so quickly. It was rather mind blowing just how invested he had become in such a short time. Then again, you should have expected him to give whatever he was writing his all. This though, was a bit much, even for the lengths you were used to seeing him go through.

He could almost laugh at the irony of the phrase. He was sure God had long left his home with how dangerously close he was to falling away from grace. After you agreed to his request, he couldn’t care any less about the free fall straight to Hell. He was getting what he wanted.

“I need to know how these work.” He said, reaching over to put on a pair of glasses and picked up a notebook. “If you could be so kind to allow me to ah… experiment.”

“Are you sure this is all for your novel?” You raised an eyebrow, suspicious that it was all truly for scientific purposes and it wasn’t for personal use.

Simeon faltered a bit before he nodded, his lips set in a thin line of determination and his gaze bounce back and forth between you and the pile of toys. “If I’m going to have enough variety in the scenes to span a whole book, I’m going to need to as much information as possible.” He flipped to a blank page of his notebook, titling it with the date and looked at you expectantly. It was frightening just how clinical he was being with the whole situation.

“You know, you have to go through some of it too...” You countered, you weren’t about to go through a series of sexual tests without conducting a few of your own on him. “You were having problems with the partner last time, right? We can’t have those kinds of issues pop up again.”

He blinked several times, processing what you had to say. You could see his will falter a bit before he went right back into the zone he was in just moments ago. He nodded, mumbling to himself and concurring to your points. “This is true… I’ll have to make sure that the scenario balance is equal. I need to manage that somehow. Perhaps if I recorded like I did last time…”

You giggled, surprised at how straightforward he was being and stepped closer to him, pushing his hair away from his face; an action that broke his concentration and he had to look at you face-to-face. “Relax. I’ll take care of you.” You purred. “You just have to remember what happens.” Taking the notebook and pen from him, you pushed him back onto the couch and straddled him, keeping him in place. “You can keep the glasses though, they’re a nice touch.”

Despite your confidence, your heart was hammering in your chest. Your ears rang and you could barely believe this was happening. You had only ever fantasized about being this sort of intimate with Simeon. When he had pushed you away the last time, you were sure he didn’t see you as desirable. And it was about to happen again. He kept you at arms length, pushing you back when you moved to kiss him. “I… No. I can’t like this with you. Anything but you know...”

You sighed, peeling yourself off his thighs and sat next to him. “Okay, I don’t know. And you’re sending me mixed signals; so let’s get these things out of the way so we don’t get things mixed up in the future.” You declared, putting your foot down. You weren’t about to have him bait and switch on you again. “I’m assuming sticking your dick in me isn’t something you’re really into doing.”

You watched Simeon fidget while he pointedly avoided your gaze. He nodded, unable to speak. It would be the closest thing you would get out of him as confirmation. Still, it did leave a few things up in the air which you needed to clarify. “So, you know I’ve got three perfectly serviceable holes. Is it all three or just one?”

He was in the middle of sipping his tea and nearly choked when you asked him. Fumbling to regain his composure he cleared his throat before answering you. You could tell he never expected to have a conversation like this; but it was necessary to know just how far he would go. “Just… I cannot defile you...”

You laughed at how innocent his words were. Even if you knew what he meant, his words still had multiple meanings and without clarity, you weren’t about to continue. Reaching out and patting his hair softly, you tried a different method. “Okay, how about this. Am I allowed to blow you?”

A pause, he still refused to speak up, but at least he gave you a nod to let you know that was alright. Good, we’re getting somewhere. “Okay, are you okay with putting your dick in my ass?”

You could tell how differently he felt when it came to discussing his own sex life outside of the one he was writing. He covered the lower part of his face with his hand, rubbing his chin as he seemed to have an internal war with himself. The silence between the two of you dragged on before he finally gave you his nod of approval. “Got it… So, I know what your answer is probably going to be, but I still need to ask. Are you willing to put your dick in my pussy?”

Something broke in him at the question. He vehemently shook his head, shutting his eyes and refusing to look at you, or anything else for that matter. “No. No. No. Anything but that. I can’t. I can’t do that.”

You put your hand on his shoulder, rubbing him gently to bring him back to reality. “Okay, okay, we won’t go that far. At least I know now.” You murmured, keeping your voice low to not startle him into a further panic. “I promise we won’t do that.”

At your reassurance, he heaved a sigh of relief, as if he had been saved from something terrifying. You kept your hand on his shoulder, rubbing comforting circles there until he came back to reality. “I’ll tell you if we go too far… we can have a code word.” He suggested. “I read about it, people call it a safe word.”

You nodded, agreeing with what he said. At least he knows the basics. It’s just a matter of figuring out the rest for him. “So, what do you want to use?”

“Christopher Peugeot.” He deadpanned.

You laughed, using his pen name wasn’t something you expected, but you knew how he detested you calling him that; so it would definitely work in the event things went too far. You hoped you didn’t ever have to use it, but it was a necessary step. “Okay, now that we have all that settled, what did you want to try out on me today?” You gestured over to the trunk full of toys. “I’m sure you’ve got a few things you’re dying to try out.”

The boyish enthusiasm he had before when explaining his collection came back and he got up, rustling around, pulling out a full assortment of toys. You gulped, blinking at some of them and wondered just where he had gotten them. “So… care to tell me how this is all going to fit into a story about a spy?” You asked.

“Well, the main character has to pretend to be married; but she also has feelings for someone else that she works for… and she might also have escapades with her boss… And so she’s with several people and each one of them is different so you know, I have to make sure I get their personalities correct.”

You nodded, trying to put your mind into the main character he wrote. Pretending to work a high risk job while having a wild sex life definitely was quite the departure from the high fantasy setting he was so used to. It really was no wonder he was floundering so hard. It truly was a good thing he was such a talented author; you weren’t sure anyone else could have pulled off the switch like he had.

While he prepared everything he wanted to use for the evening, you eyed what he had chosen and was rather intrigued by the array of toys in his possession. It was only natural that you got rather excited with his experiment, even if it was a rather clinical approach. You would need to change that later.

Simeon laid everything out neatly, taking notes and mumbling to himself. There was something that was so innately sexy about his focus that made made you more wet than the prospect of how many toys he was going to try on you. You waited patiently while he took all the notes he needed. Even if it was going to be a wild night, it was truly supposed to be ‘research’ in the end. “Okay. I think I’m ready.” He announced after arranging and rearranging the order of the toys he set aside.

“Good, I thought I was going to fall asleep with how long you were taking. Where would you like me? I’m all yours.” You gave him a wink and a sly grin, making him stutter a bit. He gestured to the floor space he had cleared up. Hastily, he grabbed a nearby throw to make it a bit more comfortable than the decorative rug he had there.

“Here is fine.” He mumbled and waited for you to get comfortable. You grabbed a few of the pillows from the couches to join the pile of soft things and awaited his next commands.

He stumbled like a newborn fawn, trying to calculate and recalculate the scene he had in his mind to figure out where it was going. Eventually, you got tired of his anxious mumbling and pulled him by the collar to join you on the floor. As soon as he was close enough, you took control of the situation and kissed him. Simeon let out a surprised squeak, at first struggling against the sudden break away from his plans; however, you could almost hear the gears of his mind whirring and clicking as he melted into your arms and started kissing you back.

“So, if we’re going to do this, can you at least pretend to like me a little?” You asked after breaking the kiss. “Helps with the whole getting into the role thing.”

Truthfully, you wanted to have an excuse to kiss him. Simeon at least didn’t seem to have any objections to your demands. He swooped in for another kiss, his hands lacing behind your head and into your hair. His lips were just as soft as you had always imagined them to be. His body heat so close to yours was just as comforting as you had dreamed of. The way he kissed you took your breath away and left you confused as to whether or not he was as innocent as he made himself out to be. Not like you really had time to parse those thoughts out when his lips and hands were all over you, making you dizzy with need.

He smelled like fresh laundry and lemon dish soap. He was everything soft and good in the world wrapped into one sinful package that you had the privilege to unwrap one layer at a time. You could have spent hours kissing him if you could. Eventually, he found himself on top of you, helping you out of your clothes and marveling at how much of a different experience it was when he was properly involved. The irises of his bright blue eyes were blown wide open as he took in every detail of your body. He was awestruck, removing layer after layer of clothing until you were in nothing but your lacy underthings.

It was entirely unfair. One moment you were fully clothed, the next, you were in your unspeakables and Simeon still hadn’t shed a single piece of clothing yet. He was so focused on you and how you reacted, he had completely forgotten about himself. He paused to look at you all sprawled out underneath him on his floor in his home. It was quite a sight and it was the perfect opportunity for you to slip your hand under the over-sized sweater he wore and peel it off of him with one swift motion.

Finally, you were blessed with the image of him shirtless. It was everything you had hoped it would be. His lean body was surprisingly toned for someone who spent his life writing books for a living. There wasn’t a single blemish on his skin and you lost no time in running your hands across his smooth skin. “Beautiful...” you breathed, smiling softly at him.

Simeon quickly found out that the fastest way to get you to stop making him so flustered was to kiss you senseless. His hands did work in taking off the last pieces of clothing you had on. By the time he finally broke away from another heated make out session, you were completely nude and ready for whatever he wanted to test out on you. He kept his lips on you, peppering your jaw and your neck with kisses and soft nibbles when he reached to the side and grabbed the first toy in the line of many.

His hand slipped between the two of you and you felt the cool tip of the toy slide up and down your wet slit. In those moments, he was so focused on your reactions, you got lost in the intensity of his stare. A thin sheen of sweat coated his skin. Even if it wasn’t too warm in the room, the heat between the two of you was absolutely sweltering. You were light headed from the kisses and the chance to finally be with Simeon in such a way. Even if it was all a farce, you were going to take whatever he gave you. At least you would have plenty of material to keep you company on the nights you didn’t get to spend with him.

It was so much better to have Simeon involved. There seemed to be so much more than you doing a favor for the man you worked with. There was a tension, a charge as he held something back from you. You couldn’t place your finger on what it was; but it didn’t matter. All you had to do was accept the toy he was pushing into you. You expected something bigger than his fingers the last time, but you weren’t prepared to be stretched open so suddenly by a larger than average toy. You gasped, arching your back to adjust around it a bit better.

“Are you okay, little lamb?” He asked softly, concern in his eyes as he searched your face for any signs of discomfort. With his glasses slipping down his nose, it was the most endearing sight you had ever seen before.

Little lamb. He had never used pet names with you before. Just that little bit of affection was all you needed to get over the uncomfortable feeling of having the intrusion of the toy being pushed into you with little warning. “I’m fine… You can keep going.” You reassured, rolling your hips towards him.

Looking down, you could see strained his pants had become and you felt rather guilty for being the only one on the receiving end of the whole exchange. However, the moment he started to move the toy in and out of you, your mind went blank and you could only focus on yourself. You knew he could see just how stretched out you were around the phallic device. He could see just how wet you were from making out with him and just how undone you could become when you were around him.

The wet sounds of the toy entering you over and over filled the room and your breathy sighs turned into moans. You clutched at the throw beneath you as you let him use your body for his gain. You’d deal with making sure he got his own just desserts later; for now, all you cared about was pretending the toy inside of you was actually Simeon’s cock.

He was relentless, having calculated just what he needed to do days before you had come over. He knew what he wanted out of your body and he was going to coax it all out of you. The sound of your moans mingling with the lewd wet noises that came from your pussy was an absolutely intoxicating combination and he had a growing problem in his pants that he would need to take care of soon. But, that could wait; the most important part of his research was right in front of him and that needed his utmost attention.

He tucked way the image of your writhing body for later. The scent of your arousal was filed away for later and the feel of your soft skin brushing against his hands as he worked the toy in and out of you was etched into his memory. He didn’t need to record anything this time around, not when the image was so vivid and he was participating so directly with it. It was all he ever dreamed about. There was nothing better than feeling and seeing the scene for himself.

Even if his cock ached for release and his body screamed for him to do something about his own growing arousal, he was only ever focused on how close you were to cumming. The pitch of your moans changed and the way your body squirmed changed when you were getting close to that moment when the dams of pleasure broke. “Eyes on me, Little Lamb. I want to see your face when you cum...” He commanded.

You were powerless to deny him. Your eyes had been screwed shut since he started to vigorously thrust the toy into you cracked open only to see his free hand holding yet another toy. You heard it hum to life and as you started to comprehend what he was about to do, your whole body was set aflame in an onslaught of sensations as he pressed the vibrator against your sensitive clit.

You screamed, your whole body convulsing as he simultaneously shoved the toy as far as it would go into you, filling your hole. You wanted to look away, ashamed at how wantonly your body was reacting under his ministrations. But his command remained firm in your mind and you forced yourself to look at him as you came undone, screaming his name and shuddering at the force of your orgasm.

There was a hunger in his eyes you never saw before. A primal energy that made you terrified of what he was capable of. Yet, the part that craved him and the company he gave overpowered that and you were thrown into a high of pleasure you hadn’t ever experienced. You couldn’t catch your breath as he was relentless in his trials. As soon as the brunt of your orgasm was over, he tossed the vibrator to the side, pulled the toy out of you and bent down to kiss your deeply.

“You did so well, Little Lamb...” he purred, once again assuming the image of a sex god you saw briefly before. “But I’m far from satisfied with just one trial.”

You mind went blank as you realized the night had only begun. You saw the array of ‘tests’ he had lined up and you knew you weren’t going to get much sleep at all. “Well, don’t let me get in the way of your experiments.”

The way the light caught his glasses when he pulled away made him look a hint maniacal. There was the barest trace of a smirk that played at the corner of his lips when he wrote a few quick notes in his little notebook. Once he was done, he picked up another pair of toys and assessed your still trembling body.

“I hope you’re ready, Little lamb… I’ve only just begun.”

Somehow, you had unknowingly unleashed a demon from within him.

#Obey me #obey me simeon #Obey me fanfiction #Obey Me AU #Simeon x Reader #My Writing #i'm trash you're trash we're all trash #I absolutely hated writing this and I'm pretty sure it shows #Hopefully it's not as bad as I think it is

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healthycoffeeguy · 3 years

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Check out When Rock & Roll Was… on Mercari!

Check out what I just listed on Mercari. Tap the link to sign up and get up to $30 off. https://item.mercari.com/gl/m75156938437/

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When Rock & Roll Was Young / Various Artists

All discs in like new condition.

This box set includes 140 tunes on 10 CDs.

