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baeshijima · 11 months

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— hsr men in a royalty au

INCLUDES : blade ; dan heng ; gepard ; jing yuan ; luocha ; sampo + gn!reader

A/N : what started off as a duke!blade word vomit became a hsr royalty au brain dump. sighs. also once again pushing my knight!reader agenda bc the lack of royalty aus with knight!reader is criminal.

genshin ver.

imagine you're the personal guard for emperor!jing yuan, picked by his hand when he was still just a mere crown prince learning the ropes of what it meant to rule an empire. in truth, there's not much for you to do other than stand close behind when in public settings or indulge in his whimsical nature when in private and within the confines of the palace walls. in spite of that, you can't help but to wonder whether it's necessary to be his partner when he practises ballroom dances, despite never actually dancing in the banquets. well, who are you to question your duties, right?

there is no destination without a journey; jing yuan would know this best. having been thrust onto a pedestal from young, he's witnessed more types of people than he can count on his fingers: those who act nice in order to gain, those whose eyes cannot hide their contempt, those who are kind out of fear, those who act on behalf of others, those who hold respect without ulterior motives... he has seen them all. his view of the world grew dull, the predictability of those around him bringing only disappointment to the young heir. the days passed in a blur with nothing of note, other than a lingering emptiness which kept him awake at night and a passion which only emerges when sparring with his instructor. and so when he was told it was time to choose a personal knight after countless assassination attempts, he trudged through the halls with poise ingrained into his stride and a blank gaze reflecting his thoughts. but when he arrived at the training grounds to oversee the potential candidates his attention was immediately seized by another, his usually stagnant heart thundering. for the first time in his life, jing yuan discovered what it meant to want something as he watched you strike your training sword against your opponent, his world bursting into colours he never knew existed before then.

jing yuan sometimes finds himself envying those who can dance without care at banquets. he has an image to maintain in front of his people while you tend to be a stickler for this kind of thing, often refusing a dance in favour of maintaining your post. he supposes it's fine if you're both together, despite the numerous times he's imagined what it would be like to dance with you in front of everyone, as opposed to the privacy of the palace under the guise of “not becoming rusty”. but as he casts his gaze over to where you rest, having fallen asleep after a particularly thrilling game of starchess with your body tucked within the protective embrace of his ever-dutiful lion, he finds himself engraving moments like these into his memory and filing them away to look back on when nights to himself become a little too lonely for his liking. it's one of the many sides to you which only jing yuan has been privy to; one of which he takes immense pride in and vows to shelter from the danger which lurks around every corner.

(he will never let you know how your bright eyes is what set his once monotonous life ablaze in colour all those years ago — the aloof crown prince utterly besotted with a starry-eyed rookie knight. he will also never let slip how he still thinks back on the warmth he felt when you took his trembling, slumped form in your arms after he fought his stricken teacher all those years ago, the aftereffects of your touch still lingering on his skin even to this day.)

despite being duty-bound beside the impish emperor, there are times where you, too, are in need of some peace away from his scheming mind and watchful eyes. in these moments, you find yourself finding respite within the royal library built into the palace, a stack of books typically used as your makeshift pillow. and even if librarian!dan heng gives you a death stare from his designated place, you know he appreciates your company when he drapes a blanket over your shoulders and replaces the book pile with a cushion or two. although, you can’t shake off the feeling you’ve seen him from somewhere before…

for as long as he can remember, dan heng has always been on the run. from what? he’s not even sure anymore; it has been that long. it is but a mere shadow, a phantom which haunts him under the glowing sun and the gleaming moon. he can run — run until his body is weak and heavy with fatigue — but he can never hide, for it follows close behind and lurks around unseen corners. as unnerving as it may be, he has grown used to the chilling gaze and staying on edge. after all, no matter how far he runs, no matter how hard he tries to blend in, there is no escaping a shadow. maybe that is why he felt a churning sensation stir in his gut when he first met the emperor to discuss his newly appointed position as the librarian, whose gaze held an unfamiliar sheen of conflict veiled behind an amiable disposition upon making eye contact. amidst the eyes of the sun held a glint of familiarity, one which dan heng couldn’t put his finger on the longer he dwelled on the thought.

dan heng didn’t know what to expect when he first met you; you, the personal guard handpicked by jing yuan himself. with all the duties he’s sure keeps you busy, it wouldn’t surprise him if he never met you past the glimpses he catches here and there when in official spaces. perhaps that is why it came as such a surprise when you stumbled into the library one day, all bleary-eyed and attempting to stifle your yawns, and he could only watch in a daze as you pulled out a random set of books from the shelves, plop yourself down at the nearest table, set the books on the surface and slam your head atop the pile, your soft snores filling the once-quiet room. dan heng wasn’t sure how long he sat there staring at you for, but it was long enough to wake you up and inform you of the library’s closing hour when the day’s hues bled into the night. what he thought would be a one-time thing soon became a regular occurrence — a routine — and he has become accustomed to your unceremonious visits and wonderful laughter and draping the blanket he now keeps under his desk over your slumbering form and admiring your peaceful expression over the rim of his novel. it’s come to a point where he can no longer imagine a life without it; without you.

(sometimes he wonders whether you enjoy the time spent with him as much as he does with you, in which he cannot help but to compare himself to the emperor you have pledged your life and devoted your loyalty to. amidst those thoughts, dan heng finds himself hoping you would favour him over the shine of the empire’s revered sun.)

royal guard captain!gepard is someone you have always admired, ever since you were just a rookie knight trying to prove your worth amongst a sea of prodigal candidates like him. he is kind as he is strong, a formidable ally and a terrifying foe. however, you can't help but wonder whether you’ve done something to offend him, what with the way he sometimes avoids you if you happen to bump into each other amidst the palace grounds and speedwalks in the opposite direction with hasty apologies trailing behind him.

the landau dukedom. it is known for its military prowess and defending the borders, but infamous for the strict duke landau. as well-respected he may be by the nobles of the court, gepard only knows a strict man more like a superior than a father. it wouldn’t be a lie to say duke landau was just that; a superior — a teacher, one who viewed his children as either heir candidates or a foundation to bolster the territory’s military power. while it may be a strict method, the respect gepard holds for his father is undeniable, feuling his desire to make him proud and carry out his teaching in the name of the honourable landau duchy. he stuck to harsh training regimens, endured countless trials of tactics and wit, witnessed his elder sister begin to refute against their father’s suffocating hold upon returning from the academy, watched as she left the duchy to have control over her own life with a promise to keep in touch with him and their youngest sister. these moments were fleeting, passing in a blur until he entered the ranks of the elite, eventually promoted to captain as he remained steadfast in defending the borders.

it took gepard countless sleepless nights tossing and turning in his bed and a highly amused serval laughing at his predicament to finally understand his feelings for you. love was an unfamiliar concept to him. he knew of camaraderie between fellow knights (which was what he assumed he felt for you, but just a bit more… intense?) and familial bonds between family, so this new experience of his heart palpitating, hands clamming up, words stuck in his throat and an incessant heat clinging to his cheeks was unfamiliar, thus his avoidance. though that didn’t sit well with him, as a longing ache only seemed to replace it instead. and so, despite the apparent awkward flair his body language carried, gepard decided to follow his heart when it came to matters pertaining to you. he quickly came to discover your likes and dislikes, your miniscule habits when practising swordsmanship, the subtle cues you display when uncomfortable, the smile you showed upon seeing something you liked and the grin you displayed upon besting him in a duel. they were all segments which made up the very being you are, and the pieces which fit within his heart to establish this newfound love he holds for you.

(as your direct superior there are many things he notices when watching from the sidelines. among many, the one which stands out are the eyes which follow you — some gaze at you with envy, others regard you with awe, but there are a few which regard you in the same adoration he does. love and jealousy were never something gepard thought he would experience; not until he met you.)

with your role as one of the empire’s royal knights and the emperor’s personal guard, it comes as no surprise to be inflicted with injuries of varying severities. as a result, you are well-acquainted with royal physician!luocha through your numerous visits. you’ve come to find his pleasant visuals and soothing voice does wonders to heal your fatigue, even if he does tend to go a little overboard in his lectures when you come to him with less-than-fine wounds.

being able to wield elements and being able to use divine powers are two different things; one is widely accepted, the other is not. at least, that’s the case in the xianzhou empire. those born with the ability to use divine powers have fled into hiding, unwilling to be outcasted — or worse, executed — for being afflicted with the cursed power of the divinity. as such, having lived the majority of his life in concealment, luocha is no stranger to hiding his abilities. curse or blessing, it’s an irrevocable part of him. still, he didn’t want to stop helping others the way the nature of his powers could. and so he resorted to learning medicine. he soon became a renowned travelling doctor sought after for his vast knowledge, all of which garnered the attention of the emperor when he stopped by in the capital and was offered the position of royal physician. with little drawbacks, handsome pay, and a grand place to stay without needing to be on the run, luocha accepted and became the sole royal physician of the empire.

there was very little luocha found himself to be afraid of. with no one but himself to rely on, he’s crossed many bridges on his own without care. there was no need for such sentiment in survival. or so he thought. in all his years, luocha doesn’t think there was anything more terrifying than the day you were rushed in by a frantic jing yuan, your complexion sickly and covered in sweat and breathing laboured. as it turned out, you were poisoned, having drank it in place of jing yuan upon sensing something suspicious. he doesn’t recall anything making his heart drop as quickly as the situation then had, his mind blank yet frantic as he forced the panic-stricken emperor out of the infirmary and laid you on one of the beds. your symptoms were dire, he noted, and there was nothing in the cabinets suited for this kind of quick-acting poison. your condition was worsening, a pained furrow of your brows and haggard appearance being clear indicators. a bright glow then illuminated the room, and luocha came to the belated realisation he had used his abilities for the first time since concealing them, for the thought of losing you was far more torturous than his will to hide his abilities.

(there was no thought to the act, just sheer desperation to not let you die. it took him a long few days to realise that, all of which were spent looking after you by your bedside. he never spoke of how he cured you when you asked, eyes bleary with confusion on how you’re still alive, instead choosing to keep it to himself as he chided you for being so reckless. you will never know of the inner turmoil he endured, even praying to a deity he never once believed in to ensure your safety. should you sustain more severe afflictions, luocha has no qualms using his abilities again — if it means you live, he will make an exception.)

thinking about duke!blade, whose… less than pleasant disposition does little to help refute the fearful rumours surrounding his name. you've met him a handful of times when he visits the palace under jing yuan's summon or catching him at the odd banquet or two, and even back when he used to train with jing yuan before his visits suddenly ceased. even so, you find yourself doubting those rumours, especially when he seems to wear an expression akin to peace more often than he does of one resembling disdain.

the cold duke remains an enigma to those around him — even those who work under him. is it due to his quiet hostility? or is it perhaps something no one knows, such as a secret known only to him, his butler, his family physician, and the emperor? a curse; one of immortality where his soul is torn to shreds only to be stitched anew before he can succumb to the paradise known as death. it's a never-ending cycle, one which causes him to no longer track the days when they all feel the same. the days out on leading monster subjugations and expeditions are just a temporary means of escape — an outlet for his pent up frustrations to let loose without worry. no one knows what truly goes on in his mind, only ever witnessing or hearing tales of his brutal yet awe-inspiring deeds on the blood-soaked battlefields, and the origin of his adopted alias: blade. his true name evades him, having been discarded the moment he lost his humanity.

he has always noticed you. it was hard not to when the favour you received was blatantly obvious, even from when you were just a fledgling knight and he the young heir of his duchy. there weren’t many opportunities for him to talk to you, what with the way jing yuan always seemed to divert his attention back to their instructor when noticing his wandering gaze to your distant figure, and even more so after the curse struck him full-force and he stopped visiting altogether outside of summons and banquets. it wasn’t until he returned from a monster subjugation as the sole survivor did he first properly meet you. with his mind torn and body regenerating itself, he failed to notice someone rush towards him, an unfamiliar warmth encompassing his bleeding torso as his conscience began to fade. an unfamiliar ceiling and an unfamiliar room was what greeted him when he awoke, but a warmth he registered as familiar gripped his calloused hand. what met his gaze then was your dozing figure, your head smushed against the duvet beside his leg with even breaths giving way to your unconscious state. his typically chaotic mind was silent as he stared at you. it was an odd feeling, one which elicited a sharp inhale when you shifted in place, your grip on his hand loosening as you sought out a more comfortable position, before exhaling in relief when you resumed your rest. it was an odd feeling, but it wasn’t unpleasant. and, for the first time in his life, blade experienced what it meant to be at peace.

