#OH also thinking about this reminded me of this folk tale I read at my school library as a kid | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rukia-writes · 2 years

Note

If you’re doing any Halloween requests, could you please find it in your heart to do a werewolf Hercules x little Red Riding Hood female reader? Sex please!

Werewolf! Hercules x Little Red Riding Hood! Reader

Plot: a spin on the classic tale. 🐺

Warnings: 18+, no minors 🔞, violence/death , nudity, breeding kink, virginity loss, oral sex, public sex, cussing, I made this long, really long. Please drink and eat while reading.

A/N: Ah, my favorite folk tale. In the spirit of Halloween and my favorite fairy tale, Yes. Also! Portraying Hercules as the wolf was HARD because the man doesn’t have a bad bone in his body, but I had a solution. 😏

Stay on the path and don’t talk to strangers.

The sun was high in the sky on a cool afternoon, and on the path were two teenagers. Brother and sister who had just come from town with a basket of bread, the two had just moved from another village and were new in town.

“Do you think Anne wanted anything else, Jack.”

“If she did, she would have mentioned it.”

Jack, was the eldest and his sister was the youngest. Jack was a calm child who enjoyed reading and wanted to become a writer when he was older. Being the oldest Jack was protective of his younger sister.

“Hey! Wait up!”

The two siblings looked behind them to see another young boy around the same age as Jack run over to them. The sister seemed happy to meet someone new but Jack wanted to keep his promise to Anne and so he quickly and gently grabbed his sister’s wrist and pulling her along.

“Jack! Cut it out!”

“Come on, we are not supposed to talk to strangers.”

Jack was adamant as he once again pulled his sister’s wrist making her walk faster, although the young boy caught up with them.

“Hey! I caught up with you! Are you guys new here?”

“Yes, we just moved from a different village.”

Catching his breath the young boy looked up and smiled at the young girl while her brother was less than pleased.

“Awesome! It’s nice to meet you. My friends call me Hercules, what’s your name?”

“My name is (Name), it’s nice to meet you too.”

The brother found it rude that this stranger named Hercules asked his sister her name while giving her a smile and not paying any attention to him really, and of course his sister innocently told her name.

So much for not talking to strangers.

“Hey, do you want to come play with me and my friends?”

“Sure-“

“We have to be getting home.”

Jack interrupted as he motioned for (Name) to follow him, pouting (Name) followed her brother but that didn’t stop Hercules as he followed them asking questions to which (Name) innocently answered with a smile on her face much to Jack’s dismay and once he heard (Name) laugh from one of Hercules’ jokes Jack sighed. Hercules left on the promise that the two would come play games with him tomorrow.

(Name) promised, Jack had his fingers crossed.

“About time! The sun is setting don’t you know-“

“The wolves come out. Yes, yes.”

Jack and (Name) were hugged tightly by their aunt Anne that had a bit too much to drink. However, both felt like their aunt was more of a mother than their own blood mother. Rushing the two inside as the sun was setting, reminding the two that wolves came out at night and it was time to lock up.

Every night, before bed Jack would read his sister a bedtime story. Rather, the stories he read that day and every time (Name) would fall asleep with Jack following second. Peeking thru the door, Anne always checked on the two and was always happy to see their sleeping faces.

“I’m going to go get water!”

“I’m going with you.”

“Oh, come on! It’s not far off. Plus I can take care of myself. I’m not a child.”

Jack scoffed as he was certain (Name) would get lost and distracted, (Name) told him otherwise. The two argued until Anne told Jack that (Name) was capable of fetching water. Jack sighed and gave up as he returned to his room to read, in his room he heard the door shut followed by leaving the property as Jack watched from the window.

In the forest, (Name) came by a nearby stream to which she filled her bucket. Only to hear “You’re here too?” Looking behind her she saw Hercules with a big grin, to which (Name) happily smiled back. The two talked to each other for awhile, not caring about anything else. Both telling each other where they come from to what they liked.

“Say, why don’t you come play with me and my friends.”

“…Well, I have to take this water back home.”

“Yeah? Well, I’ll carry it for you. I’m sure it’s heavy.”

Hercules picked up the bucket with ease much to (Name)’s joy, finding out that those muscles weren’t just for show. The two walked to (Name)’s house and of course Jack was waiting on the steps. Jack figured Hercules was with his sister and the way the talked to each other Jack had his suspicions.

“Why don’t you come with us, Jack?”

It was an offer Jack couldn’t refuse.

“Got ya!”

While reading underneath a tree Jack looked up from his book to see Hercules carrying his sister over his shoulder, both laughing and having fun time. Jack made a “hmph” sound and went back to reading as Hercules went to find the others. The sun was setting when everyone decided to go home, stretching Jack liked reading underneath the tree and wanted to come back. Once (Name) was by his side, the two talked for a bit until Hercules waved bye to both Jack and (Name) but mainly to (Name).

Rolling his eyes Jack was finding Hercules to be “a little flirt” but while rolling his eyes he didn’t notice Hercules give (Name) a little wink making Castor who was beside Hercules the whole time snicker. (Name) smiled back at Hercules while feeling a bit of excitement in her heart, as she remembered what Hercules told her as they played earlier that day.

It was late at night, the forest seemed dark and absolutely frightening.

However, at the edge of the forest was a campfire by a small lake. Around it were some familiar faces, and some were new. Sitting down on the ground with his chin resting on his right hand looking bored as the others goofed around, all were waiting for the new girl to show up.

“Hercules! Where is this girl you spoke of? Did you tell her to meet us tonight?”

Hercules’ brother which people called Ares teased him seeing as how Hercules wasn’t his cheerful self, adding in another brother of Hercules decided to tease.

“I bet the girl doesn’t exist, and Hercules was just pulling our leg.”

“She’ll be here, Hermes.”

Firing back at his brother Hermes only made the brother smirk while shrugging his shoulders, and deciding not to wait the group decided to play hide and seek in the woods. It was a favorite game they liked to play better than in the daytime. Pouting, Hercules stood up as Castor patted him on the back knowing his friend was disappointed. Only for both to hear “I’m here!” Hercules knew that voice anywhere as he looked behind him to see (Name) running towards them with a wearing a red hood.

“She’s here!”

“…She’s hot.”

“She’s not imaginary.”

Quickly punching both his brothers in the back for their comments, Ares receiving a harsher punch, before running towards (Name) and hugging her innocently. (Name) could tell Hercules wanted to see her by how tight he hugged her, feeling shy (Name) quietly greeted Hercules. Complimenting (Name) on her red hood only made the girl’s heart beat faster, even if Hercules was just giving a compliment only for his brothers to show up.

Both were interested in meeting (Name) as they introduced themselves, Castor walked over wondering if the game was still on. All of them agreed, after explaining the rules of the game which was the same, except in order to be safe was to return to the lake without being caught.

“I’ll hide with you, (Name).”

“Hm, oh. That’s nice of you Ares. Where is your hiding spot?”

Blushing Ares simply told her to follow him as the others scattered as Hermes was the seeker, which meant your chance of being caught was almost guaranteed. Hermes, was too good at the game. On the other hand, Hercules, while going to his hiding spot found Ares and (Name) hiding together displeasing. However, Hercules didn’t say anything and went to his hiding spot. As the night went on, (Name) had fun as Hermes was able to find everyone with ease and so the game continued until late in the night.

“What do you mean you lost her?!”

Hercules and Hermes stopped their game of hide and seek as Ares was freaking out that he couldn’t find (Name). The two were hiding together, still, but when he turned around to her she was no where to be found. Hercules felt all the blood in his system drop, especially when he and everyone heard a wolf howl.

“Well, let’s not stand here.”

Hermes calmly told everyone as he wanted everyone to split up and look for (Name). Rather, (Name) wasn’t far, once again distracted by four sweet baby wolves. Rather playful, they had led (Name) astray from the group and now the pups seem to be enjoying (Name)’s company. (Name) only realized how deep she was in the forest when she heard a wolf howl, and it sounded awfully close. Saying good bye to the pups (Name) tried to leave but the pups wouldn’t let her as they still wanted to play, a minute passed and then few minutes passed (Name) played with the pups until she heard a rustle in the bushes.

The pups hid behind (Name) as she wished she had someone to hide behind, it wasn’t necessary as she was tackled by a strong person sending her to the ground that wrapped her in her arms tightly.

“(Name)! Thank goodness I found you!”

(Name) knew it was Hercules by the tight hug itself, his voice was a confirmation, however she wasn’t expecting Hercules to be worried about her. Even as the two stood up Hercules wouldn’t let go of her, it was only when (Name) asked “what’s the fuss about?” That was when Hercules released (Name) while blushing a bit, embarrassed by his actions only to see the wolf pups wanting to play. Putting the two together Hercules figured it out, repeatedly poking her in the forehead and scolding her for getting distracted and wandering off.

“Everyone was worried about you, you know.”

“Ok-okay, I hear you.”

The two walked back to camp together hand in hand, so (Name) wouldn’t get distracted this time and wander off. However, before they left Hercules found the pups to be adorable and understood why (Name) wandered off. Plus, he was sure the mother wasn’t far off. At camp, the group was over joyed to know Hercules found (Name) and decided to go home as it was late. For the next few days, the group decided to meet at night for games and stories.

Jack had no idea about it.

One night, (Name) had arrived to a sight she was expecting. Everyone was currently taking their clothes off, ready to go skinny dipping. No one told (Name) about this and the surprise was evident on her face. The first one in was Ares followed by Hermes and then Hercules with the others joining in, (Name) was last in the cold water and the most shy.

However, that feeling went away with time as everyone played games such as Marco Polo, but a new game was now being played.

Truth or dare.

(Name) was fairly neutral about the game and as everyone played it was becoming fun knowing her friends secret. When it was finally Ares turn was he wondered what he would ask, well there was a question he did want to ask a certain someone.

“Hercules, truth or dare?”

Surprised Hercules fumbled over his words until he picked truth in a confident manner, thinking to himself he wouldn’t get any “hard” questions if he chose truth, Hermes was quick to point this out as he whispered “he thought he did something.”

“Truth.”

“…Is it true you find (Name) attractive? Hot?”

Everyone was at full attention now as Hercules was a mixture of shock and nervous as he looked at (Name) who was smiling innocently and then back at his brother was smiling confidently now. Hermes was enjoying it all as he wanted to know Hercules answer.

“What kind of question is that?! Why are you asking me this?!”

“Answer the question, brother.”

Hermes added in slyly making Hercules red in the face from embarrassment as everyone chanted “answer the question.” Scratching his head Hercules wanted someone to get him out this situation but there was no way out.

“….I mean..yeah. (Name) is very attractive and sweet and .. I-any would guy would be lucky to have her.”

Twiddling his thumbs while looking them and shyly answering Ares question, everyone was quiet for awhile until they broke out in a song:

Hercules and (NAME)

Sitting in a tree

K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

First comes love

Then comes marriage

Then comes-

“There’s a fucking snake!”

The lake was now in chaos as someone yelled out there was a snake and everyone quickly left the lake in a hurry. Ares, even in his frantic rush out the lake noticed Hercules help (Name) out lake and covering her up with red hood. Hercules did walk (Name) home the whole time his face was still a dark red but when (Name) told him bye with a smile he seemed to have calmed down a bit.

In the morning, Hermes found Hercules putting Ares in a headlock at home. No doubt, Hercules wanted to teach his brother a lesson. Hermes didn’t help as he simply went into the kitchen to make breakfast.

Years went by and now the group of teenagers no longer played games. Now, most of the boys were grown and were in the vanguard protecting the village. The girls had grown into other profession, some worked journalists, some with cooking, and some even did woodworking. (Name) had her own bakery and both siblings were increasingly popular in town, however Jack lived on his own.

Anne cried for three days when Jack left, even though he still lived in town.

It was early in the morning, Jack and (Name) were making their way in town as Jack talked about an idea he had for a book he wanted to publish. Except this time, this village was in chaos as women were doing their best to get their children inside as the men were up in arms.

“What’s going on?”

“Let’s go find out.”

The two made their to the crowd and was informed that a werewolf was on the loose, Jack found this claim to be rather ridiculous but once the two saw the bodies that were stretched out on the ground he considered the possibility. Now the vanguard was on high alert and promised to find this monster.

Monster or no, (Name) just didn’t believe in werewolves.

Years ago, Hercules and the others told of a werewolf that terrorized the village and had an iron grip on them for awhile. While remembering the warnings from years ago, (Name) worked in her bakery and unbeknownst to her someone was already in her workplace and when he saw his opportunity he quickly scooped her up in his arms from hugging her tightly from behind.

“Afternoon! How’s my favorite baker today?!”

(Name) knew that voice anywhere as she happily welcomed Hercules who was taller and muscular than his late teenage years when they met. Once (Name) was placed gently on the ground she turned around to see Hercules giving her his usual bright smile, a smile that always made her heart skip a beat.

“Are you on break?”

“Yes, I heard about what happened in town earlier. We’ve been put on patrol all night.”

Hercules had achieved his goal of being in the town’s vanguard, bringing justice and peace. Hearing a “Here you go.” The handsome guard had a large basket in his face, confused he tilted his head to the side to peek at (Name) who seemed rather shy.

“What’s this for?”

“I made you lunch, I figured you would be hungry-“

Hungry was a good word.

Quickly taking a peek down (Name)’s dress as the top was a square neck line that teased her chest, a quick peek. Grabbing the basket Hercules thanked (Name) for making him lunch and decided to eat at her table. The two talked for a bit until Hercules saw a bunch of customers come up. Hercules noticed most of them were man clients and some flirted with (Name) right in front of him. It was an everyday occurrence and Hercules noticed.

Of course he noticed, (Name) was the prettiest girl in his village.

“(Name), I’ll see you later. Thank you for lunch.”

As to get back at all the flirts Hercules hugged (Name) right infront of them, and even looked at them with a prideful smirk making them frown at Hercules. However, (Name) didn’t seem to mind as she shyly told Hercules to come back any time.

However, once the supposed flirts saw his muscular and tall Hercules was as he exited the bakery they immediately backed off. Later that night Hercules did return to help and just in time as he caught (Name) in his arms as she was trying to get something off the top shelf. In his arms (Name) felt safe as Hercules asked her if she was okay and to which she muttered to herself with “My heart is beating a bit fast.”

The two looked at each other as though they were lovers both leaning into each other until they both heard,

“It’s not gentleman like to have a lady out so late.”

Both quickly looked over their shoulder to see Jack sitting down at the table having a cup of tea with a loaf of bread. (Name) had no idea when Jack made the tea but she admired her brothers dedication.

“My good sir, put my sister down.”

While polite Jack told Hercules to put his sister down as he was still not too fond of Hercules. As a matter of fact, there were a few nights where Jack locked the windows and doors as a precaution. After finding out his sister had been sneaking out, Jack didn’t know where his sister ran off to at night. But he certainly didn’t feel comfortable with her going and he knew Hercules was to blame. Jack and (Name) budded heads a few times but Anne made the two make up.

Once Hercules placed (Name) on the ground gently he asked how Jack was, and Jack simply gave him the minimum. Then Jack proceeded to tell (Name) that he had to talk to her alone. Stressing the alone while looking at Hercules hoping he would get the message, Hercules wasn’t scared of Jack but he didn’t want any conflict and honored Jack’s wishes. Before he left, he whispered to (Name) “…I don’t think your brother likes me.” To which (Name) responded with “I don’t think he likes anyone.” Jack cleared his throat making Hercules sigh as he also told (Name) to lock up and to walk home safely.

Once, Hercules left (Name) told Jack that he was very rude to Hercules only for Jack to tell her that she should be scolding Hercules for coming around her, a lady, so late at night. But of course, he got no response and that was fine with him.

“Anne has fallen ill, we should go to visit her soon.”

“Sure, when would you like to go see her.”

“Tomorrow, at the latest. Pack her up a basket with food and alcohol. She should recover faster that way.”

“What about tea?”

“Yes, that too.”

The two talked for a bit longer as (Name) closed shop, while doing so Jack had the feeling that the two were being watched and once they left the shop Jack was certain that were being watched.

The next morning, Jack told (Name) to hold off on visiting Anne has he received word that people were complaining to the leader of the city Hercules’ father, that their livestock had been ran sacked by the werewolf this time. Jack didn’t like Hercules’ father either as everyone called him Zeus, he was certainly a little arrogant as he only told the townspeople that he was handling it.

Jack was certain that he wasn’t and that he wanted to move to a different town soon.

A week had passed and the townsfolk were getting restless and worried about the situation, however Anne still wasn’t feeling well. Jack told (Name) not to visit just yet but (Name) was worried about Anne and so she went with the basket of goodies while wearing her red cape.

Don’t get lost and don’t talk to strangers, Jack warned.

Of course, Anne’s house was out of town and the journey consisted of walking through the forest. Being there many times before, (Name) felt like it was a simple errand but in the back of her mind there was always a sense of suspense. Telling herself, werewolves are not real and that it was just superstitious.

“(Name)! What are you doing out here?”

Giving a little jump and pulling back her red hood, (Name) knew the man’s voice as it always made her heart skip a beat.

“Good evening, Hercules.”

“Good evening, where are you going? It’s dangerous to be out here.”

“I know I’m just out to give my aunt a basket of goodies, since she’s feeling under the weather.”

Holding the basket for Hercules to look through (Name) innocently telling him where she was going, however (Name) noticed Hercules was a bit different.

“Are you okay? You seem on edge.”

“Yeah, it’s just not safe out and I’m just worried about you. How about I walk you to your house.”

“Ah, not this. Werewolves don’t exist, and I can handle myself. Besides, Anne doesn’t live far away.”

The two went back and forth on the path, Hercules insisted on walking with her and (Name) knew there was no need to worry. Eventually, Hercules blew a heavy sigh and reluctantly agreed. However, before he left he told (Name) to hurry to Anne’s place and that it was still dangerous out.

Even repeating Jack’s warning of not talking to strangers.

Pushing both warnings aside (Name) kept walking until she was close to her destination, thinking to herself along the way Hercules was acting a bit odd. (Name) could only put in the category of “agitation”, not to mention how long his fingernails were becoming. They needed a trim.

“(Name)! Hello!”

Scaring (Name) for a second time she quickly turned around to see a happy Castor, a friend of Hercules. Breathing a sigh of relief smiles and waved back to the gentle and warm Castor. The two talked for a bit before Castor asked if (Name) had seen Hercules and of course (Name) told him that she had just seen him and that he wasn’t far off. Castor seemed relieved at this information and simply asked where (Name) was headed. Innocently enough, (Name) told Castor where she was headed. Castor also warned (Name) to get home safely, and not to stray from the path.

