#building relationship

[dominimoonbeam]

Long Time No See - 8

Rated E. You can read from the beginning over on ao3! Latest chapter below as well. <3

tags for this update: angst, self doubt, mental wellness, masturbation, communication <3 <3 <3

Long Time No See - 8

David came home to the smell of something burning.

Darlin was opening a window and Asher was fanning smoke away from the fire alarm before it could go off.

David kicked the door shut behind him and Asher’s attention snapped from his task to his mate. He smiled big, the way he always did when he’d done something that was sure to annoy. At least David didn’t have to ask what it was—he could see the burned lasagna on the counter. “You tried to cook again?”

Asher shrugged sheepishly, still fanning. “I’ll cut the burned part off. It’s going to be fine. Darlin and I did it.”

David grunted once, glancing to the side at the window and Darlin standing there beside it. They hadn’t moved since they realized he was home. He hated that. He had always hated the way they sometimes looked scared of him, like it was an instinct they had to shake every time it kicked in, but now there was a tinge of guilt in them—like they’d done something wrong. He turned his attention back to Asher. “I’m going to shower. You try to make that edible.”

Asher saluted. “On it.”

David went down the hall and straight into the bathroom. He didn’t bother locking the door, they both knew he was in there. They’d never locked the door before but agreed to start just in case Darlin walked in on one or both of them. Neither of them would particularly mind but they weren’t sure Darlin could handle the awkwardness. Not on top of everything else.

He showered fast, hair still wet by the time he’d put on clean clothes and come back to the kitchen. They had a little dining table and it was set with plates and a disastrous looking lasagna. He didn’t look directly at Darlin because he knew they wouldn’t meet his eye if he did. Asher did most of the talking while they ate, easily filling the uneasy spaces between them. But it all made David feel more like shit than he already had.

It seemed impossible, this thing with Darlin. He could never say anything right and it felt like whatever he did, he was the enemy—he was a threat—and that set his instincts on edge and broke his heart at the same time. It wasn’t fair. He’d never done anything against Darlin. But it didn’t have to be fair to be true.

Asher suggested they play games after dinner, suggesting they clear the table while he ran off to the bathroom real quick.

David hated the way awkward silence rolled in the second Asher was down the hall and they were alone. Fuck. What if he did the wrong thing again? Said the wrong thing? What if he tried to say the right thing and it ended up being an argument again?

“I’m sorry,” Darlin blurted out.

David’s attention snapped to them. They weren’t looking directly at him, chin pushed level but gaze flicking anywhere but his face.

“I know you’re just trying to help…”

“I am.”

Darlin nodded, gaze on the table right in front of him. “I like living here.”

David’s heart swelled in his chest. They’d never said that. He hadn’t been sure if they liked it or if they felt like they couldn’t leave. It made him nervous. “I like you living here,” he said.

Darlin relaxed a little, like they hadn’t known that.

“Do you want to go running with my tomorrow?” David asked.

Darlin’s gaze finally met his. They nodded. “Skin or fur?”

He tried not to smile. “Do you have running shoes?”

Darlin stared. “All shoes are running shoes…if you run.”

He burst. They said it with such a straight face that he wasn’t even sure if they were fucking with him or taking a damn stance.

Asher came back and they all cleared the table. David insisted on doing the dishes since they had sort of cooked dinner but the other two hovered in the kitchen until he was done and they were all moving to the couch for games.

 -

 Darlin had taken to running with David almost every day for the past three months.

It was good. It was really good. Even on bad days, days where they didn’t talk at all, they just ran, Darlin always felt a little better when they got back to the apartment.

And they’d started seeing Asher’s friend, Cam. It was awkward as hell but eventually it got better. Sometimes Cam just tried to help them relax, and other times he wanted to talk about shit. Darlin tried not to be a dick. He really was trying to help and they really did need it.

Cam smiled that soft, understanding smile like maybe he could hear their thoughts. Could he?

“Can you?”

“Can I what?” he asked, smile growing.

They still weren’t sure.

They sat facing each other in his office. It didn’t look like an office, not really. It looked more like a posh sitting room. And it wasn’t located inside any department building. They never saw anyone in the halls or outside that they knew—no one to take notice of a Shaw wolf visiting the local serenity daemon.

In one of their first sessions, Camelopardalis had explained forms of comfort and offered touch. He’d only meant something soft like hugging or hand holding, but Darlin had balked. They’d almost fallen out of their chair to put more space between themselves and this almost stranger. It wasn’t that they were scared. They weren’t fucking scared, even if Cam was a daemon. But he wasn’t a threat, he was a friend of a friend doing them a favor, so what could they do if he wanted to touch them? Bolt. That was about it. They could either sit there and take it or fucking leave.

He'd spread his fingers and lifted his hands, showing palms like peace. “It was only an offer,” he explained, voice still gentle. “I won’t.”

Darlin felt embarrassed, looking away the rest of that session. They used to be better at not giving away their every stupid feeling. But that had been when Quinn was still alive. They’d gotten really good at not flinching back then.

“Are you uncomfortable with physical contact from everyone? Or just people you’re not familiar with?”

Darlin might have suspected he’d taken offense if it weren’t for that still even tone and the calm that permeated the room, slowly lulling them. “I’m fine with people I trust…” Not just fine with, Darlin realized. Comforted by, just like Cam had said. It was a relief to be in contact with some people. With specific people.

“Who do you trust?”

Darlin had pressed their lips. They knew the answer instantly and it made them uncomfortable. “Pack,” they answered, rather than getting specific or acknowledging the levels of trust and comfort they had with different people.

Cam had dropped it and moved on then. He came back to it sometimes in the weeks since but Darlin never completely forgot it.

They thought about it when they were out running with David and they’d brush against each other, when Asher slung his arm over their shoulders, and when they fell asleep together on the couch. Comfort. It was comfort and that was why they’d shied away from it for so long—because some part of them wasn’t sure how to be comforted, wasn’t convinced they deserved to feel that.

Camelopardalis continued to insist that they did, and Darlin was starting to believe him.

The only problem was they were also starting to realize that their feelings for David and Asher weren’t a hundred percent platonic. Every time the thought came up, they crammed it back down. No. No. No. Absolutely not. David and Ash were their friends—their pack—and they were a couple.

Darlin was a lot of things, a lot of bad things, but they weren’t a homewrecker.

And they absolutely would never do anything to hurt Asher or David.

They got home first that day. David had messaged about working late and Asher replied with a series of emojis that made no sense. They had a group chat for just the three of them and Asher seemed to communicate mostly in emojis, gifs, and pictures of himself or things around him.

Darlin put their phone in their room and then went and took a shower.

They felt good. It had been so long since they felt good, that they couldn’t remember the last time. They went back to their room. Theirs. They’d had plenty of rooms, of course, but nothing that nice or just, that safe. Everything about the apartment felt safe and not because they’d barricaded the doors and windows, but just because it was a good place. It was Asher and David’s. Nothing bad happened there. It was full of routines and easy comfort.