Disc 1:

1. Palisades Park - Freddy Cannon

2. Big Boy Pete - The Olympics

3. One Kiss for Old Times' Sake - Ronnie Dove

4. Trouble in Paradise - The Crests

5. Once in a While - The Chimes

6. Running Bear - Johnny Preston

7. When We Get Married - The Dreamlovers

8. A Million to One - Jimmy Charles

9. Guardian Angel - The Imaginations

10. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans - Freddy Cannon

11. Timothy - The Buoys

12. Take Me as I Am - The Duprees

13. Valerie - Jackie & the Starlites

14. Willow Weep for Me - Chad & Jeremy

Disc 2:

1. Try the Impossible - Lee Andrews & The Hearts

2. Trickle Trickle - The Videos

3. What's Your Name - Don & Juan

4. The Gleam in Your Eye - Earl Lewis & The Channels

5. My Own True Love - The Duprees

6. Wine, Wine, Wine - The Nightcaps

7. Till Then - The Classics

8. Heart's Desire - The Avalons

9. Right or Wrong - Ronnie Dove

10. What Time Is It - The Jive Five

11. Pretty Little Angel - The Crests

12. The Closer You Are - Earl Lewis & The Channels

13. Action - Freddy Cannon

14. Feel So Fine - Johnny Preston

Disc 3:

1. One Summer Night - The Danleers

2. Tell Me Why - The Belmonts

3. Step by Step - The Crests

4. Winchester Cathedral - The New Vaudeville Band

5. Yesterday's Gone - Chad & Jeremy

6. Tallahassee Lassie - Freddy Cannon

7. Baby Oh Baby - The Shells

8. Loop De Loop - Johnny Thunder

9. Why Don't You Believe Me - The Duprees

10. Dance by the Light of the Moon - The Olympics

11. Mountain of Love - Ronnie Dove

12. Don't, Don't Don't Drop Out - Ronnie & The Schoolmates

13. Teardrops - Lee Andrews & The Hearts

14. Pipeline - The Chantays

Disc 4:

1. Have You Heard - The Duprees

2. Peanut Butter - The Marathons

3. Sandy - Larry Hall

4. Mixed-up, Shook-up Girl - Patty & The Emblems

5. Cradle of Love - Johnny Preston

6. Moonlight Cocktails - The Riveras

7. Beach Baby - First Class

8. Solitaire - The Embers

9. Deserie - The Charts

10. Six Nights a Week - The Crests

11. Goodnight Baby - The Imaginations

12. Transistor Sister - Freddy Cannon

13. Say You - Ronnie Dove

14. You Gave Me Somebody to Love - The Dreamlovers

Disc 5:

1. Wild Thing - The Troggs

2. Hang On Sloopy - The McCoys

3. A Groovy Kind of Love - The Mindbenders

4. Western Union - The Five Americans

5. Hats Off to Larry - Del Shannon

6. California Sun - The Rivieras

7. Crimson & Clover - Tommy James & The Shondells

8. The Boy from New York City - The Ad-Libs

9. Leader of the Pack - The Shangri-Las

10. Devil With a Blue Dress On - Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels

11. Love Is All Around - The Troggs

12. Sugar Sugar - The Archies

13. The Game of Love - Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders

14. I Think We're Alone Now - Tommy James & The Shondells

Disc 6:

1. Jim Dandy - Lavern Baker

2. Lipstick on Your Collar - Connie Francis

3. Sweet Nothin's - Brenda Lee

4. Mr. Lee - The Bobbettes

5. Eddie My Love - The Teen Queens

6. Lollipop - The Chordettes

7. Born Too Late - The Poni-Tails

8. What a Difference a Day Makes - Dinah Washington

9. Pink Shoe Laces - Dodie Stevens

10. Ivory Tower - Cathy Carr

11. Teach Me Tonight - The DeCastro Sisters

12. Tonight You Belong to Me - Patience & Prudence

13. Don't You Know - Della Reese

14. Cry Me a River - Julie London

Disc 7:

1. Sixteen Candles - The Crests

2. Cara Mia - Jay & The Americans

3. At the Hop - Danny & The Juniors

4. Little Darlin' - The Diamonds

5. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry

6. Runaway - Del Shannon

7. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - The Platters

8. Why Do Fools Fall in Love - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers

9. Under the Boardwalk - The Drifters

10. This I Swear - The Skyliners

11. Maybe - The Chantels

12. Let's Hang On - The Four Seasons

13. La Bamba - Ritchie Valens

14. Shout! - The Isley Brothers

Disc 8:

1. Earth Angel - The Penguins

2. Since I Don't Have You - The Skyliners

3. You Belong to Me - The Duprees

4. Sherry - The Four Seasons

5. I Only Have Eyes for You - The Flamingos

6. Tears on My Pillow - Little Anthony & The Imperials

7. Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & The Comets

8. My Girl - The Temptations

9. Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino

10. The Great Pretender - The Platters

11. Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison

12. California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas

13. Do You Love Me - The Contours

14. Walk On By - Dionne Warwick

Disc 9:

1. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - Jerry Lee Lewis

2. All I Have to Do Is Dream - The Everly Brothers

3. I Wonder Why - Dion & The Belmonts

4. You Cheated - The Shields

5. I'm So Young - The Students

6. Book of Love - The Monotones

7. Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins

8. Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis

9. Wake Up Little Susie - The Everly Brothers

10. Stormy Weather - The Spaniels

11. The Angels Listened In - The Crests

12. Susie Q - Dale Hawkins

13. Short Shorts - The Royal Teens

14. Church Bells May Ring - The Willows

Disc 10:

1. Lightnin' Strikes - Lou Christie

2. Rescue Me - Fontella Bass

3. Downtown - Petula Clark

4. Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett

5. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye - Steam

6. The Rain, The Park and Other Things - The Cowsills

7. My Booyfriend's Back - The Angels

8. No Particular Place to Go - Chuck Berry

9. But I Do - Clarence "Frogman" Henry

10. Where the Boys Are - Connie Francis

11. Wolly Bully - Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs

12. It's My Party - Leslie Gore

13. You're the One - The Vogues

14. A Summer Song - Chad & Jeremy

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rakeshys · 4 years

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Things you should be knowing as student

1) If you take control of your Sunday, you take control of your week.

2) When assigned a long-term project, finish some amount of work toward its completion that very same day.

3) Start small and start immediately.

4) If you cannot maintain an organized room you will never truly feel that your life is organized.

5) It is important to keep your room clean. And it will make your mother happy.

6) Apply to the scholarships.

7) You should never begin studying without a systemized plan for what you are going to review, in what format, and how many times.

8) Before you even crack your first book, take ten minutes to actually write down exactly how you plan to study.

9) The planning is as important as the process.

10) If you want to become a standout student, you must befriend a professor.

11) Reading a daily paper provides essential food for your ambitious brain. Make sure you don't go hungry.

12) if you are constantly worried about avoiding anything negative, you will never do anything out of the ordinary.

13) Don't let others dictate how you should feel about yourself; strengthen your identity—then go conquer your world.

14) do yourself a favor and give time-blocking a try. It's a much smarter way to manage your day.

15) Remember, giving up, when done strategically, is not a weakness. It's simply smart life management.

16) The happiest students are also the most involved students. When it comes to crafting your slate of collegiate pursuits, the sooner you get involved, the better.

17) always be working on a"grand project "

18) take art history and astronomy before you graduate.

19) Imagine the following scene: Your professor is handing back a major research paper to your class. The groans that begin to fill the room indicate that the professor was particularly demanding for this assignment. And rightly so, it's worth forty percent of your grade. As he gets to your name, he asks you to stay after class. Uh oh. Nervously you wait as your classmates file out, and when you are the only student remaining in the lecture hall, he walks up to you . . . and then shakes your hand. “Congratulations,” he exclaims, “your project was by far the best in the class!”

Sound good? Well, get used to it.

20) One or two good questions a class is enough to keep the professor happy, but not enough to solicit the annoyance of your classmates.

21) Getting involved with research early is like drinking an elixir of success.

22) If you pay your dues with grace and enthusiasm and are mindful of the opportunity you are receiving, you will maximize the many positive benefits of participating in original research work.

23) Take ten-minute breaks in between each fifty-minute chunk.

24) One, it makes you feel better about yourself. If you look good, you can imagine that cute guy or dimpled girl in the front row shooting some glances in your direction. This will make you happy. And when you are happy, you have more energy and pay attention better in class. Two, it makes the day official. When you look like you just rolled out of bed, it's all too easy to imagine rolling back in. If you dressnicely, you are sending yourself the message that you are ready to get started and attack the day.

25) Decorate your room.

26) experience the joy of dominating a test without any hard work,this is done by studying Two weeks in advance.

27) Force yourself to write as much as possible. It is an essential, irreplaceable skill for succeeding. Master it.

28) taking the time to eat a social meal with your friends is a great idea; just don't do it more than once a day.

29) Schedule an escape for yourself every single week. And do it alone. Treat it like taking medicine.

30) “Why waste your time and money in the minor leagues of college courses when you have the ability to be swinging in the majors.”

31) When it comes time to study, go where it counts.

32)The best way to learn difficult material is to go over it by yourself, with a lot of concentration, again and again and again until the concepts become second nature.

33) As long as you are paying so much money to attend college, you might as well maximize what you get out of your investment. If you can get into an honors program, do so. No excuses.

34) The key is consistency.

35) Getting fired up, once or twice a month about subjects that interest you, will go a long to way to helping you succeed. Go to guest lectures and keep your intellectual fires stoked.

36) Don't let the decision to exercise become a debatable question. Instead, make it a habit, like going to class or brushing your teeth.

37) You never realize how important your back-home friendships are until you begin to lose them. Stay in touch.

38) Sleep is just a tool to help you function. Treat your body like a machine—give it exactly what it needs to perform its best, not any more, not any less. Give the snooze button a rest. Try to sleep only the amount you need to make it through the day.

39) The best state for your mind to be in is confident and calm. Take the hour before an exam to relax.

40) Read a nonacademic book. Listen to music that makes you happy. Run a couple of errands. Have a conversation with a friend. Work on unrelated—nondemanding—schoolwork. The key is to keep your mind active and energized, but not exhausted. Then head over to the exam fifteen minutes early. On the way, start to lightly review some material that you feel particularly good about. Imagine yourself writing a strong essay on this topic, imagine the professor handing the class a copy of your essay as an example of a good answer. This technique is more than just shameless ego-stroking, it builds your confidence, and, more important, it warms up your mind in a good and controlled sort ofway. When you arrive at the test location, avoid the temptation to frantically catalog all the concepts you are a little shaky on. Try to keep your mind blank, or, alternatively, continue thinking confidence-boosting thoughts about doing really well. When the exam is finally handed out, take a deep breath and have at it. You should be mentally nimble, rested, and energized by the time your pen hits the paper.

41) If a friend invites you to do something and you are not too busy, find the energy to go. If a friend invites you to do something, and you are really busy, don't go, but make plans to get together later in the week. Most important, if a good friend needs help, drop everything and go.

Making friends your number one priority doesn't mean sacrificing your other obligations, but it does demand that you keep them in mind.

42) Be mature and make the right decisions to keep your mind and body in a condition to perform your best.

43) The point is that there are too many factors that can account for both good and mediocre academic performance on any given day, and none of these factors has anything to do with intelligence.

So save yourself a lot of unjustified grief (or pride), and simply ignore your classmates' grades. Worry about your performance and progress; let your classmates worry about their own.

44) A good listener at college is rare.

45) Don't decide to start working the day before.

46) Find something every single day that will make you laugh.

47) Using a high-quality notebook will not guarantee you success, but it will create the right environment for it to flourish.

48) if you don't actively seek out fun, it won't actively seek out you.

49) Take the most important projects or commitments with which you are involved, and pump up your criteria for success.

50) corporate recruitment sessions, and yes, even parties. In the chaos of classes, extracurricular activities, and a healthy social schedule, these optional events are easy to avoid. Don't avoid them.

51) If you want to be a successful student, forget about your G.P.A. Ignore it. Don't talk about it. Make no attempt to know the numbers. You should approach your collegiate career with confidence and energy.

52) Always go to class!

53) Set arbitrary deadlines.

54) eat healthy

55) don't just volunteer, volunteer quietly.

56) approach every paper as if you were trying to win a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting.

57) Attend political rallies and keep the flame of progressive thinking alive.

58) Once you have decided on a destination, explore many routes to get you there.

59) Don't take breaks between classes!

60) Don't network. But keep your connections strong.

61) If you can maximize the use of your surroundings, you can maximize your performance as a student.

62) Organize the messages in your e-mail in-box like you would your paper files

63) To be a successful student, you must abandon the start-slow, end-fast mind-set, and instead approach all projects by aiming to start fast, end slow.

64) Spend a semester studying abroad.

65) you want to succeed because you love the excitement of pushing your potential and exploring your world and new experiences, if you want to succeed because life is short and why not fill it with as much activity as possible, then you will win. If you approach life with an attitude of never having regrets and always having a hopeful smile on your face, you can find a measure of success in all your endeavors. Don't have no regrets, but have plenty of fun along the way. In the end, that is what it is to really win.

66) “Don't have no regrets.”

The above points are all from the book I read...

Book: - HOW TO WIN AT COLLEGE: - surprising secrets from the country's top student's

Author: - CAL NEWPORT

Anime forever ✌

#student #college #school hacks #college hacks

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erosjock · 3 years

Text

27 Ways to Get Over a Breakup, Like, Right Now

Going through a breakup is low-key the best time to rebrand yourself. You can be whoever you want to be, do whatever you want to do, and try anything you want to try without having to consider anyone but yourself.

But considering breakups = losing someone who was consistently in your life, it can be easy to dwell on the past instead of looking at what your future self can bring to the table. Completely understandable.

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

So to help you cope with all things breakup (since, hi, your future best self is waiting), we’ve sourced a bunch of tangible, practical ways you can actually get over someone according to experts who want to help. Because yes, sometimes buying yourself flowers at the grocery store is a lil start.

Sex Expert Reacts to Iconic Sex Scenes on RIOT TV

How You Get Over a Breakup, by Zodiac Sign

1. Shower daily. I know this seems small, but trust, it makes all the difference. “Prioritizing your hygiene and taking pride in how you look can often make you feel better inside,” says licensed clinical psychologist Kristie Norwood. So get yourself a morning and nighttime routine that requires a rinse in the shower. After all, shower thoughts are the best kind of thoughts, and it might be super therapeutic. Small wins are the best wins.

2. Create a vision board. Yup, it’s time to paint a badass picture of what your future is about to look like. (Time to get on that manifesting kick). “After breakups, it’s important to figure out what your life will look like without the relationship as it was,” says Norwood. So pick up some magazines—yes, full permission to grab some Cosmos— and cut out images that you put into art your life goals and desires.

3. Treat yourself to a new sex toy. Luckily for you, vibrators come completely drama-free (and in some cases, are better than the real deal). “Cleanse yourself of any negative energy through an orgasm,” says sex educator Yael Rosenstock Gonzalez. An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away (...that’s the saying, right?).

4. Go to therapy It’s time to make an appointment for therapy, suggests licensed clinical social worker Amalia Miralrío. Especially considering an unbiased perspective could offer you insight that you weren’t able to process yourself. Get started with some free options here.

Benefits of the No Contact Rule Post-Breakup

5. Buy yourself a big bouquet of pink roses. Put them in a vase, water them, and wait for them to wilt. When it’s time to throw them out, check in with your feelings. Guess what? By the time those roses die, you’ll already feel better. Then, keep buying yourself roses, recommends Veronica Yip, a San Diego resident who swears by this hack.

6. Visit a rage room. It’s…a legit thing. “Get out all your anger and smash objects to your heart’s content,” recommends Lauren Cook, who holds a master’s in marriage and family therapy.

7. Go on that vacation you’ve been dying to—even if it’s by yourself. “Getting away to an exotic location or somewhere peaceful is a potent source of distraction,” says therapist Rev. Sheri Heller. What’s better than lounging beachside with a good book, frozen drank, and the ocean waves? Talk about self-care.

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8. Rearrange your home. Get rid of all those bad memories. “A new look creates space for new memories. Out with the old, inviting the new,” recommends Krysta Monet creator and founder of The Feminine Truth.

9. Purge your relationship junk drawer. Yes, this includes that ticket stub you’ve kept from your first date. “You don’t need the reminders of a relationship that is no longer,” says Robyn Koenig, professional dating coach and CEO at Rare Find.

How Long It Actually Takes to Get Over a Breakup

10. Write hate mail to your ex. But don’t actually send it (and tell your sister not to either, à la Lara Jean). “The caveat is not to mail the letter but to do a ceremonial burning to get rid of the toxic energy,” recommends Samantha Gregory, author of No More Crumbs: How to Stop Dating for Crumbs and Get the Cake You Finally Deserve.

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11. Say yes to everything. “This is especially useful if you’ve been in a long-term relationship where you’ve compromised and negotiated what you ate, where you went, what you watched, and who you socialized with,” says Trish McDermott, CEO of Meetopolis Dating. “Who are you and what makes just *you* happy? Now is the time to find out.”

12. Eat alone. Whether you take yourself out to your favorite Thai place or make a home-cooked dinner, sit at the table and eat in silence. “Becoming comfortable with newly found silence is part of the recovery process,” says Megan Cannon, owner of Back to Balance Counseling.

13. Sign up for a boxing class—or any other type of fighting class. “Sometimes you need to find an outlet to divert the negative energies you get after a breakup,” says Celia Schweyer, dating and relationship expert at DatingScout. Trust, punching the eff out of something will *def* help with this added stress.

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14. Block them from your Instagram/Snapchat. If the temptation to see if they’ve been paying attention to your Stories is too much, just block them. This way, when you do start to get out there and share your day-to-day activities again, you’ll know there’s zero part of you that’s performatively “acting over it” in the hopes your ex will see it.

15. Don’t shit-talk your ex too much. Sure, it feels good to trash-talk your ex with your besties, and hearing that you were better than them from the start feels like a drug, but don’t rely on it. Hearing your friends bring down someone who made you feel shitty feels like it should be justified in the grand karmic scheme of things, but your health and happiness need not be contingent on someone else’s pain and suffering.

16. Don’t immediately suggest to “stay friends”—and if they do, tell them you need to think about it. This is an impulse because you don’t want to seem like you care too much about the breakup. Because you’re so chill. You’re so chill that your heart isn’t beating. Aaand, you’re dead. But truthfully, during this stilted, awkward breaking-up period, it’s hard to tell whether you’ll be able to be friends. Generally, one person wants to be friends and the other wants to be more. Gotta work that shit out before it can be a healthy friendship…if it ever can be. You’re not admitting defeat by not staying friends with them.