(while he never spoke of that incident to you again other than a brief thanks for giving him (unnecessary) medical attention, he found himself drifting towards you more frequently — whether it be conversing with you during those bothersome banquets, stretching out the time you escort him before he enters jing yuan’s office-slash-meeting room, sharing specialties from his territory during garden strolls, or even requesting you to spar with him. the victory from either side is sweet, but the strained expression he catches from notable figures is even sweeter.)

amongst the many you’re acquainted with, merchant!sampo is the one you’re most on edge around in spite of the years you have known each other for. it’s not that he’s a bad guy, but there’s something about his easy smile and ever-searching eyes and his words that always seem to form into something people want to hear which all seem… off. well, maybe you’re reading too much into his demeanour. after all, if he truly did have sinister intentions, you’re sure he would have acted on them by now — he’s had plenty of time to.

there’s a certain level of cunning one must have in order to survive. whether that be wits, deceit, getting one’s hands dirty, it doesn’t matter. they are all just a means to an end, after all. sampo has long since tread on the path of deceit, a game of cat and mouse with unassuming clients and authorities. but business is business, and what better way to make use of that than exploitation? disguised in a bar known as “masked fools” mapped across the globe sits a wealth of knowledge, hidden behind a secret code only known by those who covet wealth or revenge. it’s a fun pastime; the information-slash-mercenary guild receives money, the client has their request done. sampo quickly discovered playing the unassuming fool in front of the target only for them to discover they were the fool all along to be exhilarating. it was a rush like no other, even more so when he mastered the art of disguise and blended in with the crowd, building connections and biding his time as the airheaded merchant.

sampo admits, he was a tad hasty in his judgement of you. just a little. well, when compared to the ever-imposing figure of the royal guard captain chasing him down when he makes his weekly medicinal run for the palace’s physician, you weren’t all that impressionable at first glance. maybe it was the way you passively regarded him before walking off which led him to that belief, or perhaps it was the unassuming expression you always carried despite being the famed personal guard of the emperor. whatever the case, he was wrong. he realised that when his balance was tilted, back flush against the grass with your body pinning him down. the tip of your sword was against his throat and your eyes burned so brightly when asking what he was doing sneaking around a forbidden area to outsiders. he doesn’t remember what he said or did in response; all he does remember is the adrenaline rushing through his veins at the stern countenance you bestowed upon him. unconventional as it may have been, sampo thought you were the most breathtaking in that moment, a wondrous sight for his heart which only knew of cunning and deceit.

(it would be no lie to say money talks. in his line of business, it does all the talking. the only exception, sampo discovered, was when an ignorant fool attempted to hire him and have you… removed, to put it lightly. sampo couldn’t help the laugh which escaped him at the expression on the man’s face after his carefree refusal, a sound which ceased as he pointed his weapon to the man’s throat and demanded he spill the identity of the one who sent him. after all, a mere small-fry like him doesn’t have the ability to even dream of hiring someone against you — mercenary or assassin.)

if you enjoyed this, then reblogs with/or comments are greatly appreciated !! <33

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starleska · 11 months

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The Spot x Reader headcanons

just some ideas exploring The Spot as a character and how he may be with a significant other 👀 content warnings for bullying, harassment, possessive/yandere behaviour, and weird Eldritch portal-murder.

⚫ despite The Spot’s obvious ego, he struggles to believe you find him attractive. when you first meet he’s in something of a transformative period: volleying between being in awe at the power of his new physical form, and caving in to the abuse he’s received from friends, family and strangers for how he looks. The Spot rambles to you in a half-nervous, half-manic sort of way about the quirks of his bodies: how his spots fizz when he’s angry and feel like heartburn; how his blank-coloured skin stretches over his skeleton like too-tight rubber; how he isn’t even sure if he has a skeleton anymore. he’s convinced that you’re waiting for him to ‘turn back to normal’ - or, in the suspicious part of his mind, that you have an ulterior motive for getting close. it takes a while for The Spot to notice how blown your pupils become when he looms over you, or how your breath quickens when he says something equal parts charming and devious. but once he’s aware that you truly are captivated by him as The Spot...the power goes quite to his head 😉

⚫ The Spot is hesitant about physical contact at first, but once he knows you’re not a threat, he melts. understanding The Spot’s body was difficult at the start: one time, you tried to hold his hand, but accidentally stuck your fingers through a portal on his wrist and punched him where his nose should be. yet you soon learn to be careful, and with time, The Spot stops flinching away when you rest your palm on top of his, or gently cup his cheek. his skin has a smooth, dolphin-like quality: dry yet slippery like linoleum. you know you’re doing things right because The Spot is a vocal man: he voices his content audibly, with a pleased sigh when you nuzzle into his neck, and a gentle hum when he wraps his long arm around you and pulls you against his chest. when it finally clicks that you want him, The Spot can’t enough of you. he’s forever touching you on the arm, the waist, even the lips. it’s as if now his original form is gone, he can’t get enough of your physical humanity 🖤

⚫ becoming intimate with The Spot does your social life no favours, which makes him fiercely protective of you. it’s no wonder that the two of you found such common ground: you’ve been victim to your own share of bullying and trauma, and feel for The Spot’s plight, having had his whole life wrenched away from him without so much as a sympathetic ear. one day, you’re cornered by several locals who start berating you for being a ‘freak-lover’. they shove you to the ground and tell you to get out of town, and to take that ‘mutant’ with you. but before you can open your mouth to reply, portals open up underneath each your would-be attackers and swallows them up to the shoulders, keeping them pinioned in a kind of trans-dimensional bondage.

The Spot pops through a hole in the sky and rushes to you, checking you for injury and asking, “Did they hurt you?” when you say no, but tell them what did transpire, you watch a ‘frown’ crease the upper half of the hole in his face. he turns away, and strolls over to his new captives, his demeanour languid and cocky.

“Thought you could get away with this, huh?” The Spot asks. a chill thrills up your spine: his voice is two-toned, with something much darker belying his usual sweet tone. the captives are too terrified to reply.

“Don’t bother,” he continues. “You’re just going to waste your breath. How about I do you a favour and...”

he raises one hand, and splits his index and middle fingers apart, like a pair of scissors.

“...cut things short?”

with a violent snap, The Spot snips his fingers together. the portals close in a sickening crunch, and you watch as the limp, lifeless bodies of your attackers slip through the open holes, and disappear into nothingness.

#the spot x reader #the spot #dr. jonathan ohnn #spider-man: across the spider-verse spoilers #spider-man: across the spider-verse #spider-man #starleskawrites

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fanficsforfun · 8 months

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Sleepover in the apocalypse

Pairing: Merle Dixon x female reader

Era: Atlanta camp (season 1)

Word count: 1,2k

Warnings: mild language, mentions of walkers, a very brief (literally one sentence long) mention of Merle's drug abuse. Otherwise all fluffy

Summary: Nights are the hardest in the world after the outbreak... that is until Merle asks you to come over to his tent for the night

---

It was late evening in the Atlanta camp, most people were getting to bed already, apart from Morales, of course, who was on watch. You were still sitting by the fireplace, although the fire had been put out a while ago. It was peaceful, nothing alarming anywhere. Yet you were restless. Earlier in the week you had come across a walker while gathering firewood, and despite surviving without injuries, it still bothered you. The very thought made you shiver with disgust. Dead people walking, who could have believed. Zombies were supposed to stay in horror movies but they hadn’t. You tried your best to banish such thoughts, with no success at all. The empty eyes, ragged clothes, bite wounds, sickening smell, everything, kept coming into your mind, no matter how hard you tried not to think about it.

You had curled up in a ball on the log, your head resting on your arms. Perhaps that's what caught Merle's attention as he walked back towards his tent after taking a piss.

“Ya alright, darlin’?” He asked.

You flinched when he spoke, somehow not having noticed him until he was right next to you.

"Yeah, no problem", you decided to lie, not too keen on showing people how difficult it was for you to keep your shit together in this new world.

“No problem my ass!” Came Merle’s reply. “Yer scared.”

You glanced at him, then shrugged your shoulders. “So? Who isn’t?”

“Me. There ain’t a thing out there that scares me.”

You turned to face Merle, looking at him quietly, not sure if you believed him or not. He seemed fearless, that much you had to admit. Like he was made for this kind of living. Surely it helped that he had been in the army too, probably they had learned stuff that was useful now when the world had gone all to hell.

What he said next, however, you hadn't expected.

"How about ya come over to my tent tonight? I’ll make sure none of ‘em walkers or any other kind of creeps bother ya.”

“I, um…”, you started, tempted to accept his offer even though you knew what a flirt he was and believed he most certainly had naughty ulterior motives.

“C’mon sugar, there ain’t no safer place here than my tent”, Merle urged.

“Okay then, I’ll just go and get my sleeping bag and ground pad”, you decided to take the chance. Surely you’d be more comfortable with him than alone. And to tell the truth, you liked Merle's attention. When he was sober anyway.

“Do ya want me to walk ya there?”

“If you’d be so kind”, you replied sheepishly. You felt embarrassed that you were actually afraid to walk around the camp alone, especially at night, and undoubtedly Merle was able to figure that out.

“Sure thing, honey”, he smiled.

You two made your way to your tent in the darkening evening. Merle waited outside while you picked up your stuff and crawled out with them. He then placed his hand protectively on your upper back as he escorted you through the camp to his tent. His touch made you shiver unintentionally. The forest smelled like autumn, Merle's hand was warm on your back, you could feel it through your sweater. The whole situation didn’t feel real.

"Thanks for letting me come over", you said quietly.

"Of course", he smirked. "There's always that much space in my tent."

“Well then, make yourself comfortable”, Merle nodded towards the entrance.

You smiled at him and stepped in, and then started unpacking your stuff. Merle had only a sleeping bag and pad like you, no cot or anything else fancy. The man sat on a piece of log outside the tent, watching you until you'd got your sleeping gear in place and sat down to take your shoes off. Only then he followed you and laid down on his sleeping bag.