Darlin put on clean clothes. The shirt was Asher’s. He said they could have it after it ended up in their laundry a few weeks ago. They had one of David’s old hoodies too. He said it had shrunk in the wash so it didn’t fit right anyway.

Darlin bit their lip, really realizing for the first time that they were alone in the house.

They slid their hand down the front of their body, into the waistband of their sweats and then deeper, into their briefs, cupping their sex. It was more curiosity than a mission at that point. When was the last time they felt like this? When was the last time they wanted let alone the last time they came? Definitely not the last time they fucked… Don’t think about him.

They worked their lip between their teeth, pushing their thoughts away from bad things, toward good things. Toward the way they felt in that room. “Fuck…” Darlin exhaled with a shiver, not just palming themself but actually touching, slowly driving themself into a small frenzy, until they were sinking down the wall, gasping tight in their chest.

 -

 Asher stopped a few steps down the hall on the way to the bathroom. The carpet must have padded his footfalls, or maybe he’d been moving quietly without realizing it. He froze when he heard them gasp softly, sucking air into their chest and holding it there before letting it out in a shuddered moan.

His mind felt like it was exploding. He didn’t move. He was obviously hearing things. Maybe having a psychotic break of some kind?

But when he didn’t move, just straining to hear in the otherwise empty apartment, he heard that telltale sound of friction and another breathy inhale.

His cock strained his jeans even when he still wasn’t ready to fully accept what he was hearing.

It wasn’t David.

He knew the sounds David made when he touched himself. He’d walked in on him a few times, even before they got together. David was a growler and he stroked fast when he had no one to entertain or tease.

This…This was slow. Like the person was teasing themself.

The person.

Darlin.

He knew it was Darlin.

There was no one else that it could be.

He wanted to take another step down the hallway, toward their door, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t right. But he also couldn’t quite convince himself to back out of the hall. And then what? Out of the apartment? No. He could just go to the front door and slam it this time, make sure they heard him coming in.

The breathy sounds got faster. He closed his eyes and shivered. He knew what they’d sound like now.

“Fuck,” they gasped, low and quiet, a whisper he would never have even heard if he weren’t listening to intently. “Asher…”

His eyelids flung open and he thought he’d been caught. He hadn’t meant to listen. He just…hadn’t left as quickly as he should have either.

But the door was still shut.

Oh.

Oh god.

He had to bite into his tongue to keep from groaning.

He backed up. He had to get out of the hallway before they finished, before he fucking came in his jeans, and got found. He stopped when his back was to the wall beside the front door. He couldn’t hear them anymore. But he couldn’t convince himself he hadn’t heard what he’d heard either. He smiled. Darlin thought about him. Fuck yes.

He grabbed the doorknob, opened it and then slammed the door shut. He still heard the way their voice had rattled with his name, so low and breathy, like it had escaped without them realizing it.

He went to the kitchen, thumping the fridge door too and then popping open a can of soda. Too obvious?

“Darlin? You home?” Asher called.

Their door creaked open and they mumbled something affirmative before ducking into the bathroom.

Asher waited. His phone chimed and he took a look at it. David had messaged. He was on his way home and asking if they had any food plans yet. Asher took a picture of his soda and sent it. He would have liked to send a picture of his semi-hard dick but it was a group chat and that was still inappropriate, even if it looked like there might be a flicker of hope in that department.

Darlin came out, wearing one of David’s hoodies and not quite meeting his gaze.

“What do you want to eat?” Asher asked, offering them some of his soda.

Darlin gravitated closer and took it.

He stared.

Darlin stared back. “What?”

Asher reached up slowly, touching their jaw and brushing his thumb against their bottom lip. It was split again. Scar tissue that had it busting in the same spot too easy. “What happened?”

They blinked at the blood on his thumb and then flicked his hand away, dabbing it with their sleeve. “I don’t know. I bit it.”

Asher blinked. Bit it? He imagined them touching themself, in David’s hoodie, with his name on their tongue, biting down on that lip to try to keep all their sounds inside. He groaned, trying to turn away before Darlin could notice.

“What the fuck was that?” Darlin took a step closer, catching his arm and turning him back to them.

Asher’s gaze flicked between their lip, a little swollen and saliva slick, and their eyes.

Darlin stared at him hard and then their eyes widened and then jumped back a step, hand flying to their mouth. “No!”

Asher blinked.

“You… Did you…” Darlin tried and tried again. “Were you home?”

He couldn’t outright lie to them.

Darlin grew deep red and turned to make a run for the front door.

“Woah!” Asher chased. It had been a long time since Darlin tried to bolt but they had a family rule about not letting them leave in a fit like that. There was just no knowing if they’d come back—if they would know they could come back. “Wait. Wait.” He put his hand to the door just as they grabbed the knob. “Wait, please. I didn’t mean to.”

Darlin whined, the sound surprising Asher. He’d expected growling and swearing. Instead, they thumped their forehead to the door, not turning around in that small space to face him. “This is so embarrassing.”

“It’s not embarrassing,” Asher promised, the back of their head was so close to his mouth that he could smell their shampoo. It was their shampoo, the same stuff he and David used. He smirked. “You can listen to me jerk off if that will make it less embarrassing…”

Darlin spun around, back to the door and head up to stare at him in shock. “Are you really making fun of me right now?”

Asher stared at them. So close. “No.”

Darlin frowned at him like he was lying. “I don’t ever want to talk about it again. It didn’t fucking happen. Nothing happened. Just forget it.”

Asher shook his head slowly, marveling at them and their impossible request. “You said my name.”

Darlin jerked, head thumping the door. “I… I didn’t.”

He smiled. “What did I tell you about lying? I know you.”

Darlin stared, fingers twisting nervously in the front of their hoodie. “I’m sorry.”

That surprised Asher enough that his smile wavered. “Why?”

Darlin whined again, looking away. “I like it here, Ash… I don’t want to make things weird. I don’t—I would never do anything to hurt you or David, ever. Please… Oh shit, please don’t tell David.”

Asher stared. The surprise and weight of what they were saying almost made him step back. Almost. He had really hoped they’d picked up on any of the hundreds of clues he’d been dropping for months now. “Oh, babe… No. You’re not hurting anyone. You get to stay here as long as you want, no matter what. And I am absolutely telling David.”

Darlin actually pouted, shoving their hands against his chest. “Don’t! He’ll be mad! It’ll be weird!”

Asher laughed, taking the step back when they pushed. It wasn’t like they were going to run out into the night anymore. He rubbed the spot on his chest where their hands had made contact, not because of a hurt but because of an ache. “No, he definitely won’t be mad. And I tell him everything. You think I’d keep this a secret? Hell no. I get to tell him that it was my name you moaned.”

Darlin’s pout softened with confusion, still distressed. “What do you mean?”