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crispyjenkins · 4 years

Text

20-ish Questions

Book Edition

Tagged by my darling @dbakeiro, haven’t been reading much recently, but this was fun!

1. hardcover or paperback

both! i love tiny hardbacks and big paperbacks the most tho

2. rent or buy

buy. i’ve been a used book reader since i could read at all, i love buying from little used bookstores on the coast. i’m from portland and i’m DEVASTATED that powell’s turned more into a retail bookstore.

3. reads in silence or reads with music

same as dicky, i’m always listening to music. altho when i was doing the most reading, i wasn’t listening to music yet much so maybe both!

4. standalone or series

i have a few series that i super super love, but find i fall in love with single stories more, so i’ll go with standalone

5. annotations or pristine pages

two answers: i fucking LOVE buying a used copy of something full of annotations because i love annotations and essays and love seeing how someone else experienced a story, BUT i also never find myself annotating my own copies of stuff :/ don’t actually know why

6. ebook or physical copy

never had cause to read an ebook, actually. like i said, i don’t read much outside of fanfiction these days

7. dog ears or bookmarks

i have so many bookmarks and always plan to use them and then absolutely never do. dogears til i die

8. mismatched series or complete set

depends! my shakespeare collection is every play is from a different edition/run, and i often don’t actually finish a series all the way through so i don’t end up with every book in the first place.

on the OTHER HAND my song of the lioness quartet has three different runs and ONLY the second book has a good cover and it drives me BONKERS

9. cover matters or you don’t judge

cover matters, ‘cause adhd, but super isn’t the only thing i look at! altho if it doesn’t have a synopsis and only has blurbs, i 99% of the time put it back, i dunno i just don’t have the patience?

10. lend books or keep them to yourself

not to be all sob sob lonely, but i really don’t interact with people i can share books with! my family have always been big readers, and there’s some contention who gets to move out with which books lol but i moved out first so i’ve got all the ones i wanted 🙃

11. enjoys lit classes or despises them

oh boy, big question. liked eighth grade lit the most, my teacher pushed me in a lot a lot a lot of good ways and is sort of the reason i write at all, but i’m not super into trying to discuss a book with people who didn’t want to read it. otherwise, i loved english classes, specifically my ap course in my last year of high school, which was about syntax, both fiction and non fiction essays, and rhetoric. never vibed so hard with a class before.

12. browses shops or orders online

browse shops! i rarely NEED to get a book right away for any reason, so i don’t tend to order online, unless waitlist at the library counts?

13. reads reviews or goes in blind

i’ll check the blurbs on the covers to see if i know anyone (like if i see neil geiman, i trust this book) but otherwise, i never read reviews. never think to?

14. unreturned books or clean library record

yes.

15. rereads or once was enough

reread for sure! some stuff i never go back to (or never finish......) but anything i like i’ve ready upwards of five times. there was this novella i stayed up all night reading and it’s the only book i’ve ever cried over and i immediately flipped back to the start and read it again.

16. fanfic enthusiast or a stickler for canon

fanfic. largely because that’s where i tend to find the stories i want to read at all, but also where’s the fun in only doing things by canon? (also the term canon comes from biblical literature and the bible has never been one thing either ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ canon is fake)

17. deep reader or easily distracted

both, depending. i have adhd so i’m often distracted while reading, but with the perfect conditions, i’ve easily lost nine to ten hours and have no idea where they went.

18. must read the book before seeing the movie or order doesn’t matter

depends! i usually try to seperate them as different interpretations of the same story, but i do like having the knowledge from both. what gets me is when movies change unnecessary things? like making that dress pink when it was blue, or i dunno, blowing up the fucking burrow in half blood prince???

19. neat bookshelves or messy bookshelves

i tend to be both, but i don’t actually have bookshelves right now. haven’t in five years. they’re all in boxes and i’m suffering.

20. skips ahead or resists temptation

i skip ahead in paragraphs ‘cause my attention jumps, or maybe onto the next facing page, but i never look further than that!

21. reads aloud or in your head

fucking HATE being read to, it was such a family bonding thing that i just super did not like so i do feel i missed out on some stuff, but some of my happiest memories with my baby sib and a family friend we don’t talk to anymore were when i was reading murther fic to them as we fell asleep (ノ*´◡`)

22. guesses plot twists or never sees them coming

i tend to guess small details that lead to the plot twists, but often miss where it’s going as a whole! i’m rarely like, fucked up by a plot twist, but i do get excited when it wasn’t something i saw coming.

as dicky said, you can tell a lot about people by what they read! soooo i’m tagging @atelier-dayz, @theclonewarsbrokeme, and @drjackal-and-mrsnide! this one is super long, so you’re more than free to pass this one up~

Originally posted by thesunshineatsunset

#tagging game #dbakeiro #not star wars #long post

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damienthepious · 4 years

Text

i am out of ways to say hi it’s tuesday fic time. but hi, it’s tuesday! fic time.

Scattered On My Shore (Chapter 8)

[Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Ch 5] [Ch 6] [Ch 7] [ao3] [Ch 9] [Ch 10] [Ch 11] [Ch 12] [Ch 13] [Ch 14] [Ch 15] [Ch 16] [Ch 17] [Ch 18] [Ch 19]

Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast

Relationship: Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla, Sir Damien/Rilla

Characters: Rilla, Lord Arum, Sir Damien

Additional Tags: Second Citadel, Lizard Kissin’ Tuesday, Pre-Relationship, (for the three of them. it’s established r/d), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Injury, Injury Recovery, Hurt/Comfort, (this will also be), Enemies to Lovers, (for damien and arum eventually lol)

Fic Summary: Strange things wash up out of the lake near Rilla’s hut, on occasion. But this monster… this monster is certainly the strangest.

Chapter Summary: Rilla is starting to feel a little like they're bonding. Arum is unconvinced. Damien is on his own journey.

Chapter Notes: Fam this one gets weird. Chapter specific warnings for overt threats of violence, characters being restrained, implications of a canon-compliant death, and I think that's it? Oh forgive me, this chapter is long and my day has been even longer. Hey, I love you. <3

Rilla fills a basket with anything she thinks might interest him even a little. She doesn't have much of a fiction section (most of it is borrowed from or gifted by Damien, actually), so she just kinda scoops that entire little shelf in with the rest.

"Obviously I don't know what you might like," she says later in the afternoon when he's woken again, and he stares at her in alarm over the assorted pile as she sets it down next to the cot, where he'll be able to reach without much strain. "But I figured that now that you're awake more often, you might want some reading material."

"I don't-" he sputters, frowning down at the books in indignation. "I cannot imagine any human storybooks could hold my attention for a single moment."

"That's fine," Rilla says with a shrug. "I'm pretty sure I don't have any kids' reading material, so you should be safe on that front. There's a bit of fiction in there, but that's not really my thing so I can't give you any personal recommendations there. Mostly it's field guides, bestiaries, treatises on certain scientific concepts, collections of recipes, censuses of certain herb families, medical guides- just a whole bunch about a whole bunch, really. If you get bored enough, I'm sure something in there will be worth a read," she says casually, and then while he's still stammering through a growl she gives him a bright, disarming smile (he actually pulls his head back, blinking) and then she skips right back to the door. "I've got an experiment I gotta keep an eye on for an hour or so, I'm sure you can keep yourself out of trouble for that long, but if you need me just shout, okay?"

He stares at her, mouth hanging just slightly open, so she grins a little wider and leaves him to it, keeping the door cracked just an inch or so as she goes.

He'll never pick a single one of the damn things up if she's there to gloat about it, but if she just leaves him to stew in his own inactivity unsupervised for a while, she's sure the temptation right there next to him will do the trick.

Sure enough, the next time she comes in (current pretense: a little cadre of plants by the window require watering. Could it have waited? Almost certainly), he's pretending to sleep (she can tell the difference) and the books are definitely rifled through. She's almost positive that it's at least one tome lighter, actually, and she's pretty confident that if she snooped she'd find the missing book tucked into the covers or under the lizard's pillow.

When she comes in with dinner he's given up the pretense on his end, scowling and waving one particular book in the air between them.

"What is this nonsense? " he snarls. "This information is spurious at best, Amaryllis. Some entries are passable, perhaps, but clearly you know nothing about-"

She tilts her head to try to figure out which book he's taken such offense at, and she's moderately unsurprised to see that it's one of the bestiaries. Okay, fair.

"Which ones are wrong?" she asks as she sets his food down on the table beside him, making no effort to disguise her enthusiasm, and he pauses, blinking at her. "I had Damien snag that from a library in the Citadel so I could make my own copy- with corrections, obviously. Actually, hang on-"

She spins on her heel and jogs to retrieve her half-written pile of unbound notes and her recorder from the front room, and she's already recording and shuffling through the pages when she returns.

"Which ones are bunk?" she asks with relish. "Frankly I've never trusted that author, I don't think he ever actually came within ten miles of the Western Wastes. His descriptions of western monsters always seemed the most vague, and they don't match up with other reports and firsthand accounts I'm aware of."

Arum snorts. "That stands to reason , " he growls, and then he smacks the page with the back of a hand. "Sickle-Claws are feathered, obviously, and half the size he has claimed."

"I knew it," she says, pulling the stool close and sitting by the bed. "That fraud wouldn't know an Everdead if someone whipped a branch back in his face."

He laughs again, apparently just as amused by that mental image as Rilla is, and then he starts flipping through the book, pointing out mistakes and false claims and outright fabrications with a smug sort of pleasure, and Rilla shows him her own notes, her amendments and additions from her own research, and he wrinkles his snout but he can't seem to find a complaint to voice, except specifically regarding her sideline notes on the magic involved in certain creatures.

"That isn't how magic works, Amaryllis." He shakes his head. "You can't predict it, because it is by definition unpredictable. If you try to shove it into a single labeled box all you will do is cut your hands in the attempt. Humans cannot possibly comprehend the true incomprehensibility of the larger universe."

Rilla raises an eyebrow. "I can comprehend quite a lot, Arum."

"Perhaps," he says with a sneer. "But if you expect magic to conform to consistent rules like your other natural and mathematical laws, you will be sorely disappointed," he hisses, gesturing to another book from the pile. "Magic is larger than that. It is outside of such constraints, as the Universe itself is."

"Just because it has different rules, doesn't mean it's incomprehensible-"

"No, no-" he shakes his head sharply and then then winces.

"Careful, Arum, c'mon-"

"Hush, it is simply sore, little doctor. As I was saying- magic does not have different rules. There are no rules. "

"Everything has rules, Arum. It's just a matter of figuring them out, regardless of how complex or granular-"

"Your assumption that everything in the Universe can be understood is precisely why you will never be able to understand, human. You cannot see outside your own level. I have moved beyond that."

Rilla frowns, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Cool. Good for you."

He chokes, almost a third laugh. "That- you ridiculous little-"

"I'm sure all that big picture stuff is real fun, Arum, and if you actually tried to explain any of it I'm sure it would be fascinating as hell, but if it doesn't have structure, if it can't be used reliably, I don't really see the point."

"It- it is not meant to be used, Amaryllis, it simply is."

"See, and that's cool too, but my needs as a doctor and a researcher mean that I'm less interested in the whole cosmic mystery and more interested in practical application," she says, tapping the book in his claws. "I learn the rules so that I understand how they can be used. If there aren't any rules- well, that's not exactly going to expand my toolkit, is it? Either it's understandable and useful to me, or you're right and it's incomprehensible, which means it's not much more than a curiosity, y'know?"

He frowns more deeply, turning his face away from her and making a noncommittal noise.

She pokes at the book again, and he blinks at her warily. "Hey. What about this one? I've never seen any other documentation of Syokoy as far northwest as he claims."

His snout wrinkles again, but his posture relaxes slightly as he growls into another scathing correction, and Rilla relaxes too. It's almost easy, like this. Almost comfortable.

One thing that's become more awkward now that Arum is consistently lucid: bathing.

And, like, Rilla is a professional, obviously. She's needed to give sponge baths to bed-bound patients more times than she could count, and she's already bathed him once while he was much less coherent, but-

He's so, so embarrassed to need the help.

Now that he's strong enough, she can let him do most of the work at least, and the only embarrassing, strangely charged part of the process is when she needs to help him wash his back. He can't really reach behind himself, yet, with how torn up his front is, with one of his wrists broken, so she has to scoot behind him and scrub down his gently gleaming scales.

He really doesn't seem to have many scars, beneath his newer injuries. She wonders about that, but she knows better than to ask. She just does her job, doing her best not to flinch when he does.

Rilla tries not to revive the argument about magic if she can avoid it. She's definitely interested in it, she wants to know what he'll say, really, but- it agitates him to a degree that she figures is probably not great for his current state. His throat is nearly recovered (his voice is still rough and fascinating, but there's a sort of murmuring musicality to it, too, now that he's had enough time to recover from the near-drowning part of his injuries), so she would really rather avoid making the monster shout. She'll pin that one for later.

Not that they don't argue. He's remarkably opinionated, and he takes umbrage with a number of the books in her collection. He seems baffled by just the structure of most of her instructional and encyclopedic tomes. Anything that's arranged alphabetically infuriates him.

"It is entirely arbitrary, takatakataka. They may as well be in an order that is entirely random."

"In what way would that be helpful?"

"There is a list at the beginning, and it tells you exactly where everything can be found!"

Rilla raises an eyebrow. "Uh… and?"

"Anyone may read this and find the information!"

Rilla blinks. "That's… kind of the point? To share the information?"

Arum pulls his head back, eying her in alarm. "That- I- but- if anyone can access it, how can it be useful to you? If anyone can do what you can do, how can you barter your skills?"

"Hm," Rilla frowns, just slightly. "I mean, just looking at my own profession- just because someone reads a book of remedies, doesn't mean they'll have the skills to implement them. It's less than half of it, even. You need training, too, an apprenticeship, and then personal experience. Practice. The books are important to the learning process, and no one can be expected to hold all that information in their head at the same time, but it's not the whole of it."

He tilts his head, considering that. "I suppose."

"Besides," she says, "I'm sure there are books with secrets, books that aren't meant to be shared, but those are probably kept somewhere hidden."

"Interesting," he hisses.

"Okay, so- if monster books aren't meant to give information to others, what's the point of them?"

"To save information for yourself. My predecessors-" he pauses.

She knows that look, by now. He thinks he's said too much. She rolls her eyes, sighs, and changes the subject.

Rilla isn't sleeping well.

Her sleep is strange apparently by nature; she sleeps deeply but in short bursts, and she has a habit of rising in the middle of the night for some water or to relieve herself only to be distracted by a book or an idea or an experiment clear until morning. Hell, she'll sleep whenever, for an hour or so at a time. It amuses Damien, but his own sleep habits are so firmly regimented by his work (when he isn't being plagued to sleeplessness by his mind) that he rarely wakes when she slips from the bed at night.

Currently, though, she's having a little bit of a hard time falling asleep at all.

Damien knows how to take care of himself. She knows that. She's not entirely sure he's capable of losing a fight. He might get hurt, that's happened entirely too often, but- he wins. He always wins, eventually, even if he has to put himself through hell, first-

She turns over again, presses her face into the pillow, sighs into the dark.

They have an argument to finish, she thinks. Damien would never leave a narrative arc like that unsatisfied.

She gets to sleep eventually. It's enough.

Arum isn't in his cot when Rilla comes in with dinner the third day after Damien leaves, and that's-

That's so entirely surprising that Rilla just kind of- stops, staring at the empty cot with the blankets kicked down for an extended moment, her brow furrowed in confusion, and she's almost relieved when she hears the distinct click of claws on hardwood behind her before she has a moment of wait that's probably not good-

The scaled arm wraps around her midsection from behind, and Rilla jolts, automatically pulling forward and away. He holds tight, though. Shockingly tight, actually, and then there is cool metal by her neck and Rilla knows her own damn scalpel easily and she goes still, because Rilla may be stubborn but she's not stupid.

"Arum," she says, and he growls behind her. She's not- scared, really. The scalpel almost makes it ridiculous, considering the claws. "Arum what the hell are you-"

"I'm leaving, you foolish little primate," he hisses.

"You aren't well enough-"

"I don't care what you think."

"Well you should, Arum, because you can hardly stand and if you think you're going to make it ten steps-"

"I appear to be standing perfectly well just at the moment, little doctor."