"It's been a while since I've had a girl over", he joked.

"That's what apocalypses cause", you replied while wriggling into your sleeping bag.

Merle laughed and had to agree.

However, you didn't keep chatting for very long, and not so long after Merle fell asleep. For you it wasn’t as easy. It had started to wind and it rustled the tent, making it harder to hear if someone, or something, was moving outside. You were getting scared again, and the darkness certainly didn't help. You were barely able to see the silhouette of Merle sleeping on the other side of the tent. You tried to concentrate on the fact that he was there, then on your breathing and the sleeping bag around you, until you couldn't take it anymore.

“Um, Merle?” You asked quietly.

“Yeah?”

Apparently he wasn’t asleep. Or maybe he was a light sleeper. Either way, you were happy he was alert and listening to you.

“Could I… come closer?”

“Sure thing, darlin’. As close as ya like.”

You quickly slipped out of your sleeping bag and moved it and the pad right next to Merle. It brought a grin to his face.

“Should have asked ya to stay overnight a long time ago”, he chuckled.

“Don’t get any stupid ideas now”, you warned him, not in the mood for funny business. You just wanted to get some sleep.

“Don’t worry, sugar, I ain’t gonna do a thing”, Merle soothed you, sounding like he was serious for once.

You decided to believe him and got back in your sleeping bag. Merle had turned on his side and was watching you in the dark tent. You were less than an arm's length away from him, and despite his promise, he was tempted to touch you.

"Hey, just come all the way over here if ya like", he suggested softly.

The offer sent a warm wave of pleasure through you, yet you hesitated for a moment before rolling over to him with your sleeping bag. He might break his promise, but it was a risk you had to take. You bumped into him back first, and he pushed your sleeping bag aside just enough to wrap his arm around your waist. The touch made you shiver, and you pressed yourself tighter against him. It was crazy, you had never been so close to him before.

"Any better?" Merle murmured in your ear.

You shivered again, mumbling affirmatively. It was better, much better. His body was warm against yours, his arm strong around your waist. You felt safe there, a feeling you hadn’t had after the outbreak.

“Good”, came his reply so deeply it got your heart fluttering. “Sleep tight.”

To your surprise, Merle didn’t try anything after that, he just held you close. You had thought he wouldn’t leave it there, he’d at least try to fuck you, but no. Gradually you relaxed and eventually managed to fall asleep in his arms. Merle stayed awake for a bit longer, enjoying having you there even if just sleeping, literally.

#merle dixon #merle dixon x reader #merle dixon imagine #twd #the walking dead #fluff

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nanabansama · 3 months

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If only the yorishiro from the mystery of time and Hanako-kun are missing. So we're really coming to the end😢 even though it honestly seems like there's a lot left to talk about. But how many chapters do you think there will be? And what year do you think it will end?

Hi!

First, I will say that I only said we're close to the end because I expected to spend another year or so on the yorishiro. I don't actually think the yorishiro being destroyed means we're only a few chapters away from the end of JSHK. Not only do we still have to learn more about the Yugi twins and Sakura, but I also predict that something big will happen after all the yorishiro are gone.

Whatever that something is, however, would appear to be the climax of the entire work, less AidaIro has a trick up their sleeve... (word of advice: AidaIro is always going to do something unpredictable, lol.)

Let me direct your attention to the Clock Keepers for a second.

In Chapter 110, Teru deduces that they must have an ulterior motive for allowing their yorishiro to be destroyed. It seems that Tsukasa is playing right into the Clock Keepers hands, wittingly or not. Apparently their yorishiro getting destroyed could actually be BENEFICIAL to them, despite this making them weak and vulnerable.

Another crucial thing to remember is Akane told Teru that the Clock Keepers are the true threat to the school, more so than Tsukasa and his crew. While Akane is putting on a convincing performance right now, I can't help wondering if he knew something like this would happen... (at least, the yorishiro-destroying part, anyway.)

Based on this, it seems pretty clear to me that there will be more to the story after the yorishiro are gone. The only question is: what?

I've seen theories that the yorishiro being destroyed could actually free the God lurking below the city of Kamome, the same one that Tsukasa encountered in his house, and the same one all those kannagi were sacrificed to. Perhaps that's why the God entices people to destroy the yorishiro, so that it can regain its former power? And maybe the Clock Keepers gain something from that God being freed...?

In any case, this is a lot of preamble for me to say I'm expecting some calamity to happen once the yorishiro are destroyed and that the fallout will take longer than most readers might expect. But maybe that's too shounen-minded of me...is that really AidaIro's style? I don't know anymore...

But the yorishiro being destroyed means that Nene, our closest thing to a main protagonist, will perish. And it feels a little off for the story to continue without her...less maybe there's another solution? (more on this in a bit.)

I also feel like AidaIro would've said something by now if we were really so close to the end. And I still feel like we can squeeze out another year or two somehow...

Anyway, if we follow the theory that the God Tsukasa met as a child is the same one in the school, then maybe if Tsukasa rebels against it he might anger it and trigger something? Remember, Tsukasa as a young child was shown to talk to the entity inside of his chest and use it to grant wishes. They seem to work together so well because Tsukasa enjoys granting wishes and bonded with it in the Red House. But maybe if his goals start to conflict with the God, like wanting to stay with his brother, then the God might rebel...?

Well, I don't know. But it's another solution rather than destroying the yorishiro. On the other hand, could Tsukasa really have a change of heart? Especially so soon...?

Another important thing to remember is that the yorishiro all being destroyed is preordained. Not destroying them is literally changing fate, something stated to be extremely difficult. So if the characters do find some way to do it, it should be a very extraordinary solution... Maybe we really WILL have to deal with whatever happens after they're destroyed? And maybe they can somehow do that without killing Nene...? But man, it's really hard to guess how this will play out...

To summarize, I'm having a lot of difficulty imagining the story ending soon in a way that's satisfactory. So I'm just going to predict that the story will end in... 2027? :) That sounds like a good amount of time. Anyway, sorry if I rambled too much.

#asks #tbhk #jshk #pit god

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iguana-braces · 2 years

Text

Ol’ Reliable (Hangman x Reader)

From this request -- Masterlist

Description: Playing hard to get on the Fourth of July has some ~*exciting*~ consequences.

Warnings: swearing, explicit content, vaginal sex, fingering, mild domination, roughness

Word Count: 2k

Note: Apparently all my smut is going to be ½ plot-based build-up, so… also slightly changed the prompt

MINORS DNI, 18+

It was just an invitation, a Facebook invitation no less, to a Fourth of July party hosted by a friend, held at their family’s lakefront mansion. It’d be a weekend of stars and stripes, booze, brats, boats, and beaches. You’d gone a few times before, years ago, when you were more than happy to take part in the over-indulgent depravity that occurred when trust-fund babies and their hanger-on friends were allowed to run wild.

But that felt like a lifetime ago. Now your hangovers hit like a dump truck and you had a manual of those "office space stretches" to keep your spine from collapsing on itself during the day. And as much as you were looking to let down your hair over the holiday weekend, you were adamant about remaining somewhat clear-headed and rational.

Except for the fact that you knew he’d be there. The last time you saw him, you had to inform him of your new relationship, one that you swore would last and it did… for a while. But now here you were, single again, and hell would freeze over the day Jake Seresin ever decided to settle down so he’d most likely be on the prowl, same as always. And you had never been one to run from him, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t give him a good chase.

You dressed to impress, Daisy Dukes over a strappy swimsuit that revealed just enough without being obscene about it. Your tan lines would be atrocious but certain sacrifices had to be made in the name of the game.

Once there, you stuck close to your friend and the other reformed hooligans you used to lose your inhibitions with, warily keeping an eye out for the pilot they now called “Hangman”. A couple times you swore you heard his voice, his laugh, from somewhere nearby, haunting you. Taunting you.

Finally, around noon, you found him. Or, he found you first, appearing beside you as you basked in the sun.

“Haven’t seen you around here for a while.” The years had been kind to him, too kind. He was still gorgeous, still absolutely shredded, and presumably, still gifted below the belt. But you made sure not to let your gaze linger for too long, finding a boat on the lake to fix your attention to instead.

“Yeah, and?”

He pointedly glanced at your bare ring finger. “I thought you were getting married to… what’s-his-face.”

“Yeah, he thought so too.”

“Right, and you just couldn’t stay away for long, could you?"

"What the hell do you mean, Jake?"

"I mean that there’s no way you just decided to show up here for the first time in years, single, dressed like that, knowing I’d be here, without any ulterior motives. I thought you learned your lesson the last time you decided to make me jealous."

You almost blushed at the memory but fought it back, refusing to let him onto your intentions for the night.

"You think I'm trying to make you jealous?” you said, laughing incredulously. “Like it’s a foregone conclusion we’ll bang just because we’re both single and existing within a thousand yard radius of each other?”

“I mean, that’s exactly what’s happened every other time we’ve seen each other. Why is this time any different?”

“Maybe I’m just not interested in you anymore.”

“I don’t believe that, for reasons previously stated.”

You sat up, stretching lazily. “It’s been years, Jake. And you know, you're not the only one on the planet who's above average in bed. You’re not even the only person at this party who’s above average.”

“What, you already hooked up with someone here and they just happened to be better than me? Yeah, right,” he scoffed.

“Maybe I did.”

“Who?”

“That’s absolutely none of your business.”

“See, I still think you’re lying.”

Shaking your head, you gathered your things and started walking up towards the house. “You and your poor ego. Does it just kill you inside, thinking that you might not be the best at everything?”

Following you like a lost puppy, Jake boasted, “Oh, I know I’m not the best at everything. I’m just the best at the things I care about.”

“Flying and fucking?”

“Pretty much.”

“Well, unfortunately, that’s just not true anymore.”

Stopping in front of you, he narrowed his eyes, searching your expression for any signs of deception. But you had prepared for this and kept a straight face, one that said you’re fucked, Seresin. “... Seriously?”

“As serious as cancer.”

“Wha– How? How were they better than me?”

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”

“You know, maybe you’ve just misremembering. It’s been a few years, how can you possibly give an accurate comparison between me and… whoever the fuck you banged?” He was trying so hard to keep up his nonchalant curiosity, but you knew him well enough to hear the insecurity seeping into his voice.

“I guess we’ll never know for sure,” you admitted, shrugging. “But in my mind, it’s a done deal. You lost, Hangman. It’s killing you, isn’t it?”

“Only because you’re not being fair. It’s only good sportsmanship to give me a shot at defending my title.”

“Hmm… Maybe. Maybe later. I need to shower and you’re not invited.”

He smirked and you could tell his mind was getting ahead of itself, already visualizing his victory. But the day wasn’t over yet.

With that encounter out of the way, you were able to focus on spending the rest of the day with your friends, people you could actually stand to have a conversation with, as you reminisced about the good old days and watched the new generation of collegiate idiots make the same mistakes you did.

But of course, there was still a game to be played. When you were sure that Jake had a clear line of sight, you conveniently dropped your silverware, bending to pick it up in such a way that wasn’t exactly cooperative with the hem of your short sundress. And you made sure to give plenty of attention to your male friends, the ones who were single and openly welcomed the attention, letting the wheels in Hangman’s mind turn as he tried to deduce which one you had slept with.