“Where did you get those flowers?”

“Hm? These? Oh, these are for my mother and I got them over there actually.”

Castor pointed to a patch of flowers that weren’t that far off, (Name) smiled as she wanted to give flowers for Anne, who was like a mother to her and Jack. So, that was what she did not paying attention to Castor leaving to go and find Hercules.

Before long, the sun was setting and (Name) had just arrived at Anne’s place. Knocking on the door (Name) heard Anne telling her to come in and that the door was open of course. Walking in and closing the door behind her (Name) noticed Anne was getting up from bed as small curtain separated the two.

“Sorry it took so long. I was a bit distracted, but I got you flowers.”

“How sweet of you, why don’t you join me in here.”

“Sure.”

(Name) found Anne’s voice to be rather off, but simply thought it was Anne’s cold as she walked into the room. The only light were the many candles burning and sitting up in bed was Anne.

“Are those the flowers I smell or is that you that smells amazing.”

“Probably the flowers.”

Sitting the basket down on a nearby table (Name) noticed a musky smell about, however Anne told her to come and sit on the bed. Once (Name) did she noticed Anne didn’t quite look like herself even though Anne told her she was quite tired.

Still.

“Anne, your ears are so big.”

“Big ears? It must be the cold. Well, I suppose I could use them to hear you better with. Now come closer.”

Tension was starting to fill the room as (Name) didn’t quite feel right for some reason, then she looked a bit closer at her beloved mother.

“Anne, what big eyes you have.”

“Big eyes? Why, yes. So I can see you better, now come closer so I can see the pretty flowers you picked for me.”

Noticing the changes so far made (Name) rise up from the bed but Anne quickly pulled her back down with ease by holding down on (Name)’s wrist while smiling a big toothy grin.

“I said, I wanted to see the flowers.”

(Name) felt a sudden rush of fear as she now had really good look at Anne who was truly freighting and not the woman she was raised with.

“But…Anne. Your teeth, their so big.”

“Of course, my sweet (Name). The better to eat you with!”

With that, the house was in chaos as (Name) tried to escape from the intruder as the intruder chased her around the house with quickness as the sun had set and it darkness now ruled the sky. Hiding in the closet and cowering in fear (Name) hoped someone would come and save her. Covering her mouth with her hand to prevent her from screaming (Name) noticed her shirt was ripped and then the sound of heavy footsteps was heard around the house.

“Come out, my sweet (Name). I know you’re here. I can smell you. Don’t you remember…”

The sound of stuff being thrown about was heard as (Name) cowered in fear at the sound and then the sound of whine, as that of a wolf. Now, (Name) believed with certainty as the closet door opened harshly as she looked up at the monster.

A werewolf.

“…I’m the best seeker. Also, didn’t your mother tell you that wolves come out at night.”

The main door opened with a loud crash and in walked in Hercules, and to (Name)’s surprise he too didn’t look like himself. Ears, tail, and eyes like of a wolf, it was made apparent that Castor wasn’t expecting Hercules as he growled at Hercules.

“What are you doing here?! Shouldn’t you be out doing something?”

“I noticed your scent and (Name)’s so I came over. What are you doing here? And why is (Name) scared?”

Hercules already knew what had taken place but was shocked by the actions of his child hood friend, both had been werewolves since birth and both had an attraction with (Name) since they first saw her. But now, both were experiencing their rut and needed relief. Hercules was able to keep his emotions in check whenever (Name) was nearby, Castor could not.

Before long, both were at each other’s throat.

Every passing second the two became more and more wolf like, fur, eyes, movements, sharp teeth and all.

“Werewolves aren’t real.”

As (Name) watched the two werewolves fight, (Name) couldn’t believe her eyes as werewolves were thought to be something out of a fairytale and yet the two beasts were out for blood as they made a hole in the house and continued fighting outside in the backyard. Until, Hercules had Castor by the neck putting him into submission with his mouth.

“You got him! Way to go Hercules!”

(Name) noticed Hercules’ ear twitch when she spoke and found that cute. As the moon was still high in the sky the two werewolves had reverted back to their human forms, Hercules by choice and Castor by submission. Rushing over, (Name) thanked Hercules while hugging his muscular arm. Hercules blushed a bit while asking if (Name) was okay, responding with “Thanks to you.” Hercules smiled down at (Name) who returned his smile with her own.

The two inched closer to one another and didn’t notice castor was about to attack again. Just as Castor was about attack when the sound of gunshot echoed throughout the forest, Hercules had (Name) in a embrace protecting her as Castor fell to the ground.

“Silver bullets. That’ll do it, I see.”

(Name) recognized the voice to be Jack, and it was her brother. Jack walked over to make sure he didn’t miss his target, and to his confirmation Jack did get the “wolf” in his heart. Jack asked what happened to Anne as he didn’t see her around, Hercules and (Name) were silent.

Jack sighed as he knew what that meant, although everyone heard “What happened to my house?!” Everyone looked to see Anne upset that her house was destroyed, (Name) asked where Anne was to everyone’s surprise Anne held up a chicken.

“I went to town to get dinner and got a little sidetracked.”

Jack saw Anne hold up a beer bottle with her other hand, well everyone was just glad she was okay.

A week later, Jack had made a new book.

“I like it, Jack.”

“Excellent, (Name) found it interesting.”

Jack made a story loosely based off the events that happened a few days ago, changing a few events and changing a few titles so that it could be read to children a like. The book was already famous and earned Jack a few awards, more were soon to come. Anne, liked the book herself and told Jack that he was talented. Jack was surprised to see so many red hoods and was pleased that everyone was heeding his warning of stranger danger.

Speaking of which, Jack hoped his sister wasn’t out with anymore wolves and when he and everyone heard a wolf howl Jack hoped (Name) was safe at home.

However, in the meadows Hercules was relaxing at the hiding spot where and (Name) would hide during their teenage years. Kindly mourning the death of his friend and still experiencing his rut, Hercules wanted to be by himself. However, sniffing the air Hercules knew a certain someone was trying to sneak up him, smirking Hercules quickly called her out.

“Let me guess, you smelled me coming?”

“I did, you have a very “sweet” smell.”

Coming out from behind the bushes Hercules saw a playfully sad (Name), sneaking up on Hercules had always been a goal of hers but it never happened and now she knew why. Sitting down beside her hero she noticed how tall and big he was even sitting down. Although, (Name) noticed Hercules scooting away from her.

“What’s wrong? Do I smell too sweet?”

“Hm, no. I just …wanted some distance.”

(Name) could tell when Hercules was lying as he wore his heart on his sleeve, and so she scooted closer to him only for him to scoot away. This repeated for several minutes until (Name) just sat on Hercules lap making the wolf man blush.

“Don’t you know what distance means?!”

“Well, I wanted to be close to you. Besides, you’re the one who always tells me to be safe. What safer place to be that close to the man that saved my life-“

Silence.

While sitting on Hercules lap with her back turned to him, (Name) found out the reason Hercules wanted his space and she herself felt her face become hot as she smiled nervously.

“Is that a really big knife I’m feeling? Or something else?”

“I don’t have any knives on me.”

Looking away Hercules bashfully answered (Name)’s question as his face was red, hearing a faint “oh” Hercules knew that (Name) had to get off him quickly.

“Well, I still feel safe here. I don’t think any big bad wolves will get me.”

“You never know….”

Hercules quickly wrapped his arms around (Name) pulling her closer to him as her back was still turned, while Hercules rested his chin on her left shoulder and with a soft whisper in her ear as his sharp teeth showed.

“…Wolves come out at night and you look delicious.”

Hearing Hercules’ whisper in her ear made a shiver go down her spine and excitement began to flow between her legs. Then feeling Hercules nose nuzzle gently on her neck followed by a little whine, an indication playful with a little neediness. It was (Name)’s first time hearing it, flaming her interest (Name) rubbed the top Hercules head making him smile.

“Say, (Name). Let’s have some fun.”

Calm and quiet Hercules whispered once more in (Name)’s ear, as another shiver went down her spine as her heart was aflame as she innocently agreed. Anything for her hero, her handsome and beloved hero. That now had a complete hold of her as the two kissed each other, a sweet kiss followed by a quick disrobing at their favorite hiding place. Now, the only thing had was her red hood and even Hercules managed to take that off and use that as blanket to devour his sweet (Name) on.

Don’t get distracted.

Don’t talk to strangers.

But what could be sweeter than having Hercules tasting the sweetness of his sweet (Name), and what was sweeter than feeling of Hercules’ tongue pleasuring (Name)’s cunt.

Why, nothing.

This was Hercules first time but he wasn’t scared or fettered, especially the more she moaned and said his name in pure pleasure and the more Hercules licked and tasted the more lustful he became. Every sound (Name) made, he heard. Ears perking up at every moan and groan, movements became scarce as Hercules held down (Name)’s thighs. Squirming when Hercules licked a sensitive spot inside her cunt, that wouldn’t do with Hercules as he didn’t want any unnecessary movements.

While deep inside (Name)’s cunt Hercules began to give in his lust, from licking her clit to inside her. Kissing her clit and licking it, Hercules did enjoy that first as he enjoyed the moans (Name) made but once his tongue was inside her Hercules really enjoyed that, from the taste to her moans.

“I’m going to cum again! Please slow down!”

“..Again?! How many times?!”

It took Hercules a few seconds as he couldn’t stop himself from tasting and licking (Name)’s wet cunt and coming up to his surprise to find out (Name) had came twice and was going for a third. Lust still ran thru his veins but Hercules asked if (Name) was okay as he slowly licked a trail on (Name)’s stomach to her breasts.

Enjoying the feel of Hercules’ tongue on her stomach (Name) eventually answered Hercules question only because she felt something sharp on her nipple and sure enough Hercules’ nails had grown as played with her nipples. Ears were that of a wolf making (Name) want to pet them and once she did she heard a playful chuckle come from Hercules.

“Do you believe in werewolves now?”

Not getting a chance to answer as (Name) felt Hercules’ grip on her thighs tighten as he made her wrap her legs around his waist with his well endowed cock at her entrance wanting nothing more to be inside her cunt.

“Come, let have fun.”

Hercules offered his hands for (Name) take, of course She did as she loved the feel of Hercules hands engulfing her own, and so while kissing each other and holding hands Hercules slyly slid his cock inside (Name)’s cunt. A little scream erupted from the innocent (Name) as she lost her virginity and due to the sheer size of Hercules’ cock made her mind numb as it didn’t leave a single inch and even had a little more outside. While (Name) quickly screamed in pain Hercules moaned a loud in pure bliss at how incredibly tight (Name) was as his face was now red as he felt all restraint leave him and his lust was now ruling his emotions.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry it hurt, don’t worry. You’ll feel better..”

Hercules tried to make sure (Name) was okay but without realizing Hercules had started moving his hips as his lust was driving him at the moment, while it was a lot to take the sight of seeing Hercules in writhing in pleasure was worth it as his face was the most delectable sight that (Name) would never forget and before (Name) knew it she was being fucked in the forest.

The moans that left the two were uncontrolled and the pace Hercules had was a consistently animalistic as his animalistic lust took over and there was no restraint anymore. The lewd face (Name) made only fueled Hercules lust, eyes rolled back and mouth agape. Hercules had a tight grip on her thighs but snaked his hands on her hips now as he now set the tone of the pace truly. Licking his lips the sight of how tight she felt on his thick cock as his teeth was sharp now, especially his canine.

However, his body never changed and (Name) loved that muscular and toned body of his and would sneak glances when she could.

(Name) wouldn’t get much looking as Hercules had her in other positions, many positions. From sideways to behind, (Name) could tell her lover was very energetic as she was essentially in so many positions she would become a little dizzy. However, on her hands and knees with Hercules deep inside her wet cunt seemed to be their favorite position as Hercules stayed there the longest. Of course he did, a tight grip on her ass and would slap her ass with his nails scratching it, sometimes Hercules would bend down simply to kiss her neck and sometimes slowly lick it.

“So sweet, you’re so sweet. I can’t wait to knock you up and see my precious pups.”

Ah, there it was.

(Name) knew he had a breeding kink in there somewhere, and while (Name) was on her hands knees taking Hercules cock the best she could she responded back with, “Nothing would make me happier.” The words seemed like a whisper but Hercules heard loud and clear. A dragged out moan left Hercules’ throat a small whine in the mix as his pace quickened and became harsher to the point (Name) could no longer take it as she was now completely face down and ass up as Hercules kept his pure animalistic pace up that needed relief as he was now in a talkative mood.

“We’ll have our own family, just me and you.”

“I mean it, I’m going to breed you-my hot and sweet (Name).”

Sometimes, Hercules would whisper “I love you.” A few times as he his lust and love intertwined together making the sex between them all the hotter as (Name) loved Hercules just as much he loved her.

Teeth bare and fangs sharp Hercules lifted (Name)’s right leg to for complete control and to penetrate just a bit deeper. When this happened (Name) quickly muttered “you’re hitting my womb.” Still, Hercules heard and responded with “I know I am.” Leaking pre-cum (Name) knew her lover was at his ropes and oddly enough she never wanted the sex to end. However, once the two did reach end the adrenaline and pleasure rushed through them and made them shiver with pleasure. So much so, (Name) didn’t feel the cum run down her legs as Hercules’ had filled her cunt to the brim with his potent cum.

Just like he said.

Catching her breath while now laying flat on her back she was joined by her lover that cuddled with her as he nuzzled his face on her neck, a little chuckle was heard before (Name) fell asleep with her lover. Dreaming of him and only him, her sweet and honest lover.

Giving (Name) a kiss on her forehead and wrapping her up in her red hood and took her to his home.

The night had finally left and morning was here.

In the mountains, Hercules was content from last night. Although, he knew later he would be visiting his sweet (Name) later and couldn’t wait to see her as he made a whine with a little smile.

“None of that, it’s my turn now. Hercules.”

Hercules knew that voice before he turned around to see his friend, Castor. Alongside with him was Hermes and Ares, Smiling nervously, Hercules apologized for Castor being shot by Jack as he didn’t think Jack would show up. Castor growled at his friend while showing him the bullet wounds, Hercules could tell his friend was hurting as he winced in pain for Castor.

“That does look very painful, Castor.”

“Because, it was, Hermes. You got (Name), I want the princess in the next city.”

“…Today?”

“I took two silver bullets for you to get your sweet (Name), Yes. Today.”

Hercules became sad as he whined while wanting to go home and finish the rest of his rut with his sweet (Name). However, a deal was a deal.

“Deal, maybe we can make it back before night fall.”

“Don’t forget, you both owe me. I helped you both with your ruts. I want all the tea in the city you’re visiting.”

Hermes quietly reminded his brother and his friend as he scratched his ear that was wolf like and the color was black. The townspeople lost their livestock because Hermes needed it to make a supplement that would help with their rut.

Simple.

“So, you actually got (Name). Was it everything you wanted, Hercules.”

“It was amazing, she felt so good-“

“Topic! Let’s stay on topic!”

Castor reminded the two as he rubbed his wound that was aching fierce, Ares agreed to go with the two and both agreed as they could use him in whatever they saw fit.

“By the way, who was it that killed those people in town? Was it you, Ares?”

“Damn, no. I was busy..myself.”

Ares cleared his throat as his face a bright red and Hercules knew what he was busy with, rather who. Hermes scoffed as he grimaced with disgust.

“If it was none of you, I hope father hasn’t been fruitful lately. I’ll cut his dick off myself.”

Hercules, Ares, and Castor grimaced at the thought and to change the subject as he was curious Castor asked how he believed Jack would handle (Name) and Hercules being together, as Hercules knew Jack wouldn’t let just anyone have his sister. But a hero, would earn Hercules (Name)’s hand. It wasn’t a matter of (Name)’s heart, Hercules knew he had her heart from the moment she had fallen in love with him and he also had love for her.

Jack was the problem. Jack was a thorn.

Even if Hercules had managed to confess and the two were together without Jack’s blessing it would be futile. Jack was the protective older brother and he would defend his sister from any wolves. So, Hercules had a plan that he devised to get Jack’s blessing and (Name) all at the same time. So long as (Name) wouldn’t tell his secret, and she wouldn’t, she was innocent and would do whatever her lover and hero wanted. Even if she tried to tell Hercules had something that would keep her quiet.

“Well, let’s not stand here. I want to be back before (Name) wakes up.”

With that, Hermes watched as his brothers and castor left in their werewolf form to the next city for their conquest. Smirking, Hermes decided to take walk in town and with the townspeople relaxed once more, the hunt was back on once more.

🎃Rukia-Writes🎃

#hercules x reader #shuumatsu no valkyrie x reader #record of ragnarok x reader #my favorite story 🐺🧺

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nyappytown · 1 year

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Susano'o Theory Bones:

First: What lead me to look into Susanoo in the first place was a mention of Kushihime in Clash! Oh Ye gods of Calamity. Upon looking into her I had to of course, look into her husband. And immediately he reminded me of Yato’s behavior.

Second: While Yato mentions that Yukine is scared of the dark, Yukine mentions that same chapter how Yato hates storms. Since the beginning of my looking into the theory it has always made sense that he would despise his own nature.

Fourth: The reoccurring motif of storms through the series while we still have no sign of the storm god.

“I wonder if Yato has another name too… I’ll go ask Mayu about Yato after I stop by the team room…”

Now onto a very rough comparison of folk lore!

Susano'o is a key figure and works as a foil to Amaterasu through in many points of the mythology, many of the events of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki cannot exist without him, yet, he is no where in Noragami as it stands. But as I will list below, we still see some of those stories interpreted... but with Yato in place of Susano'o-no-Mikoto.

Susano'o was born of Izanagi’s nose in the Kojiki. Yato is constantly shown with a runny nose.

He was sent to Ne no Kuni by Izanagi after his birth because he wailed to be with his mother.

Yato was sent to Yomi after wailing to be reunited with Hiyori and Yukine.

(Ne no Kuni translates to “land of roots” but it has been associated with the underworld in just about everything I have read.) fun fact! We have seen Yato demonstrate he may have some sort of control over Ayakashi.

The heaven arc is honestly where the most was shoved in our faces. Susano'o is the god who slew Yamata no Orochi and retrieved Kusanagi from its belly.

In the heaven arc Yato is who takes down Take’s dragon.

The trial by pledge is known as “ukei” which is the same ritual that was performed by Susano'o and Amaterasu to determine his innocence. Each party took an item from the other and was chewed on them to produce children. The party to produce daughters would be seen in the right and the party to produce sons, wrong.