She twists just slightly, glancing back towards him as best she can, and she sees that he's stolen one of her crutches. It's not big enough for him, he's remarkably tall when he's not tucked into her cot, and it doesn't look at all comfortable tucked under his lower arm like that, but it's working enough that he's upright, at least. He adjusts his arm around her slightly, growling low.

"Arum," Rilla breathes, and she knows the exact pressure the scalpel in Arum's hands will require to break the skin. He is nowhere near that pressure, but she's very aware of it as an abstract concept, regardless. "Arum this is stupid and you know it."

"Can't even treat me with some respect when I could slit your little throat," he snarls, and she can hear how labored his breathing is. He really shouldn't be standing like this, stolen crutch or no. "Not an ounce of self-preservation in your absurd, fragile body."

"I could say the same damn thing about you, you ridiculous-" she cuts off as Arum shifts his grip on her, not because she's afraid of what he'll do, but because the hiss he gives as he moves sounds more like he's in pain than trying to threaten. "You're gonna get yourself killed because you're too stubborn to just wait until you're actually well enough to-"

"You don't have the first clue what you're talking about. I do not have time to convalesce. I have one purpose, I have one duty, and every moment I lie in that absurd little bed I am failing it. I cannot think, I cannot- I need to return home. I do not care if you understand why, Amaryllis."

"Arum-"

"I thank you for services rendered, such as they were, little doctor. My death would have been assured without you, that is undeniable. And for that, I will not harm you, so long as you do not force my hand," he hisses close by her ear, and then he lifts the last of his hands, and he is holding one of Rilla's syringes with it.

"Arum," Rilla breathes, "what-"

"This is the injection you gave to me before you plucked the basilisk's claw from my ribs. It kept consciousness from me rather effectively for a number of hours. So, little doctor, I must now trust to your expertise."

He adjusts his grip again, meeting her eye over her shoulder and pulling the scalpel further away from her skin.

"Have I gotten the dosage correct, Amaryllis?" he asks, quite seriously, his tone quiet and measured though she can feel him trembling very slightly against her.

She pulls her eyes away from his with some effort and looks at the syringe in question, and then she bites her lip. "It- I mean, good job because you matched exactly the dosage I gave to you, but the thing is-"

"I'm leaving, little human, and nothing you say is going to stop-"

"If you inject me with that I'll go into a coma, and there's a distinct chance I could die." She inhales shakily as Arum blinks at her, then narrows his eyes suspiciously. "You're a monster, Arum, and your metabolism and internal structure are much different from mine. What was perfectly fine and low-risk for you could absolutely kill me."

He stares hard at her for a long moment, frowning hard and trembling lightly, and then he apparently decides she must be telling the truth because he exhales deeply and moves the syringe much further away from her. She tries not to sag in relief, but the tension in her muscles eases enough that she's positive that he must feel it.

"Thank you," she says. "Now just- put down the-"

"I am certain you must have some form of binding in this little hut of yours," he interrupts in a growl, and Rilla blinks, not quite understanding him for a long moment. "Ropes, or scarves or some such. Bandages, those will suffice."

"Arum you can't leave," she tries again, but he's ignoring her now, edging the both of them across the floor towards the cabinets where he's definitely seen her store her bandages. "You won't make it four steps, you'll just get killed and after you've made so much progress-"

"You can stop acting at your leisure, Amaryllis. I am perfectly aware that you do not have the first clue what will happen when you are unable to keep me beneath your thumb any longer. I am simply skipping the intermediary steps. I will not wait for either your pet knight to return with his bow again, or for you to attempt to make me into another pet for yourself. I am leaving, I am going home, and you will not stop me."

When they're close enough to the cabinets, Arum sets the syringe down, then knocks it further along the countertop, out of Rilla's reach. He pulls out a roll of bandages, then glares down at her as she scowls back up at him.

"This is a completely stupid plan," she reiterates, but Arum only frowns more deeply and pushes her to sit on the stool.

"Possibly," he growls, and she rolls her eyes as he pulls her wrists behind her back with surprising gentleness, binding them together at the wrists. "But at least it is a plan, instead of this nonsense inaction."

Rilla tries to pull away, tries to make things difficult for him, but only for a moment. He does still have that scalpel- but really, honestly, she's been working so hard to treat him, to make him well again, and the idea of jerking away too fast or elbowing him to get him away, of twisting his broken wrist (the one wrapped around her, least needed for dexterity, not a bad maneuver), the idea of doing something that might reopen his wounds or hurt him worse- it makes her feel a little sick, actually. She's terrified of what's going to happen to Arum if he tries to walk out her front door on his own with no weapons and a flimsy crutch that can barely support his weight, he's going to get himself hurt, get himself killed-

He's going to hurt himself, but Rilla can't make herself hurt him, to try to get him to stop. She just can't.

"Please," she tries, and his violet eyes flick up to her from where he's knelt to bind her ankles to the legs of the stool. "Arum. Don't do this."

He stands slowly, and she really hasn't gotten the chance to see him at his proper height, yet. He does look a little more dangerous, when he can glare down at her like that with his frill half-flared (he just won't stop pushing himself, the giant ass).

"And what, precisely, do you propose, then? You and your knight had a rather unproductive argument the other day, I must say, though it did rather effectively clarify a number of points for me. The first being, my land is in danger, without me. The second, that your Damien can only be collared for so long before he decides to put an end to this. The third, that you, little doctor, do not have a strategy for how your treatment of the monster will end. You don't have the first clue what you will do with me, when I am too strong again to push and prod and poke-"

"If you die-"

"Then I certainly will not be your problem anymore, little doctor," he hisses, and then he turns to limp his way towards the door.

"All of this is for nothing if you just- Arum, please, I know I've been- stuck in the moment, I know I haven't been thinking about what comes next, and yeah, a lot of that was because I don't know, and I'm scared because I hate not knowing, but- but you don't have to do this. We can figure it out together, please Arum-"

He pauses at the door, leaning heavily against the frame, and then he looks over his shoulder, vivid purple fixing on her one more time.

"Farewell, Amaryllis," he says, his voice almost gentle, "and… thank you."

He closes the door behind him, ignoring the way that Rilla shouts after him, the way she keeps calling his name until she hears the front door open into the night. After a long moment, charged and quiet even of Rilla's voice, that door closes as well.

Somewhere distant, on a gently lapping shore, Sir Damien digs a grave.

His stomach turns, and turns, and his palms hurt against the wood of his shovel. His companion has sweat on her brow, but that is the only indication of any strain. Her expression remains stern and immobile, and Damien cannot possibly say whether she feels as he does, just now. In truth, he does not know if Sir Caroline ever feels… conflicted.

Dirt scatters as it falls. Sir Damien digs to lapping-wave rhythm and intermittent pigeon-coo, with his heart pounding as if it wishes to escape.

He wonders, in a continual refrain, if this was truly the right choice, if there was no other way. If this man could not have been saved .

Monsters, witches, and mercy.

Sir Damien knows good from evil. He knows monsters from man. He knows dark magic from miracle. He knows what is right, and he knows what is wrong.

(The shore laps soft as breath, the lake stands mirror-still, and he has not heard Saint Damien, has not so much as felt a hint of him since-)

Sir Damien wonders if he knows anything at all.

When Rilla finally, finally hears the bandage start to tear, she could just about shout with triumph. Instead, she grits her teeth, grins hard, and pulls harder. It rips more, pulling against her wrists, and then her arms are free so quickly that she almost smacks her hands into the bedside table in their wide swinging arc. She pulls her hands in front of herself first, rubbing at her wrists and assessing the damage (bruised, a little raw, very minor friction burns, nothing a little aloe and time won't fix), and then she reaches for a drawer. Arum may have been paying a little too much attention to where her medical supplies are housed, but Rilla has more than one damned scalpel, and she has it in her hands and slicing through the bandages tied around her legs in no time flat. She hasn't been pulling on those, so no damage to inventory there, at least.

She stands and stumbles just a bit, her muscles rubbery from sitting in that position for- for however long she had been, but she doesn't have time to do some stretches because Arum may be slowed down by his injuries and she knows what direction he'll go, but he still has a hell of a head start on her, and she can't afford-

Rilla nearly trips over her own feet when she bolts into the front room, and this time it isn't because of sore muscles.

It's because Arum is still here.

He's curled up on the floor, his back against her front door, his arms wrapped loosely around his knees. He flicks his eyes up towards her for less time than it would take to blink, and then he looks away, his eyes vaguely on the floor.

"Arum. Oh, thank the Saints you didn't-"

"Apparently even my stupidity has limits, yes."

"Arum," she repeats, uncertain and honestly a little scared that he's managed to hurt himself between his room and the door, somehow.

"You did not inform me precisely how close we are to your Citadel," he mutters into a palm, and she holds her own hand over her heart as it tries, valiantly, to slow its racing. "Within sight, even in the dark of night."

"You- Arum-"

"Congratulations," he growls dully, still not looking at her. "You were correct. I did not take a single step outside your little abode. Foolishness, all of it. Without my- without- even at my best it would take a week and a half at the least to reach my home from here unaided. Hobbling in unfamiliar terrain with this-" he pauses to kick the crutch beside him, sending it spinning across the floor, "thing, in this condition, it would be impossible. Pointless. And I-" he pauses, his lip curling down miserably, "I want to return home alive, in spite of it all."

She steps a bit closer, and he turns his face away so that he is no longer looking at the floor by her feet. "I… Arum, I'm sorry. I know this must be… I know you're probably homesick-" he chokes out a bitter, unpleasant laugh, "and- and I know how hard it is, to be pulled away from your home. From- from your family," she suggests, and he flinches, curling his arms more tightly around his knees, pulling himself into a ball in front of her door and scowling. "I should have tried to talk to you about it sooner. Look, I- I'd be lying if I said I know exactly how I'm going to make it happen, but- but I'm not helping you so that you can run off and get killed by knights or whatever trying to get home. I'm not putting in all this hard work just for you to die," she says dryly, and she's gratified when he gives a smaller, less choking sort of laugh at that.

She takes another step, and when she's almost beside him he still won't look up, so-

She turns, leans her back against the wall, and slides down to sit beside him, sighing. He finally glances her way, then, if only to give her a look of distinct alarm.

"I want you well again, Arum. I want you healed, and I want you safe."

"Why? " he hisses low, his voice shaking.

"It's my responsibility to look out for my patients. In your case," she smiles, very slightly, "I think that means I'm gonna have to get you home. I don't know how, but- but we'll figure it out."

He blinks at her, then ducks his head. "We will figure it out," he repeats, skeptically.

"Yeah," she says. "We."

Slowly, she turns her hand, not exactly reaching for him but just- opening her palm towards him, spreading her fingers in gentle invitation.

He stares at her hand for a long moment, his eyes darting to the reddening mark on her wrist, his tongue flicking nervously in the air, and then he looks away.

She tries not to feel too disappointed-

A scaled palm settles uncertainly over hers, clawed fingers loosely curling around her own. He won't look at her, he's frowning and his damned frill is flared again, but-

"We," he murmurs, and Rilla smiles.

[->]

#h*ck #elle's fanfic #scattered on my shore #the penumbra podcast #second citadel #lizard kissin' tuesday #rad bouquet #lord arum #amaryllis of exile #sir damien #boy i die #fam there's like one whole week until we MAYBE see our scalies again i'm DYIN over here

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mostfacinorous · 5 years

Text

Whumptober 11th

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

(I think this one is my favorite so far)

Whumptober 11th: Stitches

“Crowley-- what’s happened to you?” Aziraphale stood quickly, upsetting the book that had been resting in his lap and sending the empty saucer plummeting to the ground.

“The miracle of modern medicine, or somethin’.” Crowley answered, waving his bandaged hands and working hard to only speak out of the left side of his mouth, as the right side was stitched at the corner-- to match the stitches high on his cheekbone, and the swelling that kept his right eye shut.

“Well, certainly, I can see that, but what happened before that?” Aziraphale pressed, setting his tea down and coming out from behind the low table to approach the battered demon.

“Bit of a reprimand from below. Guess they didn’t like my report about failing to escalate things and start a war. Nothing too impressive. But I lost consciousness towards the end of it, and they left me in the gutter, so some good samaritans called an ambulance, and--” he gestured again, to encompass all of it.

“Oh, I wish I could help, Crowley, but you know how heavenly power hurts at the best of times for you-- I wouldn’t want to make matters worse.” Aziraphale had begun wringing his hands, and Crowley responded with an eyeroll that, oddly, made Aziraphale feel better. Hurt though he was, at least he was feeling like himself.

“I’ll heal up fine, angel. I just need some help with the stitches. My fingers are a bit, ah--”

Of course-- if he healed with stitches in, the stitches would heal into him, and, vain as he was, the scars would be horrid. And the unfinished sentence, the potential words hung on the air, each worst than the last. ‘Ruined’ ‘destroyed’... Aziraphale firmly refused to think of any more.

“Certainly, my dear. Oh, let’s go into the kitchen, though? The lighting there is much better, and I’d rather see what I’m doing.”

Besides the kitchen, small and cramped as it was, had no rugs to suffer stains if Crowley started bleeding again, which Aziraphale thought he might.

Crowley was entirely too agreeable, given his usual views on Aziraphale’s kitchen, and he couldn’t help but suspect that Crowley was either in substantial amounts of pain, still under the influence from his hospital stay, or also wanted to preserve the back room, which he definitely found more comfortable than this one.

Regardless of the reason, when Aziraphale pulled out the chair for him he sat willingly, and only winced slightly at the landing. Aziraphale did his best not to be too obvious as he looked him over, hiding it behind the process of removing his coat and rolling up his shirt sleeves.

“Is there-- that is, I don’t suppose they limited their attacks to your face and hands.” He gave Crowley a much more open up and down, somewhat afraid to see signs of further damage, but all too aware that it must be there. Demons didn’t tend to be particularly kind-- or restrained.

Crowley shrugged, though it looked like it cost him.

“It’ll all heal.”

“Right.” Aziraphale said faintly, wishing he could ask to see, but afraid that it would be overstepping a boundary. And it wasn’t as though he could do anything to help with it, at any rate. Besides, he was sure anything that needed doing, the human doctors had seen to.

Having run out of things to distract him or delay with, Aziraphale snapped and summoned his wing care kit onto the little kitchenette table.

It was probably imposing seeming, the highly polished wooden box decorated with golden inlay.

It had been a gift, and used to contain a golden vanity set, but it had become home to a host of tweezers and small scissors, specialized combs, soft cloths, and the feathers that came out when he made the effort to straighten them out-- far less frequently than he ought to, he knew.

He lifted the lid away and moved aside the velvet bag of his molted feathers, glad that they were covered, though he had no doubt that Crowley would guess what they were and say something about it.

He flushed faintly at the possibility, but Crowley remained polite and quiet-- subdued.

Almost worrisome, that.

Though, it was hardly a mystery as to why.

Aziraphale lifted his scissors and carried them to the small sink.

“I’m just going to wash them-- they’ve been unused for a while, and I don’t want any dust getting in your wounds.”

“‘M not gonna get an infection, angel.” Crowley protested, but it wasn’t a strong argument.

Aziraphale washed them anyway, and returned, stepping between Crowley’s spread legs to be as close as he could-- the better to see what he was doing, of course.

“Hold still now- I’m going to take them out of your lips first.”

He caught Crowley’s jaw, hand wrapping under his chin to steady his head, and made the mistake of looking through his sunglasses and directly into his eyes.

He swallowed compulsively, and had to turn his attention to the stitching in his lips, though that wasn’t precisely a safer place to be looking.

Crowley was, after all, made to be a temptation.

Aziraphale took a steadying breath and brought the scissors to the widest of the stitches. He slid them gently under and snipped-- one down-- and checked in with Crowley’s eyes, looking for any sign of pain. Not, of course, that Crowley made it easy, hiding behind his shades as he did, and averting his eyes.

When he didn’t call a halt, Aziraphale did it again, then again, working his way through all of them.

Once the loops had all been cut, he sat down the scissors and retrieved the tweezers, beginning the unfortunate process of pulling the threads back through the holes, which were still bright red and inflamed, swollen and painful looking.

Crowley hissed softly as the first one tugged through, and Aziraphale paused.

“Forgive me,” He murmured, and reached for the sunglasses. Crowley froze, eyes wide behind the smoky lenses, but he didn’t protest.