By evening, as people really started getting messy, drinking to pass the time until it was dark enough for fireworks, you’d grown tired of your own charade and hoped its payoff would be worthwhile. And you weren’t the only one who felt that way.

“So when is this gonna happen?” Jake said, cornering you in the kitchen of your friend’s house as you scavenged for more food.

“Getting impatient?”

“Well, the night’s not getting any younger, and I gotta know if I should start looking elsewhere for a nightcap.”

Oh, no, no, no, you weren’t letting any other woman take what you had so rightly worked for. But in order to avoid revealing your desperation, you sighed and replied, “Fine, let’s go. But hurry up, I wanna watch the fireworks.”

That only gave him about half an hour, but then again, he always worked best under pressure.

“What was his name?”

“What?”

“The guy you claim is better than me. His name.”

The second you’d started heading to your guest room, you’d forgotten all about the little performance that had led you there. Suddenly forgetting the names of every male you knew, you sputtered the first that you could think of after a few seconds of straining. “...David.”

“That’s real sexy. Dave,” he mocked, apparently buying your blatant lie.

Arriving at the guest room your friend had so graciously offered you, Jake glanced around and remarked, “There’s like, nothing in here.”

There was in fact a nightstand, dresser, chair, and ottoman. And of course, “There’s a bed. You know, the place where most people have sex.”

“There’s also a balcony.”

“No,” you insisted, spreading out your beach towel. Sand in the bed was one thing, but wet, sticky sheets were worse. Having sex on a bed was quite possibly Hangman’s worst nightmare, but he could suck it up this time. Your days of being caught half-naked in the boathouse were in the past and that’s exactly where they’d stay.

Slipping off your panties, you didn’t bother removing your dress, merely hiking it up as you laid on your back on the towel.

“How big is Dave? Bigger? Smaller?”

“Smaller.” It was highly unlikely you’d have enjoyed anything with someone who was more well-endowed than Jake by any increment, and he’d know that.

“That’s unfortunate. For you.”

“Go slow, Jake,” you warned as he stripped. Literally just looking at him made you want to moan, and you doubted you’d actually need the lube you had tossed at him. But better safe than sorry.

“You’re the one who put a time limit on this thing.”

“I’m serious. I will cut your dick off if you don’t take it easy.”

“Relax, I know what I’m doing.” Briefly sucking on his middle and index finger, he slipped them inside you without ceremony, quickly curling them to hit your most sensitive spots. It was good, but foreplay wasn’t his forte and your resolve to act disinterested was slightly stronger than his dexterity. But it wasn’t for your pleasure anyway, it was merely a warm-up, stretching before the real workout.

Even though you’d taken it numerous times before, you were always still somewhat intimidated by the size of his dick as he lined it up at your entrance. Consciously trying to relax yourself as Jake slowly entered you, you couldn’t help but let out a surprised moan at feeling yourself stretch around his cock.

“Sounds like you missed me,” he said, smirking. You wanted to slap him for being so obnoxiously cocky, but that was also part of his intoxicating charm. “Bet Dave didn’t get that kind of reaction.”

True to his word, he started out at a painstakingly slow pace, but worth it to feel yourself stretch and contract as he almost fully pulled out then fully buried himself inside you with each slow thrust. He was barely able to bottom out before being physically restricted from going any deeper.

“Mmm….” you sighed.

“Slow enough for you?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t ever say I’m not a gentleman.” After a few more minutes, Jake glanced at his watch. “Are you properly adjusted now? Permission to pick up the fucking pace a little?”

"Go for it."

Quite quickly, he worked up to a speed akin to a bullet train, snapping his hips into yours without falter. You didn’t want to let him win so easily, but it soon became near impossible to hold back your moans. Jake didn’t seem to notice, he wouldn’t be satisfied with his victory until you were utterly ravaged.

Breaking with tradition, he rested his weight on his left hand as his right moved between your legs, this thumb swiping over your clit. Usually that was your job, adding to your own pleasure when he was too absorbed in his own. But it seemed that chivalry wasn’t dead anymore.

It didn’t take long before you started to tense. “Oh, shit, Jake!”

Crying out loud enough that you were sure the entire lake heard you, you came hard, your nails digging into his forearm hard enough to make him wince. But he didn’t relent, only slowing down long enough for your orgasm to subside before launching the same attack, which worked just as successfully as the first one.

When your breathing finally started to even out and you were able to unclench your eyes, you saw Jake check his watch again.

“Shit,” he sighed, abruptly pulling out of you. You almost whined at the sudden loss of contact, before he ordered, “Face down, ass up.”

That was his favorite position, attacking from behind. Doggystyle, bending you over something, that was how he really did his damage. As if you hadn’t had enough in this brief encounter to make your head spin.

Wasting no time, he reentered you, grabbing your hips and pounding into you with an unrelenting pace. Gasping for air through moans and obscenities, part of you was mentally begging for mercy and another part was just begging for more, please, more. But before you could reach your peak, he abruptly pulled out of you, and you lost all your built up momentum.

“What the absolute fuck is wrong with you?” you groaned, reeling from the whiplash.

“You know, I don’t think Dave really exists,” Jake mused through heavy breaths, his hands resting gently on your rear as he returned to the painfully slow thrusts you’d started with. “You were just fucking with me, weren’t you?”

The slow movement was enough to make you crave more, another big finish, but not enough to get you there.

“God fucking damnit,” you muttered.

“What was that?” He suddenly snapped his hips deeply into yours, eliciting a sharp gasp of “Shit!” from you. You tried to move against him, desperate for some kind of friction, but he pulled back again. It was demeaning having to feed his ego sometimes, but you also needed him to do what he was best at now. “Say it and I’ll let you finish. Again.”

“Yes, I was fucking with you.”

“I appreciate your honesty.” He slammed into you again, now gaining momentum. Your hands gripped at the sheets for dear life, your hair falling over your face as he fucked you into the mattress so hard you thought he might rip straight through you. You knew he couldn’t last much longer, and neither could you. Finally–

“Just one more question, actually. Who can fuck you better than I do?”

If you were still in a rational state of mind, you would’ve rolled your eyes. But you had completely lost the plot, too overwhelmed by the rush of chemicals in your brain and the stinging pleasure radiating through your body to form a coherent string of consonants and vowels. But you had to answer, otherwise he’d stop again and you might just commit homicide if he did.

Finally, you gasped into the mattress, “...Nobody.”

“A little louder now.” Jake’s hand tangled in your hair and yanked back, pulling your head off the mattress as he continued to hammer into you.

"Can't even speak, huh? Maybe I should let you catch your breath–"

“Please don’t stop,” you gasped. “Nobody can fuck me better than you, Jake.”

“Damn right,” he grunted, dropping your head back onto the bed and grabbing your waist with both hands to jackhammer into you as you both went over the edge.

As the blood rushed back to your head, you heard an explosion outside and the room was bathed in a burst of color.

Jake was already off of you, cleaning himself with the towel. “Is that perfect fucking timing or what?”

Of course. Of course, it was right on cue, like he’d timed it down to the second. But you couldn’t even bring yourself to lift your head to look out the window, instead settling for watching the colors reflected off the walls.

"Are you just gonna lay there or should I find you a wheelchair?"

"Fuck off.”

“See you around, Y/N.”

“Will you, though?" you winced, finally sitting up from your prone position.

He smiled that winning smile, stating, "Well, the best only fucks with the best. Who else would I go to?"

#jake seresin #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin x reader

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spacexseven · 2 years

Note

omg i REMEMBER that line from when I read the day I picked up dazai! very good LN I liked it a lot. maybe that line made me subconsciously start thinking about eelzai lol.

I've been meaning to bug u more about yanderes As Is My Brand but I have SO MANY ideas banging around in my cavernous skull that I end up not being able to pick one and just rambling like a lunatic in my notes app. I will share a little bit about sea monster dazai since he was brought up, though: I've been considering two big things. 1) I remember a while ago reading that there is a belief that a mermaids kiss can allow you to breathe underwater, if dazai happens to learn about THAT little tidbit of information you KNOW hes gonna run away with it! or, swim away with it, rather. he has to test this new theory right away! come on, get in! he has ZERO ulterior motives for insisting you let him kiss you its JUST an experiment come on please? Please? or if we're going with the storyline where ur mad at him for such a frivolous reason as he attacked and tried to eat you (it was only gonna be a BITE! see, not so bad! its was all a misunderstanding pls come back...) it could be a little stunt on his end to get you to trust him again, etc. hed be a bit frustrated if the effect was only temporary, as this puts a wrench in his plan to take you down to his cave and keep you there forever, but the silver lining is now he can demand kisses from you every few hours and have an excuse as to why. 2) in most depictions of sea monsters I've seen, even ones that are mostly humanoid, theyre rather large! like, almost completely dwarfing pirate ships level large! can probably pick a human up with one hand large! there's even a scene in the little mermaid where Ursula gets that big, so do you think dazai would be able to do that? maybe he sticks to a manageable- but still rather Long thanks to the tail- size usually out of laziness and a desire to stick near the shallow shores (cuz he likes the food better, not cuz thats where his little darling lives. just a coincidence.) where there's less room for him to get to his full size. but once he's in the open ocean? ohhh boy.... maybe try to avoid going put too far on any boats, darling, lest dazai decides to start showing off.

- 🩹

finally answering this oh my god i am so sorry again for the delay 100/10 would read ur notes app rambles you have so much fun thoughts it's insane

cw: yandere character, obsessive behavior, non-con kissing, descriptions of sea monster! dazai (including him being unnaturally large, eel-like body, sharp teeth, etc), manipualtive behavior

please don't proceed if any of the warnings make you uncomfortable!!

i do hc eelzai (cute name btw) as being Huge. he can sort of 'elongate' his body when he needs it, but usually sticks to a length of around 10 feet. thing is, when he's underwater and darling is on the surface, they can't tell how big he actually is. relative to regular people, dazai does have larger hands, but it isn't to an alarming extent. it's pretty normal for something not-human to be bigger than an ordinary human, after all. i'd think it's easier to navigate this way, 'cos dragging around a long body isn't the most efficient way of getting around. there's no doubt in my mind he can definitely go bigger. pirate ship big? possibly, but he hasn't really tried to see how much he can grow. it's too much trouble, too easy for some pesky human to spot him. if darling wanted to see, though, he would entertain them without a thought.

THE KISS THING that's so cute actually but not so much in this context. eelzai hears about this from chuuya (aka the most reliable source of information in the seas) and immediately decides it is the perfect solution for all his problems. now he has an excuse to kiss darling all the time, and can keep them with him underwater where their annoying human companions won't bother them. in the 'darling is mad because dazai is insane and tries to attack them' timeline, dazai lures darling in with the promise of breathing underwater despite not knowing if the kiss theory holds any water. what if mermaids were referring to sirens, like chuuya, and not monsters like him? of course he doesn't tell darling this, opting to just lie through his teeth about how they can finally see all the pretty things under the sea up close. what did they mean, asking if he was telling the truth? does he look like a liar? would he risk darling's safety over a rumour? he's almost offended by their lack of trust in him.

fortunately for him, it does work. unfortunately for darling, it has a pretty short duration period. this means if they want to stay longer, they have to kiss him more. dazai thinks it's an amazing deal, of course. but if this happens to a darling who isn't very well acquainted with dazai yet, it's just terrifying to be dragged underwater and sloppily kissed and later dragged down deep by a large monster with too-sharp teeth and a dangerous look in his eyes.