Asher considered whether or not he should say anything. They’d agreed to go slow, glacial. Darlin had to make the choices. But Asher was pretty damn sure Darlin didn’t know they had choices. “We like you.” He had to say this right. “If you were interested in more than friends, we would be too.” He saw the way their expression went blank, like their brain was being rebooted. Yep, about right. “But if you don’t want that, if you want to be friends only, that’s a hundred percent okay. You need to really hear me when I tell you, nothing is going to get you kicked out. You’re pack and family and we love you, no matter what else we are or aren’t to each other. If you’re not ready for anything, or you want time, or you just don’t want anything more from us than what we have now, that’s okay.” He was pretty sure they did want more though, even before today.

They had told David once, probably on accident, that the only people they’d ever liked that hadn’t hurt them had been Asher and him.

Darlin was still blank staring.

Asher smiled. “What’s tripping you up?”

Darlin seemed to shake themself out of it with a glare. “Fuck you, you don’t like me!”

Asher laughed. “Uhuh… remember that time when I said we put you in our bed because we wanted you in our bed?”

Darlin gaped. “Fuck you, you didn’t say it like that!”

He grinned. “You gotta stop saying fuck you in this conversation, babe, it’s going to get confusing.”

And then they both heard David in the hallway.

Darlin’s eyes went wide and they jumped closer to Asher. “Don’t tell him!”

Asher laughed. “We went over this! I am absolutely telling him. But I won’t tell him in front of you, okay?”

“Not okay!”

“I wonder if you’re always this animated after an orgasm or if it’s just all the nerves that’s got you—”

“Fuck you, Ash!”

Keys jammed into the lock. Asher grinned. Darlin took another step closer to him, right up in his space. He loved it. He’d been worried that when they had any conversation about this, about them, it would push them away, make things awkward, or worst of all—make them skittish. It would have felt awful, and he knew David wouldn’t be able to take that.

But Darlin nudged him in the chest again, trying to glare him into submission. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

Asher beamed. Threats? “Or what?”

Darlin sucked a breath, seeming to realize that they were standing close—really close.

The door opened and Darlin jerked back a step, putting space between them just as David walked into the apartment. He immediately eyed the both of them, keys flicking around his finger. The door swung shut behind him but he paused there, not yet taking off his jacket or his shoes. “What did you two do?”

Asher continued to smile.

Darlin blushed.

David narrowed his gaze on Darlin. “What happened to your lip?”

#redacted asmr #redactedverse #darlin/asher/david #angst #building relationship #some steamy steam #just a little bit #trio #dominimoonbeam #fanfic #<3

[ishadash92]

Beyond Doubt: Crafting Unbreakable Trust in Your Relationship

Photo by Jasmin Wedding Photography on Pexels.com In the realm of relationships, trust stands as a linchpin, a foundational element that shapes the very essence of connection. Explore the profound dynamics of trust, not merely as an idea but as a dynamic force within the complex interplay in partnerships. An art that goes beyond doubt and fosters a resilient, unshakeable bond between two hearts.…

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#advice #blogger #building relationship #dating #lgbtq #life facts #myarticles #relationship #relationship advice #relationship building #relationships #wordpress #writer

[allchristianblog]

AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOMEONE OUT

What’s the most challenging point of your life now? Is it finance, or health, or relationship or marriage. Maybe nobody got your back anymore, you may have felt deserted or even desolate to some people who you call family and friends. What bigger problem could you be possibly going through that the world doesn’t know. Be encouraged and strong in the Lord, for in due season he will reward you if you faint not.

Sometimes we give up because we feel there’s nothing more about us, we feel that’s how everything was meant to be, so we have no other choice than to move on with what the people say we are without realizing that there are three side of ever man (what people think we are, what we think we’re and what God thinks we’re). Each of us must learn to strengthen ourselves in what God thinks we’re and not what some folks put in our ears. What does the Scripture say about you? Who does Heaven say you’re? Yes, that’s who you’re. A Child of God. Remember the promises of God towards us. If we draw close to Him, he will draw nearer to us despite our Sins. He will wash us and sanctify us by His blood. Stay clear from people or thoughts that makes you feel depressed and unable to accomplish God’s designed purpose for your life. Guilt Kills, yes it does. But the Spirit of God giveth Life and understanding to the simple.

There’s nothing much harmful and dangerous than a man who’s no longer interested in the activity of God. If the devil can get you to stop praying, he’s satisfied. Devil doesn’t want you to sin, he’s not even interested on how big or little the sin is. Of what good is it to him if you sin big or sin little. He’s more interested in your relationship with God than any other thing. He knows that his time is short and the king is coming soon, so he is set to finish his agenda before he’s casted into the lake of fire. So he’s okay with anything that breaks your relationship with the Holy spirit. Whether it’s Iniquity or disobedience or depression or guilt as long as it breaks the intimacy you once had with God. So it profits him much when your relationship with God is cut off. So he sponsors every component that will interfere with your soul and will.

Read more

#anxiety #building relationship #love of God #motivation #overcoming depression

[madhukumarc]

How can affiliate marketers use the cold email strategy to promote products?

In affiliate marketing, the use of cold email strategy to promote products has a very low success rate. 

Sending a lot of cold emails increases the likelihood that your message will land up in spam folders or spam lists, which is a poor indicator.

A one-to-one strategy can be attempted, but it is not recommended to use email marketing software to promote affiliate products to recipients of cold emails as they are not on your list and are not familiar with you.

However, here are a few things you can do to make the most of your cold email strategy:

First, be sure to personalize each email you send. Get to know the recipient by looking at their social media profiles and blog. This will show that you are interested in their work and want to contribute to it.

Second, be direct about what you would like the recipient to do, and give them a reason to act on your offer and include a call-to-action in your email. To keep them interested, show them how the affiliate product benefits their lives from various perspectives.

Finally, be patient with your cold email strategy efforts. It can take some time for your emails to be opened and read, so be prepared for slow results to start.

After you've built up a relationship with the recipient, your emails will likely have a higher open rate and good conversions over time.

Here's related information that you may find helpful – 37 Hard Secrets Every Beginner or Intermediate Affiliate Marketer Need To Be Aware Of.

P.S: Visit Digital Marketing Forum for more such insights and specific answers to most [unanswered] questions.

#affiliate marketing tips #cold email strategy #email marketing #digital marketing #building relationship

[theminecraftbee]

Grian had taken her aside quietly. He'd awkwardly talked around the idea of her remembering now; apparently, he didn't know if her victory counted. She'd rubbed the back of her head and hadn't quite realized what he was talking about and said something about the games and, ah. Apparently she does remember now. Apparently the victory counts. Apparently this means he needs to say sorry.

Cleo considers not accepting the apology. Grian would get the wrong idea then. If she said: you don't need to apologize for shit, or maybe, there's nothing to apologize for, he'd take that as: you are exactly as bad as you're convinced you are. Honestly, Cleo's not sure whether that means Grian would decide he'd done nothing wrong or everything, but that's besides the point.