Susano'o was declared in the right, and upon winning was so overwhelmed with joy he proceeded to make a mess of Amaterasu’s weaving hall and flayed her horses. (Normal person behavior, I know.) And that is, in one of the accounts, when he was banished!

Those primarily in order they appear in Noragami and not the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki but hopefully it is enough to express why I am so in love with this theory! There are also other more humorous moments and little call outs which I adore.

At the beginning of the series, in chapter one, Yato makes mention of how stormy it is, and then sneezes, which can indicate someone is talking about you.

At the divine party Yamata no Orochi gets mentioned, directly across from that, and paneled to the same size, we see a “gloomy” Yato drinking by himself.

In chapter 83, we see Take with his perm and watch Kofuku break the rafters of Izumo Shrine down on him in a way that is very similar to how Ookuninushi and Suseribime managed to hold of Susano'o to get out of the underworld. This may in fact be a call out to this story. This is also potentially quite punny, as one of Susano'o-no-Mikoto's titles is Takehaya-Susano'o-no-Mikoto.

While it is Take in the scene, we see Coo phone, and black cats which are both associated with Yato through the series. But of course, black cats could also just be bad luck. (Poor kitties)

I adore that Ookuninushi is in this shot too. It’s just too perfect.

On the note of the above story!

In this tale, Ookuninushi received scarves from Suseribime to protect him from the trials Susanoo set him on. At the end of the tale, he receives a sword, as well as a bow and arrows from Susano'o.

And what is Rekki’s vessel form?

Exactly that-

I would like to end, with the manifold fence.

“Ah, a manifold fence.”

Bonus:

I FORGOT MY FAVORITE

For shame.

I need to add this because I can’t stop thinking about it. “In other words, you’re the invisible hand of nature.” Also, the pesti-germ is a reference to pestilence. Which Susano’o is associated with via Gozu Tenno. While Father, in this case, is associated with the Capyper.

This has been my first attempt to back up a Twitter thread! Thank you for bearing with me as I know these are probably strange in bullet point format on Tumblr. The other two are a bit more complicated, so I will get to those at a different time.

#susanoo theory #noragami #adachitoka #meta #theories #yato #this isnt even all of it #just a random ‟masterpost‟ i put together at 2 am to introduce the concept to someone on twitter #it goes too deep #maybe one day i will comprise an actual full on meta/analysis of the similarities

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maniacwatchestheworld · 1 year

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Scarred for Life: The Harvey Dent Story

[From Batman: The Audio Adventures, Season 1 Episode 2 "The Skylight in the Nursery"]

Here is a version of Harvey Dent's backstory (specifically from Batman: the Audio Adventures aka probably my personal favorite iteration of the character). I figured that for anyone newish to Batman fandom, that this might be useful to see! Or well... Hear in this case. Though usually it isn't Penguin who puts him through this, but rather one of Gotham's many, many crime families are usually the ones to disfigure him. Regardless, I hope you enjoy! Personally I just REALLY like Harvey's voice actor here and could listen to him talk all day. ૮⸝⸝> ̫ <⸝⸝ა

Also reading through the transcript now and thinking about it... I wonder if the Penguin paid Mr. Pratkins extra to compliment him and say impressive things about him and his casino and lounge to the jury, and more importantly to his crush (Harvey)... Probably, let's be honest.

Video transcript under the cut

Announcer: And now it's Gotham City One's award-winning documentary…

Robin: Aw, yes!

Announcer: Series "Ghosts of Gotham" with your host Jack Ryder. Tonight's episode, "Scarred for Life: The Harvey Dent Story."

Jack Ryder: It's one of Gotham City's most tragic tales. A lion-hearted litigator becomes a fractured fiend. Once a beacon of hope for a brighter Gotham, former district attorney Harvey Dent is now one of the city's most erratic public enemies. As Two-Face, he's believed to run a vast criminal empire within Gotham City. But a canny combination of legal genius and vicious intimidation has thus far allowed him to evade arrest. Harvey Dent was born to a modest household in the Gotham Narrows. His father was a domineering--

Robin: Hey, let's fast-forward to the--

[fast-forward whirring]

Jack Ryder: But all that hope and promise would come to a violent end.

Robin: Yeah, to the that.

Jack Ryder: The date was February 2nd. The place was the old Gotham courthouse. Harvey Dent had shocked the city by finding a witness willing to testify against a prominent Gotham businessman and suspected crime kingpin, none other than Oswald Cobblepot.

[cackling]

Jack Ryder: Some call him the Penguin, though rarely to his face and never more than once. It would have been the biggest conviction of Harvey Dent's storied legal career. Instead, it was the last case he ever tried.

[crowd chatter, gavel thuds]

Harvey Dent: Can you please state your name for the record?

Jackson Pratkins: The name's Jackson Pratkins.

Harvey Dent: Jackson Pratkins, are you also known in the Gotham underworld as the contract killer called Jack Sprat?

Jackson Pratkins: Yeah, that's me. Jack Sprat, by baseball bat, by knife, or gasoline.

[crowd murmurs]

Jackson Pratkins: That was my gimmick. But that's not me no more. I done some bad things, but I want to make it right.

Harvey Dent: That's what we're here to do today, Mr. Pratkins. Now, when did you first accept payment for illegal activities from Oswald Cobblepot?

Jackson Pratkins: I'm sorry, Cobble-who?

Harvey Dent: Oswald Cobblepot. You may know him as the Penguin.

Jackson Pratkins: Oh, the casino man, impresario extraordinaire Oswald Cobblepot. I never met him.

Harvey Dent: You nev--[chuckles] Mr. Pratkins, I remind you you are under oath and in your sworn statement, you detailed numerous criminal transactions initiated by Oswald Cobblepot.

Jackson Pratkins: Oh, you misunderstood. Sure, I said Mr. Cobblepot oughta be in jail 'cause he robs me blind every payday at that socko casino of his. You know Stoveplate Sullivan plays there every Saturday night? Exclusive engagement.

[laughter]

Jackson Pratkins: Beat that, folks.

Harvey Dent: Mr. Pratkins, you are gonna be charged with perjury, and your plea deal will be void unless you tell this court the truth. Isn't it true that you…

Jackson Pratkins: [muttering]

Harvey Dent: Murdered Gotham City Councilman Hubert Wainwright on orders from Oswald Cobblepot?

Jackson Pratkins: [sighs]

Harvey Dent: And isn't it in fact true that Oswald Cobblepot himself was present at the scene of the crime as evidenced by this article of his personal property recovered by the police? This very distinctive custom-made umbrella. One more chance, Mr. Pratkins. Can you testify that this umbrella belongs to the Penguin?

Jackson Pratkins: Well, since you put it that way, hand me that, uh, um-brella, so I can get a better--yeah, thank you, counselor. Oh, yeah, it seems I do remember something about Penguin's special umbrellas. I remember there's a little secret button here on the handle, hard to see, so take a real close look, handsome.

Harvey Dent: What are you--

Jack Ryder: We pause for a moment to warn our viewers that what you are about to see is extremely disturbing. Parental guidance is strongly advised.

Jackson Pratkins: Have an acid spritzer, Dent!

Harvey Dent: Ahh!

Jackson Pratkins: Courtesy of the Penguin!

Woman: Oh, my heavens! The umbrella was booby-trapped.

Man: The district attorney's been--oh, God! Mr. Dent, your face!

Robin: Video pause.

Narrator: The Boy Wonder, wise beyond his years, takes a moment to reflect.

Robin: And just like that, his mind broke clean in two. Makes you wonder if we're all held together on the inside by what we're made of on the outside.

#batman #batman: the audio adventures #batman the audio adventures #batman audio adventures #btaa #harvey dent #the penguin #jack sprat #two-face #two face #twoface #jackson pratkins #oswald cobblepot #dick grayson #robin #dc robin #richard grayson #jack ryder

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flowers-all-around-me · 10 months

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Yeah, I'd love to know which mechanisms songs you think I should start with, or if it's a particular album. I actually went and listened to a few seconds of one after reblogging the post. They remind me just a little of The Amzing Devil. I'll be honest, that specific specific song didn't keep my interest too long, but I'm sure someone who knows their music could point me toward the better ones. :)

Ahhh! Thanks for reaching out :3 (and also hope you don't mind if I make this public, just in case someone interested might see it :'>)

I'm going to assume you know nothing about them just in case (and also since I know some songs are less good for casual use/can take a little warming up to :'3)

The gist of it is that it's a storytelling cabaret where every band member is in character as an immortal space pirates; as such, their albums are retellings of "actual events" they have "witnessed" during their travels in space.

I think I will put the rest under a Read More though because! I went off a bit! Sorry about that :'D

I recommend listening to their albums as they interest you to get the general gist of the stories. Once I got that, I added them to my shuffle playlist and listen to my faves - that way it's not confusing to me and I don't have to "suffer" through the other parts when I don't wanna listen to a whole concept album.

The "main" four albums all follow a similar structure of switching between narration/song, with varying amount of information relayed in the song (as in, sometimes it's just about a concept of the story, sometimes it's more akin to a musical piece where the story moves as well). The songs themselves are often based on various extant, mostly folk, songs (e.g. Bella Ciao, WW1 songs, and I can't think of any more rn because my brain is cooked).

If you want the cliff's notes version of these albums (none of which have a "happy" ending, so be aware of that going in):

Once Upon A Time (In Space): their first album, Grimm's fairy tales but it's about a space rebellion against an immortal, tyrannical king with an army of clones.

Ulysses Dies at Dawn: greek mythology but it's a noir cyberpunk planet-wide city. Contains (in my unbiased opinion lol) very good and interesting takes on how the setting would influence some of the myths we are familiar with today. Fair warning though: will contain references to the original material you might miss if you are unfamiliar with the OG characters, but it's still enjoyable

High Noon Over Camelot: Arthurian legend but it's a diesel-punk desert space station with bike-riding cowboys. SPECIAL MENTION TO THE MOST BANGER BANJO (again, in my opinion), specifically in Peacemaker. It's going wild in there.

The Bifrost Incident: Norse Mythology but told as a space-train noir mystery. Notable for not being narrated by an outer character, but actually told as a "recording" of the police officer investigating. Features a very good banjo in "Expert Testimony" (which is narration) (also the banjo is in a genre I like to call "bastard" because oh yeah, what is happening in-story is that a character is being A Bastard <3)

As for Tales to be Told I and II, they contain smaller stories (either relating to the main albums, origin stories for in-universe band members, or self-contained ones)

There is also a standalone single, "Frankenstein." Guess what that one is about lol. It, along with "Alice" and "Gunpowder Tim vs. The Moon Kaiser" are "songs" on the longer side that contain shorter narration/song segments.

Lastly, there's Death To The Mechanisms, which was the band's farewell concert in 2020 when they disbanded. It's been recorded and put together as a live album and contains fun banter and character lore regarding their deaths.

IF you want my favourite songs, regardless of album, it's probably Red Signal, Peacemaker, Blood and Whiskey, Thor, Rose Red, Alice, Acatea and Lyssa, Lost in Cosmos, The Ignominous Demise of Dr. Pilchard (which also has fun banjo), Elysian Fields, Ragnarok II: The Calling, and Riddle of the Sphinx.

ANYWAY! Extremely long, heatwave induced rant aside, I do hope you'll check them out! Feel free to reach out and let me know how you liked the songs/stories, I am always down for recommending the band to more people :3

Lastly, allow me to link the unofficial YouTube channel TheVoidSings (here!) which has all their albums with lyrics and in neat playlists so you can listen to them in order!

(I would link the band's channel so that they'd at least get some youtube cents from it, but it got demonetised under the new guidelines a few days ago, so that's fucked and yes, I am mad about it :'D)

#flower answers

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theemeraldforesthideout · 2 years

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Get to know me

Tagged by @ahalal-uralma thanks for the tag :)

Relationship Status: In a relationship

Favorite Color(s): Earth colours, autumnal colours. Green (and all its variations) are high on the list, as well as rusty oranges into browns. I quite like a dark maroon/dark red colour too. And you can never go wrong with black. Oh! In 2020 I fell hard for the colour yellow and starting buying yellow items of clothing. I think I just wanted to find joy in anything. I find all the default “menswear” colours really dull too, when it comes to clothing (except for black) so white, grey and navy blue are just...not for me.

Favorite Food: I honestly don’t think I have one. There’s stuff I like less than others, but many dishes are on the same level. No one dish stands out really.

Song Stuck in My Head: Aldious – Raise Your Fist, specifically the opening guitar line. It reminded me of mid-last week, when I was listening to it while crossing the fields at dusk. Nature, the pink-purple light, the [not yet full] moon, a little light breeze...and the music. I was in a state of pure elation. It doesn’t take much, really, ...if only I could have that feeling less fleetingly...

Last thing you Googled: My better half was playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and I asked her if she’d encountered Black Shuck yet. I then played her ‘Black Shuck’ by The Darkness, as it was how I first found out about it (Black Shuck is an East Anglian legend pertaining to an overly large and aggressive black dog). I then asked her if she’d been to Whitby (famous for its Goth gatherings and its abbey) in the game. Another band I know of [My Dying Bride] have a song (27 minutes long I might add!) about another big black folkloric dog called the ‘Barghest o’ Whitby’. And so I googled whether that one was also in Valhalla. It’s not.

Time: 10.30pm

Dream Trip: Okinawa, Japan.

Last Thing You Read: Mainly factual books about all the places I visited on my trip to Pembrokeshire last month.

Last Book You Enjoyed Reading: Those. The history and geography inspire so many unwritten tales. Why was she locked up in the castle and why did one guy decide to gather a band of locals to break her out? Purely because he was in love with her? Or was she the village healer? Maybe she was of fae-folk and had innocently skipped her way over the village boundary into the realm of man...

Favorite Thing to Cook/Bake: Hmmm maybe the traditional UK roast dinner or pasta maybe – that always feels like a small effort/maximum reward dish, and lots of room for trying new ingredients too.

Favorite Craft to do in Your Freetime: Photography right now, I think.

Most Niche Dislike: Not sure if this means the dislike is niche or something niche that I dislike. If the former then I’ve never cared for theme parks, even as a kid, just didn’t ever get the appeal at all.

Opinion on Circuses: Not a fan really. Someone somewhere in history must have enjoyed them in a completely non ironic, non novelty way. Not just going along with it for tradition’s sake. Maybe that’s just an overly cynical point of view. I didn’t enjoy them as a kid. This makes me sound like I had zero fun, especially with the answer above this one, but I was just atypical when it came to stuff like that, I guess.

Do You Have Any Sense of Direction: I’ve been told I have an excellent sense of direction, when I thought it was just, you know, default “okay”. But then, going through life, I’ve met people who don’t possess that level of default and it always gives me a surprised sense of being weirdly talented at knowing where we are or at map reading.

#emeraldtext #tag game #q+a

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terranoctis · 3 months

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Favorites of January

It's been kind of fun to let my whim take me where it wants to each day to discover new stories and songs. Who knows if I'll keep it up for the rest of the year as I get busier, but I'm happy to have been able to do this if at least for this month. I'm going to jot down a few thoughts so I can look back at this to see what I liked the most at the end of the year.

Films:

Monster (2023) At it's heart, this is a film that is concerned with perceptions and the misconstrued perspectives one has of another. The film proceeds in a Rashomon-style that isn't new to film or shows, but it's perhaps one of the best written and cinematic execution of the trope I've yet to see. Director Koreeda does such a phenomenal job of portraying all these layers being peeled back and then ultimately, such a heartfelt job portraying the two young kids at the center of the film. It's one of those kinds of films I'll be thinking about years from now, much like the last film of his I saw ("Shoplifters"). I could talk about this film for hours.

Inu-Oh (2021) One of my favorite animation directors in recent years has been Masaaki Yuasa. As a director, his stories can be a bit out there, as seen in "Ride Your Wave," but that's part of the charm of his movies, in my opinion. "Inu-Oh" is no different in this regard. Though it's an adaptation of an epic tale written sometime during/before 13th century Japan, the movie does it in such a fascinating way of making it an animated musical film that combines classic folk Japanese music and modern rock music. The film also portrays this wonderfully in animation visuals, with contrast in traditional Japanese dance to the modernized dance-style that Inu-Oh executes. The film has stunning visuals and transitions. It's also a film that pays an ode to storytelling that reminds us of why we tell stories as we live, tragedies or not.

Cyrano de Bergerac (2019, National Live Theatre) Cyrano has been a fascinating story for me a long time, since my high school English teacher assigned us to read the play. As someone who's admired James McAvoy as an actor for a long time as well, I thought I'd check out this modern adaptation of Cyrano. What a fascinating take on the story. It's an adaptation that reminds you of why words can be so damn beautiful and attractive. This live theater performance adapts prose into more than just letters written. Words that used to be written and spoken as poetry becomes lyrics that individuals can say and rap to one another and I had such a fun time seeing how all these actors could wax lyrically well-written prose. James McAvoy does such a phenomenal job in his role as Cyrano.

Past Lives (2023) Considering it's nominated for one of the best pictures of the year, it's not really a surprise that this would be one of my favorites I saw this month. Still, this film really struck a chord with me personally as a protagonist stuck between the what-if of her past love & life and the present and future of her current life and lover. It's a subtle film, with no grandiose moments as some films are wont to have in Hollywood, but it's very pragmatic in its approach in such a beautiful way that I can't help but love it. I'm not without minor criticisms for the film, but I do think it's a film that perfectly encapsulates the longing and the love for what was and what could've been--and also the love that you have for the now.

Literature

Girls & Boys (Denis Kelly, performed by Carey Mulligan) I feel like I've always read about one-person plays and see it in monologues, but never quite seen/read one. To get this as my first one was a joy. It's an interesting read, because it starts out as a story of a woman recounting in a mundane manner facets of her life--such as how she met her husband, little moments with her two children, how her job went. It feels like a casual retelling of her life sprinkled in with memories she's recounting that are very clear-cut, like her discussions with her children. So the play continues with interesting discussions and experiences she has, until there's a key moment she tells you the truth about something that occurs in her life and the pieces of what she's been monologuing about draw it into a clearer reality and a sort of cruel one. Her specific monologues when she tells the audience the truth, a gentle reminder of what has happened to her has not happened to you (as the audience) and has already happened is quite telling of how those who have suffered tragedies live on. And the final monologue she has before the play ends on a memory she has with her children is haunting. Carey carries this play in such a graceful and haunting way that it's honestly made me want to check out many more of her films.