“I just want to see when you react-- be certain I’m not hurting you too much.” He spoke gently and, he hoped, convincingly-- though it was only half-lie, and thus only half-selfish, the way he drank up the sight of the burnished gold of Crowley’s pupils, the way he soaked up the proximity, knowing he shouldn’t, and wishing that so many of their circumstances were different.

“Get on with it.” Crowley sounded cross, and Aziraphale knew that meant he was more uncomfortable than he wanted to let on.

“Right.” He said, and began pulling the next through, careful to draw the knot side out, lest he tear Crowley’s dear lip.

Crowley had to work hard not to wince or flinch, and Aziraphale paused again.

“‘S fine angel. Just-- talk. Say something. Distract me.”

His lips could move more freely now, and Aziraphale turned to summon forth a handkerchief to dab away at the slow trickles of blood that followed.

“Oh dear me, I wouldn’t know what to say.” He started, fishing around for a suitable topic.

Which oughtn’t be hard, he knew; he often spent the majority of their dinners nattering away while Crowley watched him with a look that, on anyone else, might be adoration.

“A pair of women came into the shop yesterday,” He started.

“Oh no,” came the demon’s sardonic reply, and Aziraphale felt his own lips twitch upwards, absurdly comforted by this bit of normalcy, even as Crowley’s blood dripped down the tweezers and onto Aziraphale’s fingers, stinging lightly where it fell.

He wiped it off, barely sparing it a thought. It wasn’t the first time he’d had Crowley’s blood on his hands, and while he hoped it would be the last, he knew better than to expect that to be true.

“Well, they wanted to request that I make a list of the books I had, and list them online. So that more people might come to buy them.” He knew he oughtn’t sound scandalized and horrified at the thought; Crowley had pointed out more often than not that traditional bookstores sold books.

Crowley’s lips pulled into a smile, and Aziraphale was glad to see that it didn’t hurt him any more.

Pulling the last bit of thread through the holes in his cheek, though, clearly did, and just like that, the tiny glimmer of a smile disappeared.

He must’ve looked stricken, because Crowley patted at him with one of his wrapped hands.

“What did you do to drive them off?” He asked gently, and Aziraphale shook himself, turning back to his task.

“Ah, I explained to them that neither computers nor the internet are allowed in the shop. And do you know what they said?”

He goaded for a response while he began snipping at the next set of strings, these somewhat harder to get to due to the relative firmness of the skin over his cheekbone.

“Mm?” Crowley asked, his eyes drifting closed.

“Apparently there is something called a Yell Page, with reviews of my shop, and they intend to leave a bad one. Can you imagine! A website to tell people not to come to my store. Modern technology is wonderful.”

A warm chuckle rolled through Crowley’s chest. And standing close as he was, Aziraphale could feel it.

“Yelp. One of mine. Invented specifically for me to leave scathing reviews on this place.”

Like the rumble of his laughter, his words vibrated through Aziraphale’s core, followed by an unrestrained surge of fondness that he was sure even a demon could feel.

“How very dastardly of you.” He said, though without any accusation or bite.

“I’m going to cut this last batch as well, and then we can pull all of these and have done with it.”

“No rush.” Crowley mumbled, and Aziraphale wasn’t certain whether he was meant to have been able to hear it or not.

Regardless, he elected to ignore it and focus instead on the work at hand.

For all that they had been harder to cut, the stitches slid out of this skin more easily, though Aziraphale was careful to hold the skin steady with his other hand, so that it didn’t pull or twist in the process.

Once all of them were removed, Aziraphale lifted Crowley’s left hand.

“This next, and then you can heal up, hm?”

“Aziraphale, I should warn you-- it’s not-- it isn’t pretty.” Crowley was looking away, refusing to meet Aziraphale’s eyes, and he had to swallow around a lump of worry that formed in his throat.

“That’s alright-- your hands will be lovely and whole again soon enough. This too shall pass.” He promised him, resolving to hide any reaction he might feel as he unclipped the outermost edge of the bandages and began drawing them away.

It wasn’t pretty. Whatever they’d done-- and Aziraphale’s mind was providing entirely too many options-- they’d twisted, broken, and shattered his fingers until they barely resembled hands any longer. The doctors had set them as best as they could, and there were clearly places where they’d put screws in-- and that would be trouble later, if Crowley healed them that way.

“Will you be able to snap at all?” He wondered aloud.

Crowley grimaced.

“It’ll hurt.” He admitted. “But better than the alternatives.”

“Can I-- I can’t heal you but I think, I could remove the metal with a miracle, if you can snap it better after.”

Crowley tilted his head.

“Would you?” He asked, almost as if he were surprised, and for some reason that made guilt swell in Aziraphale. What had he ever done to make Crowley think otherwise?

Whatever it was, he would have to be sure to remedy it from here on out.

He got both hands unwrapped, and sat them gently on Crowley’s thighs.

“Alright. As you said, this will hurt--” He cautioned. Crowley nodded, and Aziraphale snapped, the screws joining the bits of suture string on the table at his elbow.

Crowley groaned and swayed, looking for all the world as though he might pass out and slump out of the chair.

“Alright?” Aziraphale asked, grabbing hold of his shoulder to keep him upright, and then pulling his hand away like it had been burned, when it appeared his touch had hurt Crowley.

But maybe the pain was the grounding force he needed. Crowley squeezed his eyes shut and lifted his mangled hand.

The snap looked like it hurt, but its effects were instantaneous.

And, no doubt, costly.

Crowley swayed in his chair again, but this time he lifted his hands to steady himself with a grip on Aziraphale’s hips. Crowley leaned in, and rested his face against his stomach-- usually Aziraphale considered it too plush, too soft, but for the job of being a temporary pillow, he found himself incredibly well suited for it.

“Would you like to stay here and rest for a bit?” Aziraphale asked softly, loathe to end the contact, but well aware that sleeping might be better for Crowley right now, and he had some mess to see to in the form of surgical debris.

“Mhf.” Crowley answered, or didn’t, but Aziraphale knew what he meant.

“Come along then,” He said, shifting and pulling Crowley gently to his feet, then up off of them. He carried his demon friend into the back room and laid him out on the soft couch.

“Don’t you worry. I’ll watch over your sleep.” He assured him. Crowley seemed already to be drifting off, but he smiled gently at the words, and Aziraphale couldn’t help himself. He leaned down and brushed his lips against Crowley’s forehead in an affectionate and blessedly-- damnably?-- chaste kiss.

Crowley would wake with his glasses and a good whiskey beside him, and Aziraphale in the chair across the way, reading and sipping cocoa. And everything would be perfectly normal again, hurts and temptation alike banished.

For now.

#whumptober #whumptober2019 #blood cw #removal of stitches #finger trauma #bandages #medical content cw #good omens fic #that writing thing I do

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thatonebrobo · 4 years

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Beyoncé life story

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (/biːˈjɒnseɪ/ bee-YON-say; born September 4, 1981)[4] is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.

During Destiny's Child's hiatus, Beyoncé made her theatrical film debut with a role in the US box-office number-one Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) and recorded her first solo album, Dangerously in Love (2003), which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It also featured the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy". Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2006, she released her second solo album, B'Day, which contained the US number-one single "Irreplaceable", as well as the UK number-one singles "Déjà Vu" and "Beautiful Liar". Beyoncé continued her acting career with starring roles in The Pink Panther (2006), Dreamgirls (2006), and Obsessed (2009). Her marriage to rapper Jay-Z and her portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), which earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010. It spawned the UK number-one single "If I Were a Boy" and the US number-one single "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)".

After splitting from her manager and father Mathew Knowles in 2010, Beyoncé released 4 (2011), which was influenced by 1970s funk, 1980s pop, and 1990s soul. Beyoncé received widespread critical acclaim for her albums, Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016); the latter became the world's best-selling album of 2016. She became the first and only music act in Billboard 200 chart history to debut at number one with their first six solo studio albums.[5] In 2018, she released Everything Is Love, a collaborative album with her husband, Jay-Z, as the Carters.

Beyoncé is one of the word's best-selling music artists, having sold over 100 million records worldwide.[6] Her success during the 2000s was recognized with the Recording Industry Association of America's Top Certified Artist of the Decade, as well as Billboard magazine's Top Radio Songs Artist and the Top Female Artist of the Decade.[7][8] Beyoncé is the most nominated woman in the Grammy Award's history, with a total of 24 wins.[9] She is also the most awarded artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, with 24 wins, including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.[10][11] In 2014, she became the highest-paid black musician in history and was listed among Time's 100 most influential people in the world for a second year in a row.[12] Forbes ranked her as the most powerful female in entertainment on their 2015 and 2017 lists. She occupied the sixth place for Time's Person of the Year in 2016,[13] and in 2020, was named one of the 100 women who defined the last century by the same publication.[14]

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born in Houston, Texas, to Celestine "Tina" Knowles (née Beyincé), a hairdresser and salon owner, and Mathew Knowles, a Xerox sales manager.[15] Beyoncé's name is a tribute to her mother's maiden name.[16] Beyoncé's younger sister Solange is also a singer and a former backup dancer for Destiny's Child. Solange and Beyoncé are the first sisters to have both had No. 1 albums.[17] Mathew is African American, and Tina is of Louisiana Creole descent (African, Native American, and French).[16][18][19] Through her mother, Beyoncé is a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard.[18] Beyoncé attended St. Mary's Montessori School in Houston, where she enrolled in dance classes. Her singing talent was discovered when dance instructor Darlette Johnson began humming a song and she finished it, able to hit the high-pitched notes.[20] Beyoncé's interest in music and performing continued after winning a school talent show at age seven, singing John Lennon's "Imagine" to beat 15/16-year-olds.[21][22] In fall of 1990, Beyoncé enrolled in Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school in Houston, where she would perform with the school's choir.[23] She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts[24] and later Alief Elsik High School.[16][25] Beyoncé was also a member of the choir at St. John's United Methodist Church as a soloist for two years.[26]

When Beyoncé was eight, she and childhood friend Kelly Rowland met LaTavia Roberson while at an audition for an all-girl entertainment group.[27] They were placed into a group called Girl's Tyme with three other girls, and rapped and danced on the talent show circuit in Houston.[28] After seeing the group, R&B producer Arne Frager brought them to his Northern California studio and placed them in Star Search, the largest talent show on national TV at the time. Girl's Tyme failed to win, and Beyoncé later said the song they performed was not good.[29][30] In 1995 Beyoncé's father resigned from his job to manage the group.[31] The move reduced Beyoncé's family's income by half, and her parents were forced to move into separated apartments.[16] Mathew cut the original line-up to four and the group continued performing as an opening act for other established R&B girl groups.[27] The girls auditioned before record labels and were finally signed to Elektra Records, moving to Atlanta Records briefly to work on their first recording, only to be cut by the company.[16] This put further strain on the family, and Beyoncé's parents separated. On October 5, 1995, Dwayne Wiggins's Grass Roots Entertainment signed the group. In 1996, the girls began recording their debut album under an agreement with Sony Music, the Knowles family reunited, and shortly after, the group got a contract with Columbia Records.

The group changed their name to Destiny's Child in 1996, based upon a passage in the Book of Isaiah.[32] In 1997, Destiny's Child released their major label debut song "Killing Time" on the soundtrack to the 1997 film, Men in Black.[30] The following year, the group released their self-titled debut album,[29] scoring their first major hit "No, No, No". The album established the group as a viable act in the music industry, with moderate sales and winning the group three Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards for Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year, Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, and Best R&B/Soul Single for "No, No, No". The group released their Multi-Platinum second album The Writing's on the Wall in 1999. The record features some of the group's most widely known songs such as "Bills, Bills, Bills", the group's first number-one single, "Jumpin' Jumpin'" and "Say My Name", which became their most successful song at the time, and would remain one of their signature songs. "Say My Name" won the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and the Best R&B Song at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards.[27] The Writing's on the Wall sold more than eight million copies worldwide.[29] During this time, Beyoncé recorded a duet with Marc Nelson, an original member of Boyz II Men, on the song "After All Is Said and Done" for the soundtrack to the 1999 film, The Best Man.[33]

LeToya Luckett and Roberson became unhappy with Mathew's managing of the band and eventually were replaced by Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams.[27] Beyoncé experienced depression following the split with Luckett and Roberson after being publicly blamed by the media, critics, and blogs for its cause.[34] Her long-standing boyfriend left her at this time.[35] The depression was so severe it lasted for a couple of years, during which she occasionally kept herself in her bedroom for days and refused to eat anything.[36] Beyoncé stated that she struggled to speak about her depression because Destiny's Child had just won their first Grammy Award, and she feared no one would take her seriously.[37] Beyoncé would later speak of her mother as the person who helped her fight it.[36] Franklin was then dismissed, leaving just Beyoncé, Rowland, and Williams.[38]

The remaining band members recorded "Independent Women Part I", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. It became their best-charting single, topping the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for eleven consecutive weeks.[27] In early 2001, while Destiny's Child was completing their third album, Beyoncé landed a major role in the MTV made-for-television film, Carmen: A Hip Hopera, starring alongside American actor Mekhi Phifer. Set in Philadelphia, the film is a modern interpretation of the 19th-century opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet.[39] When the third album Survivor was released in May 2001, Luckett and Roberson filed a lawsuit claiming that the songs were aimed at them.[27] The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 663,000 copies sold.[40] The album spawned other number-one hits, "Bootylicious" and the title track, "Survivor", the latter of which earned the group a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[41] After releasing their holiday album 8 Days of Christmas in October 2001, the group announced a hiatus to further pursue solo careers.[27]

In July 2002, Beyoncé made her theatrical film debut, playing Foxxy Cleopatra alongside Mike Myers in the comedy film Austin Powers in Goldmember,[42] which spent its first weekend atop the US box office and grossed $73 million.[43] Beyoncé released "Work It Out" as the lead single from its soundtrack album which entered the top ten in the UK, Norway, and Belgium.[44] In 2003, Beyoncé starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the musical comedy The Fighting Temptations as Lilly, a single mother with whom Gooding's character falls in love.[45] The film received mixed reviews from critics but grossed $30 million in the U.S.[46][47] Beyoncé released "Fighting Temptation" as the lead single from the film's soundtrack album, with Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free which was also used to promote the film.[48] Another of Beyoncé's contributions to the soundtrack, "Summertime", fared better on the US charts.Beyoncé's first solo recording was a feature on Jay-Z's "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" that was released in October 2002, peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.[51] Her first solo album Dangerously in Love was released on June 24, 2003, after Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland had released their solo efforts.[52] The album sold 317,000 copies in its first week, debuted atop the Billboard 200,[53] and has since sold 11 million copies worldwide.[54] The album's lead single, "Crazy in Love", featuring Jay-Z, became Beyoncé's first number-one single as a solo artist in the US.[55] The single "Baby Boy" also reached number one,[50] and singles, "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl", both reached the top-five.[56] The album earned Beyoncé a then record-tying five awards at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards; Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love 2", Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Crazy in Love", and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "The Closer I Get to You" with Luther Vandross. During the ceremony, she performed with Prince.[57]

In November 2003, she embarked on the Dangerously in Love Tour in Europe and later toured alongside Missy Elliott and Alicia Keys for the Verizon Ladies First Tour in North America.[58] On February 1, 2004, Beyoncé performed the American national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVIII, at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.[59] After the release of Dangerously in Love, Beyoncé had planned to produce a follow-up album using several of the left-over tracks. However, this was put on hold so she could concentrate on recording Destiny Fulfilled, the final studio album by Destiny's Child.[60] Released on November 15, 2004, in the US[61] and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200,[62][63] Destiny Fulfilled included the singles "Lose My Breath" and "Soldier", which reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[64] Destiny's Child embarked on a worldwide concert tour, Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It sponsored by McDonald's Corporation,[65] and performed hits such as "No, No, No", "Survivor", "Say My Name", "Independent Women" and "Lose My Breath". In addition to renditions of the group's recorded material, they also performed songs from each singer's solo careers, most notably numbers from Dangerously in Love. and during the last stop of their European tour, in Barcelona on June 11, 2005, Rowland announced that Destiny's Child would disband following the North American leg of the tour.[66] The group released their first compilation album Number 1's on October 25, 2005, in the US[67] and accepted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2006.[68] The group has sold 60 million records worldwide.[69][70]

Beyoncé's second solo album B'Day was released on September 4, 2006, in the US, to coincide with her twenty-fifth birthday.[71] It sold 541,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200, becoming Beyoncé's second consecutive number-one album in the United States.[72] The album's lead single "Déjà Vu", featuring Jay-Z, reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[56] The second international single "Irreplaceable" was a commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States.[56][73] B'Day also produced three other singles; "Ring the Alarm",[74] "Get Me Bodied",[75] and "Green Light" (released in the United Kingdom only).[76]

At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards (2007), B'Day was nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Ring the Alarm" and Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration"for "Déjà Vu"; the Freemasons club mix of "Déjà Vu" without the rap was put forward in the Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical category. B'Day won the award for Best Contemporary R&B Album.[77] The following year, B'Day received two nominations – for Record of the Year for "Irreplaceable" and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Beautiful Liar" (with Shakira), also receiving a nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Pictures, Television or Other Visual Media for her appearance on Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture (2006).[78]

Her first acting role of 2006 was in the comedy film The Pink Panther starring opposite Steve Martin,[79] grossing $158.8 million at the box office worldwide.[80] Her second film Dreamgirls, the film version of the 1981 Broadway musical[81] loosely based on The Supremes, received acclaim from critics and grossed $154 million internationally.[82][83][84] In it, she starred opposite Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, and Eddie Murphy playing a pop singer based on Diana Ross.[85] To promote the film, Beyoncé released "Listen" as the lead single from the soundtrack album.[86] In April 2007, Beyoncé embarked on The Beyoncé Experience, her first worldwide concert tour, visiting 97 venues[87] and grossed over $24 million.[note 1] Beyoncé conducted pre-concert food donation drives during six major stops in conjunction with her pastor at St. John's and America's Second Harvest. At the same time, B'Day was re-released with five additional songs, including her duet with Shakira "Beautiful Liar".