#yandere bsd #yandere x reader #yandere bungo stray dogs #yandere bungou stray dogs #yandere bungo stray dogs x reader #dazai 🐟#yandere dazai x reader #yandere dazai x reader #yandere dazai #yandere dazai osamu #dazai x reader #ask 🐟#bsd 🐟#anon 🐟#dazai 🩹 🐟#mer au 🐟#eelzai 🐟#kidding but it's a cute tag no?#idk about you but freakishly large eelzai is totally up my alley lolol

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princess-of-thieves-id · 2 months

Text

Not off to the best start...

Diyan checked himself in the mirror one last time and adjusted his three piece suit again before heading out of his cabin. Everything was in order to try and impress Renisa, and maybe earn some forgiveness from her. Then he’d have to figure out how to fix things with Arik. The fact that if things went well with Renisa, it would make them worse with Arik, was on his mind. This was not a rock and hard place he liked being betwixt.

His hand impacted the door to the cabin Renisa and Arik were sharing harder than Diyan had intended, and he was glad she took a minute to answer, so he could take a deep breath and try to relax. Ever since he’d left the bridge, he’d been thinking over the conversation with his best friend, fuck his ONLY friend, and how horrificaly it had gone. He’d just become more tense, but for some reason, he just could not bring himself to cancel the dinner. Every time he considered it, he second guessed himself. Maybe Arik was right about it all.

When the door opened, Inara was once more struck by how tall Diyan was and how broad his shoulders were. He seemed to tower over her. He wasn’t that much taller than Arik, but the difference in the two men’s frames caused the difference in feeling…not to mention their personalities. “Captain Noar, I was beginning to think you might have changed your mind.” She gave him a soft smile and left out the part that she had hoped he HAD changed his mind. It seemed she wasn’t so lucky.

Diyan’s eyes raked down Inara’s body and he wondered if she could tell just how much he appreciated the sight of her in his clothing. He didn’t stop his mind from going places it probably shouldn’t, enjoying those thoughts a bit more than he knew he should, given the situation with Arik that involved them both. Still, he was a man, and there was not a formal relationship between the woman he wanted and his friend…so he was going to shove all that aside for the evening unless forced not to.

“Now, why would I do that to such a lovely woman?” He put on his best charming smile and tried to act a whole lot more relaxed than he felt. He extended his bent arm to her, “are you ready, my lady, to attend dinner?”

For a minute, she looked up at him skeptically, still not sure if she trusted him or not. Yes, she had promised Arik she’d try and relax, so that she wasn’t completely miserable the whole time, but she also knew that Arik was jealous and Noar had ulterior motives. The only part of either of those that gave her any amount of satisfaction was that Arik was jealous. To be jealous, you had to have some kind of feelings towards the other person. Sliding her hand into the crook of his arm, “I am. Remember that you promised that this would be painless, Captain.” While it was said with a smile on her face and not a drop of sarcasm in her voice, the barb was felt. She could tell by the way his eyes had dropped to view her sideways out of the corner as he escorted her down the hall. While he didn’t know it, she had been sitting at Court with her father since she was a small child and part of that was learning how to deliver insults without appearing to.

“I did, and I do plan on upholding that promise, Renisa.” Although he had a feeling she was going to make this painful for him. Diyan gently wrapped his fingers around her hand on his arm, trying to then lift it up to kiss the back the way he had so many times to women as he had at Court. He found, much to his dismay, that she was having none of it. This intrigued him once more as he wondered exactly who this woman was that Arik had with him.

“Is there something wrong, Captain? Your brows seem to be furrowing.” Inara gave him her absolutely best innocent and confused expression, belying the absolute delight she was feeling at thwarting any attempt at flirtation he might try. Had she not known better, she’d swear he was one of those annoying Princes who thought that they just had to smile and do the right actions and she’d swoon. Instead, she wanted to gag.

“Now, what could be wrong, Renisa?” There was no way she could be that clueless, which meant she was frustrating him on purpose. Lovely. Did Arik give her pointers? Or was he that obvious?

“I have no idea, Captain. You just seem…stressed. Weather holding? Arik able to handle the bridge? I do not want to distract you from your obligations after all.” The voice that Inara was using, the one that was just about a seductive purr, was about to nauseate her. They were playing a game, one very like chess. They were going to dance around the board till one of them cornered the other to get them to admit defeat. It was a pity for him that she’d been dancing around that board her entire life and not one male yet had gotten her in a corner. It was the lack of a game completely that she so liked about Arik.

Since he was taller than her, it was less obvious when he narrowed his eyes, more looking like he was just looking down at her. The truth was he knew she was up to something, but wasn’t sure what. That annoyed him. Had Arik asked her to piss him off to get out of dinner sooner? Their terse conversation up on the bridge hadn’t seemed planned, otherwise he might have believed that.

“Maybe you are not the only one nervous, Princess.” He gave her once more a charming smile and ran his fingers lightly over the back of her hand on his arm.

Inara stopped in the middle of the hallway, her face no longer hiding her annoyance as she ripped her hand away. “I’m sorry, did we suddenly become familiar, Captain? Do not assume that a term of affection used by Arik is free for anyone to use regarding me.” She turned to face him, eyes becoming cold and hard as her chin lifted defiantly. She had been dealing with men like this far too much. If they, or at least she, got kicked off the boat for this, then so be it. She’d apologize to Arik later. "You are not the man I choose to share a bed with, nor that I allow to kiss me. Before you think to use any name for me besides the one I have provided, ASK." She was well and truly pissed.

It seemed that Diyan was not going to be able to keep on her good side to even get to dinner, let alone through it. “I’m sorry, Renisa. It was not my intention to offend. I didn’t realize that it was that sensitive of a matter. I’m serious, I wasn’t trying to be an ass or upset you.” He sighed and looked around the hallway. If Arik appeared he’d be icing his jaw.

"Please, Renisa, I know we had a bad start," her snort at that told him he was in for a hard road, "but I am honestly trying to make up for that. I'm not really that good at this.' He couldn’t tell her she was the first woman he'd had to apologize to like this. How could he explain?

"I know that you and Arik are friends, but we are not. You are the man who attacked me when I was bound before you for no reason. Do not assume this dinner makes us good." She kept her chin lifted and her eyes locked on his. Inside she was a bundle of nerves but she couldn't back down now. If only Arik would show up and end this.

"I'm trying to make up for that mistake. I cannot tell you how sorry I am for what happened. That you mean something to my best friend makes it even worse. I really just want a second start." How the hell did Arik get anywhere with this woman? She was harder to crack than granite.

"Then do not assume familiarity. Maybe as a Captain you are used to women falling at your feet, but that is not the type of female that I am. I am also not promiscuous, so know that I am with Arik." She wasn't sure where that came from. They had kissed, yes. He'd admitted he was jealous, yes. They'd even admitted they both felt like they were falling. But that did not equal a relationship of any kind.

"That was not how I had understood things from him," Diyan started but stopped when he realized her expression was as if he'd slapped her. Fuck! Forget breaking his jaw, he was dead when Arik heard.

"What did he say?" There was a wobble just at the end of her sentence as Inara fought to keep emotion and hurt out of her voice. Had Arik really said that there was nothing?

How did he answer this and not end up on the receiving end of a hard punch? "That there was nothing officially between you. He didn't seem to have a problem with this dinner or say there was a line not to cross with you." Diyan stepped in closer, trying to eliminate the distance between them. He itched to take her in his arms.

Had he been putting on a show for her about being jealous and feeling like he was falling for her too, or was the show for Captain Noar about not caring? She honestly wasn't sure what to think, and Noar moving back into her space wasn't helping. Inara’s eyes moved everywhere, not wanting to look at Noar and trying to keep the tears from spilling. "Are you sure there was nothing else?" Could Arik really not care if she was with the Captain? One tear began to track down her cheek.

Diyan closed his eyes. She wasn't going to drop it, and now she was crying

He was fucked. "I was warned not to upset you, which I seem to have failed at." He sighed. If he upset her more or made her doubt Arik, it could get worse for him. "He trusts you to do the right thing, whatever it is."

There it was. The Captain didn't know it but the line about trust was what told her that Arik had been honest but also had tried to make it clear that they were something to one another. Why would he need to trust her if there was nothing?

"I see." She kept her voice a little withdrawn as a couple more tears joined the first one. "Let's get to dinner then." Without another word she turned and started heading down the hall. She could hear Noar start to follow. For some reason Inara’s heart still hurt, making her want this over even faster than before.

*****

"I wasn't heading down that hallway, she was pissed." One of the sailors was saying to another as they came onto the bridge. Arik’s head snapped up and over to look in their direction. What had Diyan done?

"Really? He must have made it worse before Jones saw them, he thought she was going to cry." Arik's teeth began to grind as he fought to pay attention to the sea and his instruments. "Said the Captain was apparently fumbling over his words."

"Who is she? Normally he just fucks them and leaves them in port."

"The female stowaway. He had some fancy dinner made for them. Guess she'll be more than a one night stand. Never known a woman to turn him down." Arik wanted off the damn boat, and to take Inara with him. After his conversation with Diyan earlier and now hearing this, he just wished to help them both disappear where they knew no one. It seemed his friendship might have been one sided.

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shepherds-of-haven · 1 year

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Hi Lena! You are so awesome to do the questions for Oc game. I can't imagine writing all the reply on top of working in your game. 🥺🥺🥺❤️❤️❤️

If you still have some spare time, could you do question 16, 18, and 22 for Riel please?

16. What makes their stomach turn?

18. What embarrasses them?

22. How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they become aloof, etc)?

Hi rynna, thank you so much as always for your kind words and support, I really appreciate it! 💖💖💖 And sure!

16. What makes their stomach turn?

Riel is a pretty big germaphobe, so lots of things he perceives as unhygienic give him a nauseated reaction! He does okay with things like mud and dirt (he was annoyed but functional during Chapter 8 when he had to traipse around in the woods in his good shoes and suit) and even to an extent doesn't bat much of an eye at blood, but other stuff, like sitting at the opera while someone furiously scratches their scalp in front of him and he sees dandruff flaking off, finding hair in his food, sitting next to a stranger who coughs or sneezes without covering their mouth (god help them if they happen to cough or sneeze on him) really makes his stomach churn. (I had a flight yesterday and was sitting across from a lady who kept filing her nails at the gate and then loudly blowing the nail-dust everywhere, and I kept thinking about how Riel would have apoplexy if he were there.)

This also goes for asymmetrical things (content warning for people who are also bothered by that kind of thing) like this:

"Stomach-turning" may sound like an exaggeration but he experiences a very real, visceral feeling in his gut when he encounters stuff like this: it's similar to what people with trypophobia might feel when looking at stuff with lots of little holes/pores? While he's learned to forge through it when it's just not possible to fix it, in the past he wasn't able to concentrate because of that feeling and would just fixate: he once quietly hired a stonemason to fix a public walkway overnight because the cobblestones were out of place!