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson I think sometimes I just like characters like Pattern (Stormlight Archive). The fact that M-Bot in Skyward reminds me of that little spren at times just cracks me up. Skyward is not my favorite Sanderson novel, but I had such a fun time reading Spensa's adventure becoming a pilot and partnering with an AI that loves cataloguing mushrooms. Sanderson does such a wonderful job of writing characters that I can't help but be fond of.

Music

“Coming of Age,” Blondes This is the kind of song I would've listened to non-stop in my teenage years, because I just love the kind of sound you can only have with a band.

“2000 Miles”, Gatlin There's something about the words and the way she sings "And when the sun hit me, didn't mind you weren't with me, it kinda made me happy," that just hit me personally. I enjoyed discovering Gatlin's other songs as well (first time listening to her), but this one was my personal favorite.

“Tummy Hurts,” Renee Rapp I curiously decided to listen to Renee Rapp because I've been wanting to check out the new Mean Girls movie and was wondering how she sounded. She's genuinely a very good singer, both on record and live. I like quite a few of her songs, like the one she has with Megan Thee Stallion, but this one in particular is my favorite.

“J’ai perdu mon corps,” Dan Levy I saw a film I liked that honestly deserves to be listed in the films I mentioned above, but was just slightly less well-put-together in my personal opinion. The film is titled "J'ai perdu mon corps" or "I Lost My Body" and is a wonderfully animated film about a hand that was separated from its body. The soundtrack is phenomenal and I really liked the film's main score, as noted by this bullet point. Film is worth checking out, as is the score.

“See You,” Christopher Bear, Daniel Rosen Speaking of film scores, I'm rather surprised Past Lives was not also nominated for best soundtrack, because its soundtrack is fantastic. I loved this piece in particular, as it is the background track to the emotional moment at the end of the film.

#masterlist2024 #readings and ramblings

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archaneanscribe · 3 years

Text

Finally Taking the Trip to Jupiter

Vague spoilers for MGS4. Also xtremely fucking sad fair warning lol

“Snake... Dave?” Hal immediately corrected himself upon entering the room. The veteran’s (finally they could use that term, with there truly being no fights left to fight) request to drop the codenames they had maintained for nearly a decade had been a little sudden, but entirely understandable, “We think we’ve found a place to stay, for the moment. A nice house, close enough to a town that Sunny can go to school in, but far enough ouy most folks will leave us alone.”

David simply nodded- taking a deep breath that would normally be an intake of smoke into his lungs, but he was sincere in his declaration of quitting. Even if it wasn’t for very long, he could do that much for Sunny and Hal, after all this time. The tech wiz stood awkwardly in the doorframe, posture so closed in on himself David would see the gangly nerd he once was before he had started spending more time eating and moving around than seated in front of a computer.

He still did plenty of that, but years on the run had shifted the ratio considerably until just recently.

“Out with it, Hal,” he croaked out in a voice that was becoming increasingly unfamiliar to both of them. This seemed to shock his companion out of his own thoughts, and he finally moved closer.

“Ah, well, you see- what do you want for your last name, Dave? You know I’ll be formalizing Sunny’s adoption, which means we’ll finally be obtaining,” emphasis was put on the word, because in reality it meant forging, “papers for her, and I thought you’d probably be in need of some too. We can use whatever is on your birth certificate, but if you want to pick something out yourself...”

A smile formed under Dave’s mustache.

“I already know what I’m using.”

Hal perked up, “You do? What is it?”

With the same simple, to the point gruffness he would never quite be rid of, the one legendary soldier answered in a single word.

“Emmerich.”

All sounds except the Nomad’s machinery working overtime on her last voyage and David’s unfortunately heavy breathing ceased for an eternally long moment, Hal’s face journeying between every emotion he possessed. Tears pooled at the corners of his eyes, and his attempt to stifle his sniffles failed.

He probably wouldn’t have admitted it at the beginning, but something David had always loved about Hal was his ability to keep crying. No matter the hardships he faced, the traumas, the evils and cruelties he bore witness too, he didn’t run out of tears. His compassion was a well that ran deep, and those tears were just a result of it overflowing.

“Dave...of, of course,” his expression betrayed some amusement past the waterworks, “Do you want me to list you as my brother, or-”

“You know exactly what it’s going to say, Hal.”

They both laughed now, such different sounds than it was just a year ago even. David had been sitting on the edge of the bed, and Hal had been across the room, but that distance closed as Hal kneeled on the floor, placing his hands on David’s knees. It was a gesture that David had previously classified as pitying, but he knew better, now.

It wasn’t for his comfort at all.

“Thank you, David.”

David had half a mind to ask what it was like to kiss an old man with a mustache, but they didn’t have the time for jokes like that anymore, so he just closed his eyes and enjoyed it.

---

The eyeroll David had given when Hal told him the name of the town they’d be living in was named Jupiter was so legendary it surpassed his previous exploits with ease. But, despite how silly it was, he couldn’t deny the warmth in his chest.

They’d gotten their trip to Jupiter, just a little late.

Jupiter, Washington, was as small as a small mountain town got. It didn’t even have an elementary school for Sunny to attend (she was bussed to the neighboring, larger town). Most residents were the descendants of the people who had first lived there, so their new faces stuck out for awhile, but they eventually concluded what was essentially the truth, albeit missing some key details, and moved on- they were just two retirees, hoping to live out what was left of the older one’s life in peace with their orphaned granddaughter, nothing exciting.

Hal laughed at how huffy David had gotten at the granddaughter comments.

For the first month, their time there was peaceful. Content. Happy.

The second month, David starting being able to spend less and less time out of bed.

In the third month, he took Hal aside.

“You should stop sleeping in the same bed as me.”

His husband was a genius, he knew exactly why, but he still asked anyway.

“Don’t make me say it.”

That he didn’t want Hal to wake up one sunny spring morning cuddling a corpse.

Tears were shed, as they always were, but he complied nonetheless. All of David’s belongings were transferred to the guest bedroom (Hal had tried to convince him to stay in the master bedroom, it was more comfortable, but David was adamant- that was where Hal would be staying in the future, and he didn’t want his ghost lingering in the air whenever he slept).

On the first day of the fourth month, right after sending Sunny off to school, Hal told him they were getting a dog for her.

“She loves those chickens, and I thought she might like another pet.”

“Or is it to replace me?” he asked, morbid mirth nearly buried under the pure gravel that had become his voice, “Seems to fit perfectly.”

Hal’s eyes, sad and weary, seemed to want nothing to do with this conversation, but he participated for his partner’s sake, “How so?”

“It’ll bark at strangers, bite the hand that feeds, and just generally be a pain in your ass.”

Despite himself Hal did laugh, not entirely bitter, “We’ll train it better than that.”

“Don’t train it too well. Won’t remind you enough of me.”

Fifth month, they had a dog. Rex, a joke on two layers- a name so common it was funny, and a reminder of one man’s shame that he’d never quite shake off. Not a husky, because while that would please David, they’d be keeping it long term and that level of energy just wouldn’t suit their needs. Rex was an adolescent Golden Retriever.

The dog of the American dream.

Almost like he could tell David wouldn’t be around long enough to justify getting attached, Rex mostly ignored him. The feeling was mutual.

Sunny loved them both dearly, and that was enough.

---

They had been there half a year, and Sunny made them breakfast. Her specialty, eggs fried to methodical perfection, toast just a little browner than anyone would like, maple sausage microwaved for ten seconds more than the instructions said just to make sure they were thoroughly cooked, and a glass of pulpless orange juice tucked precariously into the crook of her arm as she carried the meal to Uncle Dave’s bedroom.

It was two minutes after Hal watched Sunny depart from the kitchen that he heard a loud crash, glass and ceramic shattering, followed by Rex’s insistent barking and whining. He was on his feet and rushed to the scene, fearing the worst and finding exactly that.

“Oh, Sunny... Sunny...”

“U-Uncle H-Hal,” she barely managed through her cries. Rex, to his credit, ignored the food on the ground and nuzzled at her face, whining, confused and upset by the noises of unparalleled distress his beloved human was emitting. Stifling his own grief, Hal went over to the young girl and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.

He didn’t do a great job at holding that grief in after all.

“Sunny, Sunny, Sunny... I’m so sorry... I should have checked up on him when I woke up... It’s okay, Sunny...”

“H-He’s d-d-dead. J-Just,” her stutter was exacerbated by her choking sobs, “J-Just l-like my m-mother.”

The downside of having such a bright child was that you couldn’t shield them from life’s harsh realities that easily. There was no convincing Sunny that Uncle Dave was with the birds in the clouds, or any other such comforting tale.

He was dead and gone, and she knew that.

---

The gravestone read:

David Emmerich

Beloved father and husband.

All three of those titles were ones he had only worn for six months, but he had worn them with honor.•

#otasune #snotacon #jupiter family #sunny emmerich #hal emmerich #otacon #solid snake #mgs #mgs4 #metal gear solid #metal gear solid 4 #fanfic #fanfiction #suu's scribbles #this shit made me so sad to write i literally cried planning it #i have only watched most of mgs4 not played it thats why the spoilers are vague lol

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not-poignant · 3 years

Note

Do you think many things have changed about you being a writer online since the beginning of the Fae Tales Universe compared to now? Not only writing style, but including how you are online, or how you think about fandom?

Oooooo

*thinks*

Actually yeah, I mean writing style yes, but in terms of how I think about fandom and how I am online, that has changed a lot. (Adding a Read More because oh god this got LONG).

I used to like, try and be 100% kind all the time, since firstly that comes very naturally to me, and secondly because I was so like...happy and thrilled that folks were communicating with me in the beginning.

But then I was taken advantage of, and one person in particular was abusive, and at the time I didn’t see it for what it was. I’ve also been stalked. I’ve had someone turn up on my doorstep uninvited. And over time I think I’ve become no less grateful (if anything I’m more grateful for the amazing readers), but also more wary? Like, I’m more likely to delete troll messages, than I used to. And sometimes I think it will be more obvious if I’m impatient or if I’m asserting a boundary in an ask response.

Radiotherapy to the head/neck for the cancer I have also really altered things there. I realised I could die at any moment, life is really short, my tumours could metastasise at any time (I actually have one that’s growing at the moment, which is alarming) and that I don’t really have the...patience I guess, to spend time constantly saying ‘this isn’t a music rec blog’ or ‘please don’t recommend books to me because most of the time I don’t like them and people tend to resent me for it’ (as an example) year after year after year. Or to deal with bad faith anons, or anons who just enjoy the novelty of getting me to answer incessant questions about space or something else that has nothing to really do with me. I can’t tell you how many asks I’ve gotten about ‘will you ever make Augus and Gwyn dads, could they adopt a baby’ but it’s a lot and I’ve deleted most of them.

So I actually think I’m more realistically human than I used to be, online. Which is a weird thing to say, right? And maybe that pisses people off. I’ve always been very opinionated, probably to my detriment, that’s never really changed. I’m still going to tell antis to go fuck themselves.

I try and stick to a policy now with messages that piss me off, which is ‘take time before you reply to this.’ I don’t always succeed, but I usually like to wait 12-24 hours before I reply to those messages (or delete them), so I can at least give a fair and moderate response. I really hate feeling like I just got angry at someone who’s possibly only 18 years old and doesn’t really know how to articulate themselves well on the internet, and it can sometimes be hard to tell the difference between ‘troll’ and ‘someone who really just is nervous and shy and doesn’t know how to phrase their question.’

In terms of fandom, I love replying to comments more than ever, actually. Like I love it. I love kudos even more than I used to. I really am grateful for all reader engagement. But I don’t have as much time and energy as I used to respond to every ask, so I respond to asks less, and I respond to them in a less timely manner. I really hate that, but sometimes it’s like ‘I can’t spend all of today replying to asks, I literally have to write the chapters that people want to read.’ I also get social anxiety around asks, and people can be impatient - like no one sends a second comment on AO3 going ‘heyyyy you haven’t replied to my comment yet’ - but you’d be surprised how much people put pressure on you on Tumblr sometimes, as though I also don’t have social anxiety and things might be really stressing me out. :(

In terms of my priority, it’s always 1. Writing content, 2. Replying to comments / being active on the Discord, 3. Replying on Patreon when necessary, 4. Replying to asks. If I’m behind on writing, everything else gets hit. I think when I first started out, I actually put comments and asks ahead of writing content sometimes, but now I know I will literally spend all my time responding to folks and that’s a me problem, and I’ve worked on that since lmao.

I’ve realised over the years that instead of just writing for myself, like I always used to, I also just want to deliver so many of you wonderful people good stories. This has come to matter to me more. The best way, I think, to repay some of the amazing faith and love you’ve all showed me, is to try and give you the best possible writing I can until like, my cancer makes that impossible. And so I’ve become a lot more focused as a writer, and a lot more like ‘this is where I want to be.’

I’ve also realised I care a lot less about traditional publishing, I really love serials! Er, that was a big one, I thought one day I’d transition from writing serials online to publishing books, but now I would like to always be writing serials, and publish books on the side. In a perfect world, I could also publish the serials as books too, so people could own them if they wanted to.

I’ve also seen over the years the rise of antis, and puritanical censorship, and more, and that’s made me angrier, and also much, much stronger re: feeling centred in what I write and what I have written. So I feel like I am much more like...genuinely not bothered by what antis have to say to me, and ironically I get less bothered by antis than ever before, probably because they know that I’m Teflon with claws whenever it comes to any of their rhetoric. I have a media degree that says they have no idea what they’re talking about, and I’m angry on behalf of all the readers who feel ashamed for reading certain content, and who deserve not to feel that way. So that’s like...a thing that’s changed over the years - my anger, and my anger on behalf of readers who might feel guilty or ashamed for liking noncon or incest or underage in fiction. It’s fiction. They’re allowed to engage in that without being afraid of being bullied for it. But that’s not the world we live in.

To be honest, a lot of the changes have been positive! I’ve become more sure and focused, I’ve actually become happier as a writer and a person, and I enjoy the fandom experience more, as well as writing fanfiction and stuff. I wish I had more time to like... chat about AUs and stuff and write Tumblr posts like I used to, but radiotherapy hit me pretty hard with some permanent energy loss and side effects, and so where things have changed in a bad way, it’s almost always because of health and not because I love fandom any less. And where I’ve changed in terms of sometimes being a bit more cynical about anon asks I try and remind myself to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and to just remind myself that I have my boundaries, and I’m safe/okay. I hate that I have to do that nowadays, but it was kind of stupid that I didn’t do it before.

I can’t believe how like... how lucky I am to be here. Lucky to be alive. Lucky to write for you all. Lucky to write stories I love. Lucky to reply to comments and asks like this one. I don’t ever want to lose sight of that or the gratitude.

I think the day I stop being grateful, is the day I need to walk away. It’s humbling, honestly, and I feel that more and more over time, and not less. Even when I’m an opinionated dumbass who writes too much most of the time, lmao.

(I didn’t even get to talking about how my writing style changed I’m sorry anon THIS GOT SO LONG FUCK)

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caguaydreams · 4 years

Text

A thorough analysis on why Vah Medoh’s dungeon theme makes me want to cry

Yep, that’s an accurate title. Hi there! do you have a moment to hear about Breath of The Wild soundtrack? posting for yet a third time in hopes that tumblr won't hide it. I'm so tired

What started as a quick and harmless post, pretending to simply point out a couple of things, rolled downhill, out of my grasp and turned into a massive snowball of a short essay. How and why did this happen? Well, I assume a lot of people know about this song, and know what I’m talking about when I say that it makes me tear up and sob uncontrollably with every change in key as the seconds tick by and I spiral down into a dwell of misery from where I struggle to find the exit and to later recover.

……No?…..At the VERY LEAST it makes you a little uncomfortable. And I state this with much certainty, because after reading hundreds of comments everywhere online where this song is present, I picked up on a vast majority of people who expressed to feel the same way I did when it came down to our current music subject. See, statistics don’t lie… normally. So, naturally, my intrigue got the best of me. I wanted to find out exactly why this soundtrack was mercilessly stirring up everyone’s emotions, so I caved in and we ended up with this.

Buckle in, fellas.

Out of all Divine Beasts’ dungeon themes, Vah Medoh’s is the one that I can’t sit through. Not without growing antsy and wanting to turn it off as soon as possible. I find it genuinely difficult to listen to, and it’s not only because Revali is my favorite character and the song is just, plainly put, depressing, mind you.

We’ll start from 0 terminals activated.

It opens up similar to the other three dungeon themes; the pace is slow but eerie, gives off the impression that it sounds broken somehow. Something is off here, and it’s easy to figure out what that is from the get go: you’re basically entering a majestic, ancient, mechanical mausoleum, where everything went terribly wrong a century ago. Someone is gone, someone you knew, someone who was probably close to you, but it’s impossible to be sure. You don’t remember a thing, and this entire ordeal is confusing at best, and terrifying at worst. It’s your duty to make things right again.

It’s the same for all four Divine Beasts upon entering, save for the obvious little differences that separates them from each other and make them unique. Ruta’s is played on a major key, adhering to a sense of hopefulness. Naboris’s begins with a startling smashing of the piano keys, much like thunder of a sudden lighting strike. And Rudania’s theme starts threatening, dangerous, like scalding lava.

But now, back to Vah Medoh. The tone here is… alienating. The dissonant chords are all over the place, and feel disconnected, cold. It’s almost as if someone doesn’t want us to be here, or just like the elusive key, our presence is unexpected. Fitting, for a Divine Beast that’s high above the land, impossible for most to reach, yet we somehow made it. Apart from the piano, we have the occasional hint to rito culture, in the shape of a short, synthetic version of the rolled chords at the very beginning of Rito Village. A quiet reminder of where we come from. There is also, of course, the morse code distress signal, but we’ll talk more about that later.

As soon as this formal introduction is over, we finally get to the more, say, intimate stuff. Oh, and wouldn’t you know, it’s just tragic.

One terminal activated.

There’s no better short way I can describe this passage, other than anxiety-inducing. Especially when the strings come into play, and there’s two reasons I can think of why I feel this is an important thing to point out:

1- Characters and Symbolism.

I tend to associate stringed instruments, all of those which compose the violin family, with rito culture. And Revali, most specifically. In Creating a Champion we can see the early concept art and designs for all or most major characters in the game, and Revali’s highlighted rough design might be the one that changed the most throughout proper development of the character, out of all champions. He looks quite different from our usual depiction of him, it’s fascinating. What truly catches my eye, however, is the design of his bow.

You thought bird puns were bad? Oh boy, how do you feel about Revali having a bow that looks like a violin/cello/viola??? And do you need a bow to play it also??? Like, is it even an instrument or it’s nothing more than a mere fashion statement?-

Anyway. I believe this was originally going to be a not-so-subtle wink to rito culture, being heavily musically inclined as we can see and conclude for ourselves. Perhaps Revali was going to be a musician as well, now how cool it that!