She'd never not remembered, is the point.

Frankly, Cleo hadn't realized people were meant to be not remembering. She's honestly a bit embarrassed not to have figured it out. Surely that can't be right. Cleo has held every single slight and every single ally and every single person she has ever connected to right in her ribcage, next to where her carved-out, unbeating, torn-up heart lies, the entire time these games have gone on. Each game, a new fact carved into the bone that makes them up.

Names ribbon around her memories. Bdubs and the Crastle and Scott and soulmates and Pearl and friend-turned-foe and Etho and survivor and Bigb and traitor and Scar and son and everything else. She wouldn't be the same at all if she didn't remember. Everything she is, it's built on top of everyone that was.

Maybe it's a zombie thing. The undead are said to be memories that can't fade as much as anything else, after all.

But she can't really explain this to Grian, of course. If nothing else, that would require explaining the place he's taken next to her heart, too, and frankly, that's way too mushy for the both of them. What ends up coming out her mouth is: "Oh. Does that really change anything?"

Grian stares at her a moment.

"You know, I guess not?" he says.

"Right then," Cleo says. "Cool. Good to know my victory means nothing then."

Grian squawks. "You can't just say it like that! That's depressing!"

Good enough.

She buries 'not-supposed-to-remember' 'not-sure-if-it-counts' 'laughing-as-scott-dies' and 'I-have-always remembered' in the same place in her ribcage, so she won't forget it, and then she does the thing that sets her apart from the common zombie:

She moves on.

#trafficfic #trafficblr #real life smp #(and all the rest) #zombiecleo #a bee fic #so okay the thing is my cleo character meta/understanding DOES NOT WORK with 'only victors remember' #because traffic!cleo is a character that ONLY works through the steady build across series #maybe more than anyone else cleo holds onto things across each series and ESPECIALLY relationships #and none of them can really be taken without the full context #so this is just me having fun with that i guess #ENJOY.

[nightshadeowl]

Decked Out really is a whole other game. It's running on Minecraft textures and programming, of course, but its visual identity is so distinct (Tango's block palettes go SO HARD) and the structure of the game is so brilliantly designed that it just. It's true. It's a whole other game.

#passenger status #decked out 2 #it's like the inverse of the relationship between chess and checkers #way different rules and game genre but same building blocks

[desultory-suggestions]

If you see someone behaving in a way that’s reminiscent of a person who has harmed you before you have every right to be cautious. You can give them some room to show they’re different or you can trust your gut and go separate ways. Just don’t be afraid to draw a line when it comes to how you will allow yourself to be treated.

#suggestions #suggestion blog #relationships #friendships #healing #boundaries #healthy relationships #building healthy relationships

[ruporas]

drank too much

[ID: Digital Art of Vash and Wolfwood from Trigun Maximum. Vash’s body is turned slightly away from the viewer as he holds a staggering Wolfwood by his shoulder. He has one foot ahead of the other, the foot in the back used to stabilize himself from tipping over. Wolfwood is tethering into Vash, his weight pressed into him with his arms wrapped around Vash’s waist and his face is hidden away as he leans against Vash’s shoulder. Vash’s expression can be seen, his eyes wide and mouth tight-lipped, and his face is flushed red. A speech bubble comes out from Wolfwood, saying a drawled “Spikeyyy...”. The background are desaturated pastels of blue and green, showing night time, as they stand in the middle of an empty street that is also lit by the moon not depicted. Yellow light is seen coming from the inside of a saloon. End ID]

#vashwood #Vash the Stampede #nicholas d wolfwood #trigun #trigun maximum #when i think of who handles their alcohol best -- it's going to be vash naturally. considering his age but also his plant biology? #idk how his plant biology comes into things but it feels like it makes sense... and helps build his tolerance... also he's canonically #a bit of an alcoholic i think... one of his vices. and im sure ww drinks but his go-to comfort is through smoking not drinking #slight detour but the barkeeper was also like i'm the angel that provides drinks for these troubled souls. all i could think of is #a parallel from ww to vash... vash going thru this hell on his own during that point in the chapter and ww is the angel who will give him #his space and then also save him later. But anyway. that's a completely different topic. as a result of ww Not being much of a drinker #i feel like he'd be clingy... a LOT less verbal but more physically affectionate #i feel like he'd be able to speak as he normally does but when he wants to ask for something he'd just reduce it down to names #spikey needle noggin while tugging on vash's arm. vash explodes immediately #this is also very self indulgent if u cant tell. #i was just thinking that ww while sober is a hard cage to crack through no matter how close vw gets to one another. #while ww can end up being emotionally vulnerable -- has to at some point within their relationship -- he still just has tons of trouble #navigating his own personal wants. #ruporas art

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

We could have had it all...

[First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #wei wuxian #jin guangyao #nie mingjue #oh man....the NieYao dynamic....All these complex emotions and ties to each other and they *aren't* canon? #Sorry fellas but the way you proposed writing your bro a letter of recommendation & agreeing to it was very fruity. #And *then* Lan Xichen shows up. And both JGY and NMJ are head over heels for him and have been for ages apparently. #Its like they found out that LXC had been two timing them this whole time and their response was: “UM. HOT?” #I'm tempted to redraw these three as that one bisexual-core image with Anne Hathaway. You know the one. It fits. #It's strange seeing all of this fondness in retrospect compared to the betrayal you feel in The Untamed after a longer build up. #Initially it felt like 'oops we made him a little too 2 dimensional as a villain - quick make him more sympathetic'. #JGY even had a scene with him kissing babies. As any politician would do to improve their image. #but it does come around to really showing a more authentic JGY and the tension between him and NMJ. #As an angst lover I am personally all for 'what could have been' relationships and they DO have it all.

[ishadash92]

Post-marriage careers and relationships

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com This is a question asked by all the women out there. Career is it a question or it’s a path you need to lean on! It shocked me how some people ask women to give up so easily on what has been their whole life, whether it’s their studies or the growth, they have created so far. When a man is asked to give up, will they? Then why do women have to? When we ask…

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#blogger #bookworm #building relationship #feminism #feminist #life quotes #lifefacts #lifestyle #post marriage careers #relationship building #relationships #women #women empowerment #womenhealth #womenoncareers #wordpress #writer

[cookinguptales]

So… I’ve been turning all this over in my head since last night, and I wanted to make a post about vampiric transformation as sex, and how it’s being used in wwdits as a metaphor for sexual repression, sexual freedom, virginity, and cuckolding.

Before I even get into the obvious metaphors about virginity and cuckolding, I think we need to talk about the elephant in the room. Guillermo’s sexual repression and how that’s come to find an outlet in his vampiric longing.