On a more serious note, failure or being bested really makes his stomach turn. I think it makes him physically sick to lose, especially to an opponent in a serious situation (not like playing chess with someone, like an actual high-stakes scenario where he wasn't expecting to lose). The whole conflict with Thieves Guild and Merchants Guild where Chase kept successfully raiding his caravans and eluding the authorities kept him up for weeks! Aerin was convinced he was going to develop an ulcer...

18. What embarrasses them?

Surprisingly, not much, he doesn't care a lot about other people's opinions so he just does what he wants and rarely feels "embarrassed"; if he's taking other people's opinions into consideration, it's because it ultimately serves some ulterior motive for him, not because he's a people-pleaser by nature! If he does feel embarrassed, it's often a second-hand embarrassment by proxy, like if he brings you to a fancy party with a bunch of politicians he needs to impress and you start stuffing your face with canapés and belching; but I think that's a "lack of control over the situation" discomfort and embarrassment rather than "I care so much about these people's opinions and now I want to melt into the ground and die" if that makes any sense!

22. How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they become aloof, etc)?

I think if we're talking about romantic jealousy, it depends on how the object of his affections is handling the situation! If it's like "my crush has genuine banter and rapport with a friend or romantic rival and I'm jealous of their dynamic/closeness," I think he goes right into denial that he's jealous and tries to act like he doesn't feel anything about it because that sort of emotion would be ridiculous!!! So he'd throw himself into his work with an unusual vehemence and be extra irate and snappy and foul-tempered. If he's, like, in an official relationship with his partner and someone is flirting heavily with them and they flirt back/entertain it more than Riel would think is appropriate, he would become very cold and tart towards them in his jealousy, like "okay cool I don't care" and would essentially give them the cold shoulder and act extremely aloof and chilly, almost like they're strangers to each other, he doesn't care that much. I think he does experience possessive feelings but doesn't show them outwardly by trying to "claim" or cling on to the object of his affections in that way; he'd find such behavior embarrassing for both parties, him and his lover!

#Shepherds of Haven #Riel #Riel Syndran #ask game

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terrence-silver · 11 months

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How would terry exploit beloved who’s a people pleaser?

To quote myself; 'Terry Silver doesn't mind if his beloved's a good person. He just wants beloved to be a good person exclusively towards him and nobody else.'

It is quite the same case with people pleasing, for example.

The term 'people pleasing' implies there's other people being pleased.

People who aren't only, you know, Terry Silver himself?

And to someone who is hellbent on control, being territorial, possessive, vindictive, jealous and someone who quite honestly doesn't share that is one of those huge no-no's. So, how about a re-brand into a Terry pleaser? Beloved can become a Terry pleaser and that has a much nicer ring to it. Yes. That's more like it. A far worthier position to maintain in life.

Ironically, Terry will seem a rather positive influence towards beloved while he's there talking them out of being a pushover for people. Doing too much to appease them. Letting them get away with exploiting them --- not that he judges, he claims, he merely noticed, being the ever humble, unassuming good guy who hates to see the underdog trampled on and fair-natured individuals being done dirty...supposedly. He is here talking them out of overextending themselves and burning themselves out without mutual reciprocation. If one squints, he might actually come off like a quality, protective friend or some wise, sagely Guru coaching someone he cares about to stand up for themselves and embrace ✨the power of boundaries and self-respect.✨ Such is the nature of Terry Silver's advices. He has ways to come off as legitimately well-meaning because the introduction to a great many things he says is often truly well-meaning and valid. He wont be here outright telling someone bad things immediately just for it's own sake and blowing his cover too soon or having them throw their walls up because of it; it takes build up, peppered in with truly admirable guidance, direction and suggestion that has him coming off like a near virtual saint who only ever wants the best for you --- incidentally, the best being him. His counsel has positive aspects, really, it does-- much like a Trojan Horse does --- the path to hell is always paved with good intentions, right before the kicker rears its head that really, he wants to talk and train beloved out of pleasing others because he wants and needs them to please him exclusively instead. It is one toxic influence casting out a variety of other toxic influences to take their place. Best is, beloved might actually feel empowered by this enlightenment Terry offers. Who wouldn't? Terry is genuinely giving them sound advice. It is easy to get lulled and fooled into thinking someone doesn't have ulterior motives when they come off as genuine as Terry knows how to come off.

Yes. Maybe he's right.

Maybe beloved, they have been exploited.

Maybe it is time for them to start learning to stand up for themselves.

Maybe Terry Silver is all too eager to teach them how to.

Listen to kindly, empathic, sweet-natured, observant Terry Silver who is here ensuring all his competition, the way he sees it, is promptly and really quietly cut off by beloved themselves under the guise of beloved's emancipation and assertion so he can quietly take precedence instead and reap all the benefits of a beloved naturally wanting to please. Well, now they can. They can please him instead. He, unlike everyone else, in his own opinion, actually deserves to be pleased and be pleased well --- by someone who knows how. And beloved, they'll want to. They'll want to because they'll be convinced Terry did them a massive favor and they'll thank him for the chance to do so by focusing everything around him, from now on. He doesn't want beloved to change. Not really. He adores them as they are. They're such a find. He just wants them to maintain their focus where it should be; on him ---because he's their noble savior.

Things are under new management around here.

I mean, would you ever doubt this angelic face?

#terry silver would be like --- beloved drew healthy boundaries and those healthy boundaries now include only and only me #terry silver #kk3 #cobra kai #people pleasing #tw; manipulation #terry silver x reader #terry silver x beloved

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virtue-and-beneviolence · 1 year

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The ghost in my home is you.

You and Shuji remember your relationship differently as you learn to live without each other.

An angsty Tumblr draft; no idea of word count and here's a content warning for blood.

It was his house. He'd bought it outright years ago - a cash offer with the spoils of his first big deal as a part of Toman. It was a modest detached house he'd found with Kisaki's help. And while his unofficial roommate may have had ulterior motives for evacuating Shuji from his home, the taller man was appreciative of the help nonetheless.

He didn't think he'd ever have a place of his own. He was free of the scrap and strife and violence he left behind years before in his family home. If you could call that abusive mess a family.

He had a house, sure, but it was an oddly hollow dwelling. Sparsely furnished though not for a lack of money so much as a lack of understanding of how he was supposed to know what to put in a whole house. It was Shuji, take out, and balled up suits destined for the dry cleaner against the world.

For a chaotic man full of life, his living arrangements were bizarrely sterile when you met him. It started innocently with you bringing plants every time you came to visit your new friend. Your plan to bring life into his home worked, even if he killed most of the plants because his sheepish smile when one died was to die for.

You breathed life into that place. You made it a home, warmed it like his personal hearth. And for the first time, he had someone to cook with. Even better- he had someone to eat with. Someone who he could talk about everything and anything with without having to hide half his life from.

All of a sudden he had someone to protect and love. He had a reason to make it back to that home of his.

The relationship was a whirlwind and all too soon he was facing the aftermath.

You were gone.

So why did he taste you on the rim of his orange juice jug?

Why'd he feel a pinch on his side and a shiver down his spine when he guiltily left his suits scattered on the floor at night?

Why did the warmth of the aircon on his neck feel so convincingly reminiscent of your breath in the twilight between wake and sleep?

Why did he feel like at any moment he'd wake to find you watching him sleep with that dopey little look in your face that he loves so much?

Why'd he swear he heard the door to the onsuite bathroom click shut at 5:55 am? Why'd he hear running water as if you were going about your morning routine?

Why'd he wake to tears dampening the bedspread you picked out and left behind to find his right side too warm and his arm asleep as if you'd been there just seconds before laying on him all night?

That was it. Enough was enough.

He was calling in a favor with his realtor in the morning.

There was a ghost in his home and she looked just like you.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It was a place of your own, somewhere he'd never touched.

It was homey. Decorated in your favorite style. Full of pictures of people you love rather than someone you loved once.

You could finally leave behind some of your sillier things and lean into adulthood. You were mature alone, without him, and it was a point of pride. The chorus of family telling you two to grow up had long faded in the distance now that you were alone. All it took to grow up was leaving him.

You could walk to your bed without stepping on a discarded cuff link or tripping on designer slacks.

You could cook the meals you wanted how you wanted and when you wanted, without being beholden to your partner's unreasonable and unpredictable work hours and unsophisticated palette.

You could journal nightly and listen to your podcasts and do chores for one instead of two.

You could finally breathe without being plagued by the clock; uncertain when, or if he'd come home. You didn't have the crippling weight of fear that if he did make it home, he might be on death's doorstep. There was no need to have a sewing kit labeled first aid at your front door. Finally you had no fear of calling a doctor rather than playing one while dread filled your throat with bile because what if you were hurting him worse?

Gone were the days of coming home to the door ajar. Of hearing the distinct tacky sound of tread in coagulating blood as you walked in your shared home. Of not knowing if Shuji made it back but just barely, or if a rival had broken in and was waiting to take or kill you. Of finding him in the tub bleeding terribly, and beaten so he was hardly recognizable. Of having to reach out through the stiffness of psychosomatic rigor mortis of your own to see if his skin was still warm. Of having to know this meant his adversary, or the corpse of one, must be somewhere in your home.

You could live in peace now.

You could live safely.

And yet, without him, you couldn't laugh. There was no silly joyful banter, no warming each other through the night, or someone's antics to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Safety at the cost of all that was joy and novel and thrilling, that was what this home represented.

It was a place he'd never touched.

You supposed that's why it always felt so cold.

Ye so here it is @gennabi @wildartist @l-tora-l 🤙🤙🤙

#hanma shuji #hanma shuji angst #wait n thanks tora for telling me it wasnt trash #hanma shuji x reader scenarios #hanma shuji x you #hanma shuji x reader angst

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messymindofmine · 2 years

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Ok so here we go with part 4 of my series. Just a quick disclaimer bc I am only going to say this once. As this series focuses on characters through the lens of their relationship with Robby and we all know that Robby has been done dirty in one way or another by just about every single character on the show, there will be a fair bit of criticism. Fair criticism being the operative phrase here. I have no intention nor desire to shit on characters for no reason. This is true of all characters. While I may be harsher on some characters than I am on others, it isn't due to me hating them but rather with the magnitude of how much wrong they've done. Also, while the main focus is the characters' relationships with Robby, I will be exploring the characters themselves as it their own characteristics that impact the relationship they have with Robby. I will also add that loving and defending characters is fine but I think that being able to call out flaws and acknowledging valid criticism is actually a healthy way to interact with characters. Let’s just remember that criticism does not automatically equal hatred and part of an analysis means making warranted criticisms.

So for this post I want to talk about Robby and his relationship with Kreese and by extension Silver.

What I find really interesting about Kreese is that he really does believe in what he’s doing. He truly doesn’t think of what he did to Johnny as abuse. Instead, he actually seems to view Johnny as some kind of surrogate son and extends that to Robby. He talks about “three generations of Cobra Kai” as though it’s some kind of family legacy. He continuously refers to Robby as “son.”

From the moment Kreese is reintroduced, we can see the effect he still has on Johnny. For Johnny as a child, Cobra Kai was an escape from his horrible stepfather and Kreese did play the role of a father figure for him. It’s hard to admit that the person you view as a parent is actually the reason for your pain. Hell, we see this repeated with Robby and Johnny. Even when Robby can admit that his father has hurt him, he still craves his attention. With Johnny, he internalized the abuse Kreese inflicted on him to such an extent that it took decades for him to even acknowledge that Kreese had done something wrong.