Needless to say, the idea was eventually scrapped. But one detail I am CERTAIN carried over to the character we know and love today(okay not all of us love him but seriously if you dislike him why are you still here lol): strings. The association between bows(weapon) and stringed instruments, aside from being a quite clever and creative one, goes beyond the concept art and remains strong as part of Revali’s character, settling for having a presence via score. After all, Revali is a master of archery, so in that way it makes sense to keep strings as symbolism to reinforce the idea and drive it home.

But can you guess what other thing Revali excels at? That’s right: flying. He’s the only rito we know of who successfully managed to take advantage of wind currents and bend them to his will. And do you know what musical instruments are often used to evoke the feeling of flight and gale? If you thought of bowed strings, you’re correct! Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much support on this topic online, so you’ll have to take my word for it. I am most certain that this is fact, although not something worth discussing on the Internet, by the looks of it.

Anyhow, violins/cellos/etc are ever-present whenever we’re close to Rito Village or dealing with a rito related mission. Attack on Vah Medoh, for example, features a sequence of strings that is meant to evoke the strong winds we’re fighting against in that particular moment(*). Another great example is The Final Trial, the song that plays at the shrine of resurrection nearing the end of the Champions’ Ballad. Preceding the activation of each terminal, you’ll notice that a new instrumental element joins the crowd: the first one corresponds to the tambourines, related to the zora and Mipha; the second one are strings, referencing the rito and Revali, etc. I tell you, the moment I heard this during the trial I almost started crying like a baby. And, although strings have a lot to do with Rito culture in general, they tie most strongly to Revali, since he was the champion of his people, and his legacy carried over throughout the years. His accomplishments became material of folk tale, a legend, a source of pride and inspiration for the village. And let’s not forget that, at the end of the day, Revali is the crucial and foremost connection Link has to this place. Other than appeasing Vah Medoh, Link’s responsibility here is to free his past fellow champion’s spirit from Ganon’s malice. The soundtrack is referencing Revali first, and by extension his devotion to his home.

With all that in mind, let’s move on to our next point:

2- Nowhere to Go.

You shoot the canons, land on top of the Divine Beast, do what you gotta do, activate the first terminal and the soundtrack goes off unannounced. Like some sort of surprise anxiety bomb. The rhythm turns fast, the melody erratic, incredibly desperate in its execution. There’s this sheer despair, fear, this feeling of suffocation almost, which are so well achieved in this particular piece.

And that is, partially, because a quite familiar resource is used here as well; one that we’ve heard before in songs such as Rito Village or Revali’s theme. You could even think of it as a motif: two notes are played in an semitone interval, repeatedly and in quick succession. For the sake of later convenience, we’ll call this the Flight Motif, now let me explain why. In Breath of The Wild, this semitone loop is often followed up by some form of resolution. In Rito Village, formerly known as Dragon Roost Island(**), that resolution consists of a graceful descent of the melody, from a high that was built up previously during the motif. On the other hand, if you listen to Revali’s theme, you’ll notice that the interval repeats itself for a couple of times as thought charging up, to then rise fast and determined into a triumphal reprise of Revali’s distinctive assigned melody. This juxtaposition supposes the difference that lays between common rito flight and Revali’s trademark ability; both musical sequences are speaking of flight, albeit in two different languages depending on the way to achieve it. While the rito traditionally use their wings to glide and let themselves get swayed by the air currents Buzz Lightyear style, Revali takes full advantage of his flying capabilities to somehow create an updraft of his own, rising meters above the ground whenever he likes or needs to.

So, now that I layed out my base of thought when focusing on the strings, this’ll be much easier to explain. We’ve settled what the instruments themselves are a symbolic representation of Revali, in this scenario specifically. He was the only one inside Vah Medoh, and the score is, in a way, a retelling of what we can vaguely assume went down here during the Great Calamity, as much as it is what sets the tone and ambience for Link’s mission. But what are we hearing exactly? What we talked about, the Flight Motif, is being repeated nonstop. And that’s the thing, remember how I mentioned that this sequence usually finds resolution at the end? Well. Inside Vah Medoh,… it never does. The melody picks up in numerous occasions, but it’s not nearly as graceful, or calculated, as we’ve grown used to by now. It gets tangled and lost, and then inevitably falls to the ground in disarray. The pattern repeats itself, reaching higher after a handful of failed attempts, but no matter how much it tries, the cycle never ends. What used to tell us about flying and freedom in the skies, has morphed into an almost sinister musical incarnation of a tornado, and there is no way out of this trap. What do you think it must feel like to mindlessly flap your wings against wind currents so strong and violent, that it is impossible to get anywhere nearby, let alone take off every time you lose your balance. Or every time you’re shot down. On top of that, trying to aim and fight back in whatever short breaks and opportunities you get, at an enemy that’s much more powerful and relentless, who’s using your own element as a weapon to destroy you… it’s a risk Revali surely had to take in order to put up a fight. Even knowing full well that the odds were not in his favour, that he was most likely going to lose this battle, that he was going to die. Let that sink in. I’ll skip the activation of the second terminal, since there’s barely any change registered in the theme in general. So-

Three terminals activated.

I know this post is supposed to be a breakdown of the song purely, but that doesn’t mean there’s no place for a little theorising, and the following scrutiny is also quite relevant for our discussion. Bear with me for a bit. I’ve read almost everywhere about people’s most common interpretations on the Divine Beasts SOS signals, and how everyone thinks that Revali’s coming in last (a few seconds later than the other champions) has to do with him holding on for longer. Or, also, overconfident as he was, it means that the idea of calling out for additional support didn’t cross his mind until it was too late, and that’s why the beeping sounds more frantic and panicked than the others’ when it does appear. After giving it some thought myself, I’m betting on the latter option holding more ground, and that’s not all. I want to touch upon a detail of the piece that I never acknowledged was there until very recently(after seeing myself obliged to listen to this song fully and a handful of times, suffering every minute of it for the sole purpose of this analysis. It’s okay I didn’t need my heart anyway). Soon after activating the third terminal, the SOS signal disappears, or grows distant and faint enough that we can’t make it out from the background anymore. In its place, we’re confronted by this… shrill, piercing and painfully slow tune. It sounds synthetic, artificial, devoid of life. And it’s funny, because you know what it reminds me of? I’ll tell you:

A heartbeat flatline sound.

And I want to highlight that this doesn’t happen in any of the other Divine Beasts themes. All their SOS signals carry on, but Medoh’s is no more. This abrupt stop, followed by this bone-chilling tune…. makes me believe that Revali was the first of the champions to fall. A few days ago I came across SuperZeldaGirl’s video on a similar topic, theorising that this could very much be the case. There is not much evidence to support this claim other than some visual cues that could be suggesting to it, but after I found this in the soundtrack, and if we’re to rely on it for anything, I believe Revali was either the first champion to be ambushed by Ganon, or well…. the first to be killed. It is plausible, because short after Calamity Ganon unleashes his power, Revali parts from the group and flies directly to Vah Medoh, and he very well could’ve been the first pilot to arrive.

On this note…. we’ll have to wait and see for ourselves, when Age of Calamity provides long-awaited answers to many of our questions.

Four terminals activated.

An interesting melody is being played on what, for me, would qualify as a glockenspiel or a celesta, which are keyboard based instruments that produce a sound similar to that of a music box(***). If you want to pay more attention to it, I suggest listening to Vetrom’s Instrumental Mix Cover of the theme, where they practically zoom in on this part of the song (keep in mind that it uses the All Terminals’ time signature so it’s being played faster). For some reason, this particular addition makes me feel profound empathy. The sound of this instrument could be described as cute or childlike, magical, even. It is more often than not used to represent innocence, but I highly doubt that’s specifically the intention here. Much like the leading strings’ melody, the melodic contour of this one is trapped in a loop of going up and down constantly, but the difference is that this time around it sounds more under control. And much more uniform too. It doesn’t lose focus or takes risky, fruitless leaps, but rather chooses to stay on a path of waves that consistently rises and falls without taking detours. Like a determined battle strategy, giving it your all. You fall, but get back up again, and try again, and again. It reminds me of Revali’s approach to training, being persistent to the point of overworking himself. He had discipline nailed down to a tee, which I also think served him well in combat. It’s not just about being hard on yourself, either, but being confident and having complete faith in your abilities; believing that you’ll make it. For this to appear now, that the SOS signal is almost completely gone, is significant because it means that by this point, being so close to success on Link’s behalf, the music is sparing genuine encouragement for once, in spite of the tragic outcome of the past and the danger of the current situation. But, in all honesty, this is probably just me reading too much into it. Perhaps the composer just thought this addition sounded pretty bitching and there’s not much else to it, which is completely fine. Although, intentional or not, sometimes coincidences do happen, and at the end of the day, interpretations like this are a form of appreciation for an artist’s work and for what they can unknowingly accomplish.

All terminals activated.

This is the moment when the song finally lightens up. Notice how the strings abandon the wave pattern for a more even contour. The beat quickens, the melody stabilizes. At first I thought, coming from our flight analogy, that this meant a cease in movement entirely, and it was partly one of the reasons why the song in general makes me anxious. But thinking about it now, …there is something different going on here. The strings are playing on a steady rhythm. It resembles a march, it’s like a pounding heart. It’s a lively, hopeful statement. And what’s interesting is that, up until this point, there was so much fear and helplessness present in the score, even going as far as to reach a dead end when we activate the third terminal. But that’s it, isn’t it? the music just keeps going further.

It’s saying: this isn’t over yet. Even after complete and utter defeat, there’s still hope and an underlying wish to overcome this predicament, and we started to hear this as soon as a fourth terminal is activated. The melody we previously talked about? it’s here as well, and its beat is much more daring and confident.

And I just want to say… this is so powerful. Because this sentiment is deeply tied to the game’s story and Revali’s character arc. You see, he is introduced as someone who resents Link for being the manifestation of his failure, in a way, because Revali has trained arduously his whole life to be where he is, to be recognised. And yet… this hylian gets chosen by a magic sword and some tale of divine destiny and, apparently, that’s all it takes for him to be deemed the hero that will save the land. In Revali’s eyes, Link has done nothing to prove his worth before him, so it is easy to see why he despises the silent knight so much; he is yet another individual that was born into their destiny. Meanwhile, Revali has had to build his reputation from the ground up, earning him a place among the greatest warriors of Hyrule, and even then he finds himself surrounded by people who grew up praised for being born gifted. We can see how Revali is the odd one out, and can map out the reason for him acting so antagonistic towards Link.

But once we’re on Medoh, things start to change. When Link enters the Divine Beast, Revali greets him with disdain, as per usual. Of course, Link has no recollection of whatever happened a hundred years ago, other than a small glimpse of the rito champion talking down to him, a memory that came and went in a flash. So as Link, we more than expect Revali to act cold and mocking, which he does. He provides us with as little help as needed in order to free Medoh, reluctantly, shielding his wounded pride over having to wait for Link, of all people, to come to their rescue. But you can hear him starting to open up bit by bit(I wish I could translate his dialogue directly from Japanese but I’ll make do with a couple of dubs and other numerous sources from translators online). With each little step Link takes towards success, activating the terminals, the perception Revali has of him shifts from one of resentment to one of genuine admiration and respect. By the end of it all, he is willing to not only cheer on Link during the boss battle, but to trust him with his life’s worth achievement. And once left alone, he admits defeat and lets go of his bitterness, realising that he was wrong to underestimate Link, and later wishes he could’ve had a chance to measured up to him. To take all of this into consideration and work with it in the soundtrack I think it’s genuinely splendid. And for once, I am grateful that it ends in somewhat of a positive note that puts my soul to rest. I still have a hard time listening to the first two thirds of the entire thing, but now I can look forward to a hopeful and earnestly heartening conclusion for all the pain that this composition puts me in. I must admit that it’s beautifully and brilliantly crafted, and that I am enamoured of it regardless.

That is why I wrote roughly 4k words about it! I hate myself!

If you’re as crazy as me about the soundtrack of this game, I recommend you read the published cd interview with the composers themselves! if you haven’t already. I just found it yesterday(unbelievable but it’s true) and… after writing all of this and checking it out, I felt validated. It sure is a one of a kind feeling.

Alright folks, we’ve made it to the end. Congratulations for sticking around and thanks being interested in my nonsensical rambling!

I also hope that you, like me, will now be unable to listen to bowed strings without being reminded of Revali. Good luck!

————– Annotations/Sidenotes/Whatever

(*)The Flight Motif(in point number 2) is also present in this track. We can hear it in the background right after the Rito leitmotif, as per usual. It starts with a clarinet, I think, before the strings take the lead. (**) Note that the Flight Motif only comes into play in the Breath of The Wild rendition of the song. (***)I strongly associate this instrument with Mipha, given that it is used in her theme, in every “response” to the initial melody. It can be heard in Attack On Vah Ruta, as well, it enters the scene when the notes Mi(E) and Fa(F) are played. The initial tune, Si and Do(B and C) are played on a clarinet or oboe, wind instruments just like the flute that leads Sidon’s respective theme. The celesta can also be heard inside Vah Ruta, activating the first terminal…. when the song really takes a turn just like Medoh’s. Mipha has nothing to do with the song of this analysis, however. We must understand that instruments, although they are attached to characters/various story elements in some cases, can always be used outside of that context, for that is the nature of an orchestral soundtrack. If you have this many tools at your disposal, you will make good use of them.

#Revali #Vah Medoh #botw #loz #aoc

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scarletaire · 3 years

Text

homeland (Chapter 6)

A/N: Here we are at the end! And Cardan isn't quite done surprising Jude just yet.

Fandom: The Folk of the Air

Genre/s: Contains Fluff, Slight Hurt/Comfort, Slight Angst, Smut

Rating: E

Tags: Post-QON, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Protective!Cardan, Bewildered!Jude, Jude and Cardan discuss the Undersea, but they get a little Distracted

Description:

Cardan’s eyes flash open.

“Why?” he repeats, and Jude feels the power shift between them. “Don’t you remember, wife?” he croons. “It was the Undersea who stole you away from me.”

And Jude has only enough time to think, danger, before he lunges at her.

or:

Cardan and Jude work on removing their armor. Taking off this particularly stubborn piece happens in varying states of undress.

Links: Masterlist | AO3

“This is a stupid idea.”

“Have you known me to have any other kind?”

He has her there. Jude tugs at the blindfold around her eyes. “Where are we even going?”

“To the beginning and the end of all this.”

“What does that –” Her voice cuts off as the boat rocks precariously beneath her. “I really don’t like the sound of that.”

“You like very little, Jude, and that is a problem of yours.”

I was stupid enough to like you, she almost says. Instead she asks, “Why did we have to take a boat? More importantly, why are you the one rowing? You’re the king.” The boat rocks again, and Jude finds herself thinking longingly for a ragwort steed. Steady, secure, reliable — or, well, as reliable as Vivi’s magic allowed them to be.

“Crossing the water myself proves a fine reminder of my position to those who yearn otherwise.”

“A power play? That’s what you woke me up so early for? Cardan, there are a thousand more things that need my attention back at the brugh.”

It was still light out when she’d felt lips behind her ear, nuzzling her awake. They had probably been asleep for a mere few hours at most. She’d woken up slowly and sweetly, like dragging a spoon through thick syrup, with Cardan curled around her — arms, legs, and tail — and his mouth soft on her neck. It was such a stark contrast to how she’d woken up the previous night that Jude melted right back into his embrace, her body heavy and worn out in the best way possible.

But then he was pulling away, coaxing her to get dressed, murmuring into her skin that he had something to show her.

Promising that she would like it.

The fae cannot lie, but that last part has yet to come true.

“I’m taking this blindfold off.”

“Jude –”

She can hear the petulance in his voice and that just makes her rip the stupid thing off even faster.

It turns out that “crossing the water himself” doesn’t much include actual rowing on his part. Instead, iridescent, aquamarine scales flash across the surface of the water underneath them, their movement rippling and propelling the boat forward.

Merfolk.

Pulling their vessel on his whim.

A power play, indeed.

Jude raises an eyebrow at him, impressed despite it all. He continues to pout at her and the blindfold in her hand.

Then, something catches in her mind.

“Salt and seafoam…”

“Hm?”

“Your nightmare.” She’s staring at him now, understanding how it fits together but not quite believing it. “You said that when you dove into the sea and couldn’t find me anywhere, it was because there was nothing left of me but ‘salt and seafoam.’”

“Yes.” The word is like water on burning coals.

“You –” The sentence is inconceivable even when she tries to form it in her mouth. “Have you… have you been reading fairytales? Human fairytales?”

He scoffs. “Nothing Faerie about them.”

A yes, then.

“So –” She’s known about him reading Alice in Wonderland and even wondered at the way he had kept the mortal book in his rooms. It boggles her mind like this next thought does. “So…” How does she say this? She has no clever ruse with which to coat her words, and so she gives up and goes for direct. “The Little Mermaid. That’s what caused your nightmare?”

He cuts her a look, like she’s being stupid. “No, Jude, your kidnapping and prolonged torture at the hands of my brother and the Undersea while I waited powerless and unable to help you was the cause of my nightmare. And many more of its kind before it.”

She doesn’t much like how he speaks to her like he’s explaining something to a child, but she holds her sharp tongue and wields her silence against him.

“But fine.” He doesn’t meet her eyes. “Yes. The mortal tale about the moronic mermaid and her wayward prince may have… exacerbated any woes I may have already been carrying. Don’t know why I bothered,” he grumbles under his breath. “I hate stories.”

“No,” she says, thinking of the way he fancies himself a villain even though he hasn’t truly been one in a long time, “you don’t.”

He looks pointedly over her shoulder. “We’re here.”

And Jude turns her head to see where it is that he has brought her this morning.

She has to shield her eyes a little from the amount of sunlight that refracts off the massive stretch of sparkling sand in front of her.

No, not sand. Ash.

She knows where they are.

Insear.

The beginning and the end of all this, he said.

When they disembark, Cardan holds out his hand to guide her from the boat.

She doesn’t need his help.

She takes his hand anyway.

There is still something of last night humming underneath their skin, and so if they lean into each other’s warmth and stumble across the shimmering shores of the Isle of Ash, a little lovedrunk while they walk — well. There is nary a soul to see.