Guillermo is highly repressed, sexually speaking, but I don’t think he’s asexual. He’s shown interest in sex several times, but in an uncomfortable “this can’t be for me yet” kind of way. He was clearly raised Catholic and has internalized a lot of that shame re: sex, especially gay sex. He wants intimacy, but he’s also internalized the idea that wanting these things is dangerous and shameful.

But… the vampiric world seems to symbolize all the things that Guillermo wants but cannot have. He wants to be strong, powerful, attractive, and sexually liberated. As much as their openness about sex embarrasses him, there’s a certain longing there, too. He didn’t just want to be handsome as a vampire — he explicitly used the word “sexy.”

A vampiric Guillermo is a version of Guillermo that gets to have sex. Loudly, proudly, and without shame. It’s a version of him that is wanted, that wants, and who gets to have the precise kind of intimacy he's always craved.

Now, how much Guillermo has actually done sexually is still up for a lot of debate in fandom, but I think that’s kind of immaterial. For most of the show, Guillermo clearly wasn’t having the kind of intimacy that he wanted to be having, and he only started to even begin to allow himself to seriously consider all that in s4, when he got a boyfriend and came out to his family.

As being gay and wanting to be a vampire. 

Guillermo is finally starting to own both his homosexuality and his vampiric life, and that means he’s finally starting to explore sex.

Now… At the end of s4, I talked about how Guillermo going to Derek in the finale had the air of a person who’d been fantasizing about losing their virginity in a certain way all their life — but then they finally give up on those dreams and hire a sex worker instead. There’s a resignation there in Guillermo that he couldn’t get it “the old-fashioned way,” he’s disappointed and jaded when it comes to intimate relationships, and now he’s tired of waiting for love and just wants a business transaction.

I wasn’t quite expecting for them to push that metaphor even more in s5! The money aspect was almost forgotten (Did… Derek even take the money? Why is he still cleaning toilets?) but the scene with Derek biting Guillermo was clearly a metaphorical virginity scene.

Guillermo’s nervous eagerness, his growing realization that this wasn’t actually the way he wanted it to happen. Asking Derek if he’d ever done this before and figuring out if he was “ready.” Taking off his clothes (that his grandmother got for him, even, that’s a whole meta post right THERE) and trying to make the vibe “right.” His insistence that though Nandor had never done this for him, they still had a caring and intimate relationship.

But… it was also a metaphor for bad sex. Many people lose their virginity in a way they don’t find satisfying, and Guillermo definitely seems to fall in this category. It was awkward, it was bloody, it hurt, his partner didn’t listen to him, they weren’t on the same wavelength, they didn’t connect, there was no emotional bond, and most importantly, he didn’t feel changed.

Like a lot of people do, Guillermo thought losing his virginity would change him. He’d be cooler, sexier, more powerful. His station in life would change. He’d become an adult his ideal form. But he’s still just Guillermo.

As he told Laszlo, as soon as he did it, he regretted it. He immediately knew that he’d been right, that this wasn’t the way he wanted to do it. He wanted to do it with someone experienced who loved and cared about him, who listened to him, and he wanted that person to be Nandor. But he wasn’t patient, he paid an inexperienced acquaintance for a one-night-stand instead, and he was left feeling deeply unfulfilled.

Most upsettingly, he immediately discovered that, like virginity, you can’t lose it twice. He can’t just have a do-over with Nandor now. He’s given something up that he can’t give to anyone else, and he’s going to have to live with the consequences.

Because like sex for humans, transformation has social implications in the vampire world. It can only be done in very specific situations. Guillermo seems to have grown up in a human world where sex should only be happening within a heterosexual marriage, and now he’s finding that in the vampire world, transformation is only supposed to happen between a master and familiar currently in a contractual bond.

So… him going to Derek and finding “outlet” in another relationship, so to speak, is effectively vampirically cuckolding Nandor. He’s given that honor to another vampire, which Nandor seems to find both vampirically humiliating and personally hurtful. It would in fact hurt him so badly that he would probably not survive it, in Laszlo’s words.

(There’s also definitely an element of an abusive “if I can’t have you, no one can” vibe in Nandor’s threat to kill Guillermo and then himself if Guillermo got what he needed from another vampire, but since when have we ever liked them well-adjusted?)

Guillermo is realizing that, as much as he’s been thinking of this in sexual terms, so have the vampires. He thought he was the only one who thought it was a big deal. He thought he was the only one placing intimacy and partnership and loyalty into this event. But now he’s realizing that as much as it meant to him, it might have even been a bigger thing for Nandor.

For Guillermo, vampirism-as-sex represents the idealized transformational aspects of losing your virginity. He’d built up this big event in his mind that represented his intimate bond with Nandor, he’d built up this idea that the event would change him, would make him better, would make him free. But he’s finding, like many first-timers do, that sometimes it’s not transformational. It’s just awkward and disappointing and the only thing that’s changed is that you ache in the morning.

He still doesn’t have the intimacy he wanted. He still doesn’t have the ability to be loudly himself. He still hasn’t been able to fully own his sexuality and ask for what he wants. He wasn’t ready. He didn’t enjoy it. He regrets it.

He also regrets it because now he knows it will hurt Nandor and the relationship they’ve built. Because for Nandor, vampirism-as-sex represents the societal aspects of sex. The rules people follow. The societal humiliation you feel if you’re cuckolded. The personal agony you feel when you’re cheated on. The sense that your home is broken if your partner goes to find satisfaction with someone else.

Guillermo, who has had to deal with societal disapproval of his desired type of sex in the human world his whole life, was viewing vampiric transformation as a way to be free of all that. The shame and the repression and the societal penalties for being himself.

But he’s just found himself in a mess of new rules, hasn’t he? Different culture, same struggle. And while the vampiric world has always symbolized a sexual liberation that both repulses and attracts Guillermo, he clearly doesn’t have as much freedom here as he thought.

So… to sum up, Guillermo always kind of thought of transformation as losing his virginity. He associated vampirism with sex, and he thought this would be his entrance into the sexual world. He wanted to have an intimate experience with Nandor, but eventually gave up on that and decided to pay for it — and then immediately regretted it, both because he found it personally dissatisfying and because it came as a betrayal to the man he loves.

The problem is that he thought he was the only person thinking of it as sex — he didn’t realize that Nandor does, too, just in a very different way.

Nandor was also thinking of vampiric transformation as this special act, and one that belongs only to him as Guillermo’s master/partner. He was thinking of it in intimate terms, but also in societal partnership terms. He’s thinking of his household, while Guillermo was thinking of things on more individualistic terms.

If only they’d both talked about all this shit even once. :’)

But that’s not how we do things here in Staten Island!!! We just long for things ineffectively, keep secrets, and fuck everything up!

(There’s also a whole thing here about how Nandor wasn’t keeping his side of the relationship bargain and that’s why Guillermo looked elsewhere in a moment of weakness, but I guess that’s probably a separate post. This is long enough already.)