When Kreese returns at the end of s1, Johnny is shocked and definitely not as happy as Kreese hoped Johnny would be. They fight and Kreese once again hurts Johnny badly. However, despite this Kreese is able get under Johnny’s skin once again and convince him that Kreese has changed. Johnny believes him which is understandable and lets Kreese back into his life. It’s only after the school fight when Johnny begins to question everything around him that he starts to escape Kreese’s grip.

One thing that is obvious almost from the moment Kreese returns is his desire to get Robby into Cobra Kai. He constantly tells Johnny that it’s not right for Robby to be with Daniel and that he should be with them instead. He keeps referring to Robby as “our boy.” It’s almost impressive the lengths Kreese goes to to get Robby into Cobra Kai.

It’s hardly surprising that Robby would trust Kreese despite everything because when Robby was completely alone and scared, Kreese was the only one who even bothered to show up for him. Kreese was the only one who visited him in juvie. Sure, he had ulterior motives and Robby certainly wasn’t interested in what he had to say in the beginning. However, Kreese taught Robby how to fight back in a way that actually stopped him from getting beaten up in juvie. I find it interesting that before Robby even gave Kreese a chance, he actually looked him up. He looked Kreese up and learned about him without any biases clouding his judgement. Of course, none of the articles that he looked at would have told him the truth about how messed up Kreese actually is. So for Robby, it really did come down to who was there when he needed someone and that was Kreese. Of course, Kreese was the only person to acknowledge what really happened in the school fight. That Miguel was the one who escalated the whole thing and Robby was the one who was trying to stop it.

In 3x10, Robby watched as Johnny and Kreese fought. Bearing in mind that the only reason Johnny was even at the dojo was to get back at Kreese for what he did to Miguel. He didn’t even know that Robby was there because he just let Robby go off on his own but he was willing to storm the dojo and fight Kreese for Miguel. So Johnny sees Robby and Kreese goes into his spiel about “three generations of Cobra Kai.” Kreese may be messed up but everything he said in that scene and in previous scenes since s2 all show that he truly does view Johnny as a son and by extension Robby as a grandson in an extremely warped way. So Kreese and Johnny fight and Robby sees it all. He sees Johnny on top of Kreese actually about to kill hi. Johnny only stops when Robby tells him not to do it. So now on top of everything else, Robby has also had to see his father almost kill someone. Then he outright tells Johnny how much he has hurt him and Johnny just stands there. Then when Robby snaps and starts fighting him, yeah Johnny says he doesn’t want to fight Robby but then proceeds to throw him into a set of lockers and knocking him unconscious. Yeah, it was an accident but there were so many things Johnny could have done in that moment to stop Robby that didn’t involve pushing him into those lockers. Then when Robby regained consciousness and went outside where Kreese and the others were having their standoff, Robby tells them to go. Johnny could have insisted he stay, he could have asked Robby if he was alright, he could have done lots of things but instead he chose to walk away thus making it clear to Robby that his only option was Kreese. Daniel said “keep your Cobra Kai away from our kids” yet had no problem leaving Robby in Kreese’s clutches.

Despite everything, Robby still wasn’t completely sold on joining Kreese. He told Kreese that he wasn’t interested in being a pawn in his games. It was really only after his conversation with Tory and then with Sam at the skatepark when he saw that there was no place for him at Miyagi-Do that wouldn’t require him to debase himself, he went to Kreese. Mind you, even then he makes it a point to tell Johnny that he doesn’t really trust Kreese. For Robby, going to Kreese really was more about survival than anything about Cobra Kai.

Robby’s relationship with Silver is interesting because he is the only person with the exception of Kreese who isn’t scared of Silver. Sure, he was bit intimidated by him at first but even after being beaten up by Silver, Robby never feared him. Robby clearly knew from the start that Silver was dangerous yet he had no problem openly challenging him at the avt. Then in s5, he took it a step further and challenged him in front of all his students. Silver by that point was already clearly unhinged and made it very clear that he would not hesitate to hurt Robby but Robby still looked him in the eye without a hint of fear.

It’s interesting that there are similarities between Robby and Daniel when it comes to Silver. Both have been his students. Both understand just how dangerous he is better than anyone. Silver for his part seems to have a personal interest in both Robby and Daniel. With Daniel it’s obvious and goes a lot deeper but he became obsessed with Robby as soon as he found out who he was. He watched as Robby was teaching Kenny Miyagi-Do and tells Robby he knows enough to kick all their asses and then challenges him to a fight. There was no reason for him to do that other than to show Robby how much power he could exert over him and Robby understood that message. He taunts Johnny in the prom episode by saying that he would take care of Robby. He also looks directly at Robby at the avt and tells him that it’s his chance to prove to Johnny and Daniel that they don’t need him. He makes it a point to address Robby when even Kreese didn’t say anything. Even in s5, during the beatdown with Johnny, Silver is actually the only person to point out how Johnny has screwed up with Robby.

As far as Kreese in s5 goes, now that he feels that he has been well and truly betrayed by Johnny and Martin Kove has even said will likely target him in some way for revenge, it’s highly possible he might try something with Robby. Robby obviously will not go back to Kreese but Kreese may target Robby. With Silver, I doubt we have seen the end of him. Given the murky legal situation regarding his arrest, I certainly don’t see Silver just accepting defeat. I’m actually interested in seeing what happens to these two in s6.

You can also see my other posts on Robby and his relationships here

As always, thank you so much to anyone who took the time to read this post and leave a reaction. I truly appreciate it. I hope to have the next post in my series up as soon as I can.

#cobra kai #robby keene #john kreese #terry silver #robby and his relationships

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dreamingsushi · 11 months

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Till the End of the Moon - Episode 10

Yesterday night, I regretted so much not watching another episode, but at the same time, I really needed to go to bed since I’ll be working all night tonight. However, here I am, ready for more of this drama, even though I will miss having Tantai Jin and Susu acting together. Them going their separate way for now is going to change the dynamic and I’m not sure if I’ll like it that much.

Thanks to Xiao Lin, Ye Xiwu’s dad is taken out of jail, but Ye Qingyu needs to return to the borders, because Jing might start a war.

On her way to find Huangyuan, Susu bumps into the fox lady. She heals her and conveniently learns that she’s from the place she’s looking for. Since monsters are diligent about repaying kindness, she asks her to show her the way to Huangyuan, were lives the man that could help her to destroy the evil bone.

Tantai Jin has another meeting with the scary eyes. It tells him that Ye Xiwu abandoned him. That all the pain he’s going through is to prepare him for his destiny. That everyone that hurt him should die. That the Jing throne belongs to him. Basically, this thing is a bad influence and is using Tantai Jin. The guy can’t get a break and decide for himself, like never.

Even after a few days, they still haven’t reached Huangyuan. The fox lady tries to persuade Susu not to go, because even she as a nine tailed fox, she had to give away two of her tails to get out, her as a mere human is just going to die. Susu says that no matter what she needs to go so she can save a lot of people and she would rather die to ensure of that. They talk about the red strings of fate, the fox lost hers so she can’t fall in love anymore. This is kind of sad. Anyways, since Susu is determined, the fox lady will take her the next day.

Tantai Jin reclaims power in Jing. He sends an army of rats to kill of his brother. I would say good riddance, as the brother is a bad person, but the more this story goes, the more Tantai Jin becomes evil and the more I’m worried about his redemption arc if he ever gets one. He also manages to receive the people’s support as king. This is bad. Very bad. The government officials are rioting in the throne room, they don’t want Tantai Jin as king. Then he brings in some soup and somewhat convinces them to submit themselves, which all of them do since they need a king. I wonder what he did with the soup. Because that guy never does anything without an ulterior motive.

Upon hearing that Tantai Jin ascended the throne, Sheng King decides to attack so he can kill him and assimilate Jing to his kingdom. Xiao Lin tries to convince him not to do so, after exchanging glances with Ye Wuxi’s dad. However the king won’t listen to anyone and is decided to wage war. Jing officials suggest that they retreat, but Tantai Jin won’t. This is not looking good. Both sides will suffer way too many losses.

Susu finally gets to Huangyuan. She calls upon her spiritual weapon to protect herself as she goes through the barrier. While falling, she hears a voice calling her name. Inside, she saves a child from monsters and flees until she meets with the elder she was looking for. He tells her that she needs three keys to destroy the evil bone. First, it is a dream. Second, Tantai Jin has to shed a tear because of love. And the third one is linked with the second one. She now has 300 days before the monsters run astray and the shield vanishes. She gains the mirror of the past once again. The little girl she saved is Lan An’s daughter. She was kicked down there by Tantai Minglang. Once she meets with people, she learns that she’s been gone for four months and that there’s war.

Tantai Jin bumps into the fox lady again. At first he wants to absorb her power, but then he changes his mind when she mentions Ye Xiwu. He forces her to take a pill which will kill her if she betrays him, if not he’ll kill her right away. She agrees to take it. Then he sends her to convince Ye Qingyu to retreat with his troops. He won’t because he will lose face towards his ancestors, even though a lot of people will die if it keeps going on like this. Then, she tells him Tantai Jin wants to meet him. They meet and it’s not going to be an easy discussion.

And that’s all for episode 10. This series is keeping me on the edge. I think Tantai Jin is getting way too powerful way too fast, but that’s just my opinion here. I can’t wait for him and Susu to get back together and I really want to see the different keys being found. Because they will right? But I’m also down for everything to go as planned, everyone destroyed by the demon lord. It would be an interesting ending to witness the complete failure of those who are supposed to be the “good” guys. Isn’t it because of the “good” guys that Tantai Jin became what he is in some way?

#till the end of the moon #luo yunxi #bai lu #deng wei #xianxia #xianxia drama #costume drama #drama review #drama recap #drama reaction #chinese drama #cdrama #c-drama

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locke-writes · 2 years

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May I request some headcanons of what being an actress and dating Joey Tribbiani (Friends) would include, please? Thank you so much!!