It’s somehow even more beautiful in the daylight. And with Cardan here, the island seems to unfurl even further, coming alive just a little bit more the moment he steps onto the soil. The air turns sweeter the farther inland they go, the blues and ivories and blacks of the native flowers populating everywhere they turn. When Jude looks back at their footfalls upon the ash, she sees little sprigs of myrtle springing up from the indents they leave behind.

“There’s something I want to check on,” she says when they reach the thicker parts of the forest. “I’ll come find you again.”

“As you like.” Cardan’s gaze is caught on something up ahead. “Dally not, wife.”

When Jude returns to the clearing where they had encountered the fallen falcons the previous night, she finds no trace of them save a single, tawny feather in their wake.

A token.

She pockets it with a smile.

That same smile fades far too fast when she comes back to find Cardan reaching out a hand towards a shrub of suspiciously familiar, dark-petaled flowers.

She’s between him and the shrub in seconds, pushing him away a little too violently.

In that moment, she was more seneschal than queen. And in the next, when her fingers tighten around his lapels out of their own accord, she is more wife than seneschal.

“Did you touch it?” Panic raises her voice. “Did you get any of it on you?”

“No. I didn’t recognize the flora –”

“Idiot, that’s probably the flower that poisoned me.” She’s checking his hands, his clothes, for traces of shimmering, black pollen.

“Is it?” He plucks one and raises it to his face before she can stop him.

“Cardan –”

“Peace, Jude. It cannot harm its maker.”

And Jude pauses, because it’s true. This flower, this island and everything on it, is Cardan’s creation. He is the root, and as he has proven last night, he is also the remedy.

A beat passes between them, and then: “Did it really have to take a noxious, mood-altering flower for you to tell me about my brother?”

Jude scowls at the insinuation. “I was going to.” She weighs the next sentence in her head. “It’s just… easier to talk to someone when you don’t give a crap what they think.”

The human word is out of her mouth before she can reel it back in, but Cardan nods.

“Yes, I think I can understand that.”

She watches him twirl the flower in his hand. With his dark hair and eyes and clothes, it is without the shadow of a doubt that he created it, that it sprung forth from him and his magic. It belongs with him; it is him. She can imagine it pinned to his collar, petals of black glitter, an extension of his essence.

“We should inform the Bomb. Tell her that an antidote won’t be necessary.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Cardan grins at her like they are old friends trading a secret joke. “I can think of a few ways that an antidote could be useful.”

And Jude feels a thrill up her spine, because there is something conspiratorial in his voice, like he’s letting her in on his plan, like they are in it together, and maybe she enjoys that more than she thought she ever would. Having a partner.

“Scheming, are you?”

“I learned from the best.”

He is always more than what she thinks he is.

“That flower is connected to you. This whole island is, actually.”

“To us,” he corrects immediately, and she marks the strange note in his voice. “The island is connected to us.”

“Me, by extension,” she concedes. “But you raised this island with your own magic.”

He sighs then, as if a great burden has befallen him. “I suppose it now falls to me to name this flower, doesn’t it?”

“Well, you don’t have to name it now. We can always come back later –”

“Bitterblack,” he pronounces solemnly and somberly, and with a swiftness and surety that couldn’t possibly be borne of extemporization.“This bloom, flourishing upon the Isle of Ash, the land raised from my own bitterness, shall henceforth be known as bitterblack.”

“Um.” Jude blinks at his pomp. “Okay. Raised from your bitterness?”

“The birth of Insear marked the moment I deemed the crimes of the Undersea – against you, and against the crown — unforgivable. It was a bitter heart that sowed the seeds of this land. Perhaps it is only fitting that it was a full one that healed its poisons.”

Cardan casts her a sidelong look. He has a way of almost smiling, like the edge of moonlight peeking through the spidersilk canopy of their bed. A gossamer thing, but the light shines through.

A shame that this island will have to go belong to someone else, when she will forever remember Cardan here with her, looking at her like that.

“You brought me here to show me something.”

“Yes.” And oddly enough, his smile freezes a little. Jude narrows her eyes at it.

He leads her towards another clearing among the birches, tucking the bitterblack behind one pointed ear. There is more space here, and the air is crisp and clean, threaded through with the scent of salt and sunshine. The birches stand tall, but the sun reaches high enough to set the ash dusting the tops of the trees afire with crystal brilliance.

“What is this?”

His tail flicks once behind him. “The solution to the Insear claim.”

“What? Wait. You mean you knew how to resolve it all along? Randalin was right. You have been putting it off.”

“Not putting it off, waiting for the right time.”

“It’s been going on for weeks.”

Cardan shoots her a look. “I was supposed to ask you during the revel.”

The events of the revel — and the way it had ended, with Randalin bleeding in her chokehold — play out in her head. “Oh.”

He waves his hand. “No matter. It wouldn’t be the first time you caused a scene in front of the entire kingdom anyway.”

Jude crosses her arms. “Alright, let’s hear it, then. Tell me now so that we can put this whole thing behind us.”

He hesitates.

“Come on. Explain your solution.”

“This isn’t how I planned for this to go.”

“Planned for this to – Cardan. Just spit it out already.”

“Alright, fine,” he hisses. “I want to build a home with you. Here, on Insear.”

For a long moment, Jude wonders if she heard him right.

“Are you drunk?” Even though he couldn’t possibly be.

“I wish.”

“But the claim –”

“Is ours. Rightfully.” He raises his brow at her. “This island is connected to us, raised by my own magic. Isn’t that what you said?”

She stares at him.

“You know how this works, right?” Exasperation is clear in his voice. “I ask you to make a home with me on a new magical island, and you set yourself upon me, your acquiescence falling delightfully from your lips –”

“I do nothing delightfully, Cardan.”

“Oh, I could make a good argument otherwise.”

The entirety of last night, every sordidly delightful detail, flashes behind her eyes.

She clings to any rational thought she can find. “We already have a castle.” She thinks of the brugh, the entire sprawling mass of it. “A really big one.”

“Yes. And the Palace of Elfhame is the first place the High King and Queen should be. But often, it is also the last. A royal castle is just as much a royal warground.” He gives her a meaningful look. “As you and the rest of my family are well aware.”

Jude swallows. “What are you saying?”

“Our brugh will be the first place we make a home of, as monarchs. But it doesn’t have to be the only one.”

He turns her to face the clearing. His arms come around her from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder as they gaze out into a landscape stolen straight from the pages of a book.

“We could build something. Right here, in this glade. Where we don’t have to worry about anything. Where nothing else can touch us. We’ll close it off. We’ll come whenever we want. No spies, no interruptions, no watching our backs.”

And Jude recognizes the way he is holding her, because it’s the same way he held her in their secret room behind the throne, confessing the truths of his nightmares. “This is about protection.”

She feels him shrug. “A part of it, yes. Mostly I just want us to never be interrupted again. But there is power in protection. Wouldn’t you like that, Jude?”

Her head is swimming, because he’s put ideas into her brain, of waking up to the smell of birchwood and of walking along a glittering, moonlit shore — and they’re wonderful, damn him. If she’s being honest, those ideas came to her the moment she first stepped foot on Insear, like something in her had taken root in its sparkling soil, but she hadn’t let herself linger over them, knowing that the land would soon be treatied away.

But now, it’s like Cardan’s words have opened the floodgates, and her entire being, connected to Insear through his magic – their magic – thrums with the song of I could live here, I could thrive here, I belong here, and she aches with the rightness of it all.

“It’s not the worst idea you’ve ever had,” she admits, and doing so feels like she’s left her flank vulnerable during an open duel. She twists around in his arms quickly, before she can dwell on it. “But let’s get one thing clear.” Her fingers fist into his collar. “This nonsense about my being your weakness, that’s your problem. Not mine. I refuse to be held back by your fears.”

He nods with more gravity than is probably required. “And I could never ask it of you.”

“Then what do you ask of me now?” And because so much has changed between the two of them, because of everything that has led up to this moment, she adds, “What do you ask of me now and forever?”

He cups her face in his hands even as her fingers tighten on his shirt. “That you stay by my side. Through it all.” His mouth crooks self-deprecatingly. “And that you do not begrudge it too much that I miss you when you’re gone. That I worry. That I fear. Not because you are human, but because I hold you in my heart.”

She hates how swiftly her breath leaves her.

“Okay,” she says, more to steady herself than anything else, because this is a lot, and she’s never been good with dealing with a lot of feelings all at once. “Okay. I –”

“The rest of the kingdom belongs to the crown.” He presses closer, as if he can see her weakening. He takes a breath. “This… this could be ours. Just for us.”

“This island is too big for just the two of us.”

“No, Jude.” The look on his face is a little pained. “Us.”

A breath. A slice of time separating this moment into a before and after.

He isn’t talking about just the two of them. He’s talking about –

“Oh,” she breathes. “Us.”

“Only –” He’s scrambling a little now, she can see it. “Only if you want them.”

Them. Plural.

Jude sways a little. She’s not prepared for this. He should’ve warned her or something, because she doesn’t know how many surprises she can take in such a short amount of time.

Cardan is looking at her funny and she realizes she’s been quiet for too long. Something moves at the corner of her vision, and she realizes it’s his tail, flicking back and forth with the nervousness that he doesn’t show on his face.

“I want –” she begins, and he stills immediately, as if he could live or die on the next words that leave her mouth. “Okay. I don’t actually know what I want. I haven’t really had time to think about it. I want to talk about this. I do. And we’ll have to talk about it one day. But today, I don’t know if — if I know how, today.”

“Very well.” He says the words like he’s learning the shape of them on his tongue for the first time.

“It’s not a ‘no,’” she says quickly, before he gets the wrong idea. “It’s a ‘someday.’ Someday, you can ask me about children again. And in the meantime, I’ll think about when I can say yes. Deal?”

He touches her cheek, gentle, too gentle. “Deal.”

And all too late, she remembers the rule that she’s lived by all her life, the rule she’s broken time and time again when it came to this bewildering, beautiful boy that has made a place for himself between the stained-glass shards of her heart — never make a bargain with a faerie — because really, really, he shouldn’t be smiling like that, not like she’s given him the world when she’s barely even agreed to anything.

“Did you really plan a revel just to ask me about all this?”

“Yes. And you ruined it by taking a slice out of the Minister of Keys.”

Jude can’t help it. She throws her head back and laughs. “You’re a disaster.”

He glares, but there is no heat to it. “Only because you render me into one.”

Then something clicks into place. Something Tatterfell said while lacing her up in the dress he designed for her. For the king’s sake.

“Tatterfell knows.”

“She was most knowledgeable in your living preferences. How you like your room. Your furnishings. Your floors. I decided that I might know them, too.” He glances at the open space before them, at the sheer potential of it all. “Just in case.”

“We’ve been married for months. You could have asked me.”

“Would you have taken me seriously?”

She changes the subject, because he has her there. “How long have you been planning this?”

“A while.” Another shrug, less carefree this time. “Almost as long as the nightmares have come to me.”

Something hard glints in his eyes, and Jude recognizes the sharp lines of revenge if only because she has worn it too many times on her own face.

“All of this was as much a scheme,” he admits, “as it was a proposal to you. For to take a land borne of bitterness and remake it into a land of bliss, it would be –”

“The ultimate power play,” Jude finishes for him.

He grins down at her. It is heady, the realization that only she knows the true, full depths of her husband’s wickedness.

“I don’t have a lot of experience with blissful homes.” She feels the sudden urge to make sure he knows this. That he understands. It’s as much of a promise as she knows how to make. “I wouldn’t know the first thing about keeping one.”

“Nor I. We’ll have to learn together. Knowing you, there’ll be plenty of knives involved. But I think it starts,” he says, gathering her closer, “just like this.”

And when Cardan kisses her, Jude is sure that this is what conquerors must feel like. Because for years, she has fought for her place in Faerie, fought and bled and killed to belong somewhere.

And here it is.

Here it is, and she could dream entire worlds in his arms.

But she doesn’t have to. She has a whole world spread out before her already.

It’s a land of magic, raw and untested, ready to be discovered. A land of possibility, of infinite potential, waiting to be shaped by their hands. A land where sunlight grows and wayward falcons find peace. A land where the future blooms in full color, one amongst the thousands of flowers.

And it is theirs.

Their homeland.

______

Chapter Visuals:

Myrtle. (Love and partnership, marriage.)

End Links:

Everything: an edit.

His Door. (Cardan POV drabble, post-homeland.)

_______

End Note:

This fic represents a lot of firsts for me: my first completed multi-chaptered story, my first time (heh again) trying my hand at smut, but most importantly, my first time encountering some of the nicest, most thoughtful people as readers.

If you’ve read and followed this little fic of mine up until the end, let me thank you from the bottom of my heart. It’s been an absolute honor to have readers like you. ❤️ I've learned so much from writing this little fic that could, and I hope to continue to grow as a writer. Thank you for coming along with me on this journey and bringing so much value to the fic writing experience – kudos, comments, and your wonderful insights and all.

As always, you can find me and my open ask box on tumblr.

Much love to you, always!

________

Tagging: @ireallyshouldsleeprn @nahthanks

* Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future fics (Jurdan or other fandoms!) and it would be my absolute honor to do so!

108 notes · View notes

laequiem · 3 years

Text

No tricks, only treats [ONESHOT]

/ Cardan and Jude join the rest of the family to enjoy Halloween in the Mortal World.

Part of Tales from the Mortal Realm, a collection of random moments in the lives of the Queen and King of Elfhame.

"Is it strange that I find you attractive dressed as such?"

I was looking at myself in the mirror, assessing my outfit, when Cardan sneaked into the room. His training with The Ghost was paying off, he was as silent as ever.

"Strange? Yes. Surprising? No."

Read it on ao3

"Is it strange that I find you attractive dressed as such?"

I was looking at myself in the mirror, assessing my outfit, when Cardan sneaked into the room. His training with The Ghost was paying off, he was as silent as ever.

"Strange? Yes. Surprising? No."

I saw him prowl towards me through the glass. He slid his arms around my waist, staring at me through my reflection.

Today is October 31st and Oak insisted we join him in celebrating Halloween. Of course, this means we all need costumes. I decided to go as the one character I knew more than anyone else.

Cardan.

I looked through his wardrobe for my outfit. It was quite hard to find a top that was loose enough to account for my breasts, as most of his clothes were tailored to fit him perfectly. I also found a dark blue coat, its collar covered in iridescent feathers. I gave up trying to find pants in his collection, as my hips would never fit, and just wore a pair of black leggings with black combat boots.

"What do you mean, dear Jude?"

"The only thing you love more than booze is yourself."

He raised his brows, making a show of looking offended.

"Your capacity to lie to yourself will always impress me,” he said then plucked a kiss to my temple, “I love you more than I love wine."

I don’t think I will ever get over him being caring . It felt as if he was a completely different person from the boy who would disturb lessons just to get attention.

Cardan turned me to face him, then inspected my face. “Something is missing.” He took my hand and directed me to his personal vanity. He opened the drawer and pulled out some cosmetics. He lined my eyes with kohl and coated my lashes with dark mascara. I suppressed my laugh when I saw he was so concentrated that he had stuck out his tongue. Then, he took out some glittery gold powder and applied it on my cheekbones.

He took a step back to look at his handiwork and smiled.

“And the final touch,” he said as he plucked his crown off his head and put it on my head at an angle, “Voilà!”

I looked at myself in the mirror. I did not bother with any kind of wig. I put my hair up in elaborate braids, letting a few short curls hang in a few places. Yet, even without his signature dark hair, I still looked like him. I made faces at myself in the mirror, trying to get his grin right.

Finally, I got up. “Your turn now, dearest Cardan.”

When Heather learned that Cardan would be coming too, she started suggesting outfits for him. She even went as far as drawing some of them. Something about his otherworldly looks inspired her. Maybe it's the tail, since a lot of her designs included it: a devil, sexy cat man and my personal favorite, a cute puppy.

In the end, I chose my own, petty idea. I walked in the closet and pulled out the outfit I had the servants clean for the occasion.

“A King needs his Queen,” I grinned as I revealed the Queen of Mirth dress and crown.

Cardan threw his head back laughing. “You sure know how to hold a grudge.”

Thankfully, my husband was a team player, and he went with it. Even in this, he looked strikingly handsome. Or pretty, I guess. Unfair.

We landed in Maine in the early afternoon. It was strange to be awake so early, but Cardan did not seem bothered at all. We met up with Vivi, Heather, Oak, Taryn and Garrett at the entrance to FallFest, some kind of harvest festival that was held every October in the local park. It had everything from harvest contests to food stands, a section with typical carnival games, a small hay maze and even a haunted house.

I was not surprised to see my eldest sister dressed up, she went crazy for Halloween every year. Vivienne would dress up for a week straight before Halloween, even when she still lived in Elfhame. She was wearing a tight black bodysuit with a tail and claws as well as a black leather mask with cat ears. Heather dressed up as some kind of … plant lady? She had a short bodysuit made of green ivy leaves, green stockings and a long red wig. Oak was with them, wearing a reddish pink shirt with a big yellow star on it. I can only assume they went for pop-culture references I am unfamiliar with.

The real surprise was seeing my twin Taryn and her quiet lover also dressed up.

"What are you dressed as?", Cardan inquired, cocking his head to the side, "You ought to have dressed as Jude, you have already proved to be so good at it."

I snapped my head at him and slammed my foot as hard as I could on his. He was joking, of course. But the peace between me and Taryn was still fairly new. We mostly kept to ourselves and rarely talked. Garrett was back with the Court of Shadow and we were friendly, but he kept his professional and personal lives completely separated.

Cardan was hopping on one foot, scowling at me like he did not understand why I was upset. Taryn understood, though. She was sheepishly looking at the ground.

"I… I'm sorry for tricking you, Cardan."

I tried finding something to say to end the awkwardness. I wanted Cardan to apologize for what he said, but I knew he would not. Fae don't apologize.

Thankfully, Vivi broke the silence. "C'mon guys, we're here to HAVE FUN!" she complained, "What ARE you two dressed as?"

"Phantom of the Opera." Garrett replied.

"Nerds."

"Says the one dressed up as Catwoman." Garrett mocked.

The bickering continued, though less mean-spirited than Cardan’s original comment, as we walked down the main path. Our first stop was the pumpkin carving station. Each couple got their own pumpkin to carve, though Vivi and Heather’s pumpkin was mostly Oak’s handiwork and the couple making sure he did not stab himself. Taryn and Garrett made some intricate flower design on theirs, Garrett being the one doing the carving of course. As for us, well… Cardan had creative ideas, but no skills with a blade, and my skills were more of the stabbing variety. We settled on giving our pumpkin a traditional jack-o-lantern face.