#I could talk about this so much more but this post is so long lmao #well guillermo you can never give nandor your first time but that doesn't mean you can't still build a relationship with him #more important for a guy to have your future than your past right? #lmao we'll see #nandermo #wwdits #wwdits meta #long post #wwdits spoilers

[gustingirl]

i sincerely wanna congratulate house md's writers for building up the characters of house and wilson so perfectly. you can tell they wasted their creative minds on those two because every aspect of them is perfectly thought through.

my favorite example of this is this exact moment:

with medical terms they described the characters perfectly. as a writer myself, i’m amazed.

#i only can dream of building a character and a relationship so perfectly #they had their flaws obviously #house md #hate crimes md #james wilson #gregory house #hilson

[mathira19]

Brad Prit’s powerful advice about marriage- 14 most relevant ones

Brad Prit’s powerful advice about marriage- 14 most relevant ones

As I was turning the pages of a magazine, I happened to read an article which had Brad Pitt��s advice about marriage. As you well know Brad Prit, has so far experienced two failed marriages. So, you might think that he is not the right candidate to advice about marriage. But the actor’s advice about treating your wife, was right on dot. Most marriages fail, because its niceties are not followed…

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#advice to husband #Brad pitt advice about marriage #Building relationship #happy marriage ideas #making wife happy tips #marriage advice #marriage tips #relationship advises

[lovepassionheart]

#heartbeat #kissing #love #relationship #relationship goals #passion #love quotes #kiss #build up #desire #tongues and teeth #tongue

[lassify]

On Loid: Acknowledging Anya's Past

*Spoilers for Spy x Family Ch. 93*

Honestly, after reading this new chapter, I felt really... tearful? No joke I thought I was going to cry. And it wasn't even for anything crazy.

It was because I think this is the first time that Loid has asked Anya anything about her past:

The fact that Endo dedicates a significant portion of the page to this panel shows that it is a really important moment - but not just because it's about Anya's past, which we are all curious about!

I think it's also important because after Loid adopted her and said to call him her father 'from now on', he has not once asked her about her life Before. As far as we know, this is the first time.

I don't even know how to explain why this makes me want to cry. It's like their little secret. Only Loid and Anya know that she is adopted, she promised to call him "Papa" from now on (as though he has always been her father), and she has never slipped. Not once. She has completely dedicated herself to her new life, while he has maintained this distance from her, not once trying to get genuinely closer.

So, him choosing to acknowledge that in private between them feels like quite a vulnerable moment for them. Or at least, a significant moment.

We can guess that, at least initially, he didn't think it was worth asking her about her past because she was just part of the mission, and that she would return to the orphanages after the mission was over. I wonder if this moment is an indication that:

Loid is becoming curious about her past, and perhaps beginning to wonder how it affects her in the present day.

He is becoming invested in Anya as a person and as a child.

Loid has good reason to be curious about her past, but he doesn't know what we know. He probably still thinks Anya is an ordinary orphan.

So onto the second point - why be invested in Anya? Why ask her about her past? Not only is it not relevant to the mission, but it goes against his instincts as a spy. What does he have to gain from asking a child about their life before him? Where is the intel in that?

And then she answers like this:

We don't even see her face.

Endo. Does not show. Her face.

What does Loid see when he asks her about her past? I want to know. And it feels so significant that Endo chose to portray her answer like this, where the majority of her reaction is hidden from us.

Even in the following panels, we only see her eyes:

Loid has his eyes narrowed (tired? suspicious? disbelieving?) while we just see Anya's eyes looking up at her father, with few other clues as to what her expression could be.

It feels like such a tense moment. And I wanted to cry.

Here's hoping that we will start to get more snippets of genuine Loid and Anya moments - and that we start to learn more about her past. (Perhaps alongside Loid?)

#that's it #those are my thoughts for today #spy x family #sxf manga spoilers #spy x family spoilers #loid forger #anya forger #is this the start of loid and anya building that father daughter relationship? #or at least i hope #only time will tell

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

How You Turn My World; Chapter 3

As the reality of your situation sets in, you try your best to survive in the Underground... and find a way out. Little do you know though, someone else is trying to find you.

Character; Lilia Vanrouge

Content; Gender-neutral reader, more shenanigans, getting more into the meat and bones of this fic

Content Warnings; Swearing

Word Count; 3.2 K

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |

Do not put my work into AI - I will push you into the Bog of Eternal Stench

Your night for the most part was uneventful. The horrid screaming had thankfully went in the opposite direction, away from your tree-top abode. Although throughout the night, little crowds of glowing eyes had amassed at the bottom of the tree, but they made no attempts to reach you. Even though they couldn’t reach you, you couldn’t help but feel unnerved, since all you could see was their eyeshine, and hear them chittering to each other.

Great, they’re probably pointing and laughing at the new fool in town. ‘Oh, look, Jim, a new plaything! Don’t they look stupid hanging in a tree like that? Fufufu.’ But you kept quiet, and just watched them, as much as they did you, making sure they didn’t try any funny business.

They didn’t stay for long though, either leaving due to their curiosity being quenched, or from how boring you were trying to be; silent, and watching, not moving. If worse came to worse, you would have started chucking rowan berries at them; if fae don’t like the tree, they probably wouldn’t like the berries either.

Eventually, the dark night dissolved into the dim glow of dawn, and once you could actually make out your surroundings and it wasn’t just one large mass of darkness, you started making your way down the tree. You were a bit proud of yourself, seeing that you had 1) survived the night, and 2) not fallen out of the tr—

Snap! … you celebrated too soon, since the branch you were using as a foothold gave way, and you tumbled your way to the ground. At least the fall wasn’t too high up, but it still stung like a bitch, and you’d definitely have a bruise; both to your body and your ego.

At least there was no one around to see you eat dirt.

Sighing, you rubbed your eyes, and smacked your cheeks; fighting off sleepiness. Focus; you need to get home. Read the damn book Mr. Sparkles gave you… damn prick is probably gonna call in a favour later…

With a still sore butt, you found a mossy rock that looked somewhat comfortable and sat down, opening up your ‘How Not to Die in Fairyland; For Dummies!’ book (not really the name of it, but it was damn close).

“Chapter nine; how to leave the Underground,” you muttered, flipping to the page. Weird, it’s only one page? 

“While leaving the Underground is possible, it is a task that not many have accomplished. 

Of the possible ways include;

Finding a portal; typically an enchanted faerie ring, or royal portal.

Finding a fae and tricking them into owing you a favour

One should leave the Underground before their thirteenth day. Should you stay beyond thirteen days you will not be able to leave the Underground, and will be a permanent resident.”

You shut the book, taking in a deep breath. What has it been, ten hours? It was hard to tell, the blurring of time. But at least you had a rough time of twelve days to find a portal — or have a fae owe you a favour — and get the hell back home. If worse came to worse, you were not above some benign trickery so you could see your idiots again.