You meet when you’re both cast in the same play

He’s somewhat of a big name already, at least among some New York actors, because he’s on a soap opera which is usually some actors big break

The two of you don’t really have many scenes together in total but enough that it requires the two of you to run lines together often

Which gives Joey enough of an excuse to flirt with you, and gives you enough chances to turn him down

There’s no denying he’s cute and that you absolutely would go out with him, but this is a job and you don’t want feelings to get mixed up with work

But honestly Joey gets it, he gets not wanting to screw up a part that could be your big break so he lays off the flirting for a while

Still runs lines with you whenever he gets the chance without an ulterior motive now, and slowly conversations stop being about the play and end up more about his life or your life

Friendship comes easily for the two of you and you’re encouraging of each other, congratulating each other after every performance and good review

The play was only running for a limited number of performances, six weeks in total and when it’d done, after the cast party finishes, Joey asks you out again

He finishes his question by saying that he waited until the play was done so that since you two aren’t working together it’s not dating a current cast member

You grin the entire time waiting for him to finish but you made up your mind to say yes the moment he began his question

Everyone knows about you already because Joey’s been talking about you non-stop

When you meet them after a few dates, they all feel like they know you which is great since it was a little overwhelming meeting them all at once

Phoebe takes a liking to you right away after you start asking about her songs

And Chandler is surprised when you comment sarcastically to something that he says

Dates for you and Joey range from dinner’s at restaurants around the city, hockey games, hanging out at Central Perk, or on some occasions, just stopping by on sets during lunch

Because you’re both actors you often work on audition pieces together as it’s relatively safe to assume that you’ll both have an idea of what a casting director wants

Supporting one another when either of you gets cast in something no matter how big or small the part

There’s been more than one time that Joey’s asked to go on dates in character while he’s trying to figure one out for something

It’s a little odd but the two of you have learned to make a game of it

Sometimes you go out on double dates with other members of the gang

Stealing Joey’s clothing sometimes and then finding out later on it’s a piece of costuming he took from a part

When the two of you end up living together there’s a lot of decorating with props from things you’ve been in

Do not doubt that on your anniversary he will flirt with you, or write in an anniversary card, lines from the play that you were doing when you met

Joey’s always had his speeches for awards planned out because he knows he wants a list of who to thank. The night he asked you out and you said yes, he revised all of them to include you in them

Tag List: @multifandomfix / @evilcr0ne / ask to be added

#locke writes #friends #Joey Tribianni #friends headcanons #joey tribianni headcanons

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seaphoam-writes · 8 months

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A Father's Duty (17/?)

A Father's Duty on AO3

Summary: An encounter with a quantum fissure leaves Picard with more responsibility than he asked for, but he'll do what he always does—his duty.

Chapter 17

For the rest of the morning, Beverly’s distracted. While she treats patients, runs tests, and monitors the sleep aid she’s synthesizing for Jean-Luc, two sentences chase each other around and around her brain.

Update from Starfleet. Change in our schedule.

She can guess what’s happening: Starfleet Command wants to see Louis Picard in person, and if the entire ship is going, that means they also want to interview anyone directly involved.

But why?

Would Starfleet try to take Louis away from Jean-Luc? Could they?

Partly, she’s afraid they might argue that despite the crew members that are allowed to have their families aboard the Enterprise, the Captain himself cannot; the other part is afraid that they’ll want to study Louis because he’s from another quantum reality.

But—again—why? What would be the point? What could they possibly learn from him? They’d be better off asking Data.

Which they will, she assumes.

Finally, around 0900 hours, on the pretense of reviewing the results from the tests she ran that morning, she retreats to her office and sits at her desk with a cup of coffee.

She can admit—to herself—that she had an ulterior motive for visiting Jean-Luc’s quarters that morning. She did want to check on Louis—had worried about him again all last night and all this morning—but she’d also hoped that she would catch the two of them having breakfast, and that she might be…invited to join them.

Beverly tried to believe that her immediate affection for Louis was purely motherly and had nothing to do with the fact that he’s Jean-Luc’s son, but she’s not sure that’s entirely true.

When she was introduced to Jack Crusher and Jean-Luc Picard all those years ago, she knows Walker Keel intended her as a match for Jack, but—truth be told—she was initially more attracted to Jean-Luc. He wasn’t as conventionally handsome as Jack, but he was striking nonetheless, bold and self-assured in a way that wasn’t overstated, despite how Jean-Luc now ridicules his younger self as being cocky and arrogant.

But back then he’d been all ambition, and even though it had felt like there was a spark between them—something small but intense, something that could grow to an inferno given time and attention—he never pursued her.

Jack had.

It had been so easy to fall in love with Jack, and once he began courting her in earnest, Jean-Luc seemed to…withdraw. To the point where, although Beverly sensed friendship between them, she started to think she imagined that spark, imagined the attraction she thought he’d felt for her.

Even now she has the same conflicting experience: sometimes she feels as if there’s something between them again, and sometimes she thinks it’s purely her imagination, because Jean-Luc is not the type to not pursue something he wants, and at this point a relationship with her wouldn’t stand in the way of his career, so what’s holding him back?

Maybe he’s suffering from the exact same crippling fear that you are—the fear that the other person doesn’t return your feelings, and that confessing your love would destroy a friendship you’re not sure you can live without.

Or, worse, that the other person does return your feelings but a romantic relationship would destroy your bond just as surely.

Grimacing, Beverly sets her coffee down. That voice sounded a lot like Deanna’s.

(Although Deanna would probably also have offered her some advice after such a revelation.)

In any case, what Beverly needs to be right now is the same thing she’s been these past few years: Jean-Luc’s friend. He needs her support. And so does Louis, she thinks.

Suddenly, Beverly’s smiling, remembering Louis’s reaction when he tasted the blackcurrant preserves she offered him, the way his face scrunched at the tartness, the grin afterwards.

“I like it!”

He’s proving to be polite, curious, and thoughtful—and he’s much better at chitchat than his father, despite noticeable deficits in his English. He reminds her of Wesley at that age. They’re not remotely similar but interacting with Louis is bringing those memories to the fore, and it’s bringing certain…yearnings right along with it.

She’d always wanted a big family. Jack had too. They were both only children, orphaned young and raised by grandparents, and although the norm for couples was two children or less, Beverly and Jack agreed that they would have four or five.

That, of course, is not how it worked out.

She’d conceived Wesley so easily, without all the trying and hoping she thought they’d have to go through—but they’d tried and hoped for more children for years after Wesley’s birth, to no avail. When Jack died, Beverly begged the universe not to let that be it, to give her this one thing, one more piece of Jack…

Of all the countless pregnancy tests Beverly had taken over the course of four years, the results of that final one had been the most devastating, the most difficult to accept.

Louis feels like a second chance at something—an opportunity to raise a child again.

Help raise, she tells herself. Then sighs. Maybe this is foolish. Maybe she shouldn’t try to insinuate herself somewhere she doesn’t belong. She should talk to Deanna, get herself straightened out. It might involve admitting certain things aloud, but it’s not as if Deanna’s not already aware of those things.

Ten minutes before the meeting, Beverly gives her nurses a few last minute instructions then leaves sickbay and walks to the Turbolift—only for the doors to open and reveal the subjects of her tumultuous thoughts.

They’re laughing, Jean-Luc’s baritone chuckle rolling through Louis’s bubbling giggle. Jean-Luc looks up, eyes creased in a smile and twinkling.

It’s one of those moments, when a certain expression on his face just…hits her like a kick to the chest. He doesn’t smile like that often, and Louis…Louis has that same smile.

“Beverly!” Jean-Luc greets. He shuffles over, hand on Louis’s shoulder to guide him to one side of the Turbolift so Beverly can enter.

She sidles in next to Louis, who looks up at her.

“Bonjour, docteur.”

“Hello again,” she says. “Are you coming to the staff meeting as well?”

“Non. I’m going to watch the bridge.”

His poker face isn’t half bad; she almost believes him.

Jean-Luc chuckles again and pats Louis’s cheek in an achingly fond gesture. “He’s going to wait in my ready room.”

Beverly raises an eyebrow. “Alone?”

Louis nods. “I’ll be okay. I’m going to draw.”

He’s clutching the anatomy book she gave him to his chest, along with a sketchbook and fistful of colored pencils.

“I noticed some of your drawings yesterday,” she says. She saw that he’d been copying illustrations of bones, apparently inspired by the scan of his own wrist. “I’d like to take a closer look at them sometime.”

“Bien sûr, docteur!”

Beverly thinks the first part means sure or of course—though she couldn’t begin to tell you what letters are involved—and docteur, well…

“I’d like you to call me Beverly,” she tells him.

“Beverly,” Louis repeats, heavily accented.

She smiles at him, then at Jean-Luc, and Jean-Luc is beaming at her and—yes, Beverly very much wants to be a part of this.

#star trek: tng #star trek: the next generation #tng #star trek fic #tng fic #star trek #the next generation #picard #picard fic

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thefoldedbird · 2 years

Text

A bunch of personal shit and me working through my thoughts by writing them down and rereading/adding/editing.

Fair warning, this is going to get ramble-y.

So like…I didn’t realize I did this. And it makes sense on the surface. But then the more I thought about it the more I realized it wasn’t…good?

My mom said something a while back:

“You can change your attitude or your situation or you can be unhappy. Those are your options.”

Sounds harsh. Right? I thought so at the time.

I always like…dismiss the attitude part. Like. You can’t change the way you feel about things. They are your feelings. So long as they are rational, they shouldn’t be able to change just cause you want them to, right?

To an extent, I think there is a truth to my opinion. Feelings are feelings and are hard to change. But I think I took her words too…literally, perhaps? That doesn’t feel like the right word. But oh well.

My point being that I believe feelings and opinions can be difficult to change. Especially if the only reason is to be happier where you are. Because whatever rational you use to start making yourself happier, always has that underlying ulterior motive.

That you are only thinking this way now to be happier, not because you are actually happier. How could you be? You weren’t happy before and nothing has changed now.

How deep can you dig the hole before a change of attitude is just a lie you tell yourself? That question always gets to me.

Anyway.

On to my revelation.

So like, I’ve spend the better part of the night imagining horrible scenarios where I break it off with my boyfriend because he’s done something horrible and totally out of character and I’m totally validated in leaving him. Wow, that makes me sound psycho.

Important to note, I don’t want to leave him.

And I’m sitting here and wondering. Why? Why have I been doing that all night? It’s just making me angry and short tempered. I’m putting myself in a bad mood. Why the hell am I doing that?

And then I realize, in all these scenarios I’m creating I’m mostly if not totally validated in my choice to leave him because of his actions. Which again; are all very out of character for him. (This sounds repetitive…basically the realization that the validation was bringing undue satisfaction.)

In every scenario I was applying a stress that I have. In every scenario I was applying that stress to an action he was doing. In every scenario I’m leaving him.

It’s like…without totally realizing it I was using him an a conduit to deal with my stress. But the thing is, it wasn’t healthy. Couldn’t have been. I was getting angry. And I was angry at him. But actually. In real life.

Anger that is undue and unjust. He already doesn’t deserve to have a bad mood taken out on him. No one does. That’s wrong.

Do we have some issues? Sure. We’re not a perfect couple. We do things that annoy each other. And my stress over my life situation has exacerbated these issues for both of us. I can admit I have not been pleasant lately. But this “coping” is actively making it worse. And to no fault of his.

But whyyyyy? I was making myself angry. So why keep doing it?

Control.

Validation and control.

Two things I feel like I strongly lack right now.

In every scenario I felt personally validated in my decision to leave and was exerting my control by leaving. By ending it. By making a concise and tangible decision.

Another issue I struggle with. Decision-making. Now we’re not talking Chidi from The Good Place levels. Dearly no.

But I let my anxiety get the better of me. I let it cripple me. Fight, flight, freeze, and flow? I freeze and do nothing and accept the looming anxiety because I’ve learned to feel safe so long as I know what to expect the next day.

I think in the working world this is also referred to as being strongly risk-averse. And I would agree. It’s something I need to more strongly acknowledge and work on.

Is this coping mechanism right or fair to anyone, myself included? No. And I should stop. And I will. Tonight’s just been a bad night. And this is a bad habit coming from a bad night adding bad stress to my currently bad mindset.

Has writing this down made me feel better?

Mildly. Sure.

#personal shit #dnrb pls #not looking for advice #just working through my shit

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