After the effort of carving pumpkins, we were starving. Oak was complaining, dragging his feet on the ground so much that Vivi and Heathers were holding both of his hands to pull him along. Behind them, I saw Taryn with her arm looped around The Ghost's.

I was suddenly very aware that Cardan and I were the only ones not holding hands.

Nobody knows us here. We needn't keep the appearance of the power couple, together to rule and nothing else.

I took my hand out of the pockets of my borrowed coat and tentatively brushed my fingers against Cardan's hand. I saw him whip his head towards me, and I blushed when I witnessed the surprise in his face. Soon enough, he smiled. One of those smiles he kept for me and only me, blissful and happy. The smile he gives me when we have the time to spend hours cuddled together in bed, enjoying each other's presence.

Cardan took my hand and squeezed. I squeezed back.

We spent the rest of the afternoon eating good food, trying to guess the weight of giant pumpkins and visiting a haunted house. Cardan was fascinated by the weird human traditions and absolutely ecstatic about the food. Pumpkin-spiced flavored food will become the new trend in Elfhame, judging by his reaction.

When the sun started to go down, Taryn and Garrett left for Madoc’s, who decided to try giving out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Heather and Vivienne had initially volunteered to take Oak trick-or-treating himself, but when one of their friends invited them to a party, we offered to take him instead. Oak was excited to spend more time with me and “Uncle Cardan”.

I had not gone trick-or-treating in...10 years? Maybe 12? Since my parents died. Cardan, obviously, had never gone. So, dressed up as each other, with Oak dressed as some cartoon character, we roamed the residential streets of the city to beg for sweets.

“If it is called ‘trick-or-treat’, does that mean I can make bargains if someone refuses to give me candy?” Cardan asked as we watched Oak go up to a house.

I gave him my best ‘I’ll-strangle-you-if-you-do’ stare. “No. No turning people into cats, no curse making them hear imaginary insects buzzing around their ears.”

“Why is it called trick-or-treat, then?”

Vivienne told me they had to explain this to Oak, too, a few weeks ago. Someone at school had mentioned being excited to go trick-or-treating and my brother had been very confused.

“I don’t know.”

Cardan hmmed and smirked, “Perhaps the Folk were involved when the holiday was first established.”

I crossed my arms.

“If that’s the case, not all traditions need to be brought back.”

He laughed at that, then reached around me and pulled me closer to him.

“You win. I won’t trick anyone,” he crooned in my ear, “but I want a kiss for being well behaved.”

I rolled my eyes dramatically. “So needy.”

Once again, I had to remind myself that nobody knows us here. Nobody recognized our costumes today: in the mortal world, dressed as each other, we were only The Guy In An Ugly Dress and Fashionable Emo Boy. Nobody knew we are King and Queen of Elfhame, therefore there are no expectations to be the hedonistic king and his murderous wife.

I slid my hand behind his neck and pulled him down. I felt him smile as I captured his lips with mine.

“Ew, gross!” Oak’s voice came from the other end of the driveway, “Stop that, come here.”

Reluctantly, we pulled away from each other and looked towards the house. Oak was in front of the opened door, talking with a couple.

“Honey, look,” the tallest woman exclaimed as we walked down the driveway, “She’s dressed as High King Cardan!”

“Oh my god,” the other one replied, sounding so very human, “that sounds kind of profane. Do you think he would have her hung for this?”

As I looked at the two women, I realized that Oak had stumbled upon the house of a Fae couple. They saw through his glamour, and he saw through theirs.

“This is my sister Jude,” Oak started, “and this is my Uncle Cardan.”

Both females had gone completely still and were staring at Cardan with wide eyes. Simultaneously, they bowed deeply.

“Forgive us, Your Majesty. We weren’t expecting you.”

“We so rarely see our kind around here,” the shorter one said nervously, “we… wanted to meet who little Oak was with.”

“We have tea, if you would like.”

I dared a glance at Cardan and noticed he seemed amused. Was he delighted to make them uncomfortable?

“That won’t be necessary,” he said as he took my hand, “My wife has us on a tight schedule, we have other houses to visit. Have a nice evening.”

I caught the emphasis on wife and realized they only recognized him as royalty. ‘ Your Majesty ’, singular. I could tell from the two females’ expressions that they also understood their mistake. I felt bad for them knowing they had no ill intent, probably unaware of the situation in Faerie. Yet, I could not help the grin that crept on my face. I worked hard to become High Queen. I fought and killed my way through the ranks, almost dying. Multiple times. I made decisions that will haunt me until the day I die. I am High Queen, and the Folk must know.

“It was nice meeting you,” I say as I take Oak’s hand, “You are welcome to visit us at the palace if you wish.”

My memories from before Faerieland were to blurry, I did not remember getting so much candy. Did Taryn and I get that much? How could we possibly have eaten all of that? Cardan and I each had a smaller bag, only accompanying Oak to some of the doors, but Oak had multiple full bags. Once he went to sleep, Oriana was more than happy to give us some. She had learned how bad candy was for children’s teeth - even little Fae kids. She filled little bags for us to take back to Elfhame.

Like anyone eating candy for the first time, Cardan went a little crazy. He wanted to try everything. Faeries might be different in a lot of ways, but I now have proof that chocolate is addictive even to them.

The High King of Elfhame ate so much candy that he fell asleep on the couch, to the former General’s dismay.

#tfota #the folk of the air #cardan #cardan greenbriar #jurdan #judecardan #jude duarte #the cruel prince #the wicked king #queen of nothing #holly black #fanfic #fluff #laequiem

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m-y-fandoms · 4 years

Text

Korekiyo Shinguuji x oblivious crush reader - short imagine

Request: could i request some headcanons or an imagine (whichever you prefer, i’m not picky lol) for Korekiyo with a crush on an incredibly oblivious female reader who never realizes he’s trying to flirt with her/trying to see if she likes him back? sorry if this is a weird request haha :,)

THIS ISN’T A WEIRD REQUEST, KIYO IS MY BABY DADDY. Also you requested female reader, but I wrote this with a female in mind and then realized I never used any feminine-assigned words or pronouns in here, so anyone can read this with themselves in mind! - Mod Kokichi

Warnings: PG-13 in terms of sexual/romantic scenarios and wording

“So, in essence, that is why the Egyptians worshipped Hathor, in all her grace and beauty. Isn’t that fascinating, y/n?” Korekiyo mused, watching you carefully as you waltzed through the rows of scrolls and ancient texts in his research lab.

“Yes, it’s a wonderful story! You really are lucky to have traveled to Eygpt! Heck, I’d never even left Japan until...well coming to wherever we are trapped now. Do you mind?” You pointed to a particularly intricate and elaborate book cover on a high up shelf.

“Not at all, my dear. Feel free to take any materials from my lab that you wish, as long as you promise I can visit your lab freely as well?” You let the words ‘my dear’ ghost over your ears with little to no reaction. Normally, if such a handsome man had playfully rolled those words off of his tongue in your direction, your neck hairs would have stood on end like a startled cat, but with Korekiyo it was different. You did harbor some...feelings for him, but he called everyone dear, right? He was always spewing mature and polite crap like that.

“Yeah, of course, though I don’t know why an anthropologist would ever waste his time in a plain old dance studio,” you chuckled, on your tip-toes struggling for the tome far above you. Korekiyo snuck up behind you, his chest warm against your back as he reached up and plucked the book down for you, placing it gently in your hands. You held the book to your own chest and turned to face him, finding yourself flush against the wooden bookshelf with the lanky anthropologist trapping you in place. “Thanks, Kiyo!” You felt blood rush to your cheeks as he tilted his head at you like a curious puppy hearing the word ‘treat!’ You tried to settle your stuttering heart. Surely he was just being nice, right?

“Think nothing of it…” his hands came up slowly on either side of your head, caging you in between his slender arms. “You know, y/n, Hathor is known mainly for her impressive duality. She balances femininity and softness with strength and vengeance. She is a protector, but also is the harbinger of dance, joy, love...sexuality.” His voice deepened into a rasp that was like melted chocolate flowing freely over your ears. His proximity was beginning to make you dizzy. “You remind me of Hathor in many ways. I see the way you take care of your friends here, the way you defend people, but also the with which you dance: the water-like movements of your passion.”

“...” you stood there, silent for a moment, and then another moment, and then another. He looked at your expectantly, his expression unreadable through his mask. “Well, thanks, Kiyo! I never thought you’d be into ballet! Though I guess dance is a part of culture as much as anything else!” You ducked under his arm with a chipper attitude, shuffling into the open space of his lab, and he sighed deeply, looking at the ground in self-pity. Were you really not interested in him? He couldn’t blame you. Many people saw him as a creep, a pariah. He was a teenager that wore a mask at all times for crying out loud. He endlessly spewed random facts and unsolicited folk tales. Of course people avoided him. But you...you visited him every day. Before his lab opened up, you met with him in the library and inquired about his day. You asked him to eat lunch with you, and walk you back to the dorms after dinner. You asked to hear his stories, and he found himself growing to like you more and more. He didn’t want to admit his feelings until he knew for sure that you felt the same, but it was looking like his old friend, rejection, might win the war once again.

“Kiyo, this lab is simply amazing! You’re so lucky... you got the biggest one yet! My studio looks like a janitor’s closet compared to this!” You spun around on the new floor on his lab, taking in the sights, book in hand. You’d been here every day since it opened, but dedicated yourself to one section a day, having only reached this floor earlier that evening. You thought knowledge like this deserved time and respect. Korekiyo agreed of course.

“Well when one’s area of study is the entire world, a proportionately large area is needed for said study,” he drawled, slinking along behind you as you sat in a chair on the main floor. He sat in the chair across from you in front of the wall of display cases holding ceremonial swords and masks as you fingered through the book in wonder.

“Woah…” your eyes widened innocently.

“Ahhh, the Kama Sutra? You’re holding one of the oldest copies known to man.” He leaned closer to you, splaying his fingers over the page you were on slowly and seductively. “I had no idea you were this kind of person, y/n…” there’s that confectionary tone again, sweet and dripping with carnal desire.

“N-no of course not I just...what kind of person do you mean? I mean...I think the book is just interesting, the cover and the design on the spine drew me in and-“

“We should never judge a book based on its cover, yes?” He let his honeyed-words sink in to your doe-like eyes, “I think human beings, much like this book, hide things within our pages not immediately evident on our covers.”

“I agree…” his words flew right over your head. “Like you! I didn’t know you had an interest in ballet at all!” He was starting to get frustrated, but he exhaled deeply, his inner voice telling him to have patience.

“Well, yes, I’ve seen many different forms of dance, and of course, ballet is delicate and breath-taking, but also very strenuous. Another thing we shouldn’t take at face value. I’ve seen the feet of many a poor dancer after a performance, and it really is a harsh contrast to the grace of the dance itself.”

“Yes, yes! You get it!” He smiled at your child-like wonder, with you seeing only the crinkle of his eyes above the mask. “I know so many men who don’t even think dance of any kind can be a sport. I think many so-called atheletes would give up on day one of ballet lessons.” You chuckled, and he let himself be enveloped in your laughter. He was complete entranced in your aura.

“So, you will allow me to view your ballet practice in private some time? I’ve seen you with your lab door open in passing, but I would be absolutely delighted if you’d honor me with a private session, so I could focus on you and only you.” He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his long raven hair falling around him like a bed canopy.

“Oh, Kiyo…” you began, your own heart hurting at the words you were about the speak, but it was for the best. You didn’t want to waste his time, not in a place like this. “I know you’re interested in ballet, but after those first two trials and this whole not-knowing-when-we-are-gonna-die thing, I don’t think it would be a worthy use of your time to pull yourself away from all of this,” you gestured to the gigantic room around you, “in order to-”

“Y/N-!” He spoke angrily and abruptly, startling you, before composing himself and beginning again, taking the book from your hand and instead intertwining his fingers in your own. “...I am not interested in ballet, so much as I am interested in you. Do you understand?” You felt your body tense up in complete shock. He wasn’t serious right…? He was teasing you, taking advantage of your naïveté and your obvious feelings for him. Maybe you weren’t hiding them as well as you’d thought.

“Me…?” You looked at his wrapped hand in yours, the bandages scratchy texture pulling you back down to earth.

“Yes, you.” He spoke bluntly, with nothing but compassion in his voice.

“But you’re...you’re so…” he braced himself, waiting for the insults and degrading comments that always followed when he let his walls down around normal people.

“...Odd? Long-winded? A freak of nature?” He sighed, pulling away.

“Beautiful…” you could hardly hear your own words pouring from your mouth, the pounding of your heart beat too loud in your ears. You grabbed his hand, and in a moment of fragile silence, began to unwrap the linen that covered every inch of his fingers, then down to his palms and wrists. His hands, now revealed to you fully for the first time, were just as beautiful as his voice and cat-like golden eyes. They were pale, ghostly, ethereal. They looked like they could break at the slightest touch, but withstand any hard labor that was thrown at them at the same time. “Korekiyo, you spend so much time telling others that humanity is beautiful, that you haven’t taken the time to see it in yourself, have you? At least...not for a long while.”

“Y/N, I-” you reached for the top of his mask with shaking fingers, and he jerked away roughly, terrified. When you reached out again, he didn’t move, steeling himself to be exposed to you. You deserved to see the truth. His eyelids fluttered closed, and his heart dropped into his stomach.

Your fingertips lingered at the top of the mask before tugging it down gently. He kept his eyes shut tightly as you observed his full face.

The tip of his nose, which you could tell from the nose bridge was thin, came to an adorable point above his lips. A delicate, milky white chin led up on either side to a sharp jawline, high cheekbones and a flawless complexion. That powdery complexion was met in stark contrast to the blood-red pigment of a matte lipstick staining his lips.

“Y/N, I didn’t want you to see me...truly see me for the first time like thi-” you brought your lips closer to his until they were touching, and soon found yourself leaning into his chest, into his lap in his seated position in front of you. Your lips pressed into his, a bit more bold now, and your confidence spurred his own. You now straddled his hips, your legs on either side of his thighs, and he grabbed your hips, his hands shaking like a leaf in the wind. He pulled back, scanning your face for any regret, any shame or fear, and sensing none, crashed his lips onto yours again. He roughly sucked on your bottom lip, pulling a small moan from your mouth that excited him more than anything corporeal had in a long time. You never thought he’d be such a good kisser.

“Korekiyo…” you pulled back again, giving you both some much-needed air. “I never thought that...someone like you would even glance my way. You’re so intelligent, so regal and elegant and different from the norm and…” your words trailed off, and his thumb reached up to your lips, roughly wiping away the red lipstick that clung onto your face as a reminder that he had been there.

“Likewise, y/n,” he reclined back into the chair with you still on his lap, a little too cocky and cheeky for his own good, but to say the smirk on his messy red mouth wasn’t turning you on would be a lie.

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devak66 · 3 years

Text

The Visit

Time for the third tale from the AU. This one involving tubbo visiting dream ooooo

Word count: 1383

The pop of lava was about the only thing he heard as the bridge he was on led him to his destination. Tubbo didn’t want to do this but he needed answers. The mode of transportation suddenly stopped once it reached the end. The maximum containment cell. Tubbo stepped off the bridge, keeping his gaze on the man inside as the bridge moved back to the other side of the lava moat. Once it reached where it had started, Sam called out “Once the lava is back down you'll be able to talk to the prisoner. Tubbo simply nodded. He was starting to regret this idea as he felt the lava pouring behind him, the residual heat on his back. He looked at the other in the cell, the divider had retracted as the lava had completely covered the entrance to the cell. The prisoner was first to speak

“I wasn't expecting you of all people to come visit me” Dream spoke, his expression unreadable from behind the mask. Tubbo was honestly surprised he got to keep it, seeing how Sam had been so thorough about nothing being brought into the prison. Tubbo honestly didn't know what to say. This man had done so much and Tubbo had prepared so many questions so he did not get overwhelmed in panic of being so close to the man who had threatened his last life. “So, are you here to gloat? You’ve finally won”

At that point, Tubbo had finally found his voice “No. I actually need to ask you some questions”

“Oh? About what? About how I sleep at night? The answer is not as well as i used to”

“No” Tubbo repeat “I want to specifically ask you about Ranboo” This caught Dream off guard, before he could question why, Tubbo added “He had a dreamonic transformation and i want to know if you were involved with that.. Somehow”

“He.. he actually transformed” There was a hint of a smile in Dream’s voice. Not a mocking or cruel tone.. If anything.. It seemed proud “What triggered the transformation?” he asked Tubbo

“I.. thought it had something to do with you,” Tubbo was worried about what Dream would say. He had been mad at how willing to attack Fundy had been, but he was right. If Ranboo is as dangerous as any other dreamon.. He’d have to be dealt with.

Dream shook his head “That’s not how dreamons work. The first dreamonic transformation, well technically any to a dreamon not trained to control it, has an emotional state that will trigger it. It can be anything from wanting to defend themself to simply stress. So. What caused his transformation?”

“I, in all honesty, have no clue” Tubbo admit “Fundy messaged me about a dreamon and when i got there i found Ranboo like that”

Dream was getting angry with what he heard “you have to be fucking kidding me”

“What is it?” Tubbo was concerned

“I told fundy about Ranboo in a moment of damn trust” Dream said “what im fucking saying is Fundy probably asked him questions that he couldnt answered and caused the fucking transformation” Dream was getting pissed, the roots of his hair starting to go white. Dream noticed Tubbo starting to back away and took a deep breath to calm down, his hair going back to its normal light brown color “I’m calm. I’m good” Dream assured. He put a hand to the mask and traced along the crack going down the middle to part way past the center.

“I have a few more questions for you, if you don’t mind answering them” Tubbo was terrified at the idea of a potential dreamonic transformation when he had no potential of getting out safely

“Go ahead. I have nothing better to do” Dream said “When you’re done I’ll have a little offer for you”

Tubbo didn’t ask what that could mean, and immediately asked the first of the questions “What did you tell Fundy?”

“Simple. I told Fundy about Ranboo’s other half, which is dreamon”

“How did you know it?”

“Dreamons can… sense it” Dream lied “Dreamons have a magical aura that normal folk cannot notice”

“If that’s true, you'd be able to say if there’s another dreamon in the area” Tubbo wished he had been able to bring a book, this information is incredibly valuable and if he could had taken notes on it

“Yes. But why would i tell you, dreamon hunter?” Dream is glad Tubbo hadn’t noticed the amount of lies Dream had made. Because, why would he lie? He’s not leaving. But he’s not lying for himself. If anyone knew that Ranboo was his brother… who knows what the people would do to him

“Why did you get so mad about what Fundy did?”

“I… Um.. cant let my pawn and fellow dreamon get hurt” Dream said, thankful that he had his mask to hide his expression for that blatant lie

Tubbo frowned “You know Fundy told me what you had told him”

Dream didn’t respond. How to get out of this situation… “I know Ranboo is your brother,” Tubbo said, studying Dream’s body language. He couldn’t read his face, because of the mask, so he’d have to find other ways to analyze how he’s feeling in the moment or if he’s lying

“That could have been a lie,” Dream said. He’s definitely tense but trying to not be too obvious

“But why would you say something like that” Tubbo replied almost immediately “I know how you are, green man, but i don't see the strategic point in telling him. On top of denying it afterwards. Maybe you told him and regret it afterwards”

“If you know me so well, you know how i'm always a step ahead of you”

“But i also know that even you can make mistakes. And your biggest mistake for this conversation was showing how protective you are of Ranboo” Tubbo grinned. Checkmate

Dream was quiet for a few moments before he sighed “fine. You got me. But put yourself in my shoes. The tyrant that is hated by all, if people knew ranboo was my little brother, how do you think that would go? It would be a repeat of everyone finding out who your father is'' he said blatantly

Now it was Tubbo’s turn to be quiet “But all you did to him”

“What i did was all for a reason. I don't need to explain myself to you” He took a deep breath “You said little Tantabus had a dreamonic transformation?”

“Tant-”

“You’ll want my help to help train him” Dream said “his dreamonic state will be difficult to keep in check without it, and i don't mean emotional training. Let me do this” “No..”

“You need me!”

“I don’t! Fundy snapped him out fine without you” Tubbo said

“How”

“You don't need to know”

“How did he snap him out, Tubbo” Dream was stern, staring at the goat hybrid

“By reminding him who he is” Tubbo replied, which made Dream laugh

“It’s not that easy. You need me. Ranboo was just tired, that's why he reverted to normal form”

“No!”

“Tubbo. You don't understand all i've done for ranboo! Let me do this!”

“NO! Just stop!”

“I’ve done everything for him! The lies i’ve said to keep him safe, the lives i've ruined to keep him safe- this.. this isn't helping, is it”

Tubbo was backing away “No.. i can't”

“Think about it, please. I'm not your enemy in this situation. I just want to help Ranboo.. I’ve missed him” Dream pleaded

“Sam!” Tubbo called out to the warden, he was done with this visit

“Tubbo.” Dream tried

A voice spoke over the PA system “are you done talking to the prisoner”

“Think about it.. Please… i want to help” Dream said

Tubbo kept his gaze on the masked prisoner “Yeah, Sam, i'm ready” He looked away from Dream.

It took a few minutes for Tubbo to be brought out of the maximum security cell. Sam studied the smaller male “Did everything go well?” Tubbo simply nodded, he had a lot on his mind. Sam led the way out of the prison, after a few minutes of walking, Tubbo piped up

“Hey.. Sam? Can I ask you something?”

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jackoshadows · 3 years

Note

Maybe this is me being naive and hopeful but I don't see the point of Dany dying in the books, yeah, I know what happened in the show, but nothing that happened in s8 made sense anyway. Martin spent a ot of time in ADWD with the political and economic aspects of Meereen, with all the problems that making a new system has to erase at the end the character that has that storyline and that will be needed at the end of the book for Westeros rebuilding.

I have to agree. This was what was so disappointing for me as well with season 8. That GRRM spend an entire book on characters like Dany and Jon being leaders and having to make the tough decisions and getting actual experience and the show ending just gets rid of these characters.

I mean, we had Jon spend a chapter literally counting grain and barley and veggies in the store room. Why? We had to read Dany making the hard decisions, right and wrong decisions, compromise, lose and win. All for nothing.

The writing the show gave it’s endgame leaders was abysmal. Tyrion turned into an idiot, they didn’t care about Bran and Sansa’s qualification was making snarky comments.

In Bran’s case, I could see GRRM taking him down the path of Leto II Atreides from Children of Dune, in which scenario he could make King Bran of Westeros work in the books. But D&D did not write ANYTHING at all for Bran. On the other hand, they were really invested in Sansa as a character, they wanted her to be more important on the show, they took story arcs and characterization from other characters in the books for show Sansa and they still could not make queen Sansa work on the show.

And the show’s ending does not gel with GRRM’s take on ruling:

We had GRRM’s entire spiel on what ruling means:

One thing that I am trying to get at in the books, the political aspect if you would, is to kind of show that this stuff is hard. I think that an awful lot of fantasy and even some great fantasy falls under the mistake of assuming that a good man would be a good king and all that is necessary is to be a decent human being and then when you are king everything will go swimmingly. Tolkien is great but we never get into the nitty gritty of Aragorn ruling. What is his tax policy? How does he feel about crop rotation?

How does he handle land disputes between two nobles, both of whom think that they should have the village, so they burn it down to establish their claim. This is the hard part of ruling be it in the middle ages or now. It’s not enough to be a good man to be an effective ruler. It’s complicated and it’s hard and I wanted to show that with repeated examples in my books with my kings and hand of the kings - the prime minister if you would - trying to rule. And whether it be Ned Stark or Tyrion Lannister or Tywin Lannister or Daenerys Targaryen or Cersei Lannister trying to deal with the real challenges that affect anyone trying to rule the 7K or even a city like Meereen and it’s hard.

You know, we can all read the books or read history and say oh, so and so was stupid and made a lot of mistakes and look at all these stupid mistakes they make. But these kind of mistakes are always much more apparent in hind sight than when you are actually faced with the decision about, oh my God, what would I do in this situation. How do I resolve this thing? Do I do the moral thing? But what about the political consequences of the moral thing? Do I do the pragmatic, cynical thing and kind of screw the people who are screwed by it? I mean, it is HARD. And I want to get to all of that - GRRM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJCb3xyWyAg

This statement here?

If I am ever a queen I will make them love me

is an antithesis of everything GRRM says above. This quote shows, to a certain extent, Sansa’s naivete at this point. The Tyrells deliberately cut off food to KL and then Margaery Tyrell distributes food to the people to win their favor. It has nothing to do with the well being of the people here. Sansa sees this and thinks that when she is queen, she will make people love her and some folks think that this points to Sansa being the most compassionate, best queen ever.

That’s why Queen Sansa is so attractive to people who subscribe to the simplistic notion that all ruling entails is being beloved by the people. She’s a blank slate who has yet to negotiate or hash out deals with adults, or make a single decision that affects the lives of the people under her. She’s perfect because she has yet to do anything. The Disney fairy tale version - ironically something Sansa believed in at the start of the books. That’s why Jonsas think that we will get King Jon and Queen Sansa ruling happily ever after.

Dany should by all rights be a popular, beloved leader in Meereen. But it’s not easy. She has to hand out justice which is complicated. She has to start building up an economy from scratch - one not based on slavery. She has to deal with an insurgency, famine, disease. She has to make hard choices and she has to do it surrounded by enemies. The former slaves want her to reopen the fighting pits. Does Dany do the moral thing or what her people want?

Both Jon and Dany make mistakes. They make some emotional decisions that are not right. But to quote Leto II Atriedes when he gives his father’s ring to Stilgar in Children of Dune:

To remind you that all humans make mistakes, and that all leaders are but human.

Dany is not in a similar situation to the rich Tyrells who can ‘buy the vote’ so to speak, by handing out food to the starving populace of KL. Starvation that happened because the Tyrells closed off the Roseroad during the WOT5K. But Sansa is not thinking like the Tyrells here. She genuinely thinks that all it takes to be a good queen is to make her people happy - and it’s that simple.

Jon Snow at the wall, being the head of a military institution, has it easier than Dany. But, not having Dany’s charm and charisma, he has a harder time convincing people that he is making the right decisions. By the time we reach the end of ADwD, Jon knows that he is hated by a majority of the watch.

Jon is not making decisions that are popular or liked by his men. He is making decisions based on defending the realm. Save the lives of the freefolk - and not provide more dead to the Others, save the men he send to Hardhome, prepare the watch, prepare the castles, get more food, train more people etc. He too makes mistakes - fails to read the mood of the people. Fails to take warnings seriously. Undermines the neutrality of the watch by interfering in the affairs of the realm.

Doing a re-read of the Wheel of Time series before the TV adaptation premieres, I am reminded of this line from Rand al’Thor returning to one of the kingdoms he conquered. This is the hero of the story, the good guy.

The pair gathered themselves, drew deep breaths — and saw Rand over the Maidens’ heads. Their eyes nearly popped out of their faces. Each man glanced sideways at the other, and then they were on their knees. One stared fixedly at the floor; the other squeezed his eyes shut, and Perrin heard him praying under his breath. “So am I loved,” Rand said softly. - A Crown of Swords

Ruling is not always about being popular, beloved, compassionate, always being right etc. I doubt GRRM intends it to be that way. He has given several instances of rulers and leaders in his books and as he points out none of them has had it easy. Hindsight is 2020 and all that and leader often times make unpopular decisions.

I am torn on Dany’s ending. On the one hand, I find it hard to believe that GRRM is going to kill off a character that he spend so much time building up as a ruler. She is also one of the big 5, who is mentioned as surviving till the end along with Jon, Arya, Bran and Tyrion in the original outline. Why would he kill off just Dany from the big 5?

But would Benioff and Weiss really kill off Daenerys if she does not die in the books? That’s a really big departure for a central book character. I think GRRM knows the endings of the big 5 - in interviews he has always stated that he knows Jon, Arya and Tyrion’s endings.

So whether Dany lives or dies in the books? I don’t know. It will indeed be very disappointing if she does die though. I want the big 5 to make it and have decently good endings.

#Daenerys Targaryen #anti GOT #anti D&D #On Ruling #GRRM #asoiaf

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demisexualgeralt · 3 years

Text

A gift for @jaskierbatey for @thewitchersecretsanta. I tried to fit as much of your wish list in as I could. Happy holidays, and I hope you enjoy!!!

Geralt walked into the saloon and let the giant centipede’s mandible thud loudly on the floor. The chatter in the room stopped, except for the soft sounds of banjo strings, which belonged to a young man who either had a death wish or simply couldn’t take a hint. Regardless, the saloon owner rushed over to inspect Geralt’s offering.

“There were three of them,” Geralt grunted. “Your land should be fine now. No more disappearances.”

“And...the missing?”

“Their bodies are there. You can do with them what you wish. Though I wouldn’t send those with a weak stomach. Sorry.”

The man nodded solemnly and pulled a coin purse from his side. Geralt took it from him and counted out the coins carefully, ensuring the amount was all they’d agreed on. When he determined it was satisfactory, he nodded and turned on his heel. The sooner he could find an inn and get centipede guts off of him, the better.

The next day, he woke early and prepared to get back on the road. A witcher’s life was certainly not a sedentary one, and with so many people traveling West and fucking up the natural wildlife, it had become unusually lucrative. People were desperate and while Geralt didn’t normally like to capitalize on those too down on their luck, he was happy to take the coin of those whose own greed led them to do stupid things like building a town next to the burrowing grounds of a bunch of giant centipedes.

He finished getting Roach ready and was leading her out of the stable when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He tensed and turned, wanting to see what unfortunate soul decided to try and rob a witcher.

“Oh! That...is a big sword. I’d ask if you were happy to see me, but, ah, you don’t seem the type to buy into that kind of humor.”

“Hmm.”

“Who am I, I hear you asking! My name is Jaskier and-”

“Don’t care. Fuck off.”

He started to walk away, but heard determined footsteps behind. “You should care. I feel if we put our talents together, we could both come away very rich.”

“Not interested.”

“You seemed very interested in that coin purse earlier.”

Geralt rolled his eyes and turned to face the man. “What I’m interested in is getting paid to do my job. Not whatever hare brained scheme you’ve cooked up. I kill monsters. I get coin. There’s nothing you can do to help with that.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, witcher. See, I have acquired a good deal of stories in my time, and witchers are full of stories. But people don’t like witchers, do they?”

“If this is what being liked gets me, I’ll take my chances.”

Undaunted, the man continued. “I could help you! Spread word of your tales, sing your praises. Increase your coin. You think you got a good deal from that saloon owner? There’s dozens out there like him, just as stupid, who would pay double that for the same job, if only they had a little nudge from yours truly.”

Geralt scoffed. “You’re how old? What would you know about people?”

“Quite a lot, thank you very much! And I’m 19. But I listen. People aren’t that difficult to read when you learn how to listen.”

“And you do?” Geralt asked, leaning against the side of the stall.

“I have to. It’s part of the trade.”

“Hmm.” Geralt eyed him, taking in this strange man in front of him. Eventually, he turned back to Roach. “Fine. Come along. It’s your funeral.”

Months passed and somehow, it was not Jaskier’s funeral. Geralt assumed he would get tired of walking, of not having a warm bed at night, of only having Geralt for company, but some stubbornness must have edged out his discomfort. And Geralt knew he was uncomfortable- he complained constantly, but each night, he settled around the campfire, playing softly while rabbit or squirrel cooked over the fire and listened while Geralt told his stories in halting, sporadic thoughts.

He hated to admit it, but it was nice, having someone to share the road with. Most of the time.

Whenever they traveled into town, however, he was reminded of what an absolute pain Jaskier could be. All he wanted was a drink before heading back to the inn they were staying at and preparing for the next day’s hunt. Instead, he was treated to the sight of Jaskier making himself at home next to a group of women close to the bar. It shouldn’t bother him. It didn’t bother him. It was Jaskier’s job to ingratiate himself to whoever came along, charm them. Jaskier told him time and time again that what he had with those people was never personal, strictly business.

It was easier, then, to understand that what he and Jaskier had was also strictly business. It shouldn’t bother him. And yet, every time he saw Jaskier spend the night with another, only to return triumphant with an expensive trinket or swiped bundle of coins, he felt an ache deep in his bones.

It hurt, to be just another transaction. A means to an end. He might not pay Jaskier, or afford him any trinkets to sell or hoard, but he provided shelter, food, companionship between beds. That was all he would ever be.

He made his way over to the bar, grunting his assent when the barkeep offered him a drink. As she handed it to him, she leaned her elbow on the counter and looked at him.

“Drowning your sorrows over something in particular, witcher?”

“I’m drinking alone.”

She snorted and he glowered. Not many humans were willing to provoke him (except Jaskier), but she had clearly seen enough rough folk to not be cowed by him. “I can see that.”

“Hmm,” he intoned, hoping she would take the hint and end the conversation there. Unperturbed though, she pressed on.

“Seems you don’t have to. That one keeps glancing at you.” She inclined her head slightly and he could see that she was referring to Jaskier. He rolled his eyes.

“He’s a friend.”

“Just a friend?”

“Mmm.”

She nodded slowly. “See, I’d believe that. But I’ve tried to make enough men jealous myself to know the look.”

“Hmm.”

She clicked her tongue. “Not the chatty type. I get it. But think about what I said.” She turned back to other patrons and left Geralt to ruminate on what she’d said.

Eventually, the night wore on and he decided it was time to take his leave, before the truly unruly patrons started to act up. He glanced back at Jaskier, who gave him a smile before turning back to his latest conquests. Satisfied that he would be fine until morning, he headed back to the inn to try and get some rest.

He did not, in fact, get the sleep he was looking for, but instead sat and restlessly tried to avoid thinking about the barkeep’s words. There was no reason for Jaskier to try and make him jealous. If he wanted Geralt, he had plenty of opportunities when they were alone to make a move. He wasn’t shy about going after what he wanted. Geralt thought himself in circles, but they all led to the same conclusion.

Sometime before the sun rose, he heard Jaskier fumble in. “Geralt? Are you awake?”

“I am now,” he grumbled, despite not actually being asleep.

“Good, good. Do you want to see what I got?”

“No.”

“Wonderful.”

He sat heavily at the edge of Geralt’s bed, shoving his feet aside to make room. He smacked Geralt’s leg until he looked at him, practically punching him in his fervor to show Geralt the ring on his finger.

“Are congratulations in order?”

“No, you ass. But it is pretty, isn’t it?” Jaskier looked down to admire it. It was simple, adorned with a modestly sized opal.

Geralt sighed. “Stealing people’s weddings rings seems like a new low, even for you.”

Jaskier scoffed. “I didn’t steal them! I can’t help it that people like to give me nice things. Besides, if you’re mean to me, I won’t give you your present. Close your eyes.”

Geralt did so against his best judgement and felt as Jaskier put something small in his hand.

“Okay. Open.”

He opened his eyes and found a small gold band in the center of his palm.

Jaskier’s eyes shone. “Just think. If we wear them and act like we just got married, they might give us a free room! Or...a room upgrade at least. It’s great, right?”

Geralt swallowed.

“Or…” Jaskier backtracked. “We could melt it down? I’m sure we’d get money for the gold?”

“Fine. Whatever you want to do.”

“Geralt? Did I...offend you?” He bit his lip. “Look, I know you would never actually marry me. This is just...a con. But, if even the thought of it offends you, I’ll...I won’t bring it up again.”

“It’s fine.”

Jaskier tapped nervously on his thighs. “Geralt, please. I don’t want this to get in the way of our friendship. If you want me to go…”

“I don’t.”

“Okay. Well, that’s a relief. Then why won’t you look at me?”

Geralt sighed. He wasn’t like Jaskier, couldn’t say what he wanted to say and make it all fit together somehow. His words were stilted, difficult.

“I don’t want to pretend.”

“I already told you, Geralt, we don’t have to do that if you don’t-”

Geralt moved forward to kiss Jaskier, who just let out a surprised ‘oh’ against his mouth. He didn’t pull away though, relaxing into Geralt’s touch. After a moment, he pulled away, looking for something he couldn’t name in Jaskier’s eyes. Acceptance? Joy?

“That...yeah. We can...you want to? With me?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the wordsmith?”

Jaskier glowered at him. “The man I’ve been hopelessly in love with for months just kissed me. Forgive me for not recovering immediately.”

“You- months?”

“You didn’t know? Geralt, I’ve been making moves for months? You really didn’t notice?”

“...no.”

Jaskier huffed a laugh. “Well. Then let me make myself abundantly clear. I like you. I would like to do this and other things with you in the future. If you would like.”

“I would...like. That.”

“Perfect,” Jaskier said, leaning in to capture Geralt’s lips again.

After a while, Jaskier lay on Geralt’s chest, and Geralt felt the first threads of sleep calling him. Before he could though, he heard Jaskier speak up again.

“So, does this mean that we can do the marriage con?”

“Go to sleep, Jaskier.”

“Fiiiiiiine.”

#the witcher #geraskier #the witcher secret santa #jaskierbatey

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