…

…

Lilia had arrived home safe and sound, slept in his warm bed, and had some of his … delightful home cooking before he was due back at the castle. And while he was eating the somehow overcooked yet still raw eggs, he couldn’t help but wonder how the little Beastie was doing; how you were doing.

He didn’t technically owe you any favours, since he had given you that handy dandy book — if anything, you owed him, since you did say ‘thanks’ and everything — but curiosity is a fickle thing, and you seemed interesting. Humans typically reacted more when they ended up here, and made no proper moves to ensure that they made it back. But you, the little Beastie? Lilia saw a fire in your eyes, of both ire and determination. You wouldn’t give up easily, and while it was entertaining, he also knew that trouble could, and most likely would, follow wherever you go.

Last time a human like you ended up in the Underground… it didn’t end well (said human nearly burnt the Queen’s labyrinth down to the ground). Hopefully though, you didn’t prove to be as foolish, or as obsessed with fire as the last human. Who knows, maybe you would even escape! If you didn’t though, the court could use a new fool, and you seemed amusing enough to please their majesties whilst not incenting their ire.

“Hmm, wonder if their majesties have felt the intrusion,” Lilia hummed to himself, cleaning up his dishes. He could easily just magic it away, but the trip to the mortal realm had taken a lot out of him, so he was stuck doing some good old fashioned manual labour, not that he really minded. Doing the dishes was better than being digested by some mangy, overweight, cat.

A crack of lightning sounded outside, disrupting the otherwise beautiful and peaceful day. “That answers that question!” Lilia sounded too cheerful for what many fae considered to be a bad omen, as lightning rarely meant a good thing when it concerned the royal family.

A raven came to rest on the windowsill, eyes glowing green; a messenger.

Lilia tapped its beak, letting the message play.

“General Vanrouge, I require you to apprehend the trespasser on our land, lest they taint the soil,” the raven recited Queen Maleficia’s message. “Shall you deem it necessary to use drastic measures, so be it… To call this number back, place a coin into the raven’s mouth. To save this call—”

Lilia groaned, but coughed up a bronze coin so that the Queen didn’t send more ravens to his house on his day off. “Our guest shall be dealt with swiftly, I assure you of that.” Lilia ended his call, the raven blinked, coughed out the coin, and flew off in a ruckus of cawing.

He sighed, and cracked his back. “Hopefully our guest can understand… and not hit me with a broom this time.” With a snap of his fingers, Lilia poofed into his trademark green sparkles, and he was a bat again. Instead of being lost in the mortal realm though, he was off to find you, who was most likely lost in the Underground… hopefully you didn’t get eaten or fell into the bog again, since he doubted the Queen would want a dead(?) or putrid smelling guest.

“Beastie, Beastie, Beastie, wherever could you be?”

…

…

“Where the hell am I,” you wheezed. You had been walking for a good bit, since hey, the bog really smelled bad, plus you didn’t want to stick around long enough where the creature that was screaming last night decided to come back and make an appetizer out of you. So, you were walking. Where to? You had no idea, all you knew was that you needed to find a portal somehow, of the mushroom variety, or royally produced.

Currently, you were fighting gravity and making your way up a steep hill, but you knew you would be able to see over the dense forest canopy once you reached the top, and maybe, just maybe, you would be able to make sense of your bearings. Would you know where you were once you reached the top? Pfttt, no, but at least you would know what exactly was around. A sulfuric rotten egg-smelling swamp was one thing, but you wouldn’t be all too surprised if you found out there was a man-eating daisy patch or some other nonsense here.

Finally, you made it to the top of the hill, and you caught your breath before looking out towards the horizon. To the north, the sea of trees continued for what seemed forever. East, the trees made their way into a grassy plateau where there seemed to be a village of some sort in the distance; quaint. South, uh, the swamp, definitely not going back that direction, you’ve had enough of that swamp. And west, a castle, surrounded by a maze.

“An enchanted faerie ring or royal portal,” you muttered, weighing your options.

You had about twelve days left to get out of this place. You could spend those twelve days trying to find a so-called ‘faerie ring’ in the forest since those things were mushroom circles, but the chances of finding an enchanted one seemed to be slim to none. On the other hand, castles usually equaled royalty, which would equal portal. Knowing royals though, they were probably batshit insane. Also, if they felt like you were lying or trying to dupe them? Hey, they could apparently turn you into a slug or some other easily squishable being if they wanted to. And you really didn’t want to be turned into a slug… now at the moment at least.

“Forest,” you looked at the forest, “or castle?” You could also go east, but the grassland didn’t exactly scream portal potential or had any rowan trees (or any trees for that matter). “That is the question. Look for weird mushrooms and maybe get eaten by some critter, or potentially piss off some royal and end up as said critter. Hmmm.”

You groaned, and flopped down to the ground; both options weren’t all that appealing, or even guaranteed that you would find a portal. Rolling over to your stomach, you opened up the book again, seeing if it had anything that could help you make up your mind on the options in front of you.

Scanning over the table of contents, there was nothing about where to find a portal in the woods. There was, however, a handy dandy chapter on fae etiquette, including government specifications… 

You looked up towards the castle again, eyeing the maze. And started coughing out into laughter at your situation. “Pfttt, didn’t I wish that the Goblin King would whisk me away from my life,” you wheezed. “And here I am! In the fucking Underground with a labyrinth?!” Your laughing subsided into a tired sigh, and you set your eyes back towards the castle. “The irony is astounding really.”

At least you didn’t have to worry about some baby being turned into a goblin… right? 

No, no, you only wished for yourself to be taken away, no one else. But would that mean you would end up as a goblin? Fae? Or as some weird pet or servant to a fae? Hopefully not… and at least you had the somewhat credible book that Mr. Sparkles gave you. 

Shit, I owe him a favour though… CURSE YOU SARCASM!!!! 

Well, maybe Mr. Sparkles will cut you some slack, since ya know, you did save him from Grim… but you also did hit him with a broom… and insulted him… I am so fucked, aren’t I?

…

…

You eventually got to the entrance of the maze (the labyrinth?), and sat down on a bench outside of it, huffing and puffing. “Does everything want to–” you stopped that sentence, knowing your luck, if you said it out loud, it was bound to happen. “Never mind that…”

“Never mind what?” A voice said to your right.

You shot up and whipped your head around, coming face to face with a door(?) with a face. “I-”

“You never mind!” A second voice said, and on your left was another door, sending its counterpart a dirty look. “You know better than to meddle in such affairs!”

The right door, which was a weathered red, rolled its eyes at its neighbour. “Bah! Curiosity killed the cat-”

“But satisfaction brought it back. I know!” The left door, a brilliant blue, huffed. “Ignore them, they do this to everyone.” They sneered (if doors could sneer) to their neighbour. “Don’t you have anything better to do than trick people?”

Did I just get in between these two during something?