On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé married Jay-Z.[90] She publicly revealed their marriage in a video montage at the listening party for her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce, in Manhattan's Sony Club on October 22, 2008.[91]I Am... Sasha Fierce was released on November 18, 2008, in the United States.[92] The album formally introduces Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce, conceived during the making of her 2003 single "Crazy in Love". It was met with generally mediocre reviews from critics,[93] but sold 482,000 copies in its first week, debuting atop the Billboard 200, and giving Beyoncé her third consecutive number-one album in the US.[94] The album featured the number-one song "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"[95] and the top-five songs "If I Were a Boy" and "Halo".[56][96] Achieving the accomplishment of becoming her longest-running Hot 100 single in her career,[97] "Halo"'s success in the US helped Beyoncé attain more top-ten singles on the list than any other woman during the 2000s.[98] It also included the successful "Sweet Dreams",[99] and singles "Diva", "Ego", "Broken-Hearted Girl" and "Video Phone". The music video for "Single Ladies" has been parodied and imitated around the world, spawning the "first major dance craze" of the Internet age according to the Toronto Star.[100] The video has won several awards, including Best Video at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards,[101] the 2009 Scottish MOBO Awards,[102] and the 2009 BET Awards.[103] At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the video was nominated for nine awards, ultimately winning three including Video of the Year.[104] Its failure to win the Best Female Video category, which went to American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me", led to Kanye West interrupting the ceremony and Beyoncé improvising a re-presentation of Swift's award during her own acceptance speech.[104] In March 2009, Beyoncé embarked on the I Am... World Tour, her second headlining worldwide concert tour, consisting of 108 shows, grossing $119.5 million.[105]

Beyoncé further expanded her acting career, starring as blues singer Etta James in the 2008 musical biopic Cadillac Records. Her performance in the film received praise from critics,[106] and she garnered several nominations for her portrayal of James, including a Satellite Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress.[107][108] Beyoncé donated her entire salary from the film to Phoenix House, an organization of rehabilitation centers for heroin addicts around the country.[109] On January 20, 2009, Beyoncé performed James' "At Last" at First Couple Barack and Michelle Obama's first inaugural ball.[110] Beyoncé starred opposite Ali Larter and Idris Elba in the thriller, Obsessed. She played Sharon Charles, a mother and wife whose family is threatened by her husband's stalker. Although the film received negative reviews from critics,[111] the movie did well at the US box office, grossing $68 million—$60 million more than Cadillac Records[112]—on a budget of $20 million.[113] The fight scene finale between Sharon and the character played by Ali Larter also won the 2010 MTV Movie Award for Best Fight.[114]

At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Beyoncé received ten nominations, including Album of the Year for I Am... Sasha Fierce, Record of the Year for "Halo", and Song of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", among others.[115] She tied with Lauryn Hill for most Grammy nominations in a single year by a female artist.[116] Beyoncé went on to win six of those nominations, breaking a record she previously tied in 2004 for the most Grammy awards won in a single night by a female artist with six. In 2010, Beyoncé was featured on Lady Gaga's single "Telephone" and appeared in its music video.[117][118] The song topped the US Pop Songs chart, becoming the sixth number-one for both Beyoncé and Gaga, tying them with Mariah Carey for most number-ones since the Nielsen Top 40 airplay chart launched in 1992.[119] "Telephone" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.[120]

Beyoncé announced a hiatus from her music career in January 2010, heeding her mother's advice, "to live life, to be inspired by things again".[121][122] During the break she and her father parted ways as business partners.[123][124] Beyoncé's musical break lasted nine months and saw her visit multiple European cities, the Great Wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, Australia, English music festivals and various museums and ballet performances.

On June 26, 2011, she became the first solo female artist to headline the main Pyramid stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival in over twenty years.[126][127] Her fourth studio album 4 was released two days later in the US.[128] 4 sold 310,000 copies in its first week and debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, giving Beyoncé her fourth consecutive number-one album in the US. The album was preceded by two of its singles "Run the World (Girls)" and "Best Thing I Never Had".[56][117][129] The fourth single "Love on Top" spent seven consecutive weeks at number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while peaking at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, the highest peak from the album.[130] 4 also produced four other singles; "Party", "Countdown", "I Care" and "End of Time". "Eat, Play, Love", a cover story written by Beyoncé for Essence that detailed her 2010 career break, won her a writing award from the New York Association of Black Journalists.[131] In late 2011, she took the stage at New York's Roseland Ballroom for four nights of special performances:[132] the 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé concerts saw the performance of her 4 album to a standing room only.[132] On August 1, 2011, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having shipped 1 million copies to retail stores.[133] By December 2015, it reached sales of 1.5 million copies in the US.[134] The album reached one billion Spotify streams on February 5, 2018, making Beyoncé the first female artist to have three of their albums surpass one billion streams on the platform.[135]

On January 7, 2012, Beyoncé gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.[136] Five months later, she performed for four nights at Revel Atlantic City's Ovation Hall to celebrate the resort's opening, her first performances since giving birth to Blue Ivy.[137][138]

In January 2013, Destiny's Child released Love Songs, a compilation album of the romance-themed songs from their previous albums and a newly recorded track, "Nuclear".[139] Beyoncé performed the American national anthem singing along with a pre-recorded track at President Obama's second inauguration in Washington, D.C.[140][141] The following month, Beyoncé performed at the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show, held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.[142] The performance stands as the second most tweeted about moment in history at 268,000 tweets per minute.[143] At the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, Beyoncé won for Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Love on Top".[144] Her feature-length documentary film, Life Is But a Dream, first aired on HBO on February 16, 2013.[145] The film was co-directed by Beyoncé herself.

Beyoncé embarked on The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour on April 15 in Belgrade, Serbia; the tour included 132 dates that ran through to March 2014. It became the most successful tour of her career and one of the most successful tours of all time.[147] In May, Beyoncé's cover of Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" with André 3000 on The Great Gatsby soundtrack was released.[148] Beyoncé voiced Queen Tara in the 3D CGI animated film, Epic, released by 20th Century Fox on May 24,[149] and recorded an original song for the film, "Rise Up", co-written with Sia.[150]

On December 13, 2013, Beyoncé unexpectedly released her eponymous fifth studio album on the iTunes Store without any prior announcement or promotion. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, giving Beyoncé her fifth consecutive number-one album in the US.[151] This made her the first woman in the chart's history to have her first five studio albums debut at number one.[152] Beyoncé received critical acclaim[153] and commercial success, selling one million digital copies worldwide in six days;[154] Musically an electro-R&B album, it concerns darker themes previously unexplored in her work, such as "bulimia, postnatal depression [and] the fears and insecurities of marriage and motherhood".[155] The single "Drunk in Love", featuring Jay-Z, peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[156]

In April 2014, after much speculation,[157] Beyoncé and Jay-Z officially announced their On the Run Tour. It served as the couple's first co-headlining stadium tour together.[158] On August 24, 2014, she received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. Beyoncé also won home three competitive awards: Best Video with a Social Message and Best Cinematography for "Pretty Hurts", as well as best collaboration for "Drunk in Love".[159] In November, Forbes reported that Beyoncé was the top-earning woman in music for the second year in a row—earning $115 million in the year, more than double her earnings in 2013.[160] Beyoncé was reissued with new material in three forms: as an extended play, a box set, as well as a full platinum edition. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), in the last 19 days of 2013, the album sold 2.3 million units worldwide, becoming the tenth best-selling album of 2013.[161] The album also went on to become the twentieth best-selling album of 2014.[162] As of November 2014, Beyoncé has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and has generated over 1 billion streams, as of March 2015.[163]

At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2015, Beyoncé was nominated for six awards, ultimately winning three: Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for "Drunk in Love", and Best Surround Sound Album for Beyoncé.[9][164] She was nominated for Album of the Year, but the award went to Beck for his album Morning Phase.

On February 6, 2016, Beyoncé released "Formation" and its accompanying music video exclusively on the music streaming platform Tidal; the song was made available to download for free.[166] She performed "Formation" live for the first time during the NFL Super Bowl 50 halftime show. The appearance was considered controversial as it appeared to reference the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party and the NFL forbids political statements in its performances.[167][168][169] Immediately following the performance, Beyoncé announced The Formation World Tour, which highlighted stops in both North America, and Europe.[170][171] It ended on October 7, with Beyoncé bringing out her husband Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Serena Williams for the last show.[172] The tour went on to win Tour of the Year at the 44th American Music Awards.[173]

On April 16, 2016, Beyoncé released a teaser clip for a project called Lemonade. It turned out to be a one-hour film which aired on HBO exactly a week later; a corresponding album with the same title was released on the same day exclusively on Tidal.[174] Lemonade debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, making Beyoncé the first act in Billboard history to have their first six studio albums debut atop the chart; she broke a record previously tied with DMX in 2013.[175] With all 12 tracks of Lemonade debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Beyoncé also became the first female act to chart 12 or more songs at the same time.[176] Additionally, Lemonade was streamed 115 million times through Tidal, setting a record for the most-streamed album in a single week by a female artist in history.[177] It was 2016's third highest-selling album in the US with 1.554 million copies sold in that time period within the country[178] as well as the best-selling album worldwide with global sales of 2.5 million throughout the year.[179] In June 2019, Lemonade was certified 3× Platinum, having sold up to 3 million album-equivalent units in the United States alone.

Lemonade became her most critically acclaimed work to date, receiving universal acclaim according to Metacritic, a website collecting reviews from professional music critics.[181] Several music publications included the album among the best of 2016, including Rolling Stone, which listed Lemonade at number one.[182] The album's visuals were nominated in 11 categories at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, the most ever received by Beyoncé in a single year, and went on to win 8 awards, including Video of the Year for "Formation".[183][184] The eight wins made Beyoncé the most awarded artist in the history of the VMAs (24), surpassing Madonna (20).[185] Beyoncé occupied the sixth place for Time magazine's 2016 Person of the Year.[186]

In January 2017, it was announced that Beyoncé would headline the Coachella Music and Arts Festival. This would make Beyoncé only the second female headliner of the festival since it was founded in 1999.[187] It was later announced on February 23, 2017 that Beyoncé would no longer be able to perform at the festival due to doctor's concerns regarding her pregnancy. The festival owners announced that she will instead headline the 2018 festival.[188] Upon the announcement of Beyoncé's departure from the festival lineup, ticket prices dropped by 12%.[189]

At the 59th Grammy Awards in February 2017, Lemonade led the nominations with nine, including Album, Record, and Song of the Year for Lemonade and "Formation" respectively.[190] and ultimately won two, Best Urban Contemporary Album for Lemonade and Best Music Video for "Formation".[191] Adele, upon winning her Grammy for Album of the Year, stated Lemonade was monumental and more deserving.[192]

On June 13, 2017, Beyoncé gave birth to twins Rumi and Sir Carter at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.[193] In September 2017, Beyoncé collaborated with J Balvin and Willy William, to release a remix of the song "Mi Gente". Beyoncé donated all proceeds from the song to hurricane charities for those affected by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in Texas, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other Caribbean Islands.[194]

On November 10, Eminem released "Walk on Water" featuring Beyoncé as the lead single from his album Revival. On November 30, Ed Sheeran announced that Beyoncé would feature on the remix to his song "Perfect".[195] "Perfect Duet" was released on December 1, 2017. The song reached number-one in the United States, becoming Beyoncé's sixth song of her solo career to do so.[196]

2018–present: Everything Is Love and The Lion King On January 4, 2018, the music video of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's 4:44 collaboration, "Family Feud" was released.[197] It was directed by Ava DuVernay. On March 1, 2018, DJ Khaled released "Top Off" as the first single from his forthcoming album Father of Asahd featuring Beyoncé, husband Jay-Z, and Future.[198] On March 5, 2018, a joint tour with Knowles' husband Jay-Z, was leaked on Facebook.[199] Information about the tour was later taken down. The couple announced the joint tour officially as On the Run II Tour on March 12[200] and simultaneously released a trailer for the tour on YouTube.[201] On March 20, 2018, the couple traveled to Jamaica to film a music video directed by Melina Matsoukas.[202]

On April 14, 2018, Beyoncé played the first of two weekends as the headlining act of the Coachella Music Festival. Her performance of April 14, attended by 125,000 festival-goers, was immediately praised, with multiple media outlets describing it as historic. The performance became the most-tweeted about performance of weekend one, as well as the most-watched live Coachella performance and the most-watched live performance on YouTube of all time. The show paid tribute to black culture, specifically historically black colleges and universities and featured a live band with over 100 dancers. Destiny's Child also reunited during the show.

On June 6, 2018, Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z kicked-off the On the Run II Tour in Cardiff, United Kingdom. Ten days later, at their final London performance, the pair unveiled Everything Is Love, their joint studio album, credited under the name The Carters, and initially available exclusively on Tidal. The pair also released the video for the album's lead single, "Apeshit", on Beyoncé's official YouTube channel.[205][206] Everything Is Love received generally positive reviews,[207] and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, with 123,000 album-equivalent units, of which 70,000 were pure album sales.[208]

On December 2, 2018, Beyoncé alongside Jay-Z headlined the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 which was held at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.[209] Their 2-hour performance had concepts similar to the On the Run II Tour and Beyoncé was praised for her outfits, which paid tribute to Africa's diversity.[210]

On April 17, 2019, Beyoncé alongside media-service provider Netflix, premiered the 137-minute documentary and concert film Homecoming, mainly regarding Beyoncé's historic 2018 Coachella performances.[211][212] The film was accompanied by the live album Homecoming: The Live Album.[213] It was later reported that Beyoncé and Netflix had signed a $60 million deal to produce three different projects, one of which is Homecoming.[214] Homecoming received six nominations at the 71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.[215]

Beyoncé starred in the voice over role of Nala in the remake The Lion King, which was released on July 19, 2019.[216] In March 2017, director Jon Favreau stated that Beyoncé was his top choice for the role, and that the studio and himself would be willing to do whatever it took to accommodate her busy schedule.[217] On November 1, 2017, her role was confirmed in an official announcement.[218][219] Beyoncé is featured on the film's soundtrack, released on July 11, 2019, with a remake of the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" alongside Donald Glover, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, which was originally composed by Elton John.[220] Additionally, an original song from the film by Beyoncé, "Spirit", was released as the lead single from both the soundtrack and The Lion King: The Gift – an album released alongside the film, produced and curated by Beyoncé.[221][222] Beyoncé called The Lion King: The Gift a "sonic cinema." She also stated that the album is influenced by everything from R&B, pop, hip hop and Afro Beat.[221] The songs were additionally produced by African producers, which Beyoncé said was because "authenticity and heart were important to [her]," since the film is set in Africa.[221]

During an interview for the Wall Street Journal, Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles, revealed that the singer had borrowed some of her art pieces for a new project already in development.[223]

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyonc%c3%a9

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criticalangst · 5 years

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SHAPPY’S 10 AMAZING FACTS ABOUT KINGS ISLAND -- THE BEST AMUSEMENT PARK EVER

10 COOL THINGS ABOUT KINGS ISLAND AMUSEMENT PARK IN THE 70s & 80s

By Shappy Seasholtz

1. When you walk through the entrance, you are greeted by Fred & Barney, Scooby-Doo, Hong Kong Phooey and half of The Banana Splits in front of a dancing water fountain in front of a fake Eiffel Tower!

2. In 1975, Evel Kneivel jumped over 14 Greyhound buses in the parking lot setting a new world record!

"Wooden Roller Coaster - The Beast at Kings Island Theme Park" by Warren County CVB is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

3. It has THE BEAST! The biggest, baddest, longest, fastest, wooden roller coaster in the world! On one of it's test runs it ripped the head off a dummy! (Or was it really a human being?)

4. Both The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family shot episodes there!

5. When you rode The Screamin' Demon, one of the world's first looping roller coasters, it would stop mid-loop and people's wallets and sunglasses would fall out on to a little island full of monkeys in front of the Wild Animal Safari. The monkeys would throw all the tourist flotsam and jetsam at each other like their own poop!

6. Crafty lions and leopards kept finding ways to break out of the Wild Animal Safari which added a real sense of danger to that area of the park!

7. They sold fruit drinks in molded plastic fruit that represented whatever flavor you were drinking. Grape juice in grapes, orange drink in oranges, etc. As a kid I thought this was marketing GENIUS!

In The Happy Land Of Hanna-Barbera they had a ride called the Enchanted Voyage which was an air-conditioned boat ride through a giant television set.

8. They had an old-timey locomotive train ride that took you back in time to the pioneer days and real cowboys and indians used to jump out of the woods and on to the moving train scaring the crap out of little kids (including me)!

9. TimberWolf Theater got cool bands to play! I saw The Four Tops & The Temptations with my mom & dad! My first concert! Over the years I see Huey Lewis & The News, .38 Special, The Go-Go's, Paul Young and Tears For Fears! Shout, shout, let it all out!

10. In The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera they had a ride called Enchanted Voyage (see a vintage home movie below) which was an air-conditioned boat ride through a giant television set. While you waited in line they played all the theme songs to my favorite Hanna-Barbera shows! I must have taken this Enchanted Voyage a hundred times! When you floated in there were all of your favorite cartoon characters come to life! The Hillbilly Bears! Wacky Races! Squiddly Diddly! At the end of the ride you entered a Scooby-Doo style haunted house and then spat out into some sort of psychedelic circus. Then they changed it to The Smurfs in the 80s and harshed my mellow. But I remember that ride like I just got off the boat and back in line.

It might have been the closest thing to nirvana I have ever experienced.

Shappy Seasholtz has an extensive 8-Track tape collection, an impressive selection of View-Master reels, a vast array of plastic figurines of old advertising mascots and far too many long boxes of comic books. Shappy is a National Poetry Slam Champion and is the creator of the Nerd Slam, a poetry competition that is half nerd poetry, half trivia-off. He has appeared on CNN, MTV and HBO's DEF POETRY. His most recent collection of poems, SPOKEN NERD REVOLUTION was published by Penmanship Books in 2011 and his work has appeared in several WRITE BLOODY PRESS anthologies. He is currently in Michigan working on his poetry memoir -- AMERICAN BUCKEYE.

Enchanted Voyage home video from 1980:

youtube

Commericals from the Smurfin’ Time era:

youtube

#Kings Island #Ohio #Shappy Seasholtz #amusement park #Hanna-Barbera #Scooby-Doo #roller coasters

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lovemecharlie · 5 years

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Charlie Claus is Coming!

I'm late, but Christmas is my fave holiday so you're definitely getting a Christmas fic from me!

◇

Twas the weekend after Christmas and Charlie was aware of everyone in the house's movements as she sat on the floor in the foyer plotting like an evil elf. She still rocked the onesie Erik gave everyone with their name on it. Angel and Riley were upstairs making sweet passionate sexytime with Erik. Kimora and Homie were having a lightsaber fight with the Star Wars sabers they'd been gifted from Josephine as gag gifts. Josephine herself was off in search of rare ingredients... in the hood. Bastion was in her room recording herself in her new clothes and jewelry for her youtube that had close to a million followers. Aly'sha was napping after her exhausting round with the sex monster, Erik. Hennessy was organizing her closet.

“Alexa. Play Carol of the Bells by the Trans Siberian Orchestra,” Charlie requested for the sixth time in a row. She sat at the foot of the tall and elegant Christmas trees Angel out up.. in her red onesie, hypnotized by the glowing yellow lights in the dim lighting. Her Good Luck, Charlie mug sat next to her filled with cocoa with a fat marshmallow. The high banister looked as if it were being hugged by the Grinch, a hefty and well-lit green garland wrapping around. The candy cane stripes and the giant bright red bulbs like sweet oversized candy apples made Charlie's mouth water. She wanted to eat them and taste the essence of Christmas cheer even though Christmas had passed.

“I love you Angel,” she mouthed, impressed by the refinement of the decor. It was polished without being pretentious, and soothing to behold. She didn't want to ever take it down. The holidays weren't over. In fact, what her family didn't know was that her earlier gifts? Pft. Nothing. They each had exactly 10 gifts from her, representative of the number of Stevens-Udakus in the compound. She'd collected the items over the course of the year unbeknownst to them, keeping them hidden in a super secret place! If she'd purchased a mountain of items in one day, they'd have been suspicious. Her cheeks rose with elvish glee as she considered how she'd spring their gifts on them. She had a brilliant idea.

“Alexa, play Silent Night by The Temptations.”

◇

“Wake up, beauties,” Charlie screamed standing over Homie and Erik in bed. She was dressed like Santa, swinging a pillow to smack the sleeping lovebirds in the face. "WAKE UP! Come downstairs!" Room by room she woke her sistervives. In Hennessy's room, she jumped on the bed. In Josephine's room, she exploded a confetti cannon. In Bastion's room, she rubbed carmex on the sleeping beauty's lips until she opened her eyes. And on and on. They needed to wake up!

“HO HO HO! IT'S THE WEEKEND AFTER CHRISTMAAAAS,” she sang skipping on her black buckled shoes as the fam came down the stairs wearily. Erik was the first see what Charlie had set up and he paused staring at her luxurious white beard and eyebrows, his face freezing with an interested expression. A large spread with stacked platters of breakfast favorites and baked sweets along with 10 hot cups of tea laid out before them. Lined up were 9 piles of gifts, each with a christmas card sitting on top addressed to a different Stevens-Udaku. "90 presents," Charlie exclaimed grinning at their confused but increasingly excited faces, "Find your stations!"

They went from pile to pile, looking for their name, the desire to rip into the piles coming through their expressions when they each found their name.

"Wait for it," Charlie teased.

"I heard something, what was that?" Aly'sha was alert.

"I have no idea. Whatsoever are you referring to," Charlie grinned and Kimora looked around.

"I definitely heard something," Bastion said and before anyone else could comment, there was a tiny "mew".

"Release them," Charlie screeched to the maids out of view, raising her arms high in the air as 10 cats ran into the room. Two small docile deer wandered in next and the confusion all through the room was priceless. "I rescued these kitties and the deer. They live here now.. in the backyard where they can wander. They're all friendly.. except for that one," she pointed to a cat who hissed loudly. "Now presents! Open!"

The sound of paper bags wrinkling, tissue paper crinkling, and wrapping paper ripping mixed with excited chatter made Charlie feel justified in creeping around for the entire year, their faces were worth it.

Gift #1: Everyone recieved a set of Dolce and Gabbana embellished headphones, each pair a different style or color. No one had the same one.

Gift #2: Everyone recieved a gold ring inscribed with a crown, the word king or queen, and their name. After much debate Queen Charlie and Queen Hennessy is what she went with for reasons of consistency.

Gift #3: A big box of candy because why not?

Gift #4: Liquor for all. Everyone got a bottle of something they liked. Hennessy for Erik.

Gift #5: A blown up and framed picture of the one and only. "You better hang it somewhere visible," she scolded Erik. "I'll hang it in my office," he chuckled.

Gift #6: Switchblades to pull out in moments of fuckery. Erik's was gold, but for her sisters, theirs were more creative.

Gift #7: A light-up umbrella simply because it looked dope.

Gift #8: A copy of her book, Polygamy and Family Values. (No pic included)

Gift #9: Swarovski pen sets to sign checks in style.

Gift #10: Fenty Beauty for everyone, full size. She'd matched them and went through their foundations without them even noticing. Erik got skincare items instead.

The Christmas music played as the house ate the breakfast and sweets, sipping the tea Erik had brought from Wakanda. It was a perfect second Christmas.

"So how are you going to outdo this next year," Bastion asked already wearing her headphones. Everyone had on their rings.

"No clue, but one more thing for this year. Come with me." They all followed Charlie, huddling outside and an explosion rang out on the sky. Colors spread like stars and rained down in precise patterns. 'Merry Christmas' the fireworks spelled out.

@poosypoosy @bastioncarterstevens-udaku @hennessychiron @itsangeludaku @alyshastevens-udaku @itskimorafireudaku @thehomiekillmonger @bidibidibombaclaat @blackpinup22 @destinio1 @hold-me-like-a-heart-beat @leahnicole1219 @vikkidc @thehomierobbstark

#fics #the kompound #charlie

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worldcakecakecake · 6 years

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Feliciano and the King of Hearts

Chosen by the gods as the Queen of Hearts from the moment of birth, we follow Feliciano’s story as he grows into royal life, learns to rule, go against age old customs, and his relationship with his husband to be, the King of Hearts.

Chapter 1 I Chapter 2 I Chapter 3 I Chapter 4 I Chapter 5 I Chapter 6I Chapter 7 I Chapter 8 IChapter 9I Chapter 10I Chapter 11I Chapter 12 I Chapter 13 I Chapter 14 I Chapter 15 I Chapter 16 I Chapter 17 I Chapter 18 I Chapter 19I Chapter 20 I Chapter 21 I Chapter 22 I Chapter 23 I Chapter 24 I Chapter 25 I Chapter 26 I Chapter 27 I Chapter 28I Chapter 29 I Chapter 30 I Chapter 31 I Chapter 32 I Chapter 33 I Chapter 34 I Chapter 35 I Chapter 36 I Chapter 37I chapter 38 I Chapter 39 I Chapter 40 I Chapter 41 I Chapter 42 I Chapter 43 I Chapter 44 I Chapter 45 I Chapter 46I Chapter 47 I Chapter 48 I Chapter 49 I Chapter 50 I Chapter 51 I Chapter 52 I Chapter 53 I Chapter 54 I Chapter 55 I Chapter 56 I Chapter 57 I Chapter 58

Chapter 59

As with every instrument Feliciano practiced with, the very first song he learned to play on the harp was ‘Accept to be mine’. It was a melodic stirring that filled the gardens in awe, in halt to the work of whatever servants worked there, even the Queen couldn’t focus on the reading she was giving Feliciano. She eased into it, resting upon its tune, swayed in a delicate cloud, and to be honest, Feliciano joined her in it too despite how it was being made by his own hand. In that floating state, he lost whatever rhythm and the harp answered to his mistake violently.

There was a sudden burst of light and luckily Feliciano aimed it out of danger on time, into a slight jump in the air where it then exploded into ice. Queen Louis and Feliciano were covered in a sudden blanket of snow, harshly awaking them from the intense dream state they were in. Feliciano prepared for a harsh scold, but it seemed to disappear from Louis’s thoughts when Pookie emerged from his own cover, the most surprised and startled, an adorability that Louis couldn’t help but laugh. Pookie found his cover of heat once again with Feliciano, who freed his hold on the harp to hold his little winged lion instead, cuddling him into his cheek, only intensifying his smile and laugh.

Ludwig was supposed to be as dedicated to his own readings, but he distracted with that beautiful smile that was the star of the entire view of the garden from the King’s study room. He slumped well into the glass, hoping to reach him that very moment.

“Ludwig!” Aldrich had called again, loudly, starling the other from his love-struck stupefaction. “Boy, listen to me, we’re reading important clauses concerning animal abuse laws,” he scolded.

“I-I’m sorry, Opa.” He forced his eyes back on the reading.

“What were you staring at anyways?” The king stood himself to check and when he noticed the young arising queen playing with his St. Mark, leaving his own harp practicing and readings with his wife, he smirked in understanding.

“Ah, your heart and land,” Aldrich chuckled, easily earning a flush from Ludwig. “How have things been with him lately?” He wondered, not minding this break from their teachings, putting the book down and getting ready for a chat.

“To be honest, we have been too busy with our practices to really do much. Our times together are at dinner or in our bedroom, which I don’t think are enough.”

“Enough for what?” Ludwig’s answer was interrupted by Kiku’s entrance, in his arms scrolls and books, surely with questions and duties.

“Aldrich,” he bowed, “I have the writings concerning internal dark magic processing.”

“In a minute, Kiku, Ludwig here is dealing with emotional issues.”

“Uuu!” And Kiku sat as if this was a theater play to watch.

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“We are not, we just want to help.”

“You can start by giving me ideas this instant,” Ludwig groaned.

“You did say there is an issue with time.”

“You could always try to take lessons and practices with him, or for both of you to finish as soon as possible or organize them for other times,” Kiku suggested.

“Your relationship is important to the kingdom as well and I will set aside what I can,” Aldrich already promised.

“Good, now there’s the issue of what to do with that time.”

Aldrich and Kiku remained in silence as they thought, meeting in a gaze as if to judge if their ideas would be enough.

“Well, your grandmother and I did the very traditional. Strolls through the gardens, private dinners in our room, the typical…flower and chocolate gifting.”

“I’m sorry, your majesty, but that is all too dull. I don’t think it will be the ideal for Ludwig and Feliciano, after all this is another generation we’re speaking about,” Kiku added.

“Um…singing,” still Aldrich awkwardly suggested, which earned raised eyebrows, surely denying.

“No, something more them, something that will have them sparking, something…” Kiku snapped his fingers as if trying to fetch the idea to come. He caught a small portrait of Ludwig as a child, and with it he was reminded. “Feliciano told me you made a lot of promises you didn’t keep.”

It was not something Ludwig wanted to be reminded of, but he sighed in embarrassed disappointment.

“Then fulfill them!”

“We were kids when we made them. We were naïve, we didn’t know anything.”

“What does that matter! It was something you both wanted in the past. I’m sure some of them can be something you can enjoy now. It will be a sweet token that you will both appreciate! It will mean that you’re trying and that you want a deeper relationship to grow! Now, think of one!”

It was immediate to Ludwig, who stood as the idea began to grow in his head. “I got it.”

It was a long climb up, stairs after stairs that Ludwig went up ready and confidently, while Feliciano had to stop every level to take deep breaths and internally cry every time he looked up to the still missing heights to take.

“I hope-I hope…you’re showing me a room full of gold!” Feliciano concocted as they must have reached the highest point in the castle, no other stairs, only a single hall with a long window at the end that showed the heights they took. There was a single door to a single room, whatever Ludwig wanted to show him there.

Feliciano practically let himself faint once he reached, almost hugging the floor in relief. Ludwig chuckled, helping him up and presenting him before the room. “You remember when we were kids… that I told you I would give you a painting room…with the best light and everything you would need.”

“I honestly thought you had forgotten,” Feliciano had to sadden.

“I might have acted harsh, Feliciano, but I never forgot.” Ludwig took a better grasp of both his hands, exciting them both the more. Ludwig couldn’t hold it any longer and pushed open the doors, lighting the entire hall in a brightening as if the very sun was caught in this room. Feliciano was momentarily blinded, letting the gold die down until he could notice that the reason for all this light was the coverage of long and wide windows across the circularity of this room. The marbled floor and the pillars that surrounded helped to make more of that bounce, some curtains of red from the walls present for if lessening was wanted. Oh, but Feliciano loved this light, he entered with an opening of arms, letting it embrace him wonderfully. When it had been enough, he finally noticed the items that loitered around the room. Easels, canvases, fabrics, cloths, paint, so many jars of paint in different boxes, some in different shelves, an array of colors that Feliciano hadn’t even tried before.

“What…what is this?” Feliciano wondered, spinning and only meeting more items that were the ideal for any artist.

“Royal painting room. Been used by several of our monarchs for centuries, has been so because of this.” Ludwig ushered Feliciano forward to the edge of the windows, Feliciano’s eyes widened at the immensity of the city shown, its forest of vicinity, the hills that surrounded, even the far sea that separated them from the Scandinavian area of the kingdom.

“This is the highest point in the castle!” After that climb, it was only obvious to Feliciano. “Yes, everything you want to see in your reach, non-ending inspiration and the best light in all the castle, and all yours.” He moved to place his hands on his shoulders, turning Feliciano once again to the area of work, already an infinity of things to do that fell instantly on Feliciano’s mind.

“Re-really?” He was kind of hesitant to reach any of the items, but the temptation was so clear.

“Yes! So take it, start! I know you want to.” Ludwig pushed him slowly and although Feliciano remained in his standing, frozen for seconds on, he interrupted it with a loud laugh, an excited jump, but not before turning, taking Ludwig in an embrace and kiss of potency, passion, as brightening as the sun that reigned in the room.

When they departed, dazed and flying, Feliciano whispered in a seductive tone: “Thank you.”

Ludwig didn’t know words anymore, his entire being was still flying in the magic that is always Feliciano’s kisses. He answered in silence and whispered stutters. Feliciano chuckled and removed himself to quickly pick from one of the many canvases, to put on an easel in a good center, plotting his ideas as he used his hands to picture how he could organize and set what he was still thinking. Ludwig picked a stool and settled it close to him, content enough in taking a simple seating.

Feliciano looked to him as if he had committed a crime. “Oh no, you’re sitting right next to me, Luddy!” Feliciano stood to force him into his closeness, Ludwig rolling his eyes but accepting.

Feliciano picked the softest and most fitting brushes that adjusted well to his hold, the prettiest jar of colors, some cloths for effects and he didn’t mind with getting something to cover his clothes. Who cared if he got them spotted with fine colors, he already wanted to stroke and paint and he wasn’t going to have anymore interruptions.

“How about… a nice snowy day in Berlin,” Feliciano imagined, raising a brush into the air as if to declare it. “What do you think?”

“You’re the one whose painting. You decide whatever you wish.”

“What do you mean I’m the only one whose painting?” And that’s when Ludwig was reminded of how exactly that promise had gone long ago.

Feliciano smirked, surely ready to impose.

“No,” Ludwig already decided.

“Come on, how many times do we have to go through this?”

“Until I have convinced you enough that I am terrible.”

“You aren’t!”

“Seems I still have work to do…”

“Just… like we used to, just like we did when were in the Oralee.” The reminder of that sweetened moment, one of the first in their opening, gave a weakening, a smile, one that had Ludwig docile enough for Feliciano to pull his arm, forcing both to a unity of that brush hold.

Ludwig sighed and settled once again to Feliciano’s wishes, both starting a baby blue stroke in a beginning. The comfort gave him quite a confidence for something grandiose even with his mediocre skills. Feliciano was there, smiling up at him, sure to love whatever they created together. And so, they stayed and gave themselves all the time they wanted in a room of color, inspiration and strengthening love.

“Und frische Nahrung, neues Blut Saug ich aus freier Welt: Wie ist Natur so hold und gut, Die mich am Busen hält!!” Ludwig read as warm, as the embrace that Feliciano needed with the coming near cold.

“Die Welle wieget unsern Kahn Im Rudertakt hinauf, Und Berge, wolkig himmelan, Begegnen unserm Lauf.” Ludwig had a sitting in one of the near chairs, deciding on a standing and joining Feliciano, who was seated on the floor, right in front of a window, a new large sketchbook in his hand that he was using dark pastels on to recreate the rain that was currently falling.

“Aug, mein Aug, was sinkst du nieder? Goldne Träume, kommt ihr wieder? Weg, du Traum! so gold du bist: Hier auch Lieb und Leben ist.“ He sat close, in a clear touch, a hand holding him behind him.

Feliciano suddenly stopped in his drawing, instead smiling up to Ludwig at the words that he found so lovely even though he couldn’t understand it completely.

“You sound so wonderful in German,” Feliciano said dreamily.

Ludwig smirked, continuing. “Auf der Welle blinken, Tausend schwebende Sterne, Weiche Nebel trinken, Rings die türmende Ferne.“ Now Ludwig laid his head upon Feliciano’s as he read on, as Feliciano sketched, both somehow managing to do their activities through the blush, the high activity of love streaming through their bodies that did well to heat the room.

“Morgenwind umflügelt, Die beschattete Bucht, Und im See bespiegelt, Sich die reifende Frucht..“

“Feliciano, Ludwig, there is need of opinions for the-” Queen Louis’s voice could be hidden well out of the wall that was built to keep the moment fresh and lovely to themselves.

The Queen watched with adoring eyes at the scene, too beautiful to just depart, to miss such growth, such a reminder of a past that she thought would never repeat.

“Your majesty, the power con-”

“Shh, look at this,” she interrupted the messenger sent, pointing to the two figures sitting beside each other so warmly.

The messenger, even with the weigh of many duties, breathed and awed. “It’s nice to see them be so lovely together,” she admitted.

“Yes, yes, so much,” Louis agreed, finding more treasure in the caress Ludwig gave Feliciano’s hips. “There is more yet!” She assured, confident and loud even if she had only whispered the words to the other. “Come now, is this about the power containments?” She already moved aside, attentive once again, leaving the messenger behind, who almost tumbled as she turned and took her pace.

“And that’s…200 cookies!” Feliciano gave that last count, closing the oven with the last addition.

“Great!” And still Ludwig was mixing something else.

Feliciano giggled as he rested his head on his hands, a cute lean on the counter, staring with the ever-growing fire of love in his eyes. “Aren’t 200 cookies enough?” He joked.

The others that were already done sat in piles of decorated plates to the side. Feliciano, since he had helped in the majority of the day with the baking, thought there wouldn’t be a problem if he reached for one. It was stopped by a hit of Ludwig’s spoon.

“Hey!” Feliciano pained, rubbing the forming red in his hand.

“They’re for later. A little bit of patience, liebling.” Oh, how Feliciano was adoring being called that. It almost made the sting go away completely.

“I thought of making some cinnamon rolls just for us. You still like them?”

“I’ve never stopped,” Feliciano laughed.

“This won’t let me make 200, but it can make us a couple,” Ludwig smiled, the dough ready to be formed.

“I’m sure I’m going to love them!”

That moment, a visitor came, luckily his robes familiar, Kiku taking a seating by one of the many stools. “I must say, Ludwig, I’m really glad you took this baking hobby,” he admitted, loving the smell, or just how happily and calm his arising king and queen turned each day, a new forming of all kinds of activities that did more than just the duties they had kept to before their journey.

“He’s improved like you have no idea,” Feliciano cheekily added.

“The last time you had something I baked, we were ten. How was I supposed to properly do this as a kid?” Ludwig excused.

“I’m glad you practiced through the years.”

“I completely stopped after Romulus’s letter.” Ludwig placed the bowl on the counter, dreading the memory, yet feeling its depressing grasped all over again.

“It’s going to be fine. We’re training, preparing and I’m sure we’ll take Khaos when the times comes. But, let’s focus on what we’re doing now.” Feliciano took Ludwig’s hand in assurance and they smiled to each other confident, indeed just settling in the light and smells of this kitchen.

In that distraction, Kiku neared his hand to one of the piles, thinking he could sneak in a cookie. He was stopped by another hit of Ludwig’s spoon.

There was a mess of planning, scheduling and notes in Feliciano’s desk, and the aid of a playing baby that said arising queen was helping to the growing of this disruption wasn’t ideal to the current queen.

“Feliciano, are you sure you should have Augustino here?”

To be honest, Louis hadn’t been able to concentrate with the baby’s babbling, cries and Feliciano’s coos. How he had managed to work throughout the holding of his nephew was quite a feat.

“I promised Lovino and Antonio to take care of him while they trained. I want to be a present and loving uncle. I want to be with him whenever possible,” he tried to convince, placing a quick kiss on the baby’s head while the other hand wrote on some documents on the desk.

It was quite adoring to see Feliciano deal so well with children while working well at the same time. It assured her of a proper father for a future heir, as well as someone who could keep well to his queenly duties despite so.

“If you want, I can go to another room,” Feliciano suggested.

“No, no. Just make sure to calm him, all right?”

Feliciano nodded and they both could focus on these preparations.

“Are we going with the ground ballroom?” Feliciano asked.

“Do you think it’s the best idea?” Queen Louis had learned after the first ball experience to trust Feliciano with his choices.

“I believe so. Every royal from every kingdom will be coming, and I’m also thinking of inviting many others, so we will have plenty of people from different kingdoms. Because of the space and access, I think it would be best.” He signed the document officiating it, decided.

“What about rooming? Will you take those guests into the castle too?”

“We have the space and I’ve already spoken to the servants about availability and cleaning.” He even made a drawing and raised it to show the proof of his word. She smiled in deep pride.

A clear beautiful night in the kingdom, and Ludwig and Feliciano didn’t waste it, rested well together in a comfortable couch they placed in the balcony. They took all its corner in a ball of themselves, Feliciano dressed in that very comfortable free robe Francis had giving him when they were in Paris.

With Ludwig, his own free pants and shirt, glasses of wine in their hands, pure bliss in their expressions, it was the scene of royalty and riches that anybody expected for the arising king and queen. Closed were their eyes, every breeze another caress to get them to sleep just like this, out in the open as held together they had lately slept in their bed.

“Hey,” Ludwig tried to awaken as sweetly as he could, raising Feliciano more into a proper sitting.

“Luddy…I was almost falling asleep,” Feliciano groaned, having to rub away whatever had caught him. “I know, I’m sorry, but…I was meaning to suggest something we could do this weekend.” He noticed that they had some time of freedom, one deserving after what they had gone through in the week, their instructors feeling that they needed rest and calmed minds before they continued with another wave of harsh responsibilities.

“Hmm…mud bathing,” Feliciano relaxed at not only the soothing of it, but of the fun and play that can come.

“Feliciano…no.”

“Then what…tell me already.” He was still sleepy and wanted to crash as soon as Ludwig omitted this plan.

“There’s an island, north of the German province, reaching well into the Scandinavian provinces, called Norderney. It’s not exactly the beaches we saw in the Oralee, or the Grecian islands or even the ones from Italy. But it’s still a great place to swim with peculiar things that are worth seeing. My family has a cabin there and I really don’t think they would mind us taking it for the time.”

With the swaying Feliciano maintained, eyes fluttering constantly in temptation to sleep, Ludwig had worried he hadn’t even listened.

“That sounds wonderful, Luddy. But-” he yawned and stretched, then wrapping his arms well around Ludwig’s torso- “why do you want to go?”

Ludwig sighed, “I made a promise to take you everywhere, didn’t I?”

Feliciano smiled and blushed so adorably. “Didn’t we kind of do that for the last couple of months?” He chuckled.

“We did, but it was mostly because we had a duty to fulfill. I want to do something more fun and just…for us,” Ludwig wanted to coax.

Feliciano cuddled more into his chest, smiling deep, imagining the awe that will surely lay in this trip. “Will we go tomorrow?”

It was sudden, and Ludwig wondered if Feliciano just said it in a dreamy haze. Yet…it was possible and even better.

“Yes.” It was decided.

“My Tino, Tino, Gustino, Augustino.”

“Stop singing João’s stupid ass song!” Lovino scolded, holding out his arm to have his son back. Feliciano gave him, but not before leaving him a long kiss on the top of his head.

His little nephew was already a month old, more adorable each day, growing, smiley and energetic.

“Aw, I’ll miss him so much!”

“Feliciano…we’re only leaving for three days.”

“Still!” He slammed his hands on the side of his thighs.

Ludwig grinned, “come on, let’s get going.”

Ludwig took Feliciano’s hand and lead him forward down the castle entrance steps, to an awaiting carriage at the bottom, only but simple bags over their shoulders.

“Don’t get too frisky!” Lovino called from his spot.

Ludwig froze, and Feliciano rolled his eyes, “we won’t!”

Just as they arrived before the carriage, about ready to take their entrance, Pookie huffed angrily on Feliciano’s shoulder.

“Pookie, what is it?” Feliciano wondered. His little St. Mark had never reacted this way when getting on a carriage.

Cocky, with a prideful shake, fly, and walk to the pavement, he took a stance and let the growing magic run over him. The light he was engulfed in grew and grew, until the large beast was before them again, wings expanded, prepared, ready, but Ludwig and Feliciano didn’t understand for what, remaining in their stand confused.

“Uh…what does he want?” Ludwig asked.

Pookie seemed impatient, ready to growl out his distaste. He shook his bottom, laid even more on the ground, and pointed with his wings to his back, then expanding them even more.

“I think he wants us to…get on him,” Feliciano understood. He gave some steps closer, the idea one that settled well on his head, wanting to take those wings and let them fly off with the wind as any creature of the sky.

Ludwig could see his interest, but he was still suspicious, remaining still by the carriage. “What? No. That is highly dangerous!” He tried to bring sense to both the animal and his arising queen, but neither gave head.

“But…he really wants us to,” Feliciano pointed.

“You really want to!”

“Yes! Come on! Let’s try it out.” It seemed Feliciano was already decided, coming near and trying to find a way in which he could mount without causing too much weigh on Pookie. Ludwig still stood by the carriage, looking to the horses as if expecting them to help him convince these two.

Feliciano was now well placed, excited, smiling already at what this kind of traveling would be. He could imagine himself riding exactly like Augusta did in her depictions, into battle or whatever unknown sunsets in the horizon. Ludwig still stood apart not wanting any of that.

“Luddyyyyy,” Feliciano whined.

“We’re not flying!”

“This is Pookie! He wouldn’t let anything happen to us! Besides, it’s new and it would be really fun! Come on, let’s try it out!” Feliciano continued to persuade, with a deep wish in his eyes that Ludwig was slowly falling weak to.

He gave up, although huffing, with arms angrily wrapped on his chest, his nearing steps as loud and mad. He gave a quick signal for some of the near servants to save the carriage and horses, taking sitting on the winged lion behind Feliciano. It took him a while to really get comfortable, Pookie so annoyed Feliciano feared he would knock out Ludwig on purpose.

“If anything happens…we’re taking horses back,” Ludwig warned.

“Yes! And don’t worry, everything will be all right!” He smiled back to him. “Now, hold on to me.” Feliciano could feel Pookie going through his preparation to fly off at the instant the wind took him.

“I think I’m good like this.”

“Are you?” Feliciano really wanted him to think, but it was already too late. Pookie’s wings were spread and he blasted off into the heights, in a moment having them even higher than the castle. Both had panicked, Feliciano holding tightly to the fur and having to lay his face in it, the rush of the wind hitting badly. Ludwig, after an unceremoniously shout, realized he had no other holding than Feliciano, wrapping his arms rather strongly around him, leaving Feliciano breathless as Pookie adjusted well into the air.

After a fearsome spin, a leaning and then another rush of altitude, Pookie finally found his settling, now calm, a smooth direction to north on an outing of the city. At this point, the breeze became calm, the ride peaceful, Ludwig and Feliciano could dispatch themselves from whatever hiding and actually look appropriately around them.

What a beautiful glow of the setting sun, the spread of colors of their capital city, of red mountains, bountiful villages, shinning rivers and lakes, all in a radius of freedom and reaches that made them more ruling than any powerful throne they could be given. There was a running of emotion as if they could feel every life moving below them, the horizons showing a liberation of places to explore and never reach limits. It brought ease and content to the riders, falling in ease, no fear blinding them any longer from the majesty of it all. Pookie seemed to grin and raise his head in pride…but with a shake of his mane that gave an awakening slap to Feliciano, he reminded that there was still a place to reach.

“Oh, yeah,” Feliciano remembered, bringing his hands back to the hold of the mane as a wheel to their flight. Feliciano tested it out, Pookie obediently following whatever direction he decided to move him toward to.

“Where to?” Feliciano asked Ludwig. He was the one that knew well the direction to Norderney and they very much depended on him for that.

Ludwig took a better look at their surroundings, to the routes that looked diminutive and the landmarks but specks below. “West through Grunewald,” he could identify, and they could begin.

Feliciano nodded as did Pookie, and the lion turned to fly over the familiar forest. Onward for the first time on the back of a St. Mark.

Lovino had watched it all from the comfort of the castle, not being able to hide how impressed he was by the spectacle of watching his brother fly off on Pookie like in ancient stories. Augustino was just as wondered, his eyes following their dot even as it disappeared in the distance.

“I hope your uncle doesn’t teach you to be that crazy.”

#Feliciano and the King of Hearts #fatkoh #f&tkoh #gerita #gerita fanfiction #gerita fanfic #gerita fic

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