The red door got offended, turning even redder by some means. “Like you should be one to talk! ‘Oh my dear traveller, one of us two doors is a liar and does nothing but lie! Do not let my neighbour fool you!’ It’s the same every single time with you!”

It’s giving bitter divorced couple who for some reason still live with each other—

“I would do no such thing!”

“LIAR!”

“NO YOU ARE THE LIAR!”

You groaned, their bickering was starting to give you an all too familiar migraine. “Will both of you shut up?!”

Both of the doors tch-ed at your remark but stopped their nonsensical arguing, and you rubbed at your temple, easing away the building tension. But they turned their attention to you, looking at you with a mix of curiosity and something else… doors couldn’t be fae… right? The book didn’t say anything about talking doors… could they be portals? It couldn’t be that easy, nothing was ever that easy.

“Did anyone ever teach you any manners, mortal?” The red door huffed, turning its nose up at you. 

The blue door looked at you with a similar expression, “Yes yes, awfully rude you know! Lucky it's just us though, and not the mistress. Oh ho ho! She would turn you into a newt for that!”

I wasn’t too wrong about them turning me into a slug I guess… would a newt be an upgrade in this case? Since they have bones— 

“And you’re a door,” you deadpanned, “you both haven’t been polite either, ya know?” You had better things to do than kissass to two sentient doors, so no, you weren’t going to be polite. “So the sooner you tell me which way to go, the sooner I’m out of your… splinters?”

The doors grumbled but didn’t raise any objections.

“As you may have overheard, one of us is a liar,” they both said at once. “One of us will lead into the labyrinth, whereas the other will lead you back to where you started your journey.” They both chuckled, looking at you with amusement. “It is up to you to decide which is which.”

You looked between the two doors, weighing your options. “And what if I just walk into the labyrinth? What happens then?”

The blue door hummed, “Well, it would eat you!” … why did it sound all too cheerful about that?!

“So I don’t really have any other option then, do I?”

��Nope!~” They both gave you cheerful smiles, and you were half tempted to go off into the woods and find that magic portal by your lonesome. At least then you wouldn’t have to deal with a pair of divorced doors, and a human-eating labyrinth that belonged to some mistress that would turn you into a newt if she felt like you were being snippy with her.

You sighed. Of both the doors, the blue one seemed more sympathetic, whereas the red door was more harsh… “Okay, red, open sesame!”

The red door looked shocked that you picked it over its counterpart, but it opened nonetheless. The blue door grumbled that you had chosen its neighbour over it, but stayed quiet.

When the door opened, all you could see was black. 

“Do you actually lead anywhere?” You threw a rock in, but no sound came out. 

The red door was silent though; apparently, when it was open, it couldn’t talk. And while you didn’t miss the bickering, you really wanted answers, and the blue door wasn’t saying anything either. 

Sighing, you walked forward, hoping that you had chosen the right door. Once both of your feet were over the threshold, light started to filter in. Did I choose right?! But before you got too ahead of yourself, you felt the ground give way under you, and you were falling; falling towards an all too familiar sulfuric-smelling bog. 

“SHI-”

…

You were back in the bog of eternal stench, and spitting the rotten egg-tasting water out of your mouth again. And this time, Mr. Sparkles wasn’t here to make you magically smell better either. Nope, you were stuck smelling horrible until you could find a change of clothes.

Crawling out of the water, you grumbled and hissed curses towards that red door. Of course, you would end up here again! Why not! Laugh it up, Underground! Laugh it up!

“I hate it here,” you seethed, wringing out as much water as you could from your clothes. 

Shit, the book! But the book was still dry… Fuck you, book. Fuck. You. Of course, the book would stay free of wet and stench, whereas you were now shivering, since the water was frigid, plus you were angry and embarrassed that you had been deceived.

It was no use though just sticking around here lamenting and fuming. So you hoisted yourself up and marched back to the labyrinth; and even though the trip was a good three hours, your anger and pettiness drove you forward.

“YOU-” you hissed, pointing a finger at the red door.

The red door looked at you, looked to its blue neighbour, and then back at you before it started laughing. “I see someone took a little dip-”

You got up in its face, “Fuck you, asshole.” You turned around and marched up to the blue door. “Open up,” you cracked your knuckles, not breaking eye contact. And either your intimidation worked, or your smell was so offensive that the door just wanted you gone; weaponizing the stench works wonders against prissy doors.

“Th-” You remembered your first blunder; do not thank the fae. “You are too kind.” And you stepped through the blue door, which was as dark as the red one, but once the door closed, you didn’t find yourself back in the damned bog. You were now in the labyrinth, and perhaps a step closer to finding a way home.

…

…

…

Lilia found himself in the bog, looking around for the Beastie (you). But they were nowhere to be found, save for a wet spot on the grass and some torn-up moss.

“Ah,” he suppressed a laugh, “they fell in again, I see. Poor Beastie.” At least they’ll be easier to find.

He summoned a glass orb, a looking glass of sorts, and looked inside of it. “Show me the human,” he whispered, sprinkling it with some green magic. “And show me their location.”

The glass orb multiplied into three. The first orb showed a close-up of your face, an annoyed yet determined look on your face. The second orb showed that you were surrounded by hedges. And the third and final orb showed that the hedges were actually the Queen of the Underground’s personal labyrinth.

“… at least they can’t really run off anywhere.” But this wasn’t a great turn of events. Many people, both human and fae alike, had tried their best to navigate the labyrinth. But it was a fickle thing; you had thirteen hours to reach the castle, and if you didn’t within those thirteen hours? You would be stuck within it, as one of the beings that tried to stop trespassers from reaching the castle.

Lilia pinched the bridge of his nose, “Beastie, what have you gotten yourself into?” And he turned into a bat, flying off to try and find you. While the Queen did want you apprehended, Lilia would rather it be with his own hands, and not be held liable for any further actions or decisions you made.

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Tags; @afunkyfreshblog, @cheezy-moon, @eynnwwyjth, @ithseem, @lucid-stories, @ryker-writes, @twistwonderlanddevotee, @xxoomiii

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Author's Note; After a little break from writing this fic, I'm back! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, even if it was only for the pay-phone/raven and the divorced bickering doors!

If you liked this, do check out my masterlist for more content!

#twst #twst x reader #twst x gn reader #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland x gn reader #lilia vanrouge #lilia vanrouge x reader #lilia vanrouge x gn reader #now we can get into building the relationship between these two fufufuffufufu #mr sparkles = lilia | beastie = reader #i wrote 1K of this back in September and the rest in the past two days #too be fair i was feeling a bit burnt out so i did need to step back a bit #but i've been feeling inspired again!!! yippee!!!! #raven; mmmmmm MONEY!!! 'to continue your call-' #*sad trombone noises* reader ended up in the bog again; will they ever smell good again?! #a break from the horrors i'm writing for the twst murder mystery au; back to the labyrinth au!!! #twst labyrinth au #and my fun tags have returned too!